Chapter Four: The Story
"WHAAAAAA!" Wakka yelled, stumbling backwards a bit.
Arianna snaked her head down to look at him. He scrambled backwards, trying to get away from the enormous dragon. She scrutinized him, looking him over. "Hmmm. You must be Wakka," she said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She obviously knew who she was talking about. He nodded slowly, his brown eyes huge. "Captain of the Besaid Aurochs! Congrats on winning the cup this year!" she cheered. He grinned proudly.
Tidus poked her. "I helped!" he insisted.
She snapped at him and he yelped, jumping backwards. She laughed, throwing her magnificent head back to reveal ivory belly scales. Then she looked at Yuna again, suddenly serious. "I need you to help me," she asked.
Yuna stared at her, taken aback by the idea that this huge sea dragon needed her help. "Wha-what do you need?" she stammered.
"I need you to change me back," Arianna pleaded, her large jade eyes desperate. Yuna couldn't answer, just stood there in stunned shock.
"What happened?" Tidus asked, sitting down on the dock. Arianna pushed herself out to sea a bit with her front feet, ivory claws gleaming. She settled back down in the sand and began her tale.
"See, it all started when you turned up missing while that giant thingie attacked Zanarkand. So I swam out of the sphere pool and ran for the locker room, figuring that you'd head there. But you weren't there, and no one had seen you, so I started looking for you. But I couldn't find you or Auron so I started going out towards the bridge. I was just about there when I saw that big tendril thing hit the bridge, and so I headed there, thinking that maybe at least Auron would be there. Except when I got there, the thingie was gone and so was everyone else. Then I saw the big thing hovering up above that little bit of platform and then I saw you and I jumped over right after Auron pulled you up, then that thing sucked you two up, and I jumped in after you. And I landed in some ocean somewhere, and I swam to the surface. It didn't hit me then what had happened exactly, until I started to check for broken bones and realized I had four fingers. Or claws, to be more exact." She looked disdainfully at the long ivory claws and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "So I spent about half an hour trying to figure out to go forward, then once I figured that out, I swam north. I reckon all that time in the forest on the edge of town actually had its benefits. Anyway, I crawled up on a beach and stretched out, trying to figure out what had happened and where you were. I couldn't sense you anywhere-"
Lulu interrupted her. "Wait. Sense? What does that mean?"
Arianna blinked at her for a moment, then explained, "See, when I was real little this crazy old lady gave me all these powers, and one of them is being able to sense people. Mostly I can just do Tidus and sometimes Mom or Dad. And I can levitate, and blow up things, and throw things with my mind, and I can feel other peoples' feelings and hear their thoughts. It's pretty cool."
Lulu nodded slowly, trying to process all that.
"Go on," Yuna urged.
Arianna carried on. "So after a bit I think I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was hungry. I ate seven freakin' fish. Big ones, too. Not just little minnow things; I'm talking suckers that were Auron-sized. Do you know how long it takes to fill up a dragon's stomach? I felt like a pig." She drew up her lips, showing her distaste alone with all her teeth. Tidus rolled his eyes and she continued, glared at him. "So after I ate I swam around a bit, trying to find someone to talk to. I finally got this one little kid to tell me where I was, before her mom had a cow and grabbed her away. I was in someplace called the Moonflow, and the summoner was coming. So I laid there for a long while, watching the elephant things go back and forth across the river. I was trying to find that summoner person, thinking he or she could help me. A bunch of those Hypello things came up and threw fish and stuff in the water for me to eat, which was pretty cool. Well, nothing happened and nothing happened so I decided to go investigate the ruins underneath me. So I was poking around down there when there was a bunch of lights and stuff and I thought I saw you but I couldn't be sure. So I laid down there in the ruins, then I followed you out across the Moonflow and basically I've been trailing you ever since. Well, until that big flying thing attacked and all the water was stuck in those curve things, then I stuck my head out for about two seconds and decided to go back in the other direction before it attacked me, too. Then I figured out that the flyer thing was called Sin and that it was actually Dad but there was this guy inside controlling him, so I figured I should come help, but by the time I got there, everyone had left again! So I've spent the past year trying to track down the summoner, since I heard she had defeated the Sin thing and figured she could change me back or send me back or whatever." She looked at Yuna imploringly.
Yuna bit her lip, thinking.
"You can leave her like that if you want. She looks better that way, anyway," Tidus assured her.
Arianna snapped at her brother. "You know, I'm still older than you!" she reminded him angrily.
He rolled his eyes and Yuna laughed. He looked at her with big puppy-dog eyes. "You're supposed to be on my side!" he pouted.
"Girls stick together," Arianna told him. He glared at her and she smiled at Yuna, as if her brother was a small child and she and Yuna were his baby-sitters. Then she sighed. "I was kinda hoping you knew of a way to change me back. This body is okay, but I like mine better," she told Yuna. Yuna nodded and hugged her knees to her, thinking.
"Magic would probably have to do it," Lulu said.
Yuna nodded slowly. "If we could find your body, I bet the witch over in Bevelle could switch you back," she thought aloud.
"Oh! I know where my body is. It was floating next to me when I got dumped after Sin attacked me, and I almost ate it." Her scales glowed silver and Yuna realized she was blushing. She reached out and grabbed something off the cliff, holding it very gently between her sword-sharp teeth. She set it down carefully on the sand and Yuna bent down to inspect it.
She looked a bit like Tidus, except instead of short, spiky blond hair, hers was waist-length auburn. Her eyes were the same aqua blue, but she was probably close to a foot taller than her brother when they stood back to back. Arianna stared at her own body, lying there on the wet sand, waves breaking over her hair, and sighed deeply. Wakka picked up the body and carried it back toward Kilika.
They all trooped back to the airship, except Arianna who swam along the coast.
"We're headed for Bevelle, Pops!" Rikku shouted.
"E dnyoknd oui tutr'd cugi Bevelle," Brother grunted from under a complicated mess of wires.
"E tyr'd. Ed'c vuh y… vhuirt," she answered, glancing at where Arianna was splashing around in the harbour next to the ship.
Brother sighed dramatically and slid out from under the keyboard. He walked over to the cockpit and fiddled with a few buttons. A loud whirr followed and they took off, Arianna swimming underneath them. Yuna curled up on a seat, like the others, and fell asleep. They flew to Bevelle and within hours had landed on the large field just outside town.
They marched into the bustling city, Wakka still carrying Arianna's limp body over his shoulder. Dragon Arianna climbed up on the land, where she proved to be much slower than in the water. When they finally lumbered into town, Arianna hung back.
"What's wrong?" Rikku asked.
"I-I can't. I'll scare everyone, and then they'll run away again," she stammered, taking a few steps back from the iron gates.
Yuna nodded. "It's okay. You stay here. Rikku will stay with you," she assured her, with a glance at her Al Bhed cousin.
The tiny blond nodded and sat down on a rock. She stretched out and sighed, basking in the early morning sun. "I need to work on my tan anyway," she said, closing her eyes. Yuna smiled her thanks and they walked into the crowded streets.
They drew stares from nearly everyone. Yuna knew they were concerned about the fact that Wakka was carrying what appeared to be a dead body slung over his shoulder, but she shrugged it off. She was determined to help Arianna, mostly because it kept her mind off the inevitable loss that part of her was braced for. Lulu suddenly turned sharply to the left and entered a small shop where two round, wrought iron tables sat outside. Two dark green umbrellas shaded the matching chairs that were slid under the tables. Lulu opened the oak door and led the other three inside. The interior was dark and small, but in a cosy, tiny-library-in-the-corner kind of way. Several squishy armchairs were circled around a fireplace in the corner, and a big librarian's desk was set up at the back. Papers were scattered across it, and a black cat was curled up on top of them.
"Lyra? Lyra, where are you?" Lulu called.
"Coming! Just wait five seconds!" a girl's voice replied from a dark corner. A fifteen-year-old straightened up, turned around, and dusted off her hands on her denim shorts. She ran her fingers through her wild red ringlets and blinked at the four.
Or, technically, five, if you counted Arianna's body.
"Well. That's not normal," she said in surprise.
"Lyra, this girl's been taken out of her body and put in the body of a sea dragon," Lulu explained.
Lyra nodded and prodded Arianna's knee. Nothing happened. "No reflexes. Good. She hasn't been possessed yet," she said. She wiped a bit of dust off her black tank top and walked over to her desk. She picked up the cat and hugged him against her chest. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but you have to move," she apologized. She kissed the top of the cat's head and placed him on an end table, on top of a stack of books. She sat in the chair in front of the desk and picked up a paper. "Right. Body switching potion, along with a spell…" she muttered to herself. She grabbed a small black kettle and set it down on a stove against one wall. She poured a bit of water in it and turned it on. She picked up another pot and set milk going.
"What's that one for?" Lulu asked.
"One's for tea. The milk is for the potion," Lyra explained, throwing a few herbs in the milk. She casually tossed two tea bags in the now boiling water and cut it off, leaving it to seep for a few minutes. She tossed another few herbs in the milk and let it boil, setting the lid on it gently. She sat down in an armchair and gestured for the others to do the same. The cat jumped into Yuna's lap instantly and curled up, purring contentedly. "She must be something special, Darkstar. I've never seen you get so touchy-feely that fast," Lyra said to the cat, raising her eyebrows in mild interest. The cat didn't look at her, as if he was purposefully ignoring her. He pushed his head under Yuna's hand to be petted and she obliged, smiling as the regal creature let down his guard. Lyra crossed her legs and set her elbows on her knees, head in hands, and peered at Arianna's body, which Wakka had unceremoniously stretched on the floor in the circle of chairs. Lyra glanced at Darkstar, then at the fireplace. The cat sighed (sort of) and stared at the empty grate for a moment. Instantly, a fire began burning merrily where not two seconds before burnt charcoal had been all to be seen. Lyra smiled her thanks at the cat and he closed his eyes again, settling down for a rest. The young mage looked at the three sitting across from her, her brown eyes sparkling like dark diamonds. "So, Lu. Whatcha been up to?" she asked the older woman.
Lulu blushed a little and told the girl, "I got married."
Lyra grinned. "That's great! I told you you'd find someone one day," she congratulated. Then she looked at Yuna. "The High Summoner, right? I don't pay that much attention to that sort of thing myself, but Darkstar here likes to keep a running check of the outside world." She nodded at the sleeping cat on Yuna's lap, who was at present snoring gently in a way that reminded Yuna heavily of Tidus.
"What do you mean, 'the outside world'?" Tidus asked.
Lyra sighed. "I keep to myself, mostly. And there's so many spells on this place, modern and ancient, that just about anything that happens won't hurt it," she explained, a thoughtful look on her face. "Though I can't say I haven't tried. It just refuses to allow itself to be hurt in any way," she confessed. Yuna almost asked what she was talking about when she said "tried", but she decided it was best to stay quiet.
Lulu, however, had no such restrictions. She rolled her eyes. "Lyra, honestly. You used to get on me because I was anti-social. Look at you! You stay here all the time with your cat and your books. You need to get out more," she scolded.
Lyra stuck out her tongue at the mage and looked over at her desk. "I have friends! See?" she protested. A thick, leather-bound book floated over to her waiting hand from underneath the clutter. Yuna noticed that its pages were yellowed and cracked with age, but, with a glance around the room, she saw that just about every book was like that. Lyra flipped through it to a page at the back. "Be a dear and contact Skye for me, will you?" she asked the book politely. Its pages glowed and a voice suddenly spoke out of it, much to Yuna's surprise.
"What is it?" the voice asked.
"It's me," Lyra replied.
"Oh! Lyra, how you been? I haven't heard from you in a long time! It's been almost two days!" the voice exclaimed, sounding highly annoyed.
Lyra put her hand over the book the way a mother may put her hands over the ears of her child to block out a secret. "This is my boyfriend, Skye. The most impatient boy in the world. To him, a day is a month." She rolled her eyes, but she smiled fondly at the book. She took her hands off the page and said to it, "Skye, honey, stop overreacting. Actually, Darkstar and I were planning on coming to see you today, but I've had something unexpected pop up." The voice on the other end sighed. "How about tomorrow?" Lyra coaxed.
"All right. I'm holding you to that!" Skye pouted.
She laughed. "Okay, dearling. Send my love to Katrina," she told her boyfriend.
"Okay. Love you," Skye replied.
"You, too." She glanced at the book and said clearly, "End transmission." She looked back at her guests, grinning.
Tidus and Wakka were openly gawking at the book. Lulu was a bit more subtle and only raised one eyebrow. Yuna just tilted her head curiously. "It's my mage's manual. I use it to get into touch with my friends and stuff like that," she explained, with a pointed glare in Lulu's direction. The Gothic-looking mage had the modesty to nod and blush a little.
Lyra sighed and stood up. She reached over to take the tea off and pointed her toe back behind her to a cabinet. Five rainbow mugs floated over to the stove and settled down next to her. She poured the tea and floated the mugs in front of her back to the circle of chairs. Each mug found its way into a waiting pair of hands, without spilling a drop of tea on the carpet. "I've got them very well trained." She smiled fondly at the mugs.
Yuna wrapped her hands around her own dark blue one and sipped at the steaming tea. Lyra sipped her golden mug and suddenly said, "I breathed enough to learn the trick/ and now removed from air/I simulate the breath so well/ that one to be quite sure/ The lungs are stirless/ must descend/ among the cunning cells/ and touch the pantomime himself/ how cool the bellows feels!" She smiled to herself, as if this were some personal joke the others were lost to. She caught their confused expressions and explained, "It's Emily Dickinson. I found a collection of her poems in a stack the other day and particularly liked that one, although I'm still pondering the meaning of it." She sat there with a contemplative look on her face. Then she looked at the others. "I'm sorry. I drifted for a moment. Now, about that potion. It should be ready by now."
She gestured at the milk on the stove and it poured itself into a rather large vial made of some pale blue stone Yuna couldn't name. It brought itself over to Lyra's expectant hand. She gave the bottle to Lulu along with a small piece of paper. "Have her drink that and say this spell while standing over her body. Then I would run, if I were you. Sea dragons have a habit of being exceptionally ill-tempered, and if it's been sharing a body with a nineteen-year-old for over a year, I do expect it to be more irritable than usual," she instructed. Lulu nodded and Wakka picked up Arianna's body again. Yuna stood up and gently placed that cat in her chair, trying to disturb him as little as possible.
"I was awake, anyway," he told her, sighing. She stared at him in surprise as he jumped into his owner's arms. She followed the others out into the busy streets of Bevelle. Lyra stood in the doorway, waving to their retreating forms with one hand and clutching Darkstar with the other.
"Take care! Come see me more often!" she called.
Yuna stopped to wave back and Darkstar leaped from Lyra's arms, landing neatly on the ground. He trotted calmly out to Yuna and planted himself by her ankle.
Lyra looked at for a moment, obviously surprised, but she smiled. "Send me news every day," she ordered her cat. He nodded and jumped into Yuna's arms. Lyra smiled at the young summoner and waved once more before returning to her shop. Yuna hurried to catch up with her friends and Darkstar jumped to the ground, winding his way between the legs of the crowd. She saw where the others were waiting and they ran to catch up. Yuna was anxious to talk to Tidus's sister on a more…manageable scale.