Love Her and Despair Remaster [21]

[auronlu]

Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 21: "Family Matters"
Final Fantasy X/X-2 AU
Characters: Isaaru, Nooj, Auron, Rikku/Wakka, Cast
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2800
Summary: Exposition Dump and Story Recap now that (just about) all the pieces are on the board.
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Map/ToC

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The Story So Far: Seeking aid against Sin's latest incarnation, Summoner Isaaru pays a visit to the Al Bhed, only to be shot when their leader goes berserk and takes off in his airship. Isaaru and allies hitch a ride on Gippal's freighter to give chase.

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Half-carrying Nooj, the two guardians squinted as they emerged onto the sunlit flight deck. Elma and Isaaru turned at the sound of the doors opening behind them, the Crusader flinching at the hiss of pneumatics.

"What's our status?" Auron said.

"Hurry-hurry-he's-getting-away-and-this-bucket-can't-go-any-faster-rific," Rikku said, fidgeting on her feet next to Shinra at the nav console. She pointed through the clear nose of the ship, where a star that was no star flashed above the horizon.

The blue sphere floating at Shinra's elbow displayed two yellow dots creeping across the map. "The Fahrenheit is forty miles ahead, bearing north-northeast," he said.

"Take over for me, Rikku," Gippal said, hopping down from the pilot's seat and jogging back to relieve Auron of his burden. "Thanks, old man. I was beginning to wonder if you'd had a heart attack hauling him up here."

The Al Bhed slipped under Nooj's arm, catching Maroda's eye and jerking his chin towards the ops station. Together they guided Nooj to the chair and strapped him in. A tense semaphore unfolded between old friends: Gippal's gestures zealously casual, Nooj politely impassive, distancing himself from the men manipulating his limbs.

"Nice spread," he said, eyeing the four stations that seemed to be soaring through the sky in formation.

"Didn't quite turn out the way we'd planned, did it?" Gippal said. He jabbed a thumb towards Rikku. "That seat's yours once Shinra's fixed you up, Nooj."

"You'd make me the pilot?" His mouth tightened. "What about Paine?"

"Well, I reckon she'll want the gunner's station." Gippal smiled. "She's alive, Nooj. I haven't seen her in years, but Baralai says she's okay. I was kinda afraid to tell you."

"Thanks. I was afraid to ask, for fear I might—" He stopped, shook his head. "But that's in the past. Once this is over, I'm going to look for her."

"You still have a death wish, man. So, you gonna explain what this is about? And give me some reason to stop watchin' my back every time I check on you?"

"And I thought you were being naive," Nooj said. "But first, let me apologize. To you and Shinra. And to you also, Rikku. I fear your father's in for a rough time."

"But what's happened to him?" she said. "I didn't think psycho-Noojie-vibes were catching!"

"Not that, at least. Your father has been possessed by Shuyin, a man from Zanarkand killed in the machina wars a thousand years ago, whose soul cries out for vengeance."

"Come again?" Elma said. "Hasn't Sin already sewn up the market on vengeful spirits?"

"A ghost?" Rikku said.

"Unsent," Auron said.

"With a taste for melodrama, looks like," said Gippal. "No wonder it hung out with you, Nooj."

"Shut it."

"So what's Vegnagun?" Maroda said. "Another unsent?"

"Let me start at the beginning." Nooj's expression hardened, eyes locking with Isaaru's. "Thirteen years ago, just before the last Calm, Yevon hatched an ingenious way to rid itself of undesirables: Operation Mi'ihen."

"For which we are still atoning," Isaaru said. Elma's hands tightened into fists.

Nooj's eyes flicked to the Crusader, measuring. "You know of the Crimson Squad, then."

"We've... heard the name," Isaaru said. "I do not know the whole tale, but it is a shadow which haunts Maester Baralai. I gather his whole squadron was massacred. You were there?"

Nooj nodded. "Baralai, Gippal and I. The Crimson Squad was an elite corps trained to assume command of Crusader lodges."

"What?" Elma bristled. "We had excellent officers. It was the maesters who were incompetent!"

"Incompetent, or corrupt?" Nooj said. "Yevon wanted to break you, then control you. I suspect our mission's true purpose was simply to eliminate those who did not fit Yevon's mold." Again he stared at Isaaru, a note of challenge in his voice. "Like the pilgrimage."

"Jackasses," Gippal said under his breath.

Rikku jiggled impatiently. "Um, I get that you guys hate Yevon and all, but what's this got to do with Pops?"

"I'm getting there," Nooj said. "On our last training mission, we were assigned to explore the catacombs under Mushroom Ridge. That's where the entire Crimson Squad was cut down... by one another."

"What?" Isaaru paled. "In Yevon's name—"

"In Yevon's name," Nooj shot back, "we were pitted against an unsent with the power to drive us mad. And Yevon furnished us with machina weapons to make us more lethal than fiends."

Elma groaned. "Maybe the Cult of Sin's right. At least they know their god's out to get them."

Auron gave her a wry look.

"All those pyreflies. That was Shuyin?" Gippal said. "I remember, back in that cave, it felt like somebody else's feelings came crashing over me. I always figured that's what made you short out, Nooj, but I could never work out what the heck it was."

"Shuyin," Nooj said. "An unsent so obsessed with revenge that it's kept him from becoming a fiend for a thousand years. Or rather, he's become something worse."

"Damn," Maroda said. "How did you three survive?"

"Four." Nooj's eyes went distant. "We almost didn't. Paine— the sphere recorder assigned to monitor our team— stopped us from shooting each other. But it was too late. Shuyin had already claimed me, although I didn't know it. By the time I became aware of him, I was too weak-willed to fight him off."

"C'mon, Nooj," Gippal said. "It's not like Elder Cid's a pushover. Seems to me this Shuyin guy targets major buttheads."

"Not quite," Nooj said. "Shuyin feeds on anger and despair."

Rikku drummed her fingertips on the steering yoke. "Pops was pretty pissed, with Home getting blown up and all. D'you think Shuyin would let him go if we could, y'know, cheer him up?"

Nooj laughed. "It won't be that easy. I'm afraid the best way may be to fight your father, disable him, and present Shuyin with another host. Someone expendable."

"I'm not liking where this is going, Nooj," Gippal said.

Auron watched the exchange impassively. "What about Vegnagun?"

"A doomsday weapon built by Bevelle, which Sin— contrary to the fairy tales we're fed in temple— was summoned to counter. Bevelle demanded unconditional surrender, threatening to use its ultimate weapon. Zanarkard's ruler responded by unleashing Sin as a final, suicidal act of defiance. That ruler was named... Yevon."

"Yu Yevon," Isaaru corrected.

Elma sighed. "Not this again."

"You knew?" Nooj's eyes narrowed. "That's right. You're a maester."

"I did not know," Isaaru said, "although I had begun to piece together clues from the archives. Sir Auron confirmed my suspicions about Yu Yevon and Sin—"

Maroda snorted.

"—but this is the first we've heard of Vegnagun."

"For thirteen years, I've searched for it," Nooj said. "There's no sign of it under Lightning Mushroom Rock, in the hidden base where it was constructed. But Shuyin is convinced it survived. He means to use Vegnagun to avenge himself and the woman he loved, shot down by Bevelle's soldiers."

"It's in Bevelle," Shinra said, getting up and moving to the ops station next to Nooj. "Beneath the Tower of Light."

"Under the temple?" Maroda said. "No way."

Nooj chuckled. "I see I wasn't the only one with secrets. Well done, Shinra."

"Don't look at me." He drew out a sphere and slotted it into the console, calling up a schematic. "Baralai sent Cid all his notes on Vegnagun about two weeks ago. He asked us to help him find a way to disable it." Nooj leaned forward to look.

"So that's what Baralai's been hiding," Isaaru said. "A pity he could not trust us in this matter."

"And now Shuyin knows what Cid knows," Nooj said. He gestured towards the navigation scanner. "He's heading to Bevelle. Count on it. If we don't stop him before he reaches Vegnagun, Sin won't find anything left to destroy."

"Maybe we don't want to disable it, though," Maroda said. "Maybe we could use it to fight Sin without anyone getting killed."

"Except Lulu," Rikku said, giving Auron a pleading look.

"Are you crazy?" Elma said. "Even if the teachings are a great steaming pile of chocobo chips, we shouldn't be messing with machina we don't understand! Baralai probably kept this to himself to make sure nobody was stupid enough to try."

"First things first," Rikku said. "If an Al Bhed ship shows up in Bevelle, they're gonna super-freak. And Shuyin might start shooting people if they get in the way, right? So we could have an Al Bhed-Yevon war on our hands! Shinra, can you contact Maester Baralai?"

"Negative. He and Cid communicated by courier."

"That'd be me," Gippal said. "And we're already pushing this rig as fast as it'll go. Cid's a tough guy, Rikku. Hopefully Bevelle's defenses can keep him occupied until we catch up with him."

"I will vouch for you to the other maesters," Isaaru said. "My colleagues have no wish for conflict between our peoples. Shelinda does not trust the Al Bhed, but Baralai does."

"Or did," Nooj said.

"Yeah." Rikku sighed. "Well, anyway, I can knock Pops out with a nightcap when we find him. If it worked on Sir Grumpypants, it'll work on anybody."

"That still leaves Shuyin," Nooj said.

"If he's an unsent," Auron said, "he can be sent."

Isaaru turned to him, a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Are you sure about that, my friend?"

"You're not much of a summoner," Auron said. "But you've performed more sendings than anyone in Spira."

"He has a point, actually," Maroda muttered.

Isaaru gave his brother a warning glance. "Indeed."

"Sounds like a plan." Nooj said. "Assuming any of us survives this, we can argue over what to do with Vegnagun afterwards. If Cid's attack doesn't start a war, that just may."

With many hours before they reached Bevelle, there was nothing to do but secure a meal— requiring some haggling with the ship's captain— and snatch what rest they could. Before turning in, the Crusaders retired to the ship's hold to spar. Elma said she needed to punch something the captain wouldn't charge for breaking, and Maroda had rashly volunteered. Meanwhile, Gippal had taken Nooj and Shinra down to his onboard machine shop to jury-rig something for Nooj's artificial leg. That left Isaaru to meditate in the relative peace of the flight deck, facing the sunset with hands folded and eyes half-closed.

Leaving the autopilot in charge, Rikku puttered at the ops station. "Hey, Auron. Keep an eye on the scanner, will ya? Make sure Pops doesn't stop off in Luca for take-out. I gotta make a call."

Auron came forward, watching the two lights inching over the scanner's sphere. They were flying over open ocean now, with Bikanel creeping past on their left.

Rikku muttered about Wakka leaving the sphere off the charger again. At last the forward canopy turned semi-opaque, projecting an image of Rikku's living room. The view was blocked by a large hand setting the sphere on its stand. Then the picture stabilized to reveal Wakka sitting on the floor, three of the children clambering over him, and a pair of bare feet just visible in the window behind them.

"Hey, Rikku! We were gettin' worried. What's up?"

"We are," Rikku said, eliciting squeaks of laughter from the children. "Bad news, Wakka. You know how Nooj kept going on the fritz? He's given it to Pops."

"Huh?" Wakka leaned forward, peering anxiously. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Pops shot things up, but we're all fine. He took off on the Fahrenheit. We're going after him."

"Can't your brother go?" He frowned, peering past her shoulder. "And what are they still doin' there?"

"Pops is headed for Bevelle, so we're giving them a ride. He's got a big head start, Wakka. The Celsius would never catch up. Anyway, Brother's a doofus. He'd totally screw this up."

"But-"

"Etta ate some kak-tar seeds!" Mbela interrupted. "He's gonna be a kak-tar!"

The feet in the window behind her wiggled. "Zap zap zap!"

"Then Mum's gonna have to give him tummy-medicine when she gets back," Rikku said.

"Told ya," said Vidina, sprawled across his father's legs.

"Wakka," Rikku said. "We can handle it. Long story, but basically, some crazy unsent has been riding around in Nooj's head like a big fat flea. A ghost flea. Now it's jumped to Pops. We're trying to catch up to him so the summoner can send the ghost and de-Nooj-ify Pops."

"Oh," Wakka said, nonplussed. The chatter of the children rained around him while he digested this. "Yeah, you gotta take care of your dad. You be real careful, ya?"

"Promise." She winked. "I'll stand behind Auron, okay?"

"Right. Just as long as he's not takin' on something you shouldn't."

"Is Auron there?" Yunie said. All that could be seen of the child was a thistle-top of orange hair sticking up behind Wakka's shoulder.

Auron moved over to stand behind Rikku. "I'm here."

Yunie peeked around her father shyly. "The Lady says she's gonna go talk to the birds and the bees. After that, she's gonna go visit the dragon boy. But you'd better hurry up, 'cause she's running out of ice cream."

The corners of Auron's mouth twitched. "Understood," he said, after a moment's pause. "Thank you, Yuna."

"Okay!" she said, diving out of sight again.

Wakka folded his arms, his glare magnified to alarming proportions by the ship's forward projectors.

"Kids," Rikku said, "Mummy loves you tons, but I've gotta be gone a few days to help Pop-pops. You listen to Dad and pitch in with chores, okay?"

A chorus of mumbles seemed to satisfy her.

"Rikku," Wakka said, cheeks reddening. "I love you lots and lots. Come back soon, ya?"

"I love you too, hon," she said. "Try not to worry too much." She cut the connection and leaned back, slumping after the image of her family had been replaced by empty sky.

"'The birds and the bees'?" Isaaru said.

"Remiem Temple," Auron said.

"Oh!" Rikku said. "The chocobos and those weird bug sisters."

"And then to Bevelle, no?" Isaaru said. "I suppose your friend is sending us what warning she can, without alarming the child."

"Or alerting Yu Yevon."

The summoner's brows lifted. "I see. Then we must use the time she has given us wisely. So, what is your counsel? Is Vegnagun the answer?"

"It will have to be," Auron said. "Once the aeons are gone, there will be nothing left to stop her."

"Auron!" Rikku said, swiveling in her chair. "Lulu's family too, y'know? You can't just give up on her!"

"I haven't." Auron met Rikku's pleading eyes. Without the armor of his glasses, the haunted strain in his face was more obvious. "Rikku. Understand this. I guard Lord Isaaru. But Lulu guides our pilgrimage, just as she guided Yuna. She knows more of Sin and Yu Yevon than anyone. We have to solve the puzzle she's set for us."

"Are you certain it's your friend, not Sin's master, who steers her course now?" Isaaru asked gently. "The Lady is a prisoner, just as Nooj was. Who knows what part of her mind remains her own, after thirteen years?"

"That message did not come from Yu Yevon," Auron said stiffly.

"Yeah, maybe," Rikku put in, "but that doesn't mean she wants you to go chasing after Sin with a whopping thousand-year-old machina. Betcha you're a worse driver than she is."

"Her story can't end here, Rikku. We have to free her, one way or another."

"You know, maybe Maroda was right about you two, kinda," Rikku said, tapping her teeth thoughtfully. "You and Lulu were always on the same wavelength: grump point cynic two five. But you were so busy being badass know-it-all uber-guardians that you never stopped to realize there's more to life than boom and smash and self-sacrifice. It's too bad. You two would've absolutely owned Spira's Hottest Celebrity Couples spherecast."

"Hmph." At least Yunalesca had spared them that annoyance.

"Auron." Rikku cocked her head with that same focused look she got just before darting in to disable a machina. "You miss her too, don't you?"

He stared past Rikku's scrutiny to a horizon that was darkening to lavender. He had never been sentimental about sunsets, but the shade was a reminder of other things he had not permitted himself to be sentimental about. Almost he yielded to Rikku's strategic pestering. Whatever answer he might have given, however, was curtailed by the presence of the summoner behind them.

"We'll get her back, Auron. Pops first, then Lulu. I know we will." Rikku reached out to pat his hand. "I promise."

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Next Chapter: "On the Brink"

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Author's Notes

Chapter renumbering: Originally Chapter 25, posted May 2009.

Art notes: Yeah, the airships were actually much farther apart during this sequence. Artistic license. Also, the lighting/sky was vaguely inspired by this stock photo.

Comments

[mintywolf]

They need Maechen here for this, haha. He would have gotten the whole backstory told without all the arguing and interruptions.

That illustration is beautiful!! I really love the feathery sky and clouds. Nice work on the airships, too, I know that isn't easy.

You two would've absolutely owned Spira's Hottest Celebrity Couples spherecast. Rikku, no!!

[auronlu]

Ha, yes, but would Maechen be any less boring than a bunch of people rehashing stuff most readers know, but characters haven't pieced together until now in-game?

Ah well, if I only have 3 chapters like this-- there was one before Operation Mi'ihen 2.0, and the Council of Elrond, er, Lucil, will make three -- it's not too tedious. And I also have to provide cliff notes for readers who never played X-2, never discovered all the Crimson Sphere backstory dumps, or played the games so many years ago the details have grown fuzzy.

Unusual advantages to being dead: avoiding publicity and reporters.