Disclaimer: FFX, FFX-2 – neither of them belong to me, I'm just a poor, starving fan : )
A/N: Well, I thought this was going to be last action-packed chapter of this fic, but as it turns out, the 'show-down' is a lot longer than I expected, so this is just the first part. Hope those of you who are more interested in action enjoy this and for readers following the romance, I can promise that you won't be disappointed by the time this story reaches it end.
On that note, I'd like to ask for your opinions. It was pointed out to me (very correctly!) by Lolo, that this story has focused more on action than romance. Therefore I am currently planning to write a sequel which focuses on Rikku/Gippal's relationship in the aftermath of 'Rikku's Story' … so what do you think? Yay or nay for the sequel? Please let me know because I really value your opinions ; )
Oh and this chapter is dedicated to Lolo as a thankyou for giving me a possible subject for my sequel. Enjoy!
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Rikku's Story
By: JoeyStar
Timeframe: Set a month or so after the 'perfect' ending of FFX-2
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Chapter 21
Looking back now for the comfortable safety of the future, I can honestly say that that journey through the Kilika jungle was the most horrible thing I have ever had to go through. It was worse than the slow pain of Yunie's pilgrimage towards death, worse than my mother's early death, worse even than having to stand by and lose Tidus and Auron to the Fayth. Because as selfish as it might seem, this was Gippal we were talking about and it was on that lonely journey that I came to realise just how much he meant to me.
It's funny because in months past I would have fought with all my might to deny such a statement. Yet as Elhandra and I drew nearer and nearer to Kilika temple and the inevitable final conflict with Lreav, I began to understand that it really wasn't the time for denial anymore. I'm not saying that I realised my love for Gippal in a flash of blinding light or something, I just came to the conclusion that he was the most important person in my life and what I felt for him deep inside went far beyond the friendship I felt for Paine and Yuna, or the familial affection I felt for Pops and Brother.
So there you have it – I finally admitted that I was in love with Gippal as I was tramping through a humid, overgrown forest with the sister of a terrorist.
Not very glamorous, was it?
And yet in a funny way, it was the only thing that kept me going. Walking through the jungle was hard, for me and Elhandra both, and after several hours of endless hiking I began to realise that Lreav had landed the Melatha a lot father away from the Temple than I had expected.
Either that or I'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Privately I admitted that such an occurrence was probably more likely, especially considering the fact that Elhandra and I had travelled to the town of Kilika with little trouble.
Of course I kept that little gem of information to myself.
By the time we finally glimpsed the pinnacle of the temple above the trees, I was almost ready to weep with joy. Having been left alone with nothing but my thoughts – and Elhandra – for company had been enough to send me into a slightly crazy frame of mind. I kept imagining all these horrible things that Lreav was probably doing, or had already done, to Gippal – from horrifically painful down to the completely bizarre. The imagination can be a powerful tool, you know. Damaging too.
Elhandra had run out of things to complain about a couple of hours back and had long since fallen silent. Her lack of conversation was eerie; I wasn't used to being able to spend time in her company in which I didn't want to throw her out of the nearest window but she'd let me down this time. Perhaps she was having similar thoughts about Gippal; if so, I'm glad she didn't share them. One set of morbid imaginations was quite enough to be getting on with.
A few minutes after spotting the temple summit, I felt firm ground beneath my feet again and, glancing down, I resisted the urge to cheer. We'd finally reached one of the stone paths that encircled the portion of the forest below the temple. Now all we had to do was find our way to the stone steps that lead up to the entrance to the temple.
I glanced across at my companion. Elhandra didn't seem to notice that we had finally come upon the paths we had been searching for. The fear that had driven her for so many hours had faded. Her eyes were only half open and her normally impeccable braids hung limply around her face, looking like dead Ocho tentacles. Still, there was something in her blank expression that caught my attention and I felt a surge of sympathy for the Al Bhed woman. While I was worried to death about Gippal, and was furious with Lreav for his betrayal, Elhandra was having to cope with the thought of losing the two people in her life that she cared about the most. It was enough to make me stop and think, even if one of those people she loved was my … was my – was Gippal.
I felt the need to say something reassuring. "We've reached the paths at the base of the temple." She didn't look at me so I tried again. "We're really close now."
Her head rose slowly and the look she impaled me with could have stopped an Adamantoise at fifty paces. "Haven't you been saying that for the last several hours, or do I hear in echo in this vast, endless jungle?"
So much for being traumatised. It was oddly relieving that Elhandra's gift of sarcasm hadn't left her along with all signals of life. I had to bite my tongue to keep me from suggesting that she employ her oratory talents in subduing her treacherous brother. Somehow I think in our current situation, Elhandra probably would have choked me to death with her braids if I had done, and I was rather interested in rescuing the man I loved from the crazy terrorist who I had once called my friend.
That was another thing that I'd found myself thinking about again and again during the never-ending jungle trek, and even after hours of contemplation, I still couldn't get my head around it. I kept coming back to the question that Elhandra's earlier statement had implanted in my mind: why in Spira's name would Lreav want to kill Gippal?
It made absolutely no sense. Gippal and Lreav were friends. Every sign I had seen between them during our journeys spoke of a long friendship which, although a little subordinate on Lreav's side, was based on solid appreciation and a strongliking of the other person. And yet Elhandra's statement undermined this, basically turning it into lie. Which either meant that she was wrong or Lreav was the best actor since Mister Seymour-I'm-Actually-Totally-Evil-And-Oh-Yeah-Did-I-Mention-Dead Guado.
I wanted to believe the first explanation but I couldn't banish the driving fear that I had seen in Elhandra's eyes. Besides, she had no reason to lie about something as serious of that, especially not when Gippal's life was at stake.
I didn't have to like it but I couldn't deny that I was the only person in our little party in love with Gippal.
So that left Lreav as a master actor, something I found difficult to believe. Whatever the reasons behind his hatred of Gippal, they must have been incredibly powerful to make him go through such an elaborate charade. It wasn't like it had all started when I'd met Lreav, you know? He had been serving the Machine Faction for ages before that and had, I had gathered from conversations with various people, known Gippal since they were young. To have pulled off such a painstaking – and yet, I had to admit, brilliant – scheme, Lreav must have been planning for years. Which meant that the reason behind his hate must have been born during the early years of his life when, I believe, he lived in Bikanel Island with Elhandra, Gippal and the rest of the Al Bhed. Including me.
This supposition did little to appease me because it still didn't explain why Lreav wanted Gippal dead. What was even more frustrating was the fact that the woman trudging along beside me probably knew the answer to my query but was unlikely to tell me if I asked. She'd protest at the waste of time and the added danger to Gippal … I couldn't work out if this was just Elhandra being Elhandra or whether it was as she said, that every second counted.
I hoped it was the former otherwise some of my wrong turns in the jungle could already have cost Gippal his life.
The problem was that although I'm a fairly good tracker, Lreav had attempted to cover his and Gippal's passage. And he was pretty damn good at it. So much so that there had been huge sections of the jungle in which I had been forced to guess their direction – and lets just say that my luck had been rather inconsistent. Which explains some of my relief when we reached the paths leading to the temple. I still had vague memories of traversing them during my time in the Gullwings and this aided me as I guided Elhandra towards where I was sure – well, pretty sure – that the steps leading up to temple were.
It turned out that I was right and when we rounded the last corner of jungle, I felt a renewed burst of hope. "Come on!" I called to Elhandra who was lagging behind slightly. "We really are almost there now!"
With waiting for a reply, I gathered what energy I had left and began running up the steps, taking them two at a time. The puffing behind me showed that Elhandra was following and together we reached the plateau half way up to the temple, where the ancient structure came into full view for the first time.
To my eternal relief, I saw thatLreav had spared Kilika Temple when he'd planned, planted and executed his bombs in the town. Maybe it was because he appreciated its age and the wisdom contained within, maybe he'd known it was where he was going to run to – to be honest, I didn't really care. I was just glad to see it standing there as always, undamaged. I don't think the people of Kilika could have rebuilt their lives if their town and their temple had been senselessly destroyed.
It's like Sin all over again.
The comparison scared me and I shivered. Lreav held nothing like the power of Sin but I couldn't deny that the extent of his destruction was beginning to reach epic, Sin-like proportions. And perhaps he was even worse than Sin, whose attacks had been aimed to contact Tidus, becauseLreav's attacks were just meant to hurt people. There was no explanation behind them … and just like Sin, and Sin's successor Vegnagun, Lreav had to be stopped. It didn't matter if it was a corrupt Final Aeon, a vast machina construction or one lone Al Bhed; the threats to Spira had to be stopped. And right now only Elhandra and I were in a position to do so.
"Are we going to go in and save Gippal some time this century, or do you want to stand around and think about it for a bit longer?"
Hearing Elhandra's sarcastic taunts was reassuring. It told me she was recovering the spark of life that he jungle had sucked out of her and I began to feel more confident about facing Lreav. Its not like Elhandra would have been my first choice of backup, you know, but beggars can't be choosers and in the current situation I needed all the help I could get.
"Let's go," I said, taking a deep breath and continuing up the steps to the entrance of the silent temple.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
When we reached the summit we found that the courtyard outside the temple was deserted. The door was standing ajar and I headed towards it unerringly, Elhandra at my heels. I briefly wondered what had happened to the New Yevon priests who guarded the temple but before I could formulate any opinions, I had stepped inside the gloomy temple and a level voice was hailing me.
"I knew you'd follow me."
I would have recognised that voice anywhere. It was the voice that had beguiled and tricked me for months; the voice that had laughed and joked with me; the voice that belonged to a man who had killed hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent people.
My blood ran cold at the thought.
My eyes scanned the dimly lit room and as they became more accustomed to the lack of light, I caught sight of Lreav. He was standing at the top of the steps leading to the now defunct Cloister of Trials, next to the sole lit torch in the temple. There was none of the cocky arrogance that I had expected to see in his stance, rather an air of sadness hung about him like a cloak, as if he actually regretted all that he had done … and was going to do.
Hypocrite, I thought savagely.
Behind me, Elhandra pushed past and started towards the steps. "Lreav – you have to stop this. It's madness! Please just – just let Gippal go and then we can all talk about this. Like adults."
He looked pityingly at her. "Oh Lhan, if only things were that simple."
"They are," Elhandra insisted, reaching the bottom of the steps. "Look, just let Gippal go and then – and then … then we'll sort something out! Please Lreav –" She took a step up the stairs and froze when Lreav calmly withdrew a machina weapon from his pocket and pointed it at her head.
I tensed, horrified. He wasn't going to kill his own sister, surely?
"Lreav?" Elhandra whispered.
Lreav's grip on the gun didn't waver. "Don't come any closer, Lhan, and I won't be forced to hurt you."
"Lreav, please – "
"No." For the first time, his tone hardened. Unnoticed at the back of the hall, I started to edge closer, wondering if I could somehow get up and behind Lreav while Elhandra occupied his attention.
"You more than anyone should know why I'm doing this."
Elhandra licked her lips nervously. "Of course I do, Lreav, but … but surely it's not worth all this? It happened so long ago – "
"That doesn't matter!" Lreav snarled, making us both jump. "He has to pay. He has to pay for what he did to me!"
"I know, but –"
"You know, I thought at least you would understand, Lhan. I thought I could rely on you to support me when everyone else just ignored me and hurt me …"
"I- I do understand you Lreav. Honestly, I do!"
He cocked his head to one side and considered his sister. "You're lying of course. I shouldn't have expected anything else." His voice was conversational, making his words all the more chilling. I resisted the urge to shiver and crept closer. "He's corrupted you. That's something else we'll have to remedy."
Elhandra seized upon his words. "Where is he? Where's Gippal, Lreav?"
Lreav swung the gun in a lazy circle, watching as it reflected the light from the torch. "Oh he's safe, don't worry. I didn't want to hurt him until you were here. You've been with me from the beginning, you deserve to see the end."
I think Elhandra must have realised what I was trying to do because she tried her best to keep him talking. "Is he in the Cloister of Trials?"
"The Chamber of the Fayth actually," Lreav told her, as if he was discussing the weather. "Quite ironic isn't it? That chamber used to hold the soul of an imprisoned Fayth – now it holds the soul of an imprisoned criminal. It's rather appropriate if you stop and think about it."
Criminal? The word bounced around inside my mind. What was Lreav talking about?
"Why is he a criminal, Lreav?"
It was the wrong question to ask. Lreav's open face closed down and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't pretend you don't know," he said softly. The machina gun was once again trained unerringly on his sister.
Elhandra swallowed with difficulty. "I – I don't –"
"Don't pretend you don't know!" Lreav shouted, his voice echoing around the temple, making it sound as if ten Lreav's had spoken at once. "Of all people, you should know!"
As Elhandra spluttered something unintelligible, I reached the far left-hand side of Lreav's platform, where it met the internal wall of the temple, and started looking around for some way of climbing up to reach him. If I could just get up onto the platform behind Lreav without him noticing, then I had a chance of stopping all of this before it had started.
"Don't even think about it Rikku. I'd hate to hurt you, but I will."
I froze, looking up slowly to see that Lreav was watching me with a knowing smile on his lips. I felt a sudden surge of hatred run through me and I felt behind my back for the hilt of one of my knives.
"Try to injure me and I will kill Gippal. Now." Lreav's voice was menacingly quiet. "I'm sure you'd appreciate the extra minutes he currently has."
"You bastard," I spat out before I could stop myself. "You utter bastard."
"I'm almost disappointed, Rikku. I felt sure you could come up with a better defence than that."
The urge to strike him down then was so strong but I forced myself to remain still. He might have been lying about killing Gippal. Then again, he might not.
I tried to reason with him instead, figuring I could hardly have less luck than Elhandra. "Lreav … please stop this. You've already hurt so many people – there's no need to hurt one more."
His smile chilled me to the bone. It was completely devoid of emotion. "But don't you get it, Rikku? Hurting Gippal is what this has all been about!" His fingers tightened around the machina gun. "And getting what's owed me."
"Some insane revenge for something that happened when you were kids?" I wondered bitterly, wincing as the words left my mouth. I know I'm impetuous sometimes but even I usually know when to stop. And when a madman is holding your lover hostage while he points a gun at his own sister, you know it's time to stop.
Lreav's whole form stiffened and his hand began to shake so dramatically that he almost dropped the gun. I couldn't help staring; my words had never before had such a visible effect on someone.
It was a mistake to stare because it meant I was caught hopelessly off balance when Lreav whirled around and jumped down from the top of the steps, landing cat-like at my feet. Before I could do anything, he'd straightened and stepped forward so that our noses were almost touching. Scared, I started to back away but before I'd even taken one step, he'd moved with me and placed the barrel of the machina against my forehead. His other hand snaked out and grabbed my neck, squeezing threatening.
"If you ever speak to me like that again," he breathed, "I will pull the trigger of this machina with one hand and break your neck with the other and we'll see which one kills you first, shall we?"
I tried to catch my breath but his grip was too tight.
"Do you understand, Rikku?"
I couldn't speak but I just about managed to nod, trembling as the barrel of the gun shifted against my skin.
Suddenly, behind Lreav, a flurry of movement caught my eye. Elhandra had broken out of her stupor, seized the opportunity her brother's preoccupation with me had created, and was running up the steps towards the Cloister of Trials as fast as she could. Silently I cheered her on. If she could reach Gippal then that would be three against one – the odds would surely be in my favour.
I had to distract Lreav, otherwise he was sure to notice and Elhandra wasn't even half way up the stairs yet. But what could I possibly do …?
An idea sprung into my mind and I seized it instantly, disregarding my own feelings about the matter. This was for Gippal, I told myself. For Gippal.
And then I leaned forward, always mindful of the gun against my head, and pressed my lips against Lreav's, hoping he felt as strongly about me as I suspected.
I surprise him. At first he tensed, his hand almost completely cutting off my air supply; the gun sliding across my forehead. Then he leaned into the kiss and began to relax, his animal instincts overrunning any common sense that told him the partner of his archenemy was unlikely to be kissing him for any romantic reasons. His hand released its chokehold on my neck and snaked up into my hair while the barrel of the gun continued to slide down my cheek until it reached the hollow of my neck.
Behind us, Elhandra reached the top of the stairs and disappeared through the door.
I felt sick to my stomach. I mean, I literally thought I was going to be sick – which would have been unfortunate because it would have blown the whole plan. His lips were practically glued to mine, his free hand was beginning to roam down my back and he was stroking my neck with the machina. It was all I could do not to push him off me but instead I remained in his hold, my right hand slowly snaking around to where the hilts of my daggers still stuck out of the back of my shorts.
To my relief, it was only a few moments before I gripped one hilt in my hand. Lreav's own hand was getting dangerously close to discovering what I was doing; I had to act fast. There was even a chance that I could be able to incapacitate him completely – then there'd be no need of Gippal and Elhandra.
I allowed myself to grasp that grain of hope for a second, before I thrust away from Lreav, slashing out with my dagger.
I caught him in the arm that held the gun, tearing through the muscle. Lreav screamed in pain, clutching at his arm, the machina fired and I threw myself out of the way, rolling across the ground and rising to my knees as soon as I had found my footing again.
Lreav was also rising, his face a mask of fury. The wound in his arm was dripping blood onto the floor but he paid it no heed. Instead he hefted the machina with his left hand and pointed it in my direction. "You shouldn't have done that, Rikku!"
"Why?" I shouted, backing away and readying myself to run at the slightest movement from him. My free hand extracted my second dagger and I smiled slightly at the familiar weight of the weapons in my grip. "Don't you like being deceived by someone you cared about? Well now you know how I feel."
"You never cared about me," Lreav growled, stepping unsteadily towards me. "You were always in love with Gippal!"
"Yes," I agreed, backing away to keep the distance between us. "But that doesn't mean I didn't care about you. You were my friend, Lreav. A good friend."
"A friend?" He laughed bitterly, his voice on the verge of hysteria. "You think I wanted to be you friend, Rikku?"
"No –"
"I loved you, you know. I still do." He looked at me pleadingly. "I don't want to have to kill you."
"Then don't," I begged him. "You can stop all this, Lreav."
"And what? Return to my old life of misery and victimisation? Return to a life where the only girl I've ever loved has been corrupted by the man I hate?"
"Gippal hasn't – "
"I knew as soon as I saw you that you were the one," Lreav told me conversationally. "I should have known it was too good to be true. But I tried anyway. And you – you were so nice to me … but you still rejected me. Just like everybody else. For him. For the murderer!"
Lreav's accusations scared me. I couldn't believe they were true and yet a part of me wondered why else a quiet and kind man like Lreav would lose himself unless he spoke the truth.
"Just like everybody else," he repeated in a whisper, staring at me.
"Lreav –" I began, but before I could finish he had raised the gun and fired at me. Taken aback, I only just jumped out of the way in time and as it was, the blast grazed my shoulder. I let out a mingled cry of pain and surprise and hurriedly looked around for some kind of shield to protect me from Lreav's sudden attack. The blood that was dripping steadily down from my shoulder to my arm made it difficult to think properly and I chose the nearest shelter, ducking behind the vast figure of Lord Braska's statue.
"Lreav – can we talk about this?" I yelled, not taking my eyes off him as he moved about on the other side of the room.
"You know what, Rikku? I'm sick of talking and I'm damn sick of sharing my problems."
"So what? You're just going to kill me?"
There was no reply but I could see that he was drawing closer to my hiding place.
"What about what you said – that you don't want to kill me?"
"You haven't left me with much of a choice!" Lreav roared in frustration.
I had to keep the distance between us. I moved around to the far side of the statue and peered out. Lreav was standing by the bottom of the steps to the Cloister of Trials, squinting into the darkness.
I tried one more time to make him see reason. "Lreav, we're friends, right –?"
"NO!" Lreav screamed, turning towards my side of the hall with alarming alacrity. "We are not friends – not since you chose him over me!"
I was in serious danger of being forced to take shelter in the room behind me – and then I would be trapped for certain. "So because I chose Gippal that means I have to die?"
A sad smile crossed Lreav's face and he paused. "Yes," he murmured, voice heavy with regret. "Unless … unless you'll change your mind? Unless you'll choose me?"
He looked so hopeful that I actually felt sorry for him. I mean, something pretty awful must have happened when Lreav was younger, to screw him up so badly now. All of this hate and destruction … well part of me could understand that it was a cry for help. And now he was looking at me, just me, to give him that help, to support him where everyone else had let him down.
Yet, as much as I had at one point cared for Lreav, I cared more for Gippal. And while I could lie to the man who was pointing a machina weapon at me, if it ever got to the point where Lreav tried to extract his revenge against Gippal, I damn well wasn't going to stand and let him do it.
Besides, even before I opened my mouth to answer, Lreav knew what I was going to say. As much as he wanted to believe it, he would have never accepted that I would exchange Gippal for him.
"I'm sorry, Lreav," I said hollowly, peaking around the edge of the broad statue so that our eyes met.
His face was a picture of calm acceptance. "So am I, Rikku." He raised his gun and fired again. The blast ricocheted off Braska's statue, spraying me with bits sharp fragments of stone. One of them cut dangerously close to my eye and I sprang backwards, struggling tokeep myself outof themachina'spathand keep Lreav in sight at the same time.
"You can't hide forever, Rikku."
He was right; I was rapidly running out of time and worse than that, I was rapidly running out of options as well. As far as I could see, I could keep stalling and hope that Elhandra could get Gippal free in time to save me, or I could try and take Lreav head-on. With only my daggers to defend me, this last idea wasn't the brightest I'd ever had but hey, I was the girl who'd faced down Sin and Vegagun. One little man was hardly that big a challenge.
On the other hand, I hadn't faced them on my own, without the aid of allies or Dress spheres.
Lreav fired again; I flinched as more of the statue was destroyed. Was it simply coincidence that the statue Lreav was systematically destroying was that of my uncle?
"This is getting boring," Lreav muttered, more to himself than to me, firing upon the statue for a third time. His machina weapon was powerful and I was in serious danger of losing my hiding place. If I was going to move, I had to do it now.
I waited until he appeared to be distracted, glancing down at the gun in his hands, and then I threw myself out from behind the statue. I had a vague plan in mind that if I could somehow get to the steps I could escape into the Cloister of Trials where I hoped there would be more places to hide until the cavalry arrived.
By this time, Lreav had moved to the base of Lord Ohalland's statue and he was so surprise by my abrupt movement that for a couple of seconds he didn't react. Then he jerked into action, firing at me.
He was too close to the steps. I would have no chance of climbing them unless … Thinking quickly I dodged another volley from Lreav and, pulling my uninjured arm back, threw one of my daggers in his direction, as hard as I could.
Lreav was forced to jump out of the way, uttering an angry cry as he rolled between Ohalland and Braska and tore to wound in his arm open even further. My dagger smashed into High Summoner Ohalland's statue, sending up a cloud of dust and shattered stone and in the midst of the confusion, I threw myself towards the entrance to the Cloister of Trials, ducking between the unlit torches and taking the steps two at a time.
Elation rushed through me as I nearer the top; I was convinced I'd made it. So it came as a horrific shock when I heard the sound of Lreav's gun firing and then felt the impact of the gun's blast hitting me in the back.
I fell forward with a grunt, landing hard on my knees, my remaining dagger spinning from my grasp and falling off the edge of the platform. My breath was coming in short sharp bursts and as I opened my mouth to ease the pressure on my lungs, a thin line of blood began to trickle down my chin. I coughed painfully and when I drew my shaking hand away from my mouth, it was splattered with blood. The sight of so much blood terrified me more than the pain because I knew it meant that there was something seriously wrong.
I tried to take stock of the situation, to keep calm and plan a course of action but I've never been able to keep my head at the best of times. I'd just been shot in the back, I didn't have any Potions, or other restorative draughts and my own healing capabilities were woeful outside of the White Mage Dress sphere.
And there was so much blood …
I started to panic; my breath grew even shorter and I began to cough uncontrollably. I fell forward onto all fours, gasping helplessly for air. My lungs felt as if they were on fire and my vision was beginning to darken around the edges. I think I started crying – their were tears on my face certainly but I couldn't concentrate enough to tell where they were coming from. All I could think was that this was it. This was the end. Lreav had gone through on his word.
I was dying.
Hands seized me; someone was shaking me, their fingers bruising my skin. Voices came to my ears from a great distance but I couldn't understand what they were saying. For some reason I suddenly felt exhausted. My eyelids fluttered closed and my trembling arms gave way beneath me, but as I fell to the cold, stone surface of the platform, I felt a sense of relief, rather than pain.
At least now it was all over.
At least now I could rest.
It seemed my story had finally found its ending.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Tune in for the concluding part of this chapter … (where you'll learn ALL the answers to your questions) … some time in the future!
As always, read, review and enjoy ; )