A/N: In the conversation below, I wanted them to speak in Al Bhed but I'm too lazy to actually look up the translations, so just imagine that they're speaking in Al Bhed. (is very lazy uu) Also, I figured it'd be inconvenient for you, considering that I'd have to type out the Al Bhed then tell you what it means, so it works out for all of us.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Chapter II: Possession
oooooooooooooooooooo
At night, the Bikanel Desert cools below its average temperature. It's odd: it isn't exactly humid during the day, only the sun radiates heat, which gives the illusion of humidity. The temperature drops dramatically as the sun slowly disappears below the land's ridge, so that must explain why I was so cold that night. That night, everyone was huddled around a small fire, flickering just a few yards away from my tent. I had my back turned to the open entryway; I didn't want to have to see the disgusted faces of our fellow Al Bhed as Pops explained the matter at hand. I knew where Gippal was. I bet he thought I couldn't sense his presence, but he was just a foot away from my tent, away from the entrance. I don't know why he was standing there, so close to his victim (though I'd rather not give it that name), but I had a theory. He's always been so protective over me, even when I was apart of the Gullwings. Back when our home still stood, he'd protect me from the other Al Bhed kids, claiming that they had 'cruel intentions'. Please, I can and always could handle myself, thank you very much! I always used to think that Brother or Pops put him up to it, but in the back of my mind I finally realized that Gippal would always give me this . . . look of possession. It said, "Back off, she's mine," to the others, and that's why I grew up without many friends. That's also why I've always cherished Yunie's, Paine's, and Tidus' friendship. Gippal would never give them that 'look', especially now.
When I first helped form the Gullwings (though Buddy and Brother shut my word down whenever I claim to have helped form it); he would watch over me like a hawk every chance he got. He even suggested that he should join the Gullwings as well, but boy did Brother have a hissy fit about that. After a while, it seemed like he began not to care as much. He had his own life to attend to, just as much as I did. I've always had this nagging feeling, though: was there somebody else? No, there couldn't have been, or so said according to a coworker of Gippal's. He said that Gippal worked night and day and didn't seem to have much other time for a love interest. Afterwards . . . he seemed to have resented me. Whenever I would visit Djose Temple, he either ignored me (void filled with hostility) or shut me down completely. That nagged me the most; why has he been so hostile towards me lately? Well, not lately exactly, but when I was still apart of the Gullwings. He always seemed so . . . upset. That cocky smirk of his was just to throw you off, like a lupus in chocobo's clothing. I knew exactly what lie beneath his cool exterior, but I can't seem to put it into words. Maybe one day he'll tell me why he's shut me down in the past, and even why he's always been so possessive over me. There was no way he could have ever actually liked me, but . . . I don't know. Everything is just all so confusing. The pieces to this puzzle will fall into place eventually.
Or so I hoped.
"We don't know much 'bout the situation so far, but the boy's got a . . . what'd'ya call those things . . ." I could hear Pops trail off. He never was too bright, but he sure did get to the point right away instead of jumping on hot coal. I could never decide whether his bluntness was a virtue or a misfortune. My ears were keen on the conversation being spread throughout the campfire, even if I dreaded the consequences on Gippal's part. I pulled the knit blue blanket around my shoulders more, shivering, although I wasn't cold. The bed, as always, was too stiff to bear. I've adapted to this and my surroundings for the past year or so, but that night, I ached all over the place. Goosebumps crawled down my spine and slithered down my arms, sending me into compulsions of shivers. The rape wasn't that extreme; even the majority of me wanted him to continue, but I could tell . . . that wasn't him. That look in his eye . . . it wasn't his familiar look of possession and sarcasm, it was sadistic, desirable, and fiendish. It scared me.
It wasn't Gippal who was trying to rape me (and who I actually wanted to), it was . . . somebody else entirely. I only realized that the two didn't connect that night, after remembering the look in that lone eye of his. Earlier that day, I just didn't know what to do or who to believe. But really, maybe I'm just making a big deal out of nothing.
"Cid, there is no honest explanation for Gippal's actions. She's your daughter! How can you defend him?" An upset Al Bhed woman protested.
"Well, I know Gippal's got a heart o' gold! There ain't no way he could'a done this without bein' possessed or somethin'!" Pops defended, sounding like fickle fool. I agreed with him . . . but he never was too great at defending his case. If I were skeptical on Gippal's behalf, I probably wouldn't have believed him, either.
"Yeah, right, and who would actually possess him and try to rape Rikku, anyway? That makes a load of sense. Don't tell me you believe in ghost stories now, do you?" An ethnic man scoffed.
"Well, Shinzu, there are ghosts that live among us. Well, they don't exactly live, to say, but ghost fiends, the unsent, or phantoms would be a perfectly good explanation for Gippal's actions," an elder woman explained, logic woven within her words. I mentally agreed with her, wanting so desperately for the majority to be on Gippal's side as well.
"Hey, who was with Gippal last before the . . . um . . . incident?" Another voice questioned. Every Al Bhed (well, every important one, anyway) must have been there, commuting over the situation at hand. Shinra was out there somewhere too, and Buddy and Brother would be on their way soon. Oh joy, can't wait for Brother to give us his two cents worth. He'll more likely take it up with Gippal directly, but I'll just have to make sure that no more damage is inflicted on him than necessary (I've already taken care of that).
Then, a familiar voice sounded throughout the squabbling and bickering, rising over their arguing. "I was with Gippal last. We were installing commspheres at the farthest brink of the ruins, to keep future survey over the area. You never know when a fiend might arise from a distance without our knowledge of it," Shinra told them, voice just as low and intelligent as it had been two years ago.
"You and those damn commspheres, Shinra," another familiar voice stated, voice flavored with humor. Wait, that voice . . . Buddy! I sat up quickly, almost giving myself whiplash, then regretted it as soon I had done it. I saw the shadow of Gippal's head turn towards my direction from outside of the tent, curious as to know of what I was doing. Oopsies! My thin, sky blue blanket fell to my waist as I sat as still as a Ronso monument, afraid to move an inch in fear of Gippal wanting to investigate further. Surely he could see my shadow as well, since my tent was illuminated with candles flickering around each corner, giving the room an orange glow.
But Gippal wasn't able to investigate any further, since another figure stepped up to him and caught his attention as well.
"You disgusting, bastard pervert!" An accented voice shouted, punching Gippal square in the jaw just as I had done earlier that day. "How dare you try and rape my little sister like that!" He continued with a tone thick with venom. You'd have thought that his saliva was poisonous, it was that painful to listen to.
"Brother!" I shouted, hopping out of bed hastily, almost slipping in the sand. I stumbled my way to the exit and saw that Gippal had the upper hand in this one, actually. Hmm, that was odd . . . I could've sworn that Gippal would have let him beat him to a bloody pulp. He let me. I know how strong Gippal, in truth, can be. He could've taken me down . . . but then again; he can be pretty weak sometimes, too. Sometimes he's just . . . careless. I wish he'd watch his back a little more often. Arrogance, humph.
"Stop it!" I shouted, dashing between Brother and Gippal. Gippal almost swung a fist at me by accident but restrained himself at the last second. My eyelids were squeezed shut, prepared for the blow, but when I didn't feel the impact one eye slit open.
"Rikku! Get out of way! This manly business!" Brother warned, attempting to shove me out of the way. When he dared touch me, fury pounced its way down my throat and into my hands, forcing my left one to slap him hard across the face. It left a fine, red handprint on his right cheek, and it wasn't just my rage that bubbled up onto the surface.
"Rikku! How dare you slap me!" Brother shouted, jabbing a finger right before my face. I wrinkled my nose and spread my arms like a petrigrins, clearly defending Gippal.
"Enough already!" I shouted, voice ringing across the desert sands. Every Al Bhed looked our way; there must've been at least fifty of them, burning a hole into me with their eyes.
"Rikku, don't," Gippal whispered, clearly wanting to place a hand on my shoulder but feared that the gesture would cause an uproar. I could read Gippal's aura like a book, even if he wasn't in my line of sight. He said my name for once, which meant he was being pretty damn serious. Ah well.
"Everybody, just shut-up already!" I demanded again as I pounded my fists down into air, yet still managed to stand at a defense stance in front of Gippal. I had had enough, time to set everybody straight! "Hear me out, please! I want to get to the bottom of this just as much as you do, probably even more! No, a lot more! But you can't keep pointing fingers at Gippal! I saw . . . I saw something, something very unreal in his eyes!" Eyes? "Just hold on! This may be connected with Zanarkand-"
"Oh, no," a few from the crowd groaned, interrupting my speech.
I rolled my eyes and continued, "Listen!"
"Rikku, we love you babe, but there's no way he could've been possessed or somethin' from Zanarkand. Don't bring your politics into this heinous mess," Shinzu said, waving away my words. I liked Shinzu and all, but he was really beginning to tick me off. He reminded me of Buddy a lot (considering that they're brothers and all), and even looked plenty like him, but Buddy and Shinzu were different in a lot of ways. Buddy was on my side with the whole Zanarkand ordeal, while Shinzu was for Operation Recreation entirely. Since Buddy was against O.R., it made nerves tense aboard the Celsius with Brother. Politics with Brother was like trying to dance around a feisty, killer fang: you just didn't get out of there alive without being bitten. Shinzu had a shaven head and industrial straps that buckled all along his dark chest, which connected to navy blue shorts, the hem ending right below his knees. He wore black sandals that didn't flatter the rest of his outfit much and yellow goggles that would make you think twice if he were a very large bug or not. The rest of his features resembled Buddy's: a lot. Now that I think back on it, how did I ever not recognize him in the first place?
"Hey, why don't you guys hear her out for once?" Buddy asked, stepping forward. My eyes lit up to see him again, defending my case. I really did miss Buddy while I was away; he always made me laugh. But Gippal made me laugh even more, which was why I had to protect him and our unity. Wait, unity? I need to get out more.
"Hey, Cid's Kid, don't do me any favors, alright?" Gippal stated, voice low for my ears only.
"Shut-up right now, okay?" I replied, voice just as secretive and low. My voice rang out once more, "Shinra, when you were with Gippal last, did anything . . . strange happen?"
"Actually," Shinra replied, "I wasn't essentially with him, but in the same area. We installed the commspheres and left. I wasn't surveying his activity at the time." A long pause stretched out between my people.
"Hey, do the commspheres record whatever's going on during the time you're not logged on?" Buddy broke the silence, turning to Shinra with everybody else. Since everyone was captivated with Shinra at that very moment, it was no surprise that Gippal grabbed my arms and brought them down to still at my sides. Fortunately, Brother had quieted down after I had slapped him and told him off, so he was over with the others by this time, griping over something. When was he not, really?
Gippal yanked me over to his chest, keeping a firm grip on my wrists. Somehow I knew that this was the real Gippal this time, so I didn't struggle. "Don't fuck with me, kid. What's the real reason you're defending me? And after what I did to you?" He hissed in my ear.
"You're innocent! You said it yourself; you can't remember what went on during that time! How can you not defend yourself?" I whispered back, heart rates speeding up a few notches after feeling his hot breath steam against the back my neck.
"I . . ." He trailed off, sighed, then continued, "I don't know what's going on. All that I know is that there's no way you're going to be safe if I stick around."
"Then why did you? Why were you near the outside of my tent, or more likely, right by it? Why did you come back, Gippal?" I hissed, my head leaning back a touch so he could hear me better . . . bad mistake. The back of my head rested on the crook of his neck while his head was bent down beside mine, his lips just a touch away from brushing my cheek. He trailed his hands down mine until our fingers entwined, wrapping each other's warmth around our skin like a fur coat. Even though the air around us was thin and chilly, a wave of heat encased our skin, sending goosebumps down our arms. We felt the same pleasure, the same need, the same desire . . . I wanted nothing more but to trail my tongue along the indentation in his stomach, all the way up to the sprouting hairs on his black and blue chin. He was beautiful, a golden god that should have been printed on a gil coin instead of sweating in a machina temple. I bit my bottom lip when the image crossed my mind: Gippal fingering his bare chest, sweating and huffing after a long day's work. A shudder escaped his lips (I could tell he was thinking similar thoughts) and I would have as well if the crowd hadn't turned back towards the scene we were making. Uh-oh.
Gasps echoed throughout the crowd, confused faces to enraged ones. I could only see through the slits in my eyes; I wanted to close them completely and drown in Gippal's ecstasy, his new aura. But sex could wait; shocking our fellow Al Bhed wasn't exactly on my agenda.
"I- . . ." A lump was caught in my throat, but it wasn't from any urge to cry. Gippal bent his head down completely, face shadowed as he brushed his lips along the line of my neck. A knot was caught below, ready to break (more like explode) if he continued placing butterfly kisses up the soft of my neck and along the line of my jaw. I bit my bottom lip again, mentally pleading for him to stop, yet at the same time, begging for him to continue. My eyes fluttered closed, and a wash of neutral pleasure took over me. I no longer cared if the others were gaping at us in horror; I needed him, more than oxygen, more than a lifeline. No, he was my lifeline.
Don't stop, I silently wished. He let one of my hands fall crippled to my side, while his own found it's way to my underbelly. His fingers were oh-so gentle, like lace, as they traced along my stomach downwards, tickling the few light hairs on my abdomen.
"Stop this immediately!" I could faintly hear Pops demand. The next thing I knew, our pleasure had disappeared. Our heat had returned to a hush of cool, crisp air, and no longer did I feel the desire for him to continue, since his grasp was out of reach. Pops pulled me away from him, shattering our fragile embrace, holding me together. Yevon knows I couldn't.
"P . . . Pops?" I gasped, clamping both of my hands atop my mouth in disbelief. Three Al Bhed held Gippal at a death grip, restricting him from reaching out to me. Gippal struggled violently, jerking left and right, trying to find slack in their grip so he could come to me again. I was terrified. This wasn't like Gippal at all. Gippal would never touch me like that unless I made the first move. Who was this? This was not Gippal!
"That isn't Gippal!" I cried out, hands swinging to my sides, balling into fists. Another hot tear trailed down my cheek, dripping to the sand like it had before. Oh great, just what I needed, another Sob Fest.
Gippal elbowed the Al Bhed holding tightly onto his right arm. The man coughed hoarsely and bent over his stomach a notch, but never let his grip slip. I wiped away another tear and cracked my knuckles, using my thumb to help bend each finger until it popped. It was go time . . . yet again. I stalked over to the struggling Gippal and stared him dead in the eye. He still struggled, but focused on my intentions a little more so now. I smiled a wicked leer and brought my fist back for impact, eyes glowing a radiant green. I could see it in his eye: he knew what was coming. He tried to kick me, his hatred vibrating against my skin, but the three Al Bhed made sure that his feet stayed glued to the sand floor. That's when I let the blow rock him. His head was laid completely back by the time he came to his senses. That strange, sadistic aura left his handsome body; I could feel it rub like soft, faint velvet along my skin.
"Holy fucking Yevon, Kid! I'm gonna kill you one day if you keep punching me right there! Fuck!" Gippal hollered. Yep, back to his same old self. Life was good again.
"Watch your language," an elder warned.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it. I would always punch him right there when he were kids," I flaunted, "though his swearing has gotten quite out of hand lately. I should mold you into shape." When he set his head upright again, I poked him directly on the patch. He scowled at me. I giggled.
"Why are you holding me?" Gippal demanded, eyeing his comrades. They released their grip right away, after accepting the knowledge that Gippal wasn't responsible for his actions, after all.
"Um, sorry boss," one feebly apologized.
"Why? What happened? Am I innocent, now?" Yep, that was our cocky Gippal that we all know and love!
"Something remarkable just happened!" An Al Bhed woman beamed.
"Yeah? Great, 'cause I'm tired of being the martyr," he replied, walking over to the fire. He shut me down completely as he passed, kicking sand into the winds. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Typical, I thought, and followed him with the rest of the other fifty Al Bhed. The others mumbled their apologies for not having faith in my word and followed after Gippal's footsteps, informing him on what he had just done to me. I stopped in my tracks and decided against joining the party.
"Man, guess there really is no such thing as a modest Al Bhed, huh?" Buddy joked, nudging Brother.
"Why you nudge me?" Brother demanded as his voice pitched with accusation.
"If you two ladies are done bickering-"
"Who bickers? Wait, I'm no lady! Shinra is lady!"
"You're right, you're a little girl!" I giggled, toeing the sand.
"Rikku, you-"
"What the fuck . . . Shinra, can you please continue?" Buddy ended the squabbling.
"Right . . . any who, so as I was telling the others, Rikku, commspheres-"
"Wait, but I didn't ask about commspheres," I pointed out.
" . . . I'm aware, but I just thought that you'd like to be informed-"
"Oh Yevon, has Shinra actually come around about telling us of importance instead of waiting for us to ask first?" I gasped in mock disbelief.
"Fine, just forget it," Shinra shook his head, taking a few steps away from out party before I grabbed at his arm. He's still so short! I wonder how old he is, now?
I giggled, "No, please, Shinra. I'm just kidding around! Please, continue."
He sighed in apparent exasperation. "As I was saying-"
"Stop it!" Brother hollered at Buddy as he kicked sand on his boots.
"That's it," Shinra put his foot down and walked away towards the growing crowd, surrounding the small fire.
"Oh, Shinra!" I called out, yet knew my efforts were in vain.
"Don't worry, Rikku, Shorty told us everything he knew . . . which is everything, according to him," Buddy informed, standing straight and still to show Brother that he was serious about this case. Brother kept still, as well, surprisingly.
"So, what's up?" I asked, giddy to learn. It's funny how tears can melt away to laughter, just a moment after confusion and a crowd's growing caution to their leader. There was still a thick, bubbling lump in my throat, but I tried to ignore it while Buddy talked with a serious tone.
"Shinra told us that the new commspheres they've been installing in Zanarakand hook up to a huge database, which can hold up to a thousand different spheres and about two hundred hours worth onto each one. This makes recording the surrounding area a lot easier, without wasting a lot of memory. Every three minutes, the commsphere activates without you having to log on and records just about every detail of the surrounding area for about ten minutes, until it logs off again. It may have recorded their activities in the area and if any strange paranormal activity was spied on during said time," Buddy finished, hands resting on his hips while Brother just danced in place, probably mocking Yunie when she hits the stage (that being just a week ago). He does a bad imitation of Yunie. When Buddy saw what had captivated my attention, he slapped Brother on the back of the head and turned back to me.
I shook my head and looked up at Buddy with bright eyes, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go check out that sphere!" Saying that reminded me of when I was still apart of the Gullwings. It hurt to say and remember. That lump in my throat was getting pretty damn hard to ignore, now.
"It's not as simple as that," Buddy shook his head as well, "the station's back in Djose and, well . . ." He glanced over to the murmuring, wary crowd.
"They don't know what to do with that bastard Gippal!" Brother finished for him, stomping up and down like a grumpy child.
"That, and what to do with you," Buddy added. "You're in big trouble, missy."
"Wait, what did I do?" I demanded, folding my arms across my chest.
"Nothing, but it seems that whatever's controlling Gippal activates when you're around, Rikku. This shit is bad mojo, man, you don't wanna be caught up in the web," he clapped a hand onto my small shoulder, giving me a look that said, "Watch your back." The night was filled with twinkling stars, the sky as purple and black as Gippal's bruises, but I couldn't enjoy any of this—not even the sweet smell of desert sand when sprayed with breeze because I could only think of one person. I didn't want to be away from him any longer, even if our passion was under false pretenses.
"No," I shook my head, pulling away so Buddy's hand would fall limp to his side again. "No, I . . . I need to be near—at least near him. We have to clarify . . . a lot," I whispered those last words, spoken softly as my eyes caught sight of Gippal's stern yet intrigued expression, only yards away as he listened to the words of his people. He was speaking amongst the group, cracking a few jokes here and there from what I could tell since the others began laughing at random moments. I smiled weakly. The sight of him caught my breath and stilled my lungs, but there was business to attend to . . . much.
Gippal looked my way, probably feeling my stare at the back of his neck like an itch. I immediately averted my head back towards the foolish Buddy and Brother and giggled, hoping that Gippal would think otherwise of me staring at him for more than a second would. Now I could feel him stare at the back of my head, he still talking with the others but keeping full attention on me.
I have chosen you. You belong to me now.
I whipped my head back around, my bright, orange hair, blowing in the breeze with it. Gippal's eyes were . . . different. Those words that had spoke with promise in my head weren't my own, but they weren't Gippal's words, either. A cackle echoed inside of my head, throbbing against my eardrums. I cringed and tried to block the sound out, but to no avail.
We'll see who has the last laugh, darling.
oooooooooooooooooooo
A/N: Hmm . . . that ended up being a lot longer than I had first imagined for it to be . . . er, if you're actually reading this, sorry for such an uneventful chapter. That has to be about five pages worth of 'talking' scenes. Don't you hate 'talking' scenes in books? Especially when they're all just talking out of their asses, repeating the same damn subject like a broken record: "So we must do this? I don't understand. So we do that? Run that by me again. Why are we still talking?" Anyway, so again, sorry for all of the talking . . . I just wanted to make everything clear (hopefully I did), and explain a bit more on the subject matter. There is a definite connection between Rikku and Gippal's blind eye, which I'll hopefully get around to explaining in the next chapter. Everything will go a bit faster in the future, I promise! (no guarantees, though ) Also, I would like feedback on whether you've enjoyed the 'juicy bits' or not. My friend seems to have . . . but then again; she is my friend and all, so her word isn't exactly golden when it comes to critique. I really hope that, whoever you may be, have enjoyed reading this so far, because I've enjoyed writing it! I haven't been writing in months (except for my journal), so it really is a relief to finally vent my creative writing skills into a project like this. Do review, please! It's always nice to be appreciated, because I appreciate you!
P.S. After revising this chapter, I've realized in fact that maybe I don't go too slowly . . . but too fast! Oh, I'm so confused! Please tell me whether you think that my chapters go too fast or too slow so that I may be able to fix my mistakes in the future! Thank you!