Love Through Jealousy

Natsue Arishima

Chapter Seven: Maester

"Everyone, this is it."

Yuna's small voice echoed throughout the temple, light yet firm. Beside her, Tidus tensed visibly as he turned away, bright blue pools downcast. The summoner's determination seemed to fade with him, and she suddenly seemed small without the blitzball player at her side.

She took a shaking breath, suddenly shivering despite the warmth. "Well… we can't kept Seymour waiting, can we?" she whispered. Her hands shook as she tightly clenched her staff.

Wakka twitched suddenly as guilt flooded through him. He had completely forgotten that Yuna was going to… He had been too caught up with his own thoughts to even think about hers… He hadn't even reassured her about it. In fact, he mused, he hadn't talked to Yuna for days.

Rikku stared up at him, her emerald eyes reading easily through him. The redhead frowned, wishing she'd look away. His arm dropped from her side, but she pressed closer to him, murmuring, "It's not your fault. It was Yunie's decision."

He shook his head. His guilt intensified when Yuna turned towards him and smiled. "I'm glad the two of you made up."

Dammit!

Why was she always so nice?

Slowly, he stared at the stone steps that lead to the trials… and that damn blue-headed freak.

---

This… was… insane…

All sane thoughts had fled her mind. Her breath came up in little puffs before her, goosebumps once again dotting her skin. Damn Macalania and its stupid weather. The sky was bleak and empty above her, shielding away the warmth and keeping in the cold. It didn't help that they were being chased by freaky frog dudes either.

Wakka ran next to her, staring nervously behind him. She could sense his bewilderment, fear, and shock.

Far ahead of her, Tidus was sprinting as fast as he could towards the snowmobiles, his hand clenched securely around Yuna's. Kimahri was close behind, spear in hand, glancing warily around him as he ran, and Lulu was next to him, crimson eyes focused forward. Her Onion Knight, however, was eyeing the temple and the men pouring out of its doors.

Auron. Where was Auron?

Rikku's breath hitched in her throat as she stumbled and flailed wildly for her footing. The snow was an icy shock, and she suddenly found that her limbs refused to move. It was so cold…

They had killed Seymour.

Her mind wouldn't register it, refused to acknowledge the fact. Sure, it was nice knowing that perverted bastard would never bother them again, but… They had just killed a maester. A maester with an endless supply of dumb henchmen. Why?

Damn they were unlucky.

She turned, watching helplessly as her pursuit slowly gained on her. Suddenly, Wakka was at her side, tugging her up. She stood weakly, leaning heavily on the redhead's shoulder, and fear gripped her as the pounding of feet in snow neared. Seymour's guards were only a few feet away…

Something red rushed past them, metal glinting.

Auron.

He turned towards the two of them, both stunned, and narrowed his eye. "Go!" he snapped. They didn't move. Growling, he slammed into both of them, urging them hastily forward.

Breathlessly, Rikku was dragged away by Wakka. She stared behind her, watching as Auron slashed through the guards. Scarlet dotted the snow as cries and thuds of lifeless bodies littered the sky. She bit her lip, wanting to help, but Wakka held her back, forcing her to run.

"No…" she whispered, suddenly fighting the strong grip. How could he survive? There were too many…

They had reached the frozen lake. She slipped and Wakka nearly fell with her. Close to them lay the remains of the machina they had previously destroyed. Rikku eyed it with disgust, still wincing at the many cries of pain of the Guado behind them, growing faint.

"He'll be fine," Wakka snapped. "Worry about your own butt, why don'tcha?"

She stared up at him. He could see confusion in her eyes, and he turned away. "I told you, he'll be fine!" She continued to stare. The two of them had stopped moving. Wakka ran a frustrated hand through his hair before sighing. There was no way he could prevent Rikku from taking action when it came to Auron. He smiled softly but quickly hid it with irritation. "This is what I hate about Al Bheds. Do you know how annoyingly stubborn you are?"

Rikku stared at him for a few seconds before a small smile found its way to her face. "Thanks Wakka," she whispered as he slowly let her go. He glared at her before eyeing the now distant forms of Yuna and her guardians.

"But if you die, s'not my fault," he snapped before sprinting forward.

Hesitating slightly, Rikku bit her lip at his retreating back before spinning back the way she came, fumbling in her pouch for her claws…

When suddenly, the ground shook.

---

As he swung one leg over a snowmobile, Tidus paused and looked behind him where Yuna stood motionless, her mismatched eyes wide with surprise and terror. Tidus sighed and stood back up, a faint urgency hidden in his voice. "Come on, Yuna. We have to go. I'm not letting them get you."

The summoner shook his head. "No. The Guado I'm not worried about." Her voice was soft, tinged with fear. Tidus frowned, placing a hand on her shoulder. She almost jumped. He couldn't believe how cold she was.

"Hey," he whispered, trying to rub the warmth back into her arms. "It's going to be okay."

Silence. And then… "No." Slowly, she raised her hand and pointed towards the distant lake. Uncertainty seized him as stared towards the frozen sheet of ice. His first thought was of that machina they had fought earlier. Had it somehow resurrected? What he saw was much worse.

Wordlessly, he and Yuna sprinted back towards the glistening lake.

---

She spun around, eyes wide, as the gigantic beast approached her. It was of a pale hue, covered in a layer of thick fur. It stared at her out of dark, beady eyes, and slowly raised a pair of its four arms. She could hear ice cracking as it continued its slow assault.

Her reaction kicked in moments before it swung at her. Shoving a hand hastily into her pouch, she pulled out a grenade and chucked it as hard as she could towards the towering beast. It roared as the bomb connected with its arms but didn't seem to be harmed at all. Rikku bit her lip. Her action seemed to have done nothing except make the creature angry.

Great.

One of its large arms came towards her and she dodged it, slashing at it wildly with her claws. Dark blood oozed from the small wound and the monster didn't even flinch. Its other arm came towards her.

A blitzball came out of nowhere and thwacked the creature on its head. It gave a confused scream and spun around. Its eyes focused on Wakka, who caught his ball on its rebound. The monster roared and started forward, lumbering with surprising speed towards the redhead.

A green blur suddenly charged towards her, shrieking, and Rikku stumbled backwards out of shock. A Guado. She winced, raising her arms over her head, expecting painful impact. She was received with nothing.

The shriek slowly died and Rikku peeked open an eye. The Guado gazed at her, his eyes glassy. A sword was connected to his stomach. Auron scoffed as he shrugged the dying guard off his blade.

Rikku swallowed, gawking at the legendary guardian. He had saved her again. Suddenly, it was no longer cold to her. A bubble of happiness welled up inside of her, and she lunged towards her surprised savior, clutching the red robe and whispering her thanks over and over again.

Auron raised an eyebrow.

She broke away from him, blushing and scolding herself. Not only had she hugged him, she had done so in the middle of a battle. She couldn't stop smiling though.

There was a roar and she spun around. Kimahri had charged forward, his spear glinting dangerously as he took a swipe at the powerful beast. Evading a giant paw, he slid behind the monster and continued to attack.

The monster seemed not affected, only annoyed. He continued to attempt to squish the blue blur, screaming out in pain when Kimahri sprang upwards and slashed at his eyes. Blood clotted in its sleek fur, pouring out of closed lids.

Behind it, Lulu took her chance, shutting her eyes as her arms raised automatically over her head. Her many belts clicked in an invisible wind, dark hair sliding over her shoulders. Her Onion Knight slipped onto the ice, mimicking her, and the two of them summoned a fierce firaga attack.

Shrieking, the monster began to swipe wildly. One fist connected with Kimahri's chest and the Ronso was sent flying backwards. He collided with a pillar of ice and was still. Within moments, Yuna rushed to his side.

It turned to Lulu, and the smell of burnt flesh was obvious as the last flecks of flame faded off scorched fur.

There was a sharp intake of breath as the black mage dodged three consecutive swings of its many arms; the fourth one found her stomach and there was a crack of broken ribs as she skidded backwards, still upright but her face was contorted with pain. Wakka cursed loudly and began to run towards her.

Out of desperation and an attempt to save her friend, Rikku found another grenade and chucked it.

Auron suddenly pushed Rikku out of the way as the wendigo charged towards them. Wincing, the guardian raised his sword and parried the heavy fist; the force of it slid him backwards several feet.

"Yuna!" he yelled, face strained. "You have to summon!"

The summoner hesitated, a pained expression on her face. Her aeons hadn't faired well in her previous battles…

"Yuna!"

She nodded, shutting her eyes and raising her staff.

Behind her, chunks of ice fell from the sky, digging deep into the ground. The tremor shook her and she swallowed. Beside her, Tidus tumbled forwards.

A woman was flowing down from the heavens, long hair rippling out behind her. She landed gently within the cavern of ice, the many smooth sheets reflecting a fair and yet scarred face. With a simple gesture of an arm, the ice around her shattered, cutting through the air like glistening diamonds. Her blank eyes examined her surrounds before they fell upon Yuna.

Questioning.

The summoner breathed out air. She let out a small smile. "Forgive me for calling you again," she murmured, "but we need your strength, Shiva."

The woman gazed intently at the summoner, as if probing for weakness, before shutting her blank eyes. "Give all you have," Yuna whispered.

Shiva didn't respond; merely raised her pale arms, her cerulean hair fanning out behind her. A glistening light appeared at the tips of her fingers, gradually growing. The air swirled around her, crawling towards the source of growing power. Slowly, Shiva lowered her gaze towards her opponent and fixed her hands towards the oblivious beast. Ice erupted from her palms and guttural cries quickly diminished as the beast was frozen alive.

Yuna shivered as a gust of cold wind whipped past her. She saw Auron quickly twist out of the way of the ice. The force of the gale heightened; the blast of air screamed at her, pushing her forward. Strong arms secured themselves around her waist, keeping her still. Tidus.

Just as quickly as it had started, the draft stopped and Shiva eyed her frozen prey. The smallest of smiles gracing her lips, she snapped her fingers.

The beast exploded, imbedded with glistening slivers of ice.

And then the ground below their feet gave way.

---

A/N: Dun dun dun duuuuun! Heh... actually, not really. If people have played up to this point on the game, I'm sure they'll know what'll happen next... But anyhoo, I updated again! Whoo! I would have put this up yesterday, but as most of you probably know, there was the whole gigantic update thingy that kicked everyone off.

Anyway, next update shall be: November 28, 2004 ( yes, it's necessary to put in the year.) Or at least around then... I hope...

- Natsue Arishima