Well, another developmental chapter this time...but next time...action! Mwahaha! (cough) Sorry. Anyway, on to the replies!
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Song...overload...(faints)
Iron Reaver: Hmk. Details, you must give me.
Auron's Fan: Please, please, don't remind me of Lady Luck...it doesn't help that the attacks in that dressphere are some of my favorites...
locko: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, locko! Thanks.
ross heuchan: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, ross! You'll have to read to see exactly what happens.
Bracey Face Anime Gurl: I see.
XxCougarxX: The dream was quite fun to write, and yes, freaky as heck the first time I saw it.
Fallen Angel-2009: Thank you.
Arachnid: That was quite an amusing part...you'll have to wait a bit longer, though.
Now, on to the chapter!
Chapter 8—One Can Dream
As I lie on my bed, examining my Garment Grid, I can feel the Celsius land somewhere. As for where, however, I haven't the slightest. Standing up, I walk out of the room and head to the exit, Yuna and the others showing up a moment later.
"So, where are we now?" I ask, leaning near the door.
"Mushroom Rock Road. We're going to give the sphere we stole to the Youth League," Yuna replies, and I nod.
"Sounds like a plan," I tell her, turning and walking out of the Celsius. Looking around, I take a moment to glance at the surroundings, before walking up towards the fork in the path. As we do, a man approaches us, looking happy to see Yuna.
"Good to see you again, Lady Yuna! You haven't forgotten me, have you?" Yuna just smiles, clasping her hands behind her back.
"Yaibal, isn't it?" she says, looking at the man. "You're in the Youth League." Smiling, Yaibal nods back at her.
"You really do remember me! I'm truly honored, Lady Yuna! Since that day we first spoke, the Youth League has been conducting a sphere hunt of its own. We, the Youth League..." he begins, but seems to forget what he's supposed to say. "Hmm...Clasko, take it from here." Reluctantly, another man walks over, sighing, before beginning to speak.
"We, the Youth League, to better our understanding of Spira's past, vow to remain ever vigilant in our search...for ruins and spheres," he says, Yaibal nodding in approval.
"Well, guess it's your lucky day. We happen to have a sphere for you," I say, as Yuna shows him the sphere. Nodding, Yaibal points to the path to the left of us.
"You can take that path over there, it will lead you straight to headquarters. I'm glad to see people helping us out in our endeavor to learn more about Spira's history," he replies, and Yuna nods.
"It's good to be of help," she tells him, beginning to walk the path to headquarters, all of us following.
Mushroom Rock Road is much the same as I remember it from Yuna's pilgrimage. Not much has changed, it seems. Until we reach about halfway through, that is.
"Wonder what's down there..." Yuna says, looking down at the chasm in the road. It's not very deep, easy to climb down to. Shrugging, Rikku turns to Yuna.
"Let's go find out," she says, beginning to climb down into the small canyon. Yuna follows her, as well as Paine and myself after a moment.
The canyon is relatively straight forward, no branching paths, just small niches every now and then. It doesn't take us long to find the end, and what we do find intrigues Yuna and the others.
"This one ain't no good," Ormi says, kneeling over a pile of spheres. Behind them is a large door of sorts, with 10 indents in it, apparently places to put spheres. A combination lock, of sorts.
"Nor this one," Logos adds, tossing another sphere out of the way.
"What're you doing?" Yuna asks the two sphere thieves, causing them to stand up quickly in shock. Ormi quickly bends down, grabbing the spheres and tucking them all away.
"Let's get outta here!" he says, Logos nodding and drawing one of his pistols.
"We must inform the boss!" he exclaims, firing the pistol at the ground, which causes an explosion of smoke. When the smoke clears, we find Logos and Ormi gone, but there is one sphere lying on the ground. Apparently, they missed that one. Walking over to it, I pick it up, as Yuna, Rikku, and Paine examine the large door.
"Hey. Long time no see," a voice says from behind us, and we turn to see a quite familiar face. "Remember me?"
"Of course I do!" Yuna says.
"Nice to see you again, Maroda," I say, nodding to the former guardian.
"Glad to hear it," he replies, walking up to us.
"How've you been?" Yuna asks him.
"I joined up with the Youth League and that's been keeping me pretty busy," he tells us, looking over Yuna closely for a moment.
"Oh, I'm a sphere hunter now," she says, answering his unspoken question.
"Ah, that sounds great, trying out a new way of life. Actually, Pacce's a sphere hunter now, too. He's the leader of the Kinderguardians. Be nice to him if you see him."
"We already have. We ran into him and the Kinderguardians in Zanarkand. They seem to be enjoying themselves," I answer, chuckling a little.
"How's Isaaru?" Yuna asks, and Maroda looks at her for a moment, before walking past us and up to the strange door.
"The Youth League discovered this place, you know," he explains, ignoring Yuna's query. "It's called the Den of Woe. It was sealed around the time of Operation Mi'ihen."
"And Isaaru?" Yuna asks again, wanting an answer to her question.
"But, uh, the seal can supposedly be broken with the right combination of spheres," he continues.
"Um..." Yuna begins, but is cut off by Maroda.
"I'm afraid this place is off-limits until we can conduct a more thorough investigation. So I'll, um, have to ask you to leave. I'm sorry." With a nod to Yuna, I walk out of the small cavern, the others following behind me as I walk back to the end of the canyon and climb back up onto the main part of Mushroom Rock Road.
"He didn't want to talk about Isaaru much, huh?" Yuna asks, continuing to walk down the path.
"Seems that way," Paine answers.
"I'm sure he has his reasons. Let's just forget about it for now," I remark, as we approach the small elevator leading to the entrance to Youth League Headquarters. Standing on the circle, it lifts up into the air, stopping and allowing us to step off in front of a large elevator. This elevator will take us to the top part of Mushroom Rock Road, to the place where Operation Mi'ihen was launched two years ago.
"Oh, wow! Lady Yuna!" a woman in front of us says, walking over to us from her position at the elevator. "It's me, Elma! It's been so long!" Looking Yuna over for a moment, she smiles. "Wow, you've really changed."
"How are you?" Yuna asks Elma.
"Never better! Now that I'm in the Youth League, I've always got something to do!" she replies, and Yuna smiles.
"We've got a sphere for you. Yaibal told us to bring it to headquarters," I say, stepping up beside Yuna. Nodding, Elma motions to two other Youth League members, who were guarding the elevator.
"Go on, step aside!" she says, and the members salute, moving away from the elevator.
"Wow, look at you!" Yuna says, impressed by Elma's new position.
"Not bad, huh?" she asks with a smile. Nodding, Yuna gives a final smile to Elma, before stepping onto the elevator with us, which slowly makes its way upward. As it stops, I can see the Youth League headquarters in front of us, and I smile. This has been quite easy.
"Let's go," I say, headed for the very back of the headquarters, towards the main building. As we walk, Yuna notices everyone staring at us, and steps closer to us. Apparently, she's feeling a little uncomfortable because of all the attention.
"Wow! They're pulling out all the stops!" Rikku says, looking around.
"I wonder why..." Yuna trails off, and I just shake my head.
"You're the high summoner, remember?" Paine says, seemingly feeling the same way I do at the moment. I notice a few stares being directed my way as well, but I simply shrug them off. I don't mind attention, as I usually just ignore it unless I'm addressed. Not to sound mean or anything, but it's the truth. As we approach the main building, I can see Nooj standing outside, and I motion to Yuna, who pulls out the sphere, walking up to Nooj.
"We'd like to give you the sphere that you were looking for. Now that you have this, you can stop the fighting in Kilika," she says, handing the sphere to Nooj.
"How generous...and how sudden," Nooj replies, looking over the sphere for a moment. "Maybe you should start by introducing yourself, High Sum..."
"We're the Gullwings," Rikku cuts in, quickly stepping beside Yuna and silencing Nooj.
"I see. Sphere hunters," Nooj replies, looking us over for a moment. "In that case, I gratefully accept the sphere you have brought. On behalf of the Youth League, we thank you. Everyone, three cheers for the Gullwings!" As the people cheer, Yuna looks around a little, obviously embarrassed by all the attention. Turning back to the building, Nooj motions us inside, and I nod, stepping inside with the others behind me, Nooj shutting the door quickly.
"So, did you watch it?" he asks, and I nod.
"We did," I reply, keeping a level expression.
"Forget," he says simply, and I shake my head.
"We can't," I say, and Yuna nods. Nooj stays silent for a moment, before beginning to speak again.
"Some advice. That...thing...the colossus you saw is known as Vegnagun. It possesses overwhelming destructive power. It must not be touched! Yet those Yevon fools think they can control it. The Youth League will do whatever it takes to make sure they do not get a chance to try. Trust me, you don't want to get involved."
"Tell me...who was the man I saw in the sphere?" Yuna asks, and I give a small sideways glance at her as Nooj shakes his head.
"I cannot say."
"I see," Yuna replies, as the door suddenly swings open, a slightly out-of-breath Buddy running in.
"Hey, we got a distress signal from the Celsius! Gullwings, we're leaving!" he says, and we all nod, running out of the room quickly and heading back to the Celsius.
"What happened?" I ask, as we re-enter the bridge. Shinra walks over, shaking his head.
"It's official. We've been burgled. The broken sphere from the Zanarkand Ruins is missing."
"Looks like the burglar left us a present," Buddy adds, holding up a sphere. Turning it on, Buddy sets it on a table as an image of Leblanc appears, standing in the bridge and looking quite smug.
"Who's on top now, Dullwings?" she taunts, smirking. "It'll be a thousand years before you can take on the mighty Leblanc!" Ormi and Logos start laughing in the background, as the sphere fades out.
"She got us," Paine states, folding her arms in annoyance.
"Oh, poopie!" Yuna exclaims, he face scrunching.
"Yuna! Don't talk like that!" Rikku says, and Yuna spins to her.
"I'm just copying you!" she retorts, and I resist the urge to chuckle at the two.
"That's nice. And?" Paine asks, flatly.
"We're gonna take it back! No one messes with us!" Yuna says, defiantly.
"And what about Vegnagun?" Paine adds. Yuna thinks for a moment, before sighing.
"We're forgetting who we are! We're sphere hunters! The Gullwings!" she replies, Brother pumping a fist into the air.
"That's right! We steal back what is stolen. It is the law of the sphere hunter! Now we go to Chateau Leblanc! We attack in the name of honor!"
"...Get our hineys kicked in the name of honor," Shinra says, coughing lightly. I'm about ninety percent sure that I could go in, take on all of them myself and come out perfectly fine, but as much as that idea sounds nice to me, I'm not too willing to try.
"Maybe we could sneak in in disguise?" Yuna suggests, and Brother turns to her, eyes wide.
"That's it! Yuna, you are brilliant!" he exclaims, and Rikku looks at everyone.
"So, we have to fly around till we find Leblanc's gang..."
"Beat them up and steal their uniforms. Four of them," Paine finishes.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Why don't we start right here? We did see Logos and Ormi, after all. Who's to say they aren't still here?" I ask, and Yuna nods.
"Alright, let's go, Gullwings!" Yuna says, and we all run towards the exit again. As we run back out onto Mushroom Rock Road, a transmission suddenly comes in from Buddy.
"Buddy here. We're picking up some weak sphere waves near you," he says, and Rikku looks around, seeing nothing.
"Hm, I don't see anything."
"It's probably in the ravine. Do you see a way down?" he asks.
"We'll find our way down," I reply.
"Be careful!" Brother adds, before the comlink cuts out.
"Well, looks like we're going back to the ravine first," I say, beginning to head back down the left path, everyone following me. After a minute, we come back to the place where we descended into the ravine. Everyone starts down, but suddenly, the rock crumbles out from under Rikku. She starts to fall, giving a short cry, but I reach out and grab her hand, bracing myself with my other feet as Paine grabs my other arm. Rikku's feet find places on the rock once again, and I let her go.
"Thanks," she says, and I nod.
"No problem. Let's just get down there."
The rest of the way back into the ravine is uneventful, and we soon find ourselves back at the Den of Woe. As we step inside, we find Nooj, staring at the door with a sphere in hand.
"Hmph," he mutters, seemingly annoyed by something.
"Is something the matter?" Yuna asks. Turning to us, Nooj's face goes from annoyance, back to a normal expression.
"Oh. It's you. As you can see, this place has been sealed. But just this one isn't enough," he says, holding up a crimson colored sphere in his left hand.
"That's the end of that, then," Yuna says, sighing.
"No, it's not, Yunie," Rikku says, looking at her friend.
"Oh! I know! Why don't you let the Gullwings take on this mission?" Yuna asks Nooj, who seems to think it over for a moment.
"You'll find the other spheres?" he asks, and Yuna nods.
"On my honor as a sphere hunter!" she says, as her lips twist into a small smile. "Of course, we won't do it for free..." Shaking his head, Nooj smiles.
"Very well, I leave it in your hands. Here, hold on to this sphere," he says, beginning to walk towards Rikku.
"Thanks!" she says, holding out her hand to grab the sphere, but Nooj turns, stepping in front of Paine instead.
"Perhaps this is fate?" he asks, Paine shaking her head in response.
"I don't think so," she says, as he hands her the sphere, walking out of the Den a moment later.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rikku exclaims after a moment. "You know him?"
"Rikku..." I say, starting to stop her, but Paine interrupts, turning to Rikku.
"Why should you care?" she asks, coldly.
"Come on, there was something between you two, right?" she asks, pushing the matter.
"Rikku," Paine says, obviously frustrated, "I'll say this once, okay? I consider you friends, and I trust you. I even respect you. All right? I would think that would be enough."
"Well, yeah, but...don't you ever want to know more about your friends?" she asks, unwilling to let the subject drop.
"Not really," she says, bluntly.
"Well, I do," Rikku says, walking up and taking Paine's hand. "I do wanna know more about you."
"What for? Who cares what happened in the past?"
"There was something!" Yuna says suddenly, stepping over to Paine. "Come on, Paine! You can tell us! What happened?"
'Boy, Paine's not happy now...' I think, shaking my head. 'Too bad for her, I guess. There's really little I can do to stop it...'
"You disappoint me, Yuna. I thought you were above all that," she says, now trying to get Yuna to leave her alone.
"Well, not anymore. I like asking questions," Yuna replies quickly.
"You'll lose friends."
"You think so?" Yuna asks, a little nervous. Paine just nods. "Never mind, then."
"Aww!" Rikku whines. "And I was looking forward to hearing the good stuff! Confessions of a shady past!"
"You're a pain," Paine says, frowning at Rikku. "Minus four respect points, Rikku."
"Uh-oh, how many points left?" Rikku asks, looking nervous.
"Forty-seven."
"That's not a whole lot, is it?" Rikku asks. At this point, I'm practically shaking, trying to contain my laughter. It's just too bad for Rikku; she doesn't know that the points don't matter.
"Why don't you figure out how to get in here instead of inside my head?" Paine asks, walking over to the sealed door.
"Maybe we need spheres like that one to open it?" Yuna asks, pointing to the sphere that Paine is still holding.
"It might open if we find them all," Paine says, nodding.
"I kinda still wanna know what happened," Rikku says, and I finally crack up, laughing at Rikku's unwillingness to drop a subject.
"That's forty-six," Paine says, sighing and walking out of the Den of Woe, as we all follow a moment later.
Next chapter...the official start of the Infiltration mission! This...will be amusing, to say the least. As always, please review!