Chapter Seven: Hating a Maester
A/N: Sorry guys for the long update time, but I've been busier than usual the past week.
dark dragon knight1993: Yep, four thirty in the morning. I stay up late, because it's the only time decent shows are on anymore, and wake up in the middle of the afternoon since I have no life what so ever. Well, I hope you enjoyed your trip and that must suck to have jet lag. I never have had it since I don't go anywhere.
Spira'sSentry: I'm glad you think that I describe all the scenes well and all. Yeah, the whole point of this fic is to tie her into the FFX storyline while at the same time making her own storyline. And about my other fic, if u didn't read it already, I updated it!
Anasazi Darkmoon: I'm very delighted to hear that you think that my fic is great and that I don't have to change anything; although, I really think it needs some work but then again I think all authors feel that way about their work. And I see that you took my advice and read Anbu713's stuff. What did I tell you, amazing stuff, eh? Anyway, yeah Guadosalam is next… unfortunately… that bastard Seymour, I'm not going to like writing the parts with him, until I get to write about kicking his creepy ass! Alas, that doesn't come in until… I think next chapter depending on how far I get with this one. So until then we'll have to put up with the disturbing bastard without doing anything to him.
Fallen Angel-2009: Glad to hear it and welcome aboard! Oh, I will continue this story until the end and I'm thinking of making a sequel. That is if I can come up with enough ideas for one.
After Rikku had joined as Yuna's guardian, the group of friends collected themselves and pushed on down a shaded semi-winding road leading to Guadosalam. While ambling down the dirt road in the shade of tall, lush trees, their canopies facing inward over the path, keeping it veiled in shadows, Yuna and her guardians ran into a few fiends. There were a few hard shelled, squat fiends that Rikku attempted to take out with her inconceivable speed, and agility with her clawed fist. Unfortunately for the young, blonde Al Bhed girl speed and agility was not what it took to defeat fiends such as those and she failed in her every attempt to slay them. Auron had to step into the fights which held the rigid shelled fiends to dispose of them with his mammoth sword when others could not.
The young Al Bhed did find use for her thievery skills when a treasure chest randomly appeared on the road along side two fiends. She ran in and eluded the fiends strikes until she reached the treasure chest and then with a flick of her wrist she unlocked the chest and extracted the plunder. After Tidus and Lauren disposed of the two agile lizards that accompanied the treasure chest Rikku looted the Al Bhed stood in front of her friends proudly holding up the items she had just pilfered. "Wow Rikku, that was amazing!" Lauren admitted as the blonde walked toward the group, treasures in hand.
"It's all in the wrist!" Rikku exclaimed cheerfully with a wide smile painted upon her face, under her bright, big jade swirled eyes.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" Lauren queried, looking at the merry Al Bhed, her lighthearted smile contagious to the sixteen year old Lauren.
"To be honest I don't know where I picked it up from exactly." Rikku confessed, kicking a small dirt covered rock with her right foot playfully. "It's like one of those things that you just have a knack for, you know?" She gazed at Lauren to gauge her reaction and when she nodded to her comment she let another one of her friendly, carefree smiles become present on her face.
Before anyone could say anything more Auron cut in, "We don't have time for this meaningless chit-chat. We must leave for Guadosalam, now." He ordered as he strode past the two, once conversing blondes, and toward the Guado town.
"Well isn't he in a hurry!" Rikku complained after being just basically yelled at and pushed to the side as if she didn't matter to him at all.
"Sir Auron's just like that. He never wants us to stay in one place very long, nor does he want us to spend time doing things that don't have a positive effect on my pilgrimage." Yuna explained to cousin, walking up past her and staring down the road toward the Guado home. "We just have to understand and respect his decisions, even if they are a little harsh. So…" She glanced back at all her friends/guardians and smiled. "… let's go to Guadosalam!" She took off after her father's former guardian in a slight hurry.
"I don't know how Yuna can be so respectful to someone who acts like a jerk all the time and hurries us along like he's a sheepherder and we're the sheep." Lauren gazed off at her friend, who was walking hastily to catch up to Auron. Kimahri had followed Yuna as soon as she had taken off after the unsent guardian, as did Lulu. Tidus just shrugged to Lauren's inquiry and then followed after Yuna, leaving behind Rikku, Wakka and Lauren.
"She's respectful to Sir Auron because he was her father's guardian. He's a hero, too, because he was a guardian of a summoner who brought about the calm." Wakka tried to explain the young summoner's position to Lauren. "Even though he can be harsh at times, you should respect him, too, ya?" Lauren shrugged it off and just walked after her friends, Rikku following suit hastily and Wakka eventually catching up.
"Wow, this place is oddly designed." Lauren let out a small whistle as she gazed about Guadosalam. In front of the group stood a store built into the side of a pillar coming down from a massive ramp above them that led to an open door. To their left was a ramp that winded downward out of the town, letting its travelers out at the entrance to the dreary Thunder Plains. There were some homes also to the left of them that were built into the side of a wall that encircled around the entire town. Finally, in front of them stood a majestic palace with crimson colored double doors that was the home of Maester Seymour Guado and all the other Guado leaders of past days.
"This is Guadosalam, the home town of all Guado throughout Spira. Over there," Lulu pointed a smooth finger toward the majestic palace built into the wall surrounding the town. "is where the past leaders of the Guado lived, and now is the residence for Maester Seymour." Lauren cringed at the sound Seymour's name, but tried to hide her facial expression to prevent herself from being barraged with a ton of questions from the group, especially from Wakka.
An old looking Guado, with the large hands natural to all Guados, came around a corner and addressed Yuna. "We have been expecting you, Lady Yuna." The elderly Guado greeted the young summoner. "Welcome to Guadosalam. This way, my lady. This way." The elderly Guado pivoted on his heels and began to stroll away from the group.
"Hold on a second!" Lauren ordered the not yet introduced Guado. "Who are you, and what do you want with Yuna?" She stepped in front of the honey brown haired summoner protectively.
"Oh, I beg your pardon, I am called Tromell Guado." He introduced himself in a very calm and unemotional tone. "I am in the direct service of our leader, the great Seymour Guado. Lord Seymour has very important business with Lady Yuna." He gestured for her to follow him but she hesitated for a question.
"Business with me? Whatever could it be, I wonder?" She queried the older, polite Guado.
"Please, come inside the manor. All will be explained." Tromell elaborated. "Of course, your friends are also welcome." With that he turned toward the Guado manor and walked off, everyone following closely behind him.
Once inside the large manor where the Guado leaders of old had once resided Tromell spoke, "This way, please." He opened up twin doors leading into a chamber where Lauren and hr friends were meant to wait for Seymour to come and speak with Yuna. Before she followed her friends into the next room, Lauren looked around the room she was in. On either side of the main hall ran two curved staircases that led up to Seymour's chamber. Above each those stairwells on the walls sat a line of portraits of Guado leaders that once resided in this manor.
Lauren glanced along the rows of portraits till she came upon one that sent a surge of unbearable fear through her body. It was Seymour's portrait. 'Why does that guy freak me out so much? It's not like he has done anything to me, or anyone for that matter; however, I feel like he is going to do something terrible to Spira and that he has already done something horrible.' She shook her head of all the fear that his picture brought to her mind and then walked to the door to the other room, whilst thinking. 'The last time I saw him he gave me a creepy as hell smile that seemed like he knew who I was or has something planed for me. This guy can't be right in the head.'
Once Lauren was through the double doors leading into the hall where the rest of her friends, Yuna came up to her. "What were you doing in the other room Lauren?" The summoner's words broke her from the trance like state of though she was in.
"Oh, nothing. I was just looking around, that's all." She acted as if she wanted to get off the subject quickly, an act that Yuna caught onto swiftly.
"What's the matter? You seem like you're lost in thought about something that's troubling you." Her friend's concern filled words once again shook Lauren form her thoughts, making her come up with a quick answer.
"Nothing's the matter Yuna. I was just thinking." The blonde tried to avoid anymore conversation with her friend.
"Okay, but if anything's bothering you, you can tell me." The young summoner walked away from Lauren, the exact opposite of what she thought Yuna would do.
In the room, Rikku stood at a circular table near the center of the room, but offset toward he double doors. She was munching away at some of the various fruits strewn across the table bordering a large plant in the center of it that looked very strange to Lauren. Auron leaned his back against the wall to the left of the doors in his usual fashion, one foot upon the wall, his left arm in his sleeve sling, his one eye keeping watch over the room. Yuna was standing next to one of the two tables that sat on either side of the room, stretching almost the entire length of the walls. Wakka stood on the other side of the round center table where Rikku was eating some of the food set out for guests. Kimahri stood near Yuna but not too close as to suffocate her and Lulu was standing near the center table, diagonally across from the feasting Al Bhed. Tidus stood off by himself as if he was lost in thought and was awaiting Seymour to arrive rather patently.
Lauren wandered over to where Lulu stood, patently awaiting Seymour's arrival, to ask her a question. When the blonde teen got close to the black mage she turned to face her and began to explain something. "There's no temple here in Guadosalam, see? Summoners usually just pass through on their way elsewhere." The teen gawked at the mage oddly as if she had said something bizarre. "What?" Lulu hissed.
"Nothing, you just explained something that I already knew." Lauren smiled friendly at the unemotional black mage.
"I see. Usually you don't remember anything so I wanted to remind you." Lulu glanced over at the blonde teen to see a bright smile upon her face.
"Awww, Lulu. You do care!" Lauren joked as she threw her arms around the black mage's neck to add more to the effect. Lulu just stood there, shocked, as did everyone else present in the room except for Auron, who raised a curious eyebrow at the event, and Kimahri, who never reacted much to anything. "Jeez guys! I was just joking, don't be so serious." She released her arms from around the black mage's neck, and as if that was a trigger action everyone went back to what they were doing before the episode.
After a few moments of silence, Lulu spoke to Lauren. "Seems like you wanted to ask me something, what is it?" Her words took the teen in complete surprise; she had been lost in thought for the past two minutes and was startled by Lulu's voice.
"Oh, you're right! I was going to ask you something, it's about Seymour." Lulu raised a quizzical eyebrow at the mention of the Maester's name. "You see, every time I see him I get this feeling that just doesn't sit right with me. I'm not quite sure what it is but he just doesn't seem to be the type of guy that you would have as a high-up religious figure, or any as a matter of fact. So, I wanted to know, how come he got to be a Maester of Yevon?" She whispered this part of their conversation to not attract any unwanted attention from anyone else in the room.
"I don't quite understand how you could feel that way toward a Maester, but I'll answer your question." Lauren gave Lulu a lighthearted smile that showed her thanks to the black mage. "Well, his father, Jyscal, was a Maester before him and a great one at that for the Guado people. He was the first one to bring the teachings of Yevon to the Guado. After he had become a Maester, he wed a human woman to try to build a bridge between the human race and the Guados. He was held in high respects by the Guado people for trying to make their once ignored race to be friendly with the other races of Spira. Then, after his death, Seymour became the next leader of the Guado and become a Maester because of his father and his promises to bring Guado and human alike together like his father tried to." After Lulu's explanation, Lauren didn't seem satisfied with the way Seymour had gotten into power.
"So what you're saying is that he is only half Guado. Also, that the only reason that he got to become a Maester and leader of the Guado people was because of his father?" Lauren questioned drawing a nod of agreement from Lulu.
"Yes, I do not believe that he would have become a Maester if it was not for his father." Lauren seemed a little more satisfied with the comment that Lulu had just made than her entire explanation about him.
"Don't you think that it's wrong to just grant someone that kind of power just because their dad was someone of importance?" Lauren inquired, sending the mage onto a defensive rebuttal.
"Remember, Yuna is a summoner because of her father." The mage brought up a good point but Lauren thought up something to counter it.
"Yeah, but she became a summoner because she had the power to. Not just because her father was the last one to defeat Sin." Lauren tried to defend her position as well as defend her friend.
"If it weren't for her father, she wouldn't have been able to become a summoner. She just wouldn't have the strength for it, or the talent." Lulu burst Lauren's bubble sending her into a state of stuttering and confusion as she tried to keep up her end of the argument.
"Yeah, but…" Lauren started, but she was cut off by Lulu.
"Don't say any more." She ordered the blonde teen. "If you go around talking like that you will be arrested for blaspheme against the name of Yevon. Just keep your feelings and thoughts that pertain to Maesters inside your mind." Lauren raised her hand up as to make a point and opened her mouth, yet before she could speak Lulu cut her off once again. "Just keep your mouth shut. Others are not as open as I am." She warned before she turned away from the blonde.
'Well, that wasn't very nice Lulu.' Lauren thought angrily as she moved away from the black mage. 'Then again, she does have a point; however, I just can't stop thinking that Seymour just doesn't belong here, or anywhere.' She glanced around the room, just checking things out at first but then her gazed fixed itself onto Auron leaning up against the wall. 'Hmmm. He doesn't seem like much of a religious man, but he was Yuna's dad's guardian ten years ago.' She strolled over to where the one eyed guardian relaxed.
"Hey Auron." She friendly greeted the guardian that had annoyed her on several occasions. "I wanted to know, are you a religious man?" Her question drew his gaze from staring into space up to her face with an eyebrow cocked inquisitively.
"Why do you ask?" Was his only response to her query. She looked at him like she was annoyed at his question to her question but continued on anyway.
"I wanted to know because I wanted to talk to someone about Seymour." Lauren's reply to his question brought about another curious look upon his face.
"No, can't say that I am, at least not for the past ten years." The eldest guardian retorted, bringing joy to Lauren's facial expression fro being right about him not seeming like one. "What is it that you wish to ask me about Seymour?" The blonde teen let a smile appear on her lips for she thought that Auron, being the stubborn guy that he is, wouldn't have complied with answering her question.
"Do you think that he belongs in the position of Maester?" She asked Auron, trying to keep her voice low enough for no one else to hear her.
"What kind of question is that?" The one eyed guardian retorted as he let out a soft grunt of annoyance.
"I feel something about the guy that's just not quite right and I wanted to know if you, not being a religious man, felt the same way because everyone else seems to be a religious nut except for you." She tried to make Auron understand why she had asked him that kind of question.
"Those with power use that power. Maesters have power." Auron responded drawing a confused and angered look from Lauren.
'Who does he think he is talking like that, some kind of monk or something?' She thought as she gave him an annoyed look that she often gave him when he acted oddly toward her. "Okay, so that means you're with me in saying that he's not a good guy?" When he didn't respond to her she took that as a yes and smiled a little bit at her success in figuring out that Seymour was up to no good. "Thanks Auron." She whispered to him before leaving him alone to stare off into space again, but instead of staring off into space he remained focused on her.
'So, she has figured out that Seymour isn't as good as everyone else believes. That will make things a lot easier when the time comes.' He let out a small sigh and went back to staring off into space instead of at Lauren. 'Now, all there is to do is to train her so that she can overcome him.'
"Hiya Rikku!" Lauren greeted her newest friend as she rounded the large, circular table in the center of the floor after her chat with Auron.
"Hey Lauren!" The peppy Al Bhed acknowledged Lauren's presence and words as she continued to pick out various fruits and eat them rather hastily.
"What ya got there, Rikku?" Lauren queried as the blonde Al Bhed plucked another fruit from off a plate and was about to put it in her hungry mouth.
"Some kind of fruit. I don't know what it is exactly but oh boy is it good!" She exclaimed as she put the food into her mouth and began to chew it vigorously. Lauren smiled at her newly acquainted friend and picked up a piece of fruit that was beet red. She was just about to place it into her mouth when Tromell walked through the doors, Seymour not following him so she continued what she was doing and ate the fruit as the old Guado spoke.
"Truly, it is good to have guest again. Since Lord Jyscal passed away, these halls have been too quiet." Tromell seemed to get a little sad at his mentioning of Jyscal.
"The death of Lord Jyscal was a great loss for all of Spira." Yuna sympathized with Tromell's reaction to the death of his former master.
"Truly, a loss for us all. But now a new leader, Lord Seymour, has come before us. Lord Seymour is the child of a Guado and a human. He will be the tie that binds our two races together. But that is not all, I think. Lord Seymour... He will surely become the shining star that lights the way for all the peoples of Spira." Every time the old Guado mentioned the name Seymour Lauren felt something inside her click that brought upon a wave of uncertainty and anger that washed throughout her body.
The doors on the other side of the room creaked open and out stepped the Maester of Yevon, Seymour Guado. Lauren had to turn away from him to keep herself from being seen as she cringed at the sight of him. "That is enough, Tromell. Must I always endure such praise?" He had a gleam of arrogance in his eye that Lauren noted right off the bat. "Welcome!" He proclaimed to Lauren and her friends as he looked out over the faces of each and every one of Yuna's guardians, as well as at her. When his steely eyes came upon Lauren his facial expression wavered from friendly and welcoming to one of disappointment and anger, but only for a split second.
"You...wanted to see me?" Yuna spoke softly and unsure of herself to the eerie half human half Guado Maester that stood before her and her friends.
"Please, make yourselves at home. There's no rush." Seymour spoke in his usual eerie and soft voice that made everyone shiver that was present in the room; although, not everyone expressed it.
"Please, keep this short. Yuna must rush." Auron demanded from his nice little spot all the way in the back, leaning up against the wall leisurely.
"Pardon me. It has been a long time since I had guests. Lady Yuna, this way." He gestured for her, as well as her friends/guardians to follow him as the room darkened and images began to appear. The group hovered above colossal paved roads with tons of lights strewn on the sides for lighting for pedestrians. Buildings of incomparable status fazed into view from out of nowhere with lights lighting up the sides and tops of those buildings. The expression on Tidus' face changed from that of curiousness to that of sheer excitement as if he had just won the greatest blitz tournament.
"Zanarkand!" He exclaimed as he glanced around franticly, trying to take everything in as best he could.
"Correct, Zanarkand...as it looked one thousand years ago. The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand. She once lived in this metropolis." Seymour's voice sort of echoed in the room that contained the sphere they were witnessing right now.
"She, who?" Yuna queried curiously drawing the attention of Seymour, who had until now, been focusing on his surroundings instead of her. An image of a woman with flowing silver colored hair appeared in a golden room with a bed in the center in front of Lauren and her friends. The woman was scantily clad in a dark blue and silver bikini top and bottom. "Lady Yunalesca!" The young summoner exclaimed out of recognition of the scantily clothed woman.
"She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages." Seymour turned to face Yuna wholly "And you have inherited her name." His slithering voice brought a shiver down Lauren's spine as she looked at how the Maester was looking at Yuna.
"It was my father who named me." Yuna stated as she lowered her head as if to avoid Seymour's glance.
"Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task. He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat the undefeatable Sin...it took an unbreakable bond of love-of the kind that binds two hearts for eternity." At the end of his words a man clad in gold and red armor stepped through a door that was set in the left wall of the room. The man and Yunalesca met each other in a love embrace as the sphere began to fade and then made a flash. Seymour leaned down and spoke something into Yuna's left ear too softly for anyone to make out what he had said. He removed his head from hovering above her left shoulder leaving her in a state of shock and embarrassment.
"Wow! Your face is beet red!' Rikku exclaimed as Yuna's face began to gain the bright red color that is usually triggered by embarrassment.
"Yuna, you okay?" Lauren queried the young, honey brown haired summoner as she noticed what Rikku had noted just seconds before her.
"He...he asked me to marry him." Yuna stammered drawing completely surprised looks from all her friends/guardians except for the two emotionless guardians. Lauren backed away from her friend and to the back of the group as a wave of disgust overtook her that she just couldn't contain within herself. She cringed and almost threw up at the thought of Yuna marrying a creepy and disturbing bastard like him.
Lauren snapped out of her state of disgust to hear Auron almost try to talk Seymour out of it. "You know what Yuna must do." The one eyed guardian awaited the Maester's response intently.
"Of course. Lady Yuna-no, all summoners-are charged with bringing peace to Spira. But this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a Maester of Yevon." Seymour replied to Auron's statement.
"Spira is no playhouse. A moment's diversion may amuse an audience, but it changes nothing." Auron was almost yelling at Seymour for even thinking of marrying Yuna.
'Go Auron!' Lauren thought from the back of the group. 'Finally someone is standing up to that creep!' She silently cheered him on in her head as Seymour continued to defend himself.
"Even so, the actors must play their parts." As his slithery voice cut through the air like a hot knife through butter he turned toward Yuna to speak with her. "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over." He looked at Yuna a second before Auron interrupted his stare.
"We will do so, then. We leave." He commanded as he turned away from the Maester and toward the door.
"Lady Yuna. I await your favorable reply." Seymour bid farewell to the young summoner before turning toward Auron, who had his back now turned on the Maester. "Why are you still here, sir?" Braska's former guardian pivoted on his heels and gave Seymour a puzzled look. "I beg your pardon. We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane." The Guado Maester stated but Auron had not paid much attention to him and faced back and headed for the door. On his way out, Tidus sniffed at Auron, stupidly, trying to see if he could smell anything but the one eyed guardian shoved him out of the way and stormed off out of the room before any further questions could be raised.
'What would Auron have to do with the farplane?' Lauren thought as she followed the disgruntled guardian out the door in the midst of the rest of her friends. 'The farplane is where the pyreflies go after some living thing has been killed. So why would Auron have the scent of the farplane on him, unless he himself is… no he couldn't be.' The thought was soon erased from her mind as the voice of Tidus came in clear as a bell.
"Yo Lauren, you alright?" The blonde blitz ace queried after seeing the trance like state that Lauren was in as she thought about what Seymour had said to Auron.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied as she shook her head to clear the many questions building up in her head about the mysterious former guardian of Braska.
"Yuna, the high summoner's daughter, Seymour, the leader of the Guado. Married in the name of Yevon, overcoming the barriers of race." Lulu stated out of the blue as the entire group rested silently outside of Seymour's manor. "It would give Spira something cheery to talk about, for a change" She sounded as if she actually was okay with Yuna marrying Seymour if the young summoner wished to.
"Sounds just like a passin' daydream, like Auron says." Wakka did seem like he was too pleased with the idea of Yuna, who he felt was like a younger sister to him, marrying Seymour, even if he is a Maester of the faith the blitzer followed devoutly.
"Yuna can't marry Seymour!" Lauren voiced her feelings rather loudly and with absolute resolve. "I know that he's a Maester and that it would bring some happiness to the people of Spira, but he's just not right for you, Yuna!" The blonde teen's comment drew wide mouthed surprise from each of her friends except for the two who never showed much or any emotion.
"If my getting married would help Spira...if it would make people happy... If I could do that for people...maybe I should do what I can." Yuna paused a moment in between phrases to gather her feelings. "I never imagined doing anything like this. But, I won't answer till I know what's right." Her honey brown hair waved a little in a slight breeze that crept through the Guado town as her friends were slightly relieved that she hadn't said yes to Seymour's proposal.
"But Yuna, how are you going figure out what you think is right?" Lauren inquired to her summoner friend as they stood in the center of the Guado home town.
"I'm going to the Farplane." Yuna said as she glanced over at the ramp leading up to the door into the farplane. "I'm going to see my father and think on this." Lauren and Tidus seemed a little more than surprised at Yuna's reason for going to the farplane.
"Wait, you're going to see your dad who is dead in the farplane. So, you're going into the place where dead people live to see him and seek his advice, correct?" Yuna nodded to Lauren's question and gave her a weak smile.
"Go on, we'll be right behind you." Yuna bowed to her friends and then went off up the ramp toward the entrance to the farplane, Kimahri following closely behind. Lulu walked off after Yuna and her Ronso guardian, Wakka trailing behind her then Rikku, then Auron, then Tidus and finally Lauren.
Once she had strode up the ramp and through the entrance into a place where there were two flights of stairs, Lauren noticed Auron sitting on the side of the stairs, Tidus right next to him, chatting. The only part of the conversation between the two was, "You're scared!" Tidus joked with the one eyed guardian.
"Searching the past to find the future... This is all that is there. I need it not... You'd better be going." Auron retorted at the blonde blitz ace causing him to leave the irritated guardian to himself.
Tidus went into the farplane shortly after Yuna, Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri had passed thought he greenish blue barrier between the different realms. Lauren found herself standing on the landing before the barrier where Auron stood off to the side. From behind her Rikku came around to the side of her and spoke. "You're not really going to see the dead, more like your memories of them. People think of their relatives, and the pyreflies react to them. They take on the form of the dead person-an illusion, nothing else." The adolescent Al Bhed explained to Lauren as she stood there and focused on the barrier between where she was and the farplane.
'That means if I go in I can see Brian again! But, it will only be the pyreflies reacting to my memories of him as Rikku said, so maybe, I shouldn't go.' Lauren thought as Rikku took a seat off to the left hand side of the teen.
"Well, if you're going in there you better get going before Yunie finds out what she needs to." Rikku suggested that Lauren better get moving, but instead of moving forward and going through the barrier she turned and walked over to the cheerful AL Bhed. "What's up, Lauren?" She inquired as the teen guardian made her was over to her.
"Why aren't you going in there with the rest of them?" At Lauren's question Rikku hung her head down as to hide her eyes and then spoke a second later.
"I keep my memories inside." Lauren seemed a little more than confused at the statement that her blonde Al Bhed friend had just said. "Memories are nice, but that's all they are." With this second, revised, edition of her statement Lauren seemed to be more understanding and open. "Why aren't you going in there? You scared like Auron?" She joked drawing an annoyed glace from the one eyed guardian across the landing.
"No, I feel the same way you do, basically. I just don't think I could handle going in there." Lauren admitted to Rikku, who gave her an understanding, yet confused look.
"What couldn't you handle?" Rikku asked, apparently not getting the meaning of Lauren's previous statement.
"I lost someone very close to me about a year ago and I just don't think that I would be able to keep myself together if I saw him again." Lauren's turquoise eyes began to well up with chill, clear tears that she tried to keep hidden from Rikku.
"Who was he?" Rikku asked innocently trying to figure everything out that she could so that she might be able to help Lauren out in some way for form.
"My… boyfriend, Brian." She whispered, tears beginning to streak down her cheeks and off the tip of her chin. She reached into her sweatshirt and produced the locket with her former boyfriend's picture in it and showed it to Rikku. "This is him." The young Al Bhed gazed at the picture of the boy with the spiked jet black hair and dreamy blue eyes.
"He's cute." Rikku said absentmindedly as she gazed at the picture of Brian in the golden locket within Lauren's palm.
"Yeah… he was." Lauren closed the golden locket and pressed it against her heart softly. Tears now freely flowed down her face, leaving little spots on the ground where the water had collided with the flooring.
"What happened to him?" Rikku queried but then caught herself and said, "That is if you want to talk about it. You don't have to if you don't want to. I just wanted to know so I could try to make you feel better." Lauren lifter her head and smiled a grateful smile whilst tears streaked her face.
"It's okay Rikku. I'll tell you the story, after all, Yuna said that it was good to talk about things with people and she was right." Lauren began to tell Rikku the same exact story about Brian that she had told Yuna back on the S.S. Winno. After she had told her story, Lauren looked up at Rikku's face which now harbored a pair of reddened jade eyes and tears streaking her cheeks.
"Lauren… I'm so sorry. That's the saddest thing I ever head in my life." Rikku managed to utter through her many sniffles. Lauren gazed into Rikku's jade swirl eyes and gave her a smile through her own tears that the Al Bhed copied.
"Thanks, Rikku. I feel a little bit better, again." She continued to smile at the AL Bhed as did Rikku to her. "I gotta thank Yuna again for her help, but I guess I'll just wait for her to come out." Lauren sat next to Rikku on the railing like thing on the left side of the landing. Auron glanced over at the two teens and gave himself a little shrug and then went back to minding his own business while the two blondes talked together.
"Lauren, where are you from?" Rikku queried after both of them had recovered from crying. Lauren gave the adolescent Al Bhed a look that said 'huh?' so she continued on the make the blonde understand. "Your name, it's not like those found here in Spira, and from the way you dress, your clothes aren't either." Lauren looked at Rikku for a moment before she went on with her reply.
"You're right! I'm not from Spira, but most people don't believe me, except for Yuna and probably Tidus." Her comment seemed to kind of hurt Rikku.
"I believe you!" Rikku exclaimed for she was interested in where Lauren had come from since she wasn't from Spira.
"Well thanks Rikku." Lauren smiled friendly at the hyper Al Bhed sitting beside her. "Well, I come from a planet called Earth. It's a lot like Spira, only it doesn't have fiends and it is more advanced, technology wise. I don't know if you would say the same about the way people treat each other, but I guess that's not important. I come from a large city called Chicago. I think it's about the equivalent of the Bevelle here if I understood them correctly, only it's not a religious center." Lauren explained Earth and Chicago to the hyperactive AL Bhed that sat patiently next to her.
"That sounds like an interesting place to live. Do you have machina on Earth?" Rikku queried being the machina crazy Al Bhed she is.
"Yeah, but we don't call them machina. We call them robots and their basically like your machina here but they're mostly not used as weapons as much as other things, unlike what it seems like you guys use machina for. With operation Mi'ihen and Yuna's two kidnappings, I'd say that you use machina more as weapons than for any other tasks." Lauren elaborated on some more of Earth's features.
"We only use machina as weapons because we have friends here. And about Yunie's kidnappings, it's not what you think." Lauren gave Rikku a questioning look when she said about the kidnappings not being what the seemed.
"What do you mean by you kidnapping Yuna not being what we think. You came and kidnapped her off of that shoopuf thingy and then attacked us with hat machina in the water. There's also in Luca with the other machina. After all that how can you possibly think you can make me believe that it's not what it seems?" Lauren stood up and in front of Rikku, the shorter of the two.
"Please Lauren, you got to believe me! We're not kidnapping them. We are trying to save summoners from… from…" Rikku stammered the last word not wanting to say anything that she didn't have to. Lauren stood in front of the shorter blonde with a mixed look of confusion and annoyance upon her face.
"Save them from what, Rikku? What were you guys trying to save summoners from?" Lauren had calmed down and was now asking Rikku as if it was any other question under any calm situation.
Before Rikku could say anything of before Lauren could pester her until she said something, Auron called to Lauren. "Lauren." The eldest guardian's stern voice brought the blonde teen's attention away from Rikku and toward him. "Come here." She obliged with his command and strode over to where he was now standing upright and in the middle of the landing. As she drew closer to him he reached into his crimson coat and pulled out a pouch that the mysterious man on the road had given him. With a casual flick of his wrist he tosses the pouch of money off the side of the steps and into the chasm below.
"Auron, what was that?" Lauren inquired as the tightly sealed pouch of cash flew out of sight.
"That is not important." He stated bluntly with his usual monotone voice. "Draw your sword." He ordered her and for a moment she just stood there staring at him with wondering eyes. After that moment, Auron drew his massive blade and shouldered it onto his right shoulder and waited for Lauren to draw her katana. She was not obliging with his command. "Draw your weapon or fight weaponless." He rushed at her at his top speed across the landing causing her to roll to the side to evade a deadly stoke form his massive blade.
"Auron why do you keep doing this!" Lauren shouted as she eluded another fatal blade stroke from the sword master's devastating sword.
"You must become stronger if you wish not to falter from your path." He charged up at her, but this time she flung her katana out of its sheath and blocked a downward slash from Auron's blade above her head.
"What on Earth are you talking about!" She hollered in the guardian's face as their blades clashes together, sending small sparks sailing through the air from the points where their swords scraped against one another. Lauren's muscles tightened as much as they possibly could as she pressed her katana blade against Auron's massive sword's blade with all her might.
"A test of your physical and metal strength lays not too distant in your future. From what I have seen, you are not ready for that test yet." Auron explained as his muscles overpowered Lauren's, knocking her back away from him about five feet onto the flight of stairs leading up to the farplane barrier. She got up shakily, yet hurriedly upon her feet and just began to focus when Braska's former guardian's sword was right in front of her face to the right. She had no time to block the blow with her blade so instead she ducked down under the commanding stroke, letting it fly over her blonde haired head harmlessly.
After she eluded the sword master's horizontal slash, Lauren shot back up and brought her katana up in a diagonal slash from across her body as if it had just been summoned from the sheath. Auron tilted his sword's tip down at the ground off to his right and blocked the blonde teen's attempt to catch him off guard. Her katana blade bounced off the oversized, rigid sword almost causing her to trip over the stairs behind her as she strived to stabilize her arm from the abrupt ricochet. The one eyed guardian grasped the blonde swiftly with his left hand and spun around on his heels whist tossing her to the ground opposite to where she was before.
Auron dropped his massive blade down upon Lauren, who had still not gotten off the ground after he threw her. She opened her pained eyes to see the image of the eldest guardian's blade drawing closer to her neck and reacted at neck break speeds. She pencil rolled to the right just as the blade drove itself into the concrete where her head once lay. Once out of the way of the blow, Lauren shot her right leg out and struck the blade master's sword square in the precise center of the blade. Auron felt his sword get torn away from his firm grasp and sent flying to his right, boring a hole in the side wall Rikku was sitting on. The adolescent AL Bhed leapt out of her seat and to her left as the blade wedged itself into the barrier only inches away from her right thigh.
"Watch it you two!" Rikku scolded the two combatants with a shaky voice, like after you were just in a near death situation. They both ignored the shouting Al Bhed causing her to get even more angry with them. "I'm not in the fight, so leave me out!" She hollered at the two fighters once again, still drawing neither of their attentions as Lauren attempted a sword blow while Auron was unarmed. He simply caught the falling blade in the palms of his hands causing Lauren to drop her jaw and then wrenched it out of her grasp. He pitched the lightweight katana over the head of its owner and reached for his much heavier blade as the blonde guardian scrambled for hers.
Both of the guardian's reached their respective sword hilts at the same time and whirled into one another's slashes. Their blades were once again locked and Lauren knew that she had to find another way to come out on top of this deadlock other than brute force. Auron eyed the teen with wonder as she let herself be overcome and dropped to the ground as his blade continued on it path down. He stopped his sword a quarter inch in front Lauren's body, drawing a sly smile from the blonde. She swung her left leg out right at Auron's legs, taking him completely by surprise, for he thought she had given up, and toppling him to the ground face first.
Lauren shot up, a smile beaming from her face for outsmarting a legendary swordsman when she is only an inexperienced sixteen year old girl. She raised her katana above the one eyed guardian, poised for her to plunge it into his chest. Her katana blade flew down at the guardian's chest, but much to her surprise the eldest guardian managed to outmaneuver its swift strike. The tip of the katana blade bore a half inch hole into the gray concrete of the stair landing right where Auron had just been. The older guardian stood slowly up onto his feet, bringing his oversized sword up onto his right shoulder as he did so.
Auron peered from behind his sunglasses at Lauren with a studying look. "You still have much to learn. You must learn to concentrate on your opponent and be able to read their moves to know where and how they will attack." He rocketed toward the blonde teen at a speed inconceivable for how he looked to Lauren and everyone else. She threw up her katana in front of her face, the sound of metal on metal resonating throughout the expanse where the stairs leading to the farplane resided. Lauren's feet skidded along the concrete flooring back toward the flight of stairs that led down and out of the farplane. She could feel her muscles giving way under the extreme pressure being exerted by the master swordsman as their blades continued to be pressed against one another.
Lauren was just about at the edge of the top stair when all of a sudden Auron released his pressure upon her katana and pointed the tip of his massive sword toward the ground to the right of him. He brought it in a diagonal slash that Lauren evaded by leaping to her left as the blade came close to her body. The sword master halted his diagonal slash and sent it in an arc in his right hand in the direction of where the blonde teen had moved. She caught sight of the blade out of the corner of her eye and brought up her katana blade to her right side to bar the path of the immense sword. The sound of metal on metal once again radiated off the two blades as they came together filled the ears of the three present.
The blow from Auron's enormous sword shattered Lauren's feeble defense sending her back a few feet onto her butt. She winced in pain as her tail bone became sore from the fall but had to get back into the fray, for Auron's blade was only a foot away from her. The teenage guardian rolled to her left, eluding a quick, yet forceful blow from the older guardian's downward slash. His sword recoiled off the ground and shook in its master's hands for two seconds before he regained complete control over it and went after the blonde yet again.
"I didn't think you would last this long." Auron stopped in mid stride to express his surprise about Lauren's skills. "But, let's see how good you do against this." As his words left his mouth he leapt into the air, pulling a three sixty with his sword held pointed down toward the ground. As his feet touched the ground his knees buckled allowing him to kneel on one knee whilst plunging his massive sword into the concrete flooring. Around the point of permeation, a gold and black circle formed, giving off a faint glow of the same colors. Lauren stood in wide mouthed awe as circles of the same luminosity exploded in an arch coming up on the teen's flanks.
The explosions drew closer and closer to her, but Lauren, for some inexplicit reason, could not budge an inch out of the course of the closing in blasts. The teen glanced down at her feet to see the same gold and black glow beneath her feet that came before each of the explosions and after Auron's blade sank into the ground. Lauren felt a strange pain shoot through her body, starting at her feet and slowly creeping up her legs and then through the rest o her body. At the same time that the teen guardian felt the pain erupt from below her, she also felt her body begin to be lifted off the ground. Following the series of explosions, Lauren felt herself fly backward through the air and then felt a wave of pain wash over her body as she collided with the upper flight of stairs. Darkness flooded the blonde's eyes as she felt all consciousness rush out of her with the last few breaths she breathed before she remembered nothing more but gloom.
Auron strode up to where the unconscious girl lay, injured on the second flight of stairs before the barrier to the farplane. "Hmph!" He grunted, glancing over the incapacitated Lauren. "If you had more training you would have been able to evade that or even stand it." He put away his immense sword and strolled back over to where he stood before he and the teen engaged in their sparing match.
Rikku rushed over to where Lauren lay limp on the stairs and lifted up her head and tried to wake her, but her acts were in vain. "You hurt her, you big meanie!" The young, blonde girl hollered at the one eyed guardian who simply stared off into space, acting like he didn't even acknowledge her cry. "Why did you do this to her?" The Al Bhed rested the unconscious teen's head gently back down on the stairs and stomped off toward Auron, who still paid her no attention. "We're on the same side, you know?" The eldest guardian still did not acknowledge any of the Al Bhed's complaints. "Are you listening to me!"
Auron cocked his head toward Rikku and glanced at her from beneath his tinted sunglasses. "No." He responded bitterly in his unemotional voice.
Rikku's mouth dropped open like she had just heard the most shocking news in her entire life. "Why not! Don't you feel bad at all that you hurt poor Lauren? She has enough problems to worry about without having to worry about you beating the crap out of her!" Her words still seemed as though they didn't reach the swordsman's ears.
"She has to learn how to handle herself. She has a destiny to fulfill and when the time comes the only thing she will be able to count on is her own personal strengths. I can only do so much before that time comes without delaying Yuna's pilgrimage." After a few seconds of silence between the two, Auron tried to justify treating Lauren harshly.
"What are you talking about? Lauren's only a young girl! How can she be able to fulfill a destiny when she's so young and isn't a big part of anything yet?" Rikku yelled at the one eyed guardian drawing a slightly amused look from him.
"You, too, have a destiny to fulfill, and so does Lauren. Is it so hard to believe that age matters not, but what matters is how you handle yourself when the time comes, no matter what it is that may lay before you." Auron looked over at Rikku to gauge her reaction to his statements.
"Yeah, but…" Rikku trailed off leaving Auron with an opportunity to persuade her even more that Lauren will be fine.
"I know not is she is ready for the task ahead of her so I must train her hard if she is to survive her confrontation with her destiny." Rikku had a look on her face that was still not convinced that what Auron had done was right and that Lauren had a great destiny to fill. "If she cannot escape my attacks then she will never be able to conquer what is ahead of her, for those events and enemies are tougher than I am, and have less restraint." Braska's former guardian's words brought a new expression to the adolescent Al Bhed's face, that of fear.
"You're saying that Lauren is going to be in a lot of trouble soon?" Rikku's voice showed a hint of fear as well as concern for her newly acquainted friend. "What kind of things is she going to be up against, fiends, or something else?" Auron did not look over at her after she had inquired about the dangers that lay ahead of Lauren. "Did you hear me?" She stood right in front of the elder guardian and glared up into his face.
"I cannot tell you that information." Rikku's facial expression went from that of annoyance to that of sheer anger. "I see that you two have grown close even though you have only known each other for most of a day now. If I were to tell you, you would tell her and then she would breakdown and not want to proceed on her path, which is something that cannot happen." Auron glanced over his large collar and through his sunglasses down at the shorter girl to see an expression of understanding instead of what he expected to see, that of anger.
Rikku's gaze shifted from that of Lauren, unconscious, on the stairs to up above her. Through the greenish blue barrier that separated the mortal realm from that of the farplane came Yuna, followed by everyone else. Yuna spotted Lauren on the stairs and asked, "What happened to her?" To her cousin, Rikku's jade swirl eyes shifting their focus from Lauren to Yuna.
"Auron and Lauren had a sparring match, but I think he went a little bit overboard." Yuna shot her gaze over to the one eyed guardian standing against the side wall for the stars.
"Sir Auron, why?" Yuna's voice was softer than usual and had an edge of disappointment laced in it. Auron merely glanced up at her from behind his sunglasses, his facial expression blank as ever.
"I do not need to explain myself again." Auron looked away from the honey brown haired summoner and took a step forward. "Now, let's get going. We have already postponed you pilgrimage enough." He continued his stride until the voice of an unknown Guado rang out through the silence that Auron had created.
"Lord Jyscal!" The Guado shouted at an old, feebly moving figure at the top of the stairs that was trying to break free from the grip of the farplane. The group whirled around to see the once proud leader of the Guado and Maester of Yevon moving slowly toward them.
"He does not belong here." Auron stated flatly drawing a questioning expression on Yuna's face as she gawked at Jyscal lumbering toward her. "Yuna, send him." With that the guardian fell to his knees and felt a strange presence over him that no one else noted or even saw that he was kneeling.
"Lord Jyscal..." Yuna whispered under hear breath as she continued to stare at the awkwardly moving figure.
"He is Lord Jyscal no more. Send him now!" Lulu commanded the younger summoner that she considered a younger sister to her. Yuna obliged with the black mage and executed the mandate by walking up to the disfigured Jyscal. She twirled her staff around in an assortment of ways before the figure began to dissipate into pyreflies that floated harmoniously back into the farplane. As the pyreflies disappeared a sphere dropped out of where the image of Jyscal stood only seconds before and bounced down the stairs to Yuna. She hurriedly scooped the sphere up and placed it in a pouch that she had in her kimono like garments.
"Talk later. We leave now." Auron commanded as he got off his knees after being relieved of the odd feeling he felt when Jyscal was trying to pass back to this realm. Tidus picked up the incapacitated Lauren and carried her in his arms down the stairs to follow the rest of his friends back into Guadosalam.
"Hey guys! Don't you think we should put Lauren somewhere?" Tidus queried as he came into the rest of his friend's views, Lauren draped gently in his arms. Auron let out an angered sigh as he mentally slapped himself in the face for injuring her because now it meant that they had to wait around for her to come to.
"Put her in the inn, ya?" Wakka suggested to the blonde blitz ace causing Tidus to stride past the group of his friends and down the ramp and around to the inn to let Lauren rest on a bed till she became conscious once again.
Tidus emerged from the inn a moment later, Lauren free, and strolled up to his friends in time to hear Yuna say, "I'll go... meet with Maester Seymour." The summoner began to walk off toward the palace where Seymour resided, but Auron's voice stalled her for a moment.
"Yuna! Jyscal is the Guado's problem, not yours." The young summoner nodded back to Auron before she pivoted on her heels and resumed heading for the Seymour's place.
Lauren found herself in a dark void with absolutely no light, yet she could see a strange, yet familiar bluish white fog enveloping her. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to shake this place from her vision but it did not leave her. After a few moments of complete and utter silence, a figure revealed itself to Lauren, the same one as when she was brought to Spira. "You." The blonde uttered at the appearance of the figure cloaked in shadow. "Why am I here again? Dose this mean I can go home now?" The teen inquired but the figure did not speak for a moment, but when it did Lauren didn't want to listen.
"You cannot go home now." The floating figured replied with a chilled voice that sent cold shivers down Lauren's spine.
"Then why have you brought me here!" The blonde teen's face shone bright red with anger as her hopes were dashed by the figure's uncaring personality.
"I have brought you here to tell you a few things that are important." The figure responded to Lauren outburst as a wave of fog washed over the silhouette of its body.
"What are those things, and why are they so important that you had to bring me here to tell me?" Lauren moved in closer to the figure as she shivered in the shilling bluish white fog that sparkles as if there were ice crystals reflecting some kind of light even though none was present.
"Well, I cannot speak to you when you are conscious or in any other place other than this void." The figure replied to one of Lauren's questions. "To answer your other question the importance of the things I'm going to relay to you is vital for your survival in this world and in you own." The figure paused in its speaking causing Lauren to take its stead.
"Then what are these things?" Lauren inched closer to the figure once again.
"You must seek the advice of Auron. He will teach you how to conquer the physical parts of the events that are ahead of you. He'll teach you how to tap into your power to be able to perform skills of vast power, such as those you did on Kilika and in the Moonflow." The figure elaborated on the things it was brought Lauren here to inform her.
"Okay." Lauren agreed with the figure's explanation. "I hope he doesn't try to teach me like he did this time. That hurt, a lot." The blonde teen got a crick out of her neck. "So, is there anything else you wanted to tell me before sending me back?" The figure remained silent as if reluctant to say the next thing because it didn't know how Lauren would react to it.
"Do you know why you keep thinking of Brian here?" Lauren's face paled at the name of her ex-boyfriend and her jaw hung down. "The reason for that is… he is alive, here in Spira." The blonde teen's turquoise eyes widened as far as humanly possible and maybe a bit more and she was speechless. "I do not know where, and for that I am sorry, but he is still very much alive. I know you have felt something, haven't you?" Lauren gave a small nod at the figure's statement. "Only, there is a problem with that. The enemy has him and they have a plan that includes him to do something to you. I do not know anymore, but you must seek Auron's teachings if you wish to overcome it and be with him once more."
"But… but how can this be possible? He... he was killed about a year ago in our world. How could he be brought her, and alive too?" Lauren's breath was shallow and fast as she stumbled over her words trying to make sense of it all.
"You died too in your world, remember?" Lauren nodded, still in wide eyed awe. "Only with you we were able to restore your body for you to go back to your own life when you had fulfilled your destiny. With him we did not restore his body in your world, but somehow someone managed to resurrect him here, in Spira, for their sinister plot."
"Wait…" A terrible thought dawned on her as the figured finished its statements. "That means… no! It can't be!" Lauren shouted at the figure and grabbed it by its neck.
"Correct. Even if you manage to save him and all goes well for you, he will not be able to go back with you to your old life because he doesn't have a body in your world." The figure spoke easily even though Lauren had her hands tightly ringing it neck.
"Then… then what's the point in doing anything!" She cried as her grip around the figured throat loosened until she let go completely and sank to the floor. "Even if I save him I can't be with him! So what's the point? Tell me. What's the point in doing anything if I can't be with him if he's alive!" She shouted through her sobs at the figure while kneeling on the ground, palms resting on her thighs as tears dripped off the end of her chin.
"There is a way that he can come with you back into your world. Unfortunately, I do not retain such knowledge; however, I will keep an eye out for it and if I come across it I would gladly inform you." Lauren gazed up at the figure, tears streaking her face and her eyes quivering with sadness. "I will now send you back to your friends, they are eagerly awaiting for you to wake up so you can proceed with the pilgrimage." Everything in Lauren's view began to fade to black and she felt a strange energy wash over her that gave her a numb feeling and that eventually made her eyes close on her.
"I hope she wakes up soon." Rikku stood at Lauren's bedside along with Tidus and Wakka. The teen's eyes fluttered open slowly much to the delight of the three standing around her.
"Lauren, you're awake!" Rikku and Tidus exclaimed in unison as their friend gained control of herself and sat up in the bed in the inn.
"Where am I?" She queried to the three friends hovering around her bed.
"You're in the inn in Guadosalam." Wakka explained. "After you went unconscious from Auron's little sparring match with you, Tidus took you in here to let you rest."
"Thanks Tidus." Lauren showed her gratitude to the blitz ace, who just smiled at her which she returned with an even bigger smile. "So, where is everyone else?" She inquired about the location of her other friends.
"They're outside waiting for you." Rikku elaborated in her usual giddy voice. "Yunie went to see Seymour but it turns out that he left for the Macalania temple while she was in the farplane." The Al Bhed added to her previous explanation.
"Then let's get going since everyone is waiting on me." Lauren said as she rose from the bed she was sleeping in and followed her friends out of the Guado inn.
"I see you are awake now." Lulu greeted Lauren as she came out of the inn after Rikku, Tidus and Wakka.
"Are you alright, Lauren?" Yuna asked curiously to her blonde friend.
"Yeah Yuna, I'm fine now."
"We don't have time for this idle chit chat. We have already delayed Yuna's pilgrimage enough today." Auron stated as he headed for a ramp leading down and out of the Guado home town.
"As bossy as ever." Lauren put her hands on the back of her and strolled after the one eyed guardian down the ramp leading into the Thunder Plains, the rest of the group following suit hastily.
A/N: Wow. I didn't think I could write an almost eighteen page chapter on just Guadosalam. I thought this chapter would have at least gotten us to Macalania Woods. I am open to criticism, so if there is anything that you think I should change/make better, please of the love of god tell me so I can improve myself. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait for your reviews, later!