Hello again, everyone. As you already know, I only own the OC's, and nothing else. Once again, I would like to thank those people who review regularly (i.e. Chaka), and I hope that many blessings rain down on you. As for those who read, but don't review, I will now give you a dirty look. (Glares angrily as black flames erupt from the floor) Anyway, I am proud to present a brand-new chapter for your enjoyment.
Chapter 8: O'aka's Tale
Ria, Auron, and Bob arrived in a small town named Sunrise Cove about a week later. They were all completely exhausted, and even the chocobos' feathers were drooping. The three of them dismounted the tired birds and led them to the shade of a tree near the street. Snow and Shadow both lay down beneath the tree and gratefully dug into the food and water Ria gave them. "I know how you feel," Ria murmured as the birds settled down into a blissful doze.
"I hope somebody in this place will give us a ride back to Spira," Bob sighed wearily.
"I'm sure we can find somebody willing to help us out," Auron replied, shouldering his giant katana.
Ria shot him a suspicious glance. "I don't think that threatening anyone is going to help matters."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he innocently replied.
The three of them walked down to the docks, where they saw several anglers busily repairing a badly torn net, swearing all the while. "Excuse me, but are any of you the captain of…" the young woman squinted at the dingy writing on the side of the fishing vessel. "…Of the Morning Star?"
"That'd be me," answered a man on her right. He was short, bald, and surly. "What do you want? Can't you see that we're busy?"
"Yes, and I hate to bother you," she replied, "But my friends and I were wondering if you could give us a ride?"
"The Morning Star ain't no cruise ship, girl. Where do you want a ride to, anyway?"
"Spira," Auron shortly replied.
"Spear-Ah?" the captain was bewildered.
"He means that new land that appeared recently." Ria explained.
Suddenly the captain and the rest of the crew fell into gales of wild laughter. "You're mad, girl!" one crewmember crowed.
"Absolutely barking!" howled another.
The captain composed himself, and finally said, "Sorry, but no can do."
"Why?" Bob piped up.
"No one can go to this 'Spear-Ah' place because the land vanishes like a mirage when a ship gets near it, and then the sea monster sinks most of them," he replied, staring at the Tonberry with some surprise. "I would like to help you, really, but I have a wife and four kids to think about."
"Sorry to bother you," Ria sighed.
They searched among the ships for another hour or so before finally giving up. "I can't believe this!" the sorceress groaned. "Not a one of these damn ships are willing to give us a ride!"
"Well, we'll just have to find another way, then," Auron calmly replied.
"Ooh, look at that!" Bob squealed, pointing at the ocean.
What the little fiend had spotted was a highly unusual-looking ship. It had all kinds of strange cranes and winches sticking out everywhere, and there was some odd, brightly colored writing on one side. "Auron, what the hell is that?" Ria asked.
"It looks like an Al Bhed salvage vessel. They use it to haul ancient machina off of the seafloor."
The ship moved closer, and everyone on the docks could easily see the crew. They wore the same brightly colored outfits and goggles that Bakkuri and Keyya had worn back in Discovery. Suddenly, terrified screams coming from behind interrupted the spectacle.
What appeared to be creatures made up of clumps of shiny bits and pieces had appeared, attracted by the crowd, and began casting spells left and right. Most of them were red, blue, gold, or white, but a few were black, and one was shining in every color of the rainbow. "Elementals will only use magic, and their physical defense is high, so you'll need to use magic opposite of what they use," Auron told Ria.
As the rest of the crowd ran away, the two slayers and Bob fought valiantly against the fiends. The swordsman lashed about with his katana in a series of wide arcs, the blade shifting from flame to bubbles, frost, and purple sparks with each swing. Meanwhile, the Tonberry wildly flailed his little silver lantern, and puffs of reddish-violet fog wafted about smashing into any Elemental that got in the way. However, the sorceress seemed to be having trouble getting her magic to work properly.
"No, I said Thunder, damn it!" she shrieked as a deluge of water stuck a Blue Element.
"What are you doing?" Auron yelled at her, taking out a couple of White Elements with a well-placed flame strike.
"Something's wrong with my magic," she called, whacking the now-healed fiend with her bat as she tried another spell. "Fire! Fire!"
Instead of engulfing the enemy in flames, suddenly Bob found himself surrounded by a ring of white light that restored his energy. "Hey, thanks for the Cure, Ria," the little fiend called, waving his lantern at her Element, which shattered as if it were made of glass.
"Don't mention it," the young woman retorted.
Even with her wayward magic, the three of them managed to mop up most of the fiend swarm, with the Rainbow Element being the sole exception. It hesitated, seeming to make up its mind, and fired what appeared to be a bolt of red lightning at Ria. Instead, Auron shoved her out of the way, and was the one who was stricken. "AURON!" both she and Bob screamed as the guardian fell to the ground.
Before they could rush to his aid, however, the swordsman got to his feet and shook his head. Auron looked as if he was okay, except that his body was surrounded by an angry crimson aura, and his face was twisted into a hideous mask of rage. Without saying a word, he turned and attacked the Rainbow Element with reckless abandon. His sword was a blur as it repeated struck the fiend, and the attack did not stop until the creature was vanquished. Before it died, however, it struck the berserk swordsman with a pulse of psychedelic light.
After the Element dissolved into the usual pyrefly cloud, Ria slowly approached her friend. "Auron, are you all right?" she asked him.
He turned around, and she backed up a step when she saw his face. He was still surrounded by red light, but his expression was confused instead of angry. Auron looked like he was having trouble focusing, and he shook his head again. "Hey, can you understand me?" the sorceress asked again.
His face took on a cold expression as he turned his unfocused gaze on Ria. "You…You killed them," he said in a voice full of deadly menace. He had used the same tone on the night they first met.
"What?" her voice shook slightly as she took another step back.
"Ria, we need to get away from him," Bob said as Auron pointed his weapon at the two of them.
"Yunalesca!" the guardian roared. "You killed them. You killed Braska and Jecht, you bitch!"
"RUN!" shouted Bob.
Ria just barely evaded the confused Auron's blade as it whistled past her torso. The young woman dodged another attack, then scooped up the Tonberry and ran away as fast as she her legs would take her. "What's wrong with him?" she asked Bob, glancing back over her shoulder. "Why is he trying to kill us?"
"That Element confused him, and he was already berserk, so the two problems have his mind stuck in the past. He thinks that he's back in Zanarkand, and that you're Lady Yunalesca," he explained. "At least, I think that's what the problem is."
"Can't you use the Sleep spell on him?"
"He's too angry for it to work."
They continued to run from the enraged swordsman, and they came across a strange little man who had just come out of a small boat, along with a couple of Al Bhed. The man was wearing an ill-fitting blue shirt, orange pants, and a little black hat. "Hello, love," the odd little man began in a strangely British accent.
"There's no time for that!" Ria yelled, "If you people value your lives, then you will run like hell, NOW!"
Just then, Auron caught up to them. "DIE!" he snarled, bringing down his sword in a crushing blow, narrowly missing the strangers.
/Run away!/ one of the Al Bhed shouted in his own language.
The five of them ran some more, but their pursuer showed no signs of tiring, so finally Ria stopped, set Bob on the ground, and said, "No. I'm not running anymore."
"WHAT?!" the little fiend shrieked. "Ria, he'll kill you if you don't run."
"Then that's a risk I'll have to take," she gravely replied, "You just find someplace to hide."
Bob tripped a couple of times, but made it to the stack of empty crates where the strangers were hiding. The black hat man stared at him and said, "You've got some crazy friends, mate."
As they watched, Ria kept making narrow escapes, but she was still silent. Finally, the young woman slipped and fell on the uneven pavement, and Auron made a vertical swing that would have cut her in two, had she not raised her bat to block it at the last minute. Although the aluminum bat did stop the attack, it was sliced almost in half, and was snatched out of her hands. "Auron, listen to me," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "Auron, it's me, Ria. Try to remember."
The swordsman pointed his katana at her, bud made no further movement. Ria took this as a good sign and continued to speak. "Auron, we've been together for almost a month, and you said in the beginning that you would be my guardian, remember? If you continue with what you're about to do, if you kill me, then you will fail in your duty, Sir Guardian."
Auron shook his head and backed away. "R-Ria?" his voice was doubtful.
Then Bob reemerged from his hiding place and held up his lantern. "Sorry about this," the Tonberry sadly sighed as he cast "Sleep" on his companion.
The guardian dropped to the ground, and the aura faded away. The two Al Bhed and the man in the black hat came out of hiding. "Well, that was an interesting welcome," the female Al Bhed said in a heavily accented voice.
An hour later, Auron woke up with a splitting headache. "How are you feeling, mate?" the man with the black hat asked with a note of amusement.
"O'aka XXIII? What are you doing here?"
"I'm something of a goodwill ambassador, just making his way in this big, new world."
"Oh, really? And I suppose that the fact that you stand to make millions selling Potions to these people has nothing to do with it?" Auron's tone was skeptical.
"You caught me, mate," O'aka replied with a laugh.
"Where are Ria and Bob?"
"Oh, you mean that girl and the little fiend? They went to get the chocobos, but the girl said that they would be back before long."
Just as the merchant finished that sentence, Bob and Ria returned with Snow and Shadow. "Hey, are you okay, now?" the Tonberry asked.
"Yes." Auron got to his feet. "Ria, I can't tell you how sorry I am. If you want to stop traveling with us, then I'll understand." His face was neutral, but his gaze was full of anguish over what he'd almost done.
"No! Ria, don't leave! I don't want to be stuck traveling alone with this old grouch!" Bob wailed.
The sorceress laughed. "Don't worry, Bob, I'm not leaving. I know it wasn't all Auron's fault; the Element messed with his head."
"How'd you know that he would stop if you talked about his being a guardian, love?" O'aka was curious. "That's the one thing that I don't get."
"I really don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I reached the soul hiding beneath all of that rage. Auron won't admit it, but he's a lot like the chivalrous knights from the old days."
The swordsman shot her a dirty look. "Very funny. Anyway, why are you really here, O'aka?"
"Well, if you think that this place is having troubles, then you should see Spira these days. The fiends there have gotten completely out of hand, and there's not enough Crusaders left to handle them all! The pyreflies have gone all wonky, turning weird colors, and I've heard rumors that they had to shut down the shoopuf ferry at Moonflow because people were being attacked by the little buggers! Then, as if things aren't bad enough, there are new fiends that no one has seen before popping up everywhere, and aeons appearing, even though the Fayth are gone."
"Does anyone know why this is happening?" Ria asked.
"No one knows for sure, but some people are saying that Maester Seymour is behind it."
"How is that possible? Auron, didn't you tell me that Seymour was finally Sent right before Sin was defeated?" the young woman was incredulous.
"Yes, he was Sent, but so was I, and I'm here now, so the rumors may be true."
"Then we'll just have to find out for ourselves when we get to Spira." she said with all the finality of an execution.
"I've just got one question," O'aka said, "How're you going to get there, love? I think you're going to have a hard time convincing the Al Bhed to give you a ride, because they're all set to start a travel agency out here."
"I'll think of something."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Auron sounded amused.
"Trust me," she grinned.
Yes, I know I cut it off as it was getting interesting, so everyone can stop screaming. (Screams of anguish go silent) Anyway, review, and I promise to keep writing, and to stop giving out dirty looks.