Final Fantasy: The Chronicles Of Paine Chapter 11
Paine hopped out of the airship and onto the Besaid soil. The place hadn't changed much since she was there several years earlier.
"What are we doing here?" Rikku asked.
"I'm here to pick up a dress-sphere." Paine replied. "I got an email from Wakka saying he found it near the beach."
"Dress-sphere?" Cloud asked, scratching his head.
"We use them to transfer ourselves into more powerful forms, and this also changes our appearance. When our friend Wakka told me he found a special dress-sphere, I thought it could be a good idea to get it from him, seeing as we're going into a dangerous mission at Zanarkand." Paine explained.
"Did he say what type of dress sphere it was?" Yuna asked.
"No, but it's supposed to be very rare," Paine said. "Let's check it out."
They had touched down just outside the village, so they headed for Wakka and Lulu's home. When they entered the small town, nobody had seemed to make a large fuss over Yuna returning home. This was probably because she had changed so much, and the fact that because the last time she actually returned to Besaid, it was quite some time ago, and that alot of the older residents had no doubt passed away. It was mid afternoon, and the sun was as hot and bright as ever, though the young children playing outside didn't seem to care. They approached Wakka's quaint little hut, and Yuna stuck her head through the door.
"Anybody home?" She called out. It was eerily empty inside, and there was no sign of Wakka, Lulu or their child.
"What now?" Rikku asked.
"I want to check out the temple, they could have went there," Paine said. The Gullwings wandered across the small village square and entered the Besaid Temple. The main lobby was dimly lit by several torches among the circular chamber's walls. Tall statues of former High Summoners stood along the edges of the room, including a stone statue of Yuna's father, Lord Braska. There were the usual folk among the room, mostly elders praying to each High Summoner's statue, and in the centre of this room, three figures stood. A man wearing a yellow Auroch's uniform and a blue headband, a rather tall woman wearing a jet black dress, and a young boy, perhaps no more than three years old. Wakka, Lulu and their son, Vidina were praying to the Lord Zaon statue. Yuna was about to walk up to them, but Paine grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Leave them be until they've finished," Paine said. Rikku seemed to be trying to see if she could hear what Wakka was praying about. He and his wife and son turned around and faced The Gullwings.
"Cloud, wait outside," Paine ordered. "This is between me, Rikku, and Yuna." Cloud dindn't backtalk to Paine, because he knew better, though he still scoffed as he stepped outside the temple.
"Wakka-," Yuna started. He did not say a word, though he raised his hand to stop her.
"Wakka, we are in a hurry, so we need to make this fast." Paine urged.
"I know, Cid emailed me and told me what's going on. Me and my family have been here praying that everything goes well. I have something for you," Wakka said, reaching into his pocket. "I found this sphere washed up on the beach." He held out a glowing orange coloured sphere, and placed it in Paine's palm.
"What do you know about it?" Paine asked.
"It's extremely rare. It enables the "Spy" job, which allows you to perform all kinds of Spy techniques," Wakka explained. He then spoke in a quiet tone that only he and the girls could hear. "I can't believe the Fayth is behind all this shit, ya? How could he backpedal like that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm going to find out what made him switch sides." Paine said. "Apparently death is not an impediment, only a minor inconvenience."
"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone else what's going on, and I want to keep things quiet as possible," Wakka whispered. One would think he would have been ecstatic to see Yuna and Rikku again, but Wakka seemed to be trying to keep everything calm and business-like. Lulu and Vidina stayed silent, because apparently Wakka had told them to, though they still seemed curious, though they were completely oblivious to what was going on.
"I'm not here to talk, Wakka. We need to get to the fayth tonight. We still need to stop off at two other places before we land at Zanarkand. By the way, thank you for this sphere," said Paine.
"You take care, all of you, ya?" Wakka said. Paine gave a small nod and turned towards the door. Yuna and Rikku followed behind her. Yuna looked back at Wakka and his family, and saw Vidina clutching a plush cactuar doll.
"Oh my god...." Yuna whispered.
"What now?" Paine asked.
"This poor world has no idea what's going to happen. It's kinda...........sad..." Yuna explained.
"Nothing's going to happen," Paine said. "We're going to the make sure of that." The three women wandered back into the small village square and met Cloud at the door.
"What is that?" Cloud asked, staring at the sphere in Paine's grasp.
"You'll see when we get there," Paine replied. The four scrambled out of town towards where the airship had landed. Obviously the ship hadn't landed right on the ground, and hovered maybe twenty or thirty feet up, and a small rope ladder fell from one of the side doors.
"Let's go," Rikku said. Paine slipped her boot into the bottom rung of the ladder and heaved herself upward, as did Yuna, Cloud and Rikku. When they managed to climb inside the ship, they felt it take off with a mighty roar of engines and thrusters.
"Take us to Kilika," Paine commanded to Brother.
"Kilika?!" Brother exclaimed.
"What's wrong now?" Paine sighed.
"We cannot land there, there's a no fly zone because of the attack on the town earlier. They think it was a terrorist attack or something," Brother explained. "Why do we need to go there anyway?"
"I want to see Dona and Barthello again," Paine said.
"You'll get a chance to see them in Luca, we're taking them to Zanarkand," Brother replied.
"What?" Paine asked.
"I got an email from them. Seems you told Barthello what's going on, and they've decided to help us," Buddy said.
"I don't like this," Paine said skeptically.
"We could use the help," Rikku said. Paine didn't reply, though she just shook her head.
"Did you get what you came for?" Brother asked. Paine held out the dress sphere.
"We're going to be spies," Paine said with a smirk.
"By the way, what do we need to go to Luca for, anyway?" Brother asked.
"Cid has some weapons for us," Paine explained. "Then, it's off to the Zanarkand Temple. But I have a feeling that won't be where it ends. Tonight, there will be a war. Tonight, we will learn how unity prevails. Tonight..............we will protect those we love..............Tonight..........we shall go to the very depths of Hell itself." Paine said quietly as the airship flew off into the Spira sunset.
To be continued