Well, here's another chapter. I'm sorry that the updates are so slow, there are too many distractions like summer, anime, and other games. But on the bright side, when I do update, I'll try to get the new chapters at least over 6,000 words before posting.

As usual I do not own Final Fantasy X-2 or Paine and Baralai…or Gippal and Rikku…or Bahamut…or Valefor… or…I'll shut up now.

Chapter 5

"I see. Well have the guards keep a close eye on them. Report to me if they so much as steal from or harm anyone," Baralai ordered before the soldier on the comsphere saluted. When the team had reached the bridge to take off, Shinra had called Baralai over for an emergency as one of the Bevelle soldiers had contacted them. Apparently there had been an increase of bandit sightings in the city, leaving the citizens in fear for their lives and property. So far there had been no casualties, but one could not be too careful when it came to bandits.

Shinra sat in deep thought as the soldier finished his report. Since everyone had to fight bandits in the Thunder Plains, he began to wonder if the ones in Bevelle were the same ones. Since he had no fighting ability to speak of, he was not allowed off of the ship and thus did not get to see what the enemy looked like. But, if he had a description or maybe a picture of them, then maybe one of the others could identify them.

"Sorry to interrupt, but could you give a description of the bandits?" The soldier stared at him for a moment and then faced the praetor.

When he received a nod from Baralai, he looked at the young Al Bhed boy, "No, none of the security has seen them, we've only received reports from the citizens."

"…I have planted a few comspheres throughout Bevelle that were disconnected by your men. Maybe if you reconnected them, I might be able to catch one of them on screen and be able to give you an idea of what you're searching for," the boy genius suggested.

"That's a great idea, Shinra," Baralai agreed with a nod, "Get to that immediately."

"Yes, sir!" the soldier responded as the comsphere cut off.

"Bandits in Bevelle, huh? It seems that there are a lot of them running around lately," Rikku said with a tired tone in her voice.

"Yeah and it seems no matter how many we fight off, more appear," Paine added.

"I wonder if these are the same ones we fought?" Baralai wondered as he faced the group with his arms crossed.

"If they are, we'll find out soon enough," Shinra replied as he took in the incoming data from the reactivating comspheres.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as the crew waited for the ships engines to warm up. It was only after one minute when everyone realized how unusually still and quiet it was getting outside. There was no sound of rain pelting the metal frame or thunder shaking the ground. There was not even the sound of wind trying to blow down the mighty Celsius. The hair-raising atmosphere easily made the team anxious while Rikku unconsciously drifted closer to Gippal. Soon there was a loud bang that resulted in a high pitched squeak from the Al Bhed girl before she jumped into Gippal's arms.

"What is going on?" Paine wondered as the bang was replaced with pounding and cries for help. Her crimson eyes drifted over to Buddy as he moved the camera image of outside to the main screen.

"It's Ormi and Logos…"

"What do they want?" Brother squealed as he hung off his seat in an awkward position, " ... Ruf tyna drao lusa buihtehk uh uin tuun du clyna buun Shinra! (How dare they come pounding on our door to scare poor Shinra!)

The mentioned boy genius slowly gave the pilot a scrutinizing gaze, "As I recall, I wasn't the one sitting cross legged in my seat while sucking my thumb and muttering 'susso' (mommy)…"

Rikku suddenly glanced up when she heard Gippal clear his throat and was met with a teasing smile. She then chuckled nervously before squirming out of his arms, but his arms remained around her waist long after her feet touched the ground. Thankfully this had gone unnoticed by the ever oblivious 'leader'.

"Uh…so what should we do?" Buddy inquired when no one else had a comment.

"Oh just leave them. They are probably trying to mooch a ride off of us so they wouldn't have to walk," Rikku responded dryly.

"Really? In my opinion they look awfully terrified of something," Baralai said as he examined the goons on the screen. By now Paine was looking past the screen and off into the distance where she discovered something in the horizon…

"Quick, let them in!" Her outburst earned her surprised looks from all around, but Buddy got the message and immediately did as he was told. Ormi and Logos started squeezing in once they saw a small opening, not even bothering to wait for the door to open completely.

Sensing Paine's distress, Baralai came up beside her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Look out there into the horizon," she said as she pointed the area out. His gaze followed her finger and onto the landscape of the Thunder Plains before he let out a gasp.

"Bandits!"

"How many are there?" Rikku shouted as she broke away from Gippal's grasp and ran to the railing.

"From what can I see from the comsphere…a lot," Shinra answered.

"Buddy! Brother! We need to get airborne, now!" Gippal commanded with urgency as the two started struggling with the controls.

"We may have some problem with that," Buddy warned with a backward glance, "The ship hasn't finished warming up and she doesn't like to fly cold."

But before Gippal could make a retort, Brother jumped up in his seat and turned on the intercom to warn everyone on the ship, "Grab on to something because this will be a bumpy ride! …YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Celsius lurched as if protesting, but soon the engines roared to life and the large metal bird slowly arose from the ground. Everyone who was standing promptly lost balance and fell on their bottoms. Brother let out a grin of victory as he was about to make the ship zoom off into the sky, but the thrill was short lived when the ship jerked. Something was holding the ship to the ground like an anchor, preventing it from flying. This time everyone in their seats was ejected onto the floor, except for Brother who was thrown head first into the window. Luckily his thick skull didn't break the glass.

Baralai struggled to get up while helping Paine get to her knees when the lights suddenly went off, "Now what?"

"There's something tied to the ship keeping us down! Also we lost one of the generators which is why the lights went out," Shinra explained once he was able to crawl back into his seat. Gippal managed to stand, but was still a bit wobbly as he staggered over to Buddy.

"Is Brother alright?"

"I dunno, the impact seemed to have knocked him out," Buddy replied over Brother's comatose form as Gippal sat down in Buddy's station.

"Buddy, take the wheel!" he ordered as he pushed a few buttons, "Ormi, Logos, I know you're still down there! In exchange for a safe ride out of here, cut us free from what ever is holding us back."

"R-right!"


It was a nice warm day in the Calm Lands. The sky was clear and the breeze felt great to the people who were already out playing games. The attractions gained a lot of popularity thanks to Yuna's advertising, leaving everyone too distracted to notice the girl in a long black dress who was followed by the crippled figurehead of the Youth League as they gradually made their way across the vast plane. Nooj continued to walk forward, not even bothering to glance at the people while Nadie took in all the sights and sounds with excitement.

"Hey Nooj. When this is all over, do you think we can come back here to play some games?"

"What makes you so certain that we will find what we are looking for?" he countered tersely.

"I dunno, but it's something to look forward to if we do find it. …And why just us? We should bring Leblanc, Logos, and Ormi too! I'm sure they would love to play some of the games here. Hehe, you could win your wife a stuffed moogle!" Nadie replied while eyeing the prize booth.

Nooj only let out a sigh. Sometimes he wondered if the girl was really a Deathseeker, "…Let's just focus on the task at hand."

"Okay…" she mumbled dejectedly, "Logos probably cheats anyway."

They continued walking and were still not even halfway across the Calm Lands. Nadie occasionally skipped happily, her demeanor matching the mood of her surroundings, not at all like the girl who was crying in defeat only hours ago. With the way she acted, he could not help but feel that he was being tricked into going to Mt. Gagazet.

"For a Deathseeker, you seem awfully happy."

Suddenly she stopped and slowly faced him with a small sad smile, "I'm glad you think that, I do try to seem happy so that the people around me won't feel obligated to pity me or try to waste their time in making me happy."

And just like that, the 'seven year old' was gone.

"But…" she continued at the look of confusion on his face, "I have a feeling you are referring to my …I guess you would call it a 'split personality.' My father once took me to an Al Bhed shrink and he explained that I act like a child sometimes to compensate for the childhood that I lost."

Made sense, after all, a lot of people lost their childhood when Sin destroyed their family and friends. He had too. But even a psychological disorder like hers could be corrected with counseling. Why hadn't it worked?

"Hasn't your …doctor come up with a way to stop it?" he wondered with genuine interest.

"I didn't want one. Now that I am aware of it, I can control it and as long as I don't go overboard, like throwing temper tantrums, I figured that it is for the best. People are happy when they see me cheerful and I don't want that to change," she explained with her eyes on the gently waving grass, "You know, in a sense, I'm not like you at all. I became a Deathseeker because I had to. I don't really want to die and leave my family behind, but as long as I have this curse, I can't guarantee that the smiling faces I see today will be smiling tomorrow. I might make them cry…or worse, I might kill them."

"So in other words, you want to die in order to protect the people you love, is that it? Then why is it you want to go to Gagazet?"

"I still want to apologize to the people I've killed and hopefully be forgiven, but also, I'm hoping to find someone who knows how to get rid if the curse. That way I can live on without fear."

"You're right, you're not like me. You still want to live."

"But still at the same time, I am like you because even if the curse was gone I will forever remember the look of the people I've destroyed. And if there was a way to get rid of the curse, it will make me feel worse because that means I could have prevented the deaths if I had acted sooner. …But I also don't want to leave because I have fallen in love with life…and the people within it… This is just one big mess. I don't know where to start or where to end, I'm so confused. All I know is if I don't find the answers then I'll go…"

"Crazy," he finished for her, "I know the feeling. I don't want to live without my friends and family, but at the same time I don't want to leave or drag my wife into this. I'm pretty sure that it's this confusion that will drive us into suicide …and that's why they call us Deathseekers. Now that I understand you better, let's go to Gagazet and see if we can find those answers."

A slow surprised smile found its way on her face, perhaps the first genuine smile she ever made, "Okay, let's go!"

When they started walking again, they realized that they still had a long way to go…


"Toodles, loves! I have other places to go!" Leblanc shouted in the rushing wind towards her pursuers. Somewhere deep down, she felt bad about leaving her goons behind without at least a message, but unfortunately these men had made her change plans. The minute she had sneaked out of O'aka's inn, she had been surrounded by bandits demanding that she surrender and go with them. Well they were not going to interfere in her search for her husband, so they would just have to deal with it. …Needless to say she had given them all the 'heel' and escaped on her machina bike.

The machina bike was a wedding present given to her by the entire syndicate after they spent grueling weeks in the Bikanel Desert digging it up. While Ormi and Logos had a hard time keeping up with her, the bike proved useful and saved a lot of time traveling across Spira. It was also proving useful now as the motors of the machina were too fast for the men to catch up. But unfortunately the feeling of victory was short lived when more bandits managed to block the bike with some rope across the trees.

Leblanc was launched off her bike with a short scream and then quickly rolled on the ground to prevent injury. She may have been three months pregnant, but she still was able to move around and get out of situations with the grace of a cat. …She only hoped that this action didn't end up damaging her baby. With a groan, she slowly got up as the bandits surrounded her. She wasn't too bad off, only a few scratches and a major headache. She unconsciously placed a hand over her belly and prayed that nothing happened to her precious gift.

"Persistent, aren't you loves?" she taunted dryly as she slowly backed away from the men.

"Leblanc, please cooperate with us. We only need your assistance in getting your husband to give us the girl he's protecting," one of the bandits in the front, quite possibly the leader of this pack, started. This startled her and brought some excitement into her body.

"Noojie? Where is he? Is he alright?" Most of the men jerked in surprise at her tone as the leader cleared his throat.

"He's heading towards Mt. Gagazet as we speak. And he is alright for now, but if he continues to defy us, we will have to take some action."

She considered this for a moment. It sounded like her Noojie was in trouble, but she wasn't sure how. …And who was this 'girl' he's protecting?

"Alright then, before I consider your proposal, I would like to hear more about this, love."

"Very well then. We are searching for a 15 year old girl named Nadeshia." Suddenly Leblanc noticed a small change in the man's features as he continued, "And she is a cold blooded murderer…she walks around acting like a Deathseeker trying to overcome her problems and kills people who get close enough to her. The fact that she's parading around as a Deathseeker is probably why Nooj felt obligated to help her."

One thing Leblanc knew ever since she had started her syndicate was when people were lying. Many of the people asking to join usually told lies to cover up their past and she knew it, but let them in anyway. This man was obviously lying about this girl and if Nooj was helping her, then it was probably because she was a victim.

"So like my Noojie Woojie to help out those in need!" she sighed dreamily in her mind, "…So where do I fit in, love?"

"Though it doesn't seem like it, Nooj is like a hero to most of us and we don't want to fight him." Well he appeared to be telling the truth now, "If he knew we had you in our custody, then he will give the girl to us in exchange for your safety."

"Oh I see. Avoid needless bloodshed and everyone goes home happy. I get to see my Noojie Woojie again and you'll have your …murderer." Leblanc began pacing slightly, acting as if she were deep in thought over this. How nice of them for giving her the option to go peacefully or by force.

"That does seem like the perfect plan to me, but…" she paused and then pulled out her fan to begin her attack, "…I don't plan on being his downfall!"


"Are we there yet?" Nadie whined in a true child-like fashion. People were laughing and shouting all around them, all seemed to be having a great time with not a care in the world. Were it not for the fact that everyone ran in front of them and blocked their way and the fact that Nooj couldn't walk as fast with his handicap then they would have already been at the end of the Calm Lands.

"No, it doesn't appear that we are," he replied calmly, not yet annoyed by her new 'game'.

"If only we had a faster way of getting across…" she sighed once they were finally freed of another crowd.

"Hey, that's a cute stuffed Chocobo you have there," a youthful voice said from above. Nooj and Nadie stopped instantly and found a dark skinned girl on top of a Chocobo looking down on them.

"Huh?"

"That stuffed Chocobo in your purse. I couldn't help but notice it," she girl continued as she pointed at the head of the stuffed toy. Somewhere along the way Nadie's toy had managed to poke through the opening of her purse for all to see.

"Oh him?" she pulled out the Chocobo for the girl and held it out, "This is Lryuc Ehcyhedo. A close friend gave him to me."

"Aww how cute! I just love Chocobos," she girl squealed as she held the toy.

"Hmm a real Chocobo fan," Nooj commented in a monotone voice.

Suddenly it struck Nadie that this girl was familiar, "Say, by any chance, is your name Calli?"

"Hmm? Yes, I am," she replied, "How did you know?"

"I've heard stories from Rikku and Gippal about their journey and you were mentioned often."

"Really?" she nearly exclaimed, causing Nadie to raise an eyebrow, "…Has Brother said anything about me?"

Nadie shook her head, earning a downcast look from Calli, "No, not a word."

"Oh…"

Oh? The half Al Bhed girl glanced up. Did that mean Calli actually liked Brother? Someone actually likes Brother? How…impossible! But…there is someone out there for every one and Brother shouldn't be an exception…just like how Nadie wasn't an exception either, but the subject of boys would have to wait until a better point in her life.

"On second thought, he did mention a cute girl staying in the cabin of the Celsius," she added, knowing full well that Brother wasn't talking about Calli at the time he said it. It took a second for the information to sink in before Calli's cheeks burned and she let out a short giggle. So it was true. Calli did like Brother, Nadie could sense the connection. As a pretend matchmaker she couldn't let this opportunity slip by! If everything turned out okay and she was freed of her curse, the first thing Nadie wanted to do was to cross out all the suitors on her father's list. Gippal was already taken cared of, thanks to her pranks to get him together with Rikku, and Buddy didn't want a wife so young so he refused the offer. All that was left was Shinra and Brother and while Shinra may be hard to cross off, her opportunity to get Brother off the list was now getting to be easier. If she didn't take action now, then who knows how long it would be before another girl came along? In fact Nadie may end up getting married to him instead of Shinra if she waited too long.

"I hate to interrupt, but we need to cross quickly," Nooj urged from behind.

"Oh, sorry. I'll just be on my way then. Nice to meet you…uh…"

"Nadie," she said as Calli gave back the stuffed toy. As funny as it sounded, Lryuc Ehcyhedo was going to be the tool to set up Calli and Brother, which meant that she would have to give away her treasure. A very close friend, one who she would never want to forget, had given her the stuffed Chocobo and she was going to deeply miss the toy.

She gave the stuffed Chocobo a quick hug before calling out, "Wait Calli!"

"What is it?"

"How about a trade? Lryuc Ehcyhedo in exchange for us borrowing your Chocobo. We'll give him back once we reach the end of the Calm Lands."

The tan skinned girl directed her bird back to them, "Are you sure you want to give me something so precious?"

"We need to get across quickly…and chances are that a fiend may get a hold of him in Mt. Gagazet, so it would be better if you had him," Nadie explained with her eyes to the ground. Calli jumped down and took the toy from her outstretched arms.

"Okay, thank you. I will take good care of Lryuc for you."

"Please do, he means a lot to me. …And thank you for the trade."

"You're welcome. Well I should go, take care." After that, the dark skinned girl disappeared into the crowds.

"Frankly I have no clue what just happened, but at least you found a way to get across," Nooj commented as he grabbed the reins, "Get on."

"Huh? What are you doing?" she inquired once she was securely seated on the saddle.

"I'm going to lead the Chocobo across."

"That's okay, I know how to ride, even side saddle. I got this bird so that you wouldn't have to walk Noojie."

"…What have I told you about calling me that?"

"Something about 'not on Tuesdays'…Anyway, get on yourself so we can go," she said while shaking her head and facing the direction of Gagazet. 'Not on Tuesdays'? Was this her childish side speaking or did she just tune him out when he spoke?

As if sensing his thoughts she glanced at him while taking the reins from him, "Oh come on, it was a joke! I'll try to stop calling you by that nickname. Now stop stalling and get on."

"I can't ride," he replied instantly.

"Aw, why not?" Nooj only stared down at the metal appendage that was his leg in response.

"Please." Nadie rolled her eyes, "You're not as lame as you're making it out to be. Gippal told me that you're still able to climb up cliffs and stuff. I bet you don't even need that cane!"

"…I do need it…this is the only metal replacement that anyone could find, but it's shorter than my actual leg so I need it to balance."

"Then why…? Oh I get it. You've never been on a Chocobo before. Don't worry about it. To tell you the truth, this is my second time on one. The last time was when I was moving to the Moonflow."

He gently shook his head, "It's not that."

"Then what?" She was met with silence. The reason was…he had promised that he'd take Leblanc on a Chocobo ride. But what was the point? No use regretting now, otherwise he'd never be cured. Nadie was about to open her mouth to say something else when she felt him climb on behind her. Once his cane was in front of her belly and his hands were tightly gripping it, she lightly kicked the bird's side to make him go.

They were making better time now as the crowds parted so they wouldn't be kicked by the long claws of the Chocobo. It seemed as if nothing could stop them now as they approached the bridge that led to Mt. Gagazet, but then a slight rumble from the ground made the riding bird skid to a halt about a good sixty feet away from their destination.

"What was that?" Nadie wondered as she calmed the frightened overgrown chicken.

"It sounded like an explosion…" Nooj looked around and then found the cause flying over the direction of the Thunder Plains, "There!"

"Oh no, it's the Celsius! If they find me, we'll never get to where we want," she cried before she was about to urge the Chocobo forward. Nooj calmly placed his hand on her shoulder and told her to look again.

The red airship looked like it was struggling to stay in the air as some rope or a chain (that appeared to be string because of the distance) snapped off of it. Suddenly there were more explosions that glowed and sparkled like firecrackers as it hit the Celsius before strange objects began flying up to the ship. Considering how far they were, it was hard to determine what the objects were, but they seemed like they were people on propellers.

"They're…in trouble? …We'd better go back and help them!"

"No, they can handle it," Nooj insisted sternly.

"But-!" she protested until she noticed that he was staring at the entrance of the Calm Lands where the men who had chased her were beginning to head down the slope, "…Right, they can handle it."

"Let's hurry before they catch up," he ordered, earning a nod from the girl in front of him.


Ormi and Logos did a good job of keeping the bandits out of the ship while working on the chain that bound the ship to a sturdy lightning tower. Shinra kept the rest of the bandits back with the ship's long forgotten weapons system. Soon they were freed and Brother was back on his feet and back in the pilot's seat, but before they could take off, the bandits had finally gained some artillery and began firing at the Celsius.

"Ignore it, just get us out of here!" Gippal commanded to Brother.

"Nekrd (Right)!" Everyone nearly fainted. Did Brother just obey an order from Gippal? How hard had he hit his head? The surprise was short lived when the ship rocked and jerked again.

"We've been hit by a cannonball! And they tried to anchor us down again, but it wasn't strong enough this time," Shinra informed from his post. It wasn't long before another explosion rocked at the side of the Celsius followed by the sounds of boots hitting metal.

"Security breach! There are intruders on the deck!" Buddy yelled as he frantically typed coded instructions to the panel.

"What? How are they getting up there when we're this high up?" Gippal inquired while heading over to Shinra. The young Al Bhed boy pulled up a screen of the deck, showing several men wearing some type of flying machina landing.

Rikku, who was already near the door, pulled her daggers from their sheaths, "I'll stop them!"

"I'm coming with you!" Gippal shouted to her retreating form and chased after her with his machina gun.

"Yuna and the others don't even know what going on, maybe you should contact them," Paine suggested to Brother once the two were gone.

"Intercom is down…" he said sadly with a shake of the head. He then slammed his fist down in despair, "E tuh'd ghuf fryd du tu! Cusauha ramb ic! (I don't know what to do! Someone help us!)"

Even though Shinra knew that Paine knew Al Bhed, he easily translated it into a few words, "He's scared. …I don't blame him though since the last time we were in a mess like this, Home was-"

"Don't finish that sentence. It was in the past and it's not going to happen to us again," Buddy interrupted in a stern voice.

Paine shook her head and sighed before heading back to Baralai, "I'm going to go down to the cabin area and tell them what's happening."

"Alright, I'll stay here and protect the crew in case some bandits get past Gippal and Rikku. …Be careful," he replied softly as he touched her shoulder and gave her a light kiss behind her ear.

"You be careful too."

"Paine wait," he called out before she was out the door. He might as well get it over with, even if Shinra and the others were around, "I …uh…"

She smirked before he had the chance to reach into his pocket, "Again? You sure do pick the strangest of times to try to tell me what you've been hiding from me."

"Well…I may not get another chance-"

"WILL YOU HURRY UP AND TELL YUNA?" Brother screamed from behind, seeming to be back to normal. Despite the ruined moment, Baralai grinned and let his hand fall back to his side.

"I know, 'later'," she said with a roll of her eyes before he could and then disappeared from sight.

She already had the opportunity to let Rikku tell her what Baralai wanted to say to her, but declined the offer. She knew he'd get the courage to do it eventually and she had enough patience to not let her curiosity get the better of her. As she made her way to the elevator, she realized that just Gippal and Rikku may not be enough to stop all the bandits that were up there and that the ones that sneaked past them could come down. The machine was programmed to come directly to the bridge from the deck. Her fears were confirmed when the elevator began moving on its own.

She froze in her tracks when five bandits came out. While she may have been able to handle them by herself, she didn't want to take any chances as she faced the entrance to the bridge, "Baralai!"

He quickly ran out, his staff ready to fight, as she readied her sword for the first attack. Together, they were easily able to dispatch the five men, but as the last one passed out, another set came down. The second batch had guns and they had rather good aim. While they were able to evade some of the shots, most of them ended up hitting Paine and Baralai. Paine knew that in order to protect them from the bullets she needed to use her dressphere to become a white mage and cast protect. …But if she did that then Baralai would have to do all the fighting until she finished and switched to another outfit.

Suddenly she was in for a surprise when a clear blue shield formed in front of her and soon realized that Baralai was the one who had cast it. She gave him a shocked look, still keeping alert for any attacks as he knocked back a bandit and prepared a cure spell for his injured leg.

"What? To become a praetor, I'd had to be a monk first and monks were taught basic white magic skills through training," he explained when he noticed her stare. She ended up giving a small smile before she decided to put on the samurai dressphere instead. Once on, she immediately cast Clean Slate on herself and resumed battle. Five more bandits appeared before they could finish off the last ones and after two men taken down, yet another group came down. It was quickly getting crowded and it seemed that every time one bandit was defeated, two more would show up in his place, making Paine wonder if Gippal and Rikku were in trouble up there.

"Ultima!" a voice shouted from the direction of the lift before several explosions of light surrounded the remaining bandits. Soon all of the opponents passed out to reveal a furious looking Lulu next to the lift as her weapon, the Onion Knight held a button so no one could use the elevator. Lulu was the only black mage in all of Spira who knew the Ultima spell and Baralai and Paine were the first to witness her use her overdrive, Fury, for the first time since the Eternal Calm started.

"I have been wondering what was happening," the former guardian said as she made her way past the bodies towards the couple, "All this shaking around is preventing Yuna from getting some much needed rest and…Vidina is missing his naptime with all this noise."

"I apologize. It seems the bandits didn't want us to leave and had decided to attack us," Baralai replied as he gestured to the defeated enemies.

"I see and are you the only ones fighting?"

"No, Gippal and Rikku are up on the deck fighting, but it seems that they may need help," Paine explained as she switched back to her warrior dressphere. Lulu nodded and prepared to grab her weapon.

"Then I shall go up and assist them. Will one of you please go down to the cabin area and inform Wakka?"

"I was about to do so, but I think I shall help out too. Perhaps I'll get bring Wakka up as well," the silver haired woman suggested.

"I want to help too, but someone needs to stay behind and protect the crew…" Baralai sighed, not noticing the cockpit door opening.

"Go ahead and go, I'll take care of things here," Shinra said as he stepped into the hallway.

"Huh? But you don't fight," the praetor protested.

"I won't have to. I created some machina drones to defend us, but even then they will be the last defense. I'm going to lock down the door so that no one can get in or out of the bridge until all the bandits are gone."

"Right," he agreed before getting on the elevator with Lulu. Baralai then took once last glance at Paine, "…Paine."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of things below and join you guys later," she reassured. There was no more room for discussion as the doors closed and the elevator went up. Paine quickly pressed the button so that the lift would come back to her once Lulu and Baralai got out.

When she was able to get on the elevator, she made sure that Shinra was safely back inside and pressed the button to go to the engine room where Ormi and Logos were hiding. It was better to see them first in case some bandits managed to make it this far and try to destroy the Celsius. She informed the goons what was happening and after much arguing, told them to guard the engine room. They continued to refuse out of fear of the enemy until she convinced them that only a few bandits could make it that far and that they could handle one or two bandits in battle. After that, she was finally able to make it to the cabin area where Tidus and Wakka were awaiting Lulu's return.

"We're under attack. I need one of you to come with me up to the deck to help the others fight off the bandit's invasion," Paine quickly explained, knowing that someone needed to stay behind to watch over Yuna. Wakka glanced down at his son in his arms and carefully lifted him up into the air and placed him in Tidus's arms.

"You be a good boy for Uncle Tidus an' Auntie Yuna," he cooed at the baby before he grabbed his world championship blitzball and ran to the lift. Tidus only pouted about being left behind, but stayed quiet and watched them go as Vidina happily clapped his tiny hands together.

Paine and Wakka made it up to the deck just in time to drive off the last of the bandits. The Celsius was now too high for their machina and the ones that were already on the ship only had to be pushed off. Rikku and Gippal didn't seem tired at all considering how long they had been fighting before help arrived.

Meanwhile, near the bridge, one of the bandits groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He glanced at his fallen comrades and then at the door that led to the bridge. The people who had fought them…they weren't Al Bhed. Why were they on an Al Bhed ship? The bandit groaned again and he painfully got up. What's worse, the white haired guy looked a lot like Praetor Baralai, but that was impossible right? The praetor should be in Bevelle. He shook his head and decided that the new information wasn't too important at the moment. It seemed that the couple who had fought them were gone now and the crew was unprotected, meaning that there was nothing to stop him from attacking and taking over the ship.

He was soon disappointed to find that the door wouldn't work. He then glanced at the crest on his hand and briefly thought about blasting it down, but then remembered that the boss had strictly ordered that there was to be no damage to the ship. Perhaps there was another way to seize control of the airship. The bandit made his way back to the elevator and squinted at the buttons. All the words were in Al Bhed and he had no knowledge of the language. He took a wild guess and pressed a button, hoping that it lead to the engine room. When the door opened, he cautiously stepped out with a handgun ready as he proceeded to the next door.

Almost instantly he lowered his gun at the sight. What ever the room was, it was definitely not the engine room, but his mission suddenly seemed irrelevant when his eyes landed on the beautiful lady sitting in the chair before him. The brunette was covered in a white sheet as she held a slumbering baby close to her chest. Her mismatched blue and green eyes glanced up at him innocently. She looked like a saint.

"L-Lady Yuna?" the bandit breathed as he recognized the face. He and his family had been cut off from the world for so long that the last information he had of Spira was when Lady Yuna had defeated Sin and became the High Summoner. How many years has it been? She did seem different with the new hairstyle…and it appeared that she had a child too, "Lady Yuna, what are you doing here on this Al Bhed ship? Were you captured by them?"

"No, I haven't been captured. I consider the Celsius my second home," she answered calmly, careful not to stir the baby.

"What? Then that means…" this information shocked him greatly, but then again, there was something he remembered, "…I guess I should have known that you would be our enemy. I was hoping that the Al Bhed whore you had as a guardian was a tool to get her filthy people to leave you alone on your pilgrimage."

Suddenly, as swift as lightning, Yuna shifted and the bandit found the barrel of her gun pointed straight at his face, "I will not let you call my cousin that! And the Al Bhed are not filthy, they are just like everyone else!"

"Cousin?" his mind went numb. His tribe agreed that Nooj was to be their hero and that Yuna was to be worshiped as their saint, but now he found that she was half Al Bhed, his tribe's mortal enemy. Half Al Bhed like the chosen one they have been waiting for-like… "Just like Nadeshia… but unlike her, you don't have our blood so you can't be saved! YOU VILE WRETCH!"

Yuna gasped as he pulled back his sleeve to reveal many crests tattooed to his arm. They began glowing bright green as a strong wind picked up and blew fiercely at her. She quickly fired her gun at his arm to get him to stop, but the bullets stopped midair and were thrown back against the wall behind her. It wasn't long before the gun was ripped from her grasp. The wind was getting so loud that she couldn't hear Vidina's crying anymore. Yuna closed her eyes when he pulled back his arm to strike…

"Leave her alone!" Tidus shouted as he jumped over the railing on the second floor and landed in front of the bandit. He used the blunt end of his sword to knock back the bandit's arm and quickly kicked him in the stomach. The blow sent the bandit reeling back into the opposite wall, next to the door, where he hit his head and passed out again.

"Tidus!" Yuna sighed happily before she started quieting down Vidina, "Thank you for saving me."

"…Let's not do that again. If another bandit comes in, attack first and ask questions later. It didn't seem like they want to tell us much anyway," he ranted as he leaned over to pick up Yuna's gun, "…If I had waited a second longer, you could have been…"

"But you didn't and I'm okay. Plus I think we did get some valuable info from him. He said that…I'm like Nadie, but unlike her," she said as she cast her eyes to the ceiling.

"Oh yeah, and he said something about you not having their blood. He was talkin' like the other bandits and the Al Bhed are not like everyone else."

"Maybe…maybe they're not like everyone else. I don't know," she replied as Tidus slowly glanced at her, "I think I'll ask Shinra about this later, maybe he knows something."

"Good idea. After all, 'he knows everything'." He smiled when she began giggling at his small joke, "Hey Barkeep! Do you have any sleeping draught so we can keep our new guest down?"

"I'll shee what I can find."


"No fair! How'd they get across so fast? We had a Chocobo!" Nadie cried as she tugged at Nooj's arm to help him move through the snow faster. They were half way up the slope when a team of 4 bandits appeared at the entrance of Gagazet. Nooj jerked his arm from her grasp and faced them.

"No use, I'll only slow you down. I'll stay here and try to stop them, you go on ahead."

"Nuh-uh! I'm not going to leave you behind," she shouted stubbornly, causing him to shake his head.

"Fine then, you go hide somewhere nearby while I take care of them," he ordered without glancing at her.

"O-okay." Nadie ran a little further up the slope and went behind one of the columns lining the mountainside. Nooj waited calmly as the men took their time coming to him, like they were sure of victory.

"Sir Nooj, please hand her over to us!" the one in the front demanded. He seemed to be the tallest and the oldest of the group of four and was the only one who didn't wear a mask. He had dark brown hair and dark blue eyes that held a watery gleam as if he was the element of water.

"And what will happen to her if I did?"

"It's none of your concern, but if you must know, we will take her back to Remiem." Remiem? Wasn't there a destroyed Remiem temple near the Calm Lands? Was that the same place they were talking about?

"And are you going to torture her?" Nooj inquired, remembering what Nadie had told him when they first met.

"Yes, at least until she is purified of Al Bhed blood. It's the price she has to pay for being half Al Bhed," a second one responded while trying to be careful of what he was saying. With Nadie so close, one bad word towards her father's people would set off the crest.

"Purified?"

"While she is half Al Bhed, she is also half of our blood- half Taika. She is the chosen one, as prophesized by Belgemine, that, when purified, can contain the most powerful crest magic and be able to destroy the Al Bhed. She will be the one to finally rid us of our long time enemies," the first one explained in a quiet tone so that Nadie couldn't hear.

"So in other words, she is to be your weapon," Nooj growled in disgust.

"A weapon? No, I won't go with you!" the girl yelled from her hiding place.

"You don't have a choice!" the first bandit snarled in her direction.

"But apparently I do, and I won't let you take her," Nooj declared as he discreetly pulled out his gun and hid it behind his back.

"But sir! Please reconsider…we don't want to fight you," the second bandit whined, making him sound like he was no older than Nadie. In fact all of them did seem like teenagers except for the leader of the group.

"She has already destroyed enough lives against her will. I will not sit idly by and let you force her into more bloodshed," Nooj replied in a determined voice.

"Ram…" the second bandit whimpered as he clutched the sleeve of the first bandit.

"I know, Tokko, but we have no choice," Ram muttered darkly as kunai appeared in his hands, "Attack him!"

Nooj stepped back and blocked Ram's attack with his cane and used the hidden gun to shoot the weapons out of Tokko and two other bandits' grasp. With a swift turn, Nooj managed to pull the kunai out of Ram's fingers with his cane and knock down the three other attackers in one swing.

"Tokko!" Ram called out in worry when the younger bandit tumbled back down the slope. Worry was soon replaced with anger. He approached Nooj after he pushed back the last bandit and then punched him in the jaw so hard that it sent him to the ground. Nooj didn't even know what hit him.

"Forgive me fallen hero, forgive me, Sa," the first bandit mumbled as he picked up one of the discarded kunai and prepared to strike. Suddenly a snowball hit Ram in the face and made him fall back down with the rest of the bandits.

"Nooj!" Nadie cried as she frantically crawled over to him, "Are you okay?"

Her response was a groan as he sat up and cradled his now bruised jaw. He was lucky that the boy didn't have enough strength to crack the bone, "I thought I told you to hide?"

"But you were about- …I had to help somehow," she said in a gentle tone.

"Can you fight?"

"No…"

"Then you can't help."

"Sorry…"

"Quick! Give me a sleep grenade. We can take them to Remiem without hurting them that way," Ram ordered to another bandit that was also getting up with him. Once the grenade was in his hand, he pulled the pin out and threw it towards Nooj and Nadie. When they saw it, Nadie let out a gasp and pulled her right hand out in front of her. In one fluid motion, she pulled off the glove and sent a red beam of light to the grenade, making it explode in midair. The gas contained in it was swept away in the wind, but the pieces rained down onto the slope.

"Get down!" Nooj ordered before he pulled the girl under him so she wouldn't get hit by the shrapnel.

"Why? Why is it that everyone wants to protect me? I have done nothing to deserve it. I have only cause sadness and death in my wake," the cursed girl inquired when he finally got up.

"You have done more than enough to deserve the love and protection of your friends and family. You have gone out of your way to protect them and you have given me a second chance to try to overcome my problem. …And as the future of Spira, I do not wish to see you or any other child be used as a killing machine," he replied as he cast his eyes over the bandits.

"Heh, future… Sometimes you don't sound like a Deathseeker either," Nadie mused. They didn't have much time. The bandits were almost done ridding themselves of the bits of grenade and were preparing to charge again, "Why do they want me anyway? They can't use my curse."

"I'm not sure of their intentions myself, but they said they wanted you to destroy the Al Bhed."

"What?" She stared wide eyed at the crest in her hand. The bandits were making their next move as Nooj stood in front of her.

"Wait, I know how to slow them down," she said as she held up her hand. The crest glowed a bloody red, making Ram and his team freeze in fear that she was going to use the spell on them. Nadie surprised them by instead thrusting her hand into the snow covered ground and warmed the stone underneath. The sudden heat to the ground melted the snow and caused a rush of water to sweep down and force the bandits back down to the entrance of Gagazet. With their clothing completely soaked, the bitter temperatures quickly got to them. Should they decide to continue pursuing them, they would end up freezing to death.

"We'll be back!" Ram threatened as he lead Tokko and the others back to the Calm Lands where it was warmer.

"Good job, but they won't be gone for long. We better hurry on ahead. The Ronso will protect us once they hear our story," Nooj commanded as Nadie put her glove back on.

"Okay!"


Yep there are some Final Fantasy X references in here and for those who didn't play that game here's a few minor spoilers: Belgemine was the summoner Yuna often fought to test out her aeons. The final fight took place at the Remiem Temple.

Oh yeah, this chapter is dedicated to the words Chaos and Insanity because without them, there would be no name for the lovable stuffed chocobo belonging to the girl witha messed up mind. And in other news, I'm thinking of changing the title of this fic since 'No Privacy' doesn't seem to fit it anymore. I was thinking something along the lines of 'The Final War' or something. What do you guys think? Well, the only thing I can promise is that there will be a new chapter, the problem though is when it will be up. I'll try harder to make them sooner!