By the time we made it to Guadosalam, the Guado had returned. This time embracing the humans and Hypello that had set up shop while they were away. Tromell brought with him the musician from the forest and a huge celebration was being set up. Turned out that Tromell had apologized to everyone there for his role with Seymour, and was quickly forgiven.
As soon as Tromell saw us though, he rushed over. And proceeded to open the one house that the Guado had locked before they left. And after Tromell entered and exited, we were handed a sphere from two years ago and other useful items.
"We stored them here and sealed the door so that no one would ever have a relic to remind them of the Guado. All of our lore and history, we stored here. We wanted to leave as few reminders of our existence as possible. But you have shown us that we can truly live in peace with everyone else. So this sphere might be useful to you, as with these items. Take them with our gratitude." Tromell explained with a huge smile. We thanked him and moved on.
The Thunder Plains were filled with huge fiends at each tower. I instructed the boys to let us girls build up our strength. So far they had been trying to make this easier for us, but Yuna needed to be just as strong as her brothers. I had Ben training as well, just on his own. To stop Shuyin, we would need all hands on deck. So everyone that could be trusted, was training on their own waiting on the call. But Yuna, Rikku, and Paine had to be just as strong as the rest.
I healed the girls when needed, but they were defeating them on their own. When we got to the last tower, the boss showed his ugly mug. I motioned the boys to join in on this one. The girls were getting fatigued, so they would appreciate the help. Yuna smiled and thanked me before the big boss started attacking. We fought back hard, and it still took two hours to defeat.
"Wow! That was one tough battle." Yuna said after the beast fell. We decided to spend the night at the travel agency because we didn't have the energy to board the airship. We split up into our groups. Yuna and Paine in one room, Rikku and Auron in the second one, and me and my boys in the last room. Yuna had started the idea, and we just followed it going forward. So while I paid for the three rooms, Yuna distracted Rikku and the boys did the same for Auron. Paine was waiting beside me.
I asked the attendant to give the last key to the guy in red with the Al Bhed woman as a gift from us. I sneaked a key to Paine, then we moved to a closer position to the hallway to the rooms. With a cry of "GO!", we all raced to our rooms leaving Rikku and Auron in the dust. I think Auron got the picture when the ball of water dropped on his head that we were plotting this.
We all made it to our rooms and locked in, then Sora told me he drenched Rikku when I dropped the water on Auron. I couldn't help laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. We soon settled in for the night, and fell asleep the minute our heads hit the pillows.
The next morning, we ended up waiting for Rikku and Auron to exit into the common areas. If looks could kill, Sora and I would have been dead. I was used to it from Auron, but Sora wasn't. And what was worse was his death glare was from Rikku. Zaon and his sassy attitude just had to march over to Auron.
"Did you have fun last night alone with Rikku? Should we be planning a baby shower soon?" Zaon taunted. The blush that rose to their faces said that it was definitely a possibility. I swear that boy loves messing with people, I thought to myself. I walked over to him and stole his weapon quickly and sneakily. Hiding it just as quickly, I turned to everyone and made a sign for no one to say a thing. After announcing that we should get going soon, we all decided to leave.
As soon as the first fiends appeared, Zaon reached for his weapon and found it missing. That is when he dropped a swear word. The f-bomb to be precise. And when I heard that, I told the other to handle the fiends.
"Zaon Braska! Who taught you that word?!" I yelled as he realized what word he used. You could see he knew he was in deep trouble. He tried to say a teacher used it once, but Zaon and Sora were cyber schooled from the beginning and someone would have heard it if a teacher had said it. I knew who had taught him that word, and boy was he going to pay.
When I mentioned my brother, you could see Zaon start to sweat. That proved it. Ben was in a world of hurt. So I handed Zaon his weapon and told him that if he ever used that word again, he would watch me break it. He clung to his weapon as if I was going to break it right then. I commed Buddy and asked him to pass a message. He said he would. The trap was set.
Macalania Woods were quiet, but I told Yuna to revisit her memories while I attended to some business. Zaon chose to stay with Yuna and Sora followed me. I soon realized that Rikku and Auron were following us. I stopped and turned to them.
"Is there a reason you are following me?" I asked. Auron and Rikku looked at each other, as if silently asking each other if they should say something. Finally, Auron spoke.
"We were wondering if you could speak of what is ahead of us or not." Rikku nodded worried. I smiled and asked if they could keep a secret. I knew Auron could, but was unsure about Rikku. She told me that as long as it wouldn't hurt anyone, she could.
"The pilgrimage was a way to save Spira. This journey is a way to save Yuna. We will face Vegagun, and win with no sacrifices. What happens after is up to Yuna. Yuna's heart will lead her. I can only follow her lead when we hit the Farplane. If I interfere farther than that, it can change what could happen. But I do want her to know that even those from my world have been training to help in the battle itself. Ben...Drew...both have been training on their own to help when they are called. But she has to call them to battle." I smiled. The path was ahead of us, we just needed to follow it.