Well it seems as if I never update this unless people leave me a review, so...keep doing it, I like them :D This scene was actually going to be a scene my wonderful man Kentus and I had planned out for Fang and Rygdea on a role playing site XD Buuuuut, I had to include it here, because Fang and Rygdea are one of my favorite pairings. This doesn't really matter for the plot, but you have to have some cuteness sometime, right? Besides, Fang and Rygdea needed their own scene! Remember to write me reviews!
CHAPTER 9 - Awkward Third Wheel
Answers. She needed answers.
And if Raines wouldn't give it to her, she was going to the person he had pointed out to her. Rygdea. In the years since they had saved the world, he had made quite a name for himself, though Lightning couldn't say she had cared all that much. Now though, she had become greatly interested in just what he knew about Barthandelus and Raines. And since the later refused to give her any more information, and she had no desire to go and chat with Barthandelus over tea, than Rygdea was the one that might have at least some answers. And some was far better than none.
Lighting didn't pay much attention to the woman sitting behind the desk, though she was surprised at the age. Knowing Rygdea even the little she did, Lightning had figured she would find some twenty year old, with a shirt just a bit too tight and low cut sitting there. And instead, it was an aging mom looking type. It made her smile to herself, despite putting it out of her head a moment later. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
With her hand poised to type on the keypad to open the door, Lightning glanced back at the aging secretary, who was typing at her computer as if Lightning wasn't even there. "I need to speak with Rygdea." That got the attention of the secretary, who spun around in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest and tapped at the ground with her foot. "You, me, and half of the Academy, but miss…Farron, I do believe, I warn you that there's a reason why myself and the rest of the Academy haven't disturbed Mr. Rygdea."
Lightning lifted one shoulder in a shrug, through her eyes did narrow slightly. "Would that reason be about five feet, nine inches tall, dark haired and carrying around a lance as big as she is?" The knowing smile was answer enough for the ex-soldier to sigh heavily and pace a few steps around the door. "Thanks.", she threw over her shoulder after she'd made the decision to continue on and hope they could get any discarded clothes on quickly. She needed answers, so they could just keep their hands off one another for a few minutes. "Well I would ring anyway, if I were you."
Typing in what she needed for the doors to open, Lightning nodded while she stepped through. It took no more than a few extra steps to find the office that she needed. Remembering what the secretary had said in her advice, Lightning reached forward to firmly press the button to ring into the office. From within came a heavy thud and a few sharp words – words Lightning assumed were curses. "Go away!" It wasn't hard to distinguish Fang's voice, to which Lightning smirked before she leaned forward to talk into the communication device. "It's Lightning. Get decent, I have questions."
It took a moment, but finally the door lock opened with a loud click. Tapping into the keypad, it slid open with a hiss and Lightning entered the currently dimly lit room. From the scattered bottles and the way Fang was still draped all over Rygdea, it wasn't hard to decide what they had been doing. "Loight, ya' got jus' about the worst timing." With crossed arms, Lightning leaned her body against the wall and let her eyes scan the room slowly. Both of the rugged people sitting on the same chair were giving her looks that would peel the paint right off the wall, though there was also a hint of some amusement there as well. It wasn't hard to figure out where the bottles had come from either – what with the 'secret' door to Rygdea's apparent alcohol room still open. Despite a raised eyebrow, Lightning didn't mention it.
"You said you had questions?"
With a low grunt of agreement, Lightning straightened her shoulders and looked past Fang to see the scruffy man behind her. "Raines said something but wouldn't elaborate." The heavy sigh that she got in return made it very clear that Rygdea would rather not be answering Cid Raines questions while he had a certain Pulsian on his lap. "And?" "It was about Barthandelus. He mentioned that Barthandelus wasn't what he was in the past." After that, at least his attention was a bit more focused on Lightning, and not any wandering hands. "Ahh yeah, that."
She would appreciate more than that, but patiently waited and was rewarded because of it. "From what was said…Barthandelus has basically the same goal as he did previously. Destroy enough people to call back the Maker. Only this time he thinks he's found some way to harness the power of the Maker to be able to…become the next 'god', or whatever the hell this Maker is to him." Lightning crossed her arms over her chest while she digested that. "He seemed…stronger than he was last time." Or had they been stronger back then? "I'm not so sure about that, you'd have to ask Raines." Lightning rolled her eyes slightly. "He seems willing to talk. Just as cheerful as ever." From the look they both gave her, Lightning figured they were thinki- "Ain't ya' the pot callin' the kettle black?" Yup…just what she had thought they were thinking. "Funny, Fang." Lightning couldn't help but smile over that though, quickly stifling it down again. "I thought so myself…anythin' else ya wanna know?" From the glazed look on Rygdea's face, Lightning didn't figure that she was going to be finding anything else out right at the moment. "I can tell when I'm not wanted.", Lightning said while brushing her hair away from her face. "Nothing personal, Lightning…"
"But get the hell out.", Fang finished for him cheerfully.
