A/N: Well here is the next installment. I think I'm going to up date every week and a half to two. Since I am going to have finals soon but no worries, the updates will be regular. Enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I'm getting tired of these. I don't own FFX or FFX-2
Chapter Seven: Reunion
I woke up to the sound of thunder. I stretched and yawned my way out of bed and got ready for the morning. I packed everything up and changed into my black mage dress sphere. After having a quick breakfast, I made my way to the front desk. I paid for my room and signed out.
"I hope you aren't thinking about leaving now." I turned around to see uncle Rin with his arms crossed across his chest.
"Well…since it's so early I want to cover a lot of ground and…" a loud sonic boom startled me from finishing my sentence.
Uncle Rin raised an eyebrow and smirked "You were saying?" He tapped his foot awaiting my answer.
"Um…I'm going to wait out the storm?"
He nodded his head and turned away from me.
"I'm sure it won't last that long" he said walking away to attend some business errands.
I dropped my bag next to my feet. There wasn't anything to do. I looked at the book case that was near the entrance to go to the back. I took a step forward to move and tripped over my bag. In the process of my clumsy behind trying to get back up, my journal fell out. I gathered it and straightened my self out. The woman at the desk wasn't there anymore. I went and took her pen. I sat down on the floor with my legs crossed. Writing would be a good way to pass the time.
Journal Entry # 6
We came back home from our voyage at sea. I spent my days keeping myself busy. Machina became my life and I forced myself to learn every aspect from its history and invention to its possibilities and future.
I was working on a small engine part. My desk was covered with a plain sheet of paper to prevent from spilling any oil and ruining it. My fingers felt sticky with the oil. I was so zoned out on working on the part. I felt like a robot. Screw in the bolt; screw another one out and so on.
"Rikku!"
Brother screamed while throwing a stuffed chocobo at me. Apparently from the hint of annoyance in his voice he was calling me for a long time.
"What!" I screamed back.
"Father wants to see us, he says it is important"
I put the part down and cleaned my hands of the oil. I reluctantly followed Brother to pops office. Buddy, who was already there, sat in the front of the desk. Pops was on the other side with his back turned. We took the last two empty seats.
"Your cousin, Yuna, has become a summoner. She's gonna risk her life trying to defeat Sin." He said. He turned around and faced us with a serious face. We all nodded.
"She's the only one I got to remember my sister by" silence filled the air as sadness and grief took hold. No one said anything out of respect. Pops took a deep breath and let it out. He looked serious again and it was back to business.
"Our plan is to get her not to complete her pilmigrage" he picked up some papers and handed us each a sheet. It was a sketch of a machina whose intricate designs were labeled by numbers, letters and arrows. I studied it for a minute. It looked like a typical extractor.
"Our first mission blew up in our faces in Luca. It looks like her guardians are good…really good" my neck snapped up from the paper to his face. I could see the embarrassment of defeat in his eyes.
"That's why we've got the extractor" I looked back at my paper. "It's a new design. It's able to keep Yuna safe and comfortable while it's in battle."
I looked at the machina trying to figure out where Yuna would be safe. Nothing was there besides hanging green and yellow flags which looked liked tongues.
"Where would Yuna go?"
"The extractor has the ability to form an air bubble on the top."
I looked back at the sketch again. Ok so it wasn't an ordinary extractor.
He reached inside his deck drawer and took out a folder paper. He unfolded it and revealed a map of Spira on his desk. We got up from our seats and leaned over. The map looked yellow from age but nonetheless it was Spira staring back at us.
"Yuna will have to cross the Moonflow to continue her journey. We'll get her right here" his chipped nail finger pointed to the middle of a brown river labeled Moonflow in cursive writing.
"Where's is the extractor?" Brother asked. Pops folded up the map
"It's near the port. It's good and ready to go. Decide who will go between the three of you" he put the map away and gave us a grave look. "I'm counting on you guys"
We were all dismissed.
"So who's going to go" I asked. We started walking towards the hovercraft station.
"We'll figure it out when we get to the port" Buddy answered. We paid the necessary rental money for the hovercrafts and got to the port. Some ships we docked along the coast. We saw pop's ship and boarded it after showing our identification cards.
We went to the deck, where we saw the new machina hung by a crane. The bronze machine looked so big and bulky in the sun. I put my goggles to block out the bright light.
"Rikku, it looks like you will have to go" I looked at Buddy and an angry Brother.
"Why alone?"
"It's not big enough. Its single person operated."
"But it's huge!" Brother yelled pointing at it.
"That's just armor so if she gets attacked it won't suffer that much damage."
I looked uneasy.
"Don't worry" Buddy put a hand on my shoulder. "You'll be alright"
I walked to the locker room happy that no one was in there and changed into my heavy excavating gear. I came back minutes later and was helped by some men inside the extractor.
Buddy came up to the top with a booklet.
"You do know how to work this right?"
"Sure" I said
He raised an eyebrow in a doubtful manner. I took the booklet from his hands.
"Happy?" I said. He smirked.
"Just don't blow your self up ok?"
I nodded my head and slid down into my seat. I heard the top of the machina shut tight and a crew member give a shout. I felt the machina pull up with the sound of the crane.
I buckled up and looked outside the window. The dark blue water shimmered. I felt the extractor descend. The water crashed against it shaking it a bit. I heard the crane go back to its original position. I flipped the main switched and started the machine.
The propellers roared into life as I sank into the water. I set the course into the computer and took a nap during the ride. A loud beeping sound woke me up that informed me of my arrival in the Moonflow.
I looked outside the window. The water was a murky brown color. The extractor made its way through the darkness. I pressed the light button and from the darkness emerged a city. I slowed the speed of the extractor.
The dead city was resting peacefully in its grave. It looked advance. The tall buildings with their overcastted beauty stood erect like soldiers. They were probably like those exotic vases from Kilika. Beautiful on the outside but with held nothing.
I avoided bumping into anything for fear of destroying their structure. I stopped the machina and turned off the out side lights. I had to wait for Yuna's Shoopuf to swim by. I opened the booklet that I took from Buddy and started reading about the extractor's engine.
Before I could get to the 'in case of an emergency' page, everything around me shook. I turned on the lights and saw that everything was at piece again. Another shake and dust snowed down from the under water ruins. I unbuckled my seat belt and stared out the window up close. I looked to see the bottom of the gentle giant known as the Shoopuf, who was trying to swim and walk across the Moonflow.
I went back to my seat and settled in again. I turned on the propellers on a slow speed and moved the extractor near the Shoopuf. I glanced out the window again and saw my target of a familiar young woman standing up. This was going to be my chance.
I positioned the extractor and pressed the launch button. I felt the machina shoot up incredible speed and grab Yuna. The air bubble soon surrounded her and guaranteed her the safety she needed. I moved the levers and gave the extractor the command to turn around and escape the scene.
I felt the machina jolt. I looked to see what hit me. I looked out the window and saw a blue object almost hit the window. It was a bliztball.
"Where the heck did that come from?" I got up from my seat to investigate the matter in detail. The water was too dirty for me to see a face but I did see flaming red hair. I felt the machina receive another attack. I fell on my butt and scrambled back into my seat.
I buckled up. So pops was serious about her guardians being good. I set the controls so that the extractor moved back from receiving another blow. I accidentally knocked it into a building and a dust cloud engulfed the area. I took this time to plan my next move seeing that I couldn't see my attacker and they couldn't see me.
I unbuckled my seat belt in order to get a better handle on the controls. I cranked one lever back and pushed a combination of buttons to attack. After the dust cleared up I saw my foe in the open.
"Hey!" I said in recognition. Tidus was right before me. Alive and attacking. The individual with the red hair looked like a bliztball player. I felt a pang joy knowing that Tidus wasn't dead. But I was snapped out of my glazed thoughts by another attack of the bliztball. I didn't want to hurt anyone but they were messing with my mission.
The long and tedious battle was getting on my nerves. They were very determined on getting Yuna back. I changed my depth perceptions and shifted into another attack. The red head hit his over drive and combined the powers of ice and fire to his ball. Right after his attack Tidus sliced and diced his way through. The machina fell backwards. I was knocked out of my seat. I heard the controls spark and go haywire. I got up trying to take control again but anything I touched electrocuted me a little.
"I knew I should have read the safety section first!" I said trying to pull a stuck lever.
The inside bolts started to rumble. I stopped what I was doing as the machina shook. I held on tightly and waited until it all stopped. I let out a sigh happy that it was over. The bolts rumbled again and exploded like bullets. Water started to rush in.
"Oh fuck!" I tried covering some of the holes but the water pressure was too strong. The water and the electricity were having their own civil war around me. The water hugged my waist. If I opened the hatch it would have been complete suicide. A metal section that used to be held down by the bolts was getting loose. It soon was catapulted by water. I ducked to avoid any contact. Now the extractor was filling up with water and it was filling up fast. I floated to the top where the hatch was and held my breath. I twisted the handle and pushed. I was sucked out immediately.
The extractor exploded beneath me. I tried to swim upwards but a dark cloud of smoke and parts trapped me. I kicked and grabbed at water trying tot get my way through the maze
I swam what seemed like days. I swam until my knees touched the ground, an indication that I finally made it to the shore. I crawled out on wobbly knees and trembling arms to the sand. I was out of breath and my heart was pounding as hard as my brain. I collapsed face first not caring where I really was and let darkness embrace me.
"Hello" a faint voice echoed in my mind. I opened my eyes. I felt every muscle in my body tense up a bit. I felt completely sore.
"Maybe they're dead" the voice said to itself. I had to find the energy to get my self up. I counted to ten in my mind and stood up. I quickly unzipped my back and discarded of my wet suit. I took off my goggles
"I thought I was gonna die back there" I said. I opened my eyes to see a dumfounded Tidus in front of me.
"Rikku?" he looked unsure if it was really me.
My eyes widened in shocked. He was right in front of me.
"It's you! You're Rikku! You survived the attack!" he said running up to me and taking my arms cheering. I was so weak that I fell to my knees. He dropped to my level and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey are you ok?"
I caught my breath a little.
"No…" then I stood up with out trying to get any help. "I don't feel all that good"
"What happened?"
"I got beaten by you!" I pointed at him accusingly.
"You were inside that machine?"
"Yes…and it still hurts" I pouted.
"But, but, but you were attacking us!"
"Hey, I wasn't attacking, I was…"
I was silenced when I saw a heard of people walk up to us. It was an odd bunch. Yuna I recognized right away. There was a dark haired black mage holding a small moogle, a ronso, a man with a huge jug wearing a red coat, and finally the red headed bliztball player.
"Somebody you know?" the bliztball player asked Tidus.
Tidus shifted uncomfortably. "Well you see…"
I looked at him and saw that something was wrong about what he wanted to say about me. I decided to introduce myself.
"I'm Rikku, please to meet you" I chirped energetically
"She helped me out a lot. She gave me food and everything"
"Wow, so you owe her like your life" the player said.
I saw Yuna whisper something to the black mage, who spoke up afterwards. "Wakka can you wait a second?"
The bliztball player known as Wakka nodded his head.
"I just want to talk to Rikku" Yuna smiled at Wakka, took my hand and pulled me away.
"This conversation is girls only. Boys over there" I noticed my voice was a high in contrast to her soft spoken one.
The black mage slowly walked behind us. When we were out of ear shot both women looked at me.
"I want you to be my guardian"
I didn't expect that from her. What she wanted from me went against everything my father believed in. I would have to risk my life for the sake of her world saving suicide. I looked into her eyes and smiled.
"I would love to"
She smiled and hugged me. I squeezed tightly. I would become her guardian. I would die for her for the sake of letting her go on to save the world. Even if peace only lasted ten years and Sin would come back. I would have been honored to die for her.
"The others are waiting" the black mage said.
"Oh" Yuna almost blushed.
"I'm Lulu by the way"
I smiled and greeted Lulu.
We walked back to the others waiting. Yuna quickly walked up to the man with the arm in the sling.
"Auron…I want Rikku to be my guardian"
The man named Auron made his way and stood in front of me. He took my arm and squeezed hard. I didn't want to show weakness in front of everyone so I sucked it up and thought about other things other than the pain on my arm.
"Face up" his voice was smoky and rugged.
I almost panicked. I was Al Bhed. He could have been a hater. I closed my eyes and faced him but apparently Auron wasn't stupid.
"Open your eyes" his voice was almost soft but it sank deep with a pit of authority.
I opened one and slowly opened the other. I blinked and stared into his coffee colored eyes. He stared hard at me. I felt His gaze consume me of all my secrets. Was he able to see behind my mask? Could he see the monster that I had become so long ago? How tainted my soul had become. My heart was beating fast at my anxiety. Would he tell the others?
"Um...n-no good?" I asked breaking the tension.
Looked over to Yuna "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes" she softly responded.
He took one last look. "Very well" he let me go.
He moved forward and the rest of the group followed. I felt weak. I almost collapsed on my knees. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I had to take control again.
"Hey are you ok?"
I opened my eyes and laughed at Tidus "Sure! I'm fine"
He nodded and smiled.
"Great, come on, I'll catch you up on everything" Tidus said running in front of me. I laughed and followed. I hoped that pops wasn't disappointed.
"Rikku, the storm is over" I looked up to see Rin's spiral eyes staring at me. I noticed that the agency was dead silent. I closed my journal quickly
"Great, what time is it?"
"It is only noon, it is still quite early"
Rin helped me get up and I dusted myself off. He handed me my back pack in which I put my journal in and closed it.
"Have a safe journey and come and visit more at the Mi'ihen Highroad. I may need someone of your level to help me fix some machina"
I rolled my eyes "Why don't you get Kappa?" he laughed at my sarcasm.
"I will try and speak with your father"
I smiled and gave him a hug good bye. I left the travel agency and walked north.
The ground felt soft and at sometimes slippery. The smell of mold and dirt clung to the air like a thick fog. No sound of a fiend anywhere. I walked slowly still uncertain about the area being too quiet.
I heard strong loud foot steps coming from a lightning tower. Out walked a Chimera. It looked oversouled. But something inside me told me that this oversouled fiend was different. Something was off. The three headed fiend stared. It took two steps towards me. I was unfazed. It came towards me. The creature's breath could be seen as a thin white smoke in the air.
The bull head came close to my face. Its huge nostrils explored my face taking away my sent. The bird head stared in curiosity. I didn't move but held my breath from the horrible smell the fiend gave off. The snake head that was attached to its tail slithered to my arm and coiled around it. The bull head shot up and let out a tremendous roar.
I should have gotten my staff and attacked it with thundera. Instead I stared. Evil recognizes its own kind. The snake uncoiled it's self. The oversouled Chimera walked past me. I turned and watched it walk away from me. I should have followed it but my feet already began the journey towards Macalania woods.
A/N: Thank you for reading, remember to review on your way out.