Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Square Enix.

Note: Well, I was brainstorming like crazy on how to continue on the next chapter, and I guess this'll do. Hope you guys enjoy it!

And a note to Lady, please get well soon! This chapter will have some.....uh, fluffiness? Yeah, with Movaak and Sophia. Well, it should. :)

And if it doesn't…..I'll try my best to add in some more. :D

Chapter 16

The Aftermath

Tsuki dropped his guard and stared at the fake Anuy in disbelief. "No way....did she just say love? I thought Summoners were supposed to be....you know, pure until there at a marrying age..."

Movaak clenched his fist and glared at the fake Anuy, who was pinned by precise arrow shots from Tsuki. Leila reverted back to her human form with her arms crossed across her breast.

"Ira.....this can't be....I thought you were....dead," Movaak muttered guiltily. Ira smiled kindly and stuck her tongue out.

"Don't beat yourself about that."

Tsuki glanced at Movaak. "Movaak, what's she talking about? Do you know her?"

"Huff...she's my wife. Ira Fuzukami. My past was filled with disturbing things, so I don't think you'd want to hear about it," Movaak said calmly.

Leila looked from one to the other. "Wow, this seems to be quite complicated. Movaak's wife who was disguised as Anuy, and really badly at that, and now.....wait, that means this was a trick!"

"Very smart, little girl." Ira then yawned and looked at Movaak. "I'm not the same Ira as before, just to let you know."

Movaak just turned his head away with eyes closed in thought. But then a scream sounded from a few distance away from them.

Leila squeaked and jumped a little, Tsuki grabbed his bow and Movaak turned his head to the direction of the scream.

"What the, there's someone over there?" Tsuki said in alarm. He then strapped his bow to his back and ran through the path. Leila shook her head and followed him.

Movaak looked at Ira with glaring eyes. "I don't know how you're alive or why you're with the Variants….but it looks like….guh, I'm leaving you here." With that said, Movaak dashed after the two.

Ira smirked and easily got out of her pinned spot. "Heh, leaving me? I don't think so…we'll see each other again very soon." Ira then took out a black marble and suddenly disappeared in a heavy, miasmic mist.

Tsuki and Leila continued running side by side towards the scream. They could suddenly hear a woman's voice screaming out, "Get away you fiends!' and "I'm gonna kick your sorry little ass!"

Tsuki sighed while running. "Dang, it sounds like the woman doesn't really need any help."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Let's just check what's up," replied Leila. They soon found themselves at a cliffiside of Mushroom Rock, where Tidus' group fought off the huge Sinspawn with like 4-5 body parts. There was a woman who was surrounded by a ton of Fiends.

The woman was swinging around a yoyo to ward off the Fiends. "You come any closer, and I'll make sure to lop your head off!"

Tsuki fell down to the ground with a groan while Leila brought her fists up. "No way! It's Sophia!"

Sophia's ears perked up a little bit and she looked over the horde of Fiends to find Leila and Tsuki standing across from her. "Well, well, if it isn't Will's gang. And what's this? …Movaak's here?"

Leila turned around to see Movaak running towards them. When Movaak spotted Sophia being surrounded by the Fiends he reverted into his volcanic arm. With a clenched fist, his hand turned into some kind of funnel with smoke spewing out of it.

Aiming at the Fiend hordes, Movaak yelled out, "Volcanic Cannon!" A huge blast of magma and lava erupted from the funnel, Leila and Tsuki had to roll away to dodge the incoming flames. Sophia smirked and jumped up really high. Under her, all the Fiends roared in pain as the flames melted their skins and burnt them to ashes.

When every Fiend was gone and burnt, Sophia then landed with both feet. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked away from Will's group. "Pff….I could've taken them on, y'know? I didn't need help from someone who's part Fiend."

Movaak scoffed and walked away. "Sounds like you're getting arrogant with us."

"WHAT?!" shrieked Sophia, as she abruptly turned around and had her yoyos out. "Say that again you spiky, red-headed dumba-"

"Sophia, you should calm down a little, seriously."

Everyone turned to see Zakuo walked towards them with his hands in his pockets. There was a hand bag that was hanging from his shoulder. "We got everything we need. Let's head back to headquarters."

Sophia pointed towards Movaak with an angered expression on her face. "Did you hear what he said? HE called me arrogant! That's not true, right Zakuo? I'm not arrogant at all!"

Zakuo had on a straight face and looked towards Will's group. He then arched his eyebrows. "What the….where's Will?"

Leila frowned and pointed furiously at Zakuo and Sophia. "BOTH of you stole him with the Variants help! You even took Anuy away as well!!! Give them back!"

Zakuo and Sophia looked at each other, and laughed out loud. "Gahahaha! So you guys just came here to save Anuy and Will? Well, we won't be able to give Will back, but you can have Anuy back. Hey Anuy, get over here!"

They all looked at the side of a cliff and saw Anuy strolling towards them with her wheelchair. "Ah! Hello everyone!"

Leila and Tsuki stepped back with shocked faces. Movaak just sighed and beckoned Anuy to come over. "Geez, you both need to calm down. This makes our job easier. Although I am curious, wouldn't you fall from such a height?"

Anuy made an O shape with her mouth and pointed up. "I summoned Grifariel to assist me with wings. So I flew up here."

Movaak nodded approvingly. "Very smart indeed, Summoner Anuy."

Tsuki crossed his arms across his chest and looked down to the ground in thought. "I'm just wondering why you Hunters would give back Anuy so…easily…"

Sophia harrumphed and wiggled her fingers. "Well, if you don't want Anuy back, we'll keep her."

Zakuo sighed and shrugged. "Let's just say we're getting tired of getting ordered around by Yevon. It's time that we Hunters start taking action."

"You know that you're going to get hunted down by Yevon and the Variants, right? You'll be in severe danger," Movaak said darkly.

Zakuo smirked and turned around facing the sea. The shore was filled with rubble, broken machinery, and dead corpses. "You know that the Al Bheds and Yevonites tried to fight back against Sin here, 3 days ago?"

Tsuki had a grim expression on his face. "Changing the subject, huh?"

"Not really….actually, this relates to Yevon itself," replied Zakuo. "Maester Seymour has been biding his time, trying to wittle down the Hunter forces by sending them to ridiculous elimination missions. And he's succeeding. There's only a few of us left on this world, and it's hard to come by skilled fighters these days."

"That's why-"cut in Sophia, "Our Master wanted to meet with the Hiends' leader, and proclaim a truce."

Movaak glanced at Anuy, Tsuki and Leila. "Hmmm….there may be a chance to do so."

"You sure?" Sophia asked in surprise.

Anuy gasped and punched the palm of her hand with her fist. "Oh yeah! Zelferd! He's the leader of the Hiends, right? They can ask him!"

Tsuki arched his eyebrows. "Zelferd? Who the hell is he?"

"Oh yeah….Tsuki and Leila haven't seen him before…"muttered Movaak. "Well, Zelferd Sinks is a top-rate Hiend researcher. He also gives out jobs for Hiends, from killing off aggressive Fiends to helping out someone in need. He's wrong in the head most of the time though."

"Wow, he sounds pretty smart," Leila said with interest.

"I don't know, the part about him being wrong in the head got me there…" Zakuo said while rubbing his temple with his fingers.

Sophia shrugged at his remark. "So, as long as we have a truce, it'll be okay." Sophia started to walk past Will's group when Leila gasped.

"Wait, so we're just gonna forget about Will? I mean, he's been captured! We have to save him!" Leila then pointed her finger to the sun. "They probably went far away and placed him in some kind of cruel experiment!"

"It's okay Leila, he'll be fine. I mean, it's Will we're talking about," Movaak said as he placed a hand on Leila's shoulder. "So Zakuo and Sophia, do you have some kind of transportation that we can take to Besaid?"

Zakuo had a half-smile on his face. "It's much closer than you think it is." He pointed down from the cliffside. Movaak walked beside him and looked down and nodded with satisfaction.

"Yes, we'll get to Besaid pretty quickly."

Right next to the cliffside was a floating airship. It was blimp-sized, with wings spanning 120 feet long and huge engines that were on both sides of the ship. The top of the ship was flat, so it was possible to stand on. And there was also a shack like door that led to the inside of the ship, and there were windows which were tinted, so it was impossible to see the inside.

When Leila and Tsuki got to the cliffside and looked down, they were astonished.

"Wow, we're gonna go to Besaid on an airship? Sweet," Tsuki said in admiration.

"I wonder if this thing goes fast!" chimed Leila.

Anuy giggled and replied, "Yeah, this airship does go fast. I was kept in a sleeping chamber…so I should know…"

Tsuki looked at everyone. "So……how do we get down there?"

INSIDE THE COCKPIT

"Wow…all we had to do was jump," Tsuki exclaimed as he looked around the cockpit. There were all these machines and dashboards with blinking lights. There were several chairs next to them for the operators. There was one guy with green hair that was piloting the airship. A visual screen displayed all these messages and some data tables.

Leila looked at the machinery in wonder. "Wow…all these machines…I thought Yevon forbade the use of machina?"

Sophia spat on the ground mentally. "Pff, screw that idea! And anyways, this airship was obtained for the Hunters before that law began."

Movaak looked at her with suspicion. "And HOW did you obtain this airship exactly?"

Sophia had a glint in her eye with a smirk to match. "Oh, we got it from a man called…Zelferd Sinks."

Movaak and Anuy was shocked and looked at each other. Leila and Tsuki was just standing there, uncertain at what was happening.

Anuy caressed her staff. "So….why did Zelferd give it to you guys?"

"Well…," Sophia continued, "Before the law began of forbidding machina, Zelferd Sinks and our Master were very close. And then for some reason, they began hating each other. So they haven't really sent anything to each other….now that was when the law was passed for all machina to be forbidden to use."

Movaak was mindlessly looking at a dashboard. "I better ask Zelferd what this relationship was about."

"In other news, " Tsuki cut in, "What was your purpose of kidnapping Anuy? We thought you were going to kill her or something."

Sophia and Zakuo looked at each other, and then surprisingly, laughed. "Gahahaha!!! Kill her? Get your mind straight, kid! We were ordered by Maester Seymour to kidnap her so that you guys can just follow the path through the Highroad."

Leila and Tsuki's mouths were open. Movaak was just grunting and Anuy was looking at everyone in confusion. "Um, am I missing something?"

Movaak coughed for attention. "Well, we were gonna go through that path anyway."

"Yeah, we told the Maester as well, but he was too arrogant," Zakuo said, as he sat down on a chair with his legs upright on a dashboard. "But he's planning something, that's all I know. Something with Will….."

The atmosphere suddenly darkened, making everyone's mood more serious.

Anuy wheeled over to a window and looked out to the sky, the clouds passing by with the occasional bird. Leila was right next to her, humming a tune. Tsuki was sitting on a chair across from Zakuo, checking his bow. Movaak had his back on the wall and looked very closely toward Sophia and Zakuo.

Sophia walked up to the pilot and pointed at something at the front. The green-haired pilot nodded and pressed a button on the dashboard. She then came back and sat on a chair next to Zakuo's.

And then suddenly, the automatic door at the end of the room opened up and a girl with orange, short hair entered with a cylindrical object strapped on her back. "Wow…what's with this sad aura around here? I'm feeling sick just looking at all of you…."

Everyone's heads cocked to her and she took a step back. "I-I'm sorry….i-if something urgent is h-happening…um, I'll be out o-of your way, and uh, y-yeah…," the girl stuttered out almost every word she said. Zakuo raised a hand to stop her.

"Delna, stop where you are. You're actually needed here." Zakuo had a very heavy tone in his voice. Delna stopped in her tracks, and looked at him with concern.

"What's the issue here?" her voice was soft and caring. Zakuo gritted his teeth and shooed her away.

"Nevermind, no one needs you here. Get out." Tsuki, Leila and Sophia all fell down in disbelief. The green-haired pilot mentally created a sweat drop on his head. Movaak shook his head and looked at Zakuo.

"What's the problem, Zakuo? Can't tell that a girl li-"

"I know that, that's why I want her away from me," Zakuo said with a straight face. Delna gasped and pouted.

"You're so mean, Zakuo! And I did so many things to please you, like doing extra patrol duty and cleaning the bathroom and…"

"What the! You made her clean the bathroom, Zakuo?!" yelled out the green-haired pilot. Everyone then cocked their head towards him.

"Why are you involving yourself into this conversation?" asked Sophia with clenched teeth. The green-haired pilot who looked to be in his 20s sighed and pointed at Delna.

"She's one of us, Zakuo….you should treat her with the same respect that you give to me and Sophia."

Zakuo scoffed and stood up with his hands in his pockets. "Well….whatever. Derek, you should continue piloting this thing, or else we might crash."

"Don't worry; I placed this air ship on autopilot. We're heading to Besaid Island right now….." Derek looked at his wrist, where a watch was located. "It'll take at least 7 more minutes until we get there."

With a nod of his head, Zakuo went past Delna, who was still pouting, and left through the automatic door. Sophia let out a heavy sigh and followed him. Leila left the window and walked in front of Delna.

"Hey, my name's Leila. It's nice to meet you Delna." Leila had her hand out and a smile was formed from her lips. "Hope we can become best…."

Smack! Delna slapped Leila's hands away. "I don't talk to Hiends like you. You're nothing but trash…." And with that said, she left through the automatic door. Leila's face was masked in disbelief and sadness.

"Wow, what's her problem?" asked Tsuki as he sat up from his chair. "Pff, are all Hunters that arrogant?"

"No, Delna just has something on her mind, that's all. Don't take her words that seriously. She's actually a pretty cute, caring girl," said Derek as he looked behind from his pilot chair to see the group.

Turning his head to look at Derek, Movaak asked, "Say, what's your job as a Hunter? Being a pilot?"

Derek laughed. "Hahaha! No no, that's my…uh, secondary job! I'm actually a machina expert. You know, someone who works on machina."

"What the, I thought the Al Bheds were the only ones who used and studied machina?" asked Tsuki as he walked up to the window.

"Well…." Derek droned, "I learned about machina at an early age by an Al Bhed, so yeah, I guess you can say I'm half Al Bhed."

"That's amazing," Anuy said in a soft tone.

And then a beeping sound was heard in the room. "Oh, it looks like we're here. Okay everyone; get over to the top of the airship. A stairway will descend down, so yeah, see yah laters." Derek waved at them as Movaak and the others left the piloting room.

They soon got to the top, and Derek was right. There was a stairway at the edge of the airship that swirled downwards to the ground. They landed right on the Besaid hill. The place where Tidus' group prayed before going off to their journey.

Each one of them walked down the stairs in silence, each of them looking around their surroundings. The place was deathly quiet. No animal was making a single noise, but a slight breeze went through the place.

"I-I have a bad feeling about this…" mumbled Anuy as she was being carried by Movaak. Leila was right behind, looking around.

"Hah, no joke. This place feels like a ghost town, and we're not even at the town yet." Leila looks over at Besaid Island and squints her eyes. "Huh, and it seems there aren't that many activities going on at the village."

Movaak was walking down silently. "We have to hurry…"

The group finally goes through the Besaid entrance gates and was soon surprised by the stillness in the air. Not a single person was moving outside. No noise was being made.

"Okay, now I KNOW I have a bad feeling about this place," Anuy whimpered out.

Movaak reverted his left arm into a volcanic arm and walked forward. "Be on your guard, everyone. It seems that we're not alone."

Tsuki took out his bow, Anuy had her staff in hand, and Leila transformed into her werewolf form. The four of them cautiously approached each tent, seeing if there is anyone still….active.

Movaak got into the Crusader's tent and held his breath. Several Crusaders' bodies were littered all over, blood stains splattered everywhere. Some of them were stabbed through the face and others limbs were torn off. The trapdoor was open, which led to the Hiends Research Facility.

"Damn…everyone, get over here!" Movaak called out. Tsuki, Leila, and Anuy went inside the tent and gasped. Tsuki quickly regained composure and stood beside Movaak.

"Do you think it's the…"

"The Variants? Yes, I think this is their doing. It must be…" Movaak then walked over several dead bodies and went down the trapdoor. Tsuki turned to look at Anuy and Leila.

"Come on, let's go." Both of them nodded and the three of them followed Movaak down the trapdoor. When they went through the tunnel, they then got out into a laboratory that was filled with computer terminals and machines of unimaginable sizes. The grotesque part was that there were dead bodies in here also, all scattered about.

Anuy covered her mouth with her hand and started gagging. Leila reverted back to her human form, and with downcast eyes had to calm Anuy from breaking down in tears.

Movaak looked at Tsuki seriously, and Tsuki knew what to do. He walked over some bodies and held out his bow, ready to shoot at anyone who was going to surprise attack him. Movaak followed Tsuki, having his eyes dart from one spot to another.

Just when Tsuki got to a door at a corner, a loud yell was heard from his left. 5 Yevonite soldiers garbed in yellow armor and armed with swords and guns jumped out from behind a computer terminal. Tsuki spun around and shot 3 golden arrows, which pierced 3 of the soldier's faces.

Movaak reverted his volcanic arm into a cannon and shot out a huge blast of lava, melting the 2 surviving soldiers. "This is not a good sign," Movaak muttered.

Tsuki nodded and kicked down the door with his foot. The door crashed down with a thud, and both Tsuki and Movaak rushed in.

The place was a mess, the bookshelves were on the floor with books sprawled everywhere, the table was overturned and the chairs were broken into splinters…and they looked metallic. There was another doorway, but it was missing a door.

Looking around, Movaak sighed. "This was where I brought Will to see if he had any Fiend abilities."

Tsuki walked towards a fallen book, sat on one knee, and grabbed it off the floor. The book's cover stated, "The Molecular Structures of Humans and Fiends, By Zelferd Sinks".

"Wow….when you said Zelferd Sinks was a top-rate Hiends researcher, you weren't kidding, "Tsuki said as he skimmed through several pages of the book. Movaak shook his head and took the book away from him.

"Come on Tsuki, there's no time to read. Let's go." Tsuki nodded and got up.

"Should we leave Anuy and Leila over there? Do you think they'll be okay? And how about the Hunters?" Tsuki started to ask several more questions when Movaak just hit Tsuki on the top of his head with the book.

"They'll be fine. Let's just go."

They both walked through the other doorway and when they got out….they saw a very unwelcoming sight.

Zelferd was floating midair with chains attached to both his wrists and ankles. His head was down, so they couldn't see his face. A man with blue hair that formed 2 antennas at the front was standing in front of him, smacking Zelferd numerous times in the face.

"So…you won't tell me where the Thing is? Then take another one of this!" Smack! Seymour's hand smacked Zelferd across his left cheek, which was already turning deep red.

"Zelferd!" yelled out Movaak. With the sudden outburst, Seymour jumped a little and turned around with his red staff in front of him.

"What the…..oh, a Hiend….I thought my men subdued you when you guys entered here." Seymour's voice had a huge amount of malice and sarcasm. Tsuki strung his bow and gathered some mana.

"Let the man go, Maester Seymour. What you're doing is against the laws of Yevon." Tsuki took aim at Seymour's face.

Seymour gave off a huge smirk. "Me? Against the laws of Yevon? Hahahahaha! Who listens to that crap nowadays? I make my OWN rules….you cannot stop me you little, impudent child!"

Zelferd looked up and his bruised eyes lit up from seeing Movaak and the kid beside him. "Mo….vaak……you came….."

Movaak nodded and turned towards Seymour. "Let's talk later, Zelferd. We got someone here to deal with first."

Seymour chuckled and held his staff vertically. "Oh, you make it sound easy. But let me show you….that the force of Yevon is not to be trifled with! Arise, Anima!"

A huge, glowing glyph appeared below Seymour, and he started chanting some incoherent words. Tsuki gripped his bow harder and Movaak transformed his volcanic arm into a cannon.

Seymour's eyes lit up wide and he sneered. "Ready to die?" A scream filled up the whole entire room.

A/N: Wow…..I haven't updated in over 2 weeks. I'm SO SORRY everyone! But now, here's a new chapter that I hope will ease your desires…..oh, what am I talking about! .

But anyways, hope you guys are enjoying the story, and please R&R! :D

NEW CHARACTER INFO

Name: Derek Ralfon

Age: 26

Race: Lucain

Height: 5'11

Weight: 136

Build: Lean built

Main Weapon: A gun dagger

Special Skills:

Death Shot: The dagger shines brightly and a huge bolt shoots out, and any enemy that gets hit will fall.

Slashing Bullet: When Derek slashes the dagger, pieces of the blade will fall off. These pieces act as tiny bullets.

Overdrive: Multi-Shot Spherica: Derek raises his gun dagger above his head, and little pores appear in the blade. Then millions of bullets shoots out, piercing all who' near and far from Derek. Hits a huge radius.

Appearance: He has short green hair and a peach complexion. Wears a green T-shirt with a brown vest and wears blue jeans. Wears black boots. He also has green eyes.

Personality: Derek's a kind fellow who cares for all people. When someone abuses another person, Derek comes to the rescue, getting ready to defend them with his life. When in battle, he becomes serious and will do anything to accomplish his mission.

Proficient Ability: He's able to move swiftly and shoot accurately. And he's able to get to finish off an opponent.

Fighting Style: Speed and Range

Was This Person Born or Warped to Spira: He was born in Luca.

Reason Why Your Character Joined The Hunters: His Al Bhed teacher was killed by a group of Fiends, so Derek took an oath to avenge his teacher.

Background: What was your character's life like back at home/Spira? Derek's life was decent, having a great relationship with his parents and his 2 siblings. He helps his parents out many times, and wish to become just like them. When he grew up, he then started taking care of his younger friends.

Later on, he was then tutored by an Al Bhed man, who his parents paid well. They wanted him to learn about the properties of machine and the like. Derek first hated the Al Bhed man, but later on started to take care of him, because of his poor health.

During a session where they were salvaging for some ancient machina parts, a huge amount of Fiends ambushed them and killed the teacher. Derek had a dagger at the time and killed them all off. After the sad event, he said an oath to avenge his teacher by killing all the Fiends who inhabit the world. He still does to this day.

Name: Delna Fuzumaki

Age: 15

Race: Al Bhedian

Height: 5'8

Weight: 110

Build: Kind of skinny

Main Weapon: A mana-charged bazooka

Special Skills:

Infernal Flames: The bazooka changes color to red and shoots out a huge splurge of flames.

Icicle Shard: The bazooka turns blue and shoots out a huge shard of ice, which freezes any enemy it touches.

Spark Shock: The bazooka turns yellow and shoots out a stream of electricity. Shocks and stuns the enemy in place for an easy kill.

Acid Torrent: The bazooka turns purple and a blast of acidic mud shoots out, melting anything in its path.

Overdrive: Havoc Elementalis: The bazooka turns into a combination of red, blue, yellow and purple, and shoots out a ray of dark mana that can obliterate anything in its path.

Appearance: She has orange hair that stops above her shoulders and has green eyes with the Al Bhed symbol. She also has a peach complexion and wears a red, tight shirt with green jeans that goes above her thighs. Her shoes were normal looking. A goggle set was placed on her forehead.

Personality: Delna is a bubbly, aura-obsessed girl who just loves to talk to other people. She also tries to seduce any boy she likes and tries to do anything for them. In battle, she's focused and has a good sense of her surroundings.

Proficient Ability: Can tell the difference between mana energies and elements. She can be taken down really easily though.

Fighting Style: Power

Was This Person Born or Warped to Spira: She was born in Home.

Reason Why Your Character Joined The Hunters: When the Home was destroyed.

Background: What was your character's life like back at home/Spira? As usual at Home, she would work on machina and fix them with her dad. Her mom and dad were divorced when she was little, so she knows little about her mom. When she was little, she was known for collecting little, colorful mana balls which floated in the air.

When she grew older, she then started studying about mana, which was peculiar for an Al Bhed person. She was seen as a freak, an outcast, and no one wanted to talk to her. Her father even abandoned her. But she still kept on her bubbly personality.

But when the day came that the Home was intruded and destroyed, she left and started going around the world. Partway, she was spotted by Zakuo and joined the Hunters. In her head she wanted to find a way to rebuild the Home. And she still does to this day.