Chapter Ten: Trouble Brewing
Here is chapter ten, combined with a little AU and more of the real story. It would be better for some parts if music from Final Fantasy is used. And thank you all for your many reviews! : ] By the way, this episode could be a little R-rated.
I faced the snowy landscape in front of me on the speeder. A stubborn and conservative Auron sat behind me, fastened to the machina instead of me for religious reasons.
"That's really dumb, Auron," I commented on the method of safety he chose to sit on the speeder. "What if the speeder falls or capsizes while in mid- air?"
"That won't matter," came the same old tone of reply. To make sure that he was safe, I turned to try an imperative look on him. As I looked at him, the red guardian loosened himself from the straps of the machina. "Fine, if you insist!"
I turned back to press the button which made the speeder crack into life. Its engines roared with a sound seldom heard in places of hardcore Yevon worshippers especially in this icy region of Macalania. I gave a slight push, which made us zoom into the cold but beautiful landscape of the lake.
As soon as the speeder moved, I felt two large cup-like objects press again my chest. I looked down to see two tanned and somewhat hairy hands from behind against my bust. A sense of disgust filled me as I turned back to see what Auron had did to me.
"Didn't Yevon state that their worshippers should not outrage the modesty of others?" I spoke with sarcasm, turning back to operate the speeder. At that instance, the two hands dropped from my body.
"My apologies."
I harboured a naughty idea at once. In less than a moment, I took one of Auron's large hands and pressed it against one of my breasts and removed it again.
"R-r-rikku?!?" I heard his pitiful cry, making me giggle at the sight of his stammering, a rare side of the crimson guardian seen by few, me being one of them.
"You enjoyed that right?" I tried to taunt him.
"No..." his voice trailed off. From my view, his heart was probably saying yes instead. "This act is forbidden by Yevon."
"Don't lie, you enjoyed it all!" I teased the guardian. "I knew all along that you were a perverted man as well."
"Say what you want. I do not care."
I grinned as I look forward. Auron was definitely throwing a tantrum judging from his reaction to my teasing of him. Up front, I notice a white boulder blocking the way.
"Hold on to me," I instructed him from in front. "We're gonna' turn."
I felt two hands hold on to my waist once again. A romantic feeling filled me inside out though I could not figure its origins out. Giving a swerve, the speeder dodged the white boulder that had blockaded the route to the temple of Macalania. I looked down to see Auron's hands and noticed that he had taken off the black gloves covering them.
Taking one hand up, I scrutinized it while driving the speeder. "Hey, don't your hands feel cold without the gloves?" I asked curiously.
"None of your business to know."
I turned up once again to check for any upcoming dangers and looked down at his hand to observe it again. His hand was twice the size of mine and it was hairy which explained why he did not feel any cold with his gloves off. Shaking off his hand, I turned up to re-operate the machina. "Hey Auron," I asked the stoic guardian once again. "Don't you think that I'm bad for picking on you?"
"No," came the soft reply. "Lyna did that too..." I heard his mumble.
"Again please? What did you say just now?" I had failed to catch his words properly.
"Nothing."
"Oh fine!" I was angry at his reluctance to open up, even in privacy. "I won't talk to you then!"
"Suit you."
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It had been probably about half an hour since we had set off from the Al Bhed attack. I was concentrating on the route to the Temple of Macalania. Ever since telling Auron off, we had kept silent on the speeder.
"Hey Auron," I had to start talking again from the lack of noise. "Where were you born?"
"Spira."
I rolled my eyes at his answer. "Yes, I know you were born in Spira, but which part?" I questioned with more detail.
"...Somewhere near Luca."
"Luca? But you don't look like the people there," I commented on his strange birthplace. Auron clearly did not resemble the people there, who had golden hair and blue eyes in contrast to his black hair and brown eyes.
"It's a long story..."
"Tell me!" I was intrigued by mysterious things.
"None of your business."
"Meanie!" I cursed him before attempting to step on his boot again. I succeeded, once again.
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I stopped the engine of the speeder. We had reached at the Temple of Macalania, a building atop a frozen lake. The rest were nowhere to be seen too. Tidus and Kimahri could have taken the long route there instead of the route which I followed earlier on.
"We wait."
I agreed with the red guardian. Finally, we had something which could be agreed on. I looked up to see the 'scorching' sun as its effects were not pronounced in the cold climate of the area. Turning back to see the crimson man, an empty spot displaced him. I turned the other side to look at a red figure walking away.
"Hey! Where are ya' going?" I was angry at him for his sudden disappearance.
"Returning the call of nature." I laughed at his monotonously reply. I stood down and giggled to myself. As I turned back, I saw a head-shaking Auron turn into the snowy landscape.
However, I turned to face the real situation: the animosity of the people living here towards the Al Bhed. Surely, they would recognize me as an Al Bhed and possibly drive me out of the region. Planning my next move, I stood down again to devise a way to keep myself disguised.
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We walked towards the door of the temple. The sacred building itself was huge, especially when built across a large sheet of breakable ice. No plan had materialized in my mind, making me worried as I trod across the ice path to the temple. A guard stood in front of the entrance to the building.
"Halt!" he ordered to us. I ran up beside him, trying to find out his problem with us. "The likes of her are not welcomed in this hallowed place," he pointed to me, indicating the people's rejection of the Al Bhed.
"She is a guardian," I heard the imperative voice from the eldest guardian in the group as he came up beside me.
"An Al Bhed, a guardian? Preposterous!"
"I've decided to be Yuna's guardian now, and that's what I want," I tried to reveal my true intentions in order to avoid suspicions.
"And that's all one needs to be a guardian," Auron enriched my reasons to be a guardian.
"Very well." Came the guard's reply, the door being opened to us. We proceeded to enter the temple doors. As we proceeded into the main hall, which was magnificent enough for anyone to see, the same acolyte we had saw in the Thunder Plains came up to Tidus.
"Ah! There you are!" She exclaimed to us. "So Lady Yuna is getting married! You shouldn't kid around about these things."
"Yeah, I guess so," I could sense the sadness in Tidus' tone. It was clearly obvious now that he liked Yuna.
"You're not happy?" the acolyte enquired. Tidus shook his head in response.
"Nah, it's complicated," he replied to her before running up to us who were quite a distance from them. "Say...Do you know where Yuna is?"
"I believe..." the acolyte ran up to us. "She's gone to the Cloister of Trials with Maester Seymour." We proceeded to the cloister of trials to fetch Yuna. All of a sudden, a door opened with a girl running out.
"Lord Jyscal!" the name caught my ear. "A sphere, in Lady Yuna's belongings..." Curious to know what was happening, I ran with the group into the room.
A sphere sat on the bed with Auron picking it up. "This may well answer a few questions," he handed the sphere to Tidus who placed it on the floor to play. An image of so-called Lord Jyscal materialized above it...
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"Wonderful." Came one of Auron's common replies. The sphere had ended, leaving me appalled at the fact that Seymour could be that evil to harm his own father. Anxious that Yuna was in the hands of this madman, I approached the half-blind guardian.
"Will Yuna be alright?" I asked. He ignored me and exited the room.
"Without us, no," another of his cold replies came. Knowing that Yunie was in grave danger, I ran to the cloister of trials to find Yuna. I ran through an icy tunnel before reaching another room with a high ceiling. Seymour stood at the far end near a door, where Yuna was supposedly there. He turned to see me.
"Ah! The cousin of the summoner," he gave a friendly approach. "I see that you've come to fetch your dear kin too." Before I could reply back to him, Tidus beat me to it.
"Seymour!" he gave an angry cry.
"Please be silent," Seymour ordered to the blitzball player. "Lady Yuna prays to the fayth."
"Make me."
Seymour turned around to look at us, who had by then assembled together to protect Yuna against this maester. He walked down the steps, smirking at Tidus at the same time. Within a while, the door opened with Yuna walking out. The Guado turned back to her.
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted over to her.
"But why...?"
"We saw Jyscal's sphere," Tidus tried to expose Seymour's dark crime.
"You killed him," Auron's accusations came.
"What of it?" Seymour asked ignorantly. "Lady Yuna, certainly you know of these things, did you not?" He interrogated Yunie, who was a little shaky by now. "Well then, why have you come here?"
"I came..." she stammered, standing beside us. "I came to stop you."
"I see," his tone was sarcastic. "You came to punish me, then." Seymour neared us, extending his hand but Yuna backed away.
"What a pity," he spoke as we surrounded Yunie. "Ah, of course. 'Protect the summoner even at the cost of one's life.' The Code of the Guardian." "How admirable," Seymour taunted us, calling two Guado guards by his side. "Well, if you're offering your lives, I will have to take them."
"Maester Seymour," Yuna came up in front of us, raising her wand. "I trust my guardians with my life. But they are also my friends," she spoke these words of touching feelings to us. "I will not stand by and watch them be hurt. I will fight you, too!"
"All right!" Tidus cheered my cousin summoner on.
"Maester Seymour!" a reluctant Wakka tried to stop the brewing battle.
"So be it," Seymour spoke before taking a wand out as well. "But first, the Al Bhed girl should submit!" He aimed his wand at me, creating icicles that quickly darted at me. At this time, a sudden thing happened.
Auron came in front of me, using his unusually fast sword skill to ward off all icicles. He placed his sword on the cold hard floor again.
"Rikku!" I heard a mysterious voice from behind. It was the same woman who I had saw in the Macalania Woods earlier on. "Now is the time to choose: Power or Friends." I began to walk towards her....
Okay, that's all for Chapter Ten. I'll update soon on Chapter Eleven soon. Bye!