Chapter 12: Traveling

Charlie stared out at the seemingly endless expanse of the Mi'ihen Highroad, where a well-worn, but strangely lonely path led the way to the group's next destination. As they traveled, however, Charlene quickly learned that there were more than enough fiends to make up for the fact that the road was nearly deserted. "How long is it going to take to get to the next temple?" she asked Auron as they finished off a monster that looked something like a large, horned bear.

"Several days, depending on the number of fiends we face," he bluntly replied, shouldering his katana. Then he shot her a sidelong look, and said, "Your swordwork is sloppy."

"Well, EXCUSE me, but people don't usually learn how to use swords where I'm from!" she snapped, putting away the Brotherhood. "I think I've done quite well for myself, thank you very much!" "Of course, somebody somewhere had to have given me some help, but you don't need to know that."

"Yes, you have," Auron conceded. "But natural talent and incredible good luck are only going to get you so far. You need training."

"I suppose that you're the one to teach me then?" When he did not say anything, Charlie just threw her hands into the air and said, "You know, you really make my head hurt! Just forget I said anything!"

She stalked off, leaving Auron at the back of the group, and stared at the nearby ruins of a tower. "What happened here?" she wondered.

"Do you know what those ruins are from?" asked a strange male voice from behind.

Charlene turned around and stared blankly at an oddly dressed old man in green clothes and a pointy hat. "Umm…I guess they're from some old city, or something," she replied, slightly bewildered by the man's sudden appearance.

"Correct," he nodded. "They're from a city most ancient. A terrible testament to Sin's power; I tremble every time I see them. Compared to Sin, humans are mere mudpuppies!"

Just then, Yuna walked up and said, "But I believe that humans are the only ones capable of defeating Sin."

"A good reply," he smiled, "I am relieved to hear you say that, m'lady summoner." Then the old man blinked, as if he had just remembered something, and said, "Where are my manners? I am Maechen, a scholar, at your service, m'lady."

"Well, if you're a scholar, then what are you doing all the way out here?" Charlie wanted to know.

"I am on a journey, studying the history of our world, Spira, seeking its stories and secrets. My travels have taken me to many places, and I am troubled by what I have seen." Maechen shook his head and sighed. "Fragile smiles on people's faces crumbling at the mere mention of Sin…they are counting on you, m'lady. Give them a reason to rejoice once more."

"I will," Yuna promised.

…

Some time later, the party had managed to travel quite a distance relatively unmolested, when three people mounted on large yellow birds approached. "Hmm…either those are chocobos, or the people here have bred some super-sized chickens!" Charlie thought to herself as one of the riders, a redheaded woman in blue and green saluted them. "Lady Summoner, I presume?" the strange woman asked Yuna, her tone mildly friendly.

"Yes, I am Yuna," she replied politely.

"I am Lucil, captain of the Djose Chocobo Knights," the lead rider replied.

"And I'm Elma," added a dark-haired rider in red. "We've been charged to guard the Highroad."

Charlene waited to see if the third rider, a baby-faced young man in green, would introduce himself, but he kept silent, so she turned her attention back to Captain Lucil. "There have been reports of a large fiend in this area with a taste for chocobos. Do take care, Summoner Yuna, if you are to rent any chocobos."

"Thank you. We will be careful," Yuna said with a bow.

"Good. We should get back to our rounds now. Farewell."

Lucil rode away, and Elma said, "Our prayers are with you."

Then, the three of them rode away, leaving the group standing in the middle of the road. Charlie watched the Chocobo Knights depart, and then declared, "We should do something!"

Everyone just stared at the young woman as if she had spoken a foreign language, but finally, Auron said, "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'? It's a big rampaging monster, and it could really hurt somebody! Besides…it's the right thing to do."

"It's the right thing to do?" Auron shook his head and chuckled softly.

"Did I say something funny?" she demanded. "I'm just SO glad I amuse you, prick!"

"Jecht said that a lot, too, and every time he said it, it meant trouble for Braska and me."

"Yeah, well I'm not Jecht."

The swordsman looked her up and down, and said, "That much is quite obvious."

Charlie blinked once, then quickly turned her back to him as she felt herself blush…again. "Good God, what the hell is my problem?"

Before anyone could say anything else, a low female voice chuckled and said, "A summoner's party, I presume?"

Everyone turned and stared as a woman in a green and yellow dress approached Yuna. "And you would be Yuna, the daughter of Lord Braska."

"Yes ma'am."

"My name's Belgemine and I believe that I may have a lot that I could teach a young summoner like you. I challenge you to a contest of aeons…a friendly contest, of course."

Yuna nodded and said, "All right, I accept your challenge."

While the two summoners prepared to face off, the rest of the party stepped back to give them room. "So…what's going on?" Charlie asked, confusedly staring at Yuna and Belgemine.

"An aeon battle, ya?" Wakka replied. When the young woman gave him a helpless look, he said, "Sometimes, two summoners will train by fighting each other with their aeons."

Just then, the older summoner raised a hand, and the ground before her burned with a strange sigil made of brilliant scarlet fire. The flames roared loudly, and then the earth exploded as a huge, fearsome demon burst from below with a mighty leap. The great beast then plummeted to the ground, where it landed on all fours and let out a bellow that sounded much like the fires that spawned it. "What the hell is that?" Charlie yelled, staring at the terrible aeon in complete awe.

"That is Ifrit, the aeon of Fire," Lulu explained, not looking at her.

Ifrit was a large, muscular creature that looked much like a wolf, only with long, curved black horns on its head and waves of flame burning on its shoulders, and eyes that burned a hellish yellow as it roared again. "So that's the one Yuna got from Kilika Temple, then? I was wondering what it looked like…"

Suddenly, Charlene lost her train of thought as Yuna summoned Valefor with the usual spectacular pyrotechnics. The great bird dropped from the sky, and after giving its caller the usual greeting, began the fight with Ifrit by lashing out with its dagger-like talons. The blazing demon was too slow to evade the attack, and ended up with a trio of freely bleeding slashes on its arm that dripped fire to the ground. In response, Ifrit seemingly pulled a massive ball of flame from the air around it and launched it at its opponent, severely singing the sky aeon's wings. Charlie watched the battle with great interest, all the while thinking, "Come on, Yuna! I know you and Valefor can beat this Princess Leia wannabe!"

…

Some time later, the two aeons, now badly damaged, still fought one another as the sun hung low in the western sky, but neither one seemed ready to give up. Finally, Ifrit lunged at Valefor and pulled it from the sky in an attempt to cripple the bird and end the fight. However, the demon did not count on its enemy's special ability, and ended up taking a great beam of energy full in the face. Ifrit sailed across the road, where it smashed into one of the many wrecks that dotted the Highroad. The fire aeon struggled to get to its feet, but finally collapsed to the dirt and dissolved into a cloud of pyreflies.

Seeing that it had won, Valefor got to its feet and crooned gratefully to Yuna as it returned to its place of rest. Once it vanished, Belgemine strolled up to her victorious opponent and bowed. "You are quite gifted, Yuna," she said. "With enough training, you just might be able to defeat Sin."

"Thank you," Yuna modestly replied, "But I think that you will beat Sin before I'm able to."

"I…cannot." The older woman looked away, an obscure sadness in her eyes. "Or should I say…I was not able to."

"You mean you're…"

Belgemine smiled at her and then slowly walked away. "Farewell, Yuna. We shall meet again."

After the mysterious summoner left, the group noticed that night had finally fallen, and chose a nearby clearing as a campsite for the night. Once everyone finished eating some of their travel rations, they drew lots to see who would take what watch, and Charlene ended up on second watch with Auron. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear to God that there was some kind of conspiracy going on!" she groaned, running a hand over her eyes. "Of course, he's taking the first watch with Lulu, too, so I really shouldn't say anything." Finally, she decided that it was not worth fretting over, and just stretched out across her bedroll and resolutely shut her eyes.

…Flash…

Charlie looked around and realized that she was back on Besaid Island, on the road that led from the village to the beach. Wondering where everyone was, the young woman strolled down the path, until a Water Flan slithered out of the bushes and impeded her progress. "All right," she snarled, glowering at the little blob, "You've got two choices: you can either move your jiggling ass out of my way, or I'll move it for you!"

The Flan narrowed its beady orange eyes in response to the threat, and let loose a Water spell that thoroughly soaked Charlie's clothes. "That does it!" she yelled, reaching for her sword. "I tried to be nice, but now you've just pissed me off and…"

The young woman's angry tirade trailed off as she stared disbelievingly at the large pickle that appeared instead of the Brotherhood. "What the hell am I supposed to do with a damn pickle…throw it at him and hope he gets food poisoning?"

Suddenly, it did not matter anymore, because Auron showed up, seemingly from nowhere, and killed the little fiend with a single stroke of his sword. When it collapsed into pyreflies, the swordsman turned around, and Charlene started to yell at him, but the words died on her tongue when she realized what he was wearing. Instead of his usual outfit, Auron wore nothing but a pair of dark blue swim-trunks with bright yellow flowers, a pair of flip-flops, and, strangely enough, his turquoise belt with the tokkuri hanging off it. "What kind of crack is he smoking, wearing an outfit like that?" one part of her mind wondered, while the rest said, "Oh…my…God!"

Before she could worry about transforming into an anime character and dying from a massive nosebleed, Wakka showed up, followed by Lulu, Yuna, and Kimahri. Charlie did not know whether she should laugh, or just gape at them. Wakka was wearing a perfect replica of Auron's usual outfit, minus the massive katana, and he walked up to Charlie and asked, "I'm lookin' pretty good, ya?"

"Uh…" Truthfully, while the outfit did fit the blitzer, it just did not look right, for some reason. Deciding not to hurt the poor man's feelings, she quickly turned her attention to Lulu and Yuna, who had apparently swapped clothes. The summoner wore the black mage's revealing black dress, but somehow managed to shrink it down so that she did not fall out of it, and the mage wore her blue and white outfit, which had undergone similar alterations to avoid the same predicament. "Hey, why did you two switch clothes?" Charlie wanted to know.

Yuna smiled and said, "Love may make the world go round, but money's what greases the axle."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? That doesn't answer my question!" the young woman shouted.

Lulu suddenly burst into tears and sobbed, "The monkeys stole all my laundry!"

"Ooookaaaaay…" Charlene backed away from the two seemingly insane women, and straight into Kimahri, who was wearing a finely tailored tuxedo and a pair of sunglasses that somehow fit his feline features. The Ronso peered down at her with an expression of what had to be sheer amusement, and said, "You know, it wouldn't hurt you to smile every once in a while."

"What the hell? I think all of you have lost your goddamn minds!"

Instead of saying anything, they all just shook their heads in unison, and then the little boy in purple appeared, leading the group in what appeared to be something from "Riverdance"…

…Flash…

Charlie sat bolt upright and scratched her head in utter confusion. "That had to be the craziest dream I've ever had in my life!" she muttered, not realizing that Lulu was standing over her.

The black mage chuckled and replied, "Well, whatever it was, it woke you just in time, because it's your turn to keep watch."

The young woman just nodded, as Lulu quickly returned to her own bedroll and fell asleep. "This suits me just fine. Besides, who could sleep after something as weird as that?" She looked around at her friends' slumbering forms, and smiled when she noticed Wakka kicking the empty air as hard as he could. "That guy eats, breathes, and sleeps blitzball, doesn't he? I feel sorry for anyone who shares a bed with him, that's for sure!" Then Charlene realized that Auron was still awake, albeit not looking at her, and she blinked as the image of the swordsman in beach attire ghosted in front of her eyes. "I wonder if he really looks that good under that leather armor…" She quickly pounced on that thought and wrestled it back into the mental closet it crawled out of, locking the door behind it. "Girl, you'd better keep those kinds of thoughts out of your head! You're not supposed to like him, remember?"

"Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with looking, is there?" the annoying little voice asked slyly.

Suddenly, Auron looked at her, his expression unreadable behind the sunglasses and collar. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

"No, no!" she replied. Then she looked up at the sky and gasped, "Wow! I've never seen so many stars!"

"Really." It was not a question.

"Yeah. There are a lot of streetlights where I live, you see, and it's hard to see most of the stars through all that light."

"Hmm…I suppose it is strange to someone who isn't used to it."

After that, the swordsman remained silent, and the rest of their watch passed uneventfully. When it finally ended, Charlie woke Wakka up and went back to sleep, where, thankfully, no more dreams assailed her.

…

Charlene awoke the next morning to loud screams coming from further down the Highroad, and sprang to her feet, despite the cracking sounds her spine made in protest at having to move so quickly. "What's going on?" she asked, pushing her messy hair out of her face.

"Fiends," Auron shortly replied, striding off, sword in hand.

The party hurried down the road a little ways, and arrived just in time to see a pair of flaming orange balls corner a mother and her young daughter. "What the hell are those things?" Charlie asked, staring at the floating fiends with some bewilderment.

"Bombs," Lulu answered, casting a Blizzard spell on the nearest one. "You have to be careful, because they'll…"

The mage never finished her sentence, because Charlie chose that moment to go on the offensive and knock away the Bomb that rushed toward the little girl and her mother. The fiery fiend turned and fixed the young woman with a murderous glare as its body swelled, becoming twice the normal size. "Oh crap! If these little bastards are like the ones from the other games, then this thing will blow up if I hit it again!"

The angry Bomb surged toward her, and she had to smack it again, or take the oncoming blow. "I can't risk having it blow up and hurt the lady and her kid…" Then, the fiend smashed into her just as she pulled her sword up to block the attack, and somehow, Charlie managed to knock the volatile little monster to the ground, where it began to flicker dangerously. "Oh God, this is going to hurt…" screamed her thoughts, as she braced herself for the inevitable explosion, hoping that her being in the way would be enough to spare the bystanders.

Suddenly, Wakka rushed forward and kicked the flickering Bomb with all his might, and the fiend sailed several yards before exploding with enough force to knock everyone to the ground. "You okay?" the blitzer asked, helping Charlie to her feet. "For a moment, I thought you were gonna jump on top of that thing!"

"I…just didn't want to see any innocent people get hurt." "I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me!" "Hey, where'd the other one go?"

"It fled during that explosion," Auron said, stalking over and glowering at her. "You won't be very helpful if you continue to take stupid risks like that. You'll only get yourself killed."

"I had my reasons." "Reasons which are none of your damn business, thank you very much!"

Instead of demanding to know what they were, the swordsman merely grunted and fell silent as Yuna healed the mother and her child. Fortunately, the gang had arrived just as the fiends made their assault, so all the injuries were minor. "Oh thank you, Lady Summoner!" the mother cried, tears of gratitude streaming down her face.

Then the little girl's eyes went wide, and she asked, "You're a summoner?"

"Yes. My name is Yuna."

"I'm Calli," the girl shyly replied.

"It's very nice to meet you, Calli," Yuna replied with a smile.

The young girl then tugged on one of her pigtails, and asked, "Lady Yuna, are you going to bring us the Calm?"

"Yes, very soon."

"Yay!" Calli cheered, running gleeful circles around Yuna.

The mother watched her daughter's antics with some amusement, but then her expression turned hopeful, and slightly desperate. "We're looking forward to another Calm, Lady Summoner."

"I'll do my best," Yuna promised.

"Good luck to you." The woman bowed, and then looked at the rest of the party. "And good luck to your guardians as well."

Everyone gave the woman various responses, and then watched as Calli and her mother waved goodbye before heading off toward Luca. After they left, Charlie scratched her head and asked, "Hey, what's the 'Calm'?"

"The Calm is a time of peace," Lulu explained, miraculously without smacking her forehead in disgust. "It comes after a summoner defeats Sin, and lasts until Sin reappears."

"Sin dies and is reborn," Yuna added.

"What like reincarnation?" Everyone gave Charlie another one of those blank looks, so she said, "I think I understand now. Your dad beat it ten years ago, and now it's back again…but if it just reappears, then…"

"Don't say it isn't worth it!" Yuna pleaded. "Because it is."

Charlene just nodded, and as the group went back to camp to gather their things, she could not help but think, "I can't blame them for wanting the Calm…especially after what Sin did to Kilika. I suppose that kind of time, one without Sin, is priceless to these people, but it's really only a reprieve. What I don't understand is how it keeps coming back! There's something more going on here, and I have a feeling that we're only touching the tip of the iceberg."

…

A little while later, the party had made good time in their trek up the Highroad, and caught up to a chocobo-drawn wagon that had suspicious snarls and hisses coming out of it. Alongside it stood Gatta and Luzzu, who stopped to speak with them. "Hey!" the younger Crusader yelled, waving as everyone approached. Then he looked at Wakka and Charlie, and said, "Hey, we saw the game, and you guys were great!"

"Congratulations, Wakka!" Luzzu added.

Just then, Elma and Lucil rode up, and shot the two soldiers some annoyed looks. "Hey! Stop loafing around!" the dark-haired rider ordered.

"Uh…the lady summoner and her guardians…" Gatta began, but fell silent as Lucil frowned at him.

"This mission requires our full attention. We've no time to waste, understood?"

Gatta's mouth opened and closed like a landed fish, and Luzzu quickly stepped in front of him and saluted. "Yes ma'am! Apologies, ma'am!"

Satisfied, the captain nodded and said, "Carry on."

The two women rode off, and Luzzu turned to his young comrade and said, "See? Just keep your head down, say 'sir' a lot, and you'll do fine."

Gatta flushed, and he stared down at his feet. "Right…sir," he murmured, clearly embarrassed.

Yuna giggled, reminding the two Crusaders that they still had an audience, and the handsome redhead turned around and said, "Hey, Yuna, even though Yevon rejected us we still believe in you. That won't ever change."

"Thank you, Sir Luzzu, Sir Gatta," she replied, bowing to both of them, "But you know…it's not too late for you to go back to Besaid, and…"

Suddenly, Gatta turned to Luzzu, and said, "We should be going, sir!" The two of them then gave Yuna an apologetic look, and returned to their duties with the wagon.

After the group passed the slowly moving chocobo caravan, the journey continued in relative silence, save for a few fiend battles and rather subdued conversation. "Gatta and Luzzu…whatever they're doing, it's obviously something that is getting them into a lot of trouble!" Charlie thought, sadly shaking her head. "Well, whatever it is, they must believe that it's the right thing to do, or they wouldn't have turned down Yuna's advice like that…"

Just then, the sounds of a loud argument snapped her out of her musings, and she saw man in a red and blue Crusader uniform arguing with a young woman in green and white robes. "Hmm…she must be from one of the temples. I wonder which one?"

"We will defeat Sin any way we can!" the Crusader yelled, his harsh tone brooking no argument.

"But Yevon's teachings say…" the girl began in a timid voice.

"Enough!" the man shouted, shoving her aside as he stormed off.

As the rude Crusader disappeared up the Highroad, Yuna hurried to check on the shaken temple girl. "I-I only meant to…"

"Are you all right?" Yuna asked, clearly concerned for the girl.

"Lady Summoner?"

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then performed the prayer to one another. "Yes, I am Yuna."

"It is an honor, my lady," the girl replied. "My name is Shelinda, and I am a disciple of Yevon."

"What was that all about?" Wakka wanted to know. "Was it the Crusaders' operation?"

"Hey, that's the thing Gatta and Luzzu are involved in, isn't it?" Charlie asked.

"I heard they were to use forbidden machina!" Shelinda cried, clearly upset. "I had to stop them."

"What for?"

Once again, everyone stared at Charlie as if she had just sprouted an unusual growth in some very visible place, and Lulu said, "The use of machina is strictly forbidden by the Yevon priesthood!"

"That's bad, ya?" Wakka added.

"So that's why this place looks like a third world hellhole!" Charlene kept that thought to herself, however, and just nodded. "Let them use whatever they want," Auron impassively replied. "They still won't defeat Sin."

"But it's not about defeating Sin!" Shelinda yelled. When Auron continued to stare at her, the disciple flinched, and then added, "The teachings of Yevon must be upheld!"

"Yeah! That's right!" Wakka confirmed, looking a little too self-righteous in Charlie's opinion.

"But you don't understand!" Shelinda whined. "The Crusaders won't even listen to me…and it's all because I'm just a lowly acolyte."

She looked so dejected that Charlie could not help but pity her. "Wow, her self-esteem's even lower than mine! I'm practically an egomaniac compared to this girl!"

"Don't say that," Yuna admonished. When Shelinda stared at her, she continued, "Well, I haven't been a summoner for very long, myself, you see. Still, I can't put myself down every time I fail, because people are depending on me…they're depending on both of us!"

The acolyte blinked at the summoner for a moment, and then her expression became much happier. "Yes, you're right, my lady! You're absolutely right! Thank you so much, Lady Yuna! Now I feel I have the courage to finish my training."

With that, Shelinda merrily skipped away, and Charlie just shook her head and sighed. "I hate to say it, but that girl is one spineless little mouse! I bet she just takes orders without question, which is probably why they let her join the temples. God, she's just a doormat waiting to be walked on!"

…

Later that afternoon, the gang reached the halfway point of the Highroad; a narrow cliff hemmed in by the sea on one side and the starting point of a ravine on the other. Amazingly, a building stood nearby, complete with a chocobo corral, and if Charlie read the sign right, it said "Travel Agency". "Well, I suppose that putting something like that out here would be a good idea. Hmm…I wonder if they rent out rooms, too."

Before she could ask, however, Auron stopped walking and said, "We rest here."

"But this is an Al Bhed shop!" Wakka yelled, looking as if he would rather die than set foot in the building.

"Is that a problem?" Auron demanded in a dangerous tone.

"They don't believe in Yevon, and…" The blitzer searched for another reason, while Charlie closed her eyes and braced for the inevitable outburst. "Three…two…one…"

"And in Luca, they kidnapped Yuna!" he finished.

"And we have a winner, ladies and gentleman! Now let's see if we get another one."

"Where were her guardians?" the swordsman wanted to know.

"And that makes two! See, everyone can be a winner in 'Dig the Hole Deeper'!"

Wakka's mouth hung open, but he quickly closed it again and became quite fascinated by his feet, while Lulu smacked her forehead and sighed. Then, Yuna put a hand on the blitzer's shoulder and said, "Sir Auron's just concerned about your health."

The big man just crossed his arms and pouted, "I'm not tired one bit!"

"Well, I am."

Apparently finished with letting Wakka put his foot in it, Auron turned around and entered the Al Bhed shop. Charlie, who did not trust herself to remain civil, followed him. Only a moment later, Yuna, Lulu, Kimahri, and a very angry Wakka joined them. "How may I help you?" the woman behind the counter asked, with only a trace of an accent.

"We need rooms for the night," Auron stated, apparently deciding that he was in charge. "As many as you can spare."

The Al Bhed woman looked at them, then at the registry book on the counter, and said, "We've got three rooms available, but there's only one bed in each of them, so you'll have to share. Is that all right?"

When the swordsman nodded in agreement, she led the group through a door in the back and into a narrow corridor, and pointed to the three doors on the left. "You'll be staying in those three. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to your own sleeping arrangements."

With that, the Al Bhed receptionist bowed and returned to the front room, and Charlie, after putting her things down in the nearest room, said, "Okay, what now?"

"Do you snore?" Auron asked, setting his own things down in a nearby corner.

"Not as far as I know…why?" Suddenly, the young woman's eyes grew wide, and she stammered, "You…you aren't suggesting that I share a room with you, are you?"

"Would you rather share with Wakka?"

Charlie winced, remembering all the violent kicking the blitzer did the previous night, and said, "Fine! I'll share with you then, since I don't feel like being kicked to death in my damn sleep!"

Auron chuckled, and then turned and left the room, leaving her alone. Feeling sleepy, the young woman yawned, kicked off her shoes, and stretched out across the bed. Drowsily staring at the ceiling, she thought, "Good grief, what is Wakka's problem? He's a nice guy, and I could deal with him being extremely religious, but this whole 'anti-Al Bhed' thing is going to drive me up the wall, I just know it! I know everyone's got their imperfections, but that's just sad! God, I hope he's not going to pout for the rest of the entire trip…or try to murder an Al Bhed…"