Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 10, though it would be sweet.
Hey everyone! Sorry for the really long wait. There are lots of reasons: school, writer's block, and I had started this before, but we had to reboot our computer so it got erased, along with my music and pictures and oh life is cruel. But I'm done this chapter so I hope you enjoy it.
P.S. Read and review please, because not a lot of people did last time.
I stood there staring at Berrick. This was crazy. My brother played Blitzball! He wasn't a criminal! Or at least I thought he wasn't. Maybe there was more than just a few things he hadn't been telling me. I had never imagined this would happen. I had thought I would be getting in trouble for going out into the city by myself or something. Never this!
"We've been planning this for quite a while. Everyone's been in on it. But seen as you're the youngest here, I hesitated in telling you, until Lakkam convinced me you were old enough. This operation is very important. The orders have been sent down from Cid himself."
"From Cid?" I was still stuck on the kidnapping part. A summoner? That was a serious offense, seeing as how the Yevonites based their very existence on them. And the summoner was Yuna too. No wonder Cid had sent the order. Yuna was his niece, the only daughter of his dead sister. The Al-Bhed who married a Yevonite. Her mother married Braska, who was the high summoner, the summoner who defeated Sin ten years ago. I don't think Cid appreciated the union. But he held nothing against Yuna because of her mother's choice. And as far as Braska went, he was an okay guy. He didn't hate Al-Bhed obviously, because he married one. But Cid still didn't like it. He especially didn't like it when Yuna decided to become summoner too, and follow in her father's footsteps.
"Why does Cid want to kidnap Yuna? He can't really believe he can convince her to stop being a summoner. Like she would listen anyway. He hasn't seen her in a long time." I asked, partially talking to myself.
"He wants to protect her. If we hold her, she can't go and defeat Sin and die. He knows she won't stop through any amount of convincing, so we have to be more firm." Berrick answered, "There is no reason she must risk her life for this stupid ceremony that doesn't even work."
"She'll hate him for it. She'll hate all of us for taking this away from her." I stated darkly.
"You sound as if you know her." Berrick responded.
"I know summoners and their determination. They want to do this. To give their life for a cause. It is an honour for them. Even if it is a futile effort."
"Well, if she hates us or not, we are going to do it. If we can stop her from dying, than it will be worth it." Berrick said stubbornly.
I looked at him, "We save her, and another dies. We save one, and sacrifice another. It doesn't sound like a good trade to me." Berrick could have reprimanded me for that. We're weren't supposed to talk back to our superiors, even if we were related.
But he didn't, "I understand how you feel, Meeda. But what if we can protect all the summoners? There is a plan, already in design, to kidnap all the summoners and hide them, making it look like fiend attacks, until there is a way to defeat Sin without the sacrifice of lives."
"All, of them? How many are there?" I asked, astounded at this new information.
"Not many. Three, four. But we will find them and keep them alive." He sounded very sure. Too sure.
"What is this plan? You said I'm old enough. I want to hear it." I demanded. I seemed to be pushing my limits of protocol quite a bit, and getting away with it.
"Fine, if you must. You already know the basics: take the summoners, make it look like an attack by fiends, hide them in Home, and find a way to destroy Sin for good. You look surprised. I guess you're wondering how we plan to defeat Sin without the summoners." He smiled.
"Well, yeah, just a bit. I always thought that was the only way, and that there is no way to completely destroy it so it won't come back." I was interested now.
"Yes, that is the supposed only way, but that's because no one has tried. On Bikanel, our people are developing a weapon to defeat Sin entirely, and with help from some colleagues, we will do it." Berrick looked very excited, and it was contagious. Because if Cid thought it could work, surely it would, "I would like to give you more information, Meeda, but the rest is not known to me yet. But enough talk of a possible future. I have a job for you concerning this mission coming up."
"Give it to me, I'm ready." I was psyched.
When I went to bed that night, all I could think about was the possibilities that Berrick had laid out for me. A world completely without Sin, and no one would have to die. It was something unimagined, but Berrick had made it sound possible, and soon. But, I focused on my job tomorrow. Saving Yuna was the first step before any of these wonderful things could happen.
The next morning found me at the docks, waiting for the ship that brought the different teams on it. Berrick had told me that Yuna and her guardians would be on that ship as well. My job was reconnaissance. I had to follow Yuna around and then report back when she reached the place of capture.
Then, the whole Al-Bhed team would kidnap her and take her to our ship. Just in case her guardians decided to follow (which they most certainly would) we would block the shortest route to the dock we were stationed at, and place attack mechs along the farthest route to slow them down. That would give us enough time to escape out to sea.
We planned to cover our capture with a message to the Besaid Aurochs that they should throw the game to get Yuna back. They would do it because Yuna comes from Besaid and probably has a strong relationship with the team.
Not that throwing the game would get Yuna back. It was just a cover story so that the Al-Bhed would win the preliminaries and that we would get Yuna anyway. It was a win-win situation.
Finally the ship pulled in. There were many cheers for the teams. Well, for the teams that didn't include the Aurochs. They were met with polite clapping and silence. Someone bumped into me and nearly knocked me over, so I missed Yuna coming down off the ship. I cursed whoever it was quietly, then searched the crowds for a summoner. All, of a sudden, a very loud voice cried out over the crowd. It startled me so much I almost fled. But, when I looked, it wasn't someone yelling because they saw me, but a very strangely dressed young man standing on some crates with a megaphone.
"Hey you, Goers!" He cried, "You better watch out, because this year the Aurochs are taking the cup!" This was then followed by maniacal laughter. The strange boy had bleached blonde hair and was very tanned. After his very bold statement, he was dragged down by the people underneath him. I dismissed him as a nut or a very enthusiastic fan, until I saw Yuna talking to him. He was a guardian? I heard the name "Tidus", but I was concentrating on Yuna. I had never actually seen her before. She didn't look half Al-Bhed, but that was natural. What I did see was a young girl, a little older than myself, with eyes that were two different colours, a sweet but determined face, and a look of a strong will. I liked her right away.
They began heading toward the dock where Maester Mika was disembarking. I followed, of course. The crowds were very thick and I had trouble keeping Yuna in my line of sight. It wasn't a long walk, but I was poked, prodded, and pushed the whole way. I reached the dock right when the entrance music was playing. An ancient and bent Maester Mika made his way down the gangplank with his aides on either side. The musicians kept playing. Yuna was near the front, so I could not see her, but I had one of her guardians, a tall Ronso, to tell me where she was. I kept him in my sights.
Next came the Guado leader, Maester Seymour. I did not like him. No Al-Bhed did. His father had introduced the Guado to the Yevon's teachings, and thus became a Maester. Since Seymour's father had died a short time ago, Seymour became Maester and leader of the Guado. The Guado and Al-Bhed did not get along very well, and that's an understatement. No one knows why. My mother told me something happened between our two people's a long time ago that caused this resentment, but what it was is lost. Besides that, there was something about Seymour that made you not like him. He seemed more dangerous than his father, who we tolerated and grudgingly resepected. But I couldn't put my finger on it.
Now that the ceremony was over, Yuna and her group left and walked toward the Blitzball Stadium. It was time for me to report back to Berrick. When she left the stadium to look around the city, that's when we'd grab her. I felt bad, because she seemed like a good person and I didn't want her to hate us Al-Bhed, but it was the only way to prevent her harm. I headed back to our ship.
Well I hope you enjoyed the secong chapter of my fic. Please read and review. Next chapter will be more interesting.