Chapter 18: Returns
Despite the fact the owners converted it into a temporary hospital for the surviving Crusaders, the inn near the temple still had enough space for the party to sleep for the remainder of the night. Yuna, however, had decided to remain at the temple and do what she could for the wounded. Charlie wanted to go help her, but since she did not know anything about White Magic, she would only be in the way, so she just found an empty corner, curled up into a ball, and quickly fell asleep.
…Flash…
Charlie stood alone in the darkness, surrounded on all sides by impossibly high, cracked walls made of black ice. "Hello?" she softly called, looking around. "Is anyone out there?"
She waited for what seemed like hours, but finally someone appeared in the shadows. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Charlie?" the stranger said, stepping into the light.
She let out a small scream, but then covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes widened in recognition. "Marcus, is that you?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "What happened to you?"
"I died, remember?" Marcus' gray eyes flashed, but this time not with amusement, as he stalked toward her. "I died because of you! Just like that Crusader boy died! Just like how all these people are going to die…ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"
The young woman reeled as if he had physically struck her. "But…how could you know all this? You're…"
"Dead?" Marcus sneered at her, an expression she had never seen on his face before. "Yeah, that's right, I'm dead! I'm dead because of you! You killed me and couldn't even take the time to go to my goddamn FUNERAL!" With that last word, a blast of icy wind threw Charlie against one of the frozen walls, and he continued to advance on her, his voice full of hate. "You're a walking curse, you heartless little bitch, and now you're going to help finish off all the poor people on this world and then start on our own, aren't you!"
"No!"
"Oh really? The look in your eyes tells me that you might not be so sure about that."
"SHUT UP!" Charlie screamed, tears streaming down her face. "You aren't real! The real Marcus would never talk to me like this!"
"Is that so? Well, why don't you just stop and remember what all our dear classmates had to say about you after I died?"
Charlie covered her ears, trying desperately to keep the memories away, but they came anyway…
Murdering bitch! Why couldn't you have died instead of him! No one would have missed a freak like YOU!
"Stop it! Stop it, please!" she shrieked, slamming her fists against the burning cold floor.
Finally, the terrible memories ceased, and Charlene curled up into tight ball, weeping and shaking violently. The air in the room grew even colder, and 'Marcus' pulled Charlie to her feet and slammed her face-first against the wall, twisting her arm behind her back to keep her from struggling. "Do you see what's out there, beyond the wall?" he asked, tonelessly. "Do you see what's out there, waiting for you to fail?"
Charlie didn't want to look, but she had no choice, so she opened her eyes and peered beyond the transparent blackness of the ice-wall. Outside were creatures from nightmare, all shadows and teeth, swimming through the otherwise lifeless void as if it were water. "What…what are they?" she quavered, flinching as one of them slammed against the wall.
"Those are a part of you, Charlie," 'Marcus' explained, releasing his grip on her. "Get a good long look at them, because when you finally fail, all these pathetic walls of yours are going to collapse and your little friends out there are going to eat you alive!"
The thing disguised as Marcus, his work completed, vanished, his cruel laughter echoing throughout the room as the temperature dropped yet again. The creatures outside continued to circle just outside the walls, watching and waiting in silence as Charlie sank to the floor, weeping the bitter tears she had mostly forgotten how to shed in the waking world.
…Flash…
Charlie wept, but did not wake, so she never realized that Auron sat nearby, watching her sleep. Actually, he was dozing until her crying woke him up, but he just couldn't bring himself to wake her, for some reason. She was such a strange person, a walking contradiction that battled itself without even realizing it did so. "Is this the only time she lets herself cry?" he wondered, continuing to watch her. "Does she really think that she isn't supposed to let herself feel anything? Surely, she knows that she doesn't have to try to do everything by herself…doesn't she? Probably not. She appreciates help, most of the time, but would rather die than actually ask for it herself, thinking she can handle everything alone…hardheaded girl."
Finally, Auron shook his head, muttering, "Damn, she even manages to irritate me in her sleep. How does she do it?"
Charlie rolled over so that her back was against the wall and curled up again, shivering violently, until the swordsman reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder, just as he had in Luca. "Hey, it's okay," he told her, feeling a little foolish, since she was asleep.
Apparently, it was a good idea, however, because she relaxed at his touch and finally escaped whatever nightmares were plaguing her. Surprised and feeling faintly pleased with himself, Auron cracked a smile and pulled away from her before returning to his own rest.
…
The next morning, Charlene awoke with a vague memory of someone's touch and comforting words, but shrugged it off as a dream-fragment. She then got to her feet, stretched, and then headed outside to look for her friends. As soon as she appeared, everyone turned to look at her, and Wakka said, "Hey, we leave as soon as Yuna gets here."
"Where is she?" Charlie asked.
"She's still in the temple," the blitzer replied.
"All right, I guess I'll go get her then."
Charlie entered the temple and found Yuna easily enough, but the summoner was fast asleep on one of the beds. A nearby nun looked up at the guardian and said, "She was working until dawn healing the wounded, sending the fallen."
"Okay, I'll let her sleep a little longer," Charlie whispered, turning to leave. "That poor girl's running herself ragged for these people…but she's strong, so I know she can handle it."
Just then, Yuna awoke and sat up in the bed. "Good morning, sunshine!" Charlie said, smiling as she turned back around.
"What? Morning?" Yuna looked confused.
"Hey, it's okay," Charlie reassured her.
"But it's morning!" Yuna hopped to her feet and smoothed out her rumpled clothes. "I'm so sorry! I-I'll get ready right away!"
The summoner scurried around the room, frantically trying to gather her things, and Charlie said, "Hey, take it easy! The world's not going to fall on your head if you're just a little late, you know!"
When Yuna made no sign that she heard her, she shrugged and headed back outside. "Is she awake yet?" Lulu asked.
Before Charlene could answer, the temple doors flew open and Yuna ran out as if the building suddenly caught fire. "Yo, sleepyhead!" Wakka grinned.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" she apologized, before running up to Auron and bowing. "Please forgive me!"
"Really, there's no rush…" Lulu told her. "Here, your hair…"
"What?" Yuna immediately stopped her apologetic bowing and ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it behave.
"A summoner with bed hair!" Wakka joked, "What's the world comin' to?"
"You could have woken me up!"
"We called to you, but with all that snoring…" Lulu trailed off, smiling.
Yuna gasped in mock indignation, and said, "What is it today? Everyone's picking on me!"
Everyone laughed, except for Auron, who stood in silence for a long moment before joining in. Yuna turned to him and said, "You too, Sir Auron?"
"Once Lady Yuna fixes her hair, we leave!" he announced, his voice full of amusement.
As the rest of the group departed, Yuna and Charlie looked at each other, smiled, shrugged, and then hurried to catch up to them. On their way out of the temple grounds, they ran into Elma and Lucil, who were leaving as well. "Off so early?" Lucil asked, bowing to Yuna. "Lady Yuna, you must be exhausted after working so hard last night. Will you be okay?"
Yuna giggled and nodded, performing the prayer gesture in response. "I feel that I have rested enough, but thank you for your kindness! Will you be leaving too?"
"Yes," Lucil replied. "First we cross the Moonflow, and then we head north in search of chocobos to replace those we have lost."
"Once we find chocobos, our Mounted Forces will ride again!" Elma added fervently.
"Hey, what happened to that guy who was with you?" Charlie wanted to know.
Just then, the missing Chocobo Knight sprinted into view, shouting, "Captain! Waaaait for meee!"
Finally, the Chocobo Knight caught up to the group and nearly collapsed, panting as if he had just run fifty miles. "What took you so long, Clasko? We're leaving!" Elma demanded, irritated at his tardiness.
Clasko gave the female Knight an incredulous look. "You expect me to keep up with a chocobo?" he panted.
Lucil shook her head and turned her attention back to Yuna. "Lady Yuna, I wish you good fortune." Then she turned back to her comrades and said, "Elma! Clasko! Let's go!"
"Ma'am!" Elma replied.
"Eh? C-can't I just rest a sec…?" Clasko began plaintively.
"No complaints!" Elma barked, cutting off his request.
The two Chocobo Knights then rushed after their leader, leaving Yuna and Charlie behind. Charlie shook her head and said, "I hate to say it, but that guy's not meant for the soldier's life."
Yuna nodded in agreement, and then said, "Let's catch up to the others."
The two of them arrived at the fork in the road, where the rest of their party was waiting for them. "So what's next?" Charlie asked.
"We cross the Moonflow," Lulu replied.
"All right, let's go!"
…
The path leading up to the Moonflow was a large, grassy expanse, much like the Mi'ihen Highroad, but unlike it in the fact that its scenery included copses of trees that grew thicker the further the group ventured, eventually turning into a vast forest. They did not travel long, however, before they ran into Shelinda on the side of the road. "Good day, everyone," she said, bowing respectfully. "We can all learn a lesson from what happened to the Crusaders."
"What lesson is that?" Charlie demanded, in her mind adding, "Is it that trusting the maesters will get you killed?"
"Only the truly faithful have a hope of defeating Sin," Shelinda answered, sounding almost as if she explained it to a small child.
Charlie rolled her eyes, but kept her comment to herself, and followed the party in brooding silence. "The truly faithful? Faithful, my ass! The faithful weren't the ones who survived; it was the ones who Tubby and Tinkerbell decided weren't a threat to their power! They made sure that just enough people survived to go home and show how badly they were defeated after they turned from Yevon, but I'm willing to bet that very few of them were officers! Damn them! Nobody seems to notice how rotten the system is but me, and maybe Auron, because they're all so dazzled by the front those bastards use to make themselves look good!"
Finally, she pulled herself out of her dark thoughts, but did not take part in any of the random conversations that occurred between the occasional battles with the resident fiends. The trip continued rather uneventfully, until they ran into a pair of familiar figures further up the road. Biran and Yenke, the two Ronso from the café in Luca, stood under a lone tree near the road, harassing a human man who looked quite terrified of them both. The frightened man finally ran away, and the two Ronso, although they saw the party, pretended they didn't and talked amongst themselves. "Look!" Biran smirked, watching the rapidly fleeing man. "One of Kimahri's friends. Looks just like him."
"What?" Charlie asked, her tone gone flat.
The gold-maned Ronso turned and leered at her. "Both follow summoners on all fours! Hornless goatlings!"
"Hornless! Hornless!" taunted Yenke.
Both Ronso burst out laughing, until Kimahri stepped up and glared at them, amber eyes practically glowing with rage. "You come to insult Kimahri?" he demanded.
"Wrong," Biran said, taking great delight in the smaller Ronso's anger. "We come to warn little Kimahri."
"Summoners disappear," Yenke added, grinning maliciously. "Never return."
"Next will be Kimahri's summoner," Biran added, eyes flashing wickedly.
"Poor Kimahri!" Yenke sneered. "Lost his horn, next lose his summoner!"
"Pitiful Kimahri! Howl alone! Howl alone!"
With that, the two Ronso ran off, laughing uproariously. Charlie watched them leave, and then turned to Kimahri. "Hey, do those two have some kind of problem with you?" she asked. When he shook his head, she blinked at him in confusion. "So they were just messing with you? That sounded pretty damn serious to me!"
"Kimahri will deal with them."
"Hey, I've got your back, all right?" Charlie rather liked Kimahri and wanted to help him, if she could.
"Kimahri alone."
"You sure?"
Kimahri nodded, and before she could say anything else, Wakka said, "It's Kimahri's problem. We can't interfere: it's a rule."
"I'm worried," Lulu said thoughtfully.
"Let the Ronso deal with Ronso problems, ya?" Wakka replied, turning to face the black mage. "That's how it's always been."
"I mean I'm worried about those summoners disappearing," she told him, a hint of irritation in her voice.
"They aren't just disappearing into thin air," Auron said.
"Maybe they just vanish into fat air." Charlie kept that thought to herself, and said, "Hey, we're guardians, so if we do our job properly, then there shouldn't be a problem, am I right?"
Everyone stopped and gave her another one of those "freak show" stares, but finally, Lulu broke the silence and said, "Confident, aren't we?"
"Of course!" "It's about the only thing I seem to have any confidence in anymore, but you don't need to know that."
…
Some time later, the six of them arrived on the bank of a wide river dotted with some type of water lily and streams of pyreflies rising from it like a reverse star-fall. "Wow, what is this place?" Charlie asked, her eyes full of wonder.
"This is the Moonflow," Lulu replied.
"And the flowers are moonlilies!" Yuna added. "They say that clouds of pyreflies gather here when night falls."
"The entire river glows like a sea of stars," Lulu said, an obscure kind of sadness in her voice.
"Really?" Charlie trailed off into thoughtful silence. "That's got to be really something!"
Before she could say anything, however, Auron said, "We're not waiting till nightfall."
Charlie turned around and glared at him. "I wasn't even going to suggest that, Killjoy! I was thinking that we could come back after we beat Sin, thank you very much!" "If I'm still here, that is."
Everyone fell silent and continued to watch the swirling pyreflies for a while, until Wakka said, "Hey, we better hurry, or we'll miss the shoopuf!"
"What the hell is a shoopuf?" Charlie demanded.
The blitzer pointed off to the left, and Charlie nearly fell over when she saw what he pointed at. Off in the distance stood an enormous, elephant-like creature with a long tail, a tightly curled trunk, and a cabin strapped to its back. "Holy flaming hell!" Charlie exclaimed, staring at the gigantic creature.
"That is a shoopuf," Wakka said, amused at her expression.
"It looks like a super-sized elephant!"
"Ele-what?"
"Uh…never mind. Let's go!"
The shoopuf ferry's departure, however, was still a few minutes away, so the party decided to take a little break and restock their supplies while they waited. Charlene, excited and a little nervous about riding such a strange creature, wandered around aimlessly until she ran into Yuna and Kimahri. "Shoopufs! I haven't ridden one in so long!" Yuna exclaimed, her two-colored eyes dancing with excitement.
"You've ridden one before?" Charlie was curious.
"Well, just once…ten years ago, with Kimahri." She turned to the Ronso. "Remember?"
Kimahri gave both girls an impassive look, and then rumbled, "Shoopuf shook, Yuna fall in water. Shoopuf scoop up Yuna with long nose. Yuna jump in three more times for fun. Kimahri worried."
Yuna blushed sheepishly and said, "Whoops."
Charlie grinned, and then left the two of them to their own devices as she continued wandering around, waiting to get on the shoopuf ferry. Suddenly, the sounds of Lucil talking to someone attracted her attention, so she went to see what the matter was. The Chocobo Knight, her two companions, and their lone chocobo stood nearby, talking to what had to be the oddest creature Charlie had ever seen in her life! It was short and bright blue, with long arms, webbed feet, and a froglike face. "Noo, I don shink sho," the odd little man said. "Ish bad idea, yesh."
"Please, we beg of you!" Lucil begged.
"Imposhibibble! Imposhibibble!" the strange creature replied, waving his massive, three-fingered hands.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Charlie asked.
"This guy won't let our chocobo on the shoopuf!" Elma exclaimed, clearly upset.
Charlie eyed the friendly yellow bird, and replied, "Well, it is pretty big."
"It's just not fair!" Elma cried unhappily.
"She does have a point, though," Clasko admitted.
The dark haired Chocobo Knight rounded on him, eyes flashing angrily. "So we just leave him behind?"
"Hey, I didn't say that! Just…"
Before Clasko could continue his reasoning, Lucil sighed, "It is no good. We will have to find another way. We will find a ford where we can cross on foot."
"Yes, Captain, sir!" Elma agreed.
"But…that'll take days!" Clasko protested.
"Where there's a will, there's a way," Lucil said.
"Oh, boy…" Clasko sighed as the captain hopped on the chocobo and rode away.
"That's our captain!" Elma grinned, running after her.
"Where there's a will, there's a way, huh? I'll have to try and remember that…" Charlie watched the Chocobo Knights leave, and then decided to look for Auron. She found the swordsman standing near the loading platform, staring intently at a large, ugly scar on one of the shoopuf's back legs. "Have you decided to try and burn a hole through the elephant now?" she asked.
"Ten years ago…" he said, not looking at her.
"Are you turning into a history teacher now?"
Auron turned to her, and fixed her with a peculiar stare. "Jecht saw his first shoopuf here," he said, ignoring her comment. "Surprised, he drew his blade and struck it."
"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but why?"
"He was drunk…thought it was a fiend."
Charlie smacked her forehead in disgust and said, "Good God!" "So Sin is an alcoholic? Well that's just great! Wonderful!"
"We offered all the money we had as an apology," Auron continued. "Jecht never drank again, but it would seem that shoopuf still works here."
"And that's why you were staring at it?" Auron nodded, and Charlie said, "Well that's good, but you might want to stop eyeballing it and get a move on, since the little frog-man looks like he's ready to leave."
"Frog-man?"
Charlie pointed at the odd blue man standing near the shoopuf, and Auron said, "You mean the Hypello?"
"Uh…yes?"
Auron chuckled at her, but followed along as the gang regrouped on the loading platform. "Ride ze shoopuf?" the Hypello caretaker asked. Everyone nodded, and the little blue frogman herded them onto an elevator-like object. "All aboards!"
A few minutes later, after everyone had seated themselves in the cabin on the shoopuf's back, the Hypello driver scrambled into a seat above the elephantine creature's head, and shouted, "Shoopuf launchin'!"
With that, the massive beast lumbered into the water and began the crossing, moving with a peculiar kind of grace, despite its incredible size. They rode in silence for a while, enjoying the gentle rocking sensation of the shoopuf's stride as the sun slowly drifted toward the western horizon. Charlie's thoughts wandered lazily from one idle subject to the next, never really lingering on anything in particular, until Wakka said, "Hey, take a look."
Charlie blinked at him, confused for a moment, and then asked, "What, in the water?" When he nodded, she stood up, peered over the side, and felt her jaw drop with astonishment at what she saw. "Is…is that what I think it is?"
Below the surface of the water lay a sunken city, one nearly as large as Zanarkand, with pyreflies slowly drifting between the ruined buildings, heedless of their surroundings. "Yep, it's a machina city…a thousand years old!" he told her, grinning at her astonishment. "They built the city on bridges across the river."
"But the weight of the city caused the bridges to collapse, and it all sank to the bottom," Lulu added.
"Right. It's a good lesson."
Charlie stared at them both. "What are you talking about?"
"Why build a city over a river, ya?" Wakka asked.
"I don't know…maybe they wanted to be closer to the water?"
The blitzer shook his head. "Nope, that's not why. They just wanted to prove they could defy the laws of nature!"
"Are you sure?" Charlie was doubtful.
"Yevon has taught us: when humans have power, they seek to use it. If you don't stop them, they go too far, ya?"
"But the maesters have power, and lots of it, being the leaders of Spira and all," Charlie thought to herself. "They have it and they wield it like a rich kid showing off his new toy, but I guess no one's ever thought about that!" "Hey, you guys use machina too, don't you? You know...things like the blitzball stadium?"
"Yevon, it decides which machina we may use, and which we may not," Lulu explained.
"Really? Okay then, what kind are we NOT supposed to use, hmm?"
"Remember Operation Mi'ihen?" Wakka asked, his expression grave. When Charlie sadly nodded, he said, "That kind."
"Or war will rage again," Lulu told her.
"War? What war?"
"More than a thousand years ago…" Yuna began, faltering slightly, "Mankind waged war using machina to kill!"
"They kept building more and more powerful machina," Wakka said.
Lulu then added, "They made weapons so powerful, it was thought they could destroy the entire world."
"The people feared Spira would be destroyed," Yuna said softly.
"But the war did not stop!"
Yuna, Lulu, and Wakka fell silent again, and Charlie gaped at the three of them. "I think I know what happened. Sin came…didn't it?"
"Yes," Yuna sadly replied, her eyes glittering with tears. "It came and destroyed the cities and their machina."
"Sin is our punishment for letting things get out of hand," Wakka said.
"Damn, that really sucks!" "People wage war all the time back on Earth, so could that happen there? If it keeps up, will we end up with something like Sin on our hands?"
Just then, Wakka's somber reply snapped her out of her musings. "Yeah, it does."
"Wait a minute! The machina aren't really bad, you know!"
"Only as bad as their users," Lulu said, expressionlessly.
"It's because of people like the Al Bhed screwin' everything up!" Wakka growled.
"How the hell do you know?" Charlie wanted to scream, but suddenly, the cabin shuddered violently, and the argument flew straight out of her head. "What the hell was that?"
"Whatsh could thatsh be?" the Hypello driver wondered, unknowingly asking Charlie's question.
The cabin shook again, and everyone hopped to their feet. "Sit down!" Auron barked at Yuna.
"S-sorry!" she replied, immediately sitting down again.
Just then, an Al Bhed dropped from the canopy over the cabin, grabbed Yuna, and dragged her over the side into the water. "I don't think so, you rat-bastard!" Charlie shouted, hopping overboard after them, her sword drawn.
Wakka quickly followed her, and the two of them swam after Yuna as fast as they could. They soon caught up to the kidnapper, but found that they, too, had brought a friend. The 'friend' was a jellyfish-like machina, with a huge bubble on top, and inside it stood Yuna, looking worried, but otherwise okay. "Oh, that does not look friendly!" Charlie thought, as she and Wakka closed in on it. "But if that thing thinks we're just gonna back down and let it take Yuna, then it's got another thing coming!"
…
Some time later, after a long fight involving depth charges and various other annoying attacks, Charlene and Wakka defeated the machina and managed to get Yuna away from it before it exploded. The three of them swam back to the shoopuf, where it helped them back into the cabin via its trunk, and they sat, or, in Wakka and Charlie's case, flopped into their seats. "Are you hurt?" Lulu asked, worriedly checking Yuna for any injuries.
"No, I'm fine," the summoner reassured her.
"Those Al Bhed!" Wakka yelled, spitting the name out like a curse.
"Ish ebullibody okay?" the driver called.
"Yes!" Yuna replied, standing up.
"Yuna!" Auron barked, giving her what Charlie had dubbed "The Look".
The soaking wet summoner immediately sat down again, and the Hypello spurred the shoopuf, shouting, "Shoopuf full shpeed aheads!"
The shoopuf, which had waited patiently during the rescue mission, took off again, heading for the opposite bank of the Moonflow as if the hounds of Hell were after it. As it made the journey, Wakka finally gave vent to his rage and did so quite loudly. "Damn the Al Bhed! What do they want from us? What are they after Yuna for? Could it be something to do with Luca? They're mad they lost the tournament, or wait, they're mad about Operation Mi'ihen!"
"I wonder…" Lulu said thoughtfully, seemingly unruffled by the kidnapping. "Didn't Kimahri's clansmen say something about summoners…disappearing?"
The blitzer gave her an astonished look for a moment, and then shouted, "So the Al Bhed are behind that? Those sand-blasted grease monkeys!"
"Wakka, just stop complaining about the Al Bhed already!" Charlie snapped, exasperated with his attitude. When he gave her a look as if he might toss her overboard, she said, "Look, what's done is done, okay? We saved Yuna, and we'll continue to protect her, and whether it's from the Al Bhed, or Bigfoot, or Santa Claus, it doesn't really matter, so just stop, all right?"
He gave her a doubtful look, but finally said, "I don't know what a Satan Claws is, or whatever you said, but okay."
As the shoopuf continued its trek, everyone settled down again, and Yuna shot Charlie a meaningful look that she had no trouble interpreting. "Thank you."
The young woman nodded and sighed. "Wakka's a nice guy, but I swear to God he's going to drive me batty before this trip's over with! What in the world is he gonna do if he finds out that Yuna's half Al Bhed…hit her over the head with a blitzball? Of course, Kimahri would probably rip him a new one if he tried."
Finally, the shoopuf made it across the river without any further incident, and the gang continued up the path at a leisurely pace, despite the fact that it was late afternoon and the sun was close to setting. Charlene ran ahead of the others a ways, in order to keep from smacking Wakka as he continued to badmouth the Al Bhed under his breath. Suddenly, a flash of red near the riverbank caught her eye, so she trotted over to investigate. Lying there among the reeds was a strangely familiar figure clad in a red and beige jumpsuit, and as Charlie inched closer, it moved slightly. "Hey, are you dead?" she asked, feeling a little absurd.
The figure got to its, no, her feet, and slowly removed the jumpsuit, revealing a pair of short green shorts and a pink tank top. "Thought I was done for, back there," she sighed, looking up to reveal a pair of bright green eyes with spiral pupils.
"Rikku!" Charlie joyously cried, as the girl fell to her knees. "Thank God you're okay! How are you?"
"Terrible!" Rikku replied, shaking her head.
Charlie gave the Al Bhed girl a closer look and noticed a number of bumps and bruises. "Hey, you look awful! What happened?"
"You beat me up, remember?" she said, pointing an accusing finger at Charlie.
"What?" Charlie scratched her head for a moment, and then it dawned on her. "Rikku, YOU were piloting that machina?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah! That really hurt, you know!" the Al Bhed complained, getting to her feet.
"But you attacked us first!" Charlie protested, taken aback by the accusation.
"It's not exactly what you think."
Before the conversation could continue any further, the others showed up, Wakka in the lead. "Oh shit! Why did Wakka have to be at the front of the group? What if he tries to attack Rikku?"
Wakka looked at the two girls for a long moment, and then asked, "Friend of yours, Charlie?"
Charlie blankly stared at him for a long moment. "What the hell? This can't really be happening, can it? Wakka hates the Al Bhed, and yet can't recognize one when they're standing right in front of him? Dear Heaven, he's such a DINGBAT!" "Uh…yeah! She's a friend of mine!"
"Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!" the Al Bhed said cheerfully.
"Yuna, Lulu…" Charlie began, turning to them, "I told you about her, remember? She's the one who helped me out before I ended up on Besaid."
"Wow, so you like, owe her your life!" Wakka exclaimed. "What luck meeting here, ya? Praise be to Yevon!" He performed the prayer and then gave Rikku a closer look. "So, uh…Rikku…you look a little beat up! You okay?"
Before she could answer, Lulu cleared her throat and said, "Uh, Wakka…"
"What?"
"There's something we need to discuss," Yuna said.
Wakka, not getting the hint, replied, "Oh, go ahead."
Finally, Rikku sighed and said, "Girls only! Boys please wait over there!"
"Right. Sorry, Wakka," Lulu told him.
The blitzer let out a disappointed sigh, but did as he was told, leaving the girls in peace. Charlie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but then turned her attention back to the conversation, which was going on without her. "Yunie…you know why I did what I did back there, right?" Rikku asked.
Yuna nodded, and said, "I understand, but you must also understand that I can't give up my pilgrimage."
"Are you sure? You know you could always come with me, instead."
"I know, but this is something I have to do."
"Okay…" Rikku sighed. "Well then…let me come with you! As a guardian, I mean."
"You know what that means, right?" Lulu asked, watching her carefully.
"Yes." The Al Bhed turned back to Yuna. "So…can I?"
"Lulu? Charlie? Would you accept Rikku as one of my guardians?" Yuna asked, looking at each of them in turn.
"I have no problem with it," Lulu replied.
"Me neither," Charlie answered, "But good luck running it past Mr. Merry-Friggin'-Sunshine over there!"
The four of them walked back to where the others were waiting, and Yuna said, "Sir Auron…I would like Rikku to be my guardian."
Auron strode up to Rikku, who quickly looked down at her shoes as if her life depended on staring at them. "Show me your face," he ordered.
"Huh?"
"Look at me."
"Oh, okay." Reluctantly, Rikku tilted her head up to face him, her eyes closed.
"Open your eyes," Auron told her, his tone brooking no argument. The Al Bhed sighed gustily, but did as told. "As I thought."
"Um…no good?" Rikku asked nervously.
"Are you certain?"
"A hundred percent! So, anyway…can I?"
"If Yuna wishes it."
"Yes, I do," Yuna said.
His inspection finished, Auron walked away from her, as Wakka grunted as if he wanted to say something. Before he could protest, Charlie trotted over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Rikku's a great person," she told him, trying to dispel his doubts. "She really helped me out when I was in trouble!"
Finally, the blitzer nodded and said, "Well, I'm for it! The more, the merrier!"
"Then I'll just have to be the merriest!" The Al Bhed then gave a little bow and said, "Rikku, at your service!"
…
The group, which now included Rikku, continued up the path, despite the fact that dusk was at hand, since their next destination, Guadosalam, was close by. As they drew closer to the Guado city, Charlie felt a wave of dread bordering on paralyzing fear roll over her, sending icy chills threading down her spine that not even Rikku's bouncy exuberance could dispel. "Guadosalam…the City of the Guado…" she thought nervously, suppressing a shiver as her skin crawled. "Seymour's a Guado, so he lives there, right? Is that why I feel like we're about to walk into a nest full of vipers? The Guado aren't all as creepy as he is…are they?"