You all know the story: I only own the OC's, although I wish it could be otherwise. In addition, I say kudos to Chaka for being such an avid fan, and curses on everyone who reads, but doesn't review. Okay, I'm finished repeating myself, and here's the next chapter.

Chapter 9: Onward to Spira

"Are you sure you want to do this, love? I don't think that the Al Bhed are going to go along with this," O'aka XXIII said with a doubtful look.

"Yes, I'm sure, and I would appreciate it if you'd stop calling me 'love'," Ria responded.

She, O'aka, Auron, and Bob were searching for the Al Bhed, who were planning to build a travel agency in Sunrise Cove. Ria had come up with the idea that they could convince the desert-dwellers to give them a ride to Spira, but had not explained how that could be accomplished, as of yet. The four of them found the Al Bhed, a man and a woman, appraising an old storage building on the southernmost end of the docks. /So, Raddi, what do you think of this one?/ the woman asked the man.

Raddi cocked his head to one side, seeming to make up his mind. /I don't know, Jirru. We should probably wait until the others get here before we make up our minds,/ he answered.

/Excuse me,/ Ria said in careful Al Bhed, /But could we speak with you for a few moments?/

Raddi and Jirru stared at her in surprise, their mouths hanging wide open. /You speak Al Bhed?/ the woman was astounded.

/Just a little,/ the sorceress modestly replied.

/How?/ Raddi wanted to know.

Ria showed them her book. "Bakkuri gave this to me a while back," she said, switching to English. "Do either of you know him and his wife, Keyya?"

Jirru smiled. "Bakkuri is my cousin," she answered, also in English.

"We need to ask a favor," Auron bluntly interrupted their conversation.

/You were Lady Yuna's guardian, were you not?/ Raddi stared at him, awestricken.

"Yes, and I need to ask you a favor."

"What is it?" the Al Bhed woman frowned. "I can't guarantee that I can grant your request, but I will listen."

"We need a ride to Spira," Ria said.

Jirru uttered an oath in Al Bhed. "You want to go to Spira? Has the merchant not told you what has been happening there?"

"He has, and that's why we're going," the swordsman replied.

"Yeah, we're going to kick the ass of whoever started all these problems," cheered Bob, who thrust his kitchen knife in the air in a warlike manner.

"Hey, I tried to talk them out of it, so don't look at me," O'aka said when Raddi and Jirru gave him a baleful stare.

"We really need to get to Spira, so could you please just take us?" asked the sorceress in a coaxing tone.

/We'd really like to help you, but Rin paid us to set up a new travel agency out here,/ Raddi told her.

Ria's expression darkened. "Well, you'll have a lot of trouble building your agency if the Immigration people come and arrest you."

"Immigration? Is that like the warrior monks of Yevon?" Jirru was curious.

Just then, several green camouflaged vehicles arrived, and several soldiers climbed out. "Oh, great," Ria groaned, "Just what we don't need right now."

"Who are these guys?" Auron wanted to know.

"They're the National Guard," the young woman sighed, "They're probably here because of the Al Bhed ship."

The soldiers trained their rifles on the group, and their CO shouted, "All right, everyone, put your hands in the air where I can see them."

"Damn it! This really sucks!" the sorceress griped as she raised her hands above her head.

The soldiers inched closer as the rest of the group, with the exception of Auron, followed Ria's lead. "Mister, I have to ask you to put that giant pig-sticker away," said one soldier, reaching for the katana as he spoke.

"You'll take this 'pig-sticker' when I put it in your gut," was the guardian's response.

"Jesus Christ! Auron, you IDIOT! Do you really want to get shot that badly?" Ria shrieked.

He gave her an amused glance. "One of these days, you'll have to tell me who this 'Jesus Christ' person is."

"Then she'll have to explain it in the Afterlife, because you're about two seconds away from death, if you don't put that sword down!" snarled the CO.

Suddenly, a series of loud thumping noises and a mechanical whirring sound approached the group followed by a voice shouting in Al Bhed. /Look out! Runaway machina!/

A large, insect-like robot stormed down the walkway, sparking erratically and flailing its many arms wildly about. "Oh no, the Scrapper must have started malfunctioning again," Jirru groaned.

"The Scrapper?" Bob shouted, covering his non-existent ears against the sounds of the soldiers' gunfire.

The group used the distraction to run away from the battle, and as they fled, the Al Bhed woman explained, "The Scrapper is a machina that we created for heavy lifting and battling large fiends, but it hasn't been working properly."

"Hey, there's the boat," O'aka wheezed. "Boy, I'm really out of shape."

There was another boat sitting next to the one O'aka, Jirru, and Raddi arrived on, and several frantic Al Bhed were in a state of panic. /Jirru, the Scrapper's gone insane!/ a young girl yelled.

/I know, but we don't have time for that now! We have to get back to the ship and get out of here!/ She turned her attention to Ria. " I guess you can come with us."

"What about Shadow and Snow?" the sorceress asked as she, Bob, and Auron climbed into one of the boats.

"Who?"

"The chocobos!"

"Leave them, they'll be all right."

"Waaarrrk!" Shadow squawked, indignant at the thought of being left behind.

Both birds leaped off the edge of the dock, rapidly flapping their tiny wings, and barely made it into the escaping boats. Snow lowered her head until she was face-to-face with Jirru. "Wark! Warrrk waaaarrrrrrkkk!" she chirped angrily.

"All right, I'm sorry I tried to leave you behind," the Al Bhed apologized.

Satisfied, the chocobos settled down as everyone watched the continuing battle dwindle in the distance.

A few hours later, everyone, including Snow and Shadow, got on board the salvage vessel, and they headed out to the open waters of the Atlantic. "I hope you're happy," Raddi said in broken English.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Ria responded in a sickly sweet tone.

"We're going back to Spira, and Rin will probably want his money back."

"I'm sure everything will be okay," she said, patting the man on the cheek.

The young woman wandered around on the deck until she saw Auron standing at the prow of the ship. He was staring out at the ocean, and occasionally taking a drink from the white jug that he kept at his hip. "I see you're enjoying yourself," the guardian said, not looking at her.

"It's my first time on the ocean," she replied.

He didn't respond, but took another pull on whatever was in his jug. "What's the matter?" Ria asked, concerned about her friend's behavior.

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that nonsense. I know something's bothering you, and you know that I won't leave you alone until you tell me what it is."

"You're an infuriating woman, did you know that?" was his blunt reply.

"Yeah, I am, but stop trying to change the subject. What's wrong?"

"Why does it matter?"

"You harassed me all the way to Sunrise Cove, telling me that I needed to share my grief over my family, so now I'm returning the favor," she said, her voice taking on an edge.

"This is different."

"You're right: you're angry about something and I was sad. It doesn't matter, though, because both will eat you alive, if you let them."

"Fine! I'm upset because I almost killed you! There, are you satisfied?" Anger flashed in his eye.

"But that wasn't you're fault! I already told you that."

"That doesn't change anything. I still tried to kill you."

Ria shook her head. "No, you tried to kill Yunalesca. If you had really tried to kill me, then I would be dead now."

Auron gaped at her, totally lost for words. He stared at her and said, "I hate to admit it, but you're right."

"That's okay, everyone loses sometimes," she stopped and eyed the jug suspiciously. "What are you drinking?"

He handed it to her, and she carefully sniffed at the contents. "Oh, gross! Auron, that smells like sake!" she cried, wrinkling her nose.

"So?"

"So, what are you, an alcoholic?"

He chuckled and shook his head, but said nothing. Bob walked up to the two of them and said, "Hey, Jirru says that we'll be close to Spira in about a day or so."

"I wonder…" Ria trailed off thoughtfully.

"About what?" the Tonberry wanted to know.

The sorceress looked down at him and replied, "I wonder if I'll actually be able to set foot on Spira."

"What are you talking about?" the little fiend was confused.

"You know how that guy in Sunrise said that the land vanished whenever anyone got too close? Well, I'm thinking that maybe you guys will vanish, and I'll just be lost at sea when we get there."

Auron laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it."

The ship traveled for several more hours, until early the next morning, when a thick fog obscured everyone's vision. "What is this? What's going on?" Ria asked, not really expecting an answer.

The crew muttered things about terrible omens under their breath and the chocobos shuffled nervously. Then a terrible roar was heard as a shaft of light erupted from the water and blew the ship to pieces. Ria fell overboard, along with everything else that wasn't instantly vaporized. As she sank beneath the waves, dazed, she saw what had attacked and destroyed the Al Bhed salvage vessel. It was large and emerald green, and its four eyes glowed blue and yellow. The creature looked like something that would be born if nature and technology melded into one seamless whole. The giant fiend, apparently satisfied, turned and swam away, jets of bubbles chuffing out of two holes in its back. As the young woman drifted into unconsciousness, her last thought was, "Oh great…I go through all of that mess just to die at sea…"

Hey, hey, hey! Don't worry, I'm not killing her off, so all you can stop threatening me with those Whiffleball bats! (Angry mob puts away their weapons) Anyway, I hope you liked my rendition of Emerald Weapon, and be sure to tune in for the next exciting episode. (Yes, I know that was corny)