I know I haven't posted in forever, but I brought you guys two chapters at once! Yay! Oh, come on, booing is childish- please stop throwing tomatoes...
Disclaimer: Well, actually, I own everything in this story...except for the characters which Squaresoft owns, and the battle system, which Squaresoft also owns, and...
Chapter Nine: Pyreflies
"Maybe you don't want to remember..."
It has been an hour since that fateful conversation. Out of respect, the group remained silent so that Sitaten may concentrate harder in order to force her memories to resurface. Kicking the dirt as she walked a casual pace, she erected a barrier around herself so that the memories of long gone people did not shock her.
"You're right...maybe I don't want to remember." she muttered to no one in particular. Night had fallen at a fairly quick pace, and the others were building camp, allowing her to roam free in the wilds until she could figure out something more, something meaningful.
When Shuyin had informed her that they would be moving through the Moonflow, she was more than afraid- something inside her was pulling her away from the Moonflow, and instructing her to go to Bevelle. And oddly enough, something was pushing her forward, giving her a sense of purpose, a need to get to the pyrefly-inhabited lake. So what was she to do?
A gentle hand on her shoulder surprised her. Turning, she gasped, not expecting the person she had seen.
"Hey...Princess," even in the dark, Sitaten could make out the bright blond hair and the bright green eyes.
"Yeah?" she croaked.
"Shuyin says that you were over-exposed to an Aeon, right? But maybe the reason you can't remember is because of some trauma you had during the experience...? Maybe you could think of something?" Sitaten leaned her head back and searched the heavens for an answer. Sighing, she closed her eyes and slipped herself into a trance.
Beautiful outstretched wings- feathers in red, gold, and blue. The wildest call of a furious beast in agony-
"Bahamut." Sitaten whispered, "He thought- he thought she was hurting me." a choked noise escaped her thought and she laced her face in her hands.
"He thought..." the voice was lost through her sobs, "She was...Lenne was protecting me, damn it!" she screamed. At those words, Gippal panicked. So, this girl did have a deep connection with Lenne, and Shuyin was none the wiser.
He had been afraid that his friend was falling for her. Of course, the others were not so sure- Shuyin could be cold, distant- sometimes even heartless, and this girl- whoever she was- seemed to bring him out of his shell when no one else could. And now, he has discovered that the two were best friends and that maybe even Lenne died saving her...
It was too much to bear.
"Le" the name faded into body-wracking sobs so full of grief, it was nearly painful to watch. Sitaten was always so...strong. To see someone like her break down and fall into so much despair, was surprising, dreadful, and even haunting.
"What's going on, here?" Gippal knew that Shuyin would find her sooner or later. Possessed by the same curse as Sitaten, he most assuredly felt her outburst of grief. Shuyin looked to the shuddering girl on the forest floor.
"Stop..." Shuyin quietly commanded. But Sitaten could not hear him through her grievous cries of pain and loss.
"Stop your wailing...it's annoying."
"Maybe I should go," Gippal suggested, and with one long sympathetic look to Sitaten, he began his way back to camp.
"Sita," Shuyin crouched down when he was sure that the Al Bhed was gone.
"She" Sitaten cried. Shuyin watched her crying for a while, the darkest of blues and blacks enveloped her body and scent as her memories came pouring back to her in an unstable flow.
"Come here," he opened his arms for her. At first, he thought she had not heard him, bu when she went flying into him with such desperation and trust, Shuyin allowed himself one smile of relief.
"She died, Shuyin. She died because of me... she was protecting me." Suddenly he had a lump in the back of his throat. Swallowing slowly, he looked down at the top of her head, where he placed his chin and closed his eyes.
"Find him for me...Sita...you're my only hope- our...only hope." Lenne was prostrated on the floor, the mighty Bahamut towering over their figures. Blood was slowly leaking from the back of her head, and her legs and arm were twisted at odd angles. Her clothes ripped, she was barely covered.
"How could you!" Sitaten screamed at the great beast, which gave a furious call in return.
"Sita... I will try to," Lenne swallowed some of the blood pooling in her mouth, "Restore the balance from the other side...your ability will help us communicate" she coughed. "Please, take care of him for me...he'll...die inside when he learns of my... demise. Take care of him for me."
"Lenne," Sitaten choked. "Please don't die, Lenne...I can try and heal you." Sitaten flexed her fingers and cast Curaga, the strongest of healing spells. Lenne chuckled pathetically and turned her head to the side.
"Nothing short of full-cure will help me. Go, Sita, before...before...Bahamut..." she stopped mid-sentence, her jaw going slack, and her eyes staring into nothingness. She was gone. Her Lenne was gone.
"LENNE!" she screamed.
"Lenne!" Sitaten sobbed. The body that was providing her warmth and comfort tensed, immediately she regretted mentioning her name in front of him. Sitaten forced herself to end her grief and looked up to find Shuyin swallowing again and again in hopes of holding back his tears.
"I'm sorry, Shuyin. The others," she sniffed, " told me that she," sniff, "was someone important..." hiccup, "to you." She buried her head into his chest, empathetically feeling his pain as well.
"You can read emotions too, huh? That's how come you know what I'm thinking all the time." Sitaten rubbed her cheek as a kitten would against their master's legs. "You always kept your emotions bottle up inside...that's why I could never sense you. Did you ever cry for her?" she looked up again to see his response. His jaw was clenching and unclenching in furious anguish.
"Lenne...died saving you?" Shuyin's voice was cracking, and unshed tears were pooling at the corners of his eyes.
"Yes...and I regret letting her. But she just," Sitaten whimpered, "she just jumped in front of me when we saw Him coming. Bahamut thought she was going to hurt me."
"Lenne," Shuyin whispered and closed his eyes, allowing one tear to escape his defenses. There was more she wanted to say- so much more that needed to be said. But she knew not to ruin this moment. For a split second, Sitaten had brought Lenne back to him from the dead.
It was dawn when Sitaten had awoken to find herself still in Shuyin's arms. Laid out across the soft bed of autumn leaves, Shuyin held her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin resting atop her head. Burrowing for warmth, Sitaten found that she liked the sound of his heartbeat. Before she had drifted off, the thought of him slipping away without her explaining the connection would scar their friendship forever. She was not even sure if their friendship was not already hitting dry land.
"Shuyin," Sitaten whispered his name. Half-asleep, half-awake, she came to her sense when she felt his chest rumble in sleepy acknowledgment. "It's dawn," she started. "We should head back to camp."
He did not answer. But when Sitaten made to stand, his grip around her waist tightened, and Sitaten began to feel butterflies dancing in her stomach. "They won't miss us. I'm sure Gippal's warned them off." his voice was deep, harsh, and...yes, sexy. Blushing, Sitaten forced those thoughts away, suddenly afraid that he would feel her slight lapse.
"I" Sitaten began.
"Be quiet...I can't sleep with you talking." The words brushing against her ear caused her to tense, and almost pull away. Of course, his embrace would not allow it.
"Go to sleep, Sitaten." he commanded. Closing her eyes, she smiled at the thought that she had finally brought peace to his troubled mind. How long had he wondered how his lover died?
Midday. The sun high above the horizon, and the misty haze surrounding the forest began slowly lift. Trudging through the muddy ground, Sitaten stayed ahead of the group, as near to Shuyin as she could possibly get without arousing suspicion. She, of course, knew why she felt compelled to be with him- misery loves company, and he needed hers dearly. She was the last person to see Lenne. The only person who could feel her presence even now.
Suddenly she stopped in her tracks, awarding her many curious glances. At first, they though she might have felt the presence of a fiend, but when she turned around with a guilty look on her face, they seemed relieved. "Paine," she called out. The girl looked up at her without emotion, her eyes expressionless, she seemed to have been in deep contemplation. Baralai as well.
"What is it?" Normally the words would be harsh and demanding, angry even, but this time they were soft, and emotionless.
"I'm sorry. I should never have hit you. It's just that..." she took a step closer to her and began to whisper so that only she and Baralai, who had been strangely walking next to her but not close enough to seem together, could hear. "If there is one thing in this world I hate, it's seeing people throw away such a gift. I apologize, I was out of line."
"I shouldn't have hit you either." Paine shrugged and then sighed, shaking her head as well as her doubt. "That was a good jab...you're improving." she mussed up her hair and then walked past her, leaving a grinning Sitaten in her wake.
"It's about time you two got over your differences." Rikku began to walk beside her. "The tension in this group was crazy!" Sitaten chuckled.
"Sita! Come look! I've found it!" Out of nowhere, a voice called to her. Panicking, Sitaten looked around her, unable to find Rikku who had just been standing there a moment ago. She continued to walk, only to fall unceremoniously on her romp.
"Sitaten! Are you okay?" Rikku giggled as she bent to help her best friend up, only to frown when her hand went straight through her.
"What the- Shuyin! Paine! Gippal! Baralai!" Rikku shouted at the top of her lungs. Everyone halted mid-step and turned to see what was going on.
"Is there a problem?" Baralai asked.
"Tell her to get up." Paine crossed her arms over her chest, wearing a scowl on her face.
"I'm trying to. She won't budge!" Rikku demonstrated by moving her hands through Sitaten again and again. The girl did not even appear to have heard her. Or seen her for that matter. In fact, she was looking somewhere in the woods, pale and frozen. Shuyin was the first to get there, although he was the farthest away.
"I can't sense her either." he tested out her solidity by moving his hand through her body as well.
"Don't touch her. There's no telling what might happen if she solidifies while our hands are moving through her..." Shuyin stopped when he heard running footsteps. Upon thinking it may have been some strange fiend that did this to her, he turned around, Brotherhood in hand, ready to strike, only to stop short when he recognized a face.
"What are you doing on the ground. Come on, I've found the lake." Lenne grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Unable to do anything but allow herself to be dragged through the forest, she heard herself say, "Okay, I'm coming." and then a girlish giggle erupted from her throat.
Sitaten had never had an experience like this before. She had seen many apparitions from the past and present in her lifetime but never, never was she tugged into it physically. The image of Lenne sharpened when she grabbed her hand. The season noticeably went from late summer to early fall and the temperature dropped significantly. If she did not know any better, she would say that it was sometime around October.
"Okay, slow down, Lenne!" Sitaten tried to look back to see if the others were following, but her neck would not obey, and she could not hear footsteps or the sound of Gippal, Paine, and Baralai's chatter.
"I told you I wasn't lost!" Sitaten stopped in her tracks at the sight before her.
Stretching out for at least a mile was the Moonflow. The navy blue water moved in soft, undulating waves, hypnotizing Sitaten for what seemed like eons. High above were weeping willow trees, some of the branches dipping deep into the water and blossoms scattering across the surface. But most important were the colorful pyreflies- the souls that one sees during a Sending or after the death of a fiend. Their light reflecting in the depths of the cool water, they danced in circles. What would bring these creatures here?
"Do you see that over there?" Lenne's words were more solid, more real. Hand extended to the trees on the other side of the lake, she pointed to the large multicolored bubbles latching onto tress and near the water's surface.
"What are they?" Sitaten turned to Lenne, wanting to ask the question and having the question asked for her.
"Memories. Hundreds of them. You will see more when we travel through Macalania woods."
"Memories of the dead?" Sitaten asked. Frowning, her best friend nodded.
"I wonder why no one has ever sent these lost souls." Lenne shifted her weight to one side.
"Lenne...this was during her pilgrimage as a summoner. They did know each other..." Shuyin whispered as he watched them from behind the tree line. The girls were wading their feet in the water, and Sitaten seemed a little troubled.
"This is my birthday present to you, Sita!" Lenne gave her a hug that reminded him much of the ones she used to lavish him with.
"I forgot again!" Sitaten cupped her hand over her mouth and giggled guiltily.
"You have the worst memory ever! I know...why don't we tattoo your name on your body." Lenne teased.
"Oh, ha-ha: you think you're so funny." Sitaten began to move deeper into the water, picking up her pace. Lenne started to move faster, in an attempt to over take her. Soon, it turned into a race of who could get the farthest the quickest.
"Okay, okay- come back before the tide pulls you away from me." Sitaten laughed and grabbed a hold of Lenne's arm.
After floating around on their backs for a long while, Sitaten began to frown. Her time spent with Lenne was so short. What would happen in the future? What if only one made it out of this journey alive? She could never imagine living without her.
"Lenne," Sitaten called.
"Eh?" She seemed to have broken Lenne out of deep contemplation.
"It's my life for yours." she whispered. Furrowing her eyebrows, Lenne turned back over and closed the distance between the two of them.
"Must you always be so dark and brooding? Everything will be fine, Sita. You have nothing to worry about."
"I have everything to think about, though. You...you have more here than I do" Lenne was about to protest but Sitaten continued as if she did not notice. "You have Shuyin, your friends back home...everyone in Zanarkand adores you. You're our best chance to getting those documents revealed. The only thing I can do is wave my staff around and dance."
"You're a great summoner" Lenne started.
"No, you're a great summoner. I'm just a great summoner's best friend." Sitaten frowned.
"Must you always be so hard on yourself, Sita. You're doing really well. And who other than you can read people's emotions so effectively? Not even other Empaths. You are worth something, you know."
"Perhaps too much: People use me, Lenne." Sitaten paused to take in a deep breath. "They hurt me only because they know I'll forgive them, because they know I can't hate them for long. And then...they hurt me again." Sitaten began to swim back toward the shore.
"I'd never hurt you like that...you know that, Sitaten." Lenne seemed hurt.
"I know you'd never hurt me like that, but it doesn't stop the others. Yevon knows about my secret. Why don't you think I'm never allowed in Bevelle temple? I smell the lies and corruption within the walls of the city. I've been there. It's like poison. That's why I can't ever lie...I don't want to smell like that." Lenne smiled weakly as Sitaten lied down on the beach.
"Who's to say you'll never fall in love, too? There are many people out there who'd love you. You just have to give people a chance to do right by you." Lenne sat beside her
Sitaten chuckled bitterly, "I've been hurt too many times. People have hit me, cut me, cursed me, and used me for their own personal gain. I'm through with people. When I'm finished with restoring the balance, I'm finding a deserted island or a nice place in the mountains where no one but the Ronsos would want to find me. Of course, you and Shuyin would be more than welcome to visit me, if he'd want to, that is."
"I'm sorry to hear you say that." Lenne lied down next to her and snuggled up close.
"I'm sorry that I feel this way, but it can't be helped. I'll live my life out unless there is a chance where I can die saving you."
"No." Lenne said sharply. "You are intrinsic to this plan alone. You are part of the Bevellian contact. Only you can defeat the dark aeons. Why don't you trust in your abilities? You are so strong, strong enough to be treated this way all your life and not break down at every moment." When Sitaten finally turned to face her, she found tears in her eyes.
"You're my sister now, and I'll take care of you. And when I die, Shuyin will take care of you, too. I know he'll find you ." Lenne wrapped her arms around her and began to sob.
"You miss him, don't you?" Sitaten returned the embrace.
"More than anything in the world," she sniffed. "If you ever feel like this again, Sita, tell me. Don't keep it bottled up inside, or you'll start to hate. You don't want to smell like that either."
"Dear Bahamut." Baralai whispered as he watched the two girls crying in each other's shoulders. "They knew one of them was going to die. They knew..."
"I can't watch this," Rikku sank down onto her knees in angst, unsure whether or not she was depressed that Sitaten had felt that way, or the fact that she was jealous of their closeness. When she looked up at Paine, the older woman had a single tear running down her cheek, Gippal in that background scratching his head and looking to the ground. Worst of all was Shuyin, who kept clenching and unclenching his jaw.
"I'll repay you for everything you've ever done for me, Lenne."
"Just take care of Shuyin for me..."
"I will. I promise." The girls stayed that way for at least an hour. Both nodding off ever now and then. Soon, Sitaten stirred awake as though disturbed by something.
"Lenne," she called. The girl sleeping beside her moaned and turned over. Sitaten's eyes flickered a few feet away where they had left their staffs.
"Do you feel that?" Sitaten asked. The ground was shaking slightly, with each second the vibrations rew more violent.
"Fiends!" Lenne shot up just in time to push Sitaten out of the way of an oncoming Basilisk, only to leave open for an attack. The creature quickly sank its teeth into her, and ripped a hole in her side.
"LENNE!" Sitaten shouted, driving the snake to herself. Not caring if she was torn apart, she started to run toward it, only to flip over it as it made to strike, the snake smashed its head into the ground, dazing it for a few moments.
"Lenne. I can heal you!" Sitaten placed her hands on her sides.
"My energy is low," her breathing was labored, "and I'm ...poisoned. Destroy that thing first." Lenne said as she fumbled with a bottle of antidote. Sitaten opened the top for her and poured it into her mouth for her. Lenne pushed her away. "You have to kill it. It only sees me!"
"You'll die!" Sitaten shouted. Her chest constricted in pain and her eyes filled with tears.
"Do as I say! Protect yourself. NOW!" Lenne mustered the last of her energy to push her away forcefully. Sitaten turned her angry eyes to the fiend, who was quickly recovering.
"That...was a mistake." he voice was a low, guttural growl. "Staff!" she shouted. The silver and gold rod flow into her hands instantly. As the snake darted at her, Sitaten blocked by smacking its head away. Her lip curled up in disgust.
"You are dust." her staff dissipated and the air around her suddenly grew cold. Placing two fingers on her lips and twisting around once, the belly of the basilisk was frozen to the ground. Pulling her hands around in a semicircle above herself, a blue glow entered her eyes and teal veins traced them like crow's feet. Finally, Sitaten grabbed her wrist and pointed her two fingers at the creature, a gale of frozen wind carrying chunks of ice encasing the demon in layers. When her energy was exhausted, she curled her hand up and snapped her fingers, shattering the fiend into thousands of pieces while freeing the pyreflies.
"Lenne!" Sitaten immediately turned to the dying woman and kneeled by her side. She had stopped breathing and her life blood was still draining from her body. "Oh, no you don't." Overcome with an insurmountable anger, she quickly stood and her staff appeared in her hands again. Driving the pointed end into her chest, white energy collected in her center, brightening with each passing moment, and with a final burst, created a supernova and drove itself back down into Lenne's chest. The next second, everyone was blinded by the most brilliant of white lights.
It had been a task for the others holding Shuyin back from rushing to help Lenne, but they had to remind him that he could hurt Sitaten if her touched her. But when the light had faded, he was by her side, Sitaten laid out onto of her, depleted, but still breathing.
"Lenne, wake up!" he desperately tried to shake her, but each time, his hand went straight through both girls. And each time, she seemed to fade more, and Sitaten started to solidify. Until finally, she was gone, and the younger summoner was solid once again.
"By the hand of the Fayth...that was..." Paine was taken aback, her eyes alight with fear.
"The overdrive of the Fayth, Shiva." Baralai finished for her. Paine's eyes snapped to him for the first time in days. She seemed afraid, very afraid- and that was unlike her.
"This is impossible." Gippal was shocked, too.
"What? You mean to tell me that she just did a move that only Shiva could do?" Rikku pointed to Sitaten. Baralai swallowed and then nodded.
"Cool!" Rikku jumped up and down.
"You don't understand, Rikku. This is the reason she's been used so much. That kind of power isn't made for the hands of mortals." Paine grabbed her by the arm forcefully. "This is why she doesn't belong here!" Rikku snatched her arm away.
"It's thinking like that which makes her feel so inferior to everyone! She belongs here as much as you! If Shiva made her this way, it's for a reason!" Rikku shouted.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Paine's eyes traveled back to the girl, now lying in Shuyin's arms as the young man stared ahead with vacant eyes.
"Sitaten..." a faraway voice called to her. She was slapped lightly on the face, and something wet and cool was applied to her forehead. Pushing away the hands that prodded her.
"I'm fine Lenne...just one more hour..." she turned over and groaned.
"Lenne is dead." she heard someone say.
"What!" she shot up, only to nearly black out and fall to the ground again. Shuyin's arm's was the only thing that kept her from earning a concussion.
"Sorry..."she said, looking about at blurry faces. "I thought I was still in a trance."
"You're a summoner." Shuyin stated plainly.
"Yes, I am..." she replied as her vision bean to sharpen once again.
"Ugh, why do I feel like I've just done a thousand-mile run?" she moaned in complaint as her body refused to obey her commands.
"My head is splitting, too." she complained aloud.
"Anyone's would, if they'd have gone through what you did." Baralai was kneeling before her, a look of concern on his face.
"Sitaten...you can perform..." he began.
"Diamond Dust. Shuyin was right. Shiva- the Aeon and I. There's a connection, but I can't remember what it is. Whatever it was, it was the thing that forced Bahamut and other Aeons I came in contact with to go ballistic. They just...went crazy at the sight of me and Lenne together.
"Lenne and I had figured it out. We were on our way to pray at the Macalania temple even though the Fayth had been missing for years. We were turned away, unable to even investigate the Chamber. My mother...she was one of the many people who died by the hands of Yevon, those who wanted to retrieve me- wait." Sitaten shot up, a look of fear in her eyes.
"I can't go back to Bevelle! They kept me working close to Bahamut to keep me from regaining my memories. They're probably searching for me as we speak! My father... he's not really my father. He's a contact within Bevelle. So am I! No wonder he was scared when I just left like that! No wonder he likes Al Bheds! He's from Zanarkand!" Sitaten was pacing back and forth now.
"My mother...she came from an island... She emerged out of nowhere, like me!
"I know! Lenne's doing exactly what she'd said she'd do. She's helping even as she's in the Farplane. We have to complete my pilgrimage! We must consult each aeon!"
"Sitaten...calm down." Shuyin grabbed her by both arms and shook her slightly.
"Shiva...I have to find Shiva. Our answer to this riddle lies with her."
"We have a mission to complete first. My brother and Lenne's sister are on their way to Bevelle as we speak. We can't turn around now."
"I understand....I understand." She looked down at the ground, searching for an idea.
"He's close! I can feel him." she closed her eyes and concentrated harder.
"How far?"
"A couple of miles. If we run, we should be able to overtake them in two hours."
"Aw, man! A two hour run?" Rikku whined.
"Go any better ideas?" Paine crossed her arms over her chest. Rikku put her fingers up to her chin for a couple of seconds. "Aw, man." Paine and the others had already started the shuffle.