Author's Note: I did not write the toast in the beginning of the chapter, it is an Irish wedding toast.
Chapter Seven : Awakening
Bnyo, cyjeuin (Pray, saviour)
Tnays, Lremt uv Bnyoan (Dream, Child of Prayer)
Vunajan yht ajan (Forever and ever)
Pnehk ic bayla (Bring us peace)
- The Hymn of the Fayth
"Friends, in your life I hope you do four things; lie, steal, cheat, and drink. When you lie, do it to save a friend. When you steal, steal someone's heart. When you cheat, cheat death. And when you drink, drink with me!" Everyone smiled as Wakka finished his heartfelt toast. It was a common one at weddings, but very appropriate, especially at this one. Everyone here had done one or another.
Wakka grinned and drank deeply from his cup then setting the empty glass down on the table with a thunk, he turned to Tidus and slapped him hard across the back, his thick Besaid accent even thicker from the alcohol.
"Con-grah-dulations, Brudda."
Then dropping a swift kiss on Yuna's cheek, Wakka turned to his wife Lulu and plucked his four year old son, Vidina, from her arms and tossing the giggling child once into the air he caught him and swung him around towards Rikku.
"You hold him while I dance with my beautiful wife, ya?" Rikku smiled and held out her arms to accept the child.
"No problem!"
Wakka smiled broadly then walked over to Lulu, sweeping aside her protestations and Lulu almost literally off of her feet as they went to dance. It was funny to see how the couple had changed since they got married. Giggling slightly she turned back to Yuna and Tidus to see them moving to dance as well, and Paine and Baralai had already taken off, not to dance, Paine didn't dance. Rikku sighed.
"Guess it's just you and me Vidina!" She tickled the four year old and began to bounce him on her lap as her mind drifted back to the words of Wakka's toast, feeling inexplicably uneasy despite the happiness of the occasion.
When you steal, steal someone's heart...
What was it? What was missing? What was she forgetting?
As she sat with Vidina and considered the matter, the roar of the party faded, transforming into random sibilant whispers, like bits of conversation, but she was missing out on all the vital parts...
"The heartless...
pure of...
to unlock...
door of light...
too late..."
In the midst of them all one voice rang out clearly in her mind. "This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness... soon to be completely eclipsed..."
"What?!" Rikku shook her head and jumped to her feet as she clutched Vidina. Everyone around her seemed menacing now, their faces twisted into grotesque smiles... she'd seen a smile like that before... but where? Vidina began to scream. And Rikku quickly reached her hand up to his face to try and comfort him.
"Shhhh, shh, it's ok Vidina... let's go find your mommy." Vidina just screamed louder and all of a sudden there was a loud popping noise and one of the starry lights on the ceiling blinked. Suddenly Rikku realized that Vidina had stopped screaming. As she hugged him closer, her arms hit empty space and she ended up grabbing her own shoulders as Vidina vanished. Rikku released a startled yelp, but no one noticed. Everyone was all smiles and party faces. Rikku ran through the crowd until she finally found Lulu and Wakka.
"Vidina, he's go—"
Lulu cut her off, a hateful glow in her violet eyes and Rikku recoiled, she had never felt such a look.
"I know Rikku. You failed him." There was another pop as another light blinked out and with it Lulu as well.
"I don't understand, what's happening? Wakka?"
Wakka just shook his head.
"Rikku, You shouldna done that!"
POP!
He was gone.., and the room was darker still.
"But I didn't, I didn't do anything..."
"Exactly." Rikku looked up to see Paine beside her. "You could have you know."
Rikku looked back at her, her eyes welling up with tears.
"What? What could I have---"
POP! Another one gone and Paine with it...
Rikku clapped her hands over her ears and shut her eyes tightly, she couldn't take this anymore, but she couldn't block out the voice, the whispering in her mind.
"You really are a child..."
Rikku lifted her head to glare at the person who wasn't there, whose voice sounded so darkly in her head. She hated it in when people called her that.
"Why are you doing this? What is happening? Why won't you just tell me?!"
Once again the strange voice came back, flowing over her as the lights blinked out overhead. What he said next sounded like an oft repeated line.
"One who knows nothing can understand nothing..."
Rikku shook her head in annoyance as the voice began to chuckle...
"You will find the answers you seek... just step into the darkness..."
"No!" Rikku was a child of the desert, a child of the sun. She would not do as he said.
Rikku looked around, most of the people had vanished now, were still vanishing as the lights above their head winked out... Gippal, Baralai, Cid... One by one, they disappeared. All that remained were two dwindling lights... Yuna and Tidus. Rikku ran over to them, desperately hoping that they'd have the answers, that they'd be themselves. She nearly sobbed in relief as Yuna gazed at her, a softness to her expression.
"Yunie?" Yuna smiled and held Tidus's hand in her own. Tidus looked at her, an earnest expression in his gaze.
"It's not your fault."
He turned to look at Yuna and Yuna squeezed his hand tightly before nodding at Rikku.
"Sing for me...for us..."
The lights dimmed as Yuna and Tidus slowly faded away, this time not disappearing, but combining into one. Rikku cast her gaze into the darkness then sat down under the light and turned her eyes up to the faint golden orb. Starting quietly she sang the hymn of the faith, her voice getting stronger with every word as she repeated it over and over, so the voice couldn't penetrate her thoughts.
"Bnyo, cyjeuin, Tnays, Lremt uv Bnyoan, Vunajan yht ajan, Pnehk ic bayla."
She watched the orb and as she sang it got brighter and brighter, a beacon of light quelling the dark. Just before she was completely encompassed by the light, a loud girlish voice cut in—
"Locke! What are you doing in here?! You were only supposed to hide downstairs."
"I know but—"The girl cut him off again.
"Momma said we that we weren't supposed to come in here!"
"But she—"
"I'm gonna go tell Momma."
The boy began to yell know obviously not wanting to get in trouble, but frustrated that he kept getting cut off.
"I KNOW, BUT SHE WAS SINGING!" The girl broke off then began in a voice that was almost as loud as the boy yelling.
"What?! Oh now look what you've done! You've gone and woken her up!!!"
Rikku's eyes slowly flickered open, her blurry sleep-ridden gaze sharpening to see two sets of wide anxious brown eyes staring down at her, all remnants of her dream forgotten. Unfortunately, her mind didn't do her the same courtesy about the events of the evening, and everything that happened came rushing back to her. Rikku blinked back the tears that pricked at her eyes. She couldn't handle it, for now she'd focus on the present situation. She sat up, aware of the unwavering focus of the two children, and gazed around the small room. The wallpaper was faded with a strange pattern of unfamiliar blue flowers and the wooden floor was covered in a purple threadbare rug. A large trunk lay at the end of the bed and a small lamp rested on the bed stand next to her. Her green dress lay folded neatly on the stand, and Rikku looked down at herself, exceedingly embarrassed to find herself dressed in someone's oversized pajamas. Lifting her hand to her forehead she felt a bandage covering her temple. Letting her hand drop, she cast one more quick look around the room. All of the things were recognizable, but foreign. She was certainly not on Besaid Island anymore.
"Where am I?"
The little boy gasped. "She has amleesia!" The girl, obviously his sister, frowned at him, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face.
"It's amnesia... and don't be stupid. She was sleeping when she came here, so it's obvious that she wouldn't know where she is. Besides you get amnesia when you can't remember who you are!" The little boy frowned, thinking this over.
"Ohhh..."
The girl turned away from him, an exasperated look on her face which transformed into a look of worry as she studied Rikku.
"You know who you are, don't you?"
Rikku was about to respond when the boy lifted his head, his eyes sparkling.
"I'm Locke, and this is Rinoa! This is my room! Momma said it would be better to put you in here where you'd be out of the way. Dad said ok, but wanted to put a lock on the outside of the door, cause he thought you might be a shadowmaker, but Momma wouldn't let him and called him an overly suppiscious A-S-S. He didn't like that much, no sirree... Are you an angel? Cause you have funny eyes, and you were singing in your sleep and angels sing and you were singing in some weird language. Is that the angel language? Can you teach me?"
Rinoa looked increasingly horrified as Locke continued to chatter away but she also wanted to hear Rikku's answer. The girl wasn't as grown up as she pretended to be. Rikku blinked, overwhelmed. The grogginess hadn't quite faded and she realized she had a splitting headache, no doubt from the blow to her head.
That son of a shoopuff!
Once again, Rikku was bordering on dangerous territory so she dropped the thought and forced herself to smile at the pair.
"My name's Rikku. I'm sorry, I'm not an angel, I'm just a girl... but it would be fun to meet one! I don't remember singing, but if I was, it was in Al Bhed."
Rikku's forehead creased at the blank, but eager looks on the children's faces. They didn't seem to have heard of Al Bhed, which was extremely odd. Everyone in Spira at least knew of the Al Bhed, even if most didn't bother to learn the language.
"It's the language of my people... I'd be glad to teach it to you... but maybe you can help me too... What town are we in, I thought I'd been just about everywhere in Spira—"
"Rinoa! Locke! It told you two to stay out of here, and now you've woken her up!" Both children started guiltily and Rikku looked up to see a pretty woman in her late twenties or early thirties. The dark hair and brown eyes were unmistakable. She had to be Locke and Rinoa's mother. The woman smiled at Rikku then walked over to the children, shooing them away from the bed.
"Go on downstairs, dinner's ready." The woman watched with bemusement as the children scampered off then turned back to Rikku. "I'm so sorry they woke you... How are you feeling?"
How was she feeling? Empty at the moment...
Rikku shrugged slightly, forcing a smile on her face.
"Oh it's ok, and I am alright also I guess... The worst headache of my life, heh."
Rikku frowned slightly, feeling uncomfortable.
"Um if I may ask... where am I, how did I get here? I don't... remember..."
Block it out, block it out, block it out...
The woman's smile faltered, but she steeled herself. This was something she was used to, at least to some extent.
"We're in the city Cocytrus."
Rikku gave her a puzzled look.
"Cocytrus, I've never heard of it and I've been all over Spi—"
A pained look crossed the woman's face and realization dawned in Rikku's eyes.
"I'm not in, I'm not...What... what happened to... You're joking, you have to be..."
The woman shook her head, her eyes sad as she instinctively laid her hand over Rikku's.
"I'm so sorry."
Rikku concentrated on breathing, panic welling up inside of her. A tear trickled slowly down her cheek.
"I think, I think I need to rest some more."
The woman nodded an understanding look in her warm brown eyes.
"You should, I think it will help. It'll be good for that headache also."
The woman squeezed Rikku's hand once then walked to the door turning to look at her.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call. I'm Julia."
Rikku nodded, forcing the smile back to her face. "Rikku." Julia's eyes widened at this, but Rikku didn't notice, and as the door was quietly closed, Rikku turned her head in towards the pillow and cried herself to sleep.