Well, college is certainly proving to be a dampening on my inspiration, what with book reports, confusing work, and tests practically every week. Still, I shall persevere. On to the replies!
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Yeah toast! And the shadow better not eat my face...I don't taste very good. (hides)
XxCougarxX: Well, that's why he's so much fun to write, of course. Just because he's such a jerk.
Shadowkiller27: I'm not going to say that, as I know there are plenty that beat me out by a mile.
KamiKaze no Kage: Hee...
Astral Slayer Asuka: Bah. To quote Auron, "You will hurt no one!" (grin)
Now, on to the island of Besaid!
Chapter 21—On Silver Wings
"Okay, okay, I give! Just lemme go!" Rikku cries. Her situation? Currently writhing in laughter on the floor as I tickle her severely. Yuna is sitting on the side of the stair railing, giggling madly at the sight in front of her, and Brother, Buddy, Shinra, and Paine are just shaking their heads. Grinning, I let my girlfriend up off the floor, and she desperately tries to compose herself.
"Are you two done?" Paine asks flatly, and I nod.
"Quite."
"...I thought you might not fit in here. Looks like you fit in just fine," Shinra comments, staring at me. Shrugging, I walk over and sit down in another of the chairs, before looking over at the young Al Bhed.
"Eh, I've always felt pretty comfortable around Yuna and Rikku. They're kinda like the sisters I never had," I reply, turning my attention to the front window of the bridge. Stretching, I lean back in the chair far enough to the point where I'm looking upside-down at Yuna, who's behind me. "Where to now?"
"Um...let's go back to Besaid," she replies, a tinge of worry in her voice. Snapping my head back to normal perspective, I spin around in the chair to face her.
"No problems here."
"Let's go, then!" Rikku chirps happily, waving a hand in the air.
Staring into the village of Besaid, I can't help but notice that it seems quiet. If fiends are coming out of the temples, we either aren't close enough to see yet, or this is an exception. Quickly, I follow Yuna and the others, Shinra and Buddy also stepping out of the Celsius and heading for the village. As we step into the village, I can see Lulu walking into her hut. Yuna follows the black mage inside, as well as Rikku and Paine, myself following after a moment.
"Guess who's back?" I say, chuckling some as I enter. Rikku just rolls her eyes as me as Lulu speaks up.
"I knew you couldn't stay away for too long," Lulu replies, a small smile on her face.
"Was that seriousness, or a joke?" I kid, a tiny bit surprised at the normally-serious Lulu kidding around.
"A little of both, I think," Yuna chimes in, and I shake my head.
"You've heard about the fiends?" Paine asks, and Lulu nods.
"It's...worrisome. For all the temples to suddenly begin spawning fiends...something greater is at work," she says, her dress of belts jingling slightly as she stands up.
"I take it Besaid's no exception, then?" I ask, to which she nods.
"Wakka and the others have been keeping the fiends contained inside the temple. Luckily, no one has been hurt."
"Guess Your Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings won't be needed," Buddy cuts in, causing me to jerk slightly at his sudden intrusion.
"Any fiends they missed may still be wandering around," Lulu says, looking at Buddy with her one uncovered eye. "Wakka and the rest split up to track them down. Give them a hand."
"The Gullwings are on the job," Buddy replies. "We'll even give you our special bargain price."
"That's nice," Lulu tells him, smiling slightly. Yuna just smiles sheepishly, looking over at her friend.
"Sorry, Lulu!"
"That's okay, it's all right," Lulu says, turning to face Yuna. "Now go. Take a look around. People in the village will feel better knowing you're here, Yuna." Nodding, Yuna steps outside, the rest of us quickly following. Outside, I can see Shinra setting up one of his new inventions, the CommSphere. Yuna and the others walk over to talk to him, but I head for the temple. If my suspicions are correct, then I know what else I'll find here besides fiends. Or really, I should say 'who' else. Before I can walk inside, however, the doors open to reveal Wakka and Beclem, who walk out. Clearly, they're arguing about something.
"What's there to decide, Wakka?" Beclem says, looking over at Wakka and folding his arms. "We can finish off the fiends right here and now."
"Burning down the temple is going too far!" Wakka protests, waving his hand through the air. Beclem just snorts.
"You have another suggestion?"
Yuna, Rikku, and Paine have walked over now, and are standing beside me, all four of us watching the two men argue.
"We have to do something," Beclem continues, his voice lowering some. "What if the fiends keep coming? Or maybe you don't mind putting your family in danger?"
"Hey!" Wakka shouts, glaring at Beclem. "All we gotta do is stop the fiends, ya?" Turning, Wakka runs back into the temple, Beclem sighing and following him back inside. Yuna and the others all look at me, and the four of us glance between each other before running into the temple after the duo. When we enter, the only one that we see is Beclem. Wakka is nowhere to be found. As if knowing what we're going to ask, Beclem steps over to us and begins to speak.
"Wakka's inside, fighting fiends," he explains, pointing to the Cloister of Trials. Seemingly exasperated, he lets out a sigh before continuing. "It would be so simple to burn this place down and take the fiends with it. Praying to them never did anyone any good. You're the ones who defeated Sin," he says, looking at myself and Yuna. "You should know."
"It would be simple," I reply, looking down at the ground. "But you know...we just can't do it. We've got memories here. Yuna earned her first aeon as a summoner here. I first met Yuna here. Yuna's lived here most of her life...and to burn this place down would mean burning a part of her memories." Beclem just stares at me, before shaking his head as I begin to walk up the steps to the Cloister of Trials.
"Going to help him? I won't wait much longer."
"You want to see it burn that badly?" Yuna asks, looking at Beclem.
"It's for the safety of the village," he replies, and now it's my turn to snort.
"For the safety of the village...or your own hatred?" I ask, stepping inside without waiting for a response.
Inside the Cloister of Trials, the place looks much worse than the first time I was here. Chunks of stone are missing from the walls, apparently from the fights against the fiends. Patches of ice and scorch marks from spells can also be seen, and I look around for Wakka. Wakka is nowhere to be found, though, and so the four of us begin to walk deeper into the trials.
After fighting our way through a few lesser fiends like Coyotes, we finally come across the elevator that leads down to the Chamber of the Fayth. Wakka is sitting on the floor near the elevator, leaning against the wall and holding his stomach.
"Wakka!" Yuna exclaims, running over to him.
"You okay?" Rikku asks, following.
"Just a few scratches, eh?" he replies, visibly wincing. "Nothin' to worry about."
"There are too many," Paine states, looking at the trio. "Let's get out while we can. The man was right. We have to use fire."
"No, we don't," I retort, looking over at Paine. "We're not going to have to burn this place down."
"Whatever's controlling the fiends must be down there," Wakka says, pointing to the elevator platform. "Take that bad boy out."
"And we won't need fire," Yuna says, happily.
"Fair enough," Paine replies, shrugging and walking towards the elevator with Yuna, Rikku, and I.
"Wakka, stay here," Yuna instructs, and Wakka stands up quickly, wincing again.
"Why?" he replies, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Wouldn't want you to overdo it, Daddy," Rikku jokes, and Wakka rolls his eyes, jogging onto the platform with us.
As the elevator stops, I can clearly see a mass of pyreflies floating around the back of the chamber. Along with the pyreflies is a very familiar face.
"I knew I'd find you here, Darius," I state, stepping forward to meet the boy. Darius turns from his position near the chamber door to face me, grinning widely.
"Well, well. Look who's here. If it isn't the high summoner wannabe."
"What was that?" I say, eyes narrowing.
"You heard me. Wannabe."
"Don't you ever get sick of mocking people?" I say, rolling my eyes and trying to remain calm.
"Don't you ever get sick of being an idiot?" he replies, smirking. Growling, I draw my sword, but Darius stops me, holding up his hand.
"Nuh uh...I want to introduce you to my friend," he says, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out the Sphere of the Fayth. As he holds it, the sphere begins to glow, and the pyreflies swarm around each other, melding into a very familiar form.
"An aeon?" Wakka asks in amazement.
"No...something's not right..." Yuna mutters, stepping forward.
"Wakka, stay back! It's not safe!" Rikku warns, stepping in front of the former captain.
"Valefor," Darius instructs, a cruel smile now on his face, "Attack." Valefor roars, floating in front of Darius, as he vanishes into thin air once again.
(Play Star Ocean 3 theme Confidence in the Domination)
"Yuna, get back!" I cry, as Valefor flies over and slashes at her. Thankfully, Yuna ducks under the strike, raising her guns to bear on the aeon quickly. Bullets smash into the underside of the bird-like creature, and Valefor screeches in pain, slashing its wings through the air in a Sonic Wings attack. The wind sends us all to the floor, ripping into us like a sharp blade. Standing back up, I notice a small tear in my shirt and wince, thinking how easily that could've been my skin.
"Armor Break!" I yell, dashing in and slashing at Valefor. It floats out of the way of my attack, though, and stabs at me with a talon. The talon rakes me in the shoulder and causes me to back off, as Paine runs in.
"Power Break!" she roars, slamming into the aeon's chest with her sword. Valefor gives a short cry of surprise before slashing through the air with another Sonic Wings attack, sending Paine to the dirt. A white bullet slams into the side of its head from Yuna, and Rikku runs at me, signaling something. Quickly, I realize what she wants to do, and I brace myself. Holding my hands out, I watch as she leaps into the air, before pushing her feet up and propelling her farther into the air. Turning around, I watch Rikku slash Valefor twice before landing on the ground underneath the aeon. Valefor growls, before spinning around and ascending higher into the air as a glyph forms in front of it.
"Uh oh..."
That's about all I manage to say before energy beams begin to rain from the glyph, the Energy Blast attack launching us all off our feet, Yuna crashing hard into a wall of the chamber. Grimacing, I reach for a potion, only to realize that I don't have any left. Thankfully, Rikku spherechanges to White Mage, weakly standing up and casting Cura on herself, before beginning to cast it on Yuna and Paine. I also stand up as a Cura spell washes over me, gripping my sword tightly and spherechanging into my other equipped dressphere. As the light clears, I now find myself in a rather interesting outfit. It's a tuxedo of sorts, blue in color, with a top hat adorning my head. The red symbol for the heart suit is on the middle of the coat as well as the top of each shoulder, and a trio of cards materialize in my right hand as I hold it out to my side, completing my Lady Luck dressphere.
"Spiffy..." I mutter, taking a second to view my new appearance, before focusing. The cards vanish as a duo of dice appear in my hands, and I throw them at Valefor. The dice roll a combined 6, causing 6 small beams of energy to fly from the dice and into Valefor. Valefor grunts a little as the cards reappear in my hand, and I watch as another burst of shots from Yuna strike the side of Valefor's head. Apparently angry now, Valefor flies up into the air again before launching a ray of light from its mouth. The ground under us explodes, making all of us fall once again due to the Energy Ray attack. Glancing over, I see Rikku get back up and begin to spherechange, her tiny form being replaced by the Machina Maw dressphere. Smiling, an idea begins to form in my head as I spherechange to Blade Knight.
"Rikku!" I yell, grabbing her attention. As she turns to me, I run and leap into the air, landing on top of her 'pet', before backflipping off and towards Valefor. Twisting in the air, I slash down, cutting a line down the front of Valefor's face before the aeon smashes me back into the wall.
"...I will never underestimate another one of these aeons...ever...again..." I mutter, shaking my head. I can see Paine striking at Valefor, the aeon staying just out of range so as to make Paine's attacks do little damage. Rikku fires her Howitzers at Valefor, the aeon screeching in pain and slashing down at Rikku, who jumps back at the last second. Slowly standing up again, I lean on one of my swords for support, before watching Valefor with a wary eye.
"Melee isn't much good...Valefor just flies up and out of the way. Yuna isn't doing much damage...Rikku seems to be the only one doing any damage right now. There has to be something I can do," I mutter, scanning my mental list of skills. Suddenly, the answer seems to hit me squarely between the eyes, in a manner of speaking. A small smile on my face, I slowly walk towards Valefor, Rikku still spraying the powerful creature with bullets from her Howitzers.
"Let's hope this evens things out," I say, sheathing one of my swords and focusing my energy. Valefor uses another Sonic Wings attack, hitting all four of us and pushing us back, before Rikku fires a missile directly into the aeon's face, stunning it. Seizing the opportunity, I utter two words, looking up at Valefor.
"Angel Wing."
White light surrounds me for a brief moment as a pair of white wings extend from my back, causing me to begin to hover over the ground slightly. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine stare at me for a moment, and even Valefor seems to take notice, as I feel my magical power dramatically increase. Not wasting any time, I propel myself into the air and aim a palm at Valefor.
"Fira!" The spell rockets towards the aeon, exploding in its face, as Rikku fires another pair of missiles at Valefor. Yuna chains the two attacks with another Trigger Happy attack, Valefor sinking lower to the ground as Paine charges in.
"Bye," she says simply, slashing the aeon across the head. Valefor gives a cry and thrashes around for a moment, before slumping to the ground and exploding into pyreflies. Sighing, I let myself float back down to the floor, thoroughly exhausted and intrigued at the same time. Dismissing my special dressphere, I collapse to the ground from the excessive use of energy.
(End Star Ocean 3 theme Confidence in the Domination)
"That was...I can't even describe that..." I mumble, blinking to re-focus my eyes. Rikku walks over and grabs my hand, helping me to my feet as I glance at the disappearing pyreflies.
"What...was that?" Rikku asks, and I stare dumbly at her for a moment before the question finally registers.
"...Another one of my skills. Apparently one that uses a whole bunch of energy, too..." I reply. Paine steps over to us, grabbing a potion of some sort from her belt and handing it to me.
"Here," she says, and I take the Ether and drink it, feeling a little of my energy begin to come back to me.
"Thanks," I say, and she nods, moving to join Yuna in examining yet another of the mysterious holes.
"Where do you think it goes?" she asks Paine, who shrugs.
"You want to go and find out, be my guest," Paine retorts. Yuna stands up from the hole, beginning to walk back to the elevator platform, as Paine follows. Rikku cautiously watches me as we walk back to the platform, Wakka also stepping on.
"I have to protect this place..." Yuna mutters, as the elevator begins to take us back up to the Cloister of Trials.
"The job's done," Paine says to Beclem, as we all step out of the Cloister of Trials and back into the main room of the temple.
"I see," he replies, turning to Wakka. "Glad to see you're not hurt. Or...are you?" he continues, looking Wakka over with a critical eye. "Aren't you going to be a father soon? What if something had happened to you? What then?" Without waiting for an answer, Beclem walks out the door of the temple, leaving Rikku hissing at him from behind.
"Quiet, meanie!"
"It's okay," Wakka says, hanging his head slightly. "What can I say. He's got a point."
"Wakka..." Yuna begins, but the former captain stops her before she can say anything.
"If we die trying to save one memory, we risk losing them all," he says, looking around at us.
"But, what if it's a really important memory?" Rikku counters.
"'Memories are nice, but that's all they are.' It's an Al Bhed saying, ya?" Wakka replies, saying the same words that Rikku said to us at the Farplane two years ago.
"Well, yeah, but..." Rikku weakly protests, before giving up altogether.
"Wakka...there's nothing wrong with trying to hang on to memories. Just be careful. Lulu would go to the Farplane and kill you again if you were to die on her now, you know," I tell him, laughing. Smiling, Wakka steps out the door of the temple, the four of us following him back to his hut.
"Yuna, you all right?" Brother asks over the CommSphere as we walk past.
"Yeah, just fine," she replies, staring down at the tiny machina.
"I'll be waiting!" he says, before the CommSphere turns itself off. Paine just shakes her head.
"Talk about a one-track mind," she mutters. Sighing, Paine and Rikku begin to head back to the ship, as Wakka turns back to Yuna and I.
"Memories and just...memories, ya?" he continues, looking back at the temple. "Fiends ever come out of the temple again, I may really have to burn it."
"I guess so," Yuna replies, seeing the saddened look on Wakka's face. "But call me before you do. We'll save fire for our last resort."
"You got it," Wakka says, nodding. As Yuna turns away and begins to walk back to the Celsius, I stop for a moment and look back at Wakka.
"Take care of yourself, and Lulu. I don't want anything to happen to you guys."
"You be careful, too. Wouldn't want anything to happen to any of you, you know?" he replies.
"Yeah. I will," I state simply, turning and following the three girls back to the ship.
I'll go ahead and clarify a thing or two about Angel Wing, just in case anyone wonders. Some of you might know it from FF8, but there's some slight changes to it. One, it's controllable, and two, the power of Ben's would be nowhere near the power of Rinoa's, for example. It depends on the innate magical ability of the user. If this were a game, I envision the skill to work something like this: Drain a percentage of the user's HP and MP, but double the magic stat and user gains Float. He'll become more proficient with it as he uses it, as well. Anyhow, so it's been proven that Darius can control the aeons...but what's he really planning in doing so? Just keep reading to find out! As always, please review!