Mysterious Digidreamer: Thanks a lot. I'm gonna try.
Thunder Demon: I don't think it's brother you should be intrested in.
Neko-Yuff16: I know. But that was the idea. How much could I torture Auron and still get away with it? But it also showed how much he was willing to suffer for Rikku.
Chibi-sorrow: A spork? Of all things I guess it would work best. Happy thoughts, they were just for you Chibi. I would say more, but I already reponded at LJ.
Disclaimer: Squares, not mine.
A/n: I have gotten a lot of people saying that they would love to hurt Cid. I didn't mean for you to hate him That was not the idea at all! He was being a protective father. I guess that it's good that I was able to do that in my writing, but it was not my intention. I like Cid, really I do.
"Look, I don't care how you do it, but I want her gone. Since she has been here, she has done nothing but get in my way. Kyo once told me she used to have a fear of thunder." The woman added as a suggestion.
"Yes, ma'am. What if we are met with resistance?"
"Either way, knock her out. I don't want anyone to know until she is gone. And by that time she should be too far away for anyone to do anything about it." She flipped her head back sending waves of blond hair over or shoulder. "I was so close to getting Kyo to agree to take over. Now that she is here, he is willing to let her do it. Well, I won't have it."
"She had those two protectors too. Do you want us to kill them if they get in the way?" One of the two men asked.
"No. Leave the great Sir Auron alone. I have a plan to make him look guilty. Wait until Cid hears what he has done to his daughter." She said maliciously as they left the room.
Three friends walked along the halls of home talking as they went. They had just finished lunch, and Auron and Rikku agreed that they would walk with Luzzu as he went to one of the machina garages.
"So what have you been doing there, Luzzu?" Rikku asked trying to start a conversation.
"They have been trying to get a new type of hover craft to work. If successful it will be able to fly over anything. Land, water, sand. You name it, it can do it." He answered.
"Sounds nice." Auron added. He held onto Rikku's hand, but only because she insisted. He still was not comfortable with showing any sort of affection in public. That and he still feared that if Cid were to find out that he did anything, well... It wasn't that he feared the man himself, more so the fact that he agreed to leave if Cid heard he had done anything inappropriate.
"You don't sound to thrilled." Rikku teased him. He grunted a response.
"It really is amazing." Luzzu continued before they got could start anything. "Kaleya was down just yesterday to see it."
Rikku shuttered involuntarily. The name sent chills up her spine. "I don't like her." She said.
"I wouldn't go around saying that too loud. Her family has ties like you wouldn't believe." Luzzu told her. "Or at least that's what I've heard while working around the mechanics."
"They speak Spiran when you're there?" Rikku asked amazed.
"A little. But I'm slowly learning Al Bhed. A mechanic has been teaching me."
"That's good. But that still doesn't change my opinion of Kaleya. Maybe you can spy on her for me." Rikku joked.
"Rikku, I don't think that would be very wise." Auron warned her.
"Kidding, kidding. Gosh, you act as if I would really do something like that." She blushed as she played with the hem of her shorts.
Auron stopped her and pulled her against the wall. "I'm sorry, Rikku. I just have been on edge lately. I don't want to see something happen to you, because you didn't think something through. Your impulsive nature can get you in trouble at times." He ran a hand down her cheek affectionately.
Luzzu left the couple there and waited around the bend for them to catch up. A few minutes later Auron came back alone. "Where's Rikku?" He asked.
"Someone called her on her commsphere saying they needed her help. She said that we should continue to the garage without her."
"Well if that's what she said. Wait till you see this craft. You won't believe your eyes." He said as they walked down the hall.
Rikku began to go the opposite way then the two men. Whoever was on her commsphere really sounded desperate. She entered the garage they said they needed her at, but when she entered the room was dark.
"Hello? Anyone here?" She called out. She ran her hand along the wall looking for a light sphere. She found it, but it was five feet further then it should have been. "That's odd." She remarked as she turned it on. The room lit up but it was deserted.
She was about to call out again when something hit the back of her head. It sent her falling to the floor. She rolled over to see what it was when she saw two men standing over her.
"Told you it wouldn't work." The taller of the two said to the other.
"Well then, we'll just have to go plan B." He gave Rikku a sinister smile before covering her mouth with a wet rag. Within seconds Rikku's world went dark.
She awoke some time later, she wasn't sure how much. It was dark outside, and she could hear voices talking from ahead of her. She lifted her head to find that she was lying on stone ground. A clanking sound caught her attention. She was chained to the wall! Unfortunately the sound also caught the attention of one of the men. She saw his silhouette rise from in front of the fire.
He began to move closer to her and she raised her arms in defense. He squatted down in front of her face.
"Not so tough now, are we?" He sneered.
Rikku dropped one arm, but held the other one out as if to cast a spell. "Blizzard." She said only to find nothing happen.
He laughed at her feeble attempt. "Your magic isn't going to help you. If you hadn't noticed, that choker you are wearing prevents you from casting any sort of spell. And to top it off, no one knows you are even gone." Lightning flashed from the mouth of what Rikku guessed was a cave after he spoke. If her situation wasn't so dire she might have laughed at the irony of it.
"Where are we?" She asked in a tiny voice. One that did not match her persona at all, but even she could see the hopelessness of her situation.
"Someplace that should make you feel right at home." He laughed. "The thunder plains."
Luzzu and Auron were invited over for supper at Cid's again. He still did not trust the ex-warrior monk, but if it meant Rikku were to join him, then he would tolerate him. Kyo and Kaleya were there as well. The five of them sat waiting for Rikku to show up. Cid knew she had a nasty habit of being late from time to time, so he wasn't overly worried.
Auron, however, had a much harder time accepting her tardiness. Something was wrong, he could sense it. He hid his feelings inside where no one would see them. He glanced around at the people in the room with him and tried to guess what they must have been thinking. Becoming frustrated with the silence he stood to leave. "I'm going to go find her." He said as he closed the door behind him.
"Where does he think he's going?" Cid demanded as he watched the warrior leave.
"Maybe he knows where Rikku is at." Kaleya calmly suggested. "Perhaps you should follow him and find out."
"I'll go for you if you would like." Luzzu offered.
"No, I'll go myself. I want to find out with my own eyes." Cid declined as he left to follow where Auron had gone.
"Have you seen my sister anywhere?" Kyo asked the crusader. "She may be late from time to time, but never like this,"
"The last time I saw her was this afternoon, after lunch. The three of us, Rikku, Auron, and myself, were heading down to see the new hover machina. I left them alone to talk. When Auron joined me again, he was alone. He said that someone had called her on her commsphere." He paused as he thought about what he just said. "You don't think?" He trailed.
"It's possible. Was he angry when he left her?" Kaleya asked.
"Not when he joined me again. When I left them alone he seemed to be a little upset." He admitted.
"Sounds suspicious if you ask me." Kaleya voiced. "We should keep an eye on him. I bet he knows where Rikku is." She threw her head back so her hair rippled down her back. "Cid was right about him, he can't be trusted."
Kyo rubbed her arm as if to comfort her. What if Auron were to take her away too?
"Now wait one moment. I know Sir Auron and he would never do anything like what you are suggesting!" Luzzu stood from his seat in anger. She had no right to say what she was implying. "Auron loves Rikku! He may not always show it, but everything he does is for her." He took one last glance at the couple still left before leaving to find Auron and let him know what was going on.
Kaleya scowled. Would she have to get rid of him as well? "Kyo?"
"Oac, fryd ec ed?" (Yes, what is it?)
"Tu oui yknaa fedr sa? Tuach'd ed caas vihho dryd Rikku fuimt tecybbayn mega drec yvdan ran yht Auron kad ehdu y vekrd?" (Do you agree with me? Doesn't it seem funny that Rikku would disappear like this after her and Auron get into a fight?) Kaleya asked as sweetly as she could. It was time to pull the innocent damsel routine.
"Ed tuac caas nydran utt." He agreed. "E sad res pavuna, pylg uh Yuna's bemknesyka. Ra fyc nydran lumt ev E nasaspan lunnaldmo." (It does seem rather odd. I met him before, back on Yuna's pilgrimage. He was rather cold if I remember correctly.)
"Caa fryd E sayh? Fru'c du cyo ra teth'd tu cusadrehk du rind ran?" (See what I mean? Who's to say he didn't do something to hurt her?)
Kyo thought about this. If Auron had done anything to hurt his sister, then he would deal with him personally. "Oui'na nekrd. E's kuehk du ku dymg du Vydran. Caa ev ra vuiht uid yhodrehk." (You're right. I'm going to go talk to Father. See if he found out anything.) Kyo kissed her before leaving to find out some information.
Kaleya smirked to herself once she was alone. Everything was going as planned. Rikku was gone, and Sir Auron was going to take the fall. Luzzu wasn't buying it, but he would be taken care of soon enough. She stood up and crossed the room. She picked up a commsphere and began to talk into it. "This is Kaleya. I have one more job for you."
"Here, I brought you something to eat." The shorter of the two men set a plate of food on the ground just within Rikku's reach. She looked at it before kicking it back at him.
"E tuh'd fyhd ouin vuut." She spat. (I don't want your food.)
"Dryd'c ib du oui, pid nasaspan ed'c uh oui ev oui cdynja." He replied using the language she had. (That's up to you, but remember it's on you if you starve.)
Chains clanked as she brought her arms up to cross them over her chest. "Frana'c ouin vneaht? Ra kad clynat yht nih yfyo?" (Where's your friend? He get scared and run away?) Truth was, she was rather courius. He was there when she had fallen back to sleep. Now it was just her and the short one.
He laughed at her question. "That is none of you concern, pedlr."
"Tysh oui." She cursed back at him. "Wait until Cid finds out what you have done. You'll hang for sure."
"I highly doubt that. As we have told you before, no one knows what we have done." He straitened up in a cocky stance. "To tell the truth, they don't even know you're gone."
Rikku screamed as she lunged at him. "Oui mea! Oui ghuf tysh famm drao ghuf E's kuha!" The chains on her wrists and ankles only served to pull her back and knock the wind out of her when she landed on the stone ground. (You lie! You know damn well they know I'm gone!)
He laughed at her again as she rolled over to pull air into her lungs. "I wouldn't do that again if I were you." He sneered in her face. "Next time you might actually get hurt."
Rikku glared at him through slitted eyes. Her bright green eyes turning darker in fury. Before he could back away though, she spit at him. It landed in the middle of his face. "Vilg. Uvv." She warned him.
He used his sleeve to wipe the saliva off his face before kicking her in the stomach. Rikku groaned in pain as he walked away to sit back by the fire.
Two days later and Rikku still hadn't been found. Kaleya played the comforting girlfriend, future daughter-in-law part very well. She knew just the things to say and just how to act. Nobody suspected she had anything to do with Rikku's disappearance. Well, nobody except Luzzu. And for some strange reason he seemed to have gone missing as well.
Auron didn't sleep much for those two days. Every time he did, he would dream of her only to wake up and find it wasn't real. He walked the halls of home looking anywhere she could have gone. Yet somehow no one seemed to believe his innocence. Cid stared at him with murder in his eyes, and even brother now would watch every move he made. Kaleya was the only one who would smile at him, but that was filled with venom and hatred.
He hadn't told anyone, but just the day before he had found evidence suggesting that Rikku might have been kidnapped. He had gone into an unused wing of Home and found a blue headband that looked familiar to him. Upon closer inspection he recognized it as her's. Now he sat in his apartment holding it and staring at it as if it would talk and give him the answers he needed. (yes, to all of you who are wondering. He is sitting on the evil couch.)
A loud knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts. He pocketed the band and answered the door. Cid stood there looking almost as bad as he did. When the door was open far enough Cid barged in and roughly grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
"I have had enough of these games. What have you done with my little girl?" He shouted as he threw Auron against a wall, but never letting go.
"I can assure you I know nothing about her whereabouts. I am just as upset about this as you are." Auron defended himself. "Besides, Luzzu is missing as well. Do you really think I would do something to him too?" He asked. He had to do something to gain the leader's trust. His head was pounding from hitting the wall with so much force. The lack of sleep didn't help his mood either, but he managed to keep it together.
Slowly Cid let go of him. It was true; Auron wouldn't kidnap both of the people he was with. He took a deep breath before speaking. "You're right. I hate to say it, but you're right." He said calmly. "But my girl is still missing." He added, back in his rough voice.
"Then we must gather together what we know." Auron took the initiative. He was no leader, but Rikku's life may be at stake.
"I know that you were the last one to see her." Cid growled.
"Yet she is still missing. Someone must have seen her after I did. We need to work together if we are to find her." Auron straitened his shirt out and closed the door so they would not be overheard.
"We have looked all over Home. I even have people searching the desert. And still there is no sign of her."
"She is not on Bikanel anymore. Whoever has her does not want her found. They would not have stayed here."
"Then we must go to the mainland. I'll let Brother and Kaleya know the plans. He can fly for us while I leave her in charge here. If Rikku or Luzzu shows up, she can call us right away."
"You are in charge." Auron said quietly. He had a feeling that whoever had taken Rikku and Luzzu did not want them getting along. And he had a feeling that a pretty blond Al Bhed was behind it.
"Good. But we are only working together until they are found." He said as he pointed at Auron.
"If that is what you wish."
There is so much more I want to add to this chapter, but it was getting long enough at nine pages. And that was without all the author notes and stuff!