Sorry this is so late, again XD Hey, I tried. Yeah yeah, more boring talky stuff for this chapter, but oho, NEXT chapter... will be a doozy. It will take awhile to write if I want to make it good, I'm sorry XD If I could just get a day or like, 4 hours when I don't have anything to do! Two reviews last chapter... BIG thank you to theweirdperson and DarkAnimePriestess! Cookies for you :D

Aya opened her eyes—what happened? This place somehow looked familiar to her, but… what the hell.

Where was she…?

Suddenly, she saw a familiar face looming over her—Ryuen.

"Ryuen—" she began, but she found that she could not talk.

Ryuen was suddenly motioning for someone else to come over. Aya found that she could not hear him…

Another familiar face—Yuna. Her vision was getting blurry, but she saw Yuna trying to heal her in a rushed manner. She wasn't feeling any better—in fact, she almost felt worse. She wanted to scream, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Thankfully, after a few more moments, everything went black.

They tried radioing Aya three more times, each being unsuccessful. Finally, it was decided that they would fly back to Luca to regroup at Ryuen and Aya's, and then head out to face Kana. The group as a whole needed to learn some general defense magic, and Ryuen figured he was the best teacher.

"Nothing will protect you from her strongest spells," he was telling them as they were walking up the path to his house. "But if you have elementary protection skills, then you may be able to ward off some of the spells."

He turned the knob on the door, and when they all had stepped in, their jaws dropped open in shock. Lying in the doorway, bloody, beaten, and completely unaware of where she was, was Aya.

Ryuen collapsed onto his knees next to her, trying to examine all of her injuries at once. He yelled for Yuna to try to heal Aya, who seemed completely bewildered. One of her pigtails had fallen out, and the hair was tangled and matted down against her head. Her forehead was split open, and fresh blood trickled down her nose and periodically into her eyes. Big, purple bruises were easily visible sporadically over her body.

Yuna tried for about ten minutes to heal her, but nothing seemed to work—when Aya finally shut her eyes, Ryuen freaked out—Yuna assured him that she had only passed out.

"What are we going to do?" Lulu asked worriedly.

"Research," Ryuen replied shakily. "We'll take care of her wounds the best we can, then figure out why she doesn't seem to be able to hear us or anything."

"I dunno," Paine said warily. "Are you sure that's—"

"Just trust me," Ryuen insisted. "I've got a feeling this could be a curse of some sort."

"A curse?" Paine repeated incredulously, as they all pounced upon Aya with bandages that Meena had produced from her own house.

"Yeah," Ryuen said. "If she came in contact with a mage, they could have easily cursed her to become completely alive, yet dead to the world."

"Odd…" Paine decided, looking unsure whether this was brilliance or cruelty.

"Only it looks like she's been beaten," Yuna said thoughtfully, examining Aya's severely bruised hand as she was wrapping it.

"It's possible," Ryuen said, shrugging his shoulders. "She could have been kidnapped, just like Wakka and Tidus."

Lulu fought not to laugh. "Who in the world would be able to kidnap her?"

"K—"

"Don't even say it," Lulu cut him off in a sharp voice. "It couldn't be."

"She's the only one I know of more powerful than Aya," Ryuen informed Lulu.

"There could be others," Lulu said evasively.

Ryuen eyed her knowingly. "You know…"

Lulu glared at him. "Okay, maybe she did. But when?"

"When I was making that deal over on the docks," Ryuen said simply. "She disappeared."

Everyone was staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

Ryuen ran off to his library of books in his room, while the rest of the girls continued tending to Aya's many injuries. All the while they spoke to her, trying to get her to wake up, or speak, or anything, but nothing seemed to work. She was absolutely out of it.

After about an hour of watching Aya and taking guesses at what was wrong, Ryuen dashed excitedly back into the room.

"I think I know what's wrong—it's right here in my book—"

He put his pointer finger on Aya's injured forehead, and muttered several words. He pulled the finger away sharply from her forehead, as though he was yanking something off of her, and her eyes slowly opened.

"What did you do?" Lulu asked in surprise.

"The place she transported out of had magic wards of some sort. Instead of the ward preventing her from leaving, she just took it along with her… and that's why she couldn't talk, or hear, or anything—it was cutting off all of her magic, and she can't function without it," Ryuen explained knowledgeably.

Rikku looked lost, but Lulu was nodding in understanding. "Aya, are you okay?"

"Fine," she said, her voice slightly scratchy and extremely quiet. "What is going on here?"

"How are you feeling?" Ryuen asked her expectantly.

"Pretty damn stupid," Aya said. "I heard what you said about the ward. I can't believe she had one on that room—"

"Who?" Ryuen and Lulu asked together.

Aya stared at both of them. "Kana."

There was a collective gasp. "How did she get you?" Meena asked, wrinkles of worry etched into her forehead.

"I felt a flare of magic down in that basement below the stadium, and went to investigate," Aya explained to her eager friends. "It was her. She and I fought… just when I though I had her, she destroyed me…"

Rikku pounced on Aya and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Aya!"

Aya shook her head. "Don't worry. I should never have gotten cocky around her. She took me out with this crazy spell that I don't even remember, and I woke up later in a jail cell in some cave."

"A jail cell?" Ryuen repeated, sounding scandalized. "You slept in a jail cell?"

"Yeah," Aya replied. "It sucked. Never do it."

"It's because you're hurt," Ryuen pointed out.

"Whatever," Aya said. "Anyway, then she forced me to watch all of you being tortured in the sphere… and guess who else she brought to watch?"

"Wakka and Tidus," Lulu said, comprehension dawning in her voice as well as on her face.

"How'd you know?" Aya asked her.

"We actually figured out it was her," Lulu said. "Because… well… I knew her."

"Well," Aya began brightly, "that explains A LOT."

"She thinks I killed her sister," Lulu said quietly.

Aya scowled. "Marvelous. So, anyway, turns out she fired that spell as a decoy to get me, cuz she wanted me to help her invent a spell to bring the dead back to life."

"Did you?" Ryuen asked her, gaze narrowing. "If you did, that's illegal—"

"Shut up, of course I didn't," Aya said, making a face at her brother. "Not like she needed my help anyway, she's a freakin' genius."

Ryuen looked confused. "Then… she took you for no reason?"

"Oh, no, I'm sure there was a reason," Aya said, chewing her thumbnail. "If I only knew what it was."

"In any case, once you're healthy, Aya, we're going after her," Lulu said determinedly. "We have to free Wakka and Tidus before she does something to them—"

"They didn't seem like they were hurt when I saw them," Aya said. "Sure, Tidus had to stab himself in the hand as a diversion so that I could escape, but… I'm sure she healed him."

Yuna suddenly looked extremely pale, and Paine watched her carefully. For a moment, she looked as though she might faint.

"Kana won't kill them or let them die because they're not any use to her if they're dead… if she kills them, there's no bait," Aya explained.

"How long do you think it will take you to get better?" Lulu asked, a spark flaring up behind her eyes at the thought of facing Kana at last.

"Hmm… a turbo ether or two and I can heal myself, and then I'm all better," Aya said. "But we need a game plan."

"We're splitting up," Paine said immediately. "We already decided."

"Not a bad plan," Aya said. "Someone that knows magic should be on each team. She's dangerous, after all, and knowing a little magic would help."

"So that's basically you, Lulu, and Ryuen," Paine said.

"Yuna too," Lulu reminded her.

Yuna looked bashful. "No, I'm not that good, I'm—"

"You'll do just fine," Aya said with a smile. "Don't worry. Let's see… we have seven, so it will be uneven…"

"Got it," Yuna said. "How about I go with Meena and Paine, Rikku goes with Lulu, and Aya goes with Ryuen?"

Aya sighed. "Must I go with my brother? He doesn't let me have any fun."

Yuna giggled. "Okay. Ryuen, go with Lulu, and Rikku can go with Aya."

Ryuen went down to the cellar of their house, bringing back two bottles of turbo ether, and about eight bottles of normal. Aya slipped the normal ones into her belt, and took both turbo ones. It took her nearly ten minutes to completely heal herself to the state she was in before her fight with Kana. All the damage that was done was so severe that she ended up having to take another ether before they could even think about leaving.

"So, how do we figure out where she is?" Aya asked Lulu. "Tracing my spell backward would be nearly impossible—"

"Don't worry," Lulu said. "I have a hunch. Let's get moving—once we get back to the airship, I'll explain."

Aya walked slowly at first, but seemed to be herself after they walked to the edge of the main part of the city. After waiting for a few minutes, Buddy and Brother in the airship turned up, and they all climbed hurriedly aboard.

Lulu gave Buddy instructions in a hushed voice, and all seven of them retreated back into the cabin, ordered everyone out, and shut the door.

"These plans are secret," Lulu said quietly. "Even from Calli and Barkeep."

Everyone surveyed each other carefully, anxiety growing with each second.

"This is the most dangerous mission you will ever go on," Lulu continued. "Anyone who can kill you with the snap of their fingers is extremely dangerous. For those of us who can't generate a shield out of thin air, this poses a huge threat to our success."

Aya rolled her eyes.

"We must get to Wakka and Tidus," she said firmly. "And here's how we'll do it…"

Lulu went over the plan several times. They had a few minutes to practice a simple spell that may, if used correctly, ward off other spells being cast on you.

Before long, Buddy came over the intercom and announced that they had arrived at their destination. Everyone walked determinedly down the hallway and into the elevator. The silence was absolutely unnerving. Before everyone knew it, they were getting off the airship. By now, Meena's knees were shaking and Rikku had goose bumps, but they kept going until their feet hit solid ground.

Everyone had a look at what lay before them. Rikku was squinting at it in confusion, while Yuna almost smirked. "I should have known."

So, got any guesses at where they are? Haha, you don't have to guess. Just leave me some feedback, if you please :D

No preview for next chapter... sorry guys! I really gotta think that one through!

Thanks muchly,

Lulala