Shadow of Darkness

Be prepared to be shocked! Astounded! And potentially frightened away from this story for good! Alas, I knew the dangers of chapter 13, yet it had to be written. So please enjoy!

Chapter 13:

"What… the hell… happened…" Gippal asked amidst Rikku's horrified screams. His voice trembled. He plunged his hands through his hair. "What…"

Bodies- mangled, broken bodies- lay everywhere, steeped in pyreflies and blood. So much blood. Severed limbs and- Rikku screamed again- heads littered the ground like pieces of a broken doll.

Slowly, she, Gippal, and Effram crossed the blood-soaked grounds to the temple ahead. It was silent. Unnaturally so.

They were dead. All dead.

Inside the temple there were broken Al Bheds everywhere. Men and women, young and old- Rikku even found a young girl, not more than six years old, dead. "They… were slaughtered," she croaked, clinging to Effram's arm.

"How could this happen?" he murmured. He crouched next to a fallen body and touched it gently. "Nothing…"

She gasped in horror, getting a good look at the body's face. It was Arrik, missing an arm below the elbow, with a deep wound in his chest. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. "Arrik! Come on, wake up!" she ordered through her tears. "Wake up you idiot!" His head rolled aimlessly on his neck as he stared skyward with unseeing eyes. With a wail, she dropped her head onto his cold shoulder and sobbed.

Effram squeezed her shoulder. "Come," he said quietly. "We must find Gippal." During this, he had disappeared without a sound.

Rikku looked up at him with a face splotchy and stained with tears. How could he be so calm? However, his face was pained as well and it looked as though this decision had been difficult to achieve.

Slowly, she nodded. "Yes… yes, I suppose we should."

Effram pulled Rikku to her feet and they headed for the Chamber of the Faith, careful to avoid stepping on the dead. Rikku scrubbed her face dry and joined him as he called out for Gippal. Effram held out his arm to stop her and they paused. There was the sound of sobbing coming from a small room on the left.

Sniffing, Rikku turned towards the room and, stepping over the body of a small Al Bhed boy. Why them…? They were just children…

There was Gippal, crouched over the body of an older man. It was Mikkeb. Rikku recognized the wild shock of graying blond hair. That was all she recognized. Gippal was…

"Crying," she murmured. She ran over to him. "Gippal…"

He looked at her, tears flowing freely. He didn't even seem to notice. This sight, the one of Gippal's tears, made this nightmare real. He was not the sort to cry. "Dead. They're all dead." His voice cracked.

Tears filled Rikku's eyes once more. She reached out to him, only to be pulled back. "What?" She glanced back at Effram, who was holding her arm.

"He needs to be alone."

"But…" She lurched towards Gippal again. And again, she was pulled back.

Effram shook his head slowly when she looked back. "He will come to us when he is ready." He guided her out of the room. "Let's clean this place up."

Rikku spared a final glance at Gippal. He had his back to them, still holding Mikkeb. "I- I guess."

''''

It was near midnight when Rikku sought Gippal out, despite Effram's order to wait. Considering she had no patience for waiting, she thought that she'd done well to wait those several hours. And that time had been well spent. Most of the bodies were buried now. Besides, the thought of leaving him alone to deal with this on his own made her feel ill. She knew that she couldn't cope with it alone.

She approached the room Mikkeb's body was found in with care. She wasn't surprised to find Gippal still there, tinkering with a small machina.

"Gippal?" she said tentatively.

"Hmm?" He set the machina aside and half-glanced at her.

Suddenly she felt very awkward. "Um… How-how are you doing?"

"All right." He didn't look directly at anything.

All right? How could he be all right? She certainly wasn't all right and she didn't have the relationship with these people that Gippal had. But all she could muster was a brief "Oh."

There was silence, moody silence. Rikku fidgeted. And then, Gippal spoke.

"It's just… why? Why- why Mikkeb? Why Arrik and Sherri and Haro? His voice was hoarse, but power was building in it- frustration, anger, confusion.

Rikku stepped forward with her hand outstretched, intending to offer comfort. Hopefully. "Gippal…"

"Why did they die?" he shouted. "Who would do such a thing!"

She drew back.

"Just go. Get out of here!" He threw his machina at her and then slumped onto the stool, burying his head in his hands.

She bit her lip. His actions startled her, but they didn't stop her from approaching him again. Her boots crunched on the scattered bolts and bits of metal that scattered from the machina he threw when it hit the ground.

"I told you to go!" he snapped, turning his back to her.

Rikku swallowed hard. Then, with a nod, she headed back for the door. "Get some rest, Gippal," she murmured, closing the door softly behind her. Tears were streaming down her face. Slowly, she wandered back to the room where Effram set up camp. It was the only room that had not reeked of death.

"Rikku, what-" Effram asked, upon seeing her face. He had been busy stoking a fire in the fireplace.

Her only reply was to run into his arms, bawling.

He sighed quietly. "Don't worry. In time, he will accept it."

Rikku looked up at him. She couldn't explain why, but she knew that that phrase was something she had to remember.

''''

Bang! Clank! Clatta-clatta CRASH!

Rikku had managed to fall asleep well after midnight when, only a few hours later, she was roused by such noises.

"Huh?" She lifted her head and glanced around sleepily. "What's going on?"

Across the room, a figure was hopping around, clutching its foot. It was the muttering of Al Bhed curses few would dare to even mutter that gave the figure away. "Gippal? What's going on?"

"We're leaving, that's what," Gippal said quietly, regaining his composure.

"What's going on?" A light flickered on and Effram lifted his head from his pallet.

"Gippal says we're leaving." And Rikku couldn't agree more. The sooner she was out of such a hellish place, the better.

"Oh?"

The two men stared at one another, as if in a battle of wills. It seemed as though Gippal won because, a minute later, he said crisply, "Yes. We're leaving. Now. Guadosalam is quite a walk away and I doubt it's going to come to us."
"Walk?" Rikku said.

"Yes. Walk. Not much work was accomplished here last night."

Rikku recalled the image of bodies. She closed her eyes, struggling to keep the tears at bay. How had Yuna dealt with all this death? She never saw her cousin shed more than a single tear in the face of such horror. Only afterwards, when she had done all she could… 'Yunie is just stronger than I am. She always has been/'

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. She even managed to muster a smile, though she knew it looked as forced as it felt. "Well, we won't get to Guadosalam talking about it."

Gippal nodded and, with an abrupt turn on his heel, led the way out. Rikku hung back and turned to Effram. "Do you… do you think this is a result of the Plague?" she asked quietly.

"It seems a bit strong for that. Besides, I saw no residues of the Plague within any of the bodies. Had you, perhaps?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Who could've done this? What- what could there be to gain from this slaughter?"

"Perhaps…" Effram faded off thoughtfully.

"Perhaps what? Do you know something, Effram?"

He held up a hand. "This is merely speculation. But perhaps the culprit wanted to send someone a message. A very serious one, by the looks of it."

"A message?" she squeaked.

"Maybe. Or a warning."

Rikku frowned. A warning… a temple full of destroyed Al Bhed. She was Al Bhed. With a gasp she stopped and seized Effram's arm. "Do you think it was a warning from the Plague Master?"

"Your conclusion surprises me," he mused.

"I'm not so stupid," she muttered. But even she was surprised that she was able to come to such a conclusion. "Do you think that could be it?

He shrugged. "It is quite possible."

Her shoulders quivered with anger. "If it is… If it is, I'll kill him. With my bare hands." This Plague Master would not walk away from her. Ever.

"You are certain you still want to go after him?"

She nodded firmly. "I won't let him get away with this."

"You are a brave girl, Rikku." He smiled.

She sighed.

"You guys are lagging!" Gippal shouted, already close to the first bend on the path to the Moonflow.

Rikku squeaked faintly and ran to catch up. The faster this was solved, the better. She didn't want this master to get away with any more deaths.

''''

Everything appeared to be functioning normally at the Moonflow bank. No one seemed to realize that just down the road was a temple of death. The Hypello, one of the few sentient, non-human races in Spira, plodded about their business as if they were totally unaware of the crisis unfolding in their world.

A thought suddenly occurred to Rikku. Maybe this Plague only affected humans. It would certainly explain the Hypellos' easygoing behavior. She voiced her thoughts to Effram- Gippal was busy acquiring passage across the Moonflow on the shoopuf.

"That is a good observation. I thought of the same myself."

Gippal shouted to them across the dock. He was already seated in the carriage atop the shoopuf.

Casting one last look at the road to Djose temple, she ran to Gippal with Effram close on her heels. At least the ride on the shoopuf would distract her from the horrors of the previous evening, if only for a short while.

''''

The trip across the Moonflow was uneventful. Talk was light but guarded, as none of the party wanted to even touch on the subject of the murders.

Rikku's stomach grumbled loudly as they set foot on dry land. "Ugh." She hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. Vendors in the small courtyard across the dock had signs displaying all sorts of dishes native to various locals throughout Spira.

"Can we stop to eat?" she asked, eyeballing the vendor offering the Al Bhed favorite, secu cuib.

"Are you sure we have time?" Gippal asked skeptically.

"I'm starving. And if I want to save the world, I have to keep up my strength," she pointed out in a tone reminiscent of Effram's. "So yes. Plenty of time."

"Then why'd you bother asking?"

"I was trying to be nice, in case you didn't notice."

"I didn't."

"Jerk."

"Brat."

"Pinhead."

"Loud mouth."

"Enough!" Effram pushed the two out of each other's faces. "Now, let's just get some food okay? Or will that be too hard?"

"Sorry," they muttered simultaneously.

It was over lunch- courtesy of Effram when he couldn't stand Rikku and Gippal's bickering over the check- that they heard a peculiar bit of gossip. It was loud gossip, coming from a few tables away. Apparently, an airship had crashed just outside Guadosalam a few days prior. No one was hurt, but it seemed that the wreckage blocked entrance to the town.

Rikku frowned, spoon hovering halfway to her mouth. "What are we going to do?" she murmured. "We have to get into Guadosalam."

"Help clear the wreck?" Gippal suggested.

"That might take a while," Effram pointed out.

"Well, it'll be faster than if we just sit around and wait for it to get done. And, I don't know how it is for you old folks, but young'uns like Rikku and me have to keep busy. Besides, didn't you know? Rikku's the goddess of the dig. She could probably clear it in one day. By herself." He smirked.

"Not funny." Rikku was annoyed with his constant picking, but at least that meant he was getting back to his normal self.

Effram made a face. "Twenty-seven is not that old."

"Oh ho! Watch out! He'll be calling me sonny next!" Gippal crowed.

Rikku had to laugh. After all, he wasn't picking on her for once! Gippal joined immediately and, after a minute, so did Effram. With that laughter, a bit of their anxieties ebbed away.

They finished eating, paid the bill, and headed off down the trodden path towards Guadosalam It was not long before they heard the low buzz of many voices and, minutes after that, caught sight of the crash. Dozens of people milled around the mess, pulling away pieces of twisted metal out of the way. Even a news crew was set up.

"The markings on that metal look familiar," Rikku said, tilting her head to one side.

"My baby!" Gippal shouted. Indeed, the pile of crumpled metal and scattered parts had been Gippal's former, nameless ship. "That stupid chunk of moron! I'll kill him!"

"Gippal, calm down! I'm sure Barthello-"

"No! No, don't you tell me to calm down, Rikku. Don't you dare! That god-forsaken dumb ass stole my ship! My ship! And crashed it! I can't fly a gods damned hunk of scattered metal and bolts!" And he stormed off towards the wreckage, seizing hold of a red-haired reporter to demand the culprit's location.

Rikku gritted her teeth. 'Honestly, he can be such a drama queen.' She chased after him. "Put Shelinda down, dummy!" she snapped, grabbing the young reporter round the middle and pulling her away from him. "Honestly, you big baby!" With a sigh, she tossed a tuft of blond hair from her eyes and smiled faintly at Shelinda. "Sorry…"

She shook her head. "No, it's all right." Though she did look a little ruffled, she smiled pleasantly. "How are you, anyway? Are you not traveling with High Summoner Yuna this time?"

Rikku shook her head sadly. And yet, she was a bit surprise (yet glad) that the news of Yuna's illness hadn't spread. "You see, Yunie- ah, Yuna caught the Dark Plague."

Shelinda gasped appropriately. "Oh no! Not Lady Yuna! Is- is there anything I can do?"

She shrugged. "Not much. I'm working on it myself." She paused before adding," Just… please, don't let anyone else know what's going on. I'm don't want people freaking out over it." And blaming her. "Yuna doesn't need that sort of attention."

"Oh yes. I understand. "The girl nodded firmly. "All right, I won't say anything."

Rikku smiled. "Thank you." She glanced around the wreckage curiously. Gippal was deep in the middle of it, clutching pieces to his chest in mourning. Poor guy. She sighed and turned to Shelinda again. "How long do you think clearing this mess up will take? I need to get into Guadosalam."

"You can go now, actually. They cleared a path an hour ago."

"Oh, super!" She stood on her toes and motioned for Effram and Gippal to join her. "Thanks for the information, Shelinda."

The girl smiled. "Of course."

The men approached.

"There is a path cleared into Guadosalam," Rikku said eagerly. Now the time had come! She could prove the deceased Maester Seymour was behind everything! "Let's rock-n roll!… Gippal, put that stuff down."

"These are the remains of my baby. I won't put them down and you can't make me!" he finished this off with a defiant stomp.

"Just so you know, I doubt Barthello stuck around. He's desperate to get help for Dona."

"Oh, he better be around because I still have an ass to destroy."

She rolled her eyes. Men and their airships.

………..

If you made it through chapter 13, hurrah! I hope you enjoyed it, it was a bit darker than the rest of the story, I think. I do warn you that it might not get much lighter as the story progresses, but I will try to keep in some of the jokes and playful banter (don't want to freak ourselves out with too much seriousness -) Oh! And a chocolate chocobo to anyone who can figure out what the Al Bhed favorite, secu cuib, is -

OOoDancingQueenoOo: Hahahha, yes, I am known for evil cliffhangers (And I love Gippal/Rikku romance too!) Sadly, I used to employ cliffies more than I do now… - But! I hope you enjoy chapter 13!

Canada Eh: Cliffies are oh so delightful in torturing … insert evil cliffy laugh here

The Al Bhed known as Amaria: I'm so flattered you like my story! (And Amaria is such a pretty name.)

Fighter-chick: Eep! I hope this chapter was up soon enough for you! - It was difficult to write, but I hope you enjoy it!

Fanfic-Lover: Hahah, thank you for the speculations! I love it when my readers pitch such things, it really inspires ideas for me! And I hope this chapter is quite a surprise for you!

LotisMasterBrit: Ohhhh, a Alice 19th fan? I love that manga… And I'm so glad you like the story! I hope you continue to enjoy it.

PerfectStranger: More power to Rikku! I particularly enjoyed writing her in butt-kicking action. And I'm glad you enjoyed it as well!