Yay! Chapter 8! Not many author notes today, just if any of you get bored, (or even if you're not…) go read my friend Ally-kat722 's Kingdom Hearts Fanfic! It's really cool! Uhh…yea, so here's the next chapter….
The welcoming celebration could probably be heard for miles around the city of Guadosalam as High summoner Yuna and her wedding entourage arrived. Yuna blushed slightly at all the attention, she never had much liked being in the spotlight. She had wanted to be married in a place her father and mother would surely see, and Tidus had wanted to have the ceremony close to his fellow dreams of the fayth. They had both decided, as strange as it was, that the Farplane, was as close as they could get to either desire. And of course, the only way to get to the Farplane was through Guadosalam. Yuna suddenly giggled. 'Unless, of course, I wanted to fall down one of those holes again'. The memory of what was at the bottom of that hole, however, silenced her giggle. 'That was when I thought I'd lost him….for good.' At this terrible memory, she gripped her fiancé's arm a little bit tighter. The party, as she soon found out was a grand occasion, much bigger indeed than the engagement festival when she was to marry Maester Seymour. She felt that was deserved, as Tidus was twice the man Seymour could ever be…at least to her. Guado women were adorned in their best robes and dresses, and men in their most ornamental coats. Yuna herself wore her summoner robes, which hadn't been worn in such a long while. Rikku took it upon herself to scrounge up a nice canary yellow dress, bought from Oaka of course, which Gippal commented on how it brought out her jade eyes. Even Paine attempted to look her best, even if it was a black leather dress borrowed from Lulu. The absence of Kerra, however, piqued her curiosity. It was probably her fault, she thought, 'I shouldn't have done that to her, it was wrong…' Just then, as if answering her thought, a blonde haired girl stepped through the crowd. "Kerra?" Yuna stared half in disbelief and half in shock. Kerra lifted her blue eyes from her hands that were neatly folded across her middle, up to her addressor. Her grass-green robe was without a wrinkle as she stood there, her once wild hair bound atop her head neatly. Kerra gave a slight curtsy to Yuna, turned and walked away. 'Did I…do this?' Yuna started to follow her, but then throught better of it.
Baralai was enjoying the feast and festivities almost to the fullest. Only Gippal was completely and fully taking advantage of everything, the celebration wine included. Perhaps he had taken in a little too much, Gippal was having a hard time standing up straight. The drunk, but almost underage young man handed Baralai a cup. Baralai shrugged, he hadn't had any yet, and if Gippal was drinking this much, it had to be good. He held the cup at eye level, peering at the deep scarlet of the drink, but a contrasting blur of green caught his eyes instead. 'Kerra?' he nearly dropped his cup at what he saw, and started to laugh. A very confused, and very drunk Gippal tried to focus his eyes, in vain to see what his friend found so amusing. But to Baralai's surprise, he didn't get a snappy comeback, or an insult. As a matter of fact, not even a death glare, she was famous for those. Instead, she laughed, and he stopped. It was an empty laugh, a court laugh, the kind a lady gives when she really doesn't find something funny, but does not wish to insult the comedian. He saw it all the time from the temple ladies, but he never expected it from her. Dumbfounded, he looked at her eyes, but was saddened at what he saw. The spark, the light, the endless sea of blue, had gone shallow. The crystal had dulled and the mystery gone. 'Yuna…' he thought to himself. 'you did this…you wanted her to be this way, and you got your wish.' His blood began to steam , but then cooled with sadness, getting upset with Yuna right now wasn't going to solve anything, it was only going to create problems. He heard that empty laugh many times that night, and each time he was more and more troubled by it, and each time it seemed like more and more of her spirit faded before his own eyes. He had seen it happen to someone else before, and at that thought he saw himself beside her, a sixteen year old boy that was once so spirited. He saw his chamber in the Bevelle temple where his father, a priest of Yevon, would come and visit. That was the day he had disgraced him, the day he had broken Yevon's taboo and stepped inside the chamber of the fayth. He watched in horror as his father raised his staff into the air. Baralai hated that staff…the one with the razor sharp ring atop it resembling Bahamut's halo. The staff came down hard upon the cowering boy, who although he was sixteen, shuddered and cringed as if he were three. Baralai's fingertips pressed against the long, wide scar marring his near perfect skin on his right shoulder. That was the day he forgot, the day he was forced to give up his spirit and forget who he was. That scar would always remind him to forget, and now she had two from the broken crystal shards to remind her. He could think of nothing else he wanted to do more than rip open the corset-like bodice of Kerra's robe and set her free, to make her promise him not to forget…to watch the sea of her eyes grow bright, deep and mysterious again. 'To lose myself in them, and for once, not care….'
Vierda watched the once wild girl move blankly with pleasure. She had done well, and disposed of the one girl who could have stopped what her master had planned. She had no spirit left, the scars would remind her forever. He would be pleased, a reward her well for it, she hoped. However, she was not above the fear that Kerra would recognize her, so she watched from afar, through the crowd. However, she was pleased with the added bonus of the Praetor's misery. She knew the man loved her, the amber eyes told everything, humans were so readable. "So the brat has not the spirit to stop us, and the boy is too worried about his reputation to remind her of who she is…perfect" Vierda was only mildly surprised this time, and even then it was because her master had the audacity to appear in public. Even though he was cloaked, cloaked people at a celebration like this are drawn into questions and suspicions. She quickly dismissed these concerns however, deeming that her master knew what he was doing, no matter how absurd it sounded. "Kerra is the only brat that could have stood in the way of my plan. Now that she is out of the way…I am unstoppable." A gleam of triumph shone in his dark eyes, making Vierda swoon. "Vierda, remember this though…she mustn't be allowed to remember…her true powers must remain unawakened."
The welcoming celebration could probably be heard for miles around the city of Guadosalam as High summoner Yuna and her wedding entourage arrived. Yuna blushed slightly at all the attention, she never had much liked being in the spotlight. She had wanted to be married in a place her father and mother would surely see, and Tidus had wanted to have the ceremony close to his fellow dreams of the fayth. They had both decided, as strange as it was, that the Farplane, was as close as they could get to either desire. And of course, the only way to get to the Farplane was through Guadosalam. Yuna suddenly giggled. 'Unless, of course, I wanted to fall down one of those holes again'. The memory of what was at the bottom of that hole, however, silenced her giggle. 'That was when I thought I'd lost him….for good.' At this terrible memory, she gripped her fiancé's arm a little bit tighter. The party, as she soon found out was a grand occasion, much bigger indeed than the engagement festival when she was to marry Maester Seymour. She felt that was deserved, as Tidus was twice the man Seymour could ever be…at least to her. Guado women were adorned in their best robes and dresses, and men in their most ornamental coats. Yuna herself wore her summoner robes, which hadn't been worn in such a long while. Rikku took it upon herself to scrounge up a nice canary yellow dress, bought from Oaka of course, which Gippal commented on how it brought out her jade eyes. Even Paine attempted to look her best, even if it was a black leather dress borrowed from Lulu. The absence of Kerra, however, piqued her curiosity. It was probably her fault, she thought, 'I shouldn't have done that to her, it was wrong…' Just then, as if answering her thought, a blonde haired girl stepped through the crowd. "Kerra?" Yuna stared half in disbelief and half in shock. Kerra lifted her blue eyes from her hands that were neatly folded across her middle, up to her addressor. Her grass-green robe was without a wrinkle as she stood there, her once wild hair bound atop her head neatly. Kerra gave a slight curtsy to Yuna, turned and walked away. 'Did I…do this?' Yuna started to follow her, but then throught better of it.
Baralai was enjoying the feast and festivities almost to the fullest. Only Gippal was completely and fully taking advantage of everything, the celebration wine included. Perhaps he had taken in a little too much, Gippal was having a hard time standing up straight. The drunk, but almost underage young man handed Baralai a cup. Baralai shrugged, he hadn't had any yet, and if Gippal was drinking this much, it had to be good. He held the cup at eye level, peering at the deep scarlet of the drink, but a contrasting blur of green caught his eyes instead. 'Kerra?' he nearly dropped his cup at what he saw, and started to laugh. A very confused, and very drunk Gippal tried to focus his eyes, in vain to see what his friend found so amusing. But to Baralai's surprise, he didn't get a snappy comeback, or an insult. As a matter of fact, not even a death glare, she was famous for those. Instead, she laughed, and he stopped. It was an empty laugh, a court laugh, the kind a lady gives when she really doesn't find something funny, but does not wish to insult the comedian. He saw it all the time from the temple ladies, but he never expected it from her. Dumbfounded, he looked at her eyes, but was saddened at what he saw. The spark, the light, the endless sea of blue, had gone shallow. The crystal had dulled and the mystery gone. 'Yuna…' he thought to himself. 'you did this…you wanted her to be this way, and you got your wish.' His blood began to steam , but then cooled with sadness, getting upset with Yuna right now wasn't going to solve anything, it was only going to create problems. He heard that empty laugh many times that night, and each time he was more and more troubled by it, and each time it seemed like more and more of her spirit faded before his own eyes. He had seen it happen to someone else before, and at that thought he saw himself beside her, a sixteen year old boy that was once so spirited. He saw his chamber in the Bevelle temple where his father, a priest of Yevon, would come and visit. That was the day he had disgraced him, the day he had broken Yevon's taboo and stepped inside the chamber of the fayth. He watched in horror as his father raised his staff into the air. Baralai hated that staff…the one with the razor sharp ring atop it resembling Bahamut's halo. The staff came down hard upon the cowering boy, who although he was sixteen, shuddered and cringed as if he were three. Baralai's fingertips pressed against the long, wide scar marring his near perfect skin on his right shoulder. That was the day he forgot, the day he was forced to give up his spirit and forget who he was. That scar would always remind him to forget, and now she had two from the broken crystal shards to remind her. He could think of nothing else he wanted to do more than rip open the corset-like bodice of Kerra's robe and set her free, to make her promise him not to forget…to watch the sea of her eyes grow bright, deep and mysterious again. 'To lose myself in them, and for once, not care….'
Vierda watched the once wild girl move blankly with pleasure. She had done well, and disposed of the one girl who could have stopped what her master had planned. She had no spirit left, the scars would remind her forever. He would be pleased, a reward her well for it, she hoped. However, she was not above the fear that Kerra would recognize her, so she watched from afar, through the crowd. However, she was pleased with the added bonus of the Praetor's misery. She knew the man loved her, the amber eyes told everything, humans were so readable. "So the brat has not the spirit to stop us, and the boy is too worried about his reputation to remind her of who she is…perfect" Vierda was only mildly surprised this time, and even then it was because her master had the audacity to appear in public. Even though he was cloaked, cloaked people at a celebration like this are drawn into questions and suspicions. She quickly dismissed these concerns however, deeming that her master knew what he was doing, no matter how absurd it sounded. "Kerra is the only brat that could have stood in the way of my plan. Now that she is out of the way…I am unstoppable." A gleam of triumph shone in his dark eyes, making Vierda swoon. "Vierda, remember this though…she mustn't be allowed to remember…her true powers must remain unawakened."