I'm not sure if I should be concerned. No reviewers. Oh well, I don't care. I like the story, the people who read it IRL like it, so I'll continue to post it.
Chapter 2:
Fading Memories of a Lost Life
A small part of Ava knew that Sin had saved her life, that day. Most of her still harbored resentment despite this fact, and desired to see to the great monster's death.
Kilika Island had a very distinct scent. She knew where she was before she was fully awake and realized that she had been buried by crushing piles of wood that seemed to make up the town. She first heard the song, the hymn being hummed by dozens of distraught citizens before she slowly managed to work one arm free.
The pile of rubble moved rather easily before the woman's strength.
A small gasp could be heard, "Someone, please!" The harried cry of an old woman who seemed to have spotted Ava in the wreckage caused the woman to slump back down.
A man came rushing up to the pile, and began to pull the boards away quickly. He had a commoners face, and broken eyes as he knelt down beside her and pulled the woman from the debris. "Are you alright, ma'am?" He asked, helping her to her feet.
Normally, Ava was a cruel and quick witted soul to those who asked stupid questions like that. But as Ava examined the damage around her, the broken souls and shattered village… What was once a proud town, Kilika had been built upon the shallows of the beach, mounted on humble wooden walkways, homes made of simple bamboo and palm fronds, a very earthy and natural city… What she saw brought back more of those unsavory memories.
Ava smiled up at this man, and held him tighter as she stood on her own, "Yes sir, I'll be alright. Thank you for your help."
She was soaked from head to toe. The ratty clothing she had been wearing was on its last limb, and she knew it. A cold wind swept the city, and carried the mournful sobs of new widows and orphans high into the air. It made poor Ava's heart ache.
"Wait, sir," she called the man back as he turned to leave, "I'm rather able, is there anything I can do to help?"
There was a moment of silence from him as he seemed to mull it over. Rebuilding wouldn't start until the morning, she knew, but she couldn't help but ask. "Search for more survivors. Take the dead and put them in the lake," he pointed to where a casket was being pushed into the shallow waters perhaps thirty yards away, "Take the injured to the bar." He turned and pointed to the only building that seemed to be even somewhat stable.
Ironic, thought Ava. She ignored this, though.
She nodded and moved the opposite direction he did.
A small part of her wondered what happened to the ship with the young Summoner and her rabble of Guardians. Though, she tried not to think of it. Sin had surely crushed such a tiny vessel with careless ease, and left Ava wondering more and more about what could have been.
Ava hadn't slept that night. She had spent the late hours scavenging the town up and down for survivors, unable to sleep. Two orphans in particular tore at her heart, a set of lovely twins. Lia and Lilly. Although, Lia's tiny frame had been caught beneath a fallen palm tree, snapping for poor child's spine. Ava found the sister, Lilly, hiding in the fronds of the same tree, sobbing.
It took some effort, but Ava managed to get the one twin away from the sight and lull the child to sleep on her way back to the bar.
The sun was low hung in the distance, and it was then that she saw the outline of a ship. She forfeit the child to one of the elders of the village and ran back outside, and within minutes, the outline of the S.S. Liki was clearly visible. It made her hopeful; why Sin had not crushed it, why they too were still alive.
Ava stood at the front of the docks and waited for the ship to slowly slip into port. She was at the ramp before it was even fully erected and smiled up at the party as they descended to the docks. They all appeared ok, if not a little shaken by the ordeal.
Yuna spotted the girl first, and took up her staff as she ran to her, "You dove in after Sin!" she exclaimed breathily.
"What were you thinking!" Interjected Lulu
Ava shook her blonde head, "I was thinking…that maybe I finally had my chance." They all appeared a little perplexed, watching the woman curiously, "Lady Yuna? Should you still allow it, I will accompany you to the Kilika temple." She offered a bow to Yuna, and remained humbly bent until the Summoner gave her answer.
She nodded vigorously, "I just hope that you're ok! You went after Sin!" She did appear genuinely worried for Ava.
She chuckled softly, and reached out to hold the young Summoner gently by one shoulder, "Don't worry about me, Lady Yuna. I fear nothing but boats, not even Sin can shake my resolve…" anymore. The Summoner did not appear entirely comforted by this, but nodded anyway and Ava released her.
The party travelled down the docks, Yuna offered to perform the sending for their fallen and the elders gratefully agreed to this. Ava watched with mild interest as Tidus went to watch what she had speculated to be his first sending. Too disturbed by the intricate dancing, Ava took a different path, and moved over to where the Aurochs were starting to help rebuild the more damaged parts of the city.
Wakka approached her as she watched some of the players hammer nails and straighten planks on the humble city docks. She watched him sidle up to her slowly, nervously, but did not move. Did not speak. As he got close enough, he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, "Nice weather we havin', ya?"
Ava scowled. "Shut up." Simple. Sweet.
"You don't gotta say it like that, eh?" he waved his big hand in front of his face, "What were you thinking, ya? Chasing after Sin like that? We all thought you were a gonner."
This again? Ava was beginning to wonder how she would last with these people when they didn't understand the simple principle of personal and spiritual space. "Sin fears me." Stated Ava calmly, Wakka watched her with disbelief, "I had chased him, for fifty years, and he fled from me every time."
Wakka's mouth hung open with shock, "Fifty years?" he blurted, "How old are you?"
There was a short pause, "Don't you know never to ask a woman her age?"
"Yea, but, fifty years? You gotta be ancient." He folded his arms over his wide chest and shook his head, trying to digest the information given to him.
"Curious." He looked up at Ava as she shifted from one foot to the other, then back again. Not nervously, it was simply how she thought, "You believe me. Many don't."
Wakka shrugged his big shoulders, "Nothing's hard to believe anymore, ya know? I mean, the kid says he's from a thousand years in the past. I think anything's possible, look at Sin, ya?" he shook his head again, "Look at what he's done. He can take an entire city and turn it to scraps in a matter of minutes, ya?"
Ava listened quietly, then shook her head slowly. How could she respond to that? She believed this backwater native to be a complete airhead, and to a good extent, she was correct in such an assumption. Then again, she thought, perhaps everyone has the ability to act out of character. "Sin is life." Stated Ava calmly, the native just stared at her for a moment as she watched the Aurochs work, "Sin is death. Everything is based on that simple spiral. And, so long as Sin remains to continue that spiral, so will I remain to watch it."
She turned, and sauntered away, leaving Wakka curious and confused behind her.
After living one thousand years, Ava had learned how to make a proper exit…
Ava was ahead of everyone as they filtered into the Kilika woods. Lulu, Yuna and Kimahri were the first ones there, awaiting their two straggling members. The woman stood a good ways off, feet planted solidly on the ground, arms crossed, palms gently applying pressure to the locks on her blades. There was rarely a moment when the woman wasn't on full alert, not that it always helped in any matter.
The Kilika woods were deceivingly peaceful, with glints of sunlight splaying through colorful canopies to dapple the rich dirt and soil with sunlight freckles. Birds twittered melodiously in the higher boughs, and the more innocent and colorful creatures took to making the forest a living place. Granted, the occasional crusader, garbed in armor and donning a blade of some sort, would run by, offering a bow to the lady Yuna as they passed.
Though she supposedly wasn't close enough to hear the conversation going on, nor was she welcomed into such, she listened to the dark mage and the Summoner converse quietly.
"You don't honestly believe him, do you?" Lulu asked, "That he's from Zanarkand?"
Yuna paused, trying to think of a soft rebuttal, "What of Sir Jecht? He claims that he is his father. They can't both be lying, can they?"
He Is from Zanarkand. Thought Ava, though she knew it wasn't her place to butt into the situation. She was there to assist from the sidelines. She reminded herself that these people weren't her friends. Friends were a thing of the past. Cruel entities that had little reserve for kindness or transparent promises. I'm not bitter. She added to herself with a soft chuckle.
"What makes you think he'll be a good Guardian?" Lulu returned, "He's so clueless."
Yuna fell silent. The forest grew loud with the sounds of life. Ava suddenly felt very alone again, a recurrent emotion in her life, a constant, the only constant.
Wakka and Tidus came walking up then, and Yuna presented them with her thoughts.
"When it comes to fiends, he's a newbie." Wakka concluded. Ava wasn't really paying attention to their conversation, as she focused on something else. A distraction, a lizard on a nearby tree who stared up into the sky. Aimlessly.
"Hey Ava!" Wakka called when their conversation finally ended. The sounds of the forest faded as her concentration fell. She looked up at the native, questioningly, "We leaving, let's get a move on ya?"
A small part of her had been listening to the forest as a whole. One thousand years of practice, she had been able to teach herself how to hear everything when her concentration was right. She cinched her jaw and approached the group with folded arms, "There's a powerful fiend in the heart of the woods," she pointed to where two of the crusaders conversed on a bridge not far from where they were, and the large sleeping fiend behind them, "My Lady Summoner, there are routes through the trees, should you desire to avoid the beast."
Yuna blinked. Ava had been nowhere near the crusaders, nor could she see the fiend from where she had been standing. Ava could piece together all those thoughts that crossed the Summoner's mind as the emotions carried upon her face, "How did you…?"
"The decision is up to you and your Guardians. I will follow you wherever."
The group fell silent, watching the woman who secretly feared she might have just given away too much. Her eyes met Lulu's, who glared at her with meaningful discontent. Ava could see that she made the woman nervous, her presence was unsettling even. This woman, Lulu, obviously did not like the quiet enigmas like Ava.
"I say we go for it!" Tidus exclaimed, raising his sword. Wakka chuckled and Lulu rolled her eyes, the tense moment broken.
"Guardians, ready?" Yuna asked, blushing a little when all the attention turned to her.
It was then, just as they were going to start towards the bridge, when Yuna seemed to notice something. "Oh, Ava, how are you going to fight?"
The woman paused, confused for a moment. Then she realized what the Summoner had meant, and gave a small chuckle, "Remember, Lady Summoner. Don't worry about me too much, you know?" This did not put the Summoner's mind at ease, but she nodded and turned down the bridge.
As they approached, the two Crusaders guarding the bridge stood at attention and moved in their way. One was taller, with red hair and a sharp face, a very experienced Crusader she reasoned. The other was smaller, with rounded features, black hair and lighter clothing and armor – his eyes were still innocent and inexperienced, unlike his red headed companion.
"Halt!" said the smaller of the two.
"The fiend standing before you is Ochu, Lord of the Wood." Said the red headed Crusader, "We've had trouble with this one before. Remember, discretion is the better part of valor."
They stepped aside, unwilling to impede the Summoner's path. As Ava passed the red haired man, she paused a moment, "Selfishness too, is the better part of Valor." Spoken from experience, Ava moved on without another word to the men.
Ochu perked up, its long tentacle vines waving in the air as it wasted no time rushing the group. Lulu, Tidus and Wakka threw themselves on the front line, taking the initial blows of the fiend's attacks. Kimahri, though, quickly took Wakka's place in the lineup and jabbed his lance into the plant creature's side. I shrieked and hopped forward, thrusting poisonous barbs into the Ronso's side.
Kimahri fell to his knees quickly, but foolishly remained. Yuna had tended to Wakka, and he was preparing to jump in for the Ronso's place when Ava stopped him. "If I may?" she asked with a light hearted, though somewhat frightening grin.
Nobody had seen Ava's weapons tucked in the sleeves of her jacket. She sauntered up to Kimahri's spot and instantly her heart pounded out a battle's beat. "What're you gonna do barehanded?" Tidus called from the other side of Lulu.
"The fiend is weak against fire." Stated Ava, having watched Lulu focus her fire magic on it, "Just watch this." She released the locks in her palms, the mechanism attached to her arms released the blades as she summoned up her magic and charged the beast. Her blades exploded in a small blaze as she crossed her arms before her and lashed out in a feral strike.
Ochu shrieked and actually stumbled back by the critical blow, two oozing gashes X'd on its side. Ava sprang back to her position and, with the flick of her wrists, the blades slid back into their holsters.
"That was incredible!" gawked Tidus.
"Interesting." Mused Lulu.
"Focus on the fight!" Ava commanded, "That thing isn't dead yet." No sooner had she spoken those words then the creature lashed out with more vines to strike at Lulu.
Tidus lashed out, and then Lulu focused one more fire spell before she had to back out, the poison getting to her. Ava, though, was a good combination of speed and power. Granted, the necessary energy needed to use even a single attack left her too winded to dodge oncoming attacks, and suddenly, she appeared to be the fiend's target.
She battled through three lashes of the vines, doling out heavy pain to Ochu after each devastating blow. Finally, she had to falter back and a renewed Lulu returned to take her place, releasing the final blow that made the monster collapse in a twitching heap before it vanished in a cloud of pyre flies.
"That was amazing!" the dark haired Crusader ran up to them after the fight was ended and gawked at the group. Ava hung back, trying to play off her wounds as nothing as to not worry the Summoner. Ava knew she was better than this…
"A Summoner and her Guardians. Very impressive." Speculated the elder of the two, and handed over a valuable Elixir to Yuna. Once more, Ava just watched.
Once back on the narrow path, Tidus continued on to an irritable and very sore Ava. "That was amazing!" he said, fisting his hands in front of him as if he too had a pair of her weapons, "You were like, ha! Ha!" he lashed his hands out in a mocking manner in front of him, and everyone chuckled, except Ava who failed to see the humor, "Can I see those swords again?" he asked finally, hopeful.
Ava was definitely tempted to show him her blades. Though, she reasoned against this, and shook her head, "My blades are not toys to be mocked." She stated calmly, "Besides, something tells me you'll be seeing them again very soon."
No sooner had she said those words, than she turned to face an oncoming Dinonix in an attempted ambush. One fell sweep and her blade sprang out and the poor creature mortally impaled itself upon her. It vanished into pyre flies before it hit the ground.
"How do you do that?" Lulu's voice was now impatient. Ava looked into her face and saw that she tired of her; she didn't like her, didn't know her, and was disturbed by her abilities.
"I listen." Ava said truthfully, "While you busy yourself with thoughts and words, I spend my time listening. The world has a pattern, and in that pattern, I can find faults and use them to my advantage." Ava wasn't surprised by the fact that nobody seemed comforted. They were all uneasy with her presence. As she looked to each one, she found a general consensus, I'm too…abnormal…?
As they continued to walk, Ava slowly hung back until she walked directly beside Lulu. The most pressing of her problems, at the moment. The black mage could prove herself to be very persuasive, and possibly a threat to Ava once they got back on the ship if she convinced Yuna not to use her cure spells on her. She shuddered at the thought.
"I'm really not a bad person." Ava began.
"I never said you were." Replied the dark mage, who, like Ava, stared straight ahead, not looking at the other. There was a long pause, then, "Your abilities… You're not human, are you?"
Ava was thankful that they appeared to be far enough behind that only the Ronso could hear them, and he already knew most of this information. "In a way." Ava said quietly, "I was, and then Sin turned me into something…less than human. Over the many years, I have taken the curses and turned them to my advantages."
"What are you then?" she demanded, calmer now. Apparently she was content that she was getting something close enough to straight answers.
"An Angel of Sin."
Lulu paused for a long moment now, "Ava…" she finally said, "Avamarine. But… They were eradicated twenty years ago!"
Ava shook her head, "I am the last, and the Priest's at Bevelle tried to keep my existence unknown. The only creature on the planet capable of repelling Sin. Who knew what would have happened if anyone else found out."
"That is why you chased after Sin, back on the ship then?"
Ava shook her blonde head as the group rounded a bend, and found themselves standing at the base of the stone steps leading up to Kilika. "That…" she said, "That was personal." She ended the conversation there, approaching the group to head up the steps.
Lulu was at least a bit happier. Though her pale face didn't express it, Ava could sense it. Ava also knew that Lulu would keep that vital fact about their companion to herself, having gotten the necessary answers she needed. She now knew that Ava also had a personal agenda she was keeping to, one that somehow involved the Summoner and her rather large group of Guardians.
"You wanna race, huh?" Tidus stood at a bend in the steps, watching the Aurochs wordlessly challenge him with mocking chuckles.
Wakka stood up to the 'starting line' and chuckled, "Yuna, will you do the honors?"
Ava sensed ahead, but her previous injuries were impeding her hearing.
"READY?" called the Summoner.
Something wasn't right though… The rhythm…
"Wai-"
Yuna took off running, and her Guardians and the Aurochs right behind her.
"Stop! You fools!" Ava stumbled after them, Lulu hot on her heels sensing Ava's distress before Wakka came rushing back down.
"Quick, everyone! Sin Spawn!"
"You really do have a sixth sense for this." Lulu commented just before they reached the plateau.
Ava made no comment. This next battle wasn't going to turn out favorably for her. She quickly did a mental check. Poisoned, undernourished (she hadn't eaten since Besaid), exhausted (hadn't slept the night before)…
She wasn't liking the look of that shell, though. Her blades would be awkward and inaccurate with the hand-like vines, and virtually useless for the sheer amount of power she would need to penetrate it. She hung back, letting Tidus, Wakka and Lulu out first.
They lashed out the vine like hands, taking down the first one with ease. Tidus, though, didn't last long, and had to falter out and Kimahri quickly took his place. "Why aren't you fighting?" demanded Tidus as he watched Ava stand well back in the fray. She made it obvious that she wasn't going to be fighting anytime soon.
"Not yet." Ava stated calmly.
Lulu's magic felled another of the hand like tentacles, which burrowed down into the ground. All attention turned to the shell, which only Kimahri appeared able to properly strike. Lulu's magic worked well, but Wakka's ball and Tidus's sword did nothing against the metallic crust.
Finally, though, after a good while, the beast burst forth from his shell. His mouth oozed a noxious green pollen, and Ava cringed slightly. Kimahri and Wakka both had to filter out for Tidus, and Ava. She tried to appear calm, composed and fit as she paced her beats, although, her vision wavered violently. Things weren't looking good for the woman, in every literal way!
The beast lashed out first at Tidus, he struck back, and Ava flipped out her blades and charged the beast with all she had! As big as it was, though, she missed the beast by feet, and it countered with a wicked strike that sent her flying back. She stood to her feet, trying not to sway.
"Hey hey! He's over there!" Wakka shouted from the sidelines.
"Shut up!" she huffed, "You use a ball for a weapon." Her insult faltered out though. The Sin Spawn reared back as Lulu pelted him with fire, Tidus lashed out with his sword once again, but Ava didn't have time to attack before the beast let out a great sigh. The green gas poured out onto the cement steps, and everyone quickly covered their face, though, it appeared in vain… Ava's vision doubled, swayed, blurred, then everything just went dark…
"It's kind of strange, isn't it?" Illaes stood at the edge of a mountainside cliff, staring off into the distance with a grange gleam in his unreadable eyes, "How peaceful the world can be, how at ease I can feel, even knowing that somewhere, someone is suffering because we're still alive." He appeared thoughtful, but the woman who sat in a crevice of rocks on the mountainside behind him knew that just because he appeared, didn't mean that he was.
He wasn't a distinct shape, though. His colors were dark and his features were blurred. The desperate part of Ava's mind had censored the man from her mind, an attempt to preserve her already limited mentality.
She paused a moment, contemplating this. "I am not at ease over this." Ava stated calmly, following his eyes out to the sea's horizon. The beach below cast a soft sound over the scene, creating an ironic peace to settle over the lands. "But I know that we alone now hold the power to end this. That is what puts my mind at ease."
From her angle, Ava could just see the smallest of smiles touch his lips. How he could smile despite everything was always a conundrum to her. There were times that she knew that he had more weighing down on his shoulders than she did, knowing that the woman he traveled with and adored so wholly kept the deepest and darkest secrets from him. He shifted his weight and turned to face her. "You're never at ease. You need to learn how to lighten up."
The scene blurred, faded and Ava groaned out loud and turned on her side. Absently she wondered what aspect about the last few days made her think of that incident in particular. She wasn't often a sentimental or attached person. Illaes wasn't an exception. She groaned again, and turned once more onto her back.
She opened her eyes slowly and found herself starting straight up at a low cement ceiling. She was on a bed, the room around her was circular and quiet despite the two priests who sat meditating at the other end. She sat up suddenly and turned to sit with her legs dangling off the bed, recognizing one of the rooms from the Kilika Temple. They must have taken her there to rest after the Sin Spawn struck her down.
Humiliation filled her – how could she let herself be so foolish as to face that creature injured as she was? Sometimes she cured her nature, the fact that she was stubborn beyond belief. She hadn't needed the Summoner's help, and the cost had been falling before a weaker fiend. One of the priests stood to assist her, but she held up a stubborn hand and shook her head, "I'm fine, return to what you were doing."
To her surprise, she discovered that as she stood, she was indeed fine. The Summoner must have healed her before going to the Fayth. Thoughtful, she figured as she moved for the door. "How long has the Summoner and her Guardians been in the Cloister?" she paused at the door to ask the monks this.
The monks were quiet for a long moment, and then shook their heads, "The Summoner has only been in a few moments, m'lady."
Ava nodded and opened the door to leave. The sunlight filled the woman's vision now, and made her flinch slightly in trepidation. The stony plateau of the Kilika temple reminded her very much of not-so-fond times not far in her past. The fire that burned beneath the glass bubble in the ground kept the stony platforms constantly warm, and the pillars that made the elegant rimming of the sector made her feel very barred in. Overall, Temples put the woman at ease, but she ignored the feeling.
A scantily clad woman wearing nothing more than bright laces, a half-skirt cut off in the front and a bikini walked out of the temple doors with a thug of a man behind her, disproportionately sized with an enormous bare chest and smaller legs in brightly colored pants. She appeared to be conversing with this man, and Ava listened in as she closed the door behind her.
"What a rabble," the dark skinned woman drawled on, "And that woman thinks she can be a Summoner?"
There was no question in Ava's mind. She approached the woman as she neared the steps, "She has more chance than you do," she began, "She has the Summoner's Soul, unlike you." Ava could see it, or rather, couldn't see it. The fire of desire and change that burned in the heart of Summoner's, the same fire she saw in Braska, the same she saw in Yuna.
Dona whirled on her high heeled boots and scrutinized the woman. "And what do you know about the Summoner's soul? Are you one of her Guardians too? Why aren't you with her then?"
Ava approached slowly. This woman, like her, was feral, ruthless and none-too-kind. "I am a comrade. A friend. I have seen Summoner's better than you, I have seen them fail. Yuna is determined, she has a heart for the people, a smile to bring peace. What have you, other than a lust to feel important?"
Dona seethed at this. Ava could see the woman's eyes burning with fury.
"I will not stand by idly to see you speak of another, especially a Summoner, your better, behind their back. Fare well, Lady Summoner, and may this journey show you a heart." Ava retreated before the Summoner could get a word in edge wise. But she could tell that her words had sparked something - a deep unsettling in her soul, stirring how the woman thought. She may never defeat Sin, but at least she might have found purpose.
She approached the Temple, and awaited Yuna's return, sitting outside the main entrance.