Chapter 3 – Tragedy of the Ancient Machina
Rikku choked back a scream when the realization set in that what she perceived to be a statue before her could in fact be a machina. Her vision tunneled sharply on this heaping Tonberry machine approaching her. Just as dumbfounded as her cousin, Yuna snapped out of her daze when the machina took a quick jab at her. She barely dodged it, getting knocked off her feet by the crash of its arm into the moss-covered ground. A soft punch inflicted a gigantic dent into the thick stonework of the floor. A wall of silt and dust kicked up by the impact shrouded the machina. Yuna grunted in pain as she felt up and down her ribs and legs, pleased to sense nothing broken or bleeding.
"Ahh! Yunie, are you okay?" shrieked Rikku.
Yuna stood up and dusted herself off. "Yeah, it'll take more than a cheap shot to take me out."
Paine nodded at Yuna's quick resilience and pulled out her warrior's sword. A high-pitched whine bounced off the walls of the chamber. Even in the dim lighting, its steel shined with brilliance, reflecting the red and purple lights of the machina on its blade. Comforted by her stout friend's skill in battle, Yuna replied with a silent nod of her own. Then her brow furrowed. Angered by the nearly fatal, Yuna whipped out her pair of Tiny Bee pistols.
Rikku screamed at the animated statue, "E's kuehk du gelg ouin ycc!"
Running parallel to each other on either side of the machina, Yuna and Paine shot and stabbed it with blazing fury. Unfazed by the onslaught, it roared and smacked Paine with its huge arm, knocking her into the wall behind her. She slumped to the ground, covered in falling rubble and a white coat of silt. Fat, yellow sparks emerged from the machine's head, and it fired a beam of lightning in front of Yuna, frying a black streak into the ground. Like a laser, it cleanly sliced apart the masonry of the floor. The smell of charred stone engulfed the air.
"Stupid machina! I'll tear you apart myself!" bellowed Rikku, as she jumped onto its back.
"Rikku! Get off of that!" yelled Yuna, throwing her hand in the air.
Her plea fell on deaf ears, as Rikku focused on dismantling the machina. She jammed her twin blades rapidly into the back of its head, chittering away at the metal plating reinforcing its neck area. Her blades bounced off the plating, leaving only small dings behind. She growled and tried slicing a thick, black coil connecting both parts, grasping onto its head to steady herself. The machina snapped its head back, flinging Rikku into the wall nearby the unconscious Paine.
"No, Rikku!" screamed Yuna.
She sprinted around the machina taking a defensive position in front of her friends. Refusing to let an ancient turtle-shaped tin can kill them, she fired madly with both pistols, emptying two clips of bullets off the machina's metallic shell. She gasped when she saw her bullets had no discernable effect on her foe. Not to be deterred, she quickly conceived of a second plan. Reaching into her pouch, she realized she had left some of her special bullets back on the Celsius. Her groan rumbled over the whirring gears of the stomping turtle.
"Hey, Yunie, it's alright! I think I got an idea," choked out Rikku, in great pain from slamming against the wall. "The book we read has the two spheres we have in it. I think we have to use them to destroy the—watch out!"
The machina swung at Yuna in true ferocity, nearly beheading her twice. She felt the tops of her hair clipped each time she ducked under the swooping arms of the statue. She rolled away, barely getting to her feet before it attempted another blow. Its blood-red optical sensors locked the former summoner in its sights. Fumbling around in her pouch, she reloaded her pistols, dashing in wide circles around the machine. She tried shooting its joints, but the shots reflected off the metal plating of its knees. Then she aimed for one of its eyes. A bullet connected with the red sensor, fanning out sparks from its eye. The machina reared up and pummeled its front feet on the ground, knocking Yuna off her feet from the concussion of the impact.
"Yunie, use your orb in one of the pedestals!" shouted Rikku.
Yuna rose to her feet and darted underneath its shell and over to the pedestal directly behind the machina, stuffing the sphere into its housing. The machina raised its front appendages into the air and began charging up another electrical attack. Seeing this, Rikku used all her might to stand up. She leaped over to the other pedestal and shoved the sphere in her possession into place.
Once set, three beams of light shot out of the pedestals, forming a pyramidal shape around the machina. It cried out in a hideous, mechanical sound, and abruptly froze still. Its gears grinded to a halt and silence presided over the chamber. Yuna held her breath, afraid to move a muscle. Not yet convinced of the Gullwing's victory, she scanned over the statue to see if it moved once more. The killing machine stood dormant with a halo of dust swirling around it. Yuna quietly exhaled her stored breath, waiting to make sure the monster remained inactive. Once assured, she moved over to Rikku, who stood hunched over and panting heavily.
"Are you alright, Rikku?" Yuna asked, attempting to assess her wounds.
Her cousin nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm okay. But Paine looks like she might be—"
"Hey shrimp, don't take pity on me," interrupted Paine, who knelt down in front of Rikku. "It just stunned me for a bit."
"Whew! You guys had me worried," exhaled Yuna.
"Well, getting thrown into a wall was no picnic. I ought to blow that stupid thing to pieces!" Rikku declared, still unhappy by seeing a cutout of herself on the wall.
"I told you guys coming here here was a bad idea," grumbled Paine, poking Rikku in the forehead.
"Oops, sorry!"
"Hey, look at that over there," called Yuna, pointing over to a pedestal near the three others.
She walked over to the pedestal and took a long, hard look at it. After brushing off a layer of dust, it appeared to contain a genuine sphere. She took a breath and blew off the centuries of grime clinging to its surface. The sphere glistened for a moment, giving off a hint of blue light. She closed her eyes and pulled it out. Squinting her green eye open, she witnessed the machina staying put. Sighing in relief, she examined the sphere further.
"It looks like this might be what we came for!" she cheered, holding the sphere over her head.
Rikku ran over to her. "Yippee! Oww . . . see, coming here was a good thing after all."
"So, what's on it?" asked Paine, limping over to Yuna.
Yuna wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. Let's find out!"
With a flip and a click, the sphere projected a fuzzy image. At first, Yuna couldn't make out anything discernable. Then the picture sharpened from its blurry, cyan haze. A young woman appeared, maybe around Yuna's age. Her long, brown hair flew behind her as she appeared to be sprinting away from someone or something. After a little static, the image of the machina they had just fought roared behind her. Other actual Tonberries appeared in the background.
The image faded out, but a second appeared. Again, this woman appeared to be fleeing from the raging machina. Except now she appeared outside of a temple or similar structure. The image degraded almost to the point of nothing. However, a man's voice could still be heard.
"Please fzzt don't go that way bzzzt Lenne!"
The sphere clicked off. None of the Gullwings understood what they had just witnessed. That woman seemed familiar to Yuna. They had never heard of anyone named Lenne before, although Yuna thought that name sounded familiar.
Rikku shrugged and mumbled, "Well, that was interesting . . . I guess."
"What a waste. What good will that do us?" barked Paine.
Yuna sighed. "I guess it won't hurt if we let Shinra examine it. At least he might find some use from it."
The Gullwings left the Tonberry temple and headed back to Kilika. Disappointed by their lackluster sphere, Rikku sat quietly on their boat ride back. Not needing a reason to remain silent, Paine leaned against the rear of the craft and stared out into the ocean. Still thinking about the sphere, Yuna wondered who this woman named Lenne could be. Her name seemed so familiar, that it sulked on the tip of her tongue. What did she care? Whoever this Lenne was, she would have died over a thousand years ago and had nothing to do with finding Tidus. She rested her head against her hand, disappointed by another sphere. Even the fresh wind blowing her hair offered her no relief from the frustration.
Yuna stared at her reflection in the sphere, whispering, "Will I ever see you again?"