Chapter VIII
Idiot
When we arrived at the beach Rikku led us out to one of the old, sunken towers and, as we climbed up it to sit on the top, she told us exactly what we had to do to get our dresspheres back.
Apparently we had to do a little diving to find a chest containing one of them and the next clue on where to find the next one. I was about to ask about the roles that Tidus, Gippal and Baralai would play when I heard Tidus' high pitched whistle coming from the entrance to the jungle. When I looked up all three of the guys were waving at us. I waved back and felt my face grow hot as I stared at Baralai. He was dressed in a pair of dark green board shorts that looked amazing with his dark skin. Thank Shiva we're about fifty feet away from each other, I thought, trying to keep my face stoic.
"Alright," Rikku announced, hopping up from where she had been sitting. "let's get this party started! Just swim around until you find your chest. It'll have your name painted on the top so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it."
I sighed heavily as I stood up, watching Yuna and Rikku dive into the water. I scowled at the water churning beneath me, loathing the thought of smelling like sea water for the rest of the day. I haven't swam in who knows how long. It'll feel nice to actually do it again. And all that nonsense with Yuna and Rikku in the hot springs in Mt. Gagazet does not count.
I took a deep breath and dove into the water after Yuna and Rikku. They had already begun searching for their chests so I came up to the surface for a quick breath of air before beginning my search as well. I could only stay under water for about a minute before I had to come up for air, but I wasn't exactly in a hurry. Rikku said nothing about how speedy we needed to be. I wasn't really looking forward to what I had to do to get my dresspheres back from Baralai. Knowing Rikku she would think of anything she could to make the strained situation between myself and the dark skinned Praetor even worse.
What am I thinking? This whole damn situation is one screwed up mess, I thought as I swam through the brightly colored plants, looking for the damned chest with my name on it. I heard a muffled thud above me but paid it no mind, that is, until something hit me square in the back and knocked all the air out of my lungs.
I sucked in a mouth full of water and scrambled up to the surface, choking and sputtering the entire way, trying not to breathe in any more water than I already had. I broke the surface and coughed all the water out of my lungs, coming dangerously close to throwing up. I furiously wiped my eyes and looked around with anger flashing in my ruby irises, thinking Rikku was the one that had landed on me. My anger only dissipated a small amount when I saw Baralai surface next to me.
"Baralai, what the hell?" I exclaimed, lashing my foot out in an attempt to kick him.
He chuckled and quickly moved out of the way to avoid my foot. "Sorry, Paine. I didn't see you until I had jumped," he said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "You okay?"
"Besides swallowing about a gallon of sea water I'm fine," I said, wiping my bangs out of my eyes. "I have to keep looking for that damned box with my dressphere in it. Are you here to help me or what?"
"Of course I came to help you. I'm the one that hid yours," he replied, winking at me before swimming away.
I rolled my eyes and decided to just go along with it. I hadn't been in the water for more than ten minutes but I was already wishing that I could find the chest and get out. Baralai's help was definitely a plus. I wasn't looking forward to getting covered in sand once I was out of the water either so it was basically a double whammy. Stay in the water and smell like a block of salt or get out and get sand everywhere. Yippee.
I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was going and about had a heart attack when I ran into Baralai. I turned all ungodly shakes of red when I realized that I had run right into his butt. I went up to the surface as fast as I could since all the air I had left was gone after our collision.
"Sorry," I mumbled, avoiding his eyes. I looked around, discovering that we were near the place where him and I had talked only a few nights ago. "Is this it?"
He nodded. "It's right below us."
I stuck my face in the water and, lo and behold, there it was, nestled in between two large rocks. I dove down towards it and lifted the lid without much effort, snatching up the contents before pushing off the ocean floor and swimming back up. "Got em," I announced, showing him the glowing sphere and small, rolled up piece of paper inside a bottle with a cork in the top.
"Let's go read what the next clue says," Baralai said, leading the way back to shore.
Once we reached the beach, I took a second to examine the dressphere in my hand and wasn't at all surprised when I saw that it was the Lady Luck. I shot Baralai a sideways glance before uncorking the bottle and grabbing the paper. I unfolded it and read the message aloud. "You will find the next clue where the summoners used to pray for a way to defeat Sin." I paused and read it again, this time silently. "The Chamber of the Fayth. Boy, that sure was hard."
Baralai chuckled at my comment and nodded. "Let's head that way then."
As we made our way back to the village, I found myself wishing that I was wearing something on my feet. I kicked myself mentally for not remembering to at least bring a pair of flip flop sandals. It had gotten much warmer since we started and the sun was doing a fine job of making the ground searing hot. To prevent my feet from getting burnt to a crisp I walked on the shaded side of the path. I looked over at Baralai in enough time to catch his look of confusion.
"What?" I snapped, not really meaning to.
He chuckled, unfazed by my outburst, and shook his head. "Nothing," he replied, waving his hand dismissively in the air.
Just as we entered the village and started to make our way towards the temple, a rather peculiar thought occurred to me. "Why are you helping me anyways? Aren't we supposed to be doing this on our own?" I asked, brushing all the dust and sand off my feet after we reached the temple steps.
"Well, that was the plan, but Gippal and Tidus kind of went back on that. So I figured I would help you."
I nodded and looked away from him. "So how exactly am I going to get the rest of my dresspheres back?" I asked as we climbed the steps leading into the Cloister of Trials.
"You'll just have to wait and see," he replied, smirking at me.
That's exactly what I didn't want to hear, I thought, rolling my eyes. "That's not very reassuring."
Sure enough, we found the next clue and my Black Mage dressphere in the Chamber of the Fayth. Baralai handed me a black silk bag to put it and the others in so I could carry them a little easier.
"You know," I began as we made our way into the antechamber. "it's gonna take awhile to find all of them at this rate. What next?"
"Read the clue," he said, indicating the scroll in my hand. "And you'll be doing a few...activities later on to get the rest back."
"And let me guess," I said, a knowing smile on my face. "you're not gonna tell me anything. Am I right?"
A bashful smile appeared on his face as he nodded. "You are."
I rolled my eyes as I unrolled the scroll. I was about to announce that the next clue and dressphere were in the secret cave when a strange feeling that I couldn't quite explain shot like an arrow through my head. My eyebrows twitched as I tried to make sense out of what I just felt ,but the only thing I could get out of it was a horrible feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.
"What does it say?" Baralai's voice startled me and I blinked my eyes quickly a few times, shaking what I had just experienced out of my head.
"The secret cave," I said, rolling the scroll back up and handing it to him. "That's where we need to go next."
I continued to walk through the antechamber and was stepping onto the lift before Baralai knew what was going on. He had to scramble to make it to the lift in time. On our way back up to the Cloister of Trials he asked me why I was so quiet all of a sudden.
"It's nothing," I said, shaking off the strange feeling yet again and ignoring it. I glanced over at Baralai and could tell that he didn't believe me. "Really. I'm fine."
The closer I got to the entrance of the temple the harder it was to ignore those strange feelings. They made me feel a little paranoid, like I would find every single member of The Invisible waiting for me in the village square. I let out an almost inaudible sigh of relief as we walked out of the temple to find that the village was in the same state we left it in. My unexplained paranoia went away just a little.
When my feet left the cool stone of the temple stairs and once again met the warm, sun baked earth those feelings of dread came back full force. I shot my left hand out and wrapped it firmly around his wrist, effectively stopping him.
He frowned and gazed at me with a concerned look on his face. "Paine?"
"Shh!" I strained my ears and closed my eyes, trying to find the source of those strange feelings. My mouth twitched involuntarily as I expanded my mental powers around the whole village.
I heard a heavy panting, the snapping of twigs and the rustle of trees and bushes off to my right. Just as I was about to turn my attention to that a deafening roar sounded, making my eyes snap open in alarm. Seconds later a huge Behemoth exploded out of the jungle.
My eyes widened and my blood ran cold in my veins. Behemoths native territories were Mt. Gagazet and the Zanarkand Ruins. The temperatures in those places are much cooler than that of Besaid's tropical climate and the creature was letting its agitation over its discomfort show. The Behemoth looked at us and growled but did nothing else, almost as if someone were commanding it.
"Let's see if your training helped or not," came the unmistakable voice of Roland. "Another message for you!" His magic was cloaking him but I could see him standing next to the Behemoth. His right hand was placed lightly on one of its enormous forelegs. So he's the one controlling it. I should have known. "Your days are surely numbered! There are rumors going around saying that Kaiser himself is going to spirit you away before your birthday."
"He said he was going to leave me alone," I spat between clenched teeth.
"Since when does Kaiser ever play by the rules, hm? See you again soon, Paine."
With that he was gone and so was his control over the Behemoth. It looked around in a confused daze for a few seconds before spotting us. It sniffed the air and trumpeted a challenge. My mind was reeling, trying to come up with something as it began to charge at us. Without a second thought I thrust the bag holding my dresspheres into Baralai's chest and pushed him out of the way as I dove in the opposite direction. The huge creature wasn't expecting such a move and sailed right past us. I scrambled to my feet while the beast was still confused, trying to figure out where his prey went.
Baralai was still in the process of getting up as I ran over to him. I grabbed his upper arm and pulled him to his feet. "Go find Yuna and Rikku!" I yelled, pushing him away from me as I attempted to get the beast's attention.
"You can't take this thing on by yourself!" He protested.
"I'll be fine! Just go!" I turned my attention away from Baralai and to the Behemoth that was now looming over me, its hot breath escaping its nostrils in great plumes of steam.
My throat had gone as dry as the Bikanel Desert and I had to swallow my spit three or four times before I wasn't wheezing anymore. I gasped as the Behemoth rose its great paw up into the air and quickly jumped out of the way as it raked the ground where I had just been standing, leaving large gouge marks in the dirt. I squeezed my hands together while successfully jumping out of the way of each and every one of its attempts to slice me into ribbons as I formed a ball of fire in my palms. I made it as big as a blitzball before launching it at the Behemoth's abdomen, hoping to catch it off guard.
The Behemoth yowled in pain and clawed at its stomach when my fireball hit its mark. I took a deep breath as I ran towards it and, pushing my mental strength to its limits, shoved the Behemoth backwards. I sank down onto one knee as my vision swam and I became lightheaded. I heard a crash and the ground shook as the Behemoth made contact with the ground. When my vision cleared I saw that the beast had crashed into a rather large palm tree and succeeded in breaking it in two before falling to the ground.
After almost thirty seconds of lying in the dirt, the Behemoth rose and stumbled around in a daze. I wasted no time in taking advantage of its weakness and ran straight for the broken palm tree, holding back a cry of pain as I jumped onto the broken off stump. I grit my teeth and sprang towards the massive creature, my breath almost getting knocked out of me when I came in contact with its back. I dug my hands in its thick fur and climbed up its back until I was standing on the Behemoth's shoulders. The beast looked back at me and growled, trying to knock me off balance with its enormous paws.
I successfully deflected its attempts to grab me with the help of my mental powers. I took a deep breath and concentrated as hard as I could while standing precariously on the Behemoth's shoulders. I laced my fingers together and put my palms face down in the direction of the top of the giant beast's head, all the while building my power up until I thought I would explode. With a loud cry of anger I released every ounce of my power that I could, a slight euphoric feeling coming over me even though I was exhausting myself.
The Behemoth didn't even know what hit it; it was dead before it even started to fall to the earth. I saw spots and felt myself begin to black out. I stopped the column of fire that was pouring from my hands and jumped off the dead beast's shoulders. I dropped to the ground with a grunt and fell, rolling a few times before collapsing onto my back. I vaguely heard someone call my name before my eyes rolled into the back of my head and blackness overtook me.
I wasn't sure exactly how long I had been unconscious but, to me, it felt like I had been rooted in the spot for years. My mind was mired in fog and when I was finally able to pry my eyes open my vision was so blurry I could barely tell where I was. All I knew is that it was extremely bright outside. I tried to lift my hand in front of my face to shield my eyes from the blinding light but I couldn't even do that much.
Something moved in front of my face and blocked the light, which I was thankful for. I realized that a person, probably one of my friends, was in front of me. They were saying something but I couldn't make it out. My ears felt like they had been stuffed full of cotton. I tried to sit up but that made my head pulse angrily and I didn't protest one bit when I felt soft hands pushing me back onto the ground. I tried to say something but if any words came out of my mouth, I couldn't tell.
Paine, you idiot. My mind chastised. Are you happy now? You could have killed yourself.
I chuckled to myself before once again passing out.
