The Missing Persons

Silver didn't want to go. The match was a pretty good one... for the Guado and the Al Bhed, who weren't remembered as exactly the best Blitzball teams. In fact, the Aurochs were the current champions, to everyone's surprise. He rolled his ball again, suddenly remembering why it hurt Lucine. The black blitzball he got was five times heavier than a normal one. For him it meant nothing, but a human could end up hurt being pretty bad injured by it. His training tool.

"Is there a chance we might find a team who needs and extra player?" he asked Lucine, smiling as always. "I've been wanting to play for so long." That much was true, since he left his home at Kilika to visit his birthplace, Zanarkand, he had been wanting to have a good match. That's the reason he took his blitzball with him, though it wasn't the same to play by himself than with a team inside the Aqua-Sphere at Luca. "Oh yeah... but there's still the High Summoner Yuna's matter..." He looked at the girl that looked exactly like her and smiled. Could there be a connection between them?

…

Zephyr opened the side door (odd, since she wasn't a member of a team or the staff so probably didn't have a key) and held it open for Lucine, Silver and Serenity. "Come on," she called.

…

Serenity followed them without saying a word, but something the guy said triggered something in her mind, and she looked up at him, noticing he was looking at her and smiling. Serenity smiled back, anxious about asking him what he knew. "…Do you know anything about High Summoner Yuna's…matter?" It was odd to refer to her mother like that, and so vaguely as well, but she didn't want to attract any attention to her, though some would say her appearance was a dead giveaway.

The mysterious woman opened the door into a locker room, and Serenity stared at the open doorway for a while, wondering how she was able to have access into it. Serenity blinked, then hesitantly walked through the open door. "Thank you," she said to the woman as she walked passed her into the room.

…

Lucine looked back at Silver. "Well...I think maybe we should start with the High Summoner Yuna first. I mean, that's why we all came here, right?" She said, not entirely sure. She looked at Zephyr and wondered why she was here in the first place. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would come to a blitzball game just for fun.

She turned around and walked through the open door after Serenity. Maybe one of these people would know something about the High Summoner Yuna and her whereabouts.

…

"I came all the way back from Zanarkand when I heard the High Summoner went missing. Some former Summoner, Isaaru, was the one that informed me, but he knew nothing more." Silver turned at the girl, his back against the wall as he kept his arms folded "And so has Lucine. She's Lady Rikku's daughter. And you... got any relation with the High Summoner Yuna? You sure look like her... even got those eyes. One pale blue as the sky, the other shiny green as an emerald."

"Ooo.... That's right!" Lucine exclaimed, looking into Serenity's eyes. I didn't notice it before, but you really do look like the High Summoner Yuna." She wondered if she really could be the High Summoner Yuna's daughter, or if it was just a coincidence.

…

Zephyr closed the door behind the group, and if any of them had tried to open it, they would have found it very definitely locked. The insignia of the Guado Glories was painted on one wall of the room.

She leaned against the lockers quietly, waiting until she was spoken to. It was an adorable coincidence, really - it looked as if this little quest was really going to take off. Well . . . at least it gave her something to do. Zephyr was quickly tiring of her search for a father that, she was well aware, would not welcome her.

…

Serenity laughed nervously, leaning back slightly as Lucine, as the guy had named her, looked into her eyes. "Thanks for the compliment," she said to both Lucine and the guy. She wasn't sure whether to admit it or not, but it seemed she was caught, and if this Lucine really was Rikku's daughter, then… "I…High Summoner Yuna is my mother," Serenity put as plainly as she could, smiling innocently though she hadn't done anything. "I'm Serenity. Pleased to meet all of you." She bowed slightly, then looked at Lucine. "Rikku's daughter, huh? And you met Isaaru?" Serenity said, moving her gaze to the guy. She had so many questions to ask but didn't know where to start.

"Yes, I met Isaaru at Lady Yunalesca's chamber at Zanarkand. I was born there... and many things happened there to make me call Zanarkand my homeland" Silver said, taking his scarf and putting it around his neck. "Then, if you're Lady Yuna's daughter, you might know what happened to her...and to her husband... and to Lucine's mother... oh it's just a sign of good luck to have encountered you here."

Serenity brushed a hand through her hair and squatted down where she was. It looked like they were expecting her to know something, when she herself counted upon them knowing something. "I have no clue what happened to my parents, or your mother, Lucine," Serenity said painfully. "My parents said they had to leave…something strange was detected somewhere in Spira or something like that, and they said they had to leave to check it out. But…" Serenity squinted her eyes to keep from crying.

"They never came back." Serenity was silent for a moment, then she stood up. "And I know exactly who can tell us what's going on." She looked at the others in the room in turn. "They've been behind everything that was corrupt in Spira since the infamous war thousands of years ago! Bevelle and its organization of Yevon."

Silver looked into Serenity's eyes and sat next to her. "We're gonna find them," he said in a low voice. "Maybe I have no relation with the High Summoner or any of her companions, but I promise you we're going to find them even if that means to behead every priest in Spira. Just like my father told me... Yevon, New Yevon, what's the difference? Just a war of lies they call religion. Don't worry, I bet your mother is alright. After all, she defeated not only Sin, but Vegnagun too. I grew up listening to my mother, telling me stories about her. She's a great woman."

Silver couldn't think of anything else to cheer her up. He was better with his blade or his blitzball than he was with his tongue. He looked up at Lucine and smiled at her, knowing it was hard for her to know nothing about her mother's whereabouts. He himself, even when he was a lone traveler, he missed his mother every time he was away. She and his father were part of the Youth League and lived in Kilika. His dad a Tiger Demon like him, his mom a former blitzer from the Kilika Beasts, a strange couple if we count that Tiger Demons aren't very common outside the Calm Lands.

…

Lucine saw Silver smiling at her, so smiled back as she sat down beside them both. They were talking about New Yevon being behind this, but she wasn't sure it was true. During the time of Sin it had been true, but certainly not now or when Vegnagun had been around. Shuyin had been controlling the leader of New Yevon, Baralai, which had led many to believe it was their fault. But Lucine wasn't convinced. From what her mother had told her about the whole thing, it just didn't make sense that New Yevon had been behind it.

"Well, I'm not sure if New Yevon is behind this, but at this point, I'm just interested in finding out where our parents are." She said, looking at the two of then. "All I know is that they're somewhere near or on the ocean. My mother said she was going on some kind of ship before she left. It could've been a regular cruise ship, or," She said, her eyes lighting up. "It could have been an Al Bhed salvage ship! Those are great for digging up stuff in the ocean."

If the ship High Summoner Yuna had taken was an Al Bhed salvage ship, then her grandfather would know about it. "Hey guys!" She said, jumping up. "My grandfather Cid might know something about the salvage ship! Should we travel to see him? The last I heard, he was at the Thunder Plains, trying to fix some of the lighting rods there."

…

Serenity gave the guy a smile and wiped away a tear that had managed to fall down her check. "Thank you for making me feel better," Serenity said, her voice expressing deep gratitude. She still didn't know his name, and figured there would be time to ask later. Being nameless made him more mysterious to her, and she liked it at the moment.

Serenity then glanced at Lucine and nodded. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions in suspecting that New Yevon had something to do with all of this, but she wasn't going to cross them off the list just yet. "Grandfather Cid?" Serenity asked. She never met him, but was just as eager to. "Sounds like a great place to start. I'm sure the rain's stopped by now. Let's go!"

Serenity smiled, happy that they were all finally on some sort of track, and got up and headed towards the door, passing by the odd woman who had come with them but hadn't spoken a word since they'd got there. Serenity went to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Serenity gawked at it, and tried again, but to no avail. "The door's locked…"

…

"Alright!" Lucine said, jumping up and down happily. They were finally getting somewhere. Feeling much better, she walked up to Zephyr. "I wanted to thank you for the hi-potion." She said, smiling. "I meant to earlier, but...well, you know. The whole blitzball thing. But anyway, well, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany us on our mission to find the High Summoner Yuna?"

…

"Locked?!" Silver was surprised... being around girls made him drop his guard. Now he would regret it. He was never a Guado hater, but nor did he like them. And this half Guado had them into her trap. Or so she thought...

"Back," he called and took a few steps back, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before running towards the door. He slammed against it and heard something breaking. Not his bones... but a part of the lock that kept them inside. "Again..." he walked back and slammed the door once more, now blasting it open. And impressive door, he could say. A normal one wouldn't be able to resist half of his strength. "Now we are good to go."

"That was completely unnecessary," Zephyr said. She spoke in a flat, cold tone, unimpressed by this brute. Her hand hovered on the gigantic alchemist's gun at her waist. "My half-brother is training with the Glories, so I happen to have a key. They won't be happy to hear that a presumptuous demon destroyed their door." A blatant lie, to Zephyr, but it was a convincing enough statement. The half-Guado chuckled inside. Wasn't it common knowledge that demolitionists were just a specialized branch of thieves and rogues?

In any case, she'd never win the trust of Rikku's daughter if she admitted that she had just picked the lock. She looked towards her, and sighed. "Quite frankly, Lady Lucine, I may end up causing more harm than good if this hateful and arrogant man calls himself your ally . . . and I wouldn't want to get in your way."

All the while, Zephyr weighed the odds - it was something she had gotten quite good at, in her years as a vagabond. The daughters of two heroes would doubtless be decent warriors, and if they were lacking in strength, the tiger devil could assist them . . . they would definitely be able to cast a spell or two, especially Yuna's daughter.

They didn't need her at all; not for healing, or for wreaking ridiculous amounts of havoc. She was just an auxiliary unit. Hmm. . . She'd have to advance her status, she imagined, before she could join the group officially. For now, she took a chance, just in case she didn't actually need to go through the trouble . . .

"So, although I apologize sincerely . . . it's either him or me." She gazed at the exit, ruined by the advance of the demon, and seemed prepared to leave. The odds were against her. She knew it. But she would turn them back in her favor soon enough . . . she always found a way.