Honda managed to carry Ryou bridal-style out of the Chamber and into the temple proper by the time he woke up. "This one was really stubborn, huh?" he said as Ryou stirred against his chest.
"Yeah," Ryou mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "I… I'm okay now."
"You sure?" Honda carefully set Ryou down, letting him hold onto his shoulder as he regained his bearings. "Should we stay the night?"
Ryou thought about it for a moment, his expression brightening somewhat. "If it's getting late… we're close to the Moonflow. I… if you guys don't mind, I want to keep going. We can rest when we get to Guadosalam."
"Ryou -" Anzu started, hesitating for a moment before changing her mind. "…Okay. But if you don't feel well, we're going to stop, no matter where we are."
Ryou nodded, but the idea of more travel seemed to perk him up a bit, strangely enough. They took a few minutes to eat something, and the whole time, Iah felt eyes burning into his back. "I'm starting to feel like this is a hostile environment," he muttered to Jounouchi. half-joking. Jounouchi nodded and put his arm around Iah's shoulders protectively, and it took Iah by surprise; he'd just expected them to pack up and leave, not for Jounouchi to make such a clear 'back off' gesture. It was… nice, actually.
The sun wasn't setting quite yet, but it hung low over the mountains and rock formations as they departed Djose. The rock formations turned into a rocky pass full of wild grass, woodland, and occasional flowers. Clouds drifted past above them, occasionally dousing them in shade when they'd blot out the sun. "Hey, Ryou…" Iah started curiously. "You said 'his name is Ixion'. Who were you talking about?"
Ryou turned to him, blinking in confusion for a second. "Oh! The new aeon."
"And the one you got in Besaid is named Valefor? So they all have names?"
"Yes!" Ryou laughed a little gently, hanging back from the group a little so he didn't have to crane his neck to look at Iah. "And the one you saw in Luca is Ifrit. He's my first aeon - the one I received in Kilika."
"How do you know?"
"They tell me."
"The aeons talk?"
"When we're alone, yes." Ryou smiled patiently at the mildly shocked expression on Iah's face. "Although it's not really talking, I guess. It's moreso like… a feeling."
"Wow. So they're almost a part of you now?"
"Yeah." Ryou beamed at the thought, touching his chest. "It sounds fantastical when you put it like that."
"I mean, summoning those things to fight for you is fantastic in and of itself." Iah paused and took the plunge. "You're just fantastic in general," he added slyly.
Ryou flushed again, looking straight ahead with a little laugh. "Keep that up and I won't make it to Zanarkand."
"Guess I'll just have to save the compliments for after we defeat Sin, then."
Ryou didn't respond to that, going completely quiet as his smile faded. Iah got the weirdest feeling like he'd said something wrong, but Ryou stayed by his side, their footsteps in tandem as they walked along a stretch of trees. "Hey, guys!" Jounouchi called out from the front of the group. "The Moonflow!" Ryou's head shot upward and he looked at Iah, eyes glimmering with excitement.
And pretty soon, Iah could see why. The Moonflow, a massive river that stretched so wide that the other bank was barely in the distance, glistened in the orange light of sunset, pyreflies dancing above the placid waters. "Oh, wow," Anzu sighed, her voice wavering at the sight. "This is gorgeous."
"It's supposed to be even more beautiful at night." Yugi pushed forward to the bank of the Moonflow. He crouched down by a cluster of the lilies that dotted the shoreline, and Anzu joined him to observe the blooms.
Iah watched as they looked up at each other, making eye contact for just a little too long with gentle smiles before Anzu turned away, tucking her hair behind her ear with a little laugh. "Ohh," he mused to himself with a little grin, nudging Honda with his elbow. "Those two, huh?"
Honda laughed quietly. "Yeah. They've been friends since they could walk. Everyone's just kind of waiting for them to admit they like each other."
"That's adorable," Iah said, shaking his head. "So, how are we getting across this thing?"
"There's a shoopuf that'll carry us over. But…" Honda looked over at Ryou, who was standing at the bank of the Moonflow, watching the river. "I think Ryou was hoping to see this place at night, so we're going to wait a bit before crossing."
Twilight started to set upon them when they decided to move on from the riverbank. In the distance, Iah could see a massive blue creature shuffling along a clearing. With its long, spiral-like nose, he could recognize it as a shoopuf; he'd seen an illustration of it in a bestiary, but it was another thing entirely to see one in person. As they approached, he could see that it had a long scar along its right hind leg.
The station to board the shoopuf was practically deserted aside from some straggling travelers and a merchant that had started to pack up her wares. A strange creature was attending to the shoopuf, blue and amphibian in nature, but it stopped as it noticed Ryou approaching. "I'm sorry, I know it's late," Ryou said apologetically, bowing his head. "Is there any chance we could still cross?"
"Of courshe!" the creature said, its voice warbly as it shuffled over to a lift. The lift's cage swung down to the ground, and the creature gestured toward it. "Lasht trip - all aboards!"
"A Hypello," Anzu told Iah as the elevator started to ascend, rattling slightly beneath them. "We… don't know a whole lot about them yet. They're really good at taking care of the shoopufs, though."
Iah shook his head. "Weird."
"Yeah, but they're harmless," Yugi said, waving his hand.
A hooded carriage sat on top of the shoopuf, and they all carefully climbed inside. Once the door was shut, the Hypello steering the shoopuf started to guide them out into the water. "Look!" Ryou gasped, leaning over the side of the carriage.
Beneath them, the Moonflow was practically glowing as pyreflies swarmed the surface, parting whenever the shoopuf made strides in the water. And in the light, Iah could see ruins underneath them. "Whoa," he breathed, unable to look away at the utterly magical sight. "There are ruins even here?"
"Yeah, a city someone tried to build over the river a long time ago," Yugi explained. "It collapsed under its own weight. But that would've been kind of neat, wouldn't it? A city right over the Moonflow… seeing this every single night before you fall asleep?"
"That would be pretty cool. But on the other hand, isn't this much prettier?" Anzu countered, twisting in her seat to stare at the disappearing southern bank. "It's more quiet. Peaceful."
"Yeah, I get that. Don't get me wrong, I'm kind of glad it didn't work, but it's not a bad idea."
The sun had completely set by the time they reached the northern bank, and Anzu untied a lantern from her bag, lighting it with a Fire spell. "Stick close, it's just a little bit longer to Guadosalam." Ryou wasn't paying attention, though; as they continued down the bank towards a dark forest, he was staring out at the Moonflow. In the darkness, it looked more like a sea of stars than a river. Coupled with the gentle sound of insects, Iah could very well understand why someone would want to build a settlement on the river.
He turned back to the group just in time to walk into a boulder sitting on the side of the path, the crags of the boulder digging into his thigh. Iah cursed, stopping to press his hands against the sharp ache in his leg until the pain passed. The others turned at the sound, and Jounouchi asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah. Stupid rocks -" And then the boulder jostled slightly. Iah stopped, staring down at it as it slowly rose, two eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Jounouchi immediately sprung into action, jumping in between Iah and the rock-like fiend that had come to life in front of them. The fiend launched itself at Jounouchi, its rock-like body hitting his sword with a dull clashing sound. "Armored!" he called out.
"On it. Anzu, light it up, give me a clear shot," Honda ordered as he drew his gun and loaded it. Anzu nodded and cast another Fire spell at the fiend's feet, revealing a purple-tinted creature covered in mossy growths. Honda knelt to take careful aim and fired, the bullet piercing through the rock and stunning the fiend momentarily. Before it could react, two more bullets tore through it, and the fiend collapsed, dissolving into pyreflies.
Jounouchi stomped out the fire while Honda sighed, holstering his gun. "What the hell kind of bullets are you using, Honda?" Iah said, dumbfounded that a gun could do that much damage to such a tough-skinned creature.
"Piercing ammunition. Tears right through armor. Pretty cool, right?"
They continued onward, taking more care to avoid any suspicious rocks or jostling sounds, but eventually, the dirt below them turned into dense roots. "Guadosalam," Yugi sighed in relief, cradling a sleeping Aaru in his arms. "Let's get to the inn. We can work out the plan in the morning."
Some of the Guado still milling about that late at night took notice of Iah, staring at him with suspicion, but he was too tired to care. Thankfully, there was just enough space in the inn for everyone to have their own room. Iah closed the door behind him and stripped off his equipment before faceplanting in the bed, exhaustion seeping into his bones. He couldn't enjoy the bed for too long, though, as he heard a gentle knock on his door just as he was ready to drift off into sleep. Ryou stood in the hallway, hands folded politely in front of him. "Hi," he said quietly. "I was hoping we could talk."
"Uh… sure, come in." Iah opened his door wider, letting Ryou step inside before shutting it again. "Is everything okay?"
"It's…" Ryou took a deep breath, not facing him. "It's about earlier. What we talked about."
"Uh…" It took a moment for Iah to remember, the day's events stretching just beyond Iah's memory this late at night. "Oh. Me trying to kill you via compliments, you mean?" Ryou laughed quietly and nodded, and Iah relaxed a little. "Sorry if I made it weird. But… I know what I like. And I know we're in the middle of some epic journey to save the world, but I'd be lying if I didn't say you were the cutest thing I've ever seen."
Ryou flushed. "Iah -"
"So I mean it. After we defeat Sin, I wanna take you back to Luca. There's this restaurant kind of off by the docks that's only open really late at night, and none of the tourists know about it so it's really quiet -"
"Iah, stop." Ryou spoke so firmly that it forced Iah's rambling to stop in its tracks. "That's… not going to happen."
Iah's brows furrowed in mild confusion. "I'm… wait. So I was under the impression that you were interested. Was I wrong, or…?"
"No, I… do like you," Ryou confessed after a moment. "But…" He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice shook slightly. "There's not going to be an 'after' for me."
"What do you mean?"
Ryou looked at him for a long moment, his eyes wet, and moved to sit down on the bed. "I… was hoping you'd remember. It wasn't until this morning that I realized you don't. Iah… once we complete the pilgrimage, I'm going to die."
"What?"
Ryou looked up to stare at the wall. "When we get to Zanarkand, I'll obtain the Final Aeon and use it to defeat Sin with the Final Summoning. It will defeat Sin - it's the only thing that can. But it will also kill me in the process."
"That's not funny, Ryou."
"I'm serious, Iah."
Iah sputtered in disbelief, staring at Ryou. His expression was gravely serious - he really wasn't kidding. "So - so the pilgrimage is just a big suicide mission? If I'd have known that -"
"No. If everything goes right, you and the others will be fine. It's just me." Ryou took another deep breath, and Iah could hear him fighting back tears. That made the anger disappear almost immediately. "I guess… I was just hoping you remembered that part. I'm sorry. It's so easy to go through with this when everyone know what's going to happen, but having to explain it… it's hard."
Iah sat down on the bed, joining him in staring at the wall. "I… so every summoner before you…"
"Yes. Every summoner that's defeated Sin died in the process. We revere them as High Summoners in honor of their sacrifice."
"And you're doing this anyway?"
"It's our only chance. There's no other way to defeat Sin."
They sat in silence for a long moment before Iah put his hand on Ryou's shoulder. Ryou jumped a little at the contact, but settled quickly as Iah said, "That… Sorry. I'll stop with the flirting then."
"No," Ryou said, turning to him. "You don't need to. I like it. I know it sounds selfish, but… when you talk to me and look at me like that, it makes me feel better about everything."
Iah met his eyes and nodded slowly. "Okay."
Ryou smiled with no small amount of relief. "I… know it probably seemed like I was leading you on. For what it's worth, that place in Luca sounds nice. Maybe… you can take the others afterwards."
Iah nodded again, feeling slightly numb. Ryou eventually departed with one last apology, and Iah closed the door behind him, resting his head against the wood. The numbness faded, replaced with a grim determination. There had to be another way, and Iah was going to find it. Ryou wasn't going to die on his watch.
They spent the next morning buying some new equipment. "The Thunder Plains are next, so prepare for lots of lightning," Anzu told him as she picked up some lightning wards for their equipment.
Iah blinked, looking around. Jounouchi and Yugi were bonding over the quality of some healing potions, Honda was picking out some more ammunition. Everyone was here except… "Where's Ryou?"
"Up at the Farplane. Wanted to talk to his family before we left." Honda looked up to see Iah's questioning stare. "Oh. The Farplane… it's pretty cool, actually. It's where the dead go when they're sent. The pyreflies react to your memories of people that have died and recreate them for you. They can't talk or move, but just seeing them helps sometimes."
"And… Ryou's family is there?"
"Yeah. He hasn't told us a lot, but Sin killed his dad ten years ago, and he hasn't really mentioned anyone else."
"Is that why he became a summoner?"
Honda shrugged. "He never really told us why. Just that he wanted to."
As they left the store, Iah asked quietly, "Is he really going to die?"
Everyone stopped to look at him, their eyes collectively growing wide. "The toxin," Yugi recollected, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Iah. We didn't realize -"
"It's okay. Ryou filled me in last night. But you're all okay with that?"
"Of course not!" Jounouchi chimed in, seemingly upset at the very thought. "But Ryou's stubborn. And if he's gonna do this, we're not gonna let him go alone."
"Even before we became his guardians, we agreed: wherever we go, we go together." Yugi took off one of his gloves and put his hand out. The others followed, and Iah could see that they all had black marks on the backs of their hands. Only one spot was missing, and Iah quickly put two and two together - there was a spot for Ryou, too, and if he'd been there, he would've completed the symbol that formed when they put their hands together.
"You guys are close, then," Iah commented as they drew their hands back.
"Ryou moved to Kilika right after his dad died. He didn't have anyone else, so we took him in. We might not be blood, but I'd consider us the next best thing." Jounouchi smiled confidently as he led the way up a couple of ramps, stopping right outside of a tunnel at the very top of the city that stretched out, twisting along farther than Iah could see. "The Farplane's on the other end of this tunnel," Jounouchi explained, leaning up against the barrier of the ramp. "We'll just wait for him out here."
Everyone settled in, and the Guado guarding the entrance of the tunnel kept a close eye on them, content to keep to his post while they waited.
