Disclaimer:

FFX, FFIX, FFVIII AND FFVII and all characters associated with the Final Fantasy name belong to those lovely people at Square. Story and additional characters © 2005 Ultima's Angel

Note: This is my last chapter before I'm on my own! Before now I was using what I'd written 2 years ago and editing it but now I'll be writing the chapters from scratch. Reviews would be great- I need a lot of encouragement now lol! 0;)


4. Journey to Memoria

The next morning was quiet. Yuna was expecting to hear crowds of noisy punters clinking their glasses together and Ruby's voice to come through the door but all was still. In fact, the only noise came from outside. Birds perched on crooked buildings were singing, the sun's amber glow warming their feathers as they did so. The bedroom which Yuna had slept in was immersed in light that poured in from the little round window until it too had a glow to it.

It was a little yet welcoming room with quilted spreads covering the wooden bed and with a log fire that had recently been put out in the corner. Yuna watched as slithering snakes of grey smoke wheezed out of the ash black wood. They climbed towards the top of the ceiling turning it black and peeling away the frail décor.

She had an odd feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach, as she tossed her head back into the chocobo feather pillow, almost as if (once again) she hadn't slept at all.
" I was asleep, wasn't I?" she said softly to herself, and she tried to remember. Why couldn't she remember sleeping when she knew she had definitely woken? Why was she still so tired? She was too exhausted to ask anymore, her head was filled with emptiness the unanswered questions had brought. Her eyes closed and she finally felt herself drift away…

" Yuna, Yuna are you awake?"
It was Lulu standing over the bed, her cactuar dancing in her palm.
"I… I need you to come downstairs and assist me…"
" … assist you?"
The covers doubled back to reveal Yuna's surprised face. This was an odd expression that Yuna thought she'd never hear herself say to Lulu.
" Well, it's these gems. Her Majesty hasn't returned…" Lulu said as if every word caused her great pain, " I'd like to have them assigned individually to us as soon as possible…"
"Oh I see," Yuna said quickly. "I'll be down soon"

Lulu nodded and left and the cactaur left with her, hopping and spinning about in a frenzy. Yuna reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and dressed without looking in the mirror. Then she made her way down the winding staircase that turned around slowly after each corner she took. Then it stopped, groaning as if every step Yuna took was too much for it.

It led her to the bar's cellar with hundreds of barrels of every imaginable drink stacked upon each other. Some were rolling loose about the floor dripping large pools of strangely coloured liquid that bubbled and hissed before occasionally dissolving into smoke. Yuna stepped carefully over they ones, she wasn't sure what effect they'd have on her but she didn't wish to find out. Relieved she had got through the cellar intact, she approached the theatre with caution but luckily there was only one surprise. Garnet had returned and was showing the guardians how to equip themselves with the new system.

"Lulu.. you will be the black mage naturally," she was saying and she handed Lulu the amber gems that shined black. "And Wakka… you can have the Knight gems and Kimarhi… you will be the Dragoon. Yuna! You will be a summoner but I regret that there is only really white magic for you to use."
Yuna accepted the white gems that glowed pink, feeling nervous but, nevertheless, better she had some power.
" Now to leave," Garnet smiled. " I hear you have a map Yuna."
Yuna reached into her bow and pulled out the map, that once belonged to the strangers in the bar, and handed it to Garnet. Then she followed everyone out, smiling happily as she thought of receiving her first summoning creature of Sacreda and thinking more about the importance of this journey.

It seemed a long time since she had been standing in the Besaid Temple waiting until her father's statue had turned purple before she could slide in the sphere that would open the portal. Then she remembered stepping through a glowing light and finding herself ready to leave in the S.S Spektril. Now all she had to do was pass this pre-pilgrimage and she was ready to live her dream for the people. All she had to do was defeat the practice Sin the temples had created for her that waited back in Besaid beyond the Cloister of Trials. She tried not to think about what would happen if she failed it. It dreaded every bone in her body to think of failure so she tried to think positively. She would leave the Besaid Temple as a proper summoner with Valefor. How the people would rejoice and how happy would she be knowing she had made them so. She smiled to herself with this thought in her mind and looked to where everyone was standing.

" What's going on?" she enquired, and she walked towards her guardians.
" Garnet has gone with this Zidane get us our transport," Lulu answered. " We have to wait here."
Yuna nodded and leaned against Kimarhi whose large paw stroked her brown hair.
" You still tired?" Wakka asked her curiously. " Couldn't sleep, huh? Me neither. Don't tell that Ruby but that bed felt like I was sleeping on a rock!"
Yuna only replied with another weak nod. She knew that she had been dreaming all night, even though she hadn't actually been asleep. In it, she remembered, she had been in a temple and she had lit a fire. It was warm and she was hungry and cold but then she became uneasy. There was something watching her with shining eyes. Then, it stopped.
" You will have to get more sleep Yuna, you need your strength," Lulu commented, still worried about Yuna's lack of sleep and concentration, but Yuna wasn't listening- she was staring at the sky.

There, flying high above the gathering clouds, was Garnet and Zidane upon a chocobo, its beak opening at irregular intervals in expectance of greens.
" A real flying chocobo?" Lulu said quietly, half in amusement. " Now there's a first..."
" Hop on!" Garnet's voice cried and the chocobo landed. She put her hand out to Yuna, who looked worried.
" Hey! Don't worry, it's fun!" Zidane smiled and he too beckoned to her, leaving no choice but to climb onto the chocobo's feathery back.
" It doesn't go that high does it?" Yuna said nervously, finding some comfort that the others were climbing on too.
" Nah..."

Zidane gave the chocobo the signal to move and it flew straight over a large cloud with a long "Kwehhh!"
" Ahhhhhhh!" Lulu yelled a little too loud so that everyone stared at her.
" Memoria here we go again," Zidane said ignoring Lulu's cries, his mousy hands gripping the map.
" Is it far, ya?" Wakka asked, trying to keep a serious face at Lulu's scared expression.
" Not really," Garnet answered and she felt the cold wind race through her hair.

Yuna looked at the side of her and saw puffy clouds at waist height that dissolved into thin air as the chocobo flew through them. She had always wondered what it was like to fly ever since she was girl and had often believed that she could. Lulu, however, never quite agreed whenever Yuna, as a little seven year old, told her about what she would see through the clouds. It made Yuna laugh to reminisce about the things she did when she was young yet cry to think she would never think of them again.

" What you laughing at?" Wakka asked, hearing Yuna laugh. " Don't you think that Lu looks good like that?"
He had completely misread her laughs.
" Leave it out Wakka," Lulu hissed through clenched teeth." … Or a piece of mysterious thunder may just appear any moment."
Yuna laughed harder and she was filled with happiness, watching the birds fly by. Then, it all changed as the blue sky became absorbed into pink and the chocobo halted.

" Now for the next part of our journey. Ready?" Zidane said suddenly and he winked at Garnet as the chocobo suddenly dropped from underneath them and a long root emerged in a blur. He grabbed hold of it and with everyone else, but Garnet, feeling terrified, he swung forward.
" What are you doing?" Lulu cried.
" Chocobos don't like it I guess!" Garnet laughed wildly, clutching onto Zidane's trouser leg.
" You two are crazy, ya?" Wakka yelled through the wind that took his breath away.
" Relax," Zidane assured him, and they let go off the root and fell into a dark place one after another in a human mountain.

" Get off me!" Lulu's voice called at the bottom and, as everyone pulled themselves up, they could only laugh at Lulu's face.
" Welcome to Memoria!" Garnet cried. " Hope you enjoyed your journey!"
Everyone but Lulu found this funny.
" And you're supposed to be the Queen..." she muttered, straightening out a crushed belt.

It was only after Lulu had sorted herself out and they had ensured they were properly equip that they began to move inside Memoria. It was the strangest place Yuna had ever been to with a strange atmosphere about it. It seemed that every step she took, there was movement behind her. She all at once remembered what Garnet had said about hard fights and was relieved to have the comfort of the gems with her. As she got deeper in, it became darker and also colder. It certainly seemed as if it had been abandoned for quite some time yet by the amount of fighting she had been doing it wasn't so, but home to many monsters.

"Fighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht!'' Zidane yelled and Yuna felt herself being immersed in battle. By now she was so tired and it felt as though curing was taking everything out of her but, not wanting Zidane to have to flee, she kept going. Once the monster had been defeated, she could go on no longer. She flopped down on the Memoria's cold floor.
"We should rest," Lulu said, noting this.

Everyone agreed and a fire was lit. Yuna watched its flames, the heat made her drowsy and she almost thought she was in her dream again.
'' Well… we're nearly there. We'll have Ark for you in no time!'' Zidane said cheerfully and he studied the map again (that had changed to an internal view)
'' Aren't you going to join us Your Majesty?'' Lulu asked Garnet.
Yuna looked up. It looked from where Yuna was sitting that Garnet was upset and just looking at her reminded Yuna of the black silhouette of her in the Engine Room- crying, alone and unlike the person Garnet always tried to be. In a way, secretly admitting it in her mind, Yuna thought that Garnet was quite like her. She often had to hide her fears for the good of her friends.
"Not at the moment," Garnet answered, her voice fragile and she disappeared.
Everyone turned back to eat their gyshal pickles but Yuna left hers. It was time to find out the truth. It was time to find out who Garnet really was. With her head pulsating, she followed the young royal and the darkness closed in.