I'm back! first i'd like to apologize to all my fans who have been waiting for this latest chapter. Sorry it took so long. the few times i was able to get onto the computer this week, or should i say when i was able to get on sunday night and monday, were spent toiling away on a 200 point biology assignment. cries i hate bio so much, no offense to anyone out there that likes it.ok, now that that's outta the way, on to replying to my reviewers!

evilpunkgoth- welcome to the story! always glad to get new reveiwers. and i'm glad you like it!

Da KeR MysTeRr- wow... didn't think the last chapter was THAT long. oh well, i'm glad you like it! sorry it took so long to update again.

lightningwiazrd- glad you like the fight between Tidus, Ryan, and Auron. and yes, the Ryu Kan Sen Tsumuji, man that's a pain to spell, is a great move. i actually tried it once... sweatdrop it didn't work so well. anyway, i'm glad someone mentioned Andy's overdrive. it took me forever to think of what it would be.

Sephirothxx- thanx! i'm glad i'm doing such a good job, and that people i didn't force to read my story are reading it! and reviewing too, i feel so priveleaged. and i really screwed the spelling up on that one. oh well, it's 6:32 am.and again, i apologize for getting this chapter up so late, i had problems getting on the computer, and when i was on, i didn't have time to work on it.

and now that that's done, on to the story...

Chapter 8: Another Summoner, and Another Guardian

"So this is the Djose Temple?" Ryan asked when they stopped. He glanced around, looking for the temple. He saw a few people, one of those glowing blue balls that Yuna went to whenever one of her Aeons needed healing, a shop right next to that, and the big rock that the path lead up to. "What, is this an earth Aeon or something?"

Yuna and Wakka laughed, Lulu looked at him like she'd never seen him before, and Auron grunted as usual. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the big rock, shattering it. As the large chunks started to spin they revealed the temple. "I guess that's the temple, eh?" Andy asked.

"The Lightning Mushroom Rock. It only opens when a Summoner is addressing the Fayth." Lulu said as the group started towards the now revealed temple.

"Guess there's another Summoner in there then." Andy muttered.

"What if it's Dona?" Tidus asked.

"We have to hurry." Yuna replied, walking a little faster then normal.

"Right! In we go!" Tidus said as he picked up his speed to match the young Summoner's.

"Is it me, or did Yuna not seem like she was in a rush until Dona's name was mentioned?" Ryan questioned aloud.

"Seems to me like she wants to beat Dona." Matt replied with a grin. "Do I sense a rivalry forming?"

"Maybe." Andy said, also grinning. "Maybe."

"Hey!" Gatta called out, flagging the group down as the got closer to the entrance of the temple.

"Well if it isn't Gatta and Luzzu. How have you two been?" Andy asked as the group walked towards the two excommunicated crusaders.

"We've been doing alright, considering everything that's happened. The temple has let us back in, which is good. But… I am beginning to wonder whether or not it's worth being a crusader anymore." Luzzu replied more than a little sadly.

"All of that death, and we barely hurt it. If we even hurt it at all." Gatta added, shaking his head sadly. "We were fools to think we could stop him, that much is clear now."

"Maybe you two should go back to Besaid for awhile. You know, heal up, do some soul searching, that sort of thing." Ryan replied after a few seconds. "It's gonna take a little while before the Crusaders have enough strength to do anything, right? Take some time off."

"Yeah, go back home for awhile bruddas. Besides," Wakka added as he turned to face Luzzu, "I can't beat up on you if you're all depressed, ya?"

Luzzu chuckled slightly at the comment. "I suppose not. Perhaps we should go back home for a while. Gatta, what do you think?"

"Me?" Gatta asked, surprised. Luzzu simply nodded. "Well, we do have a lot of friends there. And it has been awhile since we saw them. I think it'd be kind of nice to go home for awhile."

"Alright then. Guess it's settled. We'll see you two once we mop the floor with Sin." Tidus said enthusiastically, not noticing everyone suddenly becoming very silent. Ryan, Andy, and Matt didn't miss it, and mentally noted it as a point of interest, an action they found themselves doing a lot since arriving in Spira.

"We must go. Yuna has to pray to the Fayth." Auron said coldly before turning to walk towards the temple, everyone else falling in behind him.

'The Lightning Mushroom Rock, must be the lightning Aeon. Heh, this should be interesting.' Matt thought as they entered the temple and saw two men and a kid moving towards them.

"I beg your pardon, but may I ask your name?" The paler of the two men asked, or maybe he just wasn't as tan. Matt wasn't sure.

"I am Summoner Yuna, from the Isle of Besaid." Yuna replied, bowing.

"As I thought, the daughter of Lord Braska. You have the look of your father around him." The man replied, also bowing.

'Geez, are we in Japan or something? Every time we meet someone there's so much bowing involved.' Ryan thought, but he kept the comment to himself.

"My father, you knew him?"

"No. I have never met the man. Ah, my apologizes. I am Issaru. I am a Summoner like you." The man that Yuna had been talking to replied. The little kid stepped forward.

"I'm Pacce. Pleased to meet you." He said with a cheerful grin.

"And I'm Maroda. I'm guarding my big brother here." The other man replied, nodding slightly.

"Since I was a child, I've always looked up to Lord Braska. I wished someday I would become a High Summoner like he was. You must have some of your father's talent in you. I think that one day you might defeat Sin."

Yuna blushed. "I… I'm not really… I've only just become a Summoner." She said quietly.

Issaru smiled slightly. "Of course, I've no intention of losing either. So perhaps we should race to see who can defeat Sin first, no?"

Yuna nodded. "Very well then. I accept your challenge."

"Issaru!" Maroda said, obviously getting somewhat annoyed.

Issaru sighed. "I beg your leave. Good luck, to both of us." He offered before the three moved on.

"Well at least he's cooler then Dona." Ryan said as they followed Yuna up the stairs to the Fayth.

"Hey you!" Issaru said, rushing back into the temple with Maroda a step behind him. Tidus, Andy, Matt, and Ryan turned back to face him. "You are Yuna's guardians, no? Maroda heard a curious rumor, I thought you should know."

"I heard it from the Crusaders. Turns out that Summoners have been going out on their pilgrimages and just… disappearing." Maroda said darkly.

"It could be the fiends got to them… but not so many so quickly." Issaru added.

"Sorry I don't know more." Maroda said. "Just… watch your back. Ain't much future for a guardian without a Summoner, eh?"

"What? Whatcha all talkin' 'bout?" Pacce asked as he ran up to is two brothers.

"We're talkin' about doing your job as a guardian." Maroda said with a grin towards his younger brother.

"Hey, I'm doing good. Right, big brother?" Pacce asked and Issaru nodded.

"Please, be careful." He said to the four as his guardians walked out of the temple.

"You too." Ryan replied as they turned and walked into the Trials.

"All right! Guardians, at attention!" Wakka said when the four of them met up with the others.

"We are ready." Yuna said with a nod.

"All right… Let's do it!" Wakka said as they started into the Trials.

"This is what I hate about the Trials." Ryan said ten minutes later when they hadn't gotten anywhere. "And this chasm of lightning is really annoying." He said as he watched the electricity filled chasm out of sheer boredom.

"Come on, it's only been ten minutes. My good, you're supposed to be the one that puts everything together for us!" Matt complained in an annoyed voice.

"You had Mr. Smith too you know." Ryan shot back, glancing back at Matt who was leaning against a pedestal. Looking down he noticed some odd shapes in the floor. "What the hell?" He wondered aloud, drawing everyone's attention as he walked over and pushed the pedestal off the markings.

"What is it? What did you find?" Matt asked. Ryan pointed to the markings, two of which were glowing. "What about them? They glow, big deal?"

Ryan ignored him and kept looking at the markings. "Why aren't these three glowing like the other two?" he asked, pointing to the center of the eye looking one and two wing looking ones.

"That's a good question." Matt admitted, leaning down to get a better look at the thing. "And what's with these things coming off them?" He asked, pointing to little pathways leading from each of the markings.

"They go to the spheres?" Ryan asked aloud as he followed one of the two glowing paths. He pulled one of the spheres out and the eye looking marking stopped glowing.

"Hey, there are slots for spheres over here!" Andy called from the right side of the room. Walking over Ryan placed the sphere he was holding into the first of the two slots in the wall. Matt walked over, grabbed the second one from its spot next to the door, and placed it into the remaining slot on the wall. The glow that had started when Ryan placed the first one continued, through the second sphere, up the wall and into a pedestal that was hanging off of the ceiling.

"Wonder what that does, ya?" Wakka wondered aloud, watching the hanging pedestal curiously.

"Look out Wakka." Matt said as he walked past the man and pushed the pedestal towards the hanging one. There was a flash of lightning when the two were lined up. After several seconds of lightning jumping down into the sphere on the lower pedestal the lightning stopped coming.

"What the hell was that?" Andy wondered allowed as he cautiously approached the pedestal. "Well it looks safe…"

"Hey, if you never take any risks, you'll never get anywhere in life, right?" Ryan muttered with a quiet gulp as he wrapped his sweatshirt around his hand and picked up the sphere. He grinned after a few seconds. "Well it didn't blow up on me."

"Damn, here I thought I'd found the perfect way to get rid of you without being blamed." Matt said with a laugh. Yuna paled, Tidus looked at him in confusion, and Lulu raised an eyebrow with Wakka. Ryan burst out laughing, and they all swung around to look at him. "Sorry, just a joke between friends."

"Okay, so we've got a powered-up sphere, now what?" Ryan asked, looking around. "Do we still need those two in there?"

"Probably not." Matt stated his opinion.

"Your turn." Ryan said, throwing Tidus the sphere and sitting down. "What?" He asked when Tidus just stared at him.

"What do I do now?" He asked, drawing a sigh from Matt and Ryan, who stood back up. Matt grabbed the two spheres out of the wall and Ryan took the super-charged one, and they started to walk around the room.

"Hey, this thing's got two spheres." Tidus said suddenly, pointing to the pedestal. Matt looked down at his hands, and shook his head.

"Wow." He muttered as he placed the two spheres in the pedestal, and Tidus pushed it into the void of lightning. "What the hell?" Matt cried out when the pedestal sat there, floating in nothing, rather then drop down like it had when they'd done it earlier. "Guess we needed both spheres in there."

"I'll be right back." Tidus said with a grin as he jumped onto the pedestal. He nearly fell, but regained his balance at the last minute. He jumped the rest of the way, landing safely on the other side. He pushed a pedestal and the iris part of the symbols on the floor lit up. Tidus jumped across and Andy stepped back, accidentally setting of a switch that brought the pedestal back to the center of the room.

"Matt, put the spheres back in the spots that activated the wings." Ryan said as he put the super-charged sphere into the left slot on the door, activating the last part of they symbol. "Guess that's our ride?"

"A pedestal turned elevator. This place just keeps getting better and better." Andy muttered as the group walked onto the elevator and rode it up to the next level. On the second level there was a locked door to the group's left, and straight ahead was a mostly circular room with five pedestals sticking out slightly.

"Fifty bucks says we have to push the pedestals." Ryan said quietly as the group walked into the room with the pedestals.

"Yeah, probably." Matt said as he walked over to the nearest pedestal and started to push it. It moved over something behind it, and lightning raced up a spoke that ran to the center of the ceiling. "Yep, we gotta push 'em." Matt confirmed with a grin as Auron, Kimahri, Wakka, and Tidus pushed the other five pedestals into position, lightning racing through them and to the center of the ceiling.

"Now what?" Andy asked aloud.

"The door that we saw before." Auron stated flatly, walking back to the room with the elevator. When the others got there he began walking up the stairs, everyone but Ryan and Matt following.

"Something wrong?" Tidus asked, noticing the two walking back towards the elevator.

"Nah, we just like to make sure we don't miss anything, that's all. We'll be right there, so take care of Yuna for us!" Ryan said as the elevator started going down. Tidus shrugged and went with the rest of the guardians.

"Where are Ryan and Matt?" Lulu demanded of the newer guardian.

"They said they wanted to make sure that we didn't miss anything. They also said they'd be right up." Tidus replied.

"I see. Well they are very through." Lulu admitted.

"No," Andy said quietly, "they're RPG players."

888

"Alright, what's different down here? Nothing at first glance, that's for sure." Ryan muttered as the elevator reached the bottom floor and the two boys stepped off. "If I were ancient architect, where would I put secret rooms or rewards?" Ryan asked aloud as he started looking around the upside down pedestal.

"How about behind a glowing symbol on the wall?" Matt called out from the other side of the room, by the switch to bring the original pedestal back to the center of the room.

"Yeah, probably." Ryan agreed as he jogged over in time to see Matt touch the symbol. The wall in front of the two disappeared after a few seconds, revealing a treasure chest and a purple sphere. "Well isn't that original, a treasure chest." Ryan said with a quiet laugh. "Okay, let's see what we've got here." He said as he opened the treasure chest. He sighed.

"What's up, what've you got in there?" Matt asked as he grabbed the sphere and turned around.

"Just a stupid token. Sort of like the ones Andy found at the dead end in Mi'Ihen highroad. Only this one looks like it is… Uranus maybe?" Ryan asked as much as stated.

"Does it matter? Let's go, we've got a sphere to use up." Matt said, showing Ryan the purple sphere and heading back up to the second level via the magic lift. "Well what do you know, this pedestal is missing a sphere." Matt said with a laugh. "Can't ask for it to be much easier than that can you?"

"Not really, no." Ryan said as they walked over and put the sphere into the remaining slot on the pedestal. A section of the wall off to their right blew up, revealing another treasure chest. "Wow, guess that was a destruction sphere."

"Certainly seems that way." Matt agreed as they opened the chest to find a lone sphere in it. "What, all that for another sphere? That's just plain bullshit!"

"What's bullshit?" Dona asked, coming up the elevator with her guardian, Barthello.

"Wonderful." Ryan whispered just quiet enough for Dona and Barthello to not hear. "Well let's get back to the others, we've got a job to do."

"Right." Matt agreed as they ignored a complaining Dona and started up the stairs that led to the room Yuna's other guardians were waiting in.

"What kept you?" Tidus questioned when they walked in.

Matt threw Tidus the sphere before Dona and Barthello walked into the room. "Well, well. Still traveling with quite the crowd, I see." Dona said as Barthello walked over and stared at Auron for a few seconds.

"It's impolite to stare." Andy said, drawing a scowl from Dona, though he wasn't sure why.

"What is it Barthello. You know this riffraff?" She demanded.

Barthello ignored her, instead asking a question of Auron. "You are… Auron, no?"

"What of it?" Auron replied calmly.

"Can I… shake your hand? Auron- no. Sir Auron." Barthello corrected himself, and Dona nearly dropped dead when she realized who the one-eyed man was. "You're the reason I became a guardian!" Auron chuckled, which drew a surprised look from all of Yuna's other guardians, minus the never changing Kimahri, and then he shook Barthello's hand. "Thank you Sir! This means so much to me!"

Wakka turned to a still shocked Dona. "Calling the personal guardian to Lord Braska Riffraff?" He mocked.

"And you call yourself a Summoner?" Lulu added in, furthering Dona's embarrassment.

"Barthello, enough!" Dona snapped with a beat red face. "Get back here!"

Barthello obeyed, but as he walked by Tidus whispered for him to hang in there. A few minutes later Yuna came out of the Chamber of the Fayth, and would have collapsed if Kimahri hadn't been there to catch her.

"You owe much to your father. All these guardians... and Sir Auron, too?" Dona asked mockingly.

"Oh, so now he's 'Sir' Auron?" Matt asked, and Dona's face flashed red with anger for a second before she regained her composure.

"I also heard that Maester Seymour's quiet taken with you. The world must look different when you're the daughter of Lord Braska." Dona finished, obviously making fun of Yuna.

"You know, you don't hide your jealousy very well…" Ryan muttered, and it took most of his self control to keep from laughing at the face Dona made in an attempt to intimidate him.

"This has nothing to do with my father!" Yuna stated firmly. "I'm traveling on my own, as a full fledged Summoner!"

"Oh, is that so? Then try standing on your own two legs for once." Dona demanded in yet another mocking tone as she walked up to Yuna.

'Damn Dona, you're an annoying bitch.' Ryan thought bitterly, annoyance rising inside him as he watched Dona whisper something to Yuna. After that she left, followed closely by an overly joyful Barthello who was muttering about never washing his hand again.

"Guess we should probably leave too, eh?" Andy said as he stood up and stretched. Exhausted from the long day the group left the cloister. A priest directed them to a room where Yuna and Lulu could spend the night, and sent the others to the nearby building to sleep.

"Andy, Matt. You two will be practicing with Tidus and Ryan tonight." Auron stated outside the temple.

Wakka laughed as he and Kimahri walked towards the inn. "Don't stay up too late, ya? And don't hurt yourselves with you toys bruddas!" he taunted as he disappeared into the inn with Kimahri and Auron.

"Hey, Auron, where the hell are you going?" Ryan demanded, but Auron didn't even stop walking. The four teens sighed. "Guess we're doing this the old fashioned way then."

"And how are we," Matt asked, pointing from himself to Andy, "supposed to spar with you guys? We only have real weapons." Suddenly three pieces of wood shot out from the door of the inn. The teens walked over to them and Matt sighed. "Or Auron could be incredibly prepared." He said as he looked at the entirely wooden axe, and the two wooden fist blades lying on the ground in front of him.

"Guess we'd better get started then. Faster we get this over with, the faster I can go to bed." Andy said as he slipped the fist blades on, surprised at how close to his actually weapon the fit was. "Okay Ryan, come on." He said, waving his friend towards him.

"Guess that means it you and me then." Tidus said with a grin as he dropped his real sword and drew his bamboo one. With a sigh Matt picked up the wooden axe, surprised at how heavy it was.

'Same weight as my actual axe. Damn Auron, do a little research?' Matt wondered as Tidus started his usual headlong charge. 'Are you serious?' Matt questioned silently as he stepped to the side, easily hitting Tidus in the stomach with the butt of his axe's hilt and dodging the blitzer's attack at the same time. Tidus fell to the ground with a grunt, rubbing his stomach gingerly.

"Damn, take it easy!" He complained as he stood back up.

"Hey, not my fault." Matt replied simply, drawing a confused look from Tidus.

"What do you mean it's not your fault? You hit me didn't you?" He demanded.

"It only hurt because you charged in at full speed." Matt shot back. Tidus thought about it for a second before silently admitting that Matt was right. "Ready to try again?"

"Shut up!" Tidus yelled, charging in again. He slashed down, and Matt stepped to the side. This time Tidus spun with him, dodging Matt's counter and hitting him in the arm. He was about to taunt Matt when a lightning bolt hit him, sending him to the ground almost instantly.

"Don't tell me that's all you've got." Matt asked as he looked at Tidus who was struggling to get up. "Hey, you okay?" Matt waited a few seconds, and Tidus still didn't respond. "Hey, come on, don't die on me damn it! Ryan, get your ass over here now!"

"What is it?" Ryan called out, dodging two quick punches and a kick from Andy.

"Just move it!" Matt yelled. Ryan sighed, jumped up, and pushed off of Andy, launching himself towards Matt and the pain wracked Tidus. "I hit him with a lightning bolt."

"Geez, such a hassle." Ryan muttered as he closed his eyes and put his hand over Tidus. After a few seconds a wave of healing magic shot over Tidus, and his face relaxed visibly. "We'd probably better take him inside." Ryan said as he signaled for Matt to help him take Tidus inside.

"Hey, what happen to him, ya?" Wakka asked when the two teens dragged Tidus into the inn, Andy opening and closing doors for them.

"Matt knocked him out." Ryan muttered, and nobody questioned it. "Guess we're done for the night then, aren't we?" Ryan asked once they'd gotten Tidus into his room.

"Looks that way." Andy said with a yawn, walking into their room. "Damn, it's raining out." He muttered, glancing out the window. "We really are done for tonight."

"Well, Ryan'll be back in a little while." Matt said as he walked in and laid down on one of the two beds. "So we'll just let him have these pillows, and this blanket, and he'll be fine."

"What do you mean he'll be 'back in a little while'?" Andy asked as he watched Matt throw the sleeping articles on the floor.

"He likes the rain, and he's not tired for some reason. He's probably out there right now, staring at the sky." Matt replied through a yawn. "If you wanna know anymore then go ask him yourself. I'm going to bed."

'What the hell Ryan? Do you enjoy getting sick?' Andy wondered for a few seconds before shrugging the question off and going to bed.

888

Ryan was looking up at the dark storm clouds, and he was thinking too. Thinking about things he'd rather not, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop. The tears that he often found himself holding back refused to stay pent up, and he could feel them rolling down his cheeks.

"Something wrong?" Auron asked, startling him out of his gloomy thoughts.

"No, just… thinking." Ryan said just loud enough to be heard of the rain. Auron looked at him for a second.

"You're crying." He said bluntly. Ryan didn't deny it.

"And you're perceptive as hell, to be able to tell when someone's crying in the rain, that's impressive." Ryan replied. Auron didn't say anything, just watched Ryan from where he was standing. The rain didn't bother him, and he was an unsent, so he didn't have to worry about getting sick. "So what do you want?"

"Why are you crying?" Auron asked.

"Does it matter?" Ryan countered more crossly then he wanted to.

"Perhaps." Auron said calmly.

Ryan chuckled to himself. "Yeah right." He replied. "What do you care? So long as I do my job as one of Yuna's guardians, there aren't any problems, right? Don't worry, this won't get in the way of me protecting Yuna."

"Then why are you hiding it?" Lulu asked, walking out of the inn with an umbrella.

"Geez, you too?" Ryan asked with a sigh. "It's just… she always loved to stand in the rain…" He said quietly.

"Who?" Lulu asked.

"That would be a conversation for another time." Ryan said as he turned and headed inside. He didn't stop to talk to Wakka or Kimahri. He just went right to his room.

"You were thinking about her again, weren't you?" Matt asked after Ryan had settled into the unbelievably comfortable armchair that was in the corner by the window.

"… Yeah." Ryan admitted after a short period of silence. Matt didn't say anything else. He'd known Ryan for almost four years, and he knew that Ryan wasn't in a talking mood.

888

"You are up early." Auron said as Ryan walked out of the room. "The sun won't be up for another… three hours."

"So?" Ryan asked as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Get over whatever had you chocked up?" Auron replied. Ryan flipped him off and poured himself a cup of coffee instead of answering the ancient guardian.

"You know what Auron?" Ryan asked as he put some milk in. "One of these days you're gonna get your ass kicked." Auron chuckled at the statement which caused Ryan to turn around so quickly he spilled his coffee no his pants. 'Holy shit, hell must be freezing over!' he thought.

"It's been a long time since I last laughed." Auron said quietly after awhile.

"Really now, never would've guessed that." Ryan said sarcastically as he poured another cup of coffee. There was an awkward silence. "Auron… about last night."

"What about it?" Auron asked, turning to look at Ryan.

"I'll tell you why someday. But for now, just let it go." Ryan said before walking outside with his coffee cup.

Auron watched the kid walk past him, and he didn't miss the far-off, distant look in Ryan's eyes. At around 10 Tidus decided to go to the temple to see what was keeping Yuna. Five minutes later he was walking back out, smiling.

"What are you so happy about? Finally get a kiss?" Ryan asked joking, and he snorted when Tidus' face went almost as red as Dona's had the day before.

"Yo, sleepyhead!" Wakka yelled to Yuna when she walked out of the temple a few minutes later, still sporting bed hair.

"Sorry, so sorry." She apologized before turning to Auron. "Please forgive me." She requested with a bow.

"Really, there's no rush," Lulu said with a smile. "here, your hair." She said, holding out a comb to the young Summoner who looked puzzled for a second before realizing she hadn't brushed her hair.

"A Summoner with bed hair. What's this world comin' to?" Wakka teased and everyone else laughed.

"You could have woken me up." Yuna replied.

"We called to you, but with all that snoring…" Lulu trailed off, and everyone started laughing.

"Hmmmm… what is it today? Everyone's picking on me!" Yuna complained, which drew a laugh from Auron. "You too Sir Auron?"

"Once Lady Yuna fixes her hair, we leave." Auron said.

"Damn, Lucifer must be getting sick down there." Ryan muttered as they waited for Yuna to finish brushing her hair.

"Why's that?" Andy asked.

"That's twice today Auron's laughed." Ryan replied with a slight smile at Andy and Matt's surprised faces. "What? It was right after I woke up." Ryan informed.

"Ah, so you're the only other person that was up." Matt said.

"Yup. Surprised me so much I spilled my coffee on myself." Ryan admitted with a grin as he stood up, noticing that Yuna was handing Lulu back her brush. "Where are we headed anyway?"

"Some place called the Moonflow." Andy answered. "Lulu told me yesterday, before you two finished doing whatever you were doing in the cloister."

"Ahh." Ryan and Matt said in unison as the group started off. After a few random fiend battles, which seemed to be ending faster every time they occurred, two massive Ronso showed up and started calling Tidus and Kimahri hornless goatlings. Kimahri stepped up and for a second he seemed like he was going to beat the two down.

"You come to insult Kimahri?" He asked.

"Wrong. We come to warn little Kimahri." The one Ronso said.

"Summoners disappear. Never return." The second said.

"Next will be Kimahri's Summoner." The first one said again.

"Poor Kimahri! Lost his horn, next lose his Summoner!" The second taunted.

"Pitiful Kimahri. How alone! How alone!" The first added before they left.

"Those two got something against you?" Tidus asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind. Kimahri shook his head. "So they came here just to pick on you?"

"Kimahri will deal with them." Kimahri replied.

"And I'll help!" Tidus added.

"Kimahri alone." The Ronso guardian said quietly.

"But…" Tidus started, but Wakka cut him off.

"It's Kimahri's problem. We can't interfere, ya? It's a rule!" he explained.

"I'm worried." Lulu said quietly.

"Let the Ronso deal with the Ronso problems, that's how it's always been." Wakka replied.

"I mean I'm worried about the Summoners just disappearing." Lulu said, glancing at Yuna with a worried look.

"They aren't just disappearing into thin air." Auron added.

"Hey, if we guardians do our job… no problem, right?" Tidus asked.

"He does have a point. Our job's to protect Yuna till she beats Sin. No way anyone's gonna get through all of us." Andy added.

"Confident." Lulu said with a small smile.

"Yeah." Tidus and Andy said as the group moved on. After a few more fiend battles they encountered Belgemine again, and again she challenged Yuna to a duel, which Yuna accepted. All of the guardians backed out of the way, giving the two Summoners room to call forth their Aeons.

Belgemine summoned first, calling upon an Aeon that Ryan, Matt, Andy, and Tidus had never seen before. It was a giant Unicorn, and its horn was made out of some gold metal, and lightning was arching around it.

"That would be your Aeon Matt." Ryan whispered as Yuna called forth Ifrit. "And there would be yours Andy." He added.

"Ifrit! Hellfire!" Yuna ordered, and Ifrit replied. The two balls of energy hit Ixion and engulfed the Aeon in their power. Next Ifrit ripped the ground out and threw it into the ball of energy, and when the dust faded everyone was more then a little surprised to see Ixion standing.

"Ixion, haste!" Belgemine yelled. Ryan, Matt, and Andy all had their eyes widen in surprise when the unicorn started moving even faster, making it roughly three times as fast as Ifrit. With its speed it was quickly wearing down the more powerful Aeon.

'How did it cast Haste on itself?' Matt wondered as he watched the battle that was quickly turning against Yuna. Suddenly Ifrit grabbed Ixion by the horn and started slamming it into the ground as hard as it could.

"Brutality." Ryan muttered as Ixion started to fade into pyreflies.

"Yeah, sounds about right." Matt agreed as Belgemine handed Yuna two scales and a glowing white sphere she called a Summoner's Soul.

"With this you'll be able to teach your Aeons new abilities." Belgemine explained before walking away.

'So that's how your Ixion used Haste. I get it now.' Matt thought as they continued down the road until they came to a river with pyreflies coming out of it.

"This is the Moonflow." Lulu informed as the group stopped in front of the water.

"These," Yuna said while pointing at some flowers in the river, "are moonlillies! They say that clouds of Pyreflies gather here when night falls."

"The entire river glows like a sea of stars." Lulu added.

"That sounds like it'd be nice to see." Ryan admitted.

"We're not waiting till nightfall." Auron stated as he turned to the left and started down the beaten path.

"Oh well." Ryan said with a shrug as the rest of the group started off after Auron.

"Hey guys. Why is there an elephant with fin looking things on it here?" Andy asked, pointing to the Shoopuf in front of him.

"What's an elephant? This is a Shoopuf." Lulu informed them.

"Shoopuf, elephant, they look pretty much the same to me." Andy replied. "They both even carry people around places." After awhile the handler called for them to board, and then they were on their way. During the ride they passed by an ancient, sunken city. Lulu and Wakka explained that the Al Bhed built it over a thousand years ago. After some talk about war, and Sin being born from it there was a shake from the water.

"What was that?" Ryan asked looking over the side of the little thing they were all sitting in, almost expecting to see Jaws swimming around them. Auron yelled at Yuna to sit down, but as soon as she did an Al Bhed jumped off the top of the thing, grabbed Yuna, and jumped in the water. "Shit!" Ryan yelled as he jumped after the two, swallowing a blitzing pill just before he entered the water. Four more splashes, and so many air bubbles that Ryan was temporarily blinded signified the entrances of Tidus, Andy, Wakka, and Matt.

"Where's Yuna?" Tidus called out and Ryan glared back.

"I lost her when you four jumped in!" He yelled. Suddenly a giant machine with a snow globe looking thing on it rose up out of the sunken city. Yuna was inside the snow globe looking part. "Damn it, why is looking out for people always such a hassle?"

"Haste!" Tidus yelled, repeating the spell on each member of the party. Tidus, Matt, Andy, and Ryan took off, swimming circles around the thing and dodging the tentacle looking things that it sometimes attacked with, while Wakka pounded on it from a distance with his blitzball.

"Screw this!" Matt yelled as he raised his right hand, preparing to cast a thunder spell.

"Stop!" Ryan and Andy yelled at the same time, causing Matt to cast the spell in his surprise. The lightning shot down through the surface of the water, and went out in every direction, electrocuting everyone in the water.

'Damn it!' Ryan thought as his vision began to blur. He closed his one open eye and concentrated, gathering his pitiful magical power around himself. He felt the sensation it left as it washed over him, healing the wounds Matt's spell had caused. Once the feeling was gone he opened his eyes. Wakka was shaking his head, Andy was starting to float towards the surface, and Tidus looked like he'd just woken up. However Matt looked like he'd just had the best sleep of his life. He swam up to Andy and forced a potion to go down his throat, reviving him almost instantly while Ryan cast healing magic on Tidus, surprising the teen more then a little.

"Hey, no more Thunder spells, ya?" Wakka requested before going back to his attack against the machina.

"Sorry!" Matt replied, he and Andy swimming towards the Machina. Just before they reached it, the Machina rose up higher into the water, and started to drop barrels out of the bottom.

'No way.' Ryan thought in horror as he watched Tidus run into one of them, and get blown back into Wakka as a result. "Don't touch'em! They're depth charges!" He yelled.

"Now you tell me?" Tidus complained as he pushed off of Wakka and drove his sword into the machina, piercing the metal and causing sparks to shoot out of the hole his sword made. As more water seeped into the hole the number of sparks coming out of it grew, and the machina started to sink.

'Duh, short circuit it.' Ryan thought, slapping himself in the head as he swam around the thing and copied the attack, except he ripped his sword out rather then pulling it back out the hole he caused putting it in. A wave of sparks hit him as a result, burning his arms and chest. Cursing he swam away as fast as his burnt body would allow.

"I think that did it you two!" Wakka yelled, and Ryan looked around in confusion until he saw Matt swimming away from the sinking Machina.

Suddenly Ryan stopped being able to breath water, the affects of the blitzing pill wearing off. 'Shit he thought as he desperately started to swim upward, taking his sweatshirt and shirt off as he went. By the time he broke the surface his lungs burned, and Andy and Matt were quick to join him, all three of them gasping for oxygen.

"Where's Yuna?" Lulu yelled down from the Shoopuf.

"Wakka and Tidus should be getting her right now!" Ryan yelled back. Almost as if to confirm that he was right the two appeared with an incredibly rattled Summoner.

"Are you hurt Yuna?" Lulu asked once the Shoopuf had put them back in the little cabin thing on it's back, which had taken a little longer since Ryan had to get at least one of his shirts back, despite the fact that he, Andy, and Matt were all not wearing their shirts right now, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

"I'm fine." Yuna replied, shivering slightly.

"Damn those Al Bhed!" Wakka complained, punching his fist into his hand.

"Ish ebullibody okay?" the driver asked.

Yuna stood up and replied, "I'm sorry! We're all okay now!"

"Yuna." Auron said, and the girl sat back down quickly.

"Shoopuf fill shpeed aheads!" The driver informed as they started moving again. By the time they were on the other side they were all completely dry, and they'd listened to Wakka's constant ranting about how evil the Al Bhed were. Apparently he'd either missed the looks Ryan was giving him, or didn't care.

"Well that was fun." Ryan said once they'd gotten off the Shoopuf. "I almost wish we could do it again, but without the lightning this time." He added, giving Matt a sidelong glance.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up already, would ya?" He complained.

"You three go with Tidus. Make sure no one is waiting to ambush us up ahead." Auron said suddenly. The three side, but didn't complain. They were beginning to understand that against Auron you just couldn't win.

"So, you three ever seen a shoopuf before this?" Tidus asked as they started along the path.

"Nope." Andy said. "But we've seen things similar to shoopuf. Does that count?"

"I guess. I've never seen anything like them before." Tidus admitted.

"What on earth…?" Ryan muttered suddenly.

"What? What's wrong?" Matt asked. Ryan pointed about ten feet ahead of them, to a body lying on the ground. "What on earth?" Matt repeated. "Think it's dead?"

Before they could walk over and see if the figure was indeed dead, she stood up. And then she started to take off her wet suit. 'Holy shit!' Ryan, Andy, and Matt all thought at the same time.

"Thought I was done for back there." She said once she had stripped down to green short shorts, and orange tank top with two blue ribbons coming off, boots, a bulky glove on her left hand that went up to her elbow, and weird arm guard looking thing that ended in two blades that she could switch down, and goggles.

"Rikku!" Tidus said suddenly, pointing at the girl. "You're Rikku!" Now the girl looked up at him, and she looked more then a little confused. Her face lit up with reorganization as Tidus continued, "Hey! You're okay! How ya been?" He asked with a grin.

"Terrible!" Rikku practically yelled back at him, pouting.

"Are you okay? You don't look hurt too badly. What happened to you anyway?" Ryan wondered aloud.

"You guys beat me up, remember?" She replied.

"Wait, that machina was you?" Matt asked, catching on first.

"That really hurt you know… you big meanies!"

"Hey, you attacked us first!" Andy retorted.

"Nuh-uh." Rikku replied quietly. "It's not exactly what you think."

"Sorry, but people launching depth charges at me tends to fall under the category of attacking. Not to mention kidnapping." Ryan added in.

"Yo!" Wakka yelled from the distance, waving to the group.

Rikku glanced from Matt, to Andy, then Ryan, and back to Andy then Matt, her face a silent plead to not mention that she had been the one in the machina. 'Hey, if she was in the Machina, she's either a heretic, or she's an Al Bhed. Haven't heard of any heretics recently, and that one guard did mention Al Bhed sightings near the docks.' Ryan face blanched for a second, and he glance at Rikku quickly. He noticed her green eyes, and couldn't see a pupil. 'Yep, Al Bhed.' Ryan thought as the rest of the group caught up with them.

"Friend of yours?" Wakka asked Tidus.

"Uh, you could say that." Tidus said nervously. Matt and Ryan nearly slapped themselves when Wakka missed the fact that he was way too nervous to be telling them everything.

"Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!" Rikku said, stepping forward and waving to the now entirely assembled group.

"Yuna, Lulu… I told you about her, remember?" Tidus asked, pointing to Rikku. "She's the one who helped me before I washed up on Besaid with Ryan, Matt, and Andy. She's an Al Bhe… beh…" Tidus stopped, nearly revealing Rikku's lineage in front of the Al Bhed hating Wakka.

'Smooth.' Ryan thought, amazed that Wakka missed the slip up.

"Wow, so you, like owe her your life!" Wakka said in what sounded like it was almost awe. "What luck meeting here, ya? Praise be to Yevon." He said, doing the prayer gesture towards both Tidus and Rikku at the same time. "So... uh.. Rikku. You look a little beat up! You okay?"

"Uh, Wakka..." Lulu started quietly, drawing the blitzer's attention.

"Huh, what?" Wakka asked.

"There's something we need to discuss." Yuna said quietly.

"Oh," Wakka said somewhat confused, "go ahead."

"Girls only," Rikku said stepping forwards to join Yuna and Lulu, "boys please wait over there."

"Right. Sorry Wakka." Lulu said as the three turned and walked a little farther away to talk in private.

"Wonder what that's about." Ryan muttered as the guys watched the girls talk.

"Five bucks says she wants to join as a guardian." Andy replied.

"I'd bet you on it, but I think you're right." Matt replied as the girls walked over to Auron. "And why do they always ask permission from Auron, but nobody else?"

"Because he's a legendary guardian and compared to him we're all wannabe's?" Ryan asked more then he stated, drawing a laugh from everyone close enough to hear, except for Kimahri who, along with Auron, almost never laughed.

"Sir Auron… I would like Rikku to be my guardian." Yuna said quietly while Rikku hid her face from the one eyed guardian.

"Show me your face. Look at me." Auron replied gently.

"Oh, okay." Rikku said, turning to face Auron with closed eyes.

"Open your eyes." Auron prompted. Rikku opened her left eye and Auron nodded to himself. "As I thought."

"Uummm… no good?" Rikku asked timidly.

"Are you certain." Auron answered her question with a question of his own.

"A hundred percent! So, anyway… Can I?" She pleaded.

"If Yuna wishes it." Auron replied after a few seconds.

"Yes, I do." Yuna confirmed.

"Rikku's a good girl! She helped me a bunch!" Tidus added happily. Ryan, Andy, and Matt glanced at each other, thinking of the words in two different ways at the same time.

"Well I'm all for it! The more the merrier!" Wakka said happily, and Ryan looked at him oddly.

'So you hate the Al Bhed, yet you don't know Rikku's one of them? Have you met any Al Bhed other then Rin and the one that jumped off the Shoopuf?' Ryan wondered to himself. 'Prejudice bastards.'

"Right on!" Rikku said, throwing her hand into the air. "Then I'll just have to be the merriest. Rikku at your service!" Again Matt, Andy, and Ryan found themselves glancing at each other, warping the words.

As the group moved on they discovered that while Rikku wasn't the strongest person in the world, and didn't do much damage like Auron, or even Tidus, she was really fast, and she was good at stealing things as well. For every once Tidus attacked, Rikku got in two. For every one attack Auron got in, Rikku got in three.

"Hey Ryan. I thought you used Kenshin's style." Matt stated after a random fiend battle.

"What part of the Do Ryu Sen keeps you from believing that fully?" Ryan asked, amazed his friend, who knew most of the attacks of the style when he saw them, wouldn't believe him.

"It's got nothing to do with that. Hiten Mitsurugi Style is supposed to be an ultra-sonic sword technique. The speed of the gods, right?" Matt continued. Ryan thought about what he knew of the style he kept using without any training and nodded his confirmation. "Then why is Rikku faster then you?"

Ryan shrugged. "If I moved at the full speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style the strain would probably kill me. My heart wouldn't be able to get blood to my muscles fast enough, wouldn't you agree?" He asked with a grin.

"Guess that's true… but you have to admit that it is kind of weird." Matt replied.

"Not if you think about it." Matt gave Ryan an odd look and he sighed. "I'll explain it to you then. I can't move at the full speed yet because my body couldn't handle it. Come on, the Hiten Mitsurugi Style's true speed is just barely perceivable by human eye."

"Hey, that's a funny joke, ya?" Wakka said with a laugh, slapping Ryan on the back jokingly.

"Would be, if it were a joke." Ryan said quietly, and Wakka stopped laughing.

"Hey, what you just said, that's for real brudda?"

Ryan grinned. "Hiten Mitsurugi Style's top speed is so fast because," Ryan paused when he noticed everyone but Matt and Andy looking at him, "it's top speed is the speed of the gods."

"But you aren't that fast." Tidus pointed out.

"Yeah, but there's a reason for that." Ryan said with a grin. "If you count all the variations of the different techniques, the Hiten Mitsurugi Style has eighteen attacks in all. I've only done two, three if you count that crappy double Battou Jutsu I used against Kimahri. Now ask yourself, if I can only use two out of eighteen attacks, do you think I'm anywhere near mastering the style?"

"Well I guess not." Tidus admitted.

"Well I think we've spent too much time on this. Aren't we headed somewhere?" Ryan asked, and Yuna nodded.

"Yes. Our next stop is Guadosalam!" Yuna informed.

and there it is, in all it's long awaited glory. it was 22 pages long in word, so i think that puts it up to 86 pages overall. i'm writing long chapters again, which is good. well read and review as always. and please don't be angry with me, but my updates are going to be a little slower now, because i'm on the sound crew for the school musical and rehersal finally started. anyway, i'll get chapter 7 up as soon as i can! don't forget to review!