Wonderwall
Author: Chaos Valkyrie
Date Conceptualized: January 2, 2006
Posted Chapter 07: March 17, 2006
Updated: April 15, 2008

Disclaimer: Um… no?

Author's Note: Sorry I didn't post last week… I have sick kitties. Who now hate me because I give them medicine. Sigh. Anywho, I'll promise a double posting when we get to operation Mi'ihen – which should be in the next week or two – to make up for it. By!

Chapter Seven: K.O.'ed

For being the worst team in the history of Spira, the Besaid Aurochs are a huge pain in the ass. Their captain is this buff redhead, not a bad forward, as he returns the one point we earn with one of their own. The game remains tied, and the Aurochs have a fairly tight defense. By the end of the first half, we're tied 1-1.

Berrik gives us a big lecture in the locker room, and I grin, thinking of how Garen would've grilled the Duggles by this point. Nimrook is a good goalie, but the rest of the team doesn't quite cut the snuff. I'll admit, the Duggles may not have been all that much better as individual players, but we kept up the intensity and we worked seamlessly as a team. That was our strength, our teamwork – any weaknesses we had as individuals we covered by working as a whole.

The second half starts, and I grab the ball before the redhead can even blink. I shoot forward through the water, shouting to Eigaar in Al Bhed and passing. I cut through the defense, watch him pass to Judda, to Lakkam, back to Eigaar, and suddenly the ball's heading right for me. The Auroch's defender tries to tackle me, but I dodge it in time and shoot for the goal. The ball sinks in with a satisfying thump and I'm tackled by Eigaar and Berrik. The Aurochs are looking to their captain as we head back to our side of the field and wait for the toss up.

Before long, the Aurochs have retied the game and I'm cursing Lakkam under my breath for letting that point through. We're down to the last few minutes, and we're scrambling for control of the ball. I'm already beginning to suspect that something is up – the Aurochs have been keeping the game tied, but then they stall, as if they're waiting for something. I'm not sure what's up, but I'm looking to my teammates, who don't seem very surprised by this tactic. I frown.

At thirty seconds to go, I'm suddenly distracted by a flare outside the water. It looks like some kind of distant fireworks, and apparently, this is the signal the Aurochs have been waiting for. The entire team goes on the offensive, passing the ball back and forth, stretching their limits. I swim desperately to block a pass, but I miss and the ball makes it to their captain. He shoots, and Nimrook is so taken off guard that it gets past him. The buzzer sounds, and suddenly the game is over, with the Aurochs as the victor.

Everyone is completely stunned by this turn of events. And I can't blame them as we leave the arena and head back to the locker room in defeated silence. Only, the locker room is not quite as empty as we left it.

Rikku is standing in the middle of the room, and she's fuming mad. As soon as she sees Nimrook, she heads straight for him and punches him in the stomach. Of course, Rikku is a small girl and he's a really big goalie, so the punch seems to have little effect other than surprise. Then Rikku starts tearing into him in Al Bhed, and I struggle to keep up.

"Fryd dra ramm ec ymm drec ypuid?" she screeches. He shrugs, trying to play innocent.

"Fryd?" he replies.

"Vencd dra creb ypyhtuhc sa yd dra tulg, yht drah E veht uid dryd oui'ja gethybbat y summoner yc pmtlgsyem du feh dra kysa?!"

"Ur, dryd. Mad sa aqnmyeh …"

By this point, I'm fuming, and cut in. "Oui sayh du damm sa oui cekhat sa ib vun y nekkat kysa?" I snarl slowly in Al Bhed. To his credit, Nimrook doesn't back down.

"Fa'na gethybbehk dras yhofyo! E zicd druikrd …"

I cut him off. "Hu, ybbynahdmo oui teth'd. E tuh'd bmyo nekkat kysac," I snipe, "E bmyo vyen, un hud yd ymm. Cu oui lyh luihd sa uid uv ajan bmyoehk fedr ouin days ykyeh!"

Rikku's looking at me, a wicked sparkle glowing in her eyes. I ignore her as I grab my bag and stalk towards the door. The team is chattering, but I can still hear Nimrook say,

"Hu pek mucc, oui fanah'd dryd knayd yhafyo."

I toss Rikku my bag, turn and punch him. Unlike Rikku, my right fist knocks him down. I glare once at the now silent team before I reclaim my bag from Rikku and storm out.

Neither of us speak until we've reached the docks. The town is eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from the stadium as the next blitzball game commences. Luca versus Kilika, and it sounds like Luca is going to win.

The ship is docked sadly, and I ignore the crew as I head for my cabin. Rikku, however, instantly starts to tear into them as they vainly try to convince her of their reasons for leaving her behind. I pass the sizzling remains of their machina weapon and shrug.

I drop my game bag off and strap on my gun and my bracer. I double check to make sure that I've stocked enough ammo in my pouches, and then toss in a couple of extra potions. I slide my Gil in another pouch and head back out on the deck to retrieve the screaming Rikku.

"C'mon, you've got some questions to answer, lady," I tell her as I pull her along. For once, I'm the one leading as I drag her through Luca to the stadium. The game has ended, Luca the victor, and now people are milling about, preparing for the finals.

I drag her up the steps, up into the highest reaches of the stadium where no one is sitting. We're in the worst of the nosebleed section, but I'm not here to watch the game. I want answers.

"What's this about kidnapping summoners?" I ask her sternly. She looks up at me, eyes wide.

"I was hoping you wouldn't hear that," she mumbles. I snort.

"It was kind of hard to miss. So spill," I tell her, folding my hands in front of me. She has already explained to me once before about the summoner's duty to Yevon, but this time she goes into more detail about what lies at the end of the summoner's journey, and how the Al Bhed believe that if they can't talk the summoners into stopping, they can force them bodily to stop by taking them to Bikanel.

"…And they're just going to die, and for what? So that Sin can come back in a few years?!" she erupts. She's on her feet now, kicking steps, furious with the world. And I just sit there, thinking quietly, which I am fully aware pisses her off even more.

"Aren't you going to say anything!" she yells at me. Oddly enough, her answers have cooled me down, so that I'm dead-serious when I answer her.

"Well," I begin slowly, knowing how my answer is going to piss her off, "Isn't that their choice? I mean, they know the game is rigged against them, but they're still willing to fight despite all that. I have to respect that, Rikku," and I can see she's swelling up before me, "Even if I don't necessarily agree with it."

"Rikku, if there is one thing I've forcefully learned recently, it's that we all die. Sooner, later, makes no sense or difference. The summoners accept that fact. They accept that it may be a futile effort, but to bring peace to the world, to spare the people they love and those they don't from pain by taking it themselves… I can't help but respect that wish. It's so… selfless that you have no choice but to respect it."

"But I agree with you, that there must be another way. Perhaps the reason Sin still exists is just that the right summoner has yet to come along. Or perhaps no one has ever bothered to study Sin, to really learn how to defeat it. I know the Al Bhed have tried, and been discredited so no one will listen. But I'm sure there must be a way to destroy it for good, and if we study it long enough and hard enough, perhaps we can." Rikku's looking at me with something akin to awe, and I give her a confused look.

"You sounded like my dad for second… well," she amended, "Like a younger, much more reasonable female version, but still," she giggles as I make a face at her. Cheering alerts us to the beginning of the finals, and I gaze towards the sphere…

"Well I'll be tyshat," I whistle, and Rikku follows my gaze towards the arena.

"Isn't that…" she trails off.

"…the luckiest s-o-b to ever play blitzball," I finish for her as we watch Tidus swim through the waters before us.

Rikku and I watch the game, straining our necks to see clearly from this high vantage point. I almost suggest moving to a lower location, but the stadium is packed. Mainly with Luca fans – it is the home team after all – but there are a lot of people here to witness the Aurochs make history. Hell, they've already made history by winning their first game in… I don't even know how many years. But to be in the finals? This match is going in the history books, win or lose.

And speaking of winning, they just might do it. Tidus kept the game tied in the first half, returning a point for every one the Goers scored. I see the ball shoot out of the water for his Sphere Shot, and I'm almost bowled over with nostalgia. And fear… I look around, but thankfully there are no fiery missiles heading towards us.

And then first off the bat in the second half, I see that ball shoot up again, but this time it's something completely different. I see him smash it into both defenders, and I'm in awe suddenly. I've seen that move before… any serious blitzball lover would've seen it, a little over ten (plus a thousand) years ago in Zanarkand…

"What was that?" Rikku asks me, awed.

"The Jecht Shot Mark III," I reply, "It was his father's signature move. I saw Jecht do that when I was kid. That's what made me want to play blitzball," I tell her. And suddenly I'm so proud of Tidus I can hardly keep myself from puking. It's grudging, to be sure, but now I can see why he was so revered in Zanarkand. I guess, at that moment in my eyes, he finally earned all the praise and hoopla for himself.

Not long after the goal, Tidus leaves the game and the red-haired captain comes back in. I'm not sure why Tidus left, but he left the Aurochs ahead, and they manage to fend off the Goers until the final buzzer sounds. The Aurochs win, and the entire stadium erupts in skeptical but awed cheers.

I'm in the middle of cheering myself hoarse when I feel it. Rikku looks at me, puzzled, as I have my gun out of its holster quicker than you can say 'blitz'. "Jael, what…" she trails off, then screams.

For the stadium is being overrun with fiends. I cock my gun and shoot down a monstrous flier. Its wing is injured, but it snakes its head towards me with the power of its serpentine neck. I kick it aside, and see Rikku jump back, something in her hand. She claws the creature in the eyes, and I shoot it in the head. It reels back, and both Rikku and I lash it a few more times for good measure.

It bursts into lights, and I hear Rikku gasp. I turn and shoot the creature that had snuck up on her from the hip, causing it to burst into pyreflies as well.

"C'mon," I tell her, "Let's get back to the ship."

We turn and start down the steps when I hear the most god-awful noise coming from the stadium. We both stop and watch, horrified, as a blue-haired man summons a monstrous chain from nowhere and pulls a horrendous creature out of the depths of Hell, I'm sure. Rikku's eyes are wide in horror as the creature starts destroying fiends throughout the stadium.

"Can you believe that," she whispers in fright. I snort.

"I know. His clothes are simply awful! And that hair…" I trail off as she punches my arm and I grin.

"I meant the aeon!" she snarls, then laughs. "Though you're right about the guy." She checks to make sure no one is listening to us, but we're still quite alone.

"Anyway, let's head back to the ship," I repeat, and we turn once again to leave the stands.

Chapter Seven Al Bhed Translations:

"Fryd dra ramm ec ymm drec ypuid?" - "What the hell is all this about?"

"Fryd?" - "What?"

"Vencd dra creb ypyhtuhc sa yd dra tulg, yht drah E veht uid dryd oui'ja gethybbat y summoner yc pmtlgsyem du feh dra kysa?!" - "First the ship abandons me at the dock, and then I find out that you've kidnapped a summoner as blackmail to win the game?!"

"Ur, dryd. Mad sa aqnmyeh …" - "Oh, that. Let me explain…"

"Oui sayh du damm sa oui cekhat sa ib vun y nekkat kysa?" - "You mean to tell me you signed me up for a rigged game?"

"Fa'na gethybbehk dras yhofyo! E zicd druikrd …" - "We're kidnapping them anyway! I just thought…"

"Hu, ybbynahdmo oui teth'd. E tuh'd bmyo nekkat kysac," - "No, apparently you didn't. I don't play rigged games,"

"E bmyo vyen, un hud yd ymm. Cu oui lyh luihd sa uid uv ajan bmyoehk fedr ouin days ykyeh!" - "I play fair, or not at all. So you can count me out of ever playing with your team again!"

"Hu pek mucc, oui fanah'd dryd knayd yhafyo." - "No big loss, you weren't that great anyway."

End Notes: Yeah, double posting will probably be next week or week after. I need to look at the Mi'ihen chapters and pick which ones work better together. Thanks!