Tidus and Gippal leaned against a wall, listening for the sound of footsteps, in case the Seymour’s henchmen were heading there way.
“Lulu, this is Tidus. I don’t think we read your last message correctly. Did you just say Wakka’s dead?” Tidus asked.
“How am I supposed to know? I’m a black mage, not a doctor. All I know is that one of Ifrit’s Meteor Strikes hit him in the back, and now he isnt’ moving or breathing. How the heck are we going to get him out of here?” Lulu asked.
VIP! VIP! VIP! VIP! VIP! VIP! VIP! VIP! Eight automatic-rifle bullets hit next to Lulu. She dove under the nearest piece of rubble and crouched down.
“What was that?” Tidus asked through the radio.
“Yevon snipers with a mad-on for suspected terrorists, I think. Man, how does that bald-headed Al Bhed with the airship talk us into this stuff, Tidus?” Lulu asked through the radio.
THPP! A bullet landed right on Tidus’s chest.
“Oh my God!” Gippal exclaimed.
A few minutes later, Gippal and Tidus were hiding behind a hover, with Yevon soldiers firing automatic weapons at them.
“Tidus?” Lulu asked through the radio.
She heard Gippal scrambling to pick up Tidus and dragging him toward a nearby hover to hide behind, but she had no idea what was going on.
“He’s down, Lulu. The Yevon soldiers just put a bullet in his chest, and now they’re gunning for me,” Gippal explained. “Where do we go from here? Nobody ever covered Tidus being dead in the VR simulations.”
Tidus awoke with a start, but Gippal didn’t seem to notice. He heard Gippal talking to Lulu about how he died.
“Stay cool, Gippal. Why do you think the Al Bhed created kevlar?” Tidus said, lifting his shirt up revealing a kevlar vest, with a hole in it.
Then Tidus cast haste on himself, jumped over the hover, and charged at the Yevon soldiers. All six of them were caught off guard with Tidus’s surprise attack, and two of them were struck down. While Tidus was keeping the soldiers busy, Gippal started up the hover.
“Kimarhi, how fast can you get to Lulu and Wakka?” Tidus asked. “We need to rendezvous with the others before Seymoure spots the fighting.”
“Kimarhi’s already here, Tidus, but I doubt even he’s going to be able to hold the locals back much longer. I’m trying to use a nasty spell, to get rid of the soldiers over here. I’m just so stressed,” Lulu explained, while Kimarhi cast Mighty Guard on the three of them. “All I’ve managed to attack them with so far is a blizzard spell, which turned into sleet.”
“So much for rescuing the Grand Maester’s daughter buying us brownie points with Yevon,” Tidus said, as Gippal pulled up next to him.
Yevon soldiers kept firing away at Gippal and Tidus. Fortunatley, Yevon’s guns weren’t nearly as accurate as some of the Al Bhed’s. Tidus hopped on and then they zoomed off.
“They hate us, Tidus. As far as they’re concerned, we rank somewhere between athlete’s foot and child molesters,” Lulu said. “Even Cid was ready to sacrifice all seven of us, just to save some spoiled, little girl with a lot of money.”
There was a large explosion off to the east. Not even a quarter of a mile away. There was another to the west, even closer, three more directly ahead of Lulu’s field of vision.
Lulu looked around her. All of the Yevon soldiers were dead. A shadow appeared over Lulu, and she slowly turned her head afraid of what she was going to see.
“Actually, I can hardly believe Cid sent you here myself,” said Seymour’s silhouette against the flames.
Brother’s, Dona’s, Barthello’s Baralai’s and Buddy’s silhouette could be seen as well.
“Back off, Seymour,” Tidus growled hopping off the hover. “I don’t care who you are or what you can do.”
Tidus drew his sword.
“Take one more step towards my friends and I’ll stab you so hard, you won’t see the light of day again,” Tidus threatened.
“Don’t talk to me about your friends, Tidus. Your friends are being executed on the streets of so-called civilized society every day, and what are you doing, you treacherous, little lapdog?” Seymour asked. “Sabotaging a simple kidnap plot which might have ended the Guado execution initiative at a stroke.”
Seymour gestured toward Wakka and Baralai, Buddy, Brother, Barthello, and Dona went over to lift up Wakka.
“How could you come over here and risk your lives to defend the state-sanctioned murder of, for some of you, your own people? Doesn’t it bring a tear to your eye that you might have sacrificed a friend in your bid to ingratiate yourselves with your persecutors?” Seymour asked, leading a chocobo carriage over to Wakka’s body.
“I was doing this for you, you little ingrates, but it’s obvious you deserve everything you get from Yevon,” Seymour said. “My only desire now is that Sin gives you a slow and painful death.”
“Listen, this isn’t as black and white as it looks, Seymour. We weren’t exactly jumping for joy about coming here ourselves,” Tidus said, putting his sword back in it’s hilt.
“Save your breath, Tidus. I have nothing more to say to infants hell-bent on suicide,” Seymour said, turning his back to Tidus.
Kimarhi went over to help Baralai put Wakka in the carriage.
“Just GO,” Seymour muttered.
A few minutes later, the carriage was pulling away with Lulu, and Kimarhi in the back tending to Wakka’s injuries.
“I don’t understand, master. Cid being alone separated from his followers like this gave Auron the perfect opportunity to catch him alone,” Dona asked. “You don’t think he’s allied himself with that little band of renegades, do you?”
“Don’t be such an idiot, Dona. Auron always gets the job done, and murdering Cid was something he was very much looking forward to,” Seymour answered. “He’s only doing what he did when I sent him to kill that little despot in Macalania forest and that CEO of that corporation which was pumping all that wretched filth into the pond.”
Seymour turned his back and walked away.
“You know Auron. Holding off on a kill just means there’s a woman he’s trying to get into bed first,” Seymour said.
In about an hour, Wakka was sitting on his bed being healed by Yuna’s cure and life magic. Fortunately, Wakka’s body was still warm by the time they got back to the Calm Lands. So Yuna was able to perform the life spell on Wakka.
“Kimarhi didn’t know Yuna could revive people from the dead,” Kimarhi said. “Gippal’s taking it very badly. He’s locked himself in his room and made me promise not to break in the door.”
“It’s easy to forget what age he is, isn’t is? I mean, what must this seem like when you’re 20 years old?” Lulu asked as a tear streaked down her eye.
Kimarhi placed a hand on Lulu’s shoulder.
“You know what the worst part of it is for me? That sickening, get-right-under-your-skin detail that makes me ashamed of Yevon and all it’s followers?” Tidus asked.
“What’s that?” Lulu asked wiping the tears from her eyes.
“I called Wakka’s mom to tell her what happened, and the bigoted old witch even take my call,” Tidus answered.
Later on, after everybody left, and Wakka was in good health simply recovering from his wounds, Yuna sat next to him alone in Wakka’s private quarters on Cid’s airship. He was asleep on his bed.
“How’s he doing?” asked Auron as the door slid open.
“Surprisingly well, all things considered. The internal damage he sustained was gigantic, but my Cure magic was able to handle it. I’ve been trying to learn Cura for ages,” Yuna explained.
“Praise be to Yevon, for your healing magic, huh?” Auron asked walking over to Yuna. “Any word on when Wakka’s gonna be back on his feet?”
“Cid reckons he should be vertical again in a couple of weeks, but it’s Tidus who’s giving the smart money to irritable bowel syndrome at the moment,” Yuna answered.
“Don’t tell me he’s still blaming himself for all this?” Auron asked putting a hand on Yuna’s shoulder.
“Are you kidding? Tidus blames himself for the war between Bevelle and Zanarkand 1000 years ago, Auron. Coordinating an operation where one of us almost died is the worst thing that could happen to an sixteen-year-old control freak. Especially when he didn’t even want to go on the mission and Cid talked him into it,” Yuna explained. “He feels like a first class idiot.”
“What about you? How do you feel?” Auron asked.
“Rattled. But I trust my Uncle Cid, and the latest from Bevelle is that the Grand Maester’s feeling highly conciliatory since he got his daughter back,” Yuna said getting up, and walking toward the door.
“No, Yuna. How do you feel about me?” Auron asked, following Yuna.
“Honestly?” Yuna asked as the door slid open. “I’m not sure if I particularly like you, Auron.”
Yuna turned to face him.
“Sure, you’ve proved yourself as an Gullwing, but I haven’t bought this idea that you’re an overnight convert to Uncle Cid’s intergrationist ideology,” Yuna said, watching Auron intently. “You may not say it out loud, but I’m empathic enough to know you’re here for all the wrong reasons. I think the way people have treated you over the years has really screwed you up, and as much as it goes against everything the school’s supposed to stand for…”
Auron took a step toward Yuna.
“…I really, really wish we’d never met you,” Yuna finished.
“So how come you find me so attractive?” Auron asked.
“I wish I knew,” Yuna answered biting her lip.
Yuna fell into Auron’s hands and they kissed, for the longest time. Auron’s glasses slipped off, and fell onto the floor. He worked on getting Yuna’s white robe off, revealing only Yuna’s black bra. Yuna pulled down Auron’s red coat, revealing his armor and squeezed Auron’s butt.
The door slid open, and there stood Tidus with his mouth gaping open. At first he didn’t move, but then when Yuna realized he was there, he ran off.
“Tidus!” Yuna shouted.
But it was too late. He was gone. Out of site.
“Actually, I’m astonished that the Grand Maester has suspended the executions, because I know what kind of political pressure he was under to maintain a tough line. But tell him I’m delighted by his descision, and pleased to have played a part in the safe return of his daughter,” Cid said. “My Gullwings and I would be honored to accept his invitation to the Bevelle Palace, and hope this is the begininning of a long, fruitful relationship.”
Cid was talking to one of the high priest’s at the Bevelle Palace, through the computer on the bridge. Tidus appeared in the doorway, with a backpack strapped to his back.
“Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you Cid?” Tidus asked.
“Would you excuse me for a moment? One of the Gullwings appears to need some of my help,” Cid said.
“In your own time, Cid. We’ll just be sitting here running Yevon if you need us,” the high priest replied.
Then the screen switched to black.
“Planning a trip, Tidus?” Cid asked.
“Yeah, a one-way ticket out of here. This big plan you had is obviously going nowhere, and I’m leaving before anyone else gets blown up for your useless cause,” Tidus answered.
“We’re hardly going nowhere, Tidus. I’ve just arranged the first Yevon-Al Bhed summit and negotiated a suspension of the executions,” Cid explained.
“You mean we’re supposed to be grateful because a grey-haired old man’s given us a temporary stay of execution? I’m not interested in getting a few scraps from their table anymore, man. I just want the same rights as everybody else,” Tidus replied.
“But you have to look at this from their perspective, Tidus: A new race has emerged, bombed their cities and declared they’re here to replace them. Yevon’s executions were an obvious knee-jerk reaction, but getting everyone around the negotiating table was our objective from the beginning,” Cid explained.
“Why should we sit down and negotiate with the kind of filth that put Wakka in a coma?” Tidus asked.
“Because they’re human beings, Tidus. And whether you like it or not, we’re sharing a continent with six hundred of them,” Cid answered. “Seymour’s ideas for a new and better world are attractive to any young boy, but you must understand that he remains the single, greatest threat to our fragile peace process. As much as I treasure all forms of life, I wouldn’t hesitate to destroy that little hideout he’s in if it wasn’t for the fact I built the place myself. The others look up to you, Tidus. You leaving now would have a disasterous effect at such a pivotal stage in my plans. Why don’t you go back to your room and unpack, and we’ll say nothing else about this unfortunate little episode, eh?”
“Are you trying to ease my mind?” Tidus asked with just a bit of a temper.
“Well… yes,” Cid answered.
“Yeah, well, the hell with the Gullwings and your stupid peace process!” Tidus exclaimed.
“Language like that betrays a limited vocabulary, Tidus,” Cid said.
“Well, right now I’m feeling monosyllabic, man. Give me a call when you get tired of kissing up to the evil empire,” Tidus said storming out of the bridge.
“What the…?” Wakka asked waking up in his room.
Later, on Bikanel Island, the Celsius landed just outside of HOME. Most of the Guado, and some of the Al Bhed gathered outside in the middle of the night, to see what all the commotion was about.
Tidus exited the Celsius, and walked down the sloping sand crater, with HOME dead ahead. Dona, Baralai, Buddy, Barthello, and someone else were standing behind Seymour.
“Okay, Seymour. I’m interested,” Tidus said. “Let’s hear what you have to say for yourself.”
Seymour scoured Tidus’s eyes, for any sign of deception and said: “Welcome to HOME, Tidus.”
Thanx for reading
Sephistrife15
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