Chapter 6: Perfect job?

Author's note: Hello again. I know it's been a while since we last chatted, but I've been super busy with high school and all…and I only got one reviewer for chapter 5! To Klyssi, who this chapter is dedicated to, thanks for reviewing…it gave me the inspiration to finish this chapter. I have started Final Fantasy X! Rikku still is awesome, though Yuna and Tidus can be a bit annoying at times…I just beat Seymour for the first time. Also, if any of my readers have completed Via Infinito, it would be helpful if you could tell me how the attacks by the bosses above level 40 look…I'll get there eventually. Anyway, I'll head on to the fic now.

Song of the update: Ghost Love Score by Nightwish

Rikku awoke to her moogle alarm clock "Kupo"-ing in her ear. She groaned as she checked the time. 6:00 in the morning. Great. Just in time to get to work. Shutting off her alarm, she rolled out of bed. She made her bed, and then moved into the bathroom, turning the water on. Undressing, she stepped into the warm water. She quickly washed her hair, and got out again. Wrapping herself in a towel, she nudged Aykma awake, and then gave her some water and Greens. As the small chocobo munched happily, Rikku went over to her sphere shelf.

Her dresspheres were neatly organized on the shelf, and Rikku pulled out her Garment Grid. Minus her new dressphere, there were five spaces available. Since it was her first day at work, she had no idea what to expect. Carefully, she picked out the dresspheres she wanted to use. Dark Knight and Berserker were obvious choices, as they were strong dresspheres with high health and powerful attacks. She also picked Alchemist, because it could not only heal, but attack. Mascot was another obvious choice, being an extremely useful dressphere. Her final dressphere was harder to pick. She finally decided on the classic, Thief. She put that one on, and smiled. COIBA began talking, making Rikku jump. "Yuna, Besaid." Rikku smiled. Shinra had helped her set up eight commspheres around Spira, one of which was in Yuna's home.

Coiba's screen lit up, and showed a smiling and waving Yuna. "Hey, Rikku! How are you?" Rikku smiled. "Good, and ready for a first day at work!"

Yuna nodded. "Have you met that other guy yet?"

Rikku shook her head. "No, not yet. Baralai says that he's a really nice guy, and his secretary, Mer, says he's really cute!" Yuna smiled. "That's good to hear…we were afraid you'd end up marrying Gippal."

Rikku spluttered a bit as Paine came into the picture "W-what are you t-talking about!" Paine rolled her eyes. "Yuna's being a bit…off…today, just ignore her. Good luck on your first day." Rikku smiled brightly. "Okay, thank you!"

Yuna was about to turn off the sphere cam when she told Rikku, "Tell me about your first day! We can meet at Paine's café, all right?" Rikku nodded. "'Kay! Bye!" She switched off her sphere cam, and put it neatly back in place. Grabbing her black bag, she harnessed up Aykma and put her inside. COIBA flew to her shoulder, and she walked out the door, locking it securely with her key.

Leaving the building, she noticed Gippal locking his door. He waved when he noticed her, and she went up to him. "I'm all set and ready to go…be back later!" Gippal nodded; he was obviously still half-asleep. Rikku giggled, and poked him on the nose. He woke up then. "Hey! I was sleepwalking here!" Rikku giggled. "Yeah, I know…c'mon! Stay awake!" She boarded the small hover, and Gippal did as well. Aykma chirped as they moved downward. Getting off, she followed the Highbridge to the entrance to the temple. The priests there bowed Yevon-style, and she tried her best to bow to them, though she didn't have the hang of it. Gippal snickered under his breath, but Rikku ignored him. She noticed the praetor standing near the entrance, with a person she didn't recognize. Baralai called her over.

"Hello, Rikku. This is Clay, your partner." Clay smiled, and stuck a hand out. He had brown hair that was slightly wavy, bright blue eyes, and a build that reminded her of a certain Zanarkand blitzer. He was wearing something that reminded her of Clasko, except he had armor on top of it, with a gun strapped to his waistband and a large sword over one shoulder. She took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet ya, Clay!" He smiled at her. "Ready to go?" She nodded cheerfully. "Almost!" Reaching into her bag, she pulled out Aykma, who needed to stretch her legs. Clay looked at the small chocobo, surprised. "A white chocobo? How in the world…" Rikku grinned. "Clasko's birthday present to me…he was experimenting." Clay bent down, offering his hand to the chocobo. Aykma ignored Clay's hand, and instead pulled his glove off, as it resembled the Greens she loved so much. Rikku giggled. "No, Aykma, give Clay back his glove." Aykma reluctantly obeyed, and Clay laughed. "Wow, she's well trained…" Rikku shrugged. "Well, I trained her myself…guess I did all right."

Baralai chuckled. "Looks like you're getting along well enough…have fun you two. You work until 3 or 4, okay?" Rikku and Clay nodded, and they jumped into the first level.

Looking around herself, Rikku could see some easy creatures, mostly. Coyotes and Divebeaks swarmed everywhere, along with Nashorns, Ahrimans, and Flan Azuls. Rikku spherechanged into her Dark Knight dressphere. She looked at Clay, who was smiling, and was wielding his sword. Rikku grinned. "I bet I can kill more of these than you can!" Clay smirked. "You're on. Ladies first…" Rikku smiled. She knew exactly which attack to use. Concentrating hard, a dark ripple appeared around her, black bubbles rising from the depths. Aykma cowered behind Clay, obviously afraid of the Darkness attack. Jumping high in the air, she allowed her sword to hit the bubbles, sending the darkness outward. Her health dropped a bit as twenty creatures exploded into pyreflies. She smiled, dusting herself off. "Let's see you try that." She then picked up a shaking Aykma, and put her back in the bag, so she wouldn't get hurt.

Clay looked surprised. Rikku guessed he had underestimated her skill. He smirked again. "Showoff…my turn." He waited a while for the creatures to come back to the area, which they eventually did. He swung his sword to the left and right, and yellow energy began to form. It encircled his sword with spiky yellow rings. He hefted the large sword into the air, and the sword became the same color as the energy. He swung it down and sideways, and spun around, forming a spiral of energy around him. Bringing his sword through the energy to cut the binds, it exploded outward, clearing away the same amount of creatures. Rikku grinned. "Apparently, we're even…" He smiled back at her. "I guess so…"

As the pair began clearing the fiends out of the first level more slowly, Rikku looked over at Clay. "So, what did you do before getting hired here?"

Clay shrugged. "I'm a gambler…on lupine races mostly. I just get lucky, win a few gil here and there. I'm not a lazy bum like some of those deadbeats out there, though. I help clean out fiends from the Calm Lands, whenever they need it. The Travel Agency pays me for my services, and sometimes I go up to Gagazet, or what's left of Macalania. What about you?"

Rikku shrugged. "Well, you probably already knew this, but I traveled with the ex-summoner Yuna." Clay nodded. "I helped defeat Sin two years ago, and when Vegnagun reared its head, I helped defeat that, too." Clay asked her to tell him about it, and she described both of their journeys. Clay was impressed again. "Wow…don't take offense at this, but I didn't really expect you'd be all that good…I thought I'd have to clean up after you. You look gorgeous, like you wouldn't want to get your hands dirty. I was wrong about you."

Rikku was surprised about Clay as well. He was handsome, smart, funny, and a good fighter, not to mention very complimentary. Rikku thought it was nice to talk to him. He was also considerate, which was a welcome change from Gippal's brashness. She could seriously consider herself becoming his girlfriend, if things kept going well. Right after she thought that, she shook her head in dismay. 'Someone's desperate…why am I thinking of him like that…we only just met!' She ignored that thought, and kept talking with Clay as they continued to clear the Cloister. They talked about random topics, and Rikku enjoyed talking to him. Maybe her job wouldn't be so bad, after all.

Her good feeling left as they finished the first level and headed onto the next. Clay began defeating a pack of Coyotes, and looked over at her. Rikku had let down Aykma to run around, who kept well away from the predators. "Rikku, what's your family like?" She shrugged.

"Well, there's my dad, Cid, my brother, Brother, and nobody else. My mom died before I could remember her." Clay looked slightly pitying, but Rikku ignored him.

"If you're talking my extended family, there's Yuna, and her father, Braska, Shinra, Al Bhed genius, and Buddy, another of the Gullwings. I think Nhadala's related to me somehow, and Dad jokes that one side of our family is cactuars." She shrugged.

For a while, the only sound in the room was the slashing of weapons and firing of guns. Clay's voice was quiet. "You mean, you're an Al Bhed?"

"Yeah, born and raised. My dad's the one who's rebuilding Home…why?"

"Uh, no reason." The tension in the room got thick then, and Clay didn't talk to her at all, not even to ask for help. Rikku got confused. Why wasn't he talking? Was he one of those anti-Al Bhed guys? Then why didn't he notice her telltale eyes and hair until now?

They finished the second Cloister that way, silence except for their weapons and the fiends. When they reached the third cloister, Rikku spherechanged back into her Thief dressphere, as the metal armor was starting to feel uncomfortably warm. Aykma was asleep in Rikku's bag, cheeping contentedly. Clay looked up at her. "You changed clothes." He said, expressionless. "Some Al Bhed invention?" He spoke 'Al Bhed' as if it were a curse. Rikku looked down. "Yeah…Shinra invented it…why? You have a problem with Al Bheds or something?" Rikku said questioningly, trying not to sound as confused as she felt.

"It's nothing." Clay said sharply, and Rikku looked away from him. Obviously, he wasn't going to talk to her. She tried a couple of times to start a conversation, but they fell flat every time she tried.

The next hour and a half went on that way. Clay ignored her, but Rikku could feel his eyes boring into her back whenever she turned around. It was getting on her nerves. Maybe she was being paranoid, but Clay was acting odd. About ten minutes later, Clay looked at his watch. "Oh, gotta go…I promised to clear out the Chocobo Ranch for Clasko…you don't mind cleaning up for me?" Rikku shrugged. "I guess not…" Clay grinned. "Thanks, sweetie. You're so considerate." He winked, then went up the small stairwells two at a time to reach the outside world.

Rikku was so mad at Clay, she would have screamed. "Sweetie?" she said aloud. Just a minute ago, he had been ignoring her. Now, he thought sucking up would help? Now, she knew something was up…she needed to vent. With a grin, she spherechanged into Machina Maw. She let Aykma up into her lap, then started firing at the defenseless fiends. Within thirty minutes, the cloister was clear. She looked at her watch. It was about 3:00. Perfect timing. Rikku spherechanged into the outfit Paine and Yuna had bought her, using the sphere in her bag. She stored Aykma in her bag, and then walked through the empty cloister to the stairs. When she reached the top, Gippal was waiting for her. "Hey, Cid's girl…how many cloisters did you clear?"

"I have a name, and three" She tried to keep walking, as she needed to get to Luca on time. Gippal stopped her. "Where's Clay? Lying in one of the cloisters?" Rikku shook her head. "No…he had to leave early, he was clearing out the Ranch for Clasko." Gippal shook his head. "Nope…he lied. One of my men did it for him two days ago…Clasko's fiend problem isn't that bad…" Rikku was tempted to slap Clay the next time she saw him. Gippal noticed her expression. "What's wrong?'

"Nothing." She said through clenched teeth. Gippal nodded. "Right…well, if you won't tell me, then fine. I'll try to stop him if he slacks off again." Rikku nodded. "Thanks…now I need to get to Luca."

"I'm going with you."

"What? I was going to The Alibi, to talk with Yuna and Paine."

"Oh, that's why you look nice…I meant I'm also headed to Luca…I have a date there…"

"Oh…" Rikku felt a little silly. "Do you know where an airship is?" Gippal nodded. "In the front courtyard. It may still be loading." Rikku nodded with a grin, and began running. "Thanks!" She reached the ship just in time, paid her fare, and sat down, waiting for it to reach Luca.

As the ship touched down in the bustling metropolis of Luca, Rikku jumped out in a hurry. She loved Luca. It was all so busy, and a fun place to be. Strains of music could be heard in the air and vendors hawked their wares to the loitering masses. Rikku dodged the busy crowds, following the familiar streets to the black-bricked building. She opened the wooden door, walking inside The Alibi.

At the front entrance, a young girl stood perkily at a podium. "Hiya, and welcome to the Alibi…how may I help you?" Rikku was about to respond when Paine walked up, casually dressed in black jeans and a red top. "It's all right, Syria. She's with me." The girl nodded, unfazed. "Okay!" She said cheerily, stepping back as Paine led Rikku to a back room. Yuna was already sitting at the small table, and there were a couple of full tables nearby. Rikku sat down with her two best friends, and they started talking almost immediately.

Yuna sipped a smoothie, and handed Rikku her own. "So, how was your first day?"

Rikku shrugged. "It was okay…"

"Only okay?" Paine asked. "You were pretty pumped about having this job and all."

Rikku shrugged. "Well, I met Clay…"

Yuna smiled. "Ooh…was he cute?"

Rikku grinned, "Very cute…and he was nice, but he started acting weird…"

Yuna was curious. "Weird how?"

"Well, everything started out fine, until he just started ignoring me…and he left almost an hour early, leaving me to finish the cloister."

Paine looked annoyed. "Jerk…did you say anything to him that would make him mad?"

"I don't know…I said I was an Al Bhed, and he seemed pretty distant after I mentioned it."

"You mean he has something against Al Bheds?"

"I dunno…" Rikku was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I don't trust this guy…but you can't tell what his problem is?"

"N-no…it may be nothing…"

Yuna changed the subject after noticing Rikku's discomfort. "So, how was the job otherwise?"

Rikku brightened. "It was really a lot of fun…I'm a little rusty with fighting at the moment. I also really like my apartment. It's on top of the temple, and it's really nice."

Yuna smiled. "Well, maybe we should go check it out sometime…"

Paine looked up; she obviously hadn't followed the conversation. "Hey, Rikku, doesn't your little robo-bird thing have mini cameras?"

Rikku nodded slowly. "Yeah…what does that have to do with anything?"

Yuna smiled as she figured out what Paine was trying to say. "Why don't you put them on the walls of the cloisters?"

Rikku looked confused. "Why?"

"That way, you can check to see if any more fiends have appeared in every level. Give the little thing you can watch the cameras with to Gippal. That way, if Clay does anything else weird, there'll be some proof…"

Rikku nodded. "Okay, that's a good idea, but I still don't think that it's gonna help… I'll do it just in case."

Gippal sat at a table not too far from the chatting trio. It took all of his reasoning to convince himself that he wasn't spying on them. His date had yet to show up, and he had nothing better to do, though he knew that was a lie. His date had come and gone, according to Syria, the girl at the front, and there was no reason for him to keep on waiting. But that didn't mean he would just walk up and leave. He decided to watch the three former spherehunters. Maybe he'd get something interesting out of them.

The trio's conversation had now shifted to more uplifting topics. Rikku turned to Yuna.

"So, how's our superstar blitzballing team doing?" Yuna smiled. "It's going really well. Ever since Wakka got back, the team's doing much better. Tidus is getting along with the others, too…though Keepa thinks he's a showoff." Paine rolled her eyes. "What else is new?" Rikku laughed as Yuna kept talking.

"The rumor is that Lulu's pregnant again." Rikku looked up. "Really?" Her cousin nodded. "Yep. They told the team yesterday, and Lulu's due a couple of months after the season ends." Rikku smiled in delight. "Aw! Vidina will have a baby brother!"

"Sister." Paine said, correcting Rikku.

"So, Dr. P, what's up with you?"

Paine looked a bit irritated at the nickname, but answered. "Not much…business as usual. The Alibi's doing fine, as you can tell…" Rikku nodded, looking interested. "So, you guys planning to do anything interesting this weekend?"

The conversation seemed to go on for several hours, and Rikku enjoyed talking with the two of them. She had really missed being a Gullwing, and having everyday conversations with Yuna and Paine. It reminded her of old times, when they used to hang out in the cabin and talk into the late hours of the night. But all too soon, she had to return to Bevelle. It was already getting late, and she had to rush to catch the last ride out of Luca.

Very few other people were on the shuttle, so she slept lightly until it arrived at the Highbridge. Thanking the driver, who refused payment, she stumbled off of the shuttle, almost falling face-first into the watery moat that surrounded the bridge. She heard some familiar laughter, and stood up with as much grace as she could muster. She turned around, and noticed the praetor standing near the hover, watching her. He had stopped laughing. "I was wondering where you were, Lady Rikku…you disappeared right after work." His voice was pleasant enough, but the Al Bhed doubted he was in a very good mood. Rikku looked a bit embarrassed, then responded. "I just left to go see Yunie and Dr. P…I was in Luca…I'm sorry if I caused any trouble..."

Baralai shook his head. "No, it's fine…don't worry about it. Have you seen Gippal lately?"

Rikku smiled. "Thanks…Gippal took the shuttle to Luca when I did…" She said absently, and began walking slowly towards the temple, arms behind her head, staring at the night sky. It was a starry night, cloudless as well. "The sky's so pretty…" She said, forgetting that Baralai was right by her, who was now walking next to her.

"Yes, it's quite beautiful…" Baralai responded with a smile. Rikku looked back at the ground, and they were soon in the temple. As they stepped on the lift to take them to the upper levels of the temple, Baralai turned to Rikku once again.

"Rikku?"

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow, you need to stay in Bevelle. Some of the other leaders of Spira wish to meet you and Clay. Mer will escort the two of you to the conference room."

"You mean like Trommell and Kimahri?" Baralai shook his head.

"No…they're just the Bevellian High Council…delegates from all over Spira." Rikku nodded.

"All right." As the conversation finished, the lift reached the top floor, and Rikku left first. She waved goodbye to Baralai, then walked to her quarters. Lights were on in both Clay's and Gippal's rooms; apparently Gippal had gotten back from Luca before her. She fumbled with the key before unlocking her door, and let Aykma down. The small chocobo could barely keep her eyes open, and Rikku revealed to staircase, walking down it quickly to reach her room.

After getting ready for bed, Rikku got under the covers to ward off the chill in the rooms. The bed felt soft, but Rikku could already feel some of her muscles getting sore. Ignoring the minor discomfot, she was soon asleep, dreaming of being a Gullwing again.

Yay! (Finally) done with chapter 6! I know it's a bit boring now, but I promise that it will get more interesting…please review! The sooner you review, the sooner I write more! See ya soon!