Seraphim

AN: I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I rewrote it about 2 times and I'm still not sure I'm satisfied with it. But! I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for your patience!

Chapter 2:

The Northeast Expanse of the Sanubia Desert was the same as any other bit of desert Rikku had ever been to- dry, gritty, sandy, and so very hot. In fact, she wasn't so certain that she hadn't been through this area before. Still, she would check it out. The desert was always full of surprises.

Nimbly, she hopped down from the hover and glanced around. It was eerie in that place. She shivered, despite the heat. Where she expected the noise of hovers, chatting diggers, and the mouthy hovering drone that reminded everyone to keep hydrated, she got … utter silence. There were signs that the diggers had been there, hollows in the sand that had yet to be covered by shifting winds, tools, and … blood. Great splashes of blood, dark with age.

Rikku crouched near the expansive hollow at her feet. The blood was most abundant there. "Is this where it started?"

Zanno nodded, crouching next to her. "The majority of it happened to the diggers in this hollow. But some accidents have happened there. There, too." He pointed off in the distance. Blood marked the spots he mentioned. "Listen, Rikku… are you sure you want to go through with this?"

She gazed thoughtfully at the hollows. "I don't think I'll be allowed to rest until I figure it out."

"Huh?"

She glanced at him, smirking. "Gippal will be on my case if I run away." And then he would tease her relentlessly.

"Can't have that, now can we?"

She shrugged. "He's… counting on me."

Zanno blinked in surprise. "You're actually serious, aren't you?"

"Don't say it like you're so surprised!"

"Er, sorry."

She smiled. She turned in the direction of the hover and, inserting two fingers in her mouth, she gave a sharp whistle. "Come on everyone! We've got digging to do!" she shouted to her investigation team. They piled out of the hover. Turning, she trudged into the excavation site with her team on her heels.

Rikku looked around briefly before directing the others to dig in areas where blood concentration was high. Then she stood back, watching for a while. If she was a deadly mystery, where would she hide, she wondered. Some of the most difficult things to find were often the ones most obvious to see. But she didn't see anything. Nothing but sand and blood. With a sigh, she plopped down near an unattended splash of blood. 'I suppose this is as good a place as any to begin.'

Carefully, she began to sift through the sand. An hour had passed. Her muscles were beginning to ache and her knees hurt from being crouched down so long- and she was so thirsty!- and she was about to give up. She'd found nothing. And there was nothing she hated more than finding nothing, except maybe wasting time. Which she felt like she had done a great deal. She dumped a handful of sand behind her and then paused at the uncharacteristic thump of something heavy falling into the sand. She glanced back and saw a large chunk, about the size of her palm, of gray something half buried in the pile of sand she had created. Gingerly, she picked up the chunk and examined it closely. Though encrusted with grime and sand, its surface cast a watery appearance similar to…

"A sphere!" Rikku murmured. Excitement coursed through her. That was exactly what she held- the broken piece of a sphere. "Guys! I think I'm onto something!"

Within seconds, her team had clustered around her, examining the sphere fragment in turn.

"This is just a sphere," a man named Hao pointed out.

"Yeah. I know. Look, this could be… a movie sphere. Or something. It might tell us what's happening here."

"Or it might not," someone else muttered in the back. She thought she heard the same voice snickering that it might be a porno that belonged to one of the diggers. How immature!

"Are you sure this isn't just a reaction from your sphere hunting days?" a woman named Tira asked.

She narrowed her eyes. Were they questioning her? She was insulted. "Look, this very well could be the answer we're looking for!"

"Or it could be a dud," someone in the back muttered.

"Listen, I'm the head of this, you know!" she said severely. "Now, we're going to find the rest of this sphere whether you guys like it or not! So shove your complaints or I'll shove 'em for you, got it!"

She received a collective grumbling 'yes' and everyone returned to their digging locations. With a frown, she watched them continue. Perhaps they were right. Maybe she thought the sphere was important simply because she'd been a sphere hunter. But that sphere was the only significant find any of them had made.

She scowled slightly. And it wasn't a good sign for her leadership abilities that they questioned her judgment. They treated her like some silly little girl! 'At least I found something! Unlike the rest of them.'

However, despite the fact that they continued to dig for several more hours, they only found one other fragment of the sphere. Rikku was very disappointed. And by that time, Zanno was insisting that they call it a day or dehydration would claim them all. With a sigh of defeat, she agreed.

The return trip to the camp was quiet. Her team was either dozing or gulping down water. Rikku herself was distracted. She wanted to know what was on that sphere! And pieces wouldn't tell her! Her thoughts wandered to the fragments, carefully stored in two separate compartments in her knapsack. She knew what she would be doing that evening.

Gippal was waiting for her when the hover pulled into camp. Rikku gave him a puzzled glance as she hopped down. "What are you doing here?" she asked, absently waving goodbye to her team. She crossed the sand to meet him. "I thought you were going to be busy all day." Her excitement over finding the sphere fragments muted any frustration she'd had with him.

Apparently, he had calmed down too. "I was. I am, I mean. I insisted on a five-minute break when I heard you were returning to camp. And to be frank, I was getting sick of all the politics." He did look faintly annoyed. His good eye searched her face. "So? Your expression tells me you found something."

"Oh, right." She pulled the sphere fragments from her knapsack and explained her theory. Gippal listened intently- quite professional of him, actually, which surprised her- and nodded in all the right places. "I just know it's important." She smirked. ""I guess it's my turn for intuition."

Gippal rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway.

Rikku's amusement quickly faded, replaced with irritation. "But some of my so-called team think I'm making too much of this. That I'm overreacting because I was a sphere hunter." She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. Perhaps he thought she was overreacting as well? What would she do then? 'Beat my reasoning into him, I guess.'

He simply frowned. "Okay. Don't worry, I'll take care of that." He dropped a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "This is great. I knew I could count on Cid's girl to pull it off." He gave her a lopsided grin that made her insides quake like jelly. "And…" he sighed. "I have to return to that meeting. Can you continue with the investigation tomorrow?"

"Um… oh. Yeah."

"Great. That's great." He started to head off. "Oh, before I forget. I'm returning to Djose in the morning but I'll have a commsphere delivered to your room so you can keep me updated on any further developments."

She was a bit astonished. He actually sounded like her boss! She wasn't sure what to make of that. "Yeah but –um- don't you need me in Djose?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah. But I need you there too. Unfortunately, we can't get everything we want." There was a strange expression on his face when he said that.

"Gi-"

Gippal's commsphere buzzed angrily at him. He glared at it as though it offended him. "And that would be my meeting." He gave her a brief wave and trotted away, shouting at the sphere, "I'm coming dammit!"

"But… oh forget it," she muttered. If he was going to be that way…

She examined the sphere fragments. Well, at least she had something to look forward to that evening. Hastily, she made her way across the camp towards the living quarters. First things first, she had to have a shower. As grimy as she felt, she knew she probably smelled worse.

"Hey, Rikku! Want to join us for a few drinks?" Zanno called from his flat the floor above hers.

"No thanks. I've got some plans."

"Aw, come on! It won't be fun without you!"

She smiled. "It won't be fun with me either, considering I have a mystery to solve!"

He paused. "Eh, you have a point. Well, we'll be in the lounge on the first floor if you change your mind."

"Yeah, maybe later."

She let herself into her flat and immediately gagged. Ugh! The musty odor of a closed up room was suffocating. 'I suppose that's what I get. I did leave this place during that whole Plague business and then working at Djose…' Crossing the room, she flung the window open and flung her hands through the air, trying to waft the air from the room. That proved useless.

With a sigh, she dumped her knapsack onto a rickety wooden desk in the corner of her room and then headed for the shower. The water was pleasantly hot, causing her aches to melt away. She smiled. She hadn't put that much effort into digging in… well, ever. It made her feel good. She put all of her frustration into her work and it paid off. Now she was as languid as a jellyfish. She giggled at the analogy.

And Gippal… Gippal was actually satisfied with her work. The thought made a warm feeling spread through her and she flushed and concentrated on vigorously scrubbing her long blond hair. Why is this time any different? He'd been satisfied with her work before. Why had that afternoon been different? "It wasn't," she told herself firmly. But the fluttering in her stomach told her yes, indeed, it was.

Suddenly she wasn't enjoying her shower so much anymore. Confused and panicky, she quickly rinsed her hair, dried off, dressed, and left the bathroom. Her eyes fell on her desk and she felt a sense of calm wash over her. The sphere fragments still lay there, waiting to be cleaned. She took a deep breath. Yes, she still had a job to do.

She plopped gracelessly into the rickety wooden chair before the desk, snapped on a pair of thin gloves, and, after a lot of rooting in the desk's messy drawer, found a small tool kit. She picked the sphere fragment up and examined it closely before picking out the finest pick and getting to work.

It took nearly three hours of painstakingly slow work, but finally, the sphere fragments were spotless, glowing faintly. Rikku straightened, arching her back. She winced, hearing her spine crack. "All right you… Let's see if you're mates." She hunched over the pieces again and attempted to fit them together. There were only two. Honestly, how difficult would they be.

"ARRRGH!"

An hour later, Rikku's frustrated scream filled her room. She had learned just how difficult it was. No matter what she tried, the pieces would not fit together. She glared at them angrily, as if they had personally insulted her. She pushed the fragments away in disgust. As far as she saw it, there were two explanations as to why the pieces didn't fit together. One was that another piece (or pieces) fit between the other two. That was fine. She could handle that. The second theory was that they belonged to two totally different spheres. And she could not handle that. If the second explanation was the case, then she wasted many hours working on nothing.

With a sigh, she yanked the gloves off her hands and tossed them aside. It was time for a break. Her stomach growled fiercely at her and she spared a glance out the window. The sky was a rich, velvety black, dotted with shimmering white stars. She blinked. "Cripes, is it that late?"

Yanking her boots onto her feet, she dashed from her room and headed for the dining hall. Hopefully it would still be open. Luck was with her for once, and she got herself some supper without much trouble. A few stragglers such as herself were also dining. She plopped into the nearest available chair at an empty table and let herself relax for a moment. 'Okay, Rikku. This is no time to freak out. I have plenty of time to get this solved. No one is going to be digging there for a while. Tomorrow is another day and-'

"Mind if I sit here?"

A familiar voice pulled Rikku out of her thoughts and she looked up, startled. "Oh, Nhadala. Hi. Uh, yeah, sit."

The older woman smiled faintly. "You sound so excited."

"What? Oh." She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm just distracted."

"By thoughts of a certain blond leader."

"Huh…" Rikku blushed brilliantly. "Nhadala? Where the hell did that come from?"

She laughed. "I'm only teasing. Though you have to admit, he's very good looking. I'd chase after him myself if I was ten years younger."

"Yeah… hey!"

Again, Nhadala laughed. "Oh, you can't deny it now."

"That's cheating!"

The woman grinned at her mischievously.

Rikku simply harrumphed. "Anyway… What are you doing here so late? Did you just get out of a meeting?"

Nhadala nodded, with a heavy sigh. "Thank goodness. Politicking was never my style." She smiled grimly. "It's not Gippal's either, so I'm amazed that he is the leader of this Faction. I had to stop him from nearly splitting the representative of New Yevon in two. Granted… I was itching to do the same."

Rikku smiled, amused. "He just has charisma. Unfortunately for him, it seems." She stabbed a vegetable on her plate. Casually, she asked, "So, where is he anyway?"

"Another meeting."

"Really?" She frowned. "I don't remember scheduling that many."

Nhadala shrugged. "This one was impromptu. He had that look in his eye that he was going to make someone's life a living hell and-"

"And take great pleasure doing so!" She laughed. "I know that look well. Who was the poor sap?"

Again, she shrugged. "He just waved us off, pulled out his commsphere, and started yelling. Gippal, angry, after a day of meetings… I feel sorry for whoever it is."

"Me too." She'd dealt with angry Gippal and Gippal after meetings, but never a combination of the two. She winced. "Poor, poor victim."

"So, how are things going between you two?"

Rikku opened her mouth to answer automatically but snapped it shut when she realized what Nhadala had asked. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Fine… why?"

"Just curious."

"Curiosity killed the shoopuf."

She chuckled. "Shoopuf's are lethargic, not curious."

Rikku huffed. "You know what I mean!"

"So, you don't think he's attractive?"

"He's gorgeous, dammit, but that's not the point! He's an arrogant moron! And… and besides, he's my boss!"

"Is that all that's stopping you?"

Rikku stuck her tongue out at the woman. Honestly! Nhadala was being so nosy!

The women ate in silence for several minutes. Several people left and the hall became quieter. Rikku fidgeted uncomfortably. This silence was killing her! She nearly burst when Nhadala finally spoke.

"Gippal says you may be on to something with the investigation," she said seriously.

She shrugged and reiterated the news she told Gippal to Nhadala. The woman too listened well, which Rikku wasn't used to and therefore was oddly amused.

"A sphere, eh? And you're sure it's not just a dud? Perhaps something one of our diggers lost? Or one of the site surveyors?"

Rikku sighed heavily. "Well, no. I'm not positive. But it's the only lead I have so far. And it's… well, it's likely you know? Look, we're still digging tomorrow and however longer it's going to take. I'll figure it out. I know I will."

Nhadala smiled at Rikku. With her so motivated, Nhadala knew that she would get the job done. No wonder Gippal recommended her for the job.

…..

Rikku had been with Zanno near the hover for nearly fifteen minutes waiting for the rest of her investigation team to show up. Her patience was shot. Fifteen minutes late? All of them? She wondered briefly if Gippal had even given out the message that it would be another day of investigation. 'Apparently not,' she thought, gritting her teeth as she stalked back and forth in front of the hover.

"Calm down, Rikku."

"I am calm!" she snapped.

He glanced at her and folded his arms over his chest. "Well, this could be a result of the rumor I heard last night."

"Rumor? What rumor?" She clicked her tongue, annoyed. "If it's another one about Gippal and me, heads are going to roll!"

"Well, I did hear that he had something delivered to your room last night."

"A commsphere! Business, you know." Was everyone at this campsite a gossip?

"So… you and Gippal aren't…"

She glared at him, daring him to complete the sentence.

Zanno turned pink and glanced away, clearing his throat. "Anyway, some of the guys were saying that your investigation team was completely and totally fired. They were sent packing last night. Can't even be janitors."

She forgot her annoyance almost immediately. "Really? But… why?"

He shrugged. "All I heard was that Gippal laid into them really hard."

She frowned. Was that what his impromptu meeting was about the previous night? What did he do that for? How was she going to investigate without a team? Did he expect her to accomplish it on her own? She scoffed. That would be so like him.

"Sadistic grease monkey…"

"Hey Rikku!"

She glanced up and saw a group of five Al Bhed approaching. She pushed herself off the hover and tilted her head quizzically. "What are you guys doing here? Pan?"

A short woman, four years older than Rikku, stepped forward. "We're your new team," Pan said seriously.

"Team?" Rikku repeated stupidly.

"Didn't Gippal tell you?" She sighed. "That guy…"

Rikku shook her head as it dawned on her. What was going through his head, anyway? "Whatever. Never mind that." She glanced at her new team. Well, she supposed she might brief them on what they were searching for before they headed out. She pulled the sphere fragments from her knapsack. "Okay guys, this is what we're looking for. Sphere fragments. It's the only lead I have so far. Well, we will be looking for other… weird things as well but… yeah. This is a start." She frowned. 'Note to self. Group leadership is not your thing!' "So… let's go!"

They all piled into the hover and took off. Amidst the chatter of the others, Rikku was silent. Her stomach was in knots. It had been that way all morning, and now she was able to put words to the feeling. Today might be the day. She might find something incredible. But why was she so nervous about it?

……….

Wow! I am so flattered by the number of reviews I've received for the first chapter of Seraphim! And I'm happy that this story inspired others to read the first one!

FairyIce: Thanks for returning for the sequel! I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 as much as you did chapter 1

Black Eyed Mistress: Well, this story wasn't what I expected from the sequel either! At first, I thought that if I wrote a sequel it would just be a shoddy wannabe romance (I'm not particularly good at romance, in my opinion, which is probably why you were disappointed in that respect. The only other explanation is that Gippal is dense and a pain to work for personally :laughs: ), and then… I saw something at work that totally spawned an idea. An idea from a piece of costume jewelry, imagine that!

Emmy-meister: I hope you enjoy the second chapter as much as you did the first!

Canada Eh: I hope this story will be as interesting as SoD! I have a lot of interesting plot twists, anyway. :grin:

ch!b! z3r0: Thank you for the wonderful compliment! And I'm so surprised you read the first story in one sitting! Amazing!

Raven the Hedgehog: I'm so glad you enjoyed SoD! I hope you continue to enjoy Seraphim as well!

Kookyz: Well, I suppose I can forgive you for not giving me 19 reviews in SoD! (j/k it's cool ) Hmm, well, I'm flattered that my stories are so addicting!

Jezzi: Thank you! And here, finally, is the update.

Kingleby: Yes, I'm rather fond of that airship now as well! But it took quite a bit of trial-and-error to think it up! So I'm glad you enjoyed it.