Chapter 4: Lost Love
A/N: Sorry for the extensive delay but I got addicted to Counter-Strike so I've been playing that a lot…maybe even too much. Anyway, here's chapter four after its delay.
Jaina-Fel: I'm very happy you like it and also that you reviewed again. Yay now I have 3 fans that have read this far and I hope I can get more but if not oh well. Anyway, hope you like chapter four.
Anasazi Darkmoon: I'm very glad u liked the fight scenes because I love to write them and from my reviewers of my other fic I'm pretty talented at writing them.
dark dragon knight1993: Well I'm glad to hear that you keep reading fics you like and that mine is one of them. About sticking too close to the actual game but it's the first few chapters so I don't know exactly what I want to do but don't worry I will break away from it more. And yeah the speech; I know Lulu's supposed to say it but oh well.
Spira'sSentry: I'm very glad to have you back man! That sucks that it wouldn't let you log on. Yeah the game script I just found it on and saved it so I would have it. And I'm glad u liked this one so far so here's chapter four, man.
Night had set on the ocean that harbored the S.S. Winno as it skidded along the calm waters that separated Kilika from Luca. All the passengers had turned in for the night except for Yuna and her guardians. Wakka and Lulu were perched up on the upper deck located right above the ship's bridge just talking. Kimahri stood like an unwavering sentinel out on the deck of the ship over watching the deck of the ship. Yuna was off down below deck in her room. Tidus was at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to where Wakka and Lulu were conversing looking as though he was ease dropping. Lauren stood by herself at the bow of the ship leaning on the railing looking out over the ocean into the dark horizon.
Lauren pulled the locket out from the depths of her sweat shirt and cradled it tenderly in the palm of her hand. She put her thumb against the right side of the locket and applied the slightest amount of pressure possible for it to click open. Resting between the golden rims of the locket sat a picture of a young man with dreamy blue eyes and spiky jet black hair. Lauren's eyes met those of the young man in the picture releasing lucid tears down her wind chilled cheeks.
'Why did he have to leave then? Why did he have to go there? Why couldn't he have just stayed with me?' Her eyes never unlocked with those of the young man in the picture in the locket, her tears becoming more frequent.
A wave smacked the bow of the S.S Wino sending up a spray of blue green salt water at Lauren. She did not move and did not seem to even notice that she had been splashed. 'Why does it still hurt so much after all this time? It's been almost a year and a half and none of the pain has gone away, why!'
She glared down at the picture in the locket and then began to smile a kind of evil smile. 'I know why I can still feel so much pain after all this time. It's this locket! If I get rid of it maybe I will get rid of my sorrow!' She cocked her arm back; the locket tightly wrapped in her hand, and prepared to toss it overboard. She was just about to pitch the thing overboard when she felt something stab at her heart.
'I can't get rid of this.' She lowered her arm down and unraveled her fingers from around the open locket. 'This is all I have to remember him by. But if I keep it then I will always have sorrow. What can I do? What should I do?' Her inner conflict came to a screeching halt when footsteps echoed from behind her. She whiled around to find Yuna slowly approaching her.
"Lauren? Are you alright? You are crying." Yuna's eyes met with Lauren's eyes to ensure an accurate answer. "Who gave you that locket?" The summoner noticed the golden locket Lauren had failed to hide.
"His name was Brian, my boyfriend. Or he was till he was killed." Lauren broke out in loud cries with tears streaming steadily down her cheeks. She threw her arms around Yuna, much to her surprise, and cried on her shoulder. The young summoner patted Lauren on the back in the most comforting way she knew but nothing could ease the pain the teenage girl was facing.
"I know it may hurt Lauren, but talking about things usually takes some of the burden off." Yuna said while having Lauren release her grip on her.
"I've had a few boyfriends before him but he was the only one that actually loved me. All the other ones were just in the relationship for sexual reasons, but not him." Lauren turned her gaze from Yuna and focused it out over the vast night sea. "We would do just about everything together and we had almost all the same classes in school. He would take me out to dinner and give me gifts like roses and jewelry…like this locket. I like getting things and being treated to dinner and stuff but that's not why I liked him so. He had a kind of loving aura around him that every time I was with him my heart would race and I would feel like there was nothing that could bring me down. I loved him so much, but then that day came…" The chill night air splashed upon her face, freezing her tears.
Yuna was on the verge of crying from listening to Lauren spill her feelings to her. "If you don't mind me asking…what did happen that day?" Lauren turned back around to face the light brown haired summoner.
"Well, we were at my house after school just enjoying each others' company. Then he had to leave for dinner at his own house. So he left and then about a few hours later I got a phone call from his parents saying…" She started to cry even more so than she had been before, almost collapsing to her knees. "…they said that he had gotten caught up in a gun fight over something like a drug deal gone bad or something when he was walking home and was shot by a one of the fleeing men." She cried.
"Lauren…I'm so sorry." Yuna had tears coming down her face. "I've never experienced the loss of someone I loved but I will help you as much as I can." Lauren attempted to smile through her blood shot eyes and tear streaked face.
"Thank you Yuna. I might come and talk to you if I ever have another problem but for now I just want to be alone." She turned back to the railing and ignored Yuna as she slowly strolled away from her, every once in a while glancing back.
Tidus walked away from the flight of stairs leading up to where Wakka and Lulu were still chatting and bumped into Yuna. "Hey Yuna." He exclaimed in a happy voice but his eyes soon met her and shifted to a serious personality. "What's the matter?"
Yuna turned her head back to gaze at Lauren for a moment. "It's Lauren…she's going through a hard time right now." Tidus looked oddly at the young summoner.
"What is it?" He queried.
"I…I can't say right now."
"Well then, I'm just gonna have to go over there and talk to her myself. After all, I did say to her that she could talk to me about anything." He started toward Lauren but Yuna's hand caught him on the shoulder.
"She said she wanted to be alone right now. We have to respect her request." Yuna said gazing into Tidus' eyes.
"Okay, okay." The blitz ace stormed off to the back of the S.S. Winno.
Lauren heard Tidus mumble some incoherent words on the back of the ship deck but continued to stare off into the dark horizon. 'I think Yuna was right…I don't feel as though I have so much of a burden and it hurts less…maybe.' Wakka let out an amazed cry and so did a few other passengers as the watched Tidus perform something on the back deck. 'Yuna's nice. I gotta thank her some time. But for now I think a good night's sleep will do me some good.' She strode over to the door leading down to the lower cabin, to her room, wiping the tears from her eyes.
The next morning Lauren emerged from her room and headed onto the deck where Yuna was waiting for her. "Good morning Lauren!" Her smiled could have cheered up anyone. "How are you doing this morning?"
"A lot better then last night. You were right, talking does help." Yuna smiled back at Lauren. "Thank you."
"See I told you. I may not completely be able to understand or relate but telling someone about the problem helps a lot." Yuna said, almost boasting. "Oh, that's right! Tidus probably wants to talk to you." Lauren looked at the summoner questioningly.
"Why?"
"He wanted to know what the matter with you was last night. He was going to right after I left but I stopped him because you said that you wanted to be alone." She responded.
"Okay, thanks." Lauren surveyed the ship deck to find Tidus but she couldn't find him. "Where is he anyway?"
"He's on the other side of the ship. He's alone, just looking into the water off the side." The honey brown haired summoner replied.
Lauren nodded her thanks and proceeded to the other side of the ship to speak with Tidus. As Yuna said, he was leaning on the railing overlooking the sea. "You wanted to talk with me?" The blonde blitz ace whiled around hastily in surprise.
"Yeah." He faced her, staring into her eyes. "What was the matter last night? You were upset about something, what was it?" He inquired in concern.
"That…that was nothing really." She stammered. "I was just overwhelmed by the other day and ending up here with you guys. I guess I was just homesick…" She lied.
"I know that those can't be the only reasons that you were so upset, but whatever you say." Tidus spun back around to the railing. "Just remember what I said yesterday about how you can tell me anything, I just want to help you."
"I know and I'm grateful for your offer but there is nothing wrong." Lauren said as she began to walk away from Tidus. "See you later Tidus." He waved good bye over his head, still looking out over the water.
Lauren ambled around the ship deck until she ran into Yuna again. "So, what did you tell him?" She queried.
"I didn't tell him anything. I just said I was homesick…which I guess I am a little but…" Yuna gazed at Lauren questioningly.
"I thought you would want to tell him. You and him seem to get along really well and didn't he say something about that you could tell him anything?" Lauren started off toward the nearby railing but then stopped suddenly and gawked at Yuna.
"Wait. How did you know that he said that to me?"
"Oh, I just overheard him say it to you the yesterday." She said. Lauren let the subject go just as she heard some of the passengers hollering that they had finally arrived at Luca.
Lauren rushed to the bow of the ship to witness their arrival at one of the biggest cities in Spira. The massive blitzball stadium caught her attention first with it's multitudes of colored standards and the colossal sphere of water in the center. "Wow…now that's big!" She admired the fabulous blitzing arena. "I just thought all the places around here were all small villages. I mean with Sin and all attacking them constantly like at Kilika."
"Nope, this is one of the only cities that are large like this, along with the capitol of Bevelle." Wakka came up to the amazed blonde girl. "The crusaders fight with all their strength to keep this place safe from Sin 'cuz it holds the only blitzball stadium. Blitzball is one of the few things that we have here that makes us forget about Sin and everything else that is going wrong in our lives, and makes us just focus on the game!"
"This stadium is really neat! I can't wait to see a blitzball match, even though I've never really been into sports but this game seems like it could be fun to watch." Lauren exclaimed, still glancing over the stadium.
"Yeah, it's a really awesome game, ya?" Wakka walked over to Tidus. "So, you ready for the big game?" Tidus smiled a large, friendly grin.
"You bet! I can't wait to see the look on the Goers' faces when we take the cup!" He shouted.
"I agree!" Lauren piped in. "Those guys are so arrogant and deserve to get shot down. Kick their butts Tidus and Wakka!" The two blitz players smiled back at her.
"Oh, we will." They said in unison with a laugh. "Thanks for the support Lauren, we could really use some more cheerers for our team, you know." Tidus replied to Lauren's support.
"No problem." She smiled a lighthearted, friendly smile at the young blonde haired blitz ace.
The ship docked and the passengers began to file off of the S.S. Winno and onto the crowded docks outside the blitzball stadium. The sound of two announcers echoed off the docks announcing the arrival of the different blitzball teams that would be playing in the tournament. When the Aurochs stepped off the boat and onto the packed docks the two announcers said how bad the team was. Tidus got angry at the announcers and the Luca Goers and grabbed a megaphone, climbed up on some wooden crate and started to holler taunts at them.
"Stop right there, Goers!" They turned around hastily to see what the commotion was about. "You guys are smilin' now, but not for long! 'Cause this year, us Aurochs are taking the cup!" Tidus taunted the reigning champions of the blitzball tournament.
All the Goers did was look oddly at Tidus with arrogant smirks spread across their faces. Then they walked off without giving so much as a back glance at Tidus or anyone else. Tidus hopped down from his perch atop the wooden crates and was quickly scolded by Wakka. "What in Yevon's name were you doing up there?" He shouted as Tidus smiled and laid the megaphone back down on some crates. The young blitzer just smiled and before Wakka could say anymore some one in the throng of spectators shouted.
"Maester Mika is here!" A man cried out in the middle of the throng of spectators. "The number 3 dock!" The throngs of people hurried away from the dock and rushed over to dock number three where the Grand Maester of Yevon had arrived.
"What is a Maester?" Lauren queried following the throngs of villagers and her friends. "And what is so great about them?" Wakka fell back to walk next to the blonde.
"Maesters are the spiritual leaders of Yevon." The orange haired blitzer elaborated. "They hold Spira together through the teachings of Yevon, ya know."
"Okay, who is this Maester Mika then?" Lauren inquired.
"Maester Mika is the leader of all the people of Spira. He's come all the way from Bevelle. The tournament is being held to honor his fifty years as Maester." Lulu said passing by the young blonde and the blitzer.
"Wow, fifty years? Shouldn't he be, uh, retired by now?" Tidus butted in as he caught up with the group.
"Hey! Mind your mouth, now." Wakka scolded Tidus harshly.
The group caught up with the throngs of townspeople huddled around the boat where Maester Mika was about to descend from. Yuna and her friends were in the back and could not see a thing and barged their way to where they had a clear view of the ship. Down the ramp leading off the boat came blue, spiked haired man with blue, red, and green robes with a black, odd tattoo placed upon the center of his chest. A tattoo like design wrapped around his forehead and stretched down on either side of his grayed eyes. He had long fingernails that were like an inch and a half long jutting out from his unusually large hands.
A succession of murmurs shot up randomly throughout the massive crow surrounding the dock. "That's a Guado, right?" One man queried. "Who could it be?" A woman wondered. "Isn't that Maester Seymour?" A second man stated.
An old man with a long, white beard and sideburns gracefully strolled down to where Seymour had now bowed. He had on a box shaped black hat with golden trim where it touched his head and was clad in mostly off white, black and red robes. He gestured for Seymour to rise to his feet. Everyone in the crowd started doing the Yevon prayer except Tidus and Lauren. Wakka grabbed both of them and dragged them into the stance of the prayer.
"People of Spira, I thank you for your generous welcome." He turned to Seymour. "Rise, Maester Seymour. And all of you as well." Everyone in the crowd rose. "I present to you...the son of Maester Jyscal Guado, who departed for the Farplane a fortnight past. As some of you already know, he has been officially ordained a Maester of Yevon."
"I am Seymour Guado." His soft, yet eerie voice made Lauren's skin crawl. "I am honored to receive the title of Maester. In life, my father Jyscal worked to foster friendship between man and Guado. I vow to carry on his legacy, and to fulfill my duties as Maester to the best of my abilities." He surveyed the multitudes of people gathered around the boat and locked his grayed eyes on Lauren.
Her turquoise eyes met his grey ones, sending odd shivers of fear down her spine. 'He is not gone entirely. You can still save him with that black pendent.' A slithering voice crept into her mind.
'Who are you? And what are you doing in my brain!' She shouted her thoughts within her brain.
'Can't you recognize my voice? I just spoke only half a minute ago.' The voice chuckled. 'You will see him soon and you will have to make the choice of whether or not he gets to live once more with you.' And with that the voice disappeared.
Lauren stood there shocked for a moment before Tidus nudged her in the side gently with his elbow. "Hey, what's the matter?" He whispered.
She shook her thoughts out of her mind. "Huh? Oh, nothing." Maester Mika and Seymour, along with their escorts, passed through the crowd that proceeded to flood into the city.
Lauren and the Aurochs found their way from the docks down into the locker rooms of the blitzball stadium. As they were shown what locker room would be theirs Wakka went off to find out what team they would be facing first in the tournament. The Aurochs were whispering different comments between themselves as they awaited their captain's arrival. Finally the door opened with a twist of the knob and the orange haired blitzball captain emerged from the hallway.
Wakka waltzed into the room and placed himself right in the middle of the room where the wooden benches began to stretch back away from the door. The team huddled around Wakka with an eager look in their eyes. Wakka smiled, "We're playin' the Al Bhed Psyches first. If we win, we're in the finals!" The entire team gawked at him with looks of surprise and disbelief. "That's right, we got seeded! Two wins and we're the champions!" Everyone in the locker room was ecstatic at the welcomed surprise.
"Looks like you guys finally get some luck!" Lauren threw her arm around Tidus' neck. "And with this blitz ace you guys are sure to wipe the smug smiles off the Goers' faces!"
"He has shown us he's got skills but now the only thing to find out is if he can apply them to the actual game, ya?" Wakka said drawing a somewhat annoyed look from Tidus.
"Hey, now you think that I can't play?" He exclaimed, removing Lauren's arm from around his shoulders.
Wakka laughed. "Calm down brudda, I was just messin' with ya." Tidus seemed to calm down a bit and forgive Wakka. "Okay! Now we got to go back over the basics if we are going to win this thing." The team huddled and began to recite the basics as the door opened once again, only this time Yuna appeared.
"There you are! Someone said they saw Sir Auron in a cafe!" She directed the statement as Tidus.
"Au-Auron?" Tidus and Lauren inquired in unison.
"Yes, Sir Auron! Let's go find him!" Yuna quickly whiled around and rushed out the locker room door. Tidus and Lauren followed suit but Wakka still had to say something.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! The game starts like real soon! C-Come back quick, ya?" He shouted as Tidus and Lauren passed through the doorway and into the hallway where Yuna waited for them.
The three of them rush out of the hallway of the locker rooms and up the stairs into the main lobby. Tidus saw two Al Bhed speaking together and stopped to talk with them but soon caught back up with the two girls. Out of the stadium Yuna ran ahead of Lauren and Tidus but was soon ensnared by a great multitude of people. She pleaded for them to let her make her way through and soon they parted for her to move on pass and into the city marketplace. Lauren and Tidus caught up with the young summoner after wading through the throngs of people that Yuna passed through quite easily.
"There's the café!" Lauren pointed towards a large dark brown wooden door set back in an alley like path with a large colorful sign above it that red 'Café'. The three of them hurried off towards the thick wooden door leading into the café to find Auron.
Once inside the café the three of them glance around looking for the man in the big red coat with sunglasses. With no luck in their searches the three teens let out a heavy, depressed sigh and meander about the café. Kimahri found his way over to two Ronso that were considerably larger than he. Tidus strode over to stand next to Kimahri as the two larger Ronso began to taunt their smaller counterpart.
"Why not talk, Kimahri?" Kimahri stood like a stone sentinel without answering. "Not see Yenke for ten years! Say something!" Kimahri still stood there, unwavering. "Kimahri forget Yenke? Forget Biran?" Yenke queried the smaller Ronso of the three.
"Leave Kimahri, Yenke." Biran said with an evil smile on his muzzle. "Kimahri is small Ronso. Kimahri so small can't see Yenke and Biran's faces." He taunted.
"Kimahri forget Ronso friends? We taught you much at time of horn-molt! Biran taught Kimahri to be strong Ronso." Yenke laughed at Kimahri.
"Maybe taught too much." Tidus leaned over and whispered something in Kimahri's ear drawing an evil laugh from Yenke. Kimahri bend his knees down and then shot back up to stand full height while brining his right arm up in an uppercut move striking Yenke in the jaw, casting him to the floor.
"Take it outside!" The man behind the counter of the café hollered at the Ronso. "The tournament's starting, you hear?" Three fourths of the people within the café tilted their gazes upon the big flat screen monitor that had the broadcast of the blitzball tournament on.
Maester Mika appears on the screen and begins to give one of his intensively long speeches to the public. Lauren tunes out the old man's speech and glances around the café in search of Yuna. "Hey Tidus? Where did Yuna go?" The blitz ace rapidly surveyed the café and shrugged. "We gotta go find her!" Lauren ran out the door to the café, Tidus and Kimahri following suit.
In the marketplace just outside the café Lulu came running up to the two teens and the Ronso. "Where in Spira have you been?" Lauren and Tidus looked confused. "Yuna's been kidnapped by the Al Bhed Psyches. In return for her safe return, they want the Aurochs to lose."
"What!" Lauren shouted at the top of her lungs. "How could they do something so down right dirty!"
"If they're only blitzball players, I doubt they'd do anything drastic. But we shouldn't take chances. Let's go get her." Lauren and Tidus nodded in agreement and took off after the black mage, Kimahri following closely behind.
As they wrapped around to the side and the back of the blitzball stadium, the group encountered a few machina scouts. Tidus dealt the first blow by severing one of the machinas' heads off, sparks flying out of the lose, and severed wires. Lulu sent a blot of lightning leaping off of her fingertips and right into the chest area of one of the machina scouts. The machina started to convulse as its arms began to slide out of their sockets and its head blew off from the overload of electricity. Lauren took out another of the small machina by impaling the thing in the lower torso area and brought her katana up through the remainder of its body. Kimahri batted at one with his long spear knocking it into the wall directly to his right, shattering the machina to dozens of pieces.
After the initial encounter with the machina, they did not meet anymore for a while. As they proceeded down the circling pathways towards dock number four they came across a screen fixed to the wall with the blitzball game on. Wakka had just caught the ball and was going to start dribbling it down the field when a Al Bhed come out of nowhere and tackled him hard with a spinning tackle. The announcers made some almost rude comments about him and then the game continues.
"C'mon Wakka, stay in the game!" Lauren hollered at the screen.
"He won't last. Wakka's always like that." Lulu stated bluntly. Tidus and Lauren looked at her oddly and then back at the screen to see Wakka get back into he game but he was moving rather slow from all his injuries. "Let's go." She hastily ordered, taking off at a power walking pace, Lauren, Tidus and Kimahri following closely behind.
The four of them finally reached the number four dock where the Al Bhed were holding Yuna ransom. Instead of finding the Al Bhed standing on the dock or on their ship they found the ship slowly sailing away. Tidus took the lead in running after the ship followed by Kimahri then Lauren and finally Lulu. They leapt onto the ship right as it pulled away from the last remaining portion of the dock. Once upon the deck the four of them scout out the ship deck and find no traces of Yuna.
"Where could they be holding her?" Lauren queried scanning over the ship once more. "In the cargo hold maybe?" And with that the big square of textured metal in the middle of the deck began to move, bringing up a machina with tripod legs and two huge grinder like columns applied on the top within two arm like things.
"How are we supposed to fight something like that!" Lauren practically shouted in terror.
"Just like how we fought the smaller ones back on the docks." Lulu said calmly
Tidus rushed at the machina low to the ground and to its right but it turned on him and launched a blitzball out of the center of the two grinder like things. The blitzball struck him in the chest sending him sailing back toward were he had started and where his friends stood. He regained his footing and charged at the oblitzerator once more, only this time he got his sword planted nicely into the machina's rounded center area. The wound shot out sparks that made Tidus leap away from it quickly to avoid being burned.
Kimahri was the next one to join into the fray. He plunged his long spear into a section below the grinder thing on the left. The grinder began to convulse and sparks shot everywhere but it was soon back up to spinning around and launched a blitzball at the mighty Ronso with the aid of its right counterpart. The ball struck Kimahri square in the face and sent him stumbling back a few feet, almost causing him to lose his balance. He tried to impale the machina again but it just spewed out a barrage of blitzballs at him and halted any further movement.
Lauren snuck around behind the oblitzerator while her friends combated it in the front, completely distracting it away from her. She climbed atop its back and slashed wildly with her katana at the spot where the two arm like things joined in the back. The gashes emitted a shower of sparks all over itself and Lauren. She franticly batted at the sparks as they began to land upon her clothes and her flesh. Luckily none of the sparks that landed on her stayed hot for to long so they didn't burn holes in her clothes or flesh. The machina was now completely aware of her presence upon its back and violently flicked its body forward. The resulting jostle sent Lauren soaring through the air and into a large crane that sat at the right side of the ship. She slid down the side of the crane and landed on her neck which quickly gave way to let her body fall without damaging her neck.
Lulu fired off an arched lighting blot from her curved fingers into the center of the machina. The machina recoiled from the blast but it seemed to do little to no damage to the massive machina. Immediately after it was stuck with the lightning bolt, the oblitzerator fired off a consecutive hail of blitzballs toward the black mage. She ran from side to side and ducked under most of the blitzballs but there were several that struck her causing her to stagger about the deck.
Lauren and Tidus made a joint attack that went for the machina's tripod like legs. Tidus went to the left and Lauren went to the right as they unwaveringly charged the oblitzerator. It opened fire upon Lauren but she was soon out of the firing range of the center of the machina. Tidus went the entire distance between where he was and the oblitzerator without getting shot at. Once out of sight of the machina, the two blonde teens went to work on the legs. They hacked up the legs with slashes from their swords in all different angles and strengths, yet none seemed to do much damage to the machina.
"Try that crane, it may help us some!" Lulu shouted from her safe hiding spot behind some of the crates that stood on the stern of the Al Bhed ship.
Tidus took his concentration away from the oblitzerator's legs and rushed off to inspect the crane placed on the right side of the ship deck. Lauren played as decoy by running out in front of it and pacing around the deck as Tidus examined the crane. "There's no power!" Tidus screamed from the seat of the crane operations. Lulu looked over and saw a small rod jutting out from the crane that should be connected to the power core.
"Get off Tidus! I'm going to use a lightning spell to give it some juice!" Lulu waited for Tidus to leap out of the operator's chair. When he was completely clear of the crane and off aiding Lauren as decoy she fired another of her lightening spells off her fingertips. The crane jolted as the high electricity of the lightning bolt struck the rod and surged into the power core. "Now try it!"
Tidus rushed back over to the crane, once again leaving Lauren to distract the oblitzerator alone. He hopped into the control seat and flipped a switch that fired up the engine. He pulled on a few of the levers and soon he found out the right levers to pull and poised the crane right above the machina. The crane dropped and gripped its tight steel claws to the two grinders atop the machina and heaved them up into the air. The crane moved over off the side of the ship and released the grinders into the ocean.
Once the grinders were off, the machina was easy prey for the four of them. Tidus and Lauren rushed in low and both hacked at one of its legs, severing it at the weak joint. Lulu fired a rapid succession of lightning bolts into the large circular hole that was left from the removal of the grinders. After Lulu stopped her rapid fire of lightning, Kimahri stuck his spear into the ship deck and propelled himself into the air. He plummeted through the clear ocean air and planted his spearhead into the open hole Lulu had blow with her magic. The oblitzerator buckled and fell to the deck, convulsing the entire time. The platform it was on fell down into the depths of the ship's hold and the metal doors shielding it slid shut for safe passage across the deck.
A metal door swooshed open on the opposite side of the ship deck, leading out from the cabin. Yuna appeared in the doorway as the door was soon gone and an Al Bhed fell out from behind her. "I hope you hurt them." Lulu stated bluntly.
"A little." Tidus seemed kind of sad at the sight of the unconscious Al Bhed. "What is it?" She turned to the blitz ace.
"There were these Al Bhed that saved my life when I first came to Spira. They took me on their ship, even gave me food. I was kinda hoping this was the same ship." He seemed even more depressed. "But it's not. I wonder if they're all gone."
"What happened?" Lauren butted into the conversation between the two.
"Sin came up near us. I made it out okay, but I don't know what happened to their ship." Tidus bowed his head.
"Don't worry Tidus. I'm sure they're okay." Lauren attempted to cheer him up.
"Um, was there anyone called Cid on that ship?" Yuna queried after Lauren's encouragement.
"I don't know. They were all speaking that Al Bhed language." Tidus exclaimed. Yuna gazed down at her feet for a moment. "So who's Cid?" The blonde inquired.
"He's my uncle, but I've never actually met him."
"So you're an Al Bhed, too, Yuna?" Lauren piped in.
"On my mother's side, yes. Cid is my mother's brother. He became distant after my mother married. But she told me to seek him out if I ever needed help." The young summoner explained.
Tidus started to say something but Lulu cut him off. "Don't tell Wakka about Yuna's lineage. The thing about Wakka-he never had much love for the Al Bhed."
"Hey guys? Shouldn't we be letting Wakka know that Yuna is safe so they can try to win?" Lauren asked. Lulu cast a fireball into the sky, the signal flare that Yuna had been rescued.
Wakka lay on his back just floating in the water, not being able to move because of his injuries. His eyes locked onto the flare and a sudden rush of energy and determination flooded through him. He got back upright and beckoned for the ball. One of his teammates tossed him the ball through the water right pass one of the Al Bhed players. Wakka received the blitzball and took off down the field, knocking all Al Bhed players that he came into contact with out of the way. He was only fifteen feet away from the goal and dropped the ball into place to be kicked. His foot made contact with the blue and white blitzball and sent it zipping through the water toward the goal. The Al Bhed goalie waved from side to side and then took a dive for the ball. The buzzer went off over the goal as the blitzball skimmed the Al Bhed's fingertips and struck the back of the goal.
The entire audience is stunned. "Unbelievable!" One of the two announcers shouted over the speaker system running throughout the stadium. "The Aurochs win the match. 3 to 2!"
Back in the locker room, the team gathered up as well as with their friends. "You guys won! Now you're in the finals and you can kick the Goers' butts!" Lauren cheered.
"Wakka, are you alright?" Yuna asked shyly.
"Yeah…never been better." He sat up and tried to reach for his blitzball but was crippled with pain instead.
"You shouldn't move Wakka." Lauren stated out of concern for her friend. "You guys can only have six players in a game, right?" They all nodded. Then just have Tidus take your place and don't worry about it."
"Yeah, leave everything to me Wakka." Tidus boasted. "I'll make sure we win and take the cup for Besaid!"
"Okay, okay! I'll just stay here and rest up but you got to promise not to blow it, ya?" Hey lay back down on the benches in the center of the locker room.
"Will do!"
"The game is about to start, you better get out there." Yuna hurried them along.
"Good luck you guys!" Lauren hollered as the team made their way out of the locker room and into the hall leading up to the stadium.
Before Tidus left the room he shouted back, "Thanks but we don't need luck, I have no intention of letting them win." He boasted as he passed the door frame.
"Let's go watch!" Yuna declared and rushed out the door. Lauren soon followed her out. Lulu and Wakka stayed behind in the locker room.
"This is it, folks! In just a few minutes, the championship game!" One of the announcers declared. Tidus and the Aurochs swim into the sphere of water and prepare for the match ahead. "But who could have imagined... A championship game between these two teams? Our legendary Luca Goers going against...the horrendously ill-fated Besaid Aurochs!" The crowd is on the edge of their seats.
"This looks like history in the making, Bobba." The second announcer said. Outside of the sphere, a man with a large red coat and sunglasses with jet black hair with a few white marks watches the game.
"They're already going at it, folks! The Goers are taunting the Aurochs!" The buzzer for the game's start sounded and the blitzball is tossed into the center of the pool.
Tidus got the ball first and beckoned for two of the Aurochs to get on his flanks and protect him. The three of them charged down the center of the field in a daring rush. One of the Goers flew out as top speed at Tidus and struck him in the chest with his shoulder, jostling the blitzball out of Tidus' grip and into the grip of the Goer. The two Aurochs on Tidus' flanks jumped the Goer and stole the ball aback away from him. The one Auroch took hold of the ball and dribbled it down the field toward the Goers' goal.
Immediately one of the Goers playing defense lashed out at the Auroch holding the ball and stole it away from him. She then proceeded to rush down the field and then pass the blitzball to the red haired leader of the team, who then took it up the middle. One of the defenders for the Aurochs made an attempt to prevent the Goer's passage but missed him on a tackle. The red haired Goer went about ten feet away from the goal and smashed the ball. The goalie never had a chance to stop the blitzball and the buzzer went off for the goal.
"Awwww! C'mon guys you can do it!" Lauren shouted from standing at the railing within the spectators.
After about another three and a half minutes of constant back and forth game play Tidus got the ball back in his clutches. He charged up the left flank of the goal and didn't stop till he was stopped by two defenders about thirty feet from the goal. He smiled and kicked the ball. It smacked the one defender in the face sending them floating backwards in the water. When the blitzball returned to him, Tidus punched it with his right arm right into the face of the other defender, eliminating all treats. The ball shot up after it struck the player's face and Tidus went up after it. He spun around a bunch of times causing him to roll onto his side. He cam out of the spins and smashed the ball with his left foot sending it hurtling towards the goal. The blitzball zipped past the goalie with little or no time for him to react to it and struck the back of the buzzer right as the halftime buzzer sounded.
"I can't believe it! The new player on the Aurochs has tied up the game for halftime!" The first announcer exclaimed.
"Yeah Bobba, would have never had guessed that their new player would have such skills! Did you see that shot he did? That was the most amazing shot I've ever seen in all my years as a blitzball announcer, am I right Bobba?"
"Indeed, you are Jimma!" The crow started to chant Wakka's name. "But it appears that they want Wakka back out on the field." Tidus heard the chanting and then made his way back toward the door to the locker rooms. Moments later the fans began to cheer.
"Ah! It's Wakka! He's back on the field and ready to go! The Aurochs seem glad to have him back." Bobba stated as Wakka appeared in the pool.
The blitzball is thrown up in the center of the pool and it goes to the red haired leader. He rushed down the middle but was soon stopped by Wakka who struck him hard in the gut with his elbow. He then swam down the entire stretch of the field without getting stopped by any of the Goers. At the net he dropped the ball to his foot and smashed it toward the goal. The goalie was right on tip of it and barred its passage into the net. The game went on like this for some time until it was the last thirty seconds in the match.
"This is it! If one of the teams doesn't make a goal here then the game will be a draw!" Jimma shouted.
Wakka tackled a Goer who held the ball and took it for his own. He then proceeded down toward the Goers' goal. He knocked two of the Goers out of his path with either a stiff arm to the face or an elbow jab. Once down near the goal, he warded off the last of the defenders, besides the goalie, and continued on the shoot the blitzball. The blitzball cut through the water as if there was nothing in its path and zipped right past the goalie's head, striking the back of the goal, setting off the buzzer.
"Unbelievable! The Aurochs win, folks! This is one for the record books!" Bobba's voice washed over the entire stadium as Wakka fell back and floated peacefully in the water. Tidus came out of the locker room and swam right next to Wakka. Wakka casually rose up his head and gave Tidus a thumbs up which the blitz ace returned.
Just as Tidus and Wakka were about to leave the pool to go back to the locker room a few fish fiends came out of nowhere and assailed them. Wakka gripped the winning blitzball and hurled it at one of the fish fiend's head. It jerked and slowly began to drift to the bottom of the pool, pyreflies leaking out of it on its journey downward. Tidus swam back to the locker room door and retrieved his sword and then proceeded back to aid Wakka in fending off their attackers.
Tidus came up from behind one of the fish fiends as Wakka took out another with his blitzball. Tidus slashed at the fiend in a downward motion at the middle of its back, severing it cleanly in half. The pyreflies leaked out of the fiend's dead body as another fiend burst through the fog of pyreflies and bit Tidus' arm. He punched it in the nose making it release his arm from its jaws and then slashed at it with his blade. The agile fish fiend eluded the strikes from Tidus and swam around behind him. The young blitz ace spun around, carrying the momentum of his sword with him. His sword struck the fish fiend in the side and split it in half, pyreflies leaking out just as all the other fiends did before.
After all the fish fiends were destroyed, cries of terror shot out from the crowd as fiends began to appear. Tidus and Wakka swam hastily back to the locker room door and rushed up the stairs and out onto the balconies to fight the fiends. Lauren drew her katana and began to battle the fiends around her, Yuna helping out by trying to calm people down and healing her combating friend. Lulu appeared on the balcony where Lauren and Yuna were and began to help Lauren fend off the fiends around them.
A few of the agile coyote fiends tore down the stairs to upper levels of the balconies toward Lauren. The fiends leapt upon her as they drew close enough to be able to make the leap and assail their prey. She stepped to the side of each of the fiends as they passed through the air toward her. The fiends rounded around right behind the blonde teen as their paws struck the concrete behind her. She whirled around, sword smashing into one of the fiends as it made an attempt at her life. The other ones jumped onto her and knocked her to the hard ground, bashing her head on the concrete splattering a small splotch of blood through her golden hair.
Lulu ignited a luminous orb of red-orange flame upon her outstretched right hand and surged magical energy into it. She trained her arm at the few fiends that surrounded Lauren and released the orb from her grasp. The flame orb struck the fiends on their sides and blew them off the balcony and into the blitzball pool. The black mage hurried over to Lauren and signaled Yuna to come over to heal the minor wound on the back of Lauren's head. The white mage slash summoner swiftly ran over to where her two friends were, but was cut off by a small flying fiend. She batted furiously at the hovering fiend with her summoning rod but it had no affect on the fiend at all. Lulu stood and concentrated on the bird fiend. Out of nowhere a sphere of water engulfed the fiend and flung it into the seats to the right of Yuna.
Yuna finally made her was to Lauren's side and aimed her rod at her and sent the white healing aura sailing into the blonde's body. "Are you alright Lauren?" She asked inquisitively after the spell had enough time to take full affect.
"Yeah…" Lauren sat up and the stood upon her feet. "It wasn't that much of a wound, but your magic made the dull pain go away so, thanks." Yuna bowed. "Okay! Let's get going and find the others."
"Right!" Yuna agreed and took off after Lauren down the paths in search of their other friends.
Tidus and Wakka were found almost half way around the stadium combating a colossal flying fiend alongside a man in a thick red coat. Wakka hurled his blitzball into the fiend's head causing it to let out a shrill cry of pain as the blitzball sprung back to its master. Auron charged the fiend with his massive sword settled on his right shoulder. He swung his blade in a downward horizontal slash come from the right. The fiend batted its massive wings downward at the former guardian and evaded his deadly blade stroke. The fiend then came back down toward Auron; its teeth gnashed and plummeted from the azure sky at him.
Auron leapt to the side as the massive bird fiend plunged onto the ground, whirling around in a circle as soon as its talons made contact with the concrete. Its enormous tail swatted at Auron, smacking him in the head with all the momentum of its body. His gigantic sword flew through the air, the wind rushing over the blade made it sing, and then landed on the ground about twenty feet away with a clattering noise. The bird fiend finished its revolution and hopped over to where Auron was on the ground, weaponless.
Tidus leapt at the now grounded bird fiend, brotherhood drawn up into the sky above his head glistening in the sun's rays. Brotherhood plunged into the fiend's supple flesh on its back in between its twin massive, leathery wings. The blade sank into the fiend's flesh about a foot; however, it did not cause much damage to the colossal flying fiend. It batted its right wing where Tidus stood; his blade still submerged in the fiend's back, and launched him into the air. The blonde haired blitz ace grappled the railing lining the inside of the stadium, but then let go, gently dropping himself onto the lower level.
Lauren reached the fray and rushed up to the fiend's tail and began hacking relentlessly at the stubby, fat tail. Crimson colored blood sprayed out of the severed section of tail, the other, disconnected part wriggling on the ground restlessly. The fiend let out a howl of maddening pain that caused everyone within earshot of the bellow to cover their ears instantaneously. It swiveled to face the one that had just amputated its tail and lashed out with its long neck, razor sharp teeth protruding from its jaws. The blonde teen forward rolled, eluding the fiend's all out attack causing it to bite down on the steel railing instead of her flesh.
Auron, now standing with his massive sword nestled on his right shoulder charged the fiend while it was focused on Lauren. He bore down his immense blade into the fiend's back in the same wound Tidus had slashed open. The momentum of Auron and his word pressed the blade all the way up to the hilt into the fiend's body. It let out a shrill cry of agony and made attempts at moving but only collapsed to the ground every time it made an effort to move. Finally the fiend disintegrated into a mass of pyreflies which floated off aimlessly into the afternoon sky.
As Lauren was about to say something a dozen more fiends leapt out and assailed the group. Maester Seymour casually waltzed onto the platform from which Maester Mika had given his speech and overlooked the stadium. It was now overrun with fiends, patrons screaming out in terror as various fiends plunged upon them.
"Anima! Come to me!" The Maester shouted over the chaos unfolding around him. A massive dark chain shot down from the sky as if it came through a different dimension. Then it buried itself into the floor through what appeared to be a black and purple portal to the same dimension it had come from. The chain lurched and then came to a halt. But only for a moment and then it gave another lurch and started back up as though it were fishing something out with it. The chain pulled out along with it by another chain a large demonic looking fish head with bandages running along from the middle of its head to the top and that only had one devilish eye glaring around at its surroundings. As the rest of the monster was dragged out of its dimension it revealed what looked like massive plant leaves that appeared as though they could cover up the monstrosity. Its arms were bound together in an 'X' fashion across its chest with two white cloth appearing streamers. The thing stopped coming out from its dimension at the point where it looked like there was still something it didn't expose.
Anima glared around at the dozens of fiends running amuck in the stadium and began to charge up for an attack from its only visible eye. Its head jerked back, firing an almost unseen force that struck one of the flying fiends, blowing it to shreds. The aeon continued to fire these destructive waves at all the fiends in the stadium. Within minutes of it arrival, Anima had successfully eradicated every last fiend that lingered in the blitzball stadium. Seymour dismissed the mighty aeon and then walked back to a door that led to the inside of the stadium where Maester Mika had been taken, leaving behind a stadium of cheering fans.
"Holy crap!" Lauren exclaimed after the aeon and Seymour disappeared from sight. "That aeon was so powerful! It totally demolished all the fiends in nearly a minute!"
Tidus came up a flight of stairs to the group's right. "I still don't trust the guy. He seemed to have another purpose besides saving everyone." Wakka nearly pounced on him.
"How can you say something like that about a Maester? It's against the teachings!" The orange haired blitzer hollered.
"I have to agree with Tidus on this one." Lauren butted in. "I juts don't have a good feeling about this guy, and sure his aeon was powerful, but did you see how evil and disturbing it looked?"
"But….but…it's a Maester…the teachings!" He stuttered.
"Let it go." Auron commanded. "We can talk about Seymour later. Right now we must focus on Yuna's pilgrimage."
"I agree with Sir Auron. We must not delay." Yuna bowed to the former guardian.
"All of you except Tidus may go and finish up your business in town." Auron stated.
"But why me? What did I do?" Tidus hollered, apparently a little angered.
Auron chuckled to himself. "Absolutely nothing, but I must speak with you. Follow." He commanded, walking off toward a gate leading down to the docks. Tidus realized there would be no sense in protesting and trailed the former guardian. The rest of the group headed into town where they finished up gathering supplies, fighting off hordes of fans, or saying goodbye to good friends.
Lauren stood resting on a railing overlooking a pathway up a few flights of stairs that then turned to a path leading the opposite way. Wakka had just gotten back from saying goodbye to his teammates and friends and they were waiting on Auron and Tidus. After ten more minutes of waiting Lauren caught a glimpse of the red coated guardian and the blonde haired blitz wiz. She waved to them but neither waved back, Tidus kept his gaze focused on the ground as if depressed by something.
When the two men walked up to her, Lauren spoke. "What's the matter with you, Tidus?" He didn't look up.
"That is not important now. What is is that we get Yuna's pilgrimage moving." Auron pushed past Lauren, almost dragging her with him.
As they walked along the path they finally came across the rest of their party. Auron went right up to stand in front of Yuna. "Sir Auron?" She inquired as the former guardian stood there like a stone.
"Yuna." She nodded 'yes'. "I wish to become your guardian. Do you accept?" He queried drawing an amazed look from everyone present.
"You serious?' Wakka almost shouted.
"You refuse?"
"No, no!" Yuna stammered. "We accept! Right, everyone?" She exclaimed.
"O-Of course! No problem at all!" Wakka stammered at first but was then practically shouting his answer.
"But...why?" Lulu questioned, drawing the guardian's stare.
"I promised Braska." Auron calmly and quickly explained.
"You promised my father?" Auron nodded. "Thank you, Sir Auron! You're welcome to join us!" She bowed graciously.
"And…he comes too." He shoved Tidus forward, awkwardly. "This one I promised Jecht."
"Is Sir Jecht alive?" The young summoner inquired.
"Can't say. Haven't seen him in ten years."
"I...see." Yuna bowed her head.
"You'll meet eventually." Auron affirmed.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it!"
Auron then turned to Lulu. "What's our itinerary? Where are we headed?" He asked the black mage. As she elaborated on their destination Yuna and Tidus walked over to the railing and began to whistle and practice smiling. Then they broke out into odd laughter that echoed off the walls in the direction they laughed at.
"Are you two okay?" Lauren asked out of concern for her friend's sanity.
The two looked at each other and giggled. "Yeah, we're fine." They responded in unison.
"That reminds me." Auron stalked over to Lauren. "She comes too." Everyone looked at him oddly but accepted for they had no problem with Lauren being a guardian.
"Well then, alright. Now, we will go to the temple of Djose. And guardians? Don't forget to smile!" Yuna and Tidus giggled between each other as they proceeded up the last stairs and onto a dirt road that stretched on for miles.