Well, time for another mission! So, jumping right to it, the replies!
Auron's Fan: Okay, let's just put it this way. I'm not necessarily going to be any less manly because of the company I keep, but I am going to find myself in a LOT of situations that I don't exactly like. And as for the comment...please, don't ever say that. Ever. Again. Doesn't help I made a mistake in the description, either. The pants are black, not blue.
Iron Reaver: Yeah...that was a simple formatting error on the part of the document manager. Annoying. And Darius? We'll just have to see. (smirk)
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Yeah, sure. Okay.
SS5Matt: Indeed. It'll be mixed up quite a bit later.
Bruce Bruce: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, BB! Glad to see you're reading!
Fallenone: It's fine, sometimes it doesn't. Actually, yes. There will be the odd one here and there, and my special dressphere, of course.
Sandstone: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, Sandstone! It's assumed that Leblanc is talking to YRP with the 'will you quit staring' comment, as you would be looking down as she's looking up. But you know, I suppose it could work both ways. (shrug) And as for why Rikku did it? Let's just say she has a...penchant...for pranks. (grin) I could care less about appearance, but hey, if it trips out the enemy, even better.
OCAdam: I'm not sure, but you'll figure out who Darius is later. He is technically from another fanfic, but there will be explanations behind all that later. Jar Jar Binks, too. Gimme mah points! I'm not sure, I would say go with what you think there (referring to the sword part). And no, Cloud will not be meeting up with us. And as for the last question, no. I would say leave that out, because that really makes little to no sense from a logical point of view.
XxCougarxX: (shifty eyes) Maybe...
Bracey Face Anime Gurl: 'Vote for insanity; you know it makes sense!' Hm...I like that quote. And as for who it is? You'll find out later.
desert-tiger: (slaps forehead) Ranma, of course! Stupid me for forgetting him! And yes, we do have a rivalry...just how far will it go?
Jiranto Valsis: Welcome back, JV! Think nothing of the reviews stopping. Way I see it, if you were just repeating yourself, simply a waste of typing, no? Glad to hear you did read until the end. And if it's blowing your mind now, just wait until later. Things are going to get a little weird...
MoombaRave: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, Moomba! Nice name, too. (grin) Anyhow, you'll figure out later who Darius is...as for now? Just gonna have to wait and see.
Alright, enough talking, on with the mission!
Chapter 4—Home Sweet Home
A few minutes later, a small buzzer going off in the bridge jerks me out of my reverie. Standing up quickly, I walk over to Buddy, Yuna and the others following quickly.
"What is it?" Yuna asks, Buddy typing something on the console in front of him, before turning to Yuna.
"The treasure sphere data you've been dying for. There's at least one on Besaid Island...and another in the Zanarkand Ruins."
"Well, we may as well get the one at Besaid first, seeing as how we're already here," I say, crossing my arms.
"Right," Yuna says, turning to walk out of the bridge. Before I do, I walk over to Shinra's computer, inserting my Garment Grid into a slot, and pull up a menu. Quickly pressing some buttons, I insert the Black Mage dressphere, recently acquired from the sphere we found on Mount Gagazet, before closing the menu and replacing the Garment Grid on my wrist. Now equipped, I turn and follow the others out of the bridge.
Several minutes later, we're standing almost right in front of Besaid Island. Stopping, Yuna looks at the place she calls home, and sighs.
"I'm a little nervous."
"I bet, the way you took off without a word," Rikku replies, as another voice breaks the silence.
"Yeah, you said it," Wakka says, standing inside the village, a few feet away from us. Smiling, all of us walk up to meet our old friend.
"You caused quite a fuss, young lady," he says, crossing his arms. Yuna nods, looking at the former blitzball captain.
"I'm sorry."
"Well, as long as you're okay, ya?" he says, looking over at Paine. "Your friend?"
"Oh, this is Paine. We're looking for spheres together." Paine just nods, and Wakka's gaze shifts over me for a moment, before he suddenly double-takes, looking back. "Ben?"
"Yup. It's me, Wakka. How ya been?" I ask, chuckling.
"I've been doing good, brudda. You?"
"Can't complain. As you can see, I'm back with Yuna and Rikku now. Though...for better or worse, I can't quite say," I say playfully, earning a small punch on the shoulder from Rikku.
"So, you're a sphere hunter now," he says, turning back to Yuna. "I heard the rumors. To tell you the truth, I wasn't too worried. Gotta say though...you, uh, do seem pretty different." Yuna just giggles, as Rikku walks closer to Wakka, nudging him in his stomach lightly with her elbow.
"You haven't changed a bit, tubby!" she says, causing me to laugh.
"Whoa! Cut it out, ya!" Wakka says, chuckling a little. "I'm going to be a father soon. Got to have a little more presence, you know?"
"That's great, Wakka," I say, nodding.
"How much longer?" Yuna asks, Wakka now practically beaming with pride.
"Any day now!"
"Wakka, a daddy!" Rikku says, giggling a little at the thought.
"To tell the truth," Wakka says, his excitement gone for the moment, "I sure don't feel like one. I mean, how do I know how a father's supposed to act in front of his kid?"
"Why not just do what your parents did?" Rikku suggests, Wakka shaking his head at the remark.
"Hm, don't remember 'em. Sin saw to that when I was still little."
"You don't have any spheres of them?" Yuna asks, and Wakka shakes his head.
"Nope, not a single..." Wakka begins, but trails off after a moment, as if remembering something.
"What's wrong?" Yuna says, Wakka's head snapping back into reality at that.
"Oh, uh...nothing, nothing," he replies, obviously lying. "Anyway, do me a favor and go say hi to Lu. She's been worried about you. Get going!" he says, walking past us and towards the way we came from, down the paths leading towards the beach. Nodding, we walk towards Wakka's hut, stepping inside after a moment. Lulu is sitting down inside, and she smiles when we all enter.
"Welcome back," she says, the same manner of speaking still with her, even after 2 years.
"Hi, Lulu," Yuna replies softly.
"So, tell us about the baby!" Rikku says, eager to hear more. "It's gonna be born soon, right?"
"Hm, not yet. Wakka's getting a little ahead of himself."
"Aw, bummer," Rikku says, face drooping a little.
"So, after all this time, you two did get together. Can't say I didn't see it coming," I say, smirking slightly.
"So, you came back. I thought you had left for good after Yuna's pilgrimage was over," Lulu says. I simply shake my head.
"Nah, couldn't stay gone for too long. Rikku would've killed me otherwise," I say, chuckling a little. Smiling, Lulu nods.
"I see. So, care to go for a little walk?" she asks.
"Can you?" Yuna replies, slightly worried about her friend's choice.
"I could use the exercise. Come on," she replies, slowly standing up and leading us out of the hut.
A few minutes later, we're standing at the place we prayed on Besaid 2 years ago, before Yuna began her pilgrimage. Lulu turns around and looks at Yuna.
"So, what's so important that you'd run off without telling us?"
"This," Yuna says, pulling a sphere out and holding it in front of her. Lulu nods.
"The sphere. Wakka told me about it." Yuna nods, and turns the sphere on, the picture appearing after a moment. It appears to be a jail cell somewhere, maybe under Bevelle. A young boy is sitting inside, and at first glance, it appears to be Tidus. There are some slight differences, though, mainly the eyes. They don't seem to possess the same happiness and attitude as Tidus' eyes, but rather a sense of anger and regret.
"Kimahri said he found it on Mount Gagazet," Rikku chimes in.
"It does look like him. Though something seems a little off," Lulu replies, as the sphere shuts off. "Have you found anything?"
"Nothing," Yuna replies. "But there's still a lot of places we haven't looked yet."
"Must be fun, being free to go where you please," Lulu says, Yuna nodding in agreement.
"It is fun, I never expected a journey quite like this."
"I'm not there, so you can spread your wings," Lulu says, clasping her hands behind her back.
"Maybe."
"You have spread your wings," Lulu says, smiling. "Well, good luck. But Yuna, never forget who you are." Yuna looks a little confused, so Lulu continues. "You're the High Summoner that defeated Sin. There are those who would use that, Yuna."
"I'll be all right. I won't let myself be used by anyone. Not any more."
"That goes for you too, Ben," she tells me, and I nod.
"No one's using me. You can rest assured of that." Suddenly, Lulu twitches a little, as if in pain.
"Hm?" Yuna asks, a little unsure of what happened.
"It kicked," Lulu replies, causing smiles all around.
"Really?" Yuna asks, and Lulu nods.
"I wanna feel!" Rikku says happily, and I just shake my head at my girlfriend's antics. Lulu just smiles, turning to Yuna.
"Since you've come all this way, why not stay the night?" she asks, and Yuna looks at her, nodding.
"Sounds good to me," she says, and I look up, noticing the sun setting. I hadn't even noticed, to tell the truth.
'Way to be alert, Benji...' I think to myself, as a growl catches our attention. A pair of Coyotes walk towards us suddenly, snarling, and I turn to the 4 girls.
"It's okay, I can handle it. Gives me a chance to try something out anyway," I say, before turning back to the Coyotes. Placing my hands in a diamond shape in front of me, I spread my arms out as white light covers me again. When it clears, I'm now dressed in a long, flowing robe, a deep blue in color. The sleeves cover my hands almost completely, and in my right hand is Yuna's old staff, given to me on the pilgrimage two years ago. A tall, blue mage's hat adorns my head as well, and I point the staff of my Black Mage dressphere at the first Coyote.
"Blizzard!" An ice crystal flies from my staff to the Coyote, striking it in the chest and spearing it before it can react. As the first bursts into pyreflies, the second runs at me, only to get stricken in the head with the bottom part of my staff.
"Fire!" A fireball blazes from my staff now and burns away at the Coyote, sending it to the ground in a heap as well. As it dissipates into pyreflies, I spherechange back to Gunner.
"Now that that's taken care of, should we get back to the village?" I ask, and everyone nods, beginning to lead the way back as night falls over the quiet village.
The next morning, I yawn, standing up from the pallet I placed on the floor. Standing up, I notice everyone else is already awake, and must be outside. Grabbing my pistols from a table in the room, I quickly re-holster them, before walking out.
"Good morning," Lulu says as I exit the hut, the woman standing around outside with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.
"Morning," I say, looking around. "Where's Wakka?"
"He left at daybreak. He said something about a cave," Lulu replies, and I nod.
"A cave? Wonder what he's up to?" Rikku asks, confused.
"Want us to go find out?" Yuna asks Lulu.
"Yeah, there might be fiends," Rikku adds, and Lulu nods.
"Thanks. Though, I doubt he'd have trouble handling a few fiends. Still, I'm a little worried. It's not like Wakka to hide things."
"That's funny. I don't remember there being any cave," Yuna asks, and I speak up.
"I know where it is. I saw it when I went to find the sphere that was supposedly on the beach," I say. "If we hurry, we should be able to catch him." Turning, I quickly run towards the beach before anyone can say anything else. As we head to the beach, Brother's voice suddenly comes over the comlinks.
"Any trouble?"
"We're fine," Yuna replies. "How about you guys?"
"My heart...is aching..." Brother replies, and I slap my face in exasperation.
"Huh?" Yuna asks, confused.
"Ahh...nothing," Brother says quickly, the comlink going dead again. Shaking my head, I reach to my ear and take the comlink out, turning it off quickly.
"What was that for?" Rikku asks.
"He annoys me," I state, beginning to jog towards the beach once again. A minute or two later, Yuna stops, and I stop too, guessing that she has another transmission.
"Yuna here," she says, and after a moment, she wrinkles her face in confusion. "Huh. That was weird." Shrugging, she begins to walk again, and we round the bend leading around the cliffs, coming face to face with a door, set in the side of the stone cliff face. Walking up to it, I nod.
"This is the place. Now, we just have to get inside," I say, walking up and examining a keypad on the right side. Rikku follows me, and pulls something from a small pack on her side, attaching a cable to the door. Quickly pressing some buttons on a small keypad attached to the device, numbers appear one by one on the display beside the door, and as the fourth appears, the door slides up and open.
"Decoding device?" I ask her, and she nods.
"Handy little thing, huh?" she replies, and I chuckle.
"Indeed it is. Let's go find Wakka." Walking inside the now-revealed cave, it only takes us a moment to find Wakka, sitting down on the floor of the cave.
"Something wrong?" he asks us, Yuna looking down at him.
"We came to check on you," she says, Rikku nodding quickly.
"Is there something in this cave?" Rikku asks, causing Wakka to stand up and shrug his shoulders.
"Uh, yeah...something like that. Who knows, maybe it's not here, ya? But I thought, 'What if...' Maybe it's for real. Then again, maybe it never was. Been so long, I'm not sure any more."
"So, you're saying there's something that might be here, and you want to know for sure, right?" Paine asks, crossing her arms.
"Right. But you see...I wanna know, and then I sorta don't wanna know," Wakka says, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, what is it, then?" I ask, awaiting his answer.
"Well, uh...I heard there was this old sphere," he replies, Rikku cutting him off in mid sentence.
"A sphere? Of what?"
"A sphere of...you know," he replies, apparently not wanting to tell us. "What does it matter?" Paine just shakes her head, beginning to walk further inside the cave. "Hey, whoa!" Wakka exclaims, moving to stop Paine, before she turns.
"We're sphere hunters, remember?" she says flatly.
"Yeah, Paine's right. We'll handle this, Wakka. Just sit tight," I say, beginning to move after Paine.
"All right, Gullwings..." Yuna starts, Rikku raising an arm into the air.
"Time for business!" she finishes, before the duo moves to follow us.
As we walk deeper into the cave, it's revealed that the cave isn't very long, maybe a few hundred feet in total length. A few turns lead around parts of the rocks, but other than that, no big hassle to traverse. As we round a corner, however, I hear something behind us. Turning, I come face to face with another person I don't recognize. It's a man wearing a pair of black pants and a black shirt, the pants held up by a silver belt, with a long red cloak covering his shoulders and back. A pair of black boots with silver plates on the top of the feet, as well as a golden, clawed gauntlet covering from the tips of his fingers to his elbow, is also worn. A red headband is wrapped around his forehead as well, making his long, black hair spill out over it. He gives us a quick once-over, before smiling slightly.
"You must be the Gullwings. Can't say I'm surprised to see you here. There is a sphere here, after all," the man says, leaning against the cavern wall. Eyes narrowing slightly, I stare back at the man, before finally speaking up.
"You're right, we are the Gullwings. Just who are you?" I ask cautiously, and the man bows, smiling back at us.
"Where are my manners. I am Drante Vego, a fellow sphere hunter. Pleasure to meet you..." he trails off, and I shake my head, realizing I hadn't given my name.
"Benji Powell. And this is Yuna, Rikku, and Paine," I say, pointing to each of them in turn. Drante blinks for a moment, before speaking again.
"Both High Summoners...sphere hunters. Quite the surprise there...no matter. If you'll excuse me, I'll simply take what I need, and be on my way."
"You mean the sphere," I say, more of a statement than a question. Drante simply nods, and I spherechange to Warrior, pulling out my longsword. "Sorry, can't let you do that. Sphere's coming with us."
"I see. Such a shame, then. I'll simply have to take it by force," Drante responds, and Yuna, Rikku, and Paine draw their weapons, preparing for a confrontation.
"No, you guys go get the sphere. I can take care of our friend here," I tell them.
"Are you sure?" Yuna asks, and I nod.
"I'll be fine. Get the sphere." With a quick nod from the trio, they run farther into the cave, leaving Drante and I alone. Drante simply shakes his head, looking me over as I drop into a battle stance.
"Are you sure you can handle me, like your friend said?" he asks, and I nod.
"You know what I've been through. I'm High Summoner for a reason."
"Very well, then. I won't hold back." Drante lifts his arm, and a small ball rolls down his sleeve, falling into his now-open hand. Suddenly, the ball shifts, and turns into a longsword, a shining silver in color, though a little shorter than my own. Drante stands still for a moment longer, then charges, moving so fast he simply seems to be in front of me before I can react, snapping his sword downwards. Dodging to the side, I quickly bring my blade up to block, before swinging the blade out from under his, slashing out towards his chest. Drante jumps back quickly, spinning and delivering a low slash, towards my knees.
Jumping over the slash, I land in a crouch, and sweep my foot towards his legs, the man jumping over my leg and kicking my ankle, seeming to toy with me. Bringing his sword down quickly, the blade moves across my side, cutting into me and drawing some blood. Not enough to really cause severe injury, but enough to be annoying. Standing straight again, I change my stance into a defensive one, as Drante attacks again.
Running at me quickly, he stabs outward with his sword, using it like a rapier. I parry the strike quickly, bringing my sword back down to the right before he can react, cutting across his right side slightly.
"There, we're even," I say, chuckling.
"Indeed. That will change soon," he responds, his sword moving again into a lunging slash, the blade passing from left to right, causing me to twist out of the way, spinning around completely to bring my sword back to bear. Drante attempts one more slash at me, a vertical slash that I sidestep, before he steps back, the sword morphing back into an orb and moving back into his sleeve on its own.
"What are you doing?" I ask, clearly confused as to why he has stopped attacking.
"You've proven your worth. I'll give this round to you," he says, before simply turning and walking away. As he walks away, I reach into my pocket and grab a Potion, drinking the magical elixir quickly and feeling the cut seal itself over. Quickly, I sheathe my sword and run farther into the cave, hoping to catch up with Yuna and the others.
As I turn the corner, I'm greeted by a wave of pyreflies floating up into the sky, and a triumphant looking group of girls, putting their weapons away.
"Ran into some trouble, huh?" I ask, and Yuna nods.
"A fire dragon...took some effort to beat, but we did fine." Paine nods, before walking over and grabbing the sphere off of a small pedestal in front of us.
"One more for the Gullwings!" Yuna exclaims, and I nod, as Paine hands her the sphere, beginning to walk back down the length of the cave.
"Find anything?" Wakka says, standing up from his sitting position on the floor as we approach. Yuna nods, holding out the sphere we found.
"We sure did!" Rikku says.
"Let's take a look," Yuna adds, turning the sphere on. As the picture fades into existence, it appears to be a view of Besaid Island, the sphere moving slowly to take in the surroundings, before fading out and in on another place on the island. The sphere does this a few times, before fading out again and shutting itself off.
"This it?" Rikku asks, Wakka shaking his head after a moment.
"Nah, 'fraid not." Turning, Wakka walks outside, and we follow, standing outside the mouth of the cave.
"So, what sphere were you looking for?" Rikku asks Wakka, who turns to face the girl.
"Well...it's a sphere of our parents. Chappu said he found it."
"Chappu?" Rikku asks, before remembering who Wakka is referring to. "Oh, your brother!"
"He was a Crusader. Now he's gone on to the Farplane. Sin got our parents not long after Chappu was born. We were too young to remember their faces, you know? When we were kids, we got into a fight one time and Chappu said, "I found a sphere with mom and dad in it, but I'm not telling you where it is."
"And you never asked him?" Yuna replies. Wakka shakes his head.
"I was too boneheaded to let my little brother win. So, I went on without asking until I just forgot about it. Then yesterday, talking with you made me think about it again. Chappu used to play in this cave, so I thought maybe he found the sphere here, ya? But when I came to look, I got to thinking..."
"About what?" I ask, Wakka looking over all of us as he continues to explain.
"See, I got this picture of my parents in my head, ya? Strong, and kind...whenever things got tough, those are the parents I imagined. But their real faces might be totally different, ya? I think about that and I'm not so sure I really wanna know. I was sittin' there trying to figure out what to do. And then you guys showed up."
"That's our Wakka," Rikku says, smiling.
"The sphere might still be somewhere on the island. Should we look for it?" Yuna asks, but Wakka shakes his head.
"Nah, that's alright," he says, walking away a little before turning back to us. "I'm through worrying about that stuff. What's past is past, ya? Can't let it get to me. I'm going to be a father soon. Gotta pull it together!"
"That's right, Dad!" Rikku teases, making me chuckle as well. Wakka raises his right arm up, but then puts it back down.
"But, uh...just how am I supposed to pull it together? Sure wish I had something to go by, you know?" he says, and suddenly, Yuna stops, listening intently to her comlink, it seems.
"Yeah, we'll be back soon," she says after a moment, and I click my comlink back on. I forgot to turn it back on earlier, but can't say I regret not turning it back on.
"Alright, let's get back to the beach. They should be waiting for us there," I say, beginning to walk back towards the beach, which is only a short distance away from the cave. Everyone nods, waving good-bye to Wakka as he walks back towards the village. As we re-board the Celsius, still floating in the water, I can't help but think about the two people I've seen.
'Things seem a little out of place here...wonder if I can really expect anything now?' I think to myself, as I head back to my room.
So, who's Drante, and what is his story, anyhow? You'll just have to keep reading to find out! As always, please review, and see ya!