paixaorpg | miles and miles of netherworld i roam... [ COMPLETE / CLOSED ]

If Jecht felt uncomfortable, Yuna felt as though everything was downright wrong. It was as though Spira had taken a complete backwards slide, but she couldn't explain a lot of it to the men who stood with her. Not only was her father the only one who knew what had happened in Yuna's time, but he wasn't there. Everything was just wrong.

A part of her was afraid to go any further. The one good thing about this place was that at least Guadosalam and the Farplane weren't here. She'd have refused to go anywhere near the Farplane and would have had a hard time explaining that one.

A frown had creased Yuna's pretty face the moment they stepped out into Macalania. "I don't like it," she admitted. "It feels wrong." And if it was something created from their memories, then that explained everything. For all she knew, this was the Macalania from two years past... not the Macalania she knew anymore.

"This... isn't right, not anymore."

And she definitely didn't like it. A large part of her wanted to turn around and go back, but she couldn't. She had to see it all for herself.

Auron frowned, staring around at the forest surrounding them. He liked the feel of this place no more than Jecht and Yuna. It was the Spira he remembered, but not the one that he left behind. That alone was enough to trouble him, beyond the knowledge itself that this wasn't real. Auron pushed his glasses a little further up the bridge of his nose. "This is an entire castle of memories. If you can't get past your own, you won't leave." And he included himself in that. It seemed obvious where they would have to go to get through. The place where almost all roads in Spira seemed to lead: Zanarkand. He had hoped never to see it again.

"We have walked these roads before. Let's go," he said, beginning to walk toward the exit.

"Tch," was his only acknowledgement to Auron's comment. The problem was; the old grump was right. If he, or any of them, were unable to overcome the things that kept them bound to the days of Spira's past -- there would be no real way of escape. Not even if they were to find a way out of Castle Oblivion.

Jecht's intention was to take the lead of the group. That way, if there were dangers ahead, he could take care of them. Not that he didn't think the High Summoner and former Legendary Guardian weren't capable of fending for themselves -- this was just the sort of role that suited him, in the end.

He carried his sword strapped to his back as he parted some of the branches in front of him. "To tell ya the truth, I never figgered I'd be back in this place again..."

How long had Yuna relied on Auron's stiff guiding hand to help her through her pilgrimage? How long had it been since she'd last heard his words? Two years... not counting the time here in Paixao. Yet, as Auron spoke again and as Sir Jecht took the lead, Yuna found herself falling back into her place as a Summoner on her pilgrimage. Only the guns at her hips, the half-skirt she wore, and the hair tail were there to remind her that things were different.

...She still missed his voice, missed knowing he would be there with her.

Yuna shook herself a little and nodded once to Auron, walking forward. She would fall into whatever place was needed of her now. A glance was spared to Jecht at his words.

"I... wish you could see the Spira that I know now. It's grown and changed so much."

So much... and yet so little at the same time. It was different and yet much the same.

Auron wished he could see it as well. A Spira not held in Sin--and Yevon's--grip... He couldn't picture it, and he doubted that he ever could without seeing it for himself. Jecht's Zanarkand had been the closest he'd eveer been, but that was hardly the same. At most it was a reminder of what it would eventually become. The reflection of what once was...

He couldn't see this new Spira. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't and he knew that. This world of memories was closer to the world he belonged in than Yuna's Spira ever would be. All of this he left unsaid. It wasn't his place.

"Wish... I coulda seen it, Yuna." It seemed that, for the words that Auron couldn't speak, Jecht was able to provide a voice. His tone was genuine, the slightest of smiles curling up into the corners of his lips as he glanced back at the man that had been in brother in arms, figuring that he must feel the same way. During Braska's pilgrimage, hadn't they all spoken their piece in wanting to someday see Spira, a world free of Sin? Hadn't some of Braska's final words been 'there's a chance it won't come back this time?'

And so, now, the Blitz King found the courage to smile, taking pride in the successes of their children. Where they had come short of a solution, the others, including Auron, had found a way.

There was always another way, he'd believed that from the start.

"Hey Auron," he focused his gaze ahead again, "you told Brask' we were comin' here didn't you? Can't believe the guy didn't wait for us, it ain't like him...," he muttered under his breath, hoping Yuna wouldn't hear.

Along the path, suddenly, the brunette stopped short, focusing on a particular gathering of trees. A slight incline in the path that probably wouldn't have looked out of place to anyone, except...

"Wait a sec. Isn't this...?"

Yuna understood the hesitation from both of them, knew they wouldn't be able to picture the world that she knew. It was hard to explain, hard to put words to how different things were, but how nice, too. So, instead, Yuna fell silent for a moment, trying to think of something else she could say.

"We couldn't have done it without you," she told Jecht, looking at him before she turned back to their path. She was as worried about her father as Jecht seemed to be. It wasn't like Braska not to wait for them. Even though she didn't hear Jecht's muttering, she, too, thought the same.

Yuna stopped when Jecht did, looking at the trees. She thought she recognized this place, too. It hadn't been closed off in years, not since...

"Your sphere?" she asked. "They must have drawn on your memories for this... and my father's." It made her wonder how different everything else would be. Maybe they hadn't used her memories at all. Or if they had, they'd used memories from years ago, years long since past.

Jecht and Yuna were happy, and they had all bettered Spira in the end, but even now there was some lingering sense of guilt. For Braska's fate. For Jecht's. Knowing that all they had to do was ask, or that he should have spoken up more... It was unbearable sometimes, though the wounds had started to heal. Started to.

Auron nodded. "Through the journals," he affirmed, worries similar to those of Jecht's and Yuna's creeping into his thoughts. While it wasn't uncommon for Braska to decide to do something like this, it was rare that he did so without informing others of his decision.

Auron turned at Jecht's exclamation. "We have seen little else of this world. It is still difficult to tell whose memories it is from." It had been some time since he had been here. Or at least it felt like it.

Unfortunately, Jecht couldn't really see it the way Yuna did. He couldn't picture himself as helping Spira move forward, not when... Auron had told him that he had become Sin, himself. All of the death and pain he must have caused -- children left without their parents, parents forced to live through the death of their kids. For once, the blitzer kept his comments to himself on the matter. The guilt was still overwhelming on the inside.

"Yeah," he acknowledged the gunner. "That sphere..." Again, realization. Acceptance of an event beyond his control. Just another thing he couldn't stand about this place, real or not.

He cleared his throat, trudging forward again, but turning back to address the monk. "Tch. Musta gone forward without us. Some guardian I turned out to be..." he muttered, again, under his breath. "Well," he raised his voice as he continued, "ain't no place to go but forward then, knowin' him, he's probably waitin' for us at the exit, wonderin' what's takin' us so long!" he announced, as much for the reassurance of the group, as he hoped to convince himself.

"If it's my memories... they're two years old," Yuna murmured. "Maybe even older."

She felt like a kid again, staring at the woods and then the Travel Agency in the background. Her eyes moved even further, over the still frozen lake. No hole existed, where she and her guardians had fallen through to the bottom on their pilgrimage. No hole... to mark the death of the fayth.

Her heart ached to think of that, to think of how the forest would fade now that the fayth no longer guarded it, how he had once protected her here, against Seymour. And now Jecht wanted them to go forward. But where was forward?

"I don't want to go to the temples, any of them," Yuna spoke up suddenly, turning to face Jecht and Auron. Her expression was a distinctly serious look, one she didn't wear often. "I don't want to see them as they were, with the fayth still there." The memories hurt. Too much. "If you want to see what's in there, I won't stop you. But... I'd rather not see for myself."

In some way and on some level, it was like her refusal to see the Farplane again after he had disappeared. She didn't want to know.

Two years ago... For it to have changed as much as Yuna said it had in so short of time was as difficult for Auron to imagine as the changes themselves. But without Yevon's yoke, it could be expected for Spira to change quickly. After being held back for a thousand years it was only expected for others to want to see what they could do with their unfettered lives.

Auron didn't know what to say to Jecht and so he kept his silence. Jecht may have wanted to believe that Braska was still here somewhere, Auron had his doubts. After hearing of so many disappearing--including, apparently, himself--it was hard to expect anything else. But if they wanted to believe, he would let them. There was little harm in it this time. As long as if it turned out to not be the case they didn't continue to eny it.

Auron nodded to Yuna. "As you wish," he said simply. There was no reason for her to visit the temples, as far as he knew, and he had little reason to go there either.

Yuna's outburst surprised him a little. True, the man was curious himself as to what the temples held within them at this time but -- seeing Yuna so adamant about not going in made him reconsider. After a few quiet moments, Jecht nodded, arms crossed over his chest. "Okay. We don't have to go in," despite the fact that he would have rather satisfied his curiosity, making sure that Yuna was comfortable with the journey was a little more important. But if things got more strange the further they went... it was definitely something he kept in the back of his mind.

Stepping forward again, he racked his mind for the next upcoming landmark, studying the Travel Agency as they passed. He chuckled to himself, remembering Rin and their encounter with the Chocobo Eater on the Highroad.

"So what's next? That big wide field, right?" He squinted. "The one where all those summoners fought Sin?"

A small, grateful smile graced Yuna's features. Auron and Jecht didn't know how much she appreciated being given the choice. Maybe later, another time, she could manage to go inside. But not now. The temples reminded her of all she had lost, all she'd been searching for, and all she never thought she'd find again.

"We can take the short way back and then head to the Calm Lands," she directed, already beginning to turn in that direction. "I wonder how much has changed there. What do you expect it to look like?"

Mostly, Yuna was looking for a neutral topic, something that wouldn't bring up the pain the of the past for her. A part of her knew she couldn't avoid it forever, much as she wanted to.

She stopped for a second, turning back to look at the Travel Agency. If Jecht or Auron wanted to go inside, they could suggest it. To be honest, she was surprised they hadn't really run into any fiends yet. Maybe the Calm Lands would prove more hostile. Not that she was really looking for a fight.

"The same," Auron replied honestly. It hadn't been very different when he had traveled across as one of Yuna's guardians from when he was Braska's. That had been Spira, never changing.

He could only hope the memory of this place saw fit to leave the Malboros out of the picture.

With his arms extended behind his head, Jecht was stretching his bi and triceps as they continued on. He chuckled at Auron's flat response, and nodded in agreement. "Don't suppose there's much change that could happen there anyway, unless Rin up an' expanded like it was going out of style," he joked.

He hung back slightly, allowing Yuna to take the lead if she wanted, being that she seemed to know where a short cut was. "You know there was a shortcut?" he asked, a little quieter. If Yuna heard him, it was a risk for losing some manly points. Since, after all, Jecht was pretty sure they'd taken the long way through here...

Yuna chuckled a little with Jecht's joke. She knew what would be waiting in her time, but if this place was running on memories of at least two years ago, she was pretty sure none of the Calm Lands games would be there. This was both good and bad as far as she was concerned.

But she didn't let it bother her. "Not Rin, really. He's got enough Agencies all over Spira."

She grinned and headed on up the shimmering path through the trees. "The last time I was here, all of this was beginning to fade," she murmured, gazing up at the majestic trees. She still couldn't imagine Macalania without trees and the ice. "It's so beautiful here. If the fiends weren't here, I'd say we could stay for a while."

Edited 2010-12-17 17:32 (UTC)

"Yeah. This place always kinda had a mix of good scenery and annoying -- " Just before he could finished his quip, he was overwhelmed with sudden burst of pain. "ARGH!" he shouted, falling to his knees.

Jecht shot a look behind him, coming face to face with the stinger of a Wasp. "Why you -- !" In a smooth motion, he grabbed his sword from its place of rest, and swung it at the fiend.

Of course, the Wasp had no trouble dodging his clumsy attack, which saw to it that Jecht himself tumbled slightly forward, landing on a knee and using his sword as support now. Why was he so dizzy? "Dammit!" he cursed, not yet noticing he was poisoned...

The battle's beginning wasn't exactly the smoothest transition Yuna had ever been in, but they'd been ambushed. By a Wasp. She glared at it in annoyance, activating her garment grid. The last dressphere she'd used was Songstress, so that was the one she ended up in at the start. She wasn't actually paying attention to Jecht as she flipped through her abilities. Quickly, she began the steps for Darkness Dance, noticing the second Wasp that had joined and ducking out of the way just in time.

"Hey! Eyes on me!" she called, hoping to distract the two Wasps.

At the shout, Auron immediately shifted into a battle stance. He inclined his head, allowing his sunglasses to slip a little down his nose in order to peer over them and keep a better eye on the attacking fiend. Wasps... This was going to be a little difficult, as was quickly demonstrated by Jecht's attack missing.

Auron nearly had to double-take at Yuna's sudden outfit change. She hadn't said anything about that. Looked as though she had learned a few new tricks while they were gone.

One of the Wasps circled around for another attack and Auron moved to intercept it, rushing forward and bringing his katana down to attack. Fast as the fiend was, however, Auron was only barely able to nick it.

"Ngh. We gotta slow it down!" Normally, Jecht was quick, agile. Was the stimga of age finally catching up with him? He didn't want to think about such an improbability, he liked to think of himself as untouchable. Wasps had never given him this level of grief in the past!

He wound up again, attempting another swing at the annoying bug, mad at himself for being nicked in the first place, and even more angry for not being better prepared for the oncoming battle. He stomped a foot down, focusing his strength on the sword itself as he flung it forward -- knocking one of them off its balance.

Of course, he was now unarmed...

Yuna was obviously working on some tricks of her own. Magic? More than likely. And in battle, you protect the mage, no question. "Cover her!" he called, "I'm goin' in!" he had to retrieve his weapon, after all.

Slow down? Yuna blinked. Since when had a battle with two Wasps been this exhausting for someone? Usually, they were nothing. The rest of what happened went over Yuna's head as she dodged another Wasp attack. It was pretty easy to do since they were Blind right now, but she was beginning to think maybe she should have used Jitterbug or Slow Dance.

"Don't worry about me!" she responded. "I'm fine!"

She had more tricks up her sleeve. As soon as this dance was done, she would need to bring out the big guns. Literally.

Auron nodded and moved closer to Yuna, not entirely ignoring her assurances, but keeping watch over her all the same. Even the clumsiest of Blinded fiends could strike true at least once, and at the moment, whatever magic it was that she was using was better kept up, especially with Jecht having as much trouble as he seemed to be having.

At the same time, the fact that Jecht was having so much trouble bothered him. It wasn't like Jecht. Normally Jecht had more energy than this. Much more. Auron's eye narrowed, briefly scrutinizing his fellow ex-guardian. Something was off here, and he had his suspicions what, but he would wait until Jecht returned.

He leapt forward without second guessing himself, and somehow -- missed a step in doing so. He slid, head first, all the way underneath the fiend, but managed to grab the hilt of his blade in the process. He grunted, lifting himself to his feet again, now on the other side. Split formation? Well. Maybe it could work.

Jecht lifted a hand to run along his forehead, surprised by the amount of sweat he found came off. Damn. Had he somehow been poisoned? How stupid of him! Careless. Weak. "Ngh!" somehow escaped his lips as he attempted to jump forward again attacking them head on -- and this time -- collapsed entirely. Faceplanting on the ground.

Yuna was getting really worried about Jecht. She'd thought he'd be able to handle much worse than a couple of Wasps. Maybe he'd been poisoned...?

Finally, the Dance ended and the Wasps regained their sight. Having quickly gotten tired of being simply the back-up dancer, Yuna switched dresspheres again, fully expecting both Auron and Jecht to ask her about them after the battle. Back in her normal outfit for just a little bit, Yuna brought out both of her guns for a quick round of Trigger Happy. It wouldn't take out the Wasp she was aiming for, but it certainly didn't hurt to have that one weakened considerably.

Of course, once Jecht collapsed, she stuck her spare gun in its holster and quickly ran to see what she could do for him. If it was an Antidote he needed, she had plenty.

Edited 2011-01-04 19:51 (UTC)

A flash of light at the corner of his vision caught Auron's attention shortly before shots rang out. Another change? It was an odd form of combat to say the least, but it wasn't anything that required immediate attentions. As long as they were able to fight well, that was all that mattered.

Auron followed closely after Yuna, keeping a careful watch on the Wasps that continued to buzz about, and ready to defend against any attacks to her or else take the attacks himself.

Yuna quickly discovered that an Antidote wasn't what Jecht needed. "Oh no!" she cried, feeling at least partially responsible for his sudden condition, even if she had been distracted by her Dance. Fishing out a phoenix down from her pouch, she revived Jecht, ducking an oncoming Wasp and crawling out of the way.

Hoping the one phoenix down would work its wonders on Jecht, Yuna stood up and switched dresspheres again. It was time for a little extra power. In a flash of light, she changed into the giant... moogle outfit. On one hand, really hated this one because it brought back bad concert memories, was hot and itchy, and made her look really strange. Not as bad as Paine's, but it still wasn't the greatest thing in Spira. On the other hand, it really was a very powerful and useful dressphere.

No longer worried about getting poisoned - oh the joys of auto-ribbon - Yuna hurried up to the full-strength Wasp and punched it straight in the face. She crowed as it dropped like a rock, releasing pyreflies.

Almost as soon as the item hit him, Jecht burst back to life, coming into... an interesting turn of events. He blinked a few times, as if to make sure he was really seeing it -- a giant moogle taking care of business.

Back on his feet, and feeling better than ever, he rushed forward at top speed, gaining momentum, and somersaulting in the air, coming down on the other fiend, blade first. The hit made full contact, sending the wasp crashing down towards the ground and exploding into a second cloud of pyreflies. Jecht landed, a hand on his shoulder as he cricked his neck.

He took a look around, and instantly noticed -- "Where's Yuna?" he shot Auron a panicked look.

There were few things outside of an attack on himself that could completely break Auron's concentration in battle. Even things that caught his attention usually only did so for a brief moment--only long enough to assess the situation and decide whether or not anything needed to be done. That said, Yuna's sudden transformation into a giant stuffed moogle and subsequent punching of a wasp managed to do just that spectacularly.

While Auron had heard Jecht ask his question, he was unable to respond at first, busy trying to fit what he had just seen into any category of his mind where this would make sense. When that failed, the ex-guardian came to the decision that the best thing to do was to accept it, attempt to move on, and hope to never see anything as ridiculous as that ever again. "There," he answered Jecht flatly as he stared in Yuna's direction, both unable and unwilling to elaborate.

Yuna concentrated on making sure the second Wasp didn't go anywhere as Jecht revived and promptly killed it using a move that looked a lot like something Tidus had used. Something tugged at Yuna and she couldn't help smiling in the moogle suit.

"We won!" she crowed, taking the moogle head off. She fully expected Paine to continue with, "An empty win," and immediately felt the smile slip as she realized that Paine wasn't there. She'd have to get used to that again.

Letting her Gunner dressphere take over again in another flash of light, she turned and waved at Jecht. "I'm right here. Sorry about that. I... probably should have warned you about the dresspheres."

Slowly, as Auron pointed her out, Jecht turned his head towards the giant moogle. He stood there with his mouth gaping open as she transformed back into her original outfit, saying something about 'dress spheres.' He didn't know what to say -- and instead, allowed the silence to prevail, until --

He broke out into a roaring fit of laughter. "Haw haw! Yuna! I can't believe it! I thought I was seein' things! Man, you sure showed that fiend who's boss! ... A giant moogle... hawhawhaw!"

Auron heaved a heavy sigh and shoved his sunglasses further up his nose. He knew Jecht would bring attention to the moogle costume Yuna had worn. He knew it, and still he wished Jecht hadn't. It made his attempts to forget the incident all the more difficult. "Jecht..." he grumbled, shutting his eye and redoubling his efforts.

Yuna had expected a certain amount of teasing for the moogle suit, but the laughing was not making for a happy High Summoner. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Don't make fun of me!" she snapped, as much as she ever did. Really, it was more of a pout than anything. "I didn't choose it! The dressphere makes its own outfit. And at least it wasn't a MegaTonberry like Paine's is!"

Honestly, hers was the cutest of the bunch, even as hot and annoying as it could be.

"Come on. We should keep moving."

Yuna let her arms drop back to her sides and turned to keep going. Pout, pout, sulk, sulk.

"H-- Hey, I -- " it was too late. It was a classic example of open mouth, insert foot. Where Jecht thought the mood was finally lightening a little, Yuna had just seen it as ridicule. As she continued on, he lifted an arm to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly as he looked over to Auron -- desperately seeking an ounce of help he knew very well he wouldn't get from the monk.

The blitzer heaved a sigh, and continued behind the gunner, knowing that he would have to figure out some way to make it up to her...

Auron watched the scene before him play out in silence, allowing himself a small smirk of amusement as Yuna started to walk away. He soon began to feel eyes on him and turned to face Jecht, letting out a quiet chuckle as he noticed his friend's expression.

For a moment he thought of saying something, but instead he followed behind Jecht and Yuna. Better to leave the moment as it was--entertaining.

miles and miles of netherworld i roam... [ COMPLETE / CLOSED ]

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/exam death

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augh, so short. DX I'm sorry.

so you guys wanna run into some fiends??

fine with me!

feel free not to notice he's poisoned yet, i kinda want him to expell more energy. >]

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whaaa? i totally thought i responded to this, awh mai gawd DX

♥!

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you guys think its a good place to wrap up here? we cld join rikus thread for the calm lands. :> ??

Sounds like a plan to me!