Well...only a short while to go until the concert! So, I'll get right to it!
Iron Reaver: (sarcastically) Sorry boss. (rolls eyes)
Dairokkan: Indeed. He's quite...antagonistic.
XxCougarxX: At this point...I'd say they're about equal. Though, at the moment, Darius is the more immediate threat. And yeah, I was thinking about diving into the hole. But not like I'd want to end up down there...
Sam: Just read on.
Daniel Wesley Rydell: I do believe you're right. And Ifrit isn't eating my face. He's eating Shinra's. (smile)
KamiKaze no Kage: Well, I'm following the basis of the game, really, but there are a few more things added alongside the main points. As for Ixion not bursting into pyreflies, remember that it was said that the fiends merged with the machina. The explanation that I see is that it somehow made Ixion have that ability as a 'last resort', so to speak.
Duderman: Welcome to Eternal Requiem, Duderman! Glad to see you're enjoying my stories. Destiny's Call pretty much followed the storyline, but Eternal Requiem has a few more things moving alongside the main plot, as I said before. I do have plans to do a third story, and believe me, it'll be quite...unexpected. (smile) I'm trying to add in the romance, but most of this part is pure action and drama. There isn't much I can do at the moment, but I'm working with it.
SS5Matt: Thanks for the kind words.
Well, on with the interlude! Of a sort, that is.
Chapter 24—Holding On To Hope
"Yuna fryd!" Brother yells, causing me to rub my ears from the volume.
"She fell down the hole in Djose Temple," I say quickly, turning to Buddy. "Buddy, see if you can locate her."
"Roger," he replies, turning around to his console and beginning to work.
"Oh...where could she be?" Rikku whines, worried about her cousin. Silently, I turn away from Rikku, not wanting to make her feel any worse.
'Great. I should've seen this coming. I should've known that Ixion would try something like that! It's my fault that Yuna's there...'
"You're blaming yourself, aren't you?"
A quick glance around reveals Rikku staring straight at me, a solemn look on her face.
"...Stop reading my thoughts," I mutter, looking down. "But it is my fault. I should've known that Ixion would do something when it didn't vanish like the rest."
"It's not your fault! You want to know who's fault it is? Blame it on Darius. He's the one who started this whole mess!" Rikku says.
"Sorry to say this," Buddy interrupts, "but I'm getting nothing on my radar. It's like...she just vanished off the face of Spira."
"What if we tried throwing a CommSphere down into the hole?" Shinra suggests, holding one of them up to us.
"It's worth a try," Paine says, taking the CommSphere from Shinra. "I'll go do it."
"Be careful," I tell her, and she nods before walking out of the bridge.
"Guess all we can do now is wait," Buddy says.
"Unfortunately...you're right. That's all we really can do," I say quietly, sitting down.
A few minutes later, Paine comes walking back into the Celsius, the CommSphere she took from Shinra nowhere in sight.
"Try connecting to it," she tells Shinra, who nods, turning to his computer and beginning to type as all three of us walk over. After a moment, 'Failure to Connect' flashes on the screen, causing me to release the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Well, there goes that idea," I mutter, shaking my head. Before anyone else can say anything, though, a transmission begins to come through the speakers.
"Yuna, reporting in."
"Yuna!" we exclaim, running over to Buddy's position as he begins to try and track Yuna.
"Where are you?" Rikku asks, causing Yuna to pause for a moment.
"Bevelle," she answers.
"Dryd caddmac ed! Uh du Bevelle!" Brother exclaims, Buddy nodding and beginning to lift off the Celsius.
"We'll be there soon, Yuna. Just sit tight, okay?" I tell her.
"Okay." The transmission closes with that, as all of us sit down and wait patiently to arrive at Bevelle.
"We're coming up on Bevelle now!" Buddy exclaims, the Celsius lowering its altitude and preparing to land near the Highbridge. As the Celsius prepares to land, I can see Yuna's familiar figure running down the Highbridge towards the Celsius. Quickly, we all stand up and turn to the door of the bridge, as Yuna runs in a minute later.
"Fryd y nameav! E druikrd fa ryt mucd oui!" Brother says.
"We hadn't heard anything in so long!" Rikku says, running up and hugging Yuna quickly. "We tried tossing a CommSphere into the hole, but it didn't help one bit!"
"Hey, it's still in beta," Shinra replies, shrugging.
"So, what happened?" Paine asks, a little more than curious.
"Well...I'm not completely sure myself," she states, looking around the bridge at all of us. "I found myself in the Farplane, in my Songstress dressphere. I didn't know what to do...but then I saw someone."
"Who?" Rikku asks.
"Shuyin. He talked to me, calling me 'Lenne', talking about how Spira really hasn't changed, even though a thousand years have gone by. He's going to use Vegnagun to destroy Spira...to make everything go away. Just when I thought everything was over, I saw Nooj and Gippal. They told me everything was under control. The rest is kind of a blur...I just remember opening my eyes and finding myself in Bevelle, near Vegnagun's chamber," she finishes, awaiting our responses.
"Lenne, huh?" Buddy asks, seemingly thinking out loud.
"Yeah, the girl from the Songstress dressphere," Shinra replies, answering Buddy's query.
"That's Lenne?" Yuna asks.
"Sure. She wore that dress one thousand years ago," Shinra says, nodding.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Rikku asks, spinning to Shinra.
"No one asked," he replies, shrugging. "Besides, all I knew was her name. What's to tell?" Rikku just sighs, turning back to all of us.
"Okay, okay. So the reason Shuyin keeps calling Yuna 'Lenne' is..."
"Because of that dressphere?" Paine finishes, looking over at Shinra.
"I can't really say for sure," Shinra answers, as Brother steps into the middle of all of us.
"Forget Lenne! Shuyin's the one who's wanting to vaporize Spira!" he exclaims.
'Not if I can help it,' I think to myself. Silently, Paine moves towards the door, stepping out and leaving the rest of us in the bridge.
"Yeah, but what can we do?" Buddy retorts. "Nooj and Gippal are already planning something. Let them deal with it for now." With that said, everyone begins to move back to their seat, with the exception of Yuna, who heads for the door.
"Yunie, Yunie!" Rikku says, stopping her before she can leave.
"Yeah?"
"You met Shuyin, right? Was he anything like you-know-who?" she asks. Yuna's eyes twinge with sadness for a moment before she answers.
"Not really. Just his face." Rikku just nods, letting Yuna step out of the bridge.
"I can't imagine how bad she must feel, knowing it wasn't him after all," I mutter, staring at the floor. "She does a good job of keeping her feelings under control." Sighing, I lean back in my chair as Rikku follows Yuna out, looking almost curious about something. Having nothing else to do, I close my eyes and begin to meditate, focusing on nothing in an attempt to ease my mind.
"You're not leaving us, are you?"
Rikku's voice snaps me out of my near-trance a few minutes later, as she steps into the bridge alongside Paine.
"I may not look it, but I am having a good time," she replies, smiling slightly.
"So, you reveal your true feelings at last. I knew there was a person behind that stony mask of yours!" I joke, chuckling. Paine just rolls her eyes.
"What about Yuna?" Buddy breaks in. "Think she'll quit?"
"Uv luinca hud!" Brother says.
"Yht fru ycgat oui, yenrayt?" Paine says, causing me to burst out laughing as I realize what she said. Just then, Yuna steps in the bridge, giving me a glance but saying nothing. Calming myself down, I watch as Shinra spins around in his chair, turning to face all of us.
"I hate to interrupt, but Spira's falling apart with its leaders missing. Check the CommSpheres and see," he says, and Yuna nods, moving over to his computer. Quickly, Shinra begins to type on his computer, and 'Connecting...' comes up on the screen for a brief moment before the screen shifts to that of Mushroom Rock Road. Nothing is seen for a moment, until the familiar face of Yaibal comes into view on the sphere screen.
"Lady Yuna!" he exclaims, bowing slightly out of respect and kneeling down to look into the screen.
"More fiends?" Yuna asks quickly, to which Yaibal shakes his head.
"Actually, we've received some unconfirmed reports of trouble brewing in Bevelle. It seems a unit of New Yevon's troops have been gearing up for a raid. With Nooj gone, they're hoping to strike quickly and catch us off guard," he explains. Yuna's look turns to concern, but Yaibal waves his hand dismissively. "But don't worry about us! We won't be so easily trapped! We're planning to launch a preemptive strike before they can attack. As soon as our preparations are complete, we move on Bevelle!"
"But you're not even sure they're planning an attack, are you?" Yuna asks, confused.
"In war, victory favors the bold!" Yaibal replies, standing up. "I must be off! Farewell!" With that, Yaibal runs off, the sphere screen turning off moments later.
"Well...this could definitely get messy. Bring up Bevelle," I say, Shinra nodding and connecting to the CommSphere in Bevelle. The main temple is shown in the background, and Maroda appears a moment later, kneeling down and looking into the sphere.
"What are you doing?" Yuna asks, wondering what Maroda would be doing walking around in the open at Bevelle.
"Well, for one, I'm running reconnaissance on New Yevon," he replies, glancing around. The Praetor's gone, fiends are running loose...New Yevon is upside down. Fortunately, security is lax, so even Youth League members like me can walk around in the open."
"You there! What are you doing?" Maroda's head snaps up, as the voice of a guard breaks the silence.
"Took them long enough. So long!" he says, standing up quickly and running off, two guards following the Youth League member as the sphere turns off.
"Looks like Nooj and Baralai still haven't come back," Buddy chimes in. "And now Gippal's vanished, too. Spira's three leading big shots have all gone AWOL. If I was one of their followers, I'd be pretty worried...and scared."
"Tension between the two groups is getting volatile. It won't be long before things get very ugly," Shinra says.
"And Vegnagun's on the loose. You can bet Shuyin's controlling that thing," Paine adds.
"I wonder if Gippal and the others are trying to destroy it..." Rikku muses.
"Probably," Paine replies.
"Ooh, nothing makes sense anymore!" Rikku fumes. "I mean, just what the heck are we supposed to do?"
"Keep our wits about us, for one," I say, looking over at Rikku. "Getting angry and frustrated isn't going to help any right now."
"Nooj spoke to me on the Farplane," Yuna says. "He told me to take care of things topside. As if it were the simplest thing to do, really. And everything was going so well..." Trailing off for a moment, Yuna's head drifts downward to stare at the floor, before she looks back at all of us. "I changed my mind. I want to do something. Nooj asked me to help, and that's what I'll do."
"Oac, drec ec dra Yuna dryd E ghuf," Brother remarks, nodding. "Alrighty! Let's smash that action figure! We'll risk our lives and protect Spira from Vegnagun!"
"No, I think...there has to be something we can do besides fighting," Yuna says, shaking her head.
"Like what?" Paine asks, folding her arms.
"With its leaders gone, Spira's falling apart. Maybe we can bring people back together," Yuna explains, looking around.
"Good idea," I say, nodding.
"Yeah! Yeah! Great idea there, Yunie!" Rikku exclaims happily. "So, like, what are we gonna do? Huh?"
No one says anything for a moment, each of us lost in our own thoughts as to what would be the best way to help the people of Spira.
"Sing campfire songs?" Paine asks, shrugging and sounding only half-serious.
"Ooh! That is it!" Brother exclaims, moving into the center of the bridge. "All of Spira will be the captive of Yuna's singing and dancing!" he says, waving his arms and moving as if he were dancing. Resisting the urge to both laugh and facepalm, I look around to see the reactions to Paine's suggestion.
"Great idea!" Rikku agrees, nodding.
"I can handle the techie stuff," Shinra adds.
"H-Hang on!" Yuna stammers, a bit overtaken by all the excitement about something she really hasn't agreed to do yet.
"I know! I know!" Rikku exclaims, jumping up and down happily. "I bet Tobli would help!"
"Good idea..." I say, nodding. "He'd jump at the chance to organize something like this."
"Where is he now?" Buddy asks.
"The Moonflow," Paine replies, glancing over at Buddy absently.
"Gullwings..."
"Move out!" Brother shouts. With that command from Brother, Buddy runs over and begins piloting the Celsius, the massive ship lifting off from the Highbridge and heading towards the silent Moonflow.
"Next stop, the Moonflow! Sorry kids, no time for side trips. You ready for a little Tobli hunt?" Buddy says, seemingly amused by the prospect.
"You bet!" Yuna says excitedly.
It isn't long before we arrive at the Moonflow. Quickly, Buddy begins to set the Celsius down, as Yuna and the rest of us begin to exit the Celsius. As we do, however, we find that instead of being at the passenger loading area, we're near the fork that leads to either the Moonflow or Djose Temple.
"Yikes, sorry!" Buddy says sheepishly over the comlink. "Must've dropped you off at the wrong place. As long as you're there, why not take a little stroll?"
"Eh, we could use the exercise," I reply, cutting the comlink. "Come on." With that, I begin to walk up the road towards the Moonflow, Yuna and the others behind me.
As we round a corner, we suddenly see two men talking, standing in the middle of the road. Before we can do anything, really, one of the men shouts over to us.
"Hey, you! You haven't see Tobli anywhere around here, have you?" the first says, as the second also turns to face us.
"We have word that he's somewhere nearby." Just as the second man says that, I can see a glimpse of a red outfit. Looking closer, I smile as I see the familiar figure of Tobli, standing behind the two men. The first man to speak follows my gaze, jumping noticeably at the sight of the short figure.
"Aha! There you are!" he yells angrily, as Tobli takes off running towards the Moonflow, the two men not far behind.
"Looks like trouble. Come on!" I cry, beginning to give chase to the men. Despite appearances, Tobli can run quite fast, easily outpacing the men and almost outpacing myself and the rest of us. I can see a glimpse of Tobli entering the passenger waiting area, and we quickly run past the two men, running into the area. Two other men are there, and one of them is advancing on Tobli, who is backed up against the platform. Quickly, the four of us advance on the duo of men, the other two running in behind us.
"Hold it right there!" Yuna yells, glaring at the men.
"You want Tobli? You'll have to go through us first!" I add, looking from the two men near Tobli to the two behind us.
"This ain't none of your business!" one of the men near Tobli yells, apparently the leader. The two men behind us begin to spread out some, obviously preparing for a fight.
"On the contrary," I retort, "you just made it our business. Now, are you going to leave peacefully, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"
"Get 'em!" the leader yells, the three men advancing on us quickly, as the leader goes for me. Dropping into a defensive stance, I quickly block the man's powerful punch, before jabbing a fist at his chest. He turns, taking it in the shoulder, before cracking me in the jaw with a left hook. Stepping back, I rub my jaw for a moment before growling.
"Big mistake," I mutter, cracking my knuckles and rushing the man. He throws another punch, a powerful right hook which I quickly block, before I slam my fist into his gut. He grunts, kicking up and catching me in the side before I stagger him with an uppercut. Seeing an opening, I run and kick for his chin, catching him in the face with the high kick and throwing him down. A cry of pain comes from my right, and I see Paine stepping back, one of the men clutching his now-bleeding nose. Yuna has her pistols aimed at the third, and Rikku has the fourth on the ground, wincing from a number of small slash wounds.
"Get out of here. Now," Paine says coldly, and the four men scramble to their feet, running off before we can inflict any more damage to them. With the four men now running scared, our attention turns to Tobli, who looks very happy to have been saved.
"Hi, hi, what can I do for you? What brings you here?"
"Well...we were hoping you could help us with something. A concert, really. Yunie had the idea to do something to bring the people of Spira back together, and we came up with the idea to have a concert. Well, really, it was Paine's idea, but..." Rikku explains, trailing off. Tobli seems to think for a moment, before his eyes light up with excitement.
"Spectacularly spectacular! 'Twill be a yummy Yunapalooza indeed! 'Twill go down in history! I most definitely, definitely want to arrange it! Can I, can I?"
"Yup-yup!" Rikku replies, raising a hand in the air.
"A minor detail," Tobli begins, turning to Yuna, "Where oh where should it be?"
"Well, the more people we can gather together, the better," she tells him, causing him to pause for a moment before smiling.
"Aha! Then how about the Thunder Plains? Yes! You could practically pack a plethora of people in that place."
"Sounds good to me," I comment.
"Now, how do we get people to come?" Paine asks. Even Paine seems to be getting into this a little.
"Simple, simple!" Tobli replies. "Leave it to me! My power PR team will push it pronto! Oh, boys!" Looking off to the side of the platform, Tobli gives a loud whistle, causing a group of Hypello to step over. One of them steps up to Yuna, looking up at the taller girl.
"Advertising ish our shpeshalty. We'll get you your shpectatators," the Hypello says.
"Are you sure about this?" Paine asks. Yuna's hand moves to her comlink, as she listens to a message from someone on the Celsius.
"Brother's orders," she says after a moment. "Bring every last Hypello back with us."
"Looks like there's going to be a whole lot more people on the Celsius..." I mutter, as the four of us begin to head back to the Celsius with Tobli and the Hypello trailing behind.
So, our group has managed to get Tobli to sponsor the concert! But, will everything go as planned...? Keep reading to find out, and as always, please read and review!