Chapter Twelve : Under the Lake
Hi again! I thank everyone once again for your wonderful reviews, and I'll continue to write more. Somehow I wondered that the previous chapter was rather of a bore 'cause I was nearly whisked off to dreamland from writing that segment of the story. ((Just joking!! =P)) Okay, enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter Twelve
"Please..." Yuna pleaded with the guards at the temple exit as we arrived finally there. Tromell had a look on his face that represented his determination to arrest us and bring us before the top positions in the Yevon hierarchy.
"Give us a chance to explain," came the same cold reply but in a rather pleading tone too.
"No need," Tromell was stubborn in hearing our explanation. "I already know what I'll tell the other maesters."
"Meaning...?" spoke the former.
"Lord Seymour was the leader of the Guado before becoming a maester."
"You're not letting us go," Tidus spoke with animosity.
"Let you go?" the servant of Seymour replied with a sarcastic response. "Lord Seymour would never forgive us if we did."
"Wait, wait!" I tried to help out in trying to exit the temple by remembering a strong clue that we had found earlier on. "Jyscal's sphere! We can show it to them!"
"You mean this?" Tromell responded to my suggestion holding up a sphere. "The Guado takes care of Guado affairs!" he answered sinisterly while crushing the sphere until it broke into many pieces. It was no good; our last clue of acquitting ourselves was gone.
"Away!" Kimahri roared trying to solve the situation once and for all.
"Run!" Auron instructed as he gave the group a slight push towards the temple exit. Ignoring anything that was here, I took my sprint towards the temple exit and running away from the wretched building.
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"This isn't good..." I spoke as we stopped in front of a big monster controlled by the Guado guards. A wendigo was the not the best choice for fighting judging from its strength and physical power. "Are we going to fight this here?"
"There is no choice," Auron snapped. I looked at the area for battle. The place was a gigantic sheet of ice covering the entire Lake Macalania and showed a heavy risk of it breaking into pieces should we do anything funny.
"Ur famm, mad'c ku!" I cheered as we proceeded to our battle positions opposite the abomination. The wendigo simply gave a roar as it came closer to us.
"Rikku, you should go to that side to rest," I heard the 'good' advice of Auron as he returned from one blow on the monster.
"Hey, I'm fighting fit!" I argued back as the battle progressed, trying to attack the wendigo with my might.
"You may get possessed."
"Possessed?" I asked back. "What d'ya mean by possessed?"
"It's nothing," came the reply of the stoical. "Just go." I was simply confused at his words but ignored it.
"Auron," I replied back to him sarcastically. "Never ask an Al Bhed to be left out of something." I ran forward to give another blow on the wendigo, managing to steal another precious elixir from it.
"Be careful!" I heard Yuna's sounding advice before the wendigo gave a hard pound on the ice floor. Hairline cracks appeared on the floor which evolved into larger crevices that signified the end of the ice floor's stability. Before anyone could know it, the floor gave way and made us fall into the large black hole beneath it. With that the monster collapsed to the floor from afar.
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I stirred as I felt the hard floor. A freezing feeling felt behind me, I got up to notice that I was in a ruined ancient city with beautiful architecture. Everyone around had their eyes closed with the exception of Lulu opening hers.
"Lulu, are ya alright?" I ran over to her as she regained consciousness. She turned her fiery gaze towards me.
"It's okay," she answered. "Where are we?" I looked around to determine our location. Looking up I knew the place immediately.
"Beneath the lake," I pointed my finger upwards to the temple above. She looked up and gave a nod. "What should we do now?"
"Wait," came her short reply. "We wait until the rest have come round." I nodded my head at the best practical method of what to do next. In the distance my eye could a familiar figure rise.
"Hey, ya alright?" I ran to the crimson guardian as he came forward to me. He gave no reply. "Hellooo?" I stretched and waved my hand at him, too short to reach up to his face. He scorned at me, returning back to his usual self.
"We wait," his reply came the same as Lulu's. Deep inside me a plan began to formulate within.
"Auron, would ya' mind holding me to the same height as you?" I replied.
"That is senseless," his soft reply came.
"I'd just like to know how it feels to be that tall," I explained squatting down to make him look like a towering figure. With no warning, the red guardian took me by the hips and raised me to the same height as him.
"That should be enough," he answered as I looked around to have the feeling of being a giant. I gave a signal to stop him and gave the old guardian a small peck on the cheek. Suddenly, his grip on me was lost causing me to fall to the ground.
"Meanie!" I cried out in slight pain to make Auron remorseful. "I didn't ask you to drop me." The guardian remained silent.
"Can't ya' even apologize?" I asked him in irritancy.
"I..." came the stammered answer. Auron's face had turned red from the peck that I gave him; a slight brownish-red look on his tanned visage. "My apologies."
"Oh whatever!" I was tired of his apologetic phrase. "You're such a meanie! I'm going to check on the rest, bye!" With that I ran back to the other side to find that the others except Yuna and Tidus were awake.
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I turned to see Tidus looking at me. He was probably cooping up lots of questions in his head, preparing to question me. I took a deep breath and look at him.
"I'm sure Yunie's okay," I assured him of Yuna. "She's breathing fine and all," I replied and remembered that I had not returned to Lulu at all. "How are Lulu and Wakka?"
"Well, Wakka's in shock," he reported. "Can't blame him, either," my close friend continued as he shrugged his head. "And Lulu, well, she's just the same as always."
"She's so together," I replied praising Lulu's calmness in any event and impressed that she was not emotionally affected at all. "All grown up, I guess."
"I guess."
"Well, just give me five or six more years," I joked at my lack of maturity in me. Tidus gave a small nod and turned to nearby Kimahri. I assumed that he was going to ask about Yuna.
"So, Kimahri, how do we get out of here?" he asked the Ronso, which made me gaped at my wrong prediction.
"Hey, don't change the subject!" I nudged Tidus back, hinting to him to ask Kimahri about Yunie.
"We climb."
"Kimahri, too!" I tried to make the Ronso guardian hint to Tidus as well. Kimahri looked back at me with his fierce saffron eyes which made me shudder.
"Only those who try will become."
"Huh?" I was astonished his sudden irrelevant answer.
"I think he means that you have to work hard if you want to be like Lulu," Tidus interpreted.
"Oh I will!" I finally had the gist of Kimahri's sayings.
"Kimahri thinks that Rikku should stay Rikku," the blue guardian interrupted.
"Hey!" I accosted Kimahri at his crude remark. "Are you saying I'll never be like Lulu? Kimahri!" I could only hear Tidus laughing away at our slight feud. Suddenly, Wakka came to us.
"How can you laugh at a time like this?" Wakka asked with irritancy. Another scene caught my eye; my cousin summoner was coming round.
"Yuna!" Tidus gave a cry as he ran over to her.
"Rikku, could you inform Auron that Yuna has come round?" Lulu came up to me.
"Why me?" I was shocked at them passing the buck.
"You're 'closest' to him," Lulu gave another cold reply and walked back to Yuna. I turned to ran in the direction which led me to the crimson guardian.
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"Coming back for trouble?" I heard the abrupt sound in Auron as I approached him.
"Well...yes and no," I answered to his peculiar question. The crimson guardian was seated on one metal pipe. Auron gave a chuckle.
"You remind me of someone," he replied with nostalgia.
"It's that Al Bhed, right?" I tried to hit the nail on his head.
"No," he snapped back. It was obvious that Auron was lying. Usually, it would take him less than the smallest unit of time to give a false answer. Remembering my purpose for coming, I came up to him.
"It's Yuna," I spoke. "She has come round."
"I'll be there," he replied.
"Don't you wanna go there now?" I replied sarcastically as I pretended to be amazed at his behaviour.
"Go first," he instructed.
"Oh fine," I replied back and rushed back to the scene to check on Yuna.
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"I want to confront Maester Seymour about his father, Lord Jyscal," Yuna explained to us all as we looked to her for the sudden action that she took in agreeing to the marriage. "I wanted to convince him to turn himself to Yevon's judgement."
"In exchange for marriage?" Lulu asked her. Yunie gave a nod.
"Yes, if that's what it took."
"So, what did Seymour say?" Tidus queried about the result.
"He didn't say anything," she continued. "Now...now I don't even think that it was worth it," Yuna showed some regret. "I should've told you what I was going to do."
"Enough," Auron snapped back as he just came up to us. "Dwelling in the past is futile."
"Hey!" I turned to him, a little angry at his hurting words. "You don't have to say it like that!"
"You want to waste time listening to her regrets?"
"You don't have to say it like that," I faced Yuna while trying to reply to Auron's argument.
"Our immediate concern is Yuna's pilgrimage," the crimson guardian explained while making his way before the summoner. "Are you willing to go on?"
"Yes," Yuna replied with determination and looked up at Auron. "But then, do you think that Yevon would allow it?"
"The fayth are the ones that give power to the summoners," he stated his explanation. "Not the temples or the teachings," he continued. "If the temples try to stop us..." Auron closed his eye and took a deep breath. "Then we will defy Yevon if we must."
"Whoa!" Tidus butted in shocked at Auron's sudden suggestion. I too was amazed at the red guardian's sudden decision.
"I can't believe you said that!" I exclaimed at Auron's sudden 'bad-boy' attitude.
"Sir Auron?!" Lulu was shocked too.
"Count me out," Wakka turned away. "We have to atone, to make up for the sins we committed." He continued, "Of course...It's not like I ever liked Maester Seymour, ya?" "No way I'll ever forgive him for killing Lord Jyscal," the blitzball captain continued his stand. "And for trying to do us all in, you know? But still, the bunch of us going against Yevon," he trembled at the thought. "No way!"
"But still," Lulu responded. "We have transgressed and must face our punishment."
"We must go to Bevelle," Yuna decided as she came to lead us. "We must speak with Maester Mika and explain what has happened. There's no other way, I think."
"I agree," Wakka nodded his head in unison.
"Sir Auron..." Yunie turned to the red guardian again.
"So it is decided."
"Will you come with us?" Yuna asked the stoical.
"I am the troublemaker," the guardian gave a rare scowl. "After all."
"Yeah, that's right!" Tidus tried to add in some humour. "You can always count on Auron to complicate things!"
"Yeah!" I joined in the fun. "Kimahri roars, and Auron runs off, and..."
"I never asked you to follow me," Auron replied back frigidly to me.
"Hey, but that's what friends are made for," Tidus intervened. "Right?"
"Yep!" Came by quick enthusiastic reply. I could see Auron giving another arrogant smile again.
"Thank you," Yuna came up to Tidus and I in which he shrugged his head with Auron walking away.
"Friends, huh?" I spoke sarcastically, wanting to play gooseberry.
"Man...How can all of you act like nothing's wrong?" Wakka came up to us annoyed. "Must got nerves of steel or something."
"You're too edgy," Lulu advised the conservative Besaidian. "Listen to the hymn and calm down." It was at this time that I noticed that a hymn was coming from above; from the temple. It was soothing from the humming of the fayth.
"Is that coming from the temple?" Tidus questioned the experienced guardian- mage.
"Yes, it's Yevon's gift," Yuna interrupted in. "It soothes the hearts of the faithful." Following that Tidus walked away to see Auron who was in the distance.
"Not following him?" I tried to help Yunie. She returned with yet another smile.
"He's got to have some privacy too."
"Well...since Seymour's dead," I hinted. "You can be with Tidus."
"Rikku, what I want to do now is to just complete my pilgrimage," she replied back cheerfully. "Emotions can be kept until later."
"But Yunie, you will..." I stopped as she beckoned me to stop.
"It's okay to like someone even if the other doesn't return it," she answered back with a noble rejoinder.
"You can't suppress feelings, you know?"
"Well, what about you?" she answered back trying to get back at me. "You've been with Sir Auron." I took one look at her and started laughing hysterically.
"Auron?!? You mean that meanie and absent-minded guardian?" I continued to laugh. "If he was the last man in Spira, I would rather not be with him."
"It is rude to insult Sir Auron like that," she replied. "Besides, he has saved you many times."
"Well maybe," I answered back. "I already have a sweetheart back home."
"That Al Bhed guy you always talk about?"
"Well...yes," I answered back, remembering the boy whom I had a crush on since the age of twelve. "And he's a much better choice than the old guardian."
"Yunie," I tried to change the subject. "Have you seen this Lyna?"
"I suppose so," she gave a short reply. "She was with my father when they bypassed Bevelle to go north."
"Tell me what she look like."
"She looked like you," Yunie gave a sudden answer. "But a lot older too."
"Really?!?" I was amazed at this strange coincidence. "This is such a coincidence."
"Yes...." She answered when the floor started shaking.
"The singing stopped," Lulu exclaimed as she came back to us.
"There's something here!" Wakka started to panic.
"The ground!" Auron warned as the quake grew stronger. I looked up to see a familiar creature in the water; the creature of death.
"Sin!?" Yuna looked up in shock. I gasped as the monster started to do its dirty work and noticed that Wakka was shocked too.
"The toxin!" Lulu warned. "Watch out!" Before I could know anything, the power of Sin's toxin was so great that it caused me to lose consciousness and collapse to the ground.
Okay, end of this chapter. There is not much of an AU here 'cause I would prefer the story to be a bit original but the AUs should be coming soon. Until then, bye!