Well, before the chapter starts, I've decided to begin replying to all the reviews that I recieve. So, without further ado, the first set.
Iron-Reaver: No, I was not in the game. D But, I like that you find it so detailed. That's one of the things I strive to get right.
missmanga90: Hmm, interesting thought. I'm not sure about how well I'd do pairing up, but I have done a story (FF8: The Shadow Slayer)that tied in withone of Iron-Reaver's storiesbefore, so possibly.
beastboy-had-a-brain: Thank you very much. I'm glad you like the accuracy. And, it is pretty hard to keep both my character interactive, while at the same time keeping the other's responses to my actions in character as well.
Aalazzerath: Hehe, thanks. I fully intend to write more, it's not like me to leave a story hanging anymore. D
Evil-Kirie: I like that you're enjoying it. I'm going all the way to the end of the game too, so no worries about me ending it.
Now, on to the chapter!
Chapter 9—Rivalries
"Wow. This just keeps getting better and better." I thought to myself as I walked down the jungle path, searching for the Kilika temple. "Already I've learned Haste, and know a little bit of how to fight in this world. Just, wonder how everyone else is adapting to me..."
Dismissing my thoughts, I stop and stare a moment, my eyes going wide slightly at the sight before me. A long set of stone stairs stood right in front of us, leading up to a platform of some sort, upon which the temple of Kilika rested.
"We gotta walk up this?" I moan, silently thanking the gods that I ran a lot to help my legs get stronger.
"These stone steps have a history, you know?" Wakka said, looking at me and Tidus, who looked slightly confused. "Yep, Lord Ohalland trained here at his peak."
Tidus just stares up the stair set, much the same way I had done, before catching a glimpse of the Aurochs stretching. As the Aurochs start to laugh, Tidus smirks.
"A race, huh? Think you can beat me?"
"Count me in too. You guys are going down!" I say, grinning. Wakka, Tidus, two of the Aurochs, and I line up in a row, as Yuna steps forward.
"Yuna, if you would?" Wakka says, turning to the summoner. Yuna nods, and holds her hand up.
"Ready?" she says, before she suddenly takes off up the stairs. Wakka's eyes go wide for a second, and we all take off.
"Hey! Hey!" he yells in protest.
"You cheated, Yuna!" I yell, trying to catch up with her. We all catch up to her after a moment, and the Aurochs, Tidus, and I are all close to each other, as we near the top of the steps. Jumping over the top, one of the Aurochs lands, looks for a moment, then both of them run back down, yelling.
"L-Look out!"
Wakka turns to the rest of the group, who had followed us up the steps after a minute. "Everyone, quick! Sinspawn!" Everyone immediately grabs their weapons, preparing for a fight.
To say this Sinspawn was ugly, would be lying. This...was a ball. A green ball, about the size of a boulder. I turned to the others, looking confused. "So, what do we do?"
"We kill it!" Tidus yells back, charging the ball-looking thing, and slashing it. The attack seemingly doesn't do anything, though, and Tidus looks confused.
"What the?" he yells, looking to me. I just shrug, before replying.
"I guess we can't hurt it with physical attacks. Lulu, your turn!" I yell, but Lulu was already one step ahead of me.
"Blizzard!" she says, a shard of ice flying out and striking the Sinspawn, but not seeming to do any more than the sword had done.
"Try another element!" Wakka yells over, and Lulu nods.
"Fire!" she cries, the fiery blast slapping against the green ball, which causes it to twitch slightly. Suddenly, the thing starts to shake, and split open. The creature unfolded itself, and revealed its true form. It was completely green, from top to bottom, and the bottom half was connected to the bottom of the shell. Two spindly arms branched out into several tentacles, and the head looked vaguely like the head of the Ochu fiend we defeated. Finally, the three top parts of the shell were unfolded out behind it like a set of wings, one in the middle and one to each side. This was the true form of Sinspawn Geneaux.
"Wow. He's uglier in person." I mutter to myself, before charging the creature. The thing seems to smile, despite the lack of a true mouth, before grabbing me with a tentacle, squeezing me so hard I thought I would pop for a moment, then throwing me down. The last thing I see is the ground coming to meet me before I hit and the world goes black.
Waking up, the first thing I notice is the absolute chaos around me. Lulu is casting spells, Yuna is healing Kimahri and Tidus, who are locked in a fierce battle with the creature's tentacles, and Wakka is standing over me.
"What happened?" I ask, still disoriented from the impact.
"You were knocked out. We had to use a Phoenix Down to revive you." At this, my blood ran cold. Did I...die? Or was I just knocked out? In the game, Phoenix Downs revive dead characters, but maybe it works differently here. After hearing that, and taking a moment to think on it, I stand back up, just as a scream from the right catches my attention. Kimahri and Tidus had been knocked away, and the creature had gained just enough time to hit Yuna with its tentacles, before the duo resumed the attack. Unfortunately, Yuna was now lying unconscious on the ground a few yards away from me.
"Yuna!" I cry, running over to her, Wakka right beside me.
"Help the others! I'll revive her!" he says, and I nod before standing up and focusing.
"You're gonna pay for that! Renzokuken!" I cry, activating my Overdrive and running at the Sinspawn. Jumping upwards, I bring the sword straight down, cutting into the creature's head, before pulling it out, and swinging it first left, then back to the right. Finishing it off with two more strikes, one from top left to bottom right, and then top right to bottom left of the creature, I jump back and prepare the finishing move.
"Rough Divide!"
Charging in once more, I jump up, bringing the sword with me, as an aura of energy slams into the creature, making it look skyward from the force of the attack.
It's not down yet, however, and as I run back, Yuna walks back up, healing Tidus and Kimahri quickly, before beginning to summon Valefor.
"Dark Attack!" I hear Wakka yell, and the blitzball goes flying past me, smacking the creature right in the head and blinding it. The creature retaliates, spraying a green liquid out of its 'mouth', which lands on Lulu, poisoning her. I rummage through my pockets, looking for anything to help, before remembering I don't have any money or items. Wakka runs up and hands her a small vial of something, and she downs it, standing back up after a moment.
The sky suddenly brightens, and I realize that Yuna has finished her summoning. Backing up, I watch the aeon land and jump in front of Yuna, preparing to attack. Yuna doesn't even give a command, as Valefor jumps at the Sinspawn, slashing it across the face with its talons. The creature gives a howl of pain, and swings at Valefor, but the aeon dodges.
Flying up, the aeon uses its Sonic Wings attack on Geneaux, before flying back down and raking its talons across it again. The Sinspawn can't take any more, and falls, howling in pain, before bursting into pyreflies. Tidus drops to his knees, and everyone sighs heavily.
"Yeesh!" he exclaims, Wakka turning to him, sheepishly placing a hand on the back of his head.
"Sorry about that! Hoped to break you in a little slower." he says.
"Being a guardian's tiring!"
"Well, technically, we're not guardians, Tidus, but I agree with you." I say, sheathing my sword.
"You two handled yourselves pretty well. You got talent." Wakka says, eyeing the both of us.
"Nah." Tidus replies. Apparently he doesn't take compliments well. "So, what are these 'Sinspawn' anyway?"
Lulu walks over to answer Tidus' question. "Fiends. They fall from Sin's body, and are left behind in its wake."
"Leave 'em alone, and Sin comes back for 'em. You gotta be quick!" Wakka says, adding some more information.
"Aw, crap! More stairs!"
The rest of the group laughs, hearing my annoyed outburst, and starts to walk up the next set of steps. I just shake my head, frowning, and follow them after a moment.
As we finally reach the top of the remaining stairs, and enter the courtyard of the temple, I hear Tidus and Wakka, who are ahead of me, talking.
"So, uh...they got fiends in Zanarkand too?" Wakka asks, and Tidus turns to him.
"Just a few." he replies. "It's a big deal when one shows up, though." Suddenly, something seems to hit Tidus. "Hey! Since when have you believed me about Zanarkand, anyway?" Wakka shrugs, before answering.
"I been thinking. Maybe people Sin gets to don't die. Maybe Sin carries 'em through time. Like a thousand years through time. And then, one day, maybe they just pop back, see?"
I couldn't quite tell whether Wakka was trying to cheer Tidus up, or convince himself that his brother, Chappu, wasn't dead. Lulu, on the other hand, thought the latter apparently, as she walked up to Wakka, shaking her head.
"Amazing. Simply amazing. You make up one theory after another, refusing to believe the simple truth. Sin didn't take Chappu anywhere. Sin crushed him and left him on the Djose shore!" she says, apparently pretty angry at Wakka. "Oh, and one more thing. No matter how much you want it, no one can take Chappu's place. No one can replace Sir Jecht, for that matter. And there's no replacement for Lord Braska, either. It's pointless to think about it, and sad." she says, walking off, Kimahri following her.
I caught a slight wince from Yuna at the mention of her father, but she didn't seem to do anything more than that.
"Lulu, wait a minute." I say, causing her to turn to me.
"What?" she says, still slightly angry.
Smirking, I answered her. "If it's pointless to think about it, and sad as well, then why didn't you just leave Wakka and Tidus alone? You didn't have to enter yourself into it. It wouldn't have made you think about it, now would it?"
Lulu, at this point, now looks stunned and furious at me, all at the same time. Without saying anything, she turns around and walks towards the temple again. It may not have been the best thing to do, but I just can't stand people who act rudely towards others, and then blame their feelings on the actions of said others.
"I...I could never be what Chappu was." Wakka says, standing up from his sitting position. "Well, stuff happens. Best not to worry."
Walking towards the temple, I follow the others, Wakka and Tidus in front of me. Suddenly, as we approach, three men in purple outfits leave the temple doors, and walk towards Wakka, who speaks up before they can say anything.
"You here to pray for victory, too?" he asks, and one of the trio waves his hand dismissively.
"Just what we need...more people with 'holier-than-thou' attitudes." I think, as the man replies.
"Us, pray? Who needs to pray? The Luca Goers always win!" Wakka crosses his arms at this.
"Oh, yeah? Then why are you here?" The second man speaks up now.
"We've been praying for some competition this year!" he says, as the third speaks.
"So what's your goal this year? You gonna 'do your best' again? Ha! It's too bad your best isn't good enough! Why even bother showing up?" he says, smirking. Tidus steps forward now, a smile on his face, as he clenches his hands into fists.
"This time, we play to win!"
The first man speaks again. "Oooh, play away! Just remember, even kids can play, boys." he says, as the trio walks off.
"See you in the finals!" Wakka yells after them.
"Those guys have forgotten the first rule of sports. Never underestimate an opponent." I say, leaning against the temple wall.
"We'll beat them. We have to!" Tidus says, looking at Wakka. Yuna has been watching us the whole time, and finally turns to Tidus.
"You know that team?"Tidus shakes his head slightly, before replying.
"Putting other people down...they're as bad as my old man!" Yuna seems shocked by this.
"But, Sir Jecht was a kind and gentle man!"
"Well, not my Jecht." Tidus says, following Wakka into the temple.
Kneeling in front of a statue, Wakka begins to pray. "Lord Ohalland, guide our feet." he says, and I kneel down and begin to pray as well, Tidus doing the same as the rest of our group. Suddenly, the door that I assume leads to the Cloister of Trials opens, and a very skimpily dressed woman, and a muscular man with brown hair exit, descending the stairs and approaching Yuna.
"A summoner, are you?"
Yuna nods, and looks her in the face. "My name is Yuna, from the isle of Besaid."
"Dona." she replies, placing her hands on her hips. "So, you're High Summoner Braska's daughter. That's quite a name to live up to." she says, turning to look at us. "My, my, my...and all these people are your guardians? My, what a rabble! As I recall, Lord Braska only had two guardians. Quality over quantity, my dear. Whatever were you thinking? I have need of only one guardian. Right, Barthello?" she says, turning to the man beside her, who nods. Kimahri, for some reason, steps up to face him.
"I only have as many guardians as I have people I can trust." Yuna says, sounding quite angry. "I trust them all with my life! To have so many guardians is a joy, and an honor! Even more so than being my father's daughter. Of course, I would never think of questioning your ways, either. So, Lady Dona, I ask of you: please leave us in peace."
Dona shrugs, turning to Barthello. "You do what you want. Barthello, we're leaving." As they leave, Yuna sighs, turning towards Tidus, as she smiles.
"Well, just how many more arrogant people are we going to meet today, I wonder."
Shaking my head, I follow Yuna and the others through the door into the Cloister of Trials. It's a simple room, with a small circular disc in the middle of the back, apparently an elevator, similar to the one in the Besaid temple.
"The fayth is below. Let's do it!" Wakka says, turning to Lulu and Kimahri.
"The 'fayth'?" Tidus asks, but no one answers.
"But first, the Cloister of Trials. Kimahri? Wakka? Ready?" Lulu says, turning to her fellow guardians. They both nod, and everyone except me steps towards the elevator. As Tidus gets on, Kimahri pushes him back off.
"Hey, what gives?" he asks, confused yet again.
"You're not a guardian yet." Lulu answers.
"We'll be back as soon as we can, okay?" Yuna says, and Tidus looks down as the elevator descends.
"Oh, sure! Soon like 'tomorrow' soon, I bet!" he mutters, and I chuckle at his bitterness. Suddenly, the door opens again, and Dona and Barthello walk back in, as the elevator ascends again.
"Where's Yuna?" Dona asks, and Tidus points to the elevator. "Then why are you here?"
"Hey, I'm not a guardian, so I'm not supposed to go in, right?"
Dona looks surprised for a moment, before smiling. "Not a guardian, you say? I assume neither is this young man over here, then?"
I nod, slowly, suddenly remembering what she's getting at, but she beats me to acting. Barthello picks up Tidus, who struggles vainly against the stronger man's grip.
"Hey! Wait! Ah! Lemme go!" he cries, as Barthello walks over to the platform and dumps Tidus unceremoniously onto it. "Hey, what's the big idea!" he cries, as the platform starts to lower again.
"Just a little game." she says, smiling evilly.
Turning to me, she motions to Barthello, and I drop into a defensive stance. "Oh, no you don't. Not me, you're not!" I say, preparing to defend myself. Barthello tries to grab me, but I duck and kick his legs out from under him, dropping the bigger man to the ground, as I step back, waiting on him to get up.
"Care to try that again?" I say, angry that she has the nerve to do this.
Barthello gets back up, and throws a punch, which I easily dodge. Slamming my fist into his gut, he grunts, having the wind ejected from his lungs, and I spin around, connecting with his jaw in a roundhouse kick, throwing him down again.
"We don't have time to bother with this. Let's go!" she says, leaving the room again, Barthello following a moment after, still regaining his senses.
"Bigger they are, the harder they fall." I mutter, still annoyed at her attitude. "Great, now I have to wait on them." Realizing there's nothing I can do, because I'm not a guardian, I sit down on the floor, and begin to wait for the rest of the group.
As you can probably tell, no, I do not like Dona and Barthello too much. But, I'm not going to senselessly bash them or anything. As always, review please! I'm eager to see just how many people are reading this!
