Chapter 20: Thunder Plains
The Thunder Plains definitely deserved their name, as they were a barren wasteland locked in perpetual twilight as black storm clouds raced overhead. Lightning flashed, illuminating the seemingly endless plain with harsh light as it struck the huge steel towers dotting the lifeless landscape. "Oh no…we're here," Rikku whimpered, cowering in fear.
Another bolt of lightning flashed overhead, and the Al Bhed girl shrieked, covering her head with her hands. Charlie looked at her for a moment, and then stared out at the wasteland as a gust of cold, rain-laden wind whipped through the area. "How in the name of all that is holy are we supposed to get across that?" she demanded, apprehension coloring her voice.
"See the lightning rod towers?" Lulu asked. "The lightning is drawn to them…hopefully."
"Hopefully?"
"We head north, not too near and not too far from the towers, ya?" Wakka added.
"Meaning we should avoid wide open areas," Lulu finished.
Just then, another bolt of lightning lit up the skies overhead, followed by a loud peal of thunder. Rikku shrieked again, and then said, "I think I left something in Guadosalam."
"Nice knowing you," Auron said flatly.
"Okay, okay, I'll go!" she relented, knees visibly shaking.
The group slowly picked their way across the Thunder Plains, their general silence punctuated by Rikku's yelps of terror as the lightning continued to rip through the sky. Suddenly, Yuna stopped walking just as they reached another of the steel towers, and said, "Charlie…what happened back there?"
"You mean in the Farplane?" Charlie gave the summoner a troubled look, and said, "I'm not really sure. I don't really remember much after I tried to call Marcus."
"Wait! Who's Marcus?" Rikku wanted to know, flinching at a loud crack of thunder.
"Oh God, I was hoping they wouldn't ask me this!" "Marcus was a friend of mine, back in Greenwood. Two years ago, there was an accident…and he died." "Accident? Yeah right! It was all my fault that it happened!" She shook her head and sighed. "It was stupid of me to try and call him. We don't have summoners and sendings where I'm from, so of course he wasn't in the Farplane!"
"Don't say that," Yuna softly replied. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to see your friend again."
"There's nothing wrong with it, except that I should have been the one who died instead of him. No one would have missed me…" Charlie shied away from those thoughts and said, "I'm sorry, but I really don't want to talk about this right now."
Before anyone could say anything else, a fiend resembling a large suit of armor emerged from behind the tower and lashed out at the party with an insanely large sword that made Auron's look like a pocketknife in comparison. Charlie narrowly avoided the hulking brute's blow, and then quickly dashed inside its reach to deliver one of her own. Her blade struck the creature with a hollow, almost bell-like sound, but barely left a scratch on its skin. "What the…" Charlene did not even finish her thought before the weird metal giant reached out, grabbed her, and slammed her into the ground, driving the breath from her body and most likely cracking several ribs in the process. The world stretched off into the far distance, seen only through a tunnel of gray pain that slowly turned into the dark void of unconsciousness.
…Flash…
Charlie stood in the middle of a road made of banana-yellow bricks, wondering where she was, before realizing that she wore a sky blue dress and sparkly red slippers. "Where the hell am I?" she snarled to no one while pulling the pretty blue ribbons out of her hair.
Just then, a shiny metal version of Auron strolled up to her, clanking and creaking like a rusty screen door in a high wind, and said, "We're on the Yellow Brick Road, remember? You said that you would help me find a heart."
Charlie gaped at Tin Auron for a long moment, but before she could ask him what he was talking about, Wakka appeared, dressed in rags with straw sticking out everywhere. "You also said you'd help me find a brain, ya?"
"You're both crazy!" Charlie shouted, as the two men grabbed her arms and dragged her down the road, skipping merrily all the while.
Wakka and Auron continued their happy, noisy skipping for a while, still dragging Charlie along behind them, until they ran into Kimahri, who had somehow transformed from the tough Ronso warrior she knew to a walking plush doll. "Kimahri, what happened to you?" she asked, staring at him with a look of horror warring with amusement.
The Ronso turned around and gave the three of them a fearful look. "Kimahri needs courage. Will you help Kimahri?"
"Of course we will!" Wakka said, taking Kimahri's hand. "We're going to see the Wizard. He can do anything!"
Happy, but still shivering in fear, Kimahri nodded and joined the trio as they continued to skip down the Yellow Brick Road. "Let go of me, goddamn it!" Charlie yelled. "I never said I was going anywhere with any of you, so LET…ME…GO!"
Suddenly, a plume of red smoke appeared in the middle of the path, accompanied by the most god-awful cackling ever heard by mortal ears. "Oh no!" Kimahri cried, cowering in terror.
"It's her!" Auron gasped, his slight rattling betraying his fear.
"Who?" Charlie demanded.
"The Wicked Witch of the West!" Wakka yelled, shaking in his tattered boots.
The smoke cleared, and Lulu appeared, wearing a pointy hat, an ugly fake nose, and riding a broomstick that looked to be at least a century old. Perched on the back of the broom was Rikku, only the Al Bhed now had wings, a monkey tail, and a fez that perfectly matched her pink tank top. Lulu the Wicked Witch sneered at Charlie, cackled again, and yelled, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"
…Flash…
"I don't have a goddamn dog!" Charlie shouted, coming wide-awake all at once. Just then, she realized Auron was carrying her, and she said, "Hey, you're normal! Well…as normal as you ever are, anyway."
"Can you walk?" he asked, ignoring her comment.
"I don't know. Put me down and we'll find out."
Auron set her down, and she walked around, stiffly, but not in any real pain. "How long was I out?" she asked.
"About half an hour," Wakka said. "You kept mumbling as if you were really upset, ya?"
"I just had a crazy dream, that's all. I'm fine now, so let's get going."
With that, the party set off down the path again, dodging thunderbolts with varying degrees of success and facing numerous fiends. Eventually, they found Shelinda taking a break under another of the lightning towers, and stopped to speak with her. "Ah, good day!" she said, performing the prayer gesture.
"What's up?" Charlie replied with a cheerful wave.
"Is it true?"
"Is what true?"
"I heard that Maester Seymour and Lady Yuna are to be wed! I have to tell everyone the great news!"
"Who the hell told you that?" Charlie demanded, barely concealing her disgust.
"The Guado told me," Shelinda replied, "They were all very excited!"
"Yeah, well they got you excited for nothing then, since Yuna's turning him down."
"Oh…really?" Charlie nodded, and the little acolyte hung her head in disappointment. "I see…that's unfortunate. Well, I'm sure people would have rejoiced all over Spira."
Saddened by the news, Shelinda shuffled dejectedly off into the gloom, and Lulu said, "Charlie, why did you tell her that?"
"I was just kidding! I didn't think she would get all upset like that! Besides, Yuna hasn't even made her decision yet, so it's not like I lied to her."
…
Some time later, the gang passed by the last tower of that part of the Thunder Plains, just as a pair of lightning bolts struck it. "Jesus friggin' Christ!" Charlie swore, covering her ears as the subsequent thunder shook the air around them.
"That was a close one!" Wakka laughed.
"Stop kidding around," Lulu snapped, walking away.
"Yes ma'am," the blitzer replied, sounding much like a scolded schoolboy.
Everyone started to walk off, but then Rikku stopped and chuckled nervously. "Heh heh heh heh…"
"Hmm?" Curious, Wakka stopped and turned around. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Heh heh heh heh…" Rikku chuckled again.
"Rikku, would you cut that out?" Charlie complained. "You're giving me the willies!"
Just then, another bolt of lightning struck the nearby tower, and Rikku shrieked, dropping to the ground and covering her ears. "Hey, are you okay?" Charlie asked as everyone warily eyed the Al Bhed.
Suddenly, Rikku sprang to life, skittering across the distance on her hands and knees like some kind of weird spider, and wrapped herself around Charlie's leg. "Hey, get off me!" Charlie yelled while trying to dislodge the panicked Al Bhed.
"I wanna go home!" Rikku cried, clinging to Charlie like an animate burr. "I hate lightning! I hate thunder!" She let go of her "sanctuary" for a moment and pointed at the building ahead of them. "Let's go rest over there! Please?"
"This storm never stops," Auron impassively replied. "Better to cross quickly."
"I know, but…just for a little while?"
Auron sighed and walked away with the others, leaving Charlie to try to catch up with a whimpering Rikku still wrapped around her leg. "Hey, don't leave me here!" the young woman yelled, limping along behind them.
Finally, she caught up to the others just outside the building, which turned out to be another branch of Rin's Travel Agency. "Pretty please? Just a few minutes?" Rikku begged, as everyone walked past the building. However, they ignored her, and she said, "I'm scared of lightning! Let's rest, please? Pretty please?" They continued to ignore her. "I'm too young to die!" she wailed. "You're mean…cruel! Your moms would be ashamed of you!" They stopped and turned around. "Are you having fun doing this to me?"
"Fine, we rest," Auron said, glowering at Rikku as if he'd like to throttle her. "She's worse than the storm."
"Woohoo!" the Al Bhed cheered, finally releasing Charlie's leg and racing inside.
The rest of the group followed her, and Charlene noted that the interior of the Travel Agency was the same as the one on the Mi'ihen Highroad. "I'm…a little tired," Yuna said to the clerk at the counter. "Do you have a room available?"
"Yes, over this way, Lady Summoner," the clerk replied, pointing to the door near the counter.
"Thank you."
Yuna bowed to the clerk, and then went to her room without a word to anyone. "Uh, Yuna?" Wakka called, surprised at her behavior.
"It's not like her," Lulu said, her expression full of concern.
Charlie started to go check on Yuna, but then noticed Rikku cowering and looking like she was about to dive under the nearby table at any moment. "Rikku…is it really that scary for you?" she asked.
"When I was little, a fiend attacked me while I was swimming at the beach. My brother tried to beat it back with a spell…" Just then, a crack of thunder rattled the windows and Rikku shrieked. "But he missed and hit me instead! It was a Thunder spell: 'Bzzzt!'"
"Damn, that must've hurt!" Charlie winced sympathetically.
"I've been scared of lightning ever since," Rikku added forlornly.
"But…it can be effective," Lulu said, turning around to look at the two girls. "Magic is effective against marine fiends."
"My brother said that, too."
"You should learn some spells too," the mage began, but when another flash of lightning sent Rikku diving under the table, she sighed, "Hmm…maybe later."
"Hey, can I take you up on that offer?" Charlie asked.
Lulu nodded, but before she could say anything else, Rin emerged from the door to the back and beamed at everyone. "Nice to see you again. Welcome to the Rin Travel Agency." Suddenly, he stopped and stared at Rikku, who had just crawled out from under the table. "Oh?"
"Shh!" Rikku hissed, nodding her head toward an oblivious Wakka.
"Hmm…" Then Rin noticed Charlie standing there, and asked, "How goes your study of our language?"
"Actually, I'm doing pretty well," the young woman replied.
"That is good to hear." Rin walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out a red book. "Allow me to present you with this book for your study."
Charlie looked at the title, which read "Intermediate Al Bhed", and said, "Thank you very much."
Rin nodded, and then stopped and stared at Auron, who was busy inspecting some of the merchandise. "I wonder…would that be Sir Auron, by any chance?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"As I thought! I've been wondering since I saw him at the Mi'ihen Highroad branch." The Al Bhed walked up to the guardian and called, "Sir Auron! I wonder if you remember me. Ten years ago? At the beginning of Lord Braska's Calm?"
Auron turned around and nodded. "Yes. I should thank you."
"Not at all. I could not leave a wounded man to die." Rin stopped and gave Auron a suspicious look. "However, I was surprised when I saw you gone the next morning, with that wound. An ordinary man would not have been able to walk."
"What? Are they talking about that scar on his shoulder? It DID look pretty bad, now that I think about it."
"I'd rather…drop that subject, Rin," Auron said, turning away again.
"As you wish."
As Rin walked away, Charlie stared at Auron's back, thinking, "He's hiding something, I just know it. It's not my business though, unless he decides to tell me, so I'll just leave him alone for now. Anyway, I think I'll go check on Yuna now."
Charlene walked down the hallway, stopping outside Yuna's door. She raised her hand to knock on it, but stopped when she realized that the voice she heard a man's voice in there. "What the hell? Does Yuna have a MAN in there? I didn't know she had a boyfriend!" Curious, the young woman tiptoed closer to the door, but then let out a startled yelp as it opened, unceremoniously dumping her on the floor. "Well that was definitely unpleasant," she grumbled, getting to her feet. "Sorry about that, Yuna. I just heard strange voices, so I was worried about you." She stopped and looked at the tiny image of a Guado hovering above a sphere on the nearby table. "Hey, who is that?"
"This is an image of Lord Jyscal," Yuna replied, turning off the sphere. "The sphere is his will…it says 'Take care of my son.'"
"Seymour? I could think of a couple ways to take care of him." "Such as bashing his damn head in with something heavy!"
"I'm sorry," Yuna replied, hurrying out of the room.
"Something's really wrong here!" Charlie thought, warily eyeing the sphere. Before she could pick it up, however, someone walked up behind her and put their hands on her shoulders, scaring the daylights out of her. "GAAAH!" she yelled, turning around and glaring at Wakka. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same thing, ya?" Wakka said. "Why are you back here spying on her?"
"I wasn't spying!" Charlie indignantly replied. "Yuna was acting really weird, so I…"
"Yeah, yeah!" the blitzer cut her off. "She'll tell us when she's ready, so hold your chocobos till then, ya?"
"All right already! Damn!" Charlie cursed under her breath for a few moments as he led her out of the room. "God, you nearly gave me a heart attack, you know that?"
Wakka grinned sheepishly, and said, "Sorry!"
…
The Thunder Plains branch of the Travel Agency didn't have any other current guests, so everyone got their own room to sleep in for once, which made Charlie very happy. She had just finished setting all her things down for the night and started on her new book, when Lulu knocked on the door. "Charlie, can I come in?"
"Sure," she replied, opening the door for the mage. "What can I do for you this evening?"
"Earlier, you asked if I would teach you some spells…do you still wish to learn them."
Charlie blinked, confused for a moment, and then replied, "Yeah, if I'm actually capable of learning any, since we don't have your kind of magic where I'm from."
"All right then. Follow me."
Charlene followed Lulu outside the Travel Agency, where she asked, "Why did we come out here, Lulu?"
"I don't think Rin would appreciate us practicing magic inside, do you?" she replied.
"You have a point." Charlie looked around at the desolation, which was currently between rainstorms, and asked, "So we'll work out here where there's less risk of starting a fire or something?"
Lulu nodded and said, "Shall we get started?"
A couple of hours and countless frustrating tries later, Charlie learned two things: the only element she could call was Fire, and the spell was incredibly weak. "Fire!" she yelled again, pointing at the nearby rock they were using for target practice. A faint flicker of flame burst into life around the stone, but died just as quickly as it appeared. "Damn, I really suck," she muttered under her breath.
"You picked up the theory faster than I had expected…" Lulu began, after Charlie finally stopped cursing under her breath, "But I think all you're going to be capable of learning are the small magics. I'm sorry, Charlie, but there's really nothing more I can teach you."
"That's okay, you did your best and I really appreciate it," the young woman sighed, swallowing her disappointment. "Even what little magic I have is more than what anyone else back home has, so there's no point in complaining. Hey, at least I'll be able to start a campfire without a lighter now!"
Lulu chuckled at that, and said, "We're getting up early tomorrow, so get some sleep while you can."
Charlene nodded in agreement, and the two of them walked the short distance back to the Travel Agency, just as it started to rain again. Before either of them could open the door, however, it opened on its own, and Auron stepped out, giving both women appraising looks. "Taking magic lessons are we?" he asked Charlie while stepping aside to let Lulu pass.
"Yeah, so?" she defiantly replied. "Is that a problem?"
"How did you do?"
"Not good, that's for sure!" Charlie eyed the practice swords Auron carried, and then asked, "Time for more torture already?"
"You're not afraid of a little rain, are you?"
For a long moment, Charlie seriously considered saying yes, just to see what kind of reaction the swordsman would give her, but finally decided against it, since he'd probably beat her with the flat side of one of the practice blades if she did. "No, I'm not one of those people who think they'll melt if they get wet."
"Good." Auron handed her one of the swords and said, "Now let's begin."
The "fight" carried on for some time, and Charlie, already tired from practicing magic, felt completely exhausted. Despite her fatigue, she managed to fend off several more of Auron's blows before he finally unarmed her and knocked her down again "Surrender," he told her, smirking as he pointed his practice blade at her.
"He thinks he's won, does he?" she snarled inwardly. "Well, I've got a surprise for him!"
Summoning up the last of her magic, the young guardian cast another pathetic Fire spell into the air between them, surprising Auron long enough for her to unleash a rather absurd looking attack involving lots of flailing around like a landed fish. One of her kicks connected, barely missing certain vital areas of her opponent's anatomy, throwing off his balance long enough for her to aim another kick much lower and knock him to the ground. Charlie then scrambled across the muddy ground, trying to get to his blade since she didn't know where hers was, but Auron caught her by the ankle and dragged her away from it. They wrestled around for a few minutes, ending up in some rather awkward positions as Charlie struggled to get free and Auron tried to immobilize her. After several escape attempts that included hair-pulling and biting, she managed to get loose and grab his practice blade, but it didn't do her much good, since he managed to pull her feet out from under her, causing her to drop it.
Charlie dove for the sword again, but missed as Auron shoved her aside in his own attempt to get to it. The young woman got to her feet again at the same time he did, and just barely evaded the strike he aimed at her head. "What the hell? Is he trying to kill me?"
Auron kept striking at her, and she kept jumping out of the way, not realizing that he was leading her into a trap. Finally, Charlie jumped back one too many times and slammed backward into the wall of the Travel Agency. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, the swordsman put on a burst of speed and pinned her against the building. She made a desperate grab for the sword, but he managed to catch her wrists with his free hand and pulled them down, leaning on her to keep her from getting away from the wall. Then she tried to trip him by tangling her legs with his, but he just continued bearing down on her, until she was completely trapped. The young woman continued struggling however, until he finally laid the practice blade against her throat and asked, "Now do you surrender?"
"Damn it!" she spat, frustrated at her loss. "You only won this time because I kept from kicking you in the balls!" "And I only did that because I like being alive at the moment!"
"You have my eternal gratitude," Auron wryly replied, quite amused by Charlie's unorthodox fighting tactics. "Your defense is still sloppy, but you've somewhat improved."
Auron had lowered the practice blade and loosened his grip on her wrists, but hadn't let go of Charlie during the conversation, instead keeping her pinned against the wall, but it didn't bother her for some reason. The older guardian wasn't wearing his collar and had lost his sunglasses sometime during the fight, giving her a completely unhindered view of his face for the first time. "My God, he's gorgeous…even with that scar!" She shut her eyes against the sudden and nearly overwhelming urge to just lean forward and close the gap between them. "No, no, and NO! He'd kill me if I did, I just know it!" She swallowed, hard, and then opened her eyes and said, "Auron, can I ask you a question?"
The swordsman started, apparently lost in his own thoughts, but nodded and slowly backed away from her, a faint ghost of reluctance crossing his face as he finally let go of her wrists. "I didn't just see that, did I? Nah, it couldn't be. It was just a trick caused by the flickering of all the lightning in the distance." Charlie quickly shook her head, as if trying to clear it, and asked, "What happened to you outside the Farplane?"
"Nothing," he replied, not looking at her.
"Nothing? Nothing, my foot! I'm not blind, Auron! You were in so much pain, and you said you couldn't do something yet! What can't you do?" The swordsman didn't say anything, nor did he look at her, so she finally threw up her hands in disgust. "You know what? You can just keep your friggin' secrets! I don't care anymore!"
With that, Charlie started to storm away, but then Auron said, "It was an old injury that pains me sometimes." "And that's all you need to know."
She turned around and gave him a suspicious look. "An injury? The one you and Rin were discussing earlier?"
"Why did you lie to Yuna about the Farplane?" Auron suddenly asked, completely changing the subject.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Charlie flatly replied. Auron turned and raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing. Finally, unable to stand the look he was giving her, she said, "Okay, I sort of lied to her, when I said I didn't really remember what happened, but I really didn't…at first."
"What happened in there?"
"Pushy, aren't we?" she muttered. "Anyway, as I said before, I tried to call Marcus…but he didn't show up. Instead, a lot of those pyrefly-things appeared and attacked me." Charlie's voice faded to a whisper as she shivered in fear. "I heard all these angry voices yelling at me, telling me to get out, and then some of the pyreflies actually flew inside my body! Auron…I could actually feel their anger and hatred, and it felt like they were trying to burn me from within! I thought they were going to rip my soul to pieces! I think they didn't throw me out until I finally fainted, because I don't remember passing back through the Farplane Gate. I think…I think I may have died for a moment, too."
"You almost did," Auron told her. "You stopped breathing and you didn't start again until the pyreflies left your body. Yuna was afraid she would have to send you."
"It wouldn't have worked," Charlie sighed, not looking at him. "While I was out of it, I had a dream. I was in a place that looked like Zanarkand, but the only person there, besides me, was one of the others…one of the people who brought me here. He said that the Farplane rejected me because I'm not from Spira, and that because of it, he didn't know what would happen if I died. So now…if I die here in Spira…I'll either become an unsent, or my soul will disappear forever. I didn't want to tell anyone any of this, because I don't want anyone to worry about me. If something happens to me, and my soul doesn't disappear…" She turned to face him again. "If that happens, I want you to promise to get Yuna away from me. I'll try to keep from becoming a fiend, if I can, but if I fail, you have to get everyone away from me so can't hurt them!"
"She says this as if she fully expects to die…and the way she says unsent…she must not realize that it's not the same as becoming a fiend."
"Auron, you have to promise!" Charlie snapped, bringing him back to reality. "And don't you dare give me some corny line about protecting me! You have to protect Yuna, not a weirdo like me! Either you promise me this, or I'll just go tell Kimahri everything and get the promise from him!"
"You would, wouldn't you?" Auron stared at her, and finally said, "Fine. I give you my word."
Satisfied, Charlie gave him a small smile. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go get cleaned up and go to bed."
The young woman turned and went back inside, her prying question forgotten for the moment. Auron waited until he heard the door close, and then let out a gusty sigh before searching for his glasses and the other practice blade. He actually managed to find both rather quickly, but he continued standing in the rain anyway, letting the storm wash over him. "What was I thinking, holding on to her like that? I should have just let her go as soon as she surrendered." His body had other ideas about what he should have done, but he resolutely ignored them. "I can't feel that way about anyone, least of all her. I'm leaving after all of this is over, so I can't let myself get attached to anyone…"
…
The next morning, Charlene rejoined her comrades in the front room of the Travel Agency, and noticed that Rikku was once again shivering in fear. "It's not stopping, is it?" the Al Bhed whimpered.
"Don't tell me you were hoping it would," Auron snapped as another crack of thunder caused Rikku to shriek in terror. "Fine. Stay here."
With that, the swordsman stalked out of the building into the rain, clearly aggravated by the delay in their departure. "All right already," Rikku yelled at his back. "But you didn't have to say it like that, you know! You could be more comforting…you know, try and cheer me up? You just don't get me at all, do you?" Then she noticed he was ignoring her. "Hey, are you listening?" She started to run after him, but stopped and cringed as more thunder roared overhead. "I'm not scared! I'm not scared, you hear?"
Rikku finally gathered her courage and rushed out after Auron, and everyone quickly followed her. "Sorry Rikku, but getting anything out of Auron is about as easy as breaking a brick wall with your head!" Charlie thought to herself as she walked out the door. She arrived outside just in time to see a strange man in yellow and blue run by, snap a picture of the group with his camera, and run off again into the rainy gloom. "Okay…that was really weird," she said as everyone stared after him.
No one responded, and the seven of them continued their hazardous trek through the Thunder Plains. They battled more fiends along the way, and were near the exit, when Yuna stopped and said, "Everyone…wait."
"What's up?" Wakka asked, as the group came to a halt.
"I have something to tell you."
"Here?" Lulu raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"We're almost out of here! Let's go!" Rikku cried, anxious to get away from all the lightning.
"I have to say it now."
Auron looked around for a moment, and then spotted the ruins of an old building off to the side. "Over there," he said, starting toward the unusual structure.
Everyone followed him, not wanting lightning to hit them while they stood in the open field. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what Yuna's about to tell us?" Charlie wondered, trailing along behind the rest of the group. When they got under the dubious shelter of the ruins, Yuna waited until she had their attention again, and said, "I've decided to marry."
"I thought so," Lulu said, as everyone else stared at her in dumbfounded silence.
"Jesus Christ, Yuna! Why are you going to marry that bastard? Are you out of your gourd? If you have to marry someone, then why don't you marry someone you can trust, like Wakka, or Auron, or Kimahri? Okay, marrying Kimahri would be a little too much, but you can marry a goddamn shoopuf for all I care, just don't marry Seymour!"
A crack of thunder snapped everyone out of their stupor, as well as making Rikku cringe, and Wakka finally stammered, "B-but why? Why'd you change your mind?"
"For Spira's future…and Yevon's unity," Yuna replied. "I thought it would be the right thing to do."
"That's not good enough," Auron said.
"Wait, is it…" Lulu stopped to gather her thoughts. "Is it because of Lord Jyscal?"
"Hey, that's the guy on that sphere, isn't it?" Charlie asked.
Everyone stopped and stared at her as if she'd just barked like a dog. Finally, Auron walked up to Yuna and said, "Show me."
"I can't," the summoner replied, shaking her head. "I must speak to Maester Seymour first. I truly am sorry, but this is…it's a personal matter."
"You're kidding, ya?" Wakka said in disbelief.
"As you wish," Auron told her, turning away.
"I'm sorry."
"Just one thing."
"I won't quit my pilgrimage," she assured him.
"Then it is…fine."
Auron started to walk away, but Charlie jumped out in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders to stop him. "What do you mean, 'it's fine'? Don't you care? Aren't you going to stop her?"
"No, I'm not," he replied, pulling away from her. "As long as she is willing to face Sin, all else is her concern. That is a summoner's privilege, as long as she journeys."
Charlie looked at Wakka, who just nodded in agreement, and then shook her head and sighed. "This isn't right, and you damn well know it! This is all a huge mistake and it'll end up biting us in the ass in the end, just wait and see!"
"Yuna, just one question," Wakka said, approaching the summoner. "Can't you just talk to Maester Seymour? You've got to marry him?"
"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head, "But I think it is the right thing to do."
"Okay, I guess." Wakka was doubtful.
Just then, Rikku walked up and put her hands on Yuna's shoulders. "Yunie…" she began, but then a bolt of lightning cut her off. "Quiet!" she shouted up at the uncaring sky. Then she turned back to Yuna and said, "I wish we could help somehow, some way!"
"It's okay…" Yuna replied, laying her hand atop one of Rikku's. "I'll be fine."
Charlie watched all this with a feeling of impending doom, as if an avalanche hovered just six inches above her head, but hadn't decided to fall on her…yet. Before she could say anything, however, Auron turned back into the self-appointed leader of the group and said, "Next, we're going to Macalania Temple. Yuna can talk with Seymour there. We guardians will wait until they're done, and plan our next move. Understood?"
Charlie started to open her mouth, but quickly shut it again, when Auron gave her "The Look". As they headed off again, she glared at the swordsman's back, thinking, "You say you don't care if she gets married? Well, what the hell are you going to do if she decides to fire us all and just take Seymour and whoever else on the pilgrimage instead? Are you just going to stalk them all over the damn place? I hope you've got a better plan than that, because I get the feeling that Seymour isn't going to let the rest of us live much longer past the wedding."