Final Fantasy Fun

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.
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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.

( Read More... )

Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 21: "Love Her and Despair"
Final Fantasy X
Characters: Auron, Isaaru, Maroda, Elma, Rikku, Gippal
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3000
Summary: Revelations from Yuna's pilgrimage.
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Map/ToC

illustration by mintywolf

Our Story So Far: On a rampage to destroy the temples of Yevon, Sin transports Isaaru and companions to Bikanel Island, where Wakka and Rikku are raising a family. Gippal gives Isaaru's party a lift to the new Al Bhed Home.

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The flyer wobbled under the weight of extra passengers, accompanied by Rikku's swearing in two languages. Maroda rode white-knuckled, his brother with serene resignation. Elma, the machina-phobe, clung to her seat with a dour expression, but gave herself away with a whoop when the flier hopped over a sand-worm that unexpectedly rose behind a crumbling ruin. Auron simply played barnacle. Gippal was quiet too, for once, focused on steering a smooth course for the sake of his unsecured passengers.

They were streaking towards a gray hump emerging from the dunes. The shape soon resolved itself into a bulbous, unlovely hulk of an airship with the profile of an oversized bathtub, its hull a crude patchwork of fins, engine pods, exhaust ports and mismatched panels. It was moored on the southern tip of the island with the bulk of its fuselage hanging over open water. An aft loading ramp extended down to the beach.

The flyer slowed to a crawl and slithered up the ramp into the belly of the ship, coming to an abrupt halt against a stack of barrels. The engines screamed in the enclosed space, then faded to silence. Deafened passengers roused themselves and looked around. Floor-to-ceiling stacks of crates and gun racks loomed on all sides, making it a wonder they had not struck anything on the way in.

"Well, here we are," Gippal said, hopping up onto the flyer's windshield to kick a knob on the wall. The ramp and cargo bay doors began to close with a hiss of hydraulics. Dingy amber lights flickered to life in the ceiling as the rectangle of daylight behind them narrowed and vanished.

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 25: "Family Matters"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Isaaru, Nooj, Auron, Rikku/Wakka, Cast
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3100
Summary: Nooj explains about Shuyin and Vegnagun. Rikku calls Wakka to tell him what's happened.
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Map of Pilgrimage - Links to All Chapters

Our Story So Far: Back on pilgrimage, Summoner Isaaru pays a visit to the Al Bhed, only to be shot when Elder Cid goes berserk and takes off in his airship. Isaaru, guardians and allies hitch a ride on Gippal's freighter to give chase.

( Chapter 25: Family Matters )

Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 23: "Echoes of Woe"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Isaaru, Maroda, Auron, Elma, Rikku, Gippal, Shinra, Nooj, Cid
Rating: PG-13 (Violence)
Word Count: 3100
Summary: Summoner Isaaru arrives in the aftermath of an attack on the Al Bhed Home.
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Map of Pilgrimage - Links to All Chapters

Our Story So Far: Thirteen years into Lady Yuna's Calm, Sin/Lulu is destroying the temples and their fayth one step ahead of Summoner Isaaru. A disastrous Crusader operation at Djose scatters his party. The survivors find themselves transported by Sin to the islands inhabited by the Al Bhed, where they hitch a ride on Gippal's airship.

( Chapter 23: Echoes of Woe )