More exposition in this chapter, so I'll get right to it. On to the replies!
Auron's Fan: Tickle me, and I will slaughter you in ways that no one can possibly imagine. (grins)
JV: It'll get even more original later...just you wait.
XxCougarxX: Yeah...that annoyed me. But, oh well. I can hit him again later.
desert-tiger: Everyone seemed to like me punching him.
Iron Reaver: Ah, quit your evil laughter.
asuka-kazama-mishima: Gunner's Gauntlet...is hard, but fun to do. You can beat it, but it takes patience.
MoombaRave: As did everyone.
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Goooood...
SS5Matt: Alright, I'll take a look. And thanks for the compliments.
Fallenone: Yeah, you'll see my special dressphere pretty soon, actually. And no...I don't think so, at least.
MysticSuperSaiyanGohan: It's fine, understandable. And yes...actually, you will see Overdrives later. I never understood how people would just lose the ability to do that after all of 2 years.
Alright, now that that is out of the way, on to the chapter!
Chapter 11—Premonition
"I can't stand him..." I mutter, standing in the hallway between all of our rooms. Rikku just sighs, looking over at me from the door of her room.
"It's been a while since I've seen you that angry. Of course, I really can't blame you," she replies, and I nod.
"He insulted me, as well as Yuna. And, in a way, everyone else that was with us on Yuna's pilgrimage. I wasn't about to let him get away with that."
"I can tell," Paine says, walking up to the two of us.
"Here to talk about my actions too?" I ask, leaning against my doorframe. Paine just shrugs.
"Where are we going now?" Rikku asks Paine.
"I think Yuna said Luca," she replies, and I quirk an eyebrow.
"Why Luca?" I say, looking over at Paine.
"Beats me. Maybe she just wants to go check it out. We haven't been there since we beat up on Leblanc there, after all," Paine replies, walking inside her room and shutting the door behind her.
"I would ask what you three have in common, but I'm not sure I'd like to know the answer," I say, chuckling a little. "She is the complete opposite of you and Yuna."
"Hey, someone has to keep us in check, you know!" Rikku says, smiling.
"I know. All too well," I reply, giving Rikku a quick kiss before heading towards the elevator.
"Where are you going?" she asks, and I turn my head, continuing to walk.
"Training."
"You and your training..." she says, shaking her head. That causes me to stop, and smirk.
"What? You can never be too prepared..." I say, chuckling.
"Yeah, yeah...get going, then."
"Oh, now you sound like you want me gone," I retort, putting on an expression of mock hurt. I could have some fun with this. The look on Rikku's face as I say that is indescribable.
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that, you know!" she replies, starting to walk towards me.
"I know, I know. I'm just messin' with ya. Catch you later," I say, grinning and walking towards the elevator.
Arriving in the cargo bay, I quickly spherechange into Warrior, pulling out my sword, and beginning to go through a simple series of slashes. Nothing fancy, just some moves to get loosened up.
"The dresspheres are more complex here than I ever imagined...every time I use one, it's like I immediately know how to do everything relating to that..." I mutter, bringing the sword down in an overhead cleave. "I couldn't shoot straight if I tried, for the most part, yet when I use the Gunner dressphere, I have perfect aim. There's more to it than I thought...one day, I'll have to see how much I can figure out."
Spinning and slashing high, I duck to avoid the imaginary counter-attack, before launching a sweep on my invisible assailant.
"That Beclem...such a jerk...wish Paine hadn't decided to stop me. I would've enjoyed bashing his face in."
"The anger...it's nice, isn't it?"
Freezing, I look around, to try and spot the source of the voice that I just heard.
"I must be hearing things...there's no one here but me," I say to myself, dropping into a defensive position out of instinct.
"You should embrace the rage...use it to feed your power, as I do."
"...Now I know I'm hearing things," I mutter, before suddenly realizing something. The voice isn't from around me...it's from inside my mind. It sounds oddly familiar, too, but I just can't place it.
"You're too foolish to realize the true power you hold. All the anger you have...and yet, you're afraid to wield it as your own strength."
My mind does loops, trying to place the sound of the voice I'm hearing, before it suddenly snaps into place. My eyes narrow, as I utter one word silently.
"Shuyin."
"Who else?" he says, sarcastically.
"I should've known it was you. But, how are you even talking to me? You're supposed to be..."
"Dead? You're more dense than I thought. Look down."
As I do, my eyes fall upon the sword in my hand. Shuyin's sword. Mentally, I smack myself for not catching the blatantly obvious.
"Stupid question, I guess."
"Very stupid."
"You didn't have to agree," I say, my eye almost twitching now. I had thought he was infuriating, but in person...somewhat, he's more irritating than I imagined. "So, what in the world could you possibly want with me? If I'm so stupid, that is," I ask him, sighing.
"It would be too easy if I told you, now wouldn't it?" he replies, and I growl.
"Out with it, already, you jerk." I can hear Shuyin's laughter in my mind, and that just serves to annoy me farther.
"Like I said, that would be far too easy. I'd prefer to let you...stew in it a while, as the saying goes." If I could see Shuyin's face right now, I'd be willing to bet all the Gil I have right now that he's smirking. A minute of silence from the both of us follows Shuyin's words, before I finally speak up again.
"When I finally find you, I'm gonna enjoy kicking your tail, you know."
"You can try."
As I somewhat feel Shuyin's voice leave me, I relax a little, sheathing my sword and shifting to Gunner. The experience was more than a little disturbing.
"Now I remember just how much I hate that guy..." I say, walking over and punching a crate, now in somewhat of a bad mood. Sighing and trying to calm down, I walk out of the cargo bay, my training session completely disrupted now.
"Hey, we're almost to Luca!" Rikku says, apparently headed to the bridge, as I step out of the elevator and walk towards my room.
"I'll be right with you guys...er, girls," I say, before Rikku stops me.
"What's wrong? Something's up, I can tell. Spill it."
"It's nothing, Rikku. I'll meet you up on the bridge," I say, walking away and into my room before she can say anything else.
"Voices in my head...what's the world coming to..." I mutter, walking over and sitting down on the bed for a moment. "Then again, it's Spira. Enough said." A moment later, I can feel the airship begin to land, and I stand up again, headed towards the exit of the Celsius.
Almost immediately after we step out of the Celsius, a few people run towards us.
"Lady Yuna, your concert was incredible!" one man says.
"Would you sign this, please?" a younger boy asks, handing Yuna a picture of some sort and a pen. Yuna, looking a little nervous from all the attention, simply smiles and signs the picture, handing it back to the boy. Talking amongst themselves for a moment, the people smile back at Yuna, before running off.
"Someone's popular," I say, looking at Yuna with a slight grin. Yuna just sighs, looking at the people walking away.
"I couldn't bring myself to tell them it was just an imposter..." she says, looking over at me. "The whole mess started with the Garment Grid..."
"So, this little thing was the cause of all that trouble?" I ask, pointing at my Garment Grid bracelet. Yuna nods in response.
"Leblanc stole it from us, along with the Songstress dressphere. She used it to pose as me. The plan was to sneak into the imposter's concert and recover the Garment Grid. If I went in, our cover would be blown, so it was up to Rikku and Paine. Which left me with nothing to do but lay low and wait. And that's how I got stuck with the Gullwing's prized...garment."
"Garment?" I ask, inwardly laughing.
"A moogle suit. I had to wear it while I was here, so no one would recognize me. I complained, but Brothers' orders are still orders."
"You really missed a lot, Yunie!" Rikku exclaims, as we walk towards the square. "The place was packed with people dancing!"
"Think Leblanc was enjoying herself?" Yuna asks.
"Until she got hurt," Paine says, smirking a little.
"Yeah, it was pretty funny to watch Paine just...effortlessly take her out," I add, chuckling.
"I hadn't heard from Rikku or Paine, so I didn't know what to do...I just ran to the docks and hid, really. Or, really, tried to hide..." she says, shrugging a little. "Rikku sure was having fun."
"She did seem to be having a bit too much fun with that," I say, Rikku giving me a playful shove.
"It was fun! I was just about to finish 'em off, but then you showed up and stole all the fun," she says, pointing at Yuna, who just giggles.
"I guess I was so glad to get out of that thing that I went a little nuts," Yuna replies.
"That explains the dancing," Paine says, smiling a little. As we come down the stairs leading to the square, I suddenly stop, intrigued and amused by the sight that I see.
"Hey, look..." I say, pointing towards the square. Following my gaze, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine look towards the square, where two sphere cameras are set up. And who is holding a microphone but Shelinda, standing there like a television reporter. As we approach, the cameras start to roll, and Shelinda starts to speak.
"Hello, and good afternoon, Luca! This is Shelinda, bringing you all the latest news from throughout Spira. These days, everyone's talking about the groups battling throughout Spira for control of the spheres. Let's start with the Youth League. From its leader Meyvn Nooj on down, their ranks are made up mostly of former Crusaders. Fresh off the attack on Kilika Temple, the Youth League is sending shockwaves throughout Spira. Pairing off against them is none other than New Yevon. All eyes were on them after the New Yevon chairman's sudden resignation. Chaos seemed inevitable. But their newly appointed leader, Praetor Baralai, has held them together with utmost finesse. Another group turning a lot of heads is the Machine Faction, an Al Bhed organization. They've managed to distance themselves from the sphere struggle embroiling Spira. But their unmatched technological prowess could well be enough to dramatically shift the balance of power. And let's not forget the Leblanc Syndicate, the gang with a style all its own. Headquartered at Chateau Leblanc in Guadosalam, its agents span the globe. But lately, there's one group in particular that's been drawing all kinds of attention. That's right, the only group led by a high summoner, the Gullwings! And now, here's today's special guest! High Summoner Yuna!" As Shelinda finishes, she turns to Yuna, who looks quite a bit startled.
"Huh?" she says, out of surprise, as Paine pushes her forward.
"Break a leg," Paine tells her, and I have to keep myself from laughing as the cameras turn back on, now with Yuna standing next to Shelinda.
"Lady Yuna, your concert the other day was nothing short of spectacular!" Shelinda says, Yuna giving somewhat of a nod in response.
"Well, it was sort of me up there, but not exactly..." Yuna says, a bit nervously.
"Puzzling words, to be sure. And speaking of puzzling, why the sudden career change to sphere hunting? It sounds like you caused quite a stir with that disappearing act you pulled on Besaid."
"And I'm very sorry about that," she replies, nodding.
"Rumor has it you left the island looking for clues about a certain young man. Anything you can share with us?" Shelinda asks.
"That's right," Yuna says.
"So, tell us about him," Shelinda continues.
"It's a long story."
"I'm sure it is! One can only imagine the fascinating tales that led to you becoming the leader of the Gullwings." As Shelinda finishes speaking, three figures step near the camera. I resist the urge to groan as I see Brother, Buddy, and Shinra standing beside the camera.
"Hold it right there! I'm the leader. Me! Gullwings! We rock you!" Brother says, getting in front of the camera.
"Whoa! This thing on?" Buddy says, peering in from the right side of the camera as Brother moves, to be replaced by Shinra.
"It's taping two morons right now," Shinra says, looking the camera over. "This is just a toy compared to the things I've invented."
"Tell us, is it true that the Gullwings have thrown their support behind the Youth League?" Shelinda asks Brother, who backs away from the camera to stand on Shelinda's left, Buddy and Shinra joining him.
"That statement is...kind of true. But not really! No!" Brother says, Buddy cutting in a moment later.
"Uh, we don't wanna get caught up in other people's problems."
"So many questions left to ask, but I'm afraid we're out of time," Shelinda says, turning back to the camera. "Our thanks to today's guests, High Summoner Yuna and the Gullwings!" As the camera shuts off, I can see Yuna breathe a sigh of relief.
"Not bad," Paine says, as we all walk over to Yuna.
"You should have joined in, too," she replies, and Paine shrugs.
"It was more fun watching."
"Lady Yuna, great interview," Shelinda says, cutting in and turning to Yuna. "Thank you so much for helping me out. This isn't much, but consider it a token of my gratitude." Reaching into a pocket, Shelinda pulls out a Garment Grid, handing it to Yuna. Nodding, Yuna takes it, as Rikku looks over at Shelinda.
"So, how long you been doing this?" she asks.
"Well, after the Calm came, the temples were in decline," Shelinda explains. "At first, I thought the best thing I could do would be to help the temples get back on their feet. But everyone just ordered me around. I got tired of it."
"You couldn't just tell them 'no'?" Yuna asks.
"That's the part of me I wanted to change!" Shelinda says. "I made up my mind to leave the temple and come here to Luca. They needed people for this, and they asked me to help...so, here I am."
"Another job you were 'asked' to do?" Paine says, folding her arms.
"I suppose nothing about me has really changed at all," she replies."
"You aren't bad at it. You're pretty good at being a reporter," I say, hoping to cheer her up a little. Shelinda gives a short nod, before suddenly seeming to snap back into reality.
"I gotta run! My next assignment is about to start. See you later, Lady Yuna!" she says, before walking off quickly.
"She complains, but you can tell she enjoys it," Paine says, looking over at us.
"Sounds a bit like Yunie, don't you think?" Rikku says, teasing Yuna.
"Really?" Yuna asks, causing me to chuckle.
"Dr. P, care to give us your opinion?" Rikku says, speaking in an official sounding tone as we walk over near a table and chairs, sitting down.
"The hardest person to know is yourself," Paine says, looking over at Yuna.
"Hey, cut that out!" Yuna retorts, causing Rikku to giggle.
"Hey, while we're here, should we get some food?" I ask. "I'm kinda hungry..."
"You had to say something, didn't you..." Rikku says, looking over at me.
"Well, I am!" I reply, looking around. Spying a food stand of a sort over near the other side of the square, I stand up, starting to walk over to it. "What do you three want?" I ask, turning back to them.
"Burgers?" Yuna asks, and the other two shrug. "Burgers it is," Yuna says, turning back to me.
"Alright, back in a minute," I tell her, walking over to the stand and ordering. Paying the man, I stand around for a minute, before he hands me my order. Taking it, I walk back over to the table, setting the burgers down. As everyone begins to eat, I turn to Yuna.
"So, where should we go next?" I ask, Yuna swallowing the piece of burger she was eating before speaking.
"We haven't been to Bikanel Desert yet...and I bet Rikku would like to go back."
"Good idea...and if you think about it, it's a desert. Maybe Leblanc's gang will be out there digging for spheres...and you know what that means," I reply, grinning.
"Another uniform," Paine states, and I nod.
"Yeah. That'll leave us with 2 to grab, one if we're lucky, none if we're really lucky. Of course, my luck's not very good, so..." I trail off, chuckling. Yuna giggles a little, and Paine smiles, Rikku shaking her head.
"Maybe we should leave you on the Celsius?" she suggests, grinning.
"Now that's just cruel. You know I like action."
"That's the point!" she exclaims, and I laugh, causing her to start laughing as well.
"So, where did Brother, Buddy, and Shinra get off to, anyway?" I ask.
"I think they went back to the Celsius," Yuna says, finishing the last of her burger.
"Should we go ahead and leave, then?" I ask her, Yuna shrugging in reply.
"I don't see why not," she says, standing up. All of us stand up at that, and begin to walk back to the Celsius.
So, what's the deal with Shuyin? And what will the group find in Bikanel Desert? As always, please review!