I released two chapters today, because this one was so short. Unless anyone has a good reason why I shouldn't, I think I will just release all the remaining chapters next week. Not this week, because I've still got to pack for camp.
Anyways, enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rikku led the guardians, along with Dona, Isaaru, Pacce, and Maroda, out of the Summoner's Sanctum. She led through a corridor to a hanger, where they boarded some kind of large vessel. Tidus wasn't sure what it was or what they were going to do there, but he trusted Rikku. If this thing would get them out of Home to find Yuna, that he wouldn't argue.
The group boarded the ship, where several Al Bhed were rushing around and tinkering with various machina. One of them was Rikku's father, Cid. The Al Bhed talked to each other and Rikku in their own language, so Tidus had no idea what was being said.
"Where's Yuna?" Tidus asked Cid. He didn't answer, instead saying something to a pilot in Al Bhed. Tidus still hadn't gotten his emotions fully under control yet and was tired of waiting to find Yuna.
"I said, where is she?" Tidus grabbed Cid by the collar and shook him. It felt good to toss something around after what he'd learned. "Answer me! Answer me!"
Cid was unfazed. "What'll you do when you find her, eh?" he asked.
Tidus released him. "I didn't know anything about what a summoner is supposed to do. And I told her all those things without even knowing. I've got to tell her." Tidus shut his eyes for a moment and sucked in a breath. "I've got to tell her I'm sorry!"
"That's it?" Cid asked, anger rising in his voice. "You're gonna tell her you're sorry? And then you just drag her to Zanarkand and make her fight Sin, huh? You're all the same- let the summoner die so we can live in peace!" Cid grabbed Tidus by the shoulders and flipped him to the floor. Tidus didn't resist.
"No!" he shouted back, looking up at Cid. "I'm not gonna let Yuna die!"
"Hah! Words!" Cid scoffed. "Show me action!"
"I'm telling you, she won't die!" Tidus said defiantly. He stood back up, ignoring the bruises from his rough fall.
Cid looked Tidus in the eye. "Boy, don't forget those words, 'cause if you do, I'm gonna make you regret it."
"I won't," Tidus answered, and he meant it. Wherever Yuna was, he'd find her. And he would find some way she didn't have to die.
"So you know where she is?" Tidus asked Cid.
"'Course not! That's why we're gonna look!" Cid replied. "Using this airship!" He gestured to the walls around him.
"A-Airship?" Wakka looked around in a panic. Clearly, the thought of riding inside a machina device was not settling well with him.
"Vydran! Nayto du ku!" the driver called. Tidus recognized him as the Al Bhed who'd tried to kidnap Yuna at Macalania, Rikku's brother.
Cid let out a boisterous laugh. "Oaaryy! Y vmerkrd one thousand years ujantia!" He mixed some English in with his Al Bhed, but that didn't help Tidus understand.
A creaking filled the air, and light from above flooded in through the large window at the front of the airship's bridge. Tidus looked up out the windshield. He could see the sky beyond the underground hanger. The ship began to rock, then rise out of the compartment. Tidus felt a smile grow over his face in spite of his worry for Yuna. They were flying!
"Fruy! Ed sujac!" Rikku's brother gasped from the pilot set.
Cid let out another cackling laugh. "Necg pek, feh pek!" he shouted. Tidus couldn't understand, but Cid seemed pleased.
The airship lifted fully out of the hanger into the bright daylight of the desert. Several flying fiends summoned by the Guado began to close in on them, but Rikku's brother managed to steer around them. As the airship began to pick up speed, Tidus fought to keep his balance. Flying was certainly a new experience for him. Wakka and Lulu let out gasps, leaning against the walls. Well, at least I'm not the only one out my depth anymore.
"Fruy! Ed vmeac!" Brother gasped from the pilot seat. He grasped the controls tightly, struggling to keep the airship straight. Tidus got the feeling this wasn't the most well-planned escape.
"Haqd, fa ica dryd!" Cid shouted in Al Bhed. He stood beside the pilot's seat and seemed to be ordering his son to do something.
Brother hung his head and mumbled glumly. "Frydajan oui cyo."
Then he started singing. Tidus recognized it as the hymn that the fayth sung. Brother's voice was thick with sorrow. Cid joined him, as did many other Al Bhed standing in the cockpit. Rikku hung her head, looking as though she might cry.
"What's going on?" Wakka, who had regained his footing, asked.
"We're…" Rikku let out a long sigh. "We're going to blow up our Home."
"How?" Lulu asked.
"With one of the forbidden machina!" Cid announced. He turned to an Al Bhed sitting at a terminal to Brother's left. "Nayto? Vena!"
The airship shook for a few moments, then jerked as the missiles left it. Tidus couldn't see behind them, but he heard it as the explosives hit their target. A slight sob escaped Rikku, who rubbed angrily at her eyes.
"Rinno!" Cid shouted at Brother, and the airship sped up. Tidus immediately saw why. The shockwave of fire from the explosives was threatening to engulf them. The wave of fire came closer, closer…
For a moment, the fire overtook them, and nearly everyone was knocked off their feet. Brother sped up even more, and they surged out of the shockwave. Cid staggered back up to his feet, laughing like a maniac.
"Gah-hah-hah-hah! Nadinh du cyht!"
Cid walked over to Brother, who was sobbing. He rested a hand on his shoulder and said something in Al Bhed. Whatever he said, it seemed to help calm Brother. Rikku, however, wasn't looking very good, though she was managing to keep tears at bay. A lot better than I'd be doing, Tidus thought.
"Hey, look, don't get so down," Wakka said to Rikku. He struggled for a moment, thinking of how to console her. Then he laughed. "Boom! Like happy festival fireworks, ya?"
Rikku clenched her teeth and looked like she might hit him. "You can cram your happy festival, you big meanie!"
Wakka looked down at the ground, clearly contrite.
Tidus let out a breath, leaning against the wall. They'd made it out of Home alive, and now it was on to find Yuna. Yuna… We'll find you, I promise. And I'll find some way you don't have to die.
Tidus turned to Cid, who was examining some kind of big, glowing sphere thing near the center of the room.
"Did you find anything out about Yuna?" Tidus asked.
"I'm lookin' into it, okay?" Cid snapped. "Don't worry, I'm using a sphere oscillo-finder. If she's out there, we'll get her."
"A sphere oscillo-finder?" Tidus asked, eyes wide. I guess that's the big glowing ball.
"It's an ancient machina," Cid explained. "I don't know how it works either, so don't ask me, okay?"
"And you still use it?" Lulu, who was standing nearby, asked.
Cid let out a chuckle. "I don't even rightly know how this rig flies, either! All because of the Yevon taboo on machina, we're running around in the dark here!" His face stretched in a disturbing grin. "Ain't it a rush, kiddos?"
Cid turned back to tinkering with the device, but still spoke. "It's late in the day, so we'll be turning in soon. There're some sleeping quarters below deck. I'll have someone show you all down there."
Sleep? Tidus hadn't thought about sleep for a long time. They'd arrived in Macalania, been attacked by Al Bhed, made their way to the temple, fought Seymour, ran, fallen, and been transported to Bikanel. Who knew how many days it had been? Tidus' eyes grew heavy at the thought. Yeah, sleep sounds nice.
An Al Bhed had shown the guardians to sleeping quarters below deck. They were cramped little places, but at least there were beds. Tidus, Auron, and Wakka were all in one tiny room with a triple bunk bed pressed against the wall. There were no windows and only one minute light hanging in the corner. Wakka, already uncomfortable about being so high in the sky, had taken the bottom bunk. Tidus had claimed the top one, and Auron hadn't complained about sleeping in the middle one. Auron was even more silent than usual and had said next to nothing since they arrived on the airship.
Tidus was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. All he could see, every time he closed his eyes, was Yuna. She was always smiling, always laughing, even though she knew how it would end. They had all known, and yet they kept laughing. Really, laughter must have been the only thing that kept them all going. Tidus thought about the temple at Djose, the moment before their departure. Everyone was teasing Yuna's messy hair, and even Auron was laughing. He'd cherished that moment, thinking of it as the dawn after Operation Mi'ihen's dark night. But for all the others, they knew that their journey would only end in death. They knew it didn't get any better. One the shore at the Moonflow, Tidus had jubilantly declared that, once they beat Sin, they'd come back and see the pyreflies gather over the water together. He hadn't known that Yuna wouldn't be there. He hadn't known that when she left Besaid, that everywhere Yuna went, that was the last time she'd see that place. And yet she smiled. Yuna always smiled, because she only cared about being there for her friends. And all Tidus had said, he didn't know…
"Stop tossing," Auron's sharp voice came from below, breaking through Tidus' thoughts.
"Sorry," Tidus mumbled in reply. There was silence for a moment, then Auron spoke again.
"Are you thinking about Yuna?"
Tidus sighed. "Yeah. I've got to do something, Auron. I can't let her die."
"I see," Auron replied. "What do you intend to do?"
"I…" Tidus breathed out slowly. "I'm not sure. But I'll think of something."
One of Auron's mysterious chuckles came from the bunk below. Tidus knew what that meant. It meant Auron knew something he wasn't saying.
"Auron, you know something, don't you?" Tidus asked tentatively. He didn't expect an answer.
Silence. Tidus sighed. Yep, no answer. Not even a cryptic hint. Time to try something else.
"Auron," Tidus continued. "Way back in Guadosalam, Seymour said you, 'smelled of the Farplane.' What does that mean?"
Again, silence. Tidus sat up and hung his head over the side of the bed to look down at Auron. He lay motionless on top of the thin covers, staring straight up at Tidus' bunk. He hadn't taken off his sunglasses, so Tidus couldn't see if he was awake or asleep.
"Auron?" Tidus asked.
"Go to sleep," Auron said sternly, not moving. Tidus pulled back onto his bed. He knew that voice. Stop prying or else. Tidus lay back down on his bed, closing his eyes and trying to think about Auron and Zanarkand rather than Yuna. He'd find some way to save her, but he needed sleep at the moment. After a while, he drifted off into dreams of their journey.
The next morning, Tidus felt rested and ready to go. Evidently, Wakka and Auron had already gotten up and let him sleep in. He hurriedly got ready for the day and joined the others on the bridge. When he arrived, Auron and Cid were standing by the sphere oscillo-finder having a not-so-friendly conversation.
"After rescuing Yuna, then what?" Auron asked, his voice hot. "You want to keep her safe, correct? Would you seek to stop her pilgrimage?"
"Of course!" Cid shot back. "If she continues this fool pilgrimage, she will die! Sure as if you killed her yourself. No hare-brained law or teaching can send my little niece to her death! When I save her, I'll make her give up being a summoner quicker than a desert melts ice!" Cid was waving his hands as he spoke, getting angrier with every word.
"Even against her will?" Auron asked.
"Better than a dog's death!" Cid shouted. "And I'll take down anyone who don't agree!"
Auron narrowed his eyes at Cid, who really did look about to pummel him. "You are the captain," Auron sighed reluctantly.
"Good! Then it's settled." Cid turned back to the sphere oscillo-finder. Auron stormed off into the hallway, walking past Tidus without even noticing him. Wakka, standing near the doorway, was staring at Cid, looking surprised.
"Good morning!" Tidus called out to Wakka. "You okay?"
"Oh, good mornin', brudda," Wakka answered. He pointed over at Cid. "He… He called Yuna his, uh, niece, right? I mean, so that makes her Al Bhed, right?"
Tidus let out a groan. Not again!
"Don't say it!" Wakka said quickly. "Yuna's Yuna, right?"
Tidus felt a grin grow over his face. "You got it, Wakka." Finally.
