Chapter 19

"Ugh" I groaned as I slowly regained consciousness. My vision swam as I opened my eyes. I blinked a few times trying to clear my vision. Confused that I still could not see anything, I raised my head from the dropped forward position it was currently in. I winced as my neck protested the movement. I must have been out for a while. Picking my head up, I realized, did me no good, I still could not see. I tried to move to rub my eyes but to my dismay found that my arms were bound together behind some stone column. I was tied to the column with my knees up to my chest and my ankles were also tied. I had been kidnapped and I had no idea by whom. The last thing I remembered was the nurse giving me pain meds or now that I think about it, probably a very powerful sleeping drug.

"Help! Somebody please help me."

The only response I got was a cold maniacal laugh.

I was cold, scared, and, it seemed, to be in the hands of a crazed lunatic with no way out.

Gippal's --- POV

"Cred!" I cursed as I ran out of Rikku's room and toward the elevator that would take me to Paine and Baralai. I slapped my hand against the button panel anxiously waiting for it to open.

Nothing. "Come on, come on," I whispered frantically pushing the button.

The door finally opened and out walked Paine and Baralai.

I don't know what happened but at that moment I finally lost it.

I collapsed on to my knees and buried my head my hands. "She's gone 'Lai, she's gone. I don't know what to do. What if something happens to her and the baby? What am I going to do? I can't live without her." I vaguely noted that I was crying but it was a trivial fact that I ignored.

I felt Baralai place a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be ok Gippal. We'll find them. I promise."

"But what if we don't 'Lai? What if we can't find them? What if we're too late? I can't lose her, not now."

I felt Baralai merely shrug his shoulders at a loss of what to say.

"Get up Gippal," Paine drawled.

Something in the tone of her voice made me look up. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get up off of the damn floor. You look pathetic."

"Well excuse me for showing emotion. I thought you were her friend Paine. I would have thought that even you would break your stoic shell and show a little emotion for your friend. I guess I was wrong. You are just as frigid as when we were in the Crimson squad, if not more. Excuse me for caring about my wife," I spat, standing up and squaring my shoulders.

The next thing I knew Paine grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the wall, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Never ever make the assumption that you are the only one who cares, the only one that gives a damn about Rikku and that child she is carrying. She's my best friend, and one of the few to ever really give a damn about me, to really accept me, the real me besides you guys of course. She never questioned me when I wanted to join the Gullwings. Yes she is inquisitive and annoying but I know it is all good natured. As for me being frigid," Paine growled "I'm pregnant aren't I? More importantly I've learned that crying and whining in a situation like this doesn't do anyone any good, especially the one you're trying to save. Didn't the Crimson Squad teach you anything? Emotions only cause you to lose your head and your focus, and that fatal error could cost you not only your life, but RIkku's and the baby's as well. Now do you really want that?"

I shook my head no.

"I love Rikku like a sister and I will kill the son of a bitch that harms her," She growled.

"Paine, let him go," Baralai said soothingly, laying a hand on her shoulder.

I took her a second and with one last glare my way she let go, and from the look in her eyes nothing would have given her more pleasure at that moment than for me to fall to the ground in a heap.

But I landed on my feet and fixed my collar, returning her glare with one of my own as I got my breathing back in order, after having my air pipes crushed. I forgot how strong she was. I turned to Baralai. "So what are you guys doing here anyway? It's late."

"Well we got the message from the nurse, and we got a transmission from Cid. Dravidian escaped from the hospital. The staff tried to stop him. While they were doing final testing to make sure he was recovering ok, they noticed a strange blip in his read outs. They later found out, the hard way of course, that he has some violent tendencies resulting from his mental condition. When they tried to stop him from leaving, he fought them off. A few of the staff got hurt but none of them were seriously injured. The nurses said he kept mumbling the same sentence over and over again. They had no idea what he meant or why he kept saying the same thing, but they said it sounded like he was saying something along the lines of "Got to get rid of. . ." But what he had to get rid of they don't know. Cid believes that he is or rather was after Rikku," Baralai replied.

"And it looks like he got her," I mumbled. I took the note out of my pocket. "He left this, any idea what it means?

They both looked it over for a few minutes, studying it. Shaking their heads no, Baralai handed me back the note. "I have no idea,"

"Neither do I," Paine responded.

I sighed. "Great now what?"

"Why don't you go take a shower or something, relax and then try calling Yuna. She might know something."

I was reluctant to take any kind of break, especially to 'relax', but I knew that if I was to find Rikku I would need a clear head.

"Alright."

They led me to the same room Rikku and I shared before. I decided a shower would do me some good, and so twenty minutes later I was showered and sitting on the couch with my comm- sphere in my lap getting ready to punch in Yuna's coordinates, taking a few deep calming breaths.

I had only to wait a few minutes for Yuna to pick up.

"Gippal! Hi! How are you?"

I sighed. "Not so good Yuna. I need your help and please try not to panic. I'm trying my hardest to keep it together. It's not working so well so I need at least one of us to be calm."

"Gippal, what's wrong?" The worry was evident in her voice and I almost couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.

"Rikku's been kidnapped. We think we know who did it, but we don't know for sure, and we don't know where they are. They only clue we have is a very vague cryptic note."

I watched her face carefully and it was easy to see why the people wanted her as their new leader. I saw a myriad of emotions flash across her face, fear, panic, worry, just to name a few, right before the diplomatic Yuna flashed into place.

She nodded her head once. "What did the note say?"

I didn't even need to take the note out of me pocket to tell her what it said. They words seemed to burn in my mind like the note burned in my pocket. It was just sting there as if it was silently willing me to decode the secret location.

"Darkness

All an Al Bhed has known

Some seek redemption

Others seek a piece of mind

If you ever wish to see her again

You must travel to the darkest corner of Spira

Darker than the darkest Dungeon in Bevelle

The place where one of Spira's greatest monsters once dwelled."

Yuna sat there for a few minutes contemplating the note when her face suddenly paled.

"What? Yuna, what's wrong?"

"I know where she is," She all but whispered.

"Well? Where is she? Yuna? Damn it! Tell me where my wife is? Please Yuna where's Rikku?"

"Have you ever heard of a place called the Omega Ruins?"

I thought for a moment. "No. Should I have?"

"No I suppose not. The Omega Ruins was or is, I suppose I should say, is a very dark labyrinth that has cliff endings that are impossible to see. One minute you could be walking down a path and the next you're falling to your death. Also it's teeming with some of Spira's most powerful fiends. They were some of the strongest we ever faced. I had thought the ruins had collapsed when we defeated Sin. During our two years sphere hunting we could never find it. But it seems whoever did this did their homework. He must have found it and excavated it. Gippal if Rikku is there then she is in grave danger. Am I right in assuming she has absolutely none of her dresspheres or any kind of weapon on her?"

I could only nod. "To my knowledge she has nothing on her. Her knives got knocked away during the fight. Paine collected them when we brought her to the hospital. She still has them if I'm not mistaken."

"I'll help you find her then. I know what to expect and how to fight them."

"Thank you Yuna but I can't let you do that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you or if any harm came to the baby. I would never be able to look Tidus in the face ever again. You're just like Rikku. She always wanted to help when she shouldn't. I know you're Spira's savior," I said before she could protest. "But this is something completely different from an unsent evil priest and a giant monster and it is nothing like defeating a giant machina also controlled by an evil unsent. This is a mentally unstable person and is, to a certain degree, even more dangerous, as I said before, than a celestial monster and a large machine. Too many people attacking him and he might do something rash, something that can harm Rikku and the baby or anyone else. At least with one person there is a chance to reason with him."

I knew Yuna could see that I was right and it was killing her to even admit it to herself, but I could also see her struggling against her familial ties to Rikku that were telling her to go charging ahead and rescue her.

Yuna closed her eyes. "Alright. But I swear to all that is holy Gippal, if you don't call for backup when you need it and something happens to my cousin or her baby I will kill you myself," her voice steely and her eyes hard.

I was stunned. Sweet, peaceful, Yuna actually threatened my life and I could see that she meant every word.

"I promise."

"Good."

"Thank you Yuna. I mean it. I never would have found her in time if not for you, and I will call if I need backup, I promise you that."

She nodded. "I'll put everyone on alert. We'll have the media and news casters on alert also in case I'm wrong, or in case it's just a distraction and he's been sighted somewhere else. Plus even if he is there at least he can't get very far without being caught."

"Sounds good. Thank you so much Yuna." I reached over to turn off the comm-sphere but she stopped me.

"Gippal please bring her back. She's the last of the family I have left. I don't want to lose her, or you for that matter, please be safe."

"I will Yuna. I give you my word."

She nodded and turned off her comm-sphere.

I clicked mine off as well setting it to the side as I rested my head in my hands. Great so Rikku was trapped in some death trap labyrinth with thousands of powerful fiends ready to kill her at the first wrong move she makes and with no way to defend herself. Wonderful. Oh then there's the problem of finding the damn place. If it really collapsed in on itself like Yuna said it did it was going to be next to impossible to find it. I should have asked Yuna if she remembered the coordinates, probably not though.

I sighed, getting up off of the couch.

That was when I heard the knock at the door. "Come in."

Paine and Baralai walked in.

"How are you feeling Gippal? Any better?" Baralai asked.

"No not really. Rikku is still missing. But at least I know where she is. It's just a matter of getting to her."

"Where is she and why can't you use the airship to get to her?" Paine questioned.

"She's in a place called the Omega Ruins and according to Yuna it's basically a death trap cave; dead ends, pitfalls and dangerous fiends up the yin yang. Apparently the entrance to the ruins caved in during the fight with Sin. Yuna said she tried looking for it while she was still with the Gullwings, but Buddy could never find it. And I have no idea how to find it myself."

"Why don't you ask Cid? Even though Brother has the Celsius I think Cid still has the original Sphere – Oscillo finder, and if my memory serves me right, that thing holds all of the coordinates of the places the ship has been," Suggested Paine.

"That might just work." I grabbed the comm-sphere and called Cid.

It connected almost immediately. "Rikku!?"

"No, sorry Cid, it's just me."

"Is Rikku there with you? Dravidian escaped and he was going after. . ." He trailed off seeing the look on my face. "He got her didn't he?"

I could only nod; my head now in my hands.

Cid growled. "Damn it Gippal, you were supposed to protect her. You promised to keep my little girl safe. What kind of father are you going to be if you can't even keep your wife safe? I outta kill you, you little bastard. . ."

I let Cid rant on for a few minutes, each insult biting into me like the bite of a Coureal. The Father comment hurt the most though. I deserved it though, I deserved all of it. I had failed to keep Rikku safe, I promised nothing would happen to her. . .

"Cid that's enough," Paine said forcefully but quietly. "He feels bad enough as it is. It's not his fault."

Cid was about to protest.

"No Paine, he's right. I failed to protect Rikku, I couldn't protect my family. Which is why I'm going to go alone to rescue her. I messed up so I'm going to be the one to set things right."

"Gippal have you lost your mind, you cannot go alone…"

I cut her off. "I can and I will. I already had this conversation with Yuna. If I need backup I'll definitely call ok?"

Boy if looks could kill I would be beyond dead, more like eaten by a Sand Worm dead. I'm pretty sure that Baralai, and Paine's love for Rikku, were the only two things keeping her from beheading me or making me suffer in some other painful manner.

It was Cid, though who answered. "Very well. Is there anything we can do for now?"

"Yes, Cid do you still have the original sphere-oscillo finder form the Celsius?"

"Well yea, but how is that going to help?"

"If Paine is right it holds the coordinates to Rikku's location. Do you have it handy?"

"Of course. I always keep it with me. It's the only part of my original ship Brother hasn't managed to destroy."

"Good I need you to look up the coordinates of the Omega Ruins. That's where Rikku is being held."

The look on Cid's dace worried me. If the name of that place caused that look to appear on our elders face then I had no doubt that this was not going to be easy and that Rikku was in more danger than I had originally thought.

"Alright give me a sec. . . Got 'em."

"Good. I need you to send them to my airship. I'll need Brother to take me to Djose and from there I'll take my airship to the Ruins. I'll need Brother to be on standby with everyone who is willing and able to help is case I need to call for backup."

Cid nodded solemnly. "Alright, I'll send him right over."

"Have him land behind the main building. We have a landing pas out back for airships delivering supplies into the city. No one should suspect a thing."

"He'll be there soon."

I nodded my response and disconnected my commsphere; the screen going blank. The room was eerily silent with no one knowing what to say.

"Gippal, are you sure you want to do this alone? No one will think less of you if you ask for help." Paine asked. I could tell she was silently pleading for me to change my mind.

"This isn't about my ego Paine. This is about saving Rikku. If too many people come at one time is might make him panic and do something drastic. If it's just me, one little person it will seem like less of a threat, something he can handle. If I need to I will call for backup. Paine keep your communicator turned on. Hopefully we can use it to our advantage. I will call for help. I promise."

Reluctantly they all nodded. "All right let's get you to the loading docks. Shouldn't Brother be here soon?"

"Yea, let's go."

Brother was already there when we got to the docks. He was leaning against the side of his ship.

"Brother," I said in greeting.

"Gippal. . . E's Cunno."

"It's alright Brother."

He looked thoughtful for a second. "Where is my sister?" He tried in Broken Spirian.

I sighed suddenly weary again. "She's been kidnapped by Dravidian."

He nodded, absorbing the information. "I just have one question? Why did Dravidian kidnap my sister?"

"I think Brother, that that would be a question better answered by your father."

He just merely nodded again.

--

The ride to Djose only took ten minutes and was ready to take off. Brother was off collecting everyone that would be able to help us save Rikku and I had restocked my supply of bombs, retrieved my faithful gun and ammo and I had a very tiny but very powerful gun hidden in my boot just in case.

Currently I was sitting in the pilot's seat preparing to take off. I had gone through every scenario my mind could think of trying to prepare myself.

Exhaling in punched in the coordinates to the Omega Ruins.

"Hold on Rikku. I'm coming."