Wow, the reviews just keep increasing in number! I'm happy. 50 shattered what I had expected to get, but 68? I'm touched. Anyway, on to the replies!
Iron Reaver: Thanks. Yes, you will see the next of my Overdrive skills soon. Just wait. And no, I haven't planned out any of the sequence with Ben and Rikku yet.
missmanga90: Rikku returns! And yes, we will be a couple. That's not 'til later, though.
Radzilla: Thanks for the compliments. Yes, Rikku is one of my favorite characters also. And, the optional parts add storyline info, and sometimes a break from all the drama. It would be kinda silly for me NOT to put them in.
beastboy-had-a-brain: Thanks. I always figured the fayth were kind of like the GFs from FF8, and you have to know some way whether they're able to fight or not.
MysticSuperSaiyanGohan: Welcome to Destiny's Call, Gohan! No, Paine will not be in this, you'll have to wait till the sequel for that. But, there will be allusions to X-2 later. Just wait... And yes, Ben and Rikku will become a couple, but as I've said, not until a little later.
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Thanks.
anbu713: Very, very, strange. That's probably no different than normal, though.
Stelmaria: No problem. I try to answer everyone's reviews completely. Now, let me clear up the Overdrive Reels/Grand Summon thing once and for all. Ben can normally summon Ixion, as he has actually earned that aeon. But, he can also summon Valefor and Ifrit through Grand Summon.Since that is a copy of Yuna's Overdrive, and she has those aeons, he's able to summon those also. For the second question, see the above replies. You'll get your answer.
Andinel: Honestly, I don't know. I haven't quite planned the ending out yet, so it is possible that they will go back when they get the airship to allow him to pray at Besaid and Kilika.
Now, finally, on to the chapter! And, by the way, if anyone wishes to know more about any of the characters in Shadow Slayer, or Ben from Destiny's Call, visit the homepage link in my profile, and check the blog entries. The site isn't finished yet, but 4 entries are up in the blog.
Chapter 18—Flow Of New Memories
The road leading to the Moonflow is decidedly...bland. Trees, road, and, well, more trees. It's starting to remind me of home. Almost. If it wasn't for the random fiend fights, and such. I just got 4 different spells at once, and the others have learned some new abilities too. Black Magic spells will be fun to use.
"Good day, everyone." An all-too-familiar voice suddenly breaks me out of my examination of my next skills, and I almost groan upon seeing who it is.
"Hi, Shelinda." I say, trying to be polite. She smiles, before looking at our whole group, reminding me of a teacher about to begin a long-winded lecture.
"We can all learn a lesson from what happened to the Crusaders. Only the truly faithful have a hope of defeating Sin." she says, and I clench my fists, immediately angered by the statement. There are a lot of things that I can stand, but two things that I can't. One, people threatening my family or friends, and two, people saying things like that.
"And how would you know? Did Sin itself tell you or something? Those people tried with all their might to defeat Sin, and they failed. But don't say the reason they failed was because they didn't believe in something! The reason they failed, is because Sin is powerful. It has nothing to do with faith, so just leave them alone, would you!" I exclaim, beginning to storm down the path, the others staring at me in shock after my outburst.
"Ben, wait!" Yuna says, walking down the path after me, the others following suit, still a little surprised by my actions. I don't slow up, ignoring their presence behind me, until Yuna catches up to me, and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"What?" I growl, spinning around. Yuna steps back slightly, and I try to calm myself down.
"Why did you yell at her?" she asks, and I resist the urge to glare at her, no matter how angry I am.
"Because she is wrong. Plain and simple. I wish she would fight Sin once. No amount of faith would help her win. Then, she'd see the truth." I say, Yuna continuing to stare at me. I just quickly force myself to calm down, before speaking again. "Let's go. We need to get to the Mooflow." Yuna nods, and everyone follows me, apparently still a little shocked at my outburst. Up ahead, I spot Biran and Yenke, talking to another human, who runs off after a minute.
'Great, just who we need to see. Those two arrogant Ronso. That's just...spiffin.'
"Look! One of Kimahri's friends. Looks just like him." Biran says, pointing at, I believe, Tidus.
"What?" he says, apparently thinking the same thing as myself.
"Both follow summoners on all fours! Hornless goatlings!" Biran says, causing the two of them to laugh.
"Hornless! Hornless!" Yenke taunts, the two Ronso continuing to laugh. Kimahri steps forward now, the same expression on his face as always.
"You come to insult Kimahri?" he says, calm despite the taunting.
"Wrong." Biran replies. "We come to warn little Kimahri."
"Summoners disappear. Never return." Yenke adds, Biran walking closer to Kimahri.
"Next will be Kimahri's summoner!" he says, causing Yuna to flinch slightly, and I just narrow my eyes at the two Ronso, knowing I shouldn't interfere.
"Poor Kimahri! Lost his horn, next lost his summoner!" Biran continues, Kimahri never batting an eye at the two, taller Ronso.
"Pitiful Kimahri! Howl alone! Howl alone!" Yenke says, adding another laugh before the two run off, Tidus turning to Kimahri.
"Do those two got something against you?" he asks, Kimahri shaking his head. "What, they were just picking on you?" he asks, Kimahri not replying for a moment.
'Tidus, just when I thought you had a brain...you prove me wrong.'
"Kimahri will deal with them." he replies, and Tidus clenches a fist.
"And I'll help!" he says, but Kimahri holds up a hand.
"Kimahri alone."
"But..." Tidus tries to protest, but gets stopped by Wakka before he can say anything.
"It's Kimahri's problem. We can't interfere. It's a rule." he says, and Lulu turns to the three of them.
"I'm worried." she says, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"About the summoners?" I ask, and she nods.
"They aren't just disappearing into thin air." Auron says, and I nod.
"He's right. Someone's kidnapping them." I reply, causing Tidus to turn and look at me and Auron.
"Hey, if we guardians do our job, no problem, right?" he says, and I shake my head.
"Not that simple, Tidus. What if they just decide to kill us, then kidnap the summoner?" I say, Tidus thinking a moment, before answering.
"I guess you're right. But still, we have to try!" he says, and I nod again.
"Never said we weren't. Now, we better get going again." I respond, starting to walk down the path again.
Arriving at the Moonflow, I gaze out over the water, and stare once again in awe. The whole area is a large river, wooded on both sides. The water itself is a grayish tint, but instead of looking shadowy, it looks even more enchanting than normal. Globes of light, the same as the ones that appear when a sending is performed, rise from the water, some hovering silently over the surface, others flying up into the air and flitting about.
"This is the Moonflow." Lulu says, and I just continue to stare.
"Whoa..." I say, completely stunned by the tranquil beauty of the area.
"These are moonlilies!" Yuna says, motioning to the numerous, water lily-resembling flowers dotting the top of the water. "They say that clouds of pyreflies gather here when night falls."
"The entire river glows, like a sea of stars." Lulu adds, as Tidus face suddenly turns into a smile.
"Really? Hey, I got an idea!" he says, and Auron just looks at him with a stern face.
"We're not waiting till nightfall." he says, causing Tidus to moan.
"Then, once we beat Sin, we're coming back!" he says, with an air of finality around the statement. No one responds, continuing to watch the circles of light fly into the air instead.
"Hey, we better hurry or we'll miss the shoopuf!" Wakka suddenly exclaims, turning to the path once again.
"Shoopuf? That some kind of boat?" Tidus inquires, and Wakka points up ahead, to a clearing. Looking ahead, both mine and Tidus' eyes go wide, as we stare at what appears to be a massive elephant-like creature, easily a hundred feet high. A cabin is mounted on its back, obviously for transporting passengers.
"Whoa, what the...whoa!" Tidus stammers, and my eyes continue to stare at the shoopuf too, as an uneasy feeling suddenly settles in my gut.
"That is a shoopuf." Wakka says calmly, walking towards the loading area.
"Uh...this wouldn't be a good time to tell you guys that I'm afraid of heights, now would it?" I say, and Yuna turns to me.
"It'll be fine. Come on." she says, and I just stand there for a moment.
"I really don't like this..." I say, before reluctantly walking towards the shoopuf loading area.
Tidus walks up a little closer to the creature, seemingly awed by both its strangeness, and its massive size. "Whoa...let's ride! Come on, let's go!" he says, sounding like an overeager child about to enter a toy store. Wakka just shakes his head, walking over to Tidus.
"All right! We leave as soon as we're ready, ya?" he says, and Tidus nods, as I walk over, beginning to examine my Sphere Grid some more, as Tidus and the others walk off to look around some.
A few minutes later, everyone walks back up to me, and I pocket the grid again, turning to Wakka.
"We all ready to go now?" I ask, and he nods.
"Okay." I reply, looking around for the driver of the shoopuf. Finally spotting him, we all go over to talk to him. I notice he's a Hypello, something I didn't realize at first. I hadn't the foggiest clue just what in the world he was the first time I played.
"Ride ze shoopuf?" he asks, and it's all I can do not to laugh. The accent is just too funny. Yuna nods, and the driver nods back, walking over to a control panel, a lift coming down from above.
"All aboards!" he says, and we all walk onto the lift, as I go over and hold onto the first solid part I see, absolutely hating the side-less lift already.
"Shoopuf launchin'!" I hear the driver say, as we rise the large distance into the air to board the cabin. I shake my head, trying to clear the slight dizziness I'm starting to feel.
"Yup, definitely don't like this...not one bit..." I mutter, as the lift swings over, all of us jumping off into the cabin. I almost fall upon landing, if it hadn't been for Tidus grabbing me by the arm. After a brief moment of everyone sitting down, and situating themselves, the shoopuf begins to move, starting to swim into the vast area of water that will lead us to Guadosalam.
About a half hour later, it starts to get annoying, what with just sitting here, with nothing to look at but water and trees. Tidus has tried to start a conversation numerous times, with no luck. Thankfully, about this time, Wakka says something that gets a response.
"Hey. Take a look." he says, pointing over the side of the cabin. Tidus and I stand up, and glance over the side, to see what appear to be the ruins of some buildings down below the water's surface.
"Whoa! A sunken city!" he exclaims, and I just look at them, examining them as closely as I can from about 50 feet up.
"A machina city—a thousand years old!" Wakka continues. "They built the city on top of bridges across the river."
"But the weight of the city caused the bridges to collapse, and it all sank to the bottom."
"Not such a good idea, was it?" I say, Wakka nodding.
"Right. It's a good lesson."
"A lesson?" Tidus asks, Wakka nodding again.
"Yeah. Why build a city over a river, ya?" Tidus looks up a minute, apparently thinking about what he just said.
"Uh...well, it would be convenient, with all that water there." he says, and Wakka shakes his head.
"Nope, that's not why. They just wanted to prove they could defy the laws of nature!"
"Hmm? I'm not so sure about that." Tidus says, cocking his head.
"He's got a point, Wakka. Water power would be very useful, enabling them to power an entire city with a minimum of effort." I say, adding my opinion in.
"Yevon has taught us: When humans have power, they seek to use it. If you don't stop them, they go too far, ya?" Wakka retorts.
"Yeah, but, don't you use machina too? Like the stadium and stuff?
"Yevon, it decides...which machina we may use, and which we may not." Lulu says, looking at Tidus.
"So which kind of machina may we not use, then?" he asks, and I just shake my head, almost chuckling at Tidus' naivety.
"Remember Operation Mi'ihen? That kind." Wakka says, bluntly.
"Or war will rage again." Lulu adds, piquing Tidus' interest once again.
"War?" he says, confused.
"More than a thousand years ago...mankind waged war, using machina to kill!" Yuna says, getting into the conversation as well.
"They kept building more and more powerful machina." Wakka says, Lulu speaking up now.
"They made weapons so powerful...it was thought they could destroy the entire world." Lulu says, her voice sounding slightly forlorn.
"The people feared that Spira would be destroyed." Yuna responds.
"But the war did not stop." Wakka finishes, Tidus looking at the three of them, almost horrified by the tale.
"Wh-what happened then?" he asks, Yuna speaking now.
"Sin came, and destroyed the cities and their machina."
"The war ended, and our reward...was Sin." Lulu says, confirming what Tidus had probably already suspected.
"So, Sin's our punishment for lettin' things get out of hand, eh?" Wakka says, as Tidus just stares at the cabin floor.
"Man, that's rough." Tidus says, and I nod my head in agreement.
"Yeah, no kidding."
"But, it's not like the machina are bad." he continues, Lulu turning to look at him once again.
"Only as bad as their users." she says, Wakka standing up suddenly.
"It's because of people like the Al Bhed screwin' everything up!" he exclaims. Suddenly, the cabin starts to shake, and I grab for the side, my fear showing itself again.
"Hope this thing's not going to fall!" I say, gripping the side tightly.
"Whatsh could thatsh be?" the driver says, as the cabin shakes again. Everyone stands up, but Auron, who yells at the rest of us.
"Sit down!" he says.
"S-Sorry!" Yuna stutters, before someone suddenly drops from above the cabin, grabbing Yuna and falling into the water.
"Yuna!" I cry, jumping into the water.
"The Al Bhed!" Wakka exclaims, jumping overboard as well, Tidus following a moment after.
As we land in the water, I look around for any sign of Yuna. I suddenly find my answer, in the form of the Extractor boss, floating nearby, Yuna contained in an energy sphere at the top of the machina.
"Yuna, we'll save you!" Wakka cries, getting ready for a fight.
"Come on! Thunder!" I yell, launching a bolt of lightning at the machina, hoping to mess up one of its systems. The thing takes the hit, and shudders a little, but really doesn't seem too hurt. A few panels open up on the side, and my eyes go wide as several torpedoes are launched, flying at us a lot faster than we can swim.
"Move!" I yell, hoping to evade the torpedoes, but they go off in front of us, sending us end-over-end through the water. Wakka looks angry now, and sends the blitzball sailing towards the Extractor, denting a piece at the bottom that looks like a rod of some sort. Wasting no time, I swim up to the machina, hoping to find some way to dismantle it.
"Dang it, why couldn't Rikku be...wait a minute! Rikku! She's inside this thing!" I say, luckily the other two not hearing me. "Great, now I have two problems. Trying to get Yuna out of this thing, and trying to keep from killing Rikku!" I mutter, looking around for any way to deactivate it. Unfortunately, no such luck.
"Aaah!" Tidus cries, as another explosion rocks the area, this time from what I believe is a depth charge.
"Dang, stupid, machina!" I yell, using another Thunder spell on it, before unsheathing my sword and beginning to hack away at the paneling. It doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot, but I keep trying, alternating a Thunder spell with some sword attacks.
"Take this!" Wakka yells suddenly, the blitzball flying in, crackling with electrical energy, which almost shocks me as well, the machina jerking sharply at the unexpected burst of electricity.
"Finally! Some damage! Let's kill it!" Tidus yells, swimming in and helping me cut into the back.
"Watch out!" I yell, pushing him out of the way of an incoming depth charge, the explosion forcing us both backwards, but also hurting the machina as well. "Let's do it!" I cry again, beginning to hack away at the Extractor again, Tidus joining me, as we expose several wires in the back.
"Hope this is something vital!" I bellow, cutting through the wires, as the Extractor suddenly shudders, the energy sphere seeming to weaken. Unfortunately, I receive quite the nice electric shock for my efforts, which almost numbs me. If it hadn't been for Tidus grabbing me, yet again, I might have just drowned. After a moment, the energy sphere disappears altogether, as the Extractor suddenly sinks to the bottom, Wakka swimming over to grab Yuna. Shaking the near paralysis off, I look at Wakka, yelling as I regain control over my body.
"Come on, let's get back to the cabin!" I yell, everyone heading for the surface quickly.
'Hope Rikku's okay...' I think as we break the surface. "Hey! Drop us some ropes, or something!" I yell up to Auron, as he, Lulu, Kimahri, and even the driver throw down some ropes for us to climb back up on. Finally, we reach the cabin again, the four of us shaking ourselves off a little, as Lulu looks at Yuna.
"Are you hurt?" she asks, and Yuna shakes her head.
"No, I'm fine." she replies, Wakka punching the seat in frustration.
"Grrah!" he growls. "Damn those Al Bhed!"
"Ish ebullibody okay?" the driver asks, all of us nodding in response, Yuna standing up again.
"I'm sorry! We're all okay now!"
"Yuna!" Auron says, and Yuna immediately sits back down, chastised.
"Shoopuf, full shpeed aheads!" the driver says, the shoopuf starting to move again, a little faster than it did before, in case of another attack.
Now that I'm back on the shoopuf, I realize just how crazy I just acted. Jumping off the shoopuf, into the water, without a second thought? Just because Yuna was in danger? There may be hope for me yet. But, not right this moment. The dizziness is back.
'Oh well, it could be worse. Could be motion sickness.' I tell myself, hoping to relieve some of my fear.
"Damn the Al Bhed!" Wakka suddenly shouts, interrupting my fear-easing talk with myself. "What do they want from us? Could it have something to do with Luca? What are they after Yuna for?" he yells, firing off rapid questions, before he suddenly stops, smacking a fist into his other hand. "Wait! They're mad they lost the tournament! Or, wait! They're mad about Operation Mi'ihen!"
"Uh, Wakka? I don't think it's either of those. Remember, they kidnapped Yuna before you guys even started playing that day at Luca, and more than likely, they're still licking their wounds from Mi'ihen." I say, as Lulu stares at the floor for a moment, before looking up at us.
"I wonder...didn't Kimahri's clansmen say something...about summoners...disappearing?" she says, tentatively. Wakka's eyes go wide, and then narrow again, filling with anger once more.
"Ah! So the Al Bhed are behind that! Those sand-blasted grease monkeys!"
"Colorful, Wakka." I say, shaking my head slightly at his continuing raving about the Al Bhed.
"Hey, Wakka. It's no use complaining about the Al Bhed now, right? We'll protect Yuna from anyone, anywhere. It's that easy. That's all I need to know!" Tidus says, trying to calm Wakka down. Wakka thinks a moment, before sitting down again.
"Well...I guess so."
"You're right." Lulu says, and my jaw almost drops in shock. Did Lulu just say Tidus was right? Wow, first time for everything. Yuna mouths 'thank you' to Tidus, who doesn't seem to notice at first, but he smiles, giving a slight nod to Yuna, who smiles back.
A little while later, maybe another fifteen minutes, and we finally reach the other side of the Moonflow. A similar platform to the one back at the other bank of the Moonflow awaits us, and we all board the platform, myself being first. I'm all to eager to be back on solid ground again.
"Finally! Sweet, merciful, solid, ground!" I exclaim, causing everyone to laugh at me, except Auron. "What? I hate heights!" I protest, causing everyone to laugh harder. Tidus starts to walk off, not noticing the rest of us aren't behind him, and I follow him, hoping to see Rikku okay after the last fight. Tidus walks up to something on the ground, and touches it, causing it to twitch.
"You're...not dead?" he says, jerking back slightly in surprise, as the body stands up and begins to unzip the bodysuit, revealing themselves to indeed, be Rikku.
"Thought I was done for, back there." she says, removing the goggles, and falling to her hands and knees, causing me to walk over to her and help her up.
"You okay?" I ask. She just nods, as Tidus finally realizes who it is.
"Rikku! You're Rikku! Hey! You're okay! How you been?" he says, Rikku looking up at him as he kneels down.
"Terrible!" she says, causing Tidus to look at her closely for a moment.
"Yeah, you don't look so good. What happened?" he asks, as Rikku jabs a finger into both of our chests.
"You two beat me up, remember?" she says, as my eyes go wide in mock surprise.
"That was you? I'm so sorry!" I say, feigning shock and helping her up.
"Oh! That machina...was you?" Tidus says after a moment. Rikku just nods, and stands up, putting a hand to her forehead.
"That really hurt, you know. You big meanie!" she says, giving an annoyed look at Tidus.
"W-Wait! But, you attacked us!" Tidus exclaims, trying to defend us, and not doing a very good job.
"Nuh-uh! It's not exactly what you think." she protests, and I step in between them.
"Can this wait until later?" I say, noticing the group approaching us. Rikku just nods, doing a double-take after a moment at me.
"Ben? Is that you?" she says, and I nod.
"I got some new clothes." I reply, grinning stupidly, and she just laughs, as the group finally walks up to us.
"Yo!" Wakka calls out, walking up to the three of us, looking at Rikku. "Friend of yours?"
"Uh, you could say that." Tidus replies, as Rikku stands up.
"Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!" she says, as Tidus turns to the rest of the group.
"Yuna, Lulu...I told you about her, remember? She was the one who helped me before I washed up on Besaid! She's one of the Al Bhe...beh..." Tidus trails off, catching his near-slip just in the nick of time. Fortunately, Wakka doesn't seem to notice it.
"Wow, so you, like, owe her your life? What luck meeting here, ya? Praise be to Yevon!" Wakka says, doing the prayer gesture.
'Could you be any more oblivious, Wakka?' I think, resisting the urge to facepalm at the fact that Wakka did not catch Tidus' slip.
"So, uh...Rikku...you look a little beat up! You okay?" he says, Lulu suddenly cutting in.
"Uh, Wakka..."
"Huh? What?" he says, Yuna walking up to him.
"There's something we need to discuss." she replies, Wakka continuing to stand there.
"Oh, go ahead." he says, Rikku walking up to him now.
"Girls only! Boys, please wait over there!" she says, shooing the rest of us away.
"Right. Sorry, Wakka." Lulu says, as the three of them walk slightly away from us, Wakka protesting slightly.
After a minute or two of talking, the three of them walk back up to us. More specifically, Auron.
"Sir Auron..." Yuna says, Auron looking at her after being addressed. "I would like Rikku to be my guardian." Auron says nothing, instead walking up to Rikku, Rikku looking up at the taller guardian.
"Show me your face." he says, causing Rikku to look confused.
"Huh?" she says, and Auron repeats himself.
"Look at me." he says.
"Oh, okay." she replies, closing her eyes as she does so. Auron frowns slightly.
"Open your eyes." he instructs, and Rikku meekly does so, revealing a green eye, with a spiraling pupil. "As I thought."
"Um...no good?" she says, timidly. Auron just continues to look down at her, face never changing.
"Are you certain?" he asks, and her face lights up.
"A hundred percent! So, anyway...can I?" she asks again, causing Auron to turn to Yuna.
"If Yuna wishes it." he says, and Yuna nods.
"Yes, I do." she replies, and Auron looks back at Rikku, before walking away, Wakka giving a small grunt as he leaves.
"Rikku's a good girl! She helped me and Ben a bunch!" Tidus adds, and I just nod slightly, smiling at Rikku.
"Well, I'm for it!" Wakka says, nodding. "The more, the merrier!" Rikku just holds a fist up, excitedly.
"Then I'll just have to be the merriest!" she exclaims, causing me to laugh.
"You are insane. I like you more already." I say, causing her to laugh now. "Well, we better get going towards Guadosalam, shouldn't we?" I ask Yuna, and she nods, as we all start to walk down the path that leads to the underground city.
Finally, the whole group is together! What's going to happen now that Rikku and Ben are back together? You'll have to keep reading to find out! As always, please review, and see you next chapter!
