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year 5, quarter 3
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This blind dating event was starting off much better for Yuna than last year’s had, in that she wasn’t completely overwhelmed and hiding in a bathroom. She somewhat attributed it to the fact that last year had gone so well once she’d gotten over her nerves. Dating had never really been a possibility for her before with her fate so tied to the death of Sin, and coming to terms that she was free to do as she pleased now was difficult, to say the least. But Faris had been charming and charismatic, and if nothing else came of it, Yuna felt like she’d made a good friend in the process. He’d made it so much easier for her to try a second time, and she would always be grateful to him for that.
Maybe that was why she’d gone a little over the top in clothes shopping for the event with Celes and Jessie. The three had gone together for outfits in preparation for their dates, and Yuna had chosen something so different from her usual style that the only thing familiar she saw when looking in the mirror was the deep blue color and the flowing sleeves. Other than that, the skirt was shorter than she was used to, her stomach a little too exposed, the neckline a bit too low, and the boots a little too tall. Yuna felt like blushing whenever anyone looked her way as she stepped inside the Plaisir de Magicka, but she did her best to keep her head up and smile.
Maybe this wasn’t entirely “her,” but Yuna was there to have a good time and experiment to find out who she wanted to be away from Spira. There was nothing wrong with being out of her element when she was still searching for that.
Clutching the bright-red badge that she’d been given between her fingertips, Yuna looked around in awe at the brightly-colored stalls surrounded by shimmering lights and illusions. There were almost too many to choose from, and the place was so crowded that she was a bit at a loss over how to locate her date until she spotted a line of people leading up to a cleared-off windy area. Yuna’s lips parted a bit in surprise as she watched two people float up into the air, both girls giggling madly and clutching at each other’s hands. As she crept closer, the force of the wind made Yuna’s hair blow into strands around her face as if she were on the deck of an airship, and the ‘Flight Simulator’ sign over the stall gave her an idea.
If she couldn’t find the boy she was supposed to meet from the ground, then why not try the air?
The line was fairly long, but it moved quickly, and there was so much to see and observe around them that it didn’t feel like it had been very long before Yuna was presenting her badge to be scanned in exchange for a small crystal that she looked at curiously as she approached the wind tunnel. It seemed a little like the ones that Bartz and Faris used in exchange for their abilities, but she didn’t have long to ponder that before her body suddenly felt much lighter and she was swept up in the air.
Letting out a squeak of surprise and delight, Yuna did her best to arrange herself so her skirt wouldn’t blow up past her before she looked down at the festivities as she was swept up into the night sky. It had been crowded and noisy down below, but the sound was oddly hushed from up here. It almost felt like she’d left humanity entirely, and Yuna almost lost herself in somber thoughts before she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.
Scanning the crowd, Yuna looked from stall to stall until her eyes finally lit on a flash of red just as she started to slowly drift back towards the ground. The man attached to it had spiky blond hair, which made Yuna glance away with a blush. Had her dating sheet projected Tidus too much? Maybe it made sense that her partner preferences would always align with him, but she hoped that they weren’t too similar. Her goal wasn’t to replace Tidus. She’d probably never stop loving him. She just couldn’t spend a lifetime waiting for him when she might never be able to return to Spira.
Shyly glancing back over, Yuna gave the boy a small wave even though she couldn’t be positive that he’d seen her as her toes lightly touched the grass.
Faris seemed amused at the idea of getting along with Caius, and Yuna gave him a slight look though her heart wasn’t in it. “I’ve seen stranger people have a heart to heart.” She had never met people at more opposite extremes than Sir Auron and her cousin Rikku, but even they had tolerated each other and gotten along. “I think you just clash in exactly the wrong ways. You both seem a little stubborn and set in your ways.”
That was said with a slightly teasing smile to soften the criticism as she turned her attention back towards the water. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, and the waves were beginning to turn shades of deep purple and soft blue.
“Thank you for this. It was beautiful,” Yuna murmured, clasping her hands in her lap. “I never thought I’d have a day like this.” Without meaning to, her thoughts drifted to Tidus and what he had said about taking her to Zanarkand one day. Her heart ached a little at the memory.
Let’s go to the sea. Before sunrise.
Yuna was suddenly glad that Faris had suggested sunset instead.
Fighting back the flood of sadness that memories of Tidus always seemed to bring, Yuna struggled to focus on the present and smile at the lavender-haired boy next to her instead when he asked if she could give the sea a chance. “You know, I think I could. You were a wonderful guide.”
The incoming darkness made Yuna suddenly aware that she was still cold. Her damp skirt was making her shiver, and she wished once again that she had brought a change of clothing. So while her first experience on a sailboat had been beautiful, she was still grateful when Faris suggested heading back to shore.
“Yes sir, Captain Faris,” she said brightly, scooting over to take up her position at the tiller again so she could steer. She’d wait until they were back at the docks before she pulled on her boots and jewelry. “Thank you. Really. I'm glad we met,” Yuna said again, a little quieter as they departed. She only hoped that she wouldn’t get distracted by the stars beginning to twinkle into view overhead.
Caius pointed out that they both knew how dangerous a tamed monster could be. While it felt a little unfair to call any of her aeons or Vordun a monster, Yuna took his point. Vordun only tolerated who Caius wanted him to after all, and her summons would turn their wrath wherever it was directed once they were called. “I suppose even Vordun or Shiva would be dangerous in the wrong hands,” Yuna murmured, her mind flashing automatically to Seymour before waving it aside. She could worry about her growing suspicions towards the man that she’d met from her own world later.
Her friend’s idea that they search for customer records was brilliant, and Yuna gave him a startled look as she recalled the window that they’d originally warped in through. “That office! There were supplier records on the desk. I didn’t know for what kind of business or I’d have looked closer,” she explained, but that was about all she had time for before the crabs had closed in.
Remembering Caius’ advice to keep her distance, Yuna stayed back as Caius rushed in and took one of their pincers off. However, the second monster broke free of the ice sooner than anticipated and Yuna cast a quick fire spell under its belly in the hope that it would slow the crab down as it snapped toward Caius’ neck. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry as her friend warped out of the way at the last second, appearing in front of her in a blue streak.
“They can flank us easily if we’re not careful.”
Yuna nodded seriously, since he’d just demonstrated that fact himself, and she scanned the injured monsters as a crazy impulse came to her. “Then we’ll just have to flank them first.” With that, she was off and running in a wide circle around the monsters in an effort to get behind them towards the cages in the back. The half-frozen one came after her of course, but she was happy to see that the one with the injured pincer hesitated long enough for her to get the creature at a good angle between her and Caius.
“Water,” she murmured, doing her best to control the size of the spray--she didn’t want to flood the basement they were standing in--as she sent the injured crab sweeping away towards Caius. The spell wouldn’t do any damage to an aquatic creature, but it would briefly immobilize it and leave it at her friend’s mercy. Or so she hoped.
While she had been occupied with the other crab, the one that she’d frozen earlier caught up to her, and Yuna let out a startled squeak as she fell backward to avoid its claws. They closed with so much force that she had no doubt that it would have taken her arm off if she hadn’t moved, and she was a bit appalled at how much bigger the creature looked now that it was closer. Stuck on the ground and far from Caius, she had little other options as she raised her staff and used up her biggest spell. “Holy!”
Balthier seemed a bit surprised that she’d agreed to their team-up so readily, and Yuna gave him a slight look over her shoulder as he made a dry comment about her going first down the stairs. “We both like our distance, don’t we? I don’t see a sword on you,” she murmured, glancing down at the gun holstered at his waist before turning her attention back to the stairs. “So I don't think it matters much who goes first.” Not to mention that Yuna felt right at home. Traps and puzzles inside a temple made her remember the Cloister of Trials with a certain amount of fondness, even if not all of those experiences had been good. Particularly the very first one where she had prayed to the Fayth for over a day. She had been so determined to succeed that she planned to come out a summoner or die of thirst while trying.
Not that Balthier needed to hear all of that. Somehow Yuna didn’t think he’d be interested anyway. He seemed like a man who was very focused on the task on hand and didn’t care much for any people he met along the way. Still, maybe he’d surprise her. Kimahri and Sir Auron came off that way too before you got to know them.
Balthier gave his opinions about the dead-end waiting for them at the bottom of the staircase, and Yuna blinked in surprise at the patch of stone that he pointed out as a trap. It looked like anyone who unwittingly went to examine the smooth stone wall opposite them would have been caught up in something undesirable. “Whoever built this place was deadly serious. Maybe you really were on to something by coming here,” she mused, being sure to lift her skirts and avoid the dangerous strip of ground as she lightly leapt over it.
Balthier started to examine the walls closer to the stairs, so Yuna did the same to cover more ground quickly, though she suspected her eyes wouldn’t be as adept at finding anything at Balthier’s. Still, it was worth a shot, so she quickly ran her hands over the uneven walls, glancing over her shoulder at the older man as he asked her a question.
“Oh! You really are a Captain? The only other pirate I’ve met was a captain too,” Yuna said, shooting him a slight smile before turning back to her task. “What’s your ship like?”
A piece of stone near her left hand was a slightly different shade than the others, as if it had somehow aged differently. Yuna hesitated before gently pressing on it, and she was caught off guard as the wall gave way in front of her. Letting out a startled squeak, Yuna pitched forward into the darkness as the wall rotated in on itself, dropping her candle as she landed hard on the stone floor on the other side.
Caius agreed with her assessment of the various sizes of cages scattered around the basement, and Yuna gave him a nervous expression when he mentioned that the owners could be selling the monsters on the black market. “Who would buy something like that?” She murmured, though it was really unnecessary. They’d both seen plenty of groups around Zephon whose members seemed like they’d do anything to make money or protect themselves, not to mention the Original Sin. There likely was a market for it, as little as Yuna wanted to follow that line of thought through to its conclusion.
Still, that was the least of their concerns right now as it seemed that not all of the monsters had escaped or run off, though it was pretty easy to see why as the shelled bodies of the crabs came into view. They were likely too big to fit through the door even if they’d wanted to, and Yuna blanched a bit as Caius directed her to stay behind him.
“What are they?” Maybe it wasn’t the right time to ask, but Caius seemed at least a little familiar with the creatures, and she nodded at the advice to keep her attacks ranged. “Then all those merchants going missing…” She couldn’t help saying, though it wasn’t a good time to discuss that either. Even if they had been attacked by creatures who had escaped from this house, she and Caius could plan their next move in the investigation once they were safe again.
“Protect,” she murmured, casting the spell on Caius to guard him against physical attacks. Those pincers looked dangerous, and with his double weapons, he was more likely than her to dive in close. Yuna kept her distance, running through her limited offensive capabilities in this environment. They were indoors, so summoning Shiva or casting Fire or Thunder could bring the house down on top of them. Water had nowhere to drain in a basement like this, so that spell could drown them before they had a chance to reach the door. (Neither of them were Blitzball players, after all, and she somehow doubted water would hurt crabs much anyway). That left Yuna with Blizzard and Holy, and Holy was such a drain on her magic that she preferred to save it for a pinch.
“Blizzard!” Covering her friend’s back, Yuna did her best to immobilize the monsters so that he could finish them.
Yuna was getting more and more of the impression that the suave gunner she’d grabbed on impulse might have been a touch of a shady character. Still, he didn’t seem dangerous. He didn’t seem interested in her at all to tell the truth, but Yuna found that put her more at ease. Whatever his plans were, they were under the table, but they weren’t deadly. Or at least she hoped.
His answer on whether he knew the castle grounds was ambiguous, but he did admit that he would have preferred a better guide than her. A bit tactless, but Yuna supposed that she couldn’t argue when she absolutely didn't know her way around. “Royalty doesn’t really exist where I’m from. There are class differences, but…” But only in the church? Well. She doubted the brunette man really wanted her life story. He had been making a statement, not asking a question. He seemed like a man on a mission.
Then again, she wasn’t sure what he did care about when he completely waved off Bahamut, saying that matters of religion had never appealed to him. Yuna laughed a little sadly, glancing at him as he started to examine the chapel they’d come upon. “Sometimes I wish I could say the same…”
He waited a long time to introduce himself. Yuna was beginning to think that he had no intention of telling her his name, but he finally gave her one. Balthier. Somehow it suited him, though she had to give him a disapproving look when he laid out his reason for being here. “You’re a thief then. Or...maybe a pirate.” She tried out the word that Faris had taught her and decided that they did have the same swash-buckling charisma, though Balthier had none of Faris’ good nature. Unless Yuna was a little biased towards Faris of course.
“...Your help for mine then?” She could read between the lines of what he suggested, and while she didn’t necessarily like it, she really could use some help escaping. The last time that she’d had to run away from somewhere had been Macalania Temple, and the amount of Guado who had gotten hurt in that would always weigh heavily on her conscience. Maybe it would help to have someone who was used to slipping out of places quietly.
Yuna sighed, nodding her assent as she fell into step behind Balthier while he examined some paneled tapestries. “As long as you’re just here to rob them and not hurt anyone, then...deal. It’s not as if they don’t have enough money.”
Balthier immediately showed how accustomed he was with breaking in places as he pulled on a statue’s arm to reveal a hidden passageway leading down into the depths of the castle. Yuna cast it a hesitant glance before looking around for a light source. Temples always had candles, and it looked like this one was no exception. Snagging one from the front of the altar, she murmured “Fire” to cast a small spell on the tip of the wick. Her black magic wasn’t terribly powerful yet anyway. Lulu had been the real expert in their group, but she wasn’t here. None of them were.
“In my experience, nothing kept in basements is something they want the public to see…” Holding the candle out in front of her, she made sure Balthier was ready before she started descending the spiral staircase. Even with the light, it was pitch-black, and she made sure to be careful of her footing until they eventually leveled out far below the castle. The stone passageway that they were in now led to...nothing.
Frowning, Yuna held up the candle to make sure she was seeing correctly before she glanced over at Balthier with a faint smile. “Dead end. You’re the expert, Captain Balthier. What are we missing?”
Yuna bit her lip when Faris fumbled for a moment. She hadn’t meant to make him feel bad. She’d spent so long pretending that she was fine during her pilgrimage, and yet she was still so bad at faking a smile. It was pathetic when she looked at it that way. Yuna couldn’t stand being a burden to anyone, and Faris had shown her such a wonderful time until now.
“I’m sorry. It’s fine, really. I mean it, I was too impulsive. I would have probably regretted it if well...anything was that sudden.” Yuna tried to apologize again, but her words died on her lips as Faris reasserted his compliments from earlier. Her eyes drifted back towards the sunset on the horizon as a faint flush rose to her cheeks. He didn’t have to think so highly of her, especially after what had just happened.
“You really don’t have to-” she attempted a feeble protest, but ended up going quiet to listen to what Faris had to say. Friends. Yuna supposed that it was a rejection, but it was one that she was glad to receive. A small laugh even escaped her at his mention of Caius.
“I really think if you two just sat and had a drink together, you’d get along better than you think,” she teased before finally looking up to meet his eyes again. “And...I’d like that. I could use more friends here too.”
That was for the best anyway. Even if she had been the one to initiate, getting involved with the lavender-haired pirate likely wasn’t the best idea when she was still pining for a certain blond blitzball player. Still, Yuna had been around the world long enough to know that Tidus wasn’t here, however much she might want him to be. Maybe given enough time, she’d be ready to move on. Getting involved with Faris before that point wasn't fair to him.
Faris’ final words made Yuna avert her eyes again, though she was sure that she had a stupid smile on her face this time as she watched the orange glow over the dark water. “I won’t hold you to that since people can change, but I agree. I’ll leave it to you if you decide you want to bring it up later.” Yuna thought that what she’d said earlier might have been a little too on the nose. They had nothing but time, after all.
The brunette man looked startled at suddenly being dragged through a door, which was only to be expected. Yuna felt her embarrassed flush deepen as he stared at her with his mouth slightly open, but in the next instant his face was suddenly as composed and unreadable as Sir Auron’s had always been. It was Yuna’s turn now to watch him in confusion as he chastised her for the lack of subtlety in her escape. He seemed honestly a little offended by it.
“I’m...sorry,” Yuna said, though she wasn’t entirely certain why she was apologizing for that of all things. “I wasn’t planning to flee like that. I just don’t want to be told who to use my services for…I guess I panicked.” It really had been stupid. She didn’t need any enemies in Torensten, and it wasn’t as if she was helping anyone by hiding in the castle like this. Yuna felt so foolish that she had half a mind to sidle back into the hall and apologize.
She might have followed through with that sheepish instinct except that the man suddenly turned and started walking further down the hallway. He hurried her along with his words, and Yuna stared after him before hesitantly taking a few steps in his direction.
“Do you...know this place?” Somehow she didn’t think so. Anyone connected to the royal family or the military would have been separated from the rest of the huddled masses in the great hall. Still, he moved with so much confidence that she had to ask. A sudden rattle behind her of someone testing the doorknob encouraged Yuna to pick up the pace in following the stranger.
The hallway was decorated with extravagant paintings. Yuna didn’t recognize any of the artists of course, but its depictions were extraordinary. A sea serpent in a roiling storm. A magnificent bird with red and gold plumage. The largest chocobo that Yuna had ever seen. There was only one creature that she recognized, and Yuna’s chest ached a little as she stared at the dark dragon. “Bahamut,” she murmured quietly, and she might have lingered if people weren’t looking for them.
The hallway led them to a back staircase, but Yuna wasn’t surprised to find that it also curved around to an open set of double doors revealing some sort of temple or “chapel,” as she’d heard them called here sometimes. With paintings of aeons along the walls, she had really expected the passageway to lead nowhere else.
“I’m Yuna by the way,” she introduced herself to her companion a little awkwardly as she glanced between the staircase and the temple doors. “Do you have a destination in mind?”
Yuna had done her best to keep herself busy after the storm struck. Everytime she had the chance to slow down, her mind whirled with terrible possibilities of what could be happening to Caius and Faris who had gone separately to brave the waves. She knew that both of them could take care of themselves and that the sea was like a second home to Faris, but these rough waters were something else entirely. The ocean was as dangerous as if Sin itself was attacking the coast, so Yuna couldn’t help but worry for them.
Not that Yuna had much time to stand around and fret. She had plenty to do on her own in Torensten. A typhoon had swept away thousands of homes, and Yuna had healed as many people as she could who had been pulled from the water-strewn streets. Still, even she had been forced to pull back eventually as the water level grew higher and higher. Around the time that a hurricane struck the coast, soldiers had come to sound the alarm even as far up as the town square, so Yuna reluctantly retreated behind the castle walls along with the rest of the survivors. She didn’t like the idea of sitting still in safety, but there wasn’t much else she could do outside while conditions were still so bad.
The warmth of the great hall was a shock after she had been standing under a torrential downpour for so long, and Yuna found herself shivering, realizing for the first time how drenched she was. Someone handed her a cup of hot wine, and Yuna smiled at them politely, taking only a few sips before discreetly setting it down on a table. She had a feeling that she’d want all her wits about her before the day was done.
“Ah...excuse me,” Cupping her hands around her mouth, Yuna stood on a wooden bench, ignoring the careful looks a few of the guards gave her. “If anyone is injured, then please come see me! I’m a healer.” With a squeak of her wet boots, she hopped down off the bench as a few people took her up on her offer. Their injuries were mostly minor, which worried Yuna with how severe the storms had been. It looked like the people who had been caught in the worst of it may not have made it to the castle.
“You’re wanted upstairs.”
Yuna had just finished fixing up a cut over a woman’s eye that had probably been caused by some stray debris when the voice sounded from over her shoulder. It was one of the guards--a well-armored man who looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Yuna felt for him and how short-staffed the entire crew probably were, so she made her bow quick.
“Of course. Is someone hurt?”
“Not yet. It’s a preventative measure if the hurricane comes further inland.”
“...Oh.” Yuna gave him a reproachful look, though she did her best to keep her expression polite. “Surely I could be of better use down here if that happened? I’m sure the royal family and the military have plenty of their own healers…”
The guard wasn’t in the mood to argue with her. She saw it in his impatient, exhausted expression even before he’d seized her wrist. The same way that she saw that no one else was going to come to her aid from the way everyone’s eyes immediately averted themselves. Still, Yuna did her best to balk. “Sir, I’d really prefer to-”
He’d grabbed her wrist with the pearl bracelet on it, and the jewelry slipped off her wrist when he tried to tug her along, leaving him with his fingers clenched around pearls instead of her. They made eye contact, and suddenly Yuna wasn’t sure what had come over her but she’d started running across the great hall with a whirl of her skirts. The tired guard made an annoyed call after her, but that only made her speed up. Truthfully she wasn’t even sure what had bothered her so much about the interaction except that it was so reminiscent of something a maester of Yevon would do. Help people on the surface by gathering them here while still putting themselves first.
Yuna refused to work for someone like that ever again.
Her eyes latched on a brunette man who was supporting the wall next to the door that she was running towards. He was as soaked as the rest of the people in the hall, but he was well-dressed and had a haughty expression that suggested he knew how to handle himself. Yuna’s eyes caught on the gun holstered by his hip, and before she knew what had come over again, she was grabbing the man’s wrist much like the guard had taken hers.
“Help,” she squeaked, accidentally knocking the glass of wine out of his hand as she tugged him through the door with all the strength she could muster in her hundred pounds.
“Protect,” she quickly murmured to gain some time as she cast the spell in an attempt to block the door, before reality set in and she clapped her hands over her mouth as she turned to face the man she’d just kidnapped. “I am so sorry! Sometimes I just...act. Without thinking.”
Maybe Tidus would be proud at her not allowing anyone to push her around, but Yuna sure wasn't at that moment.
Faris was embarrassed. Yuna could see it with the way his cheeks flushed red and the slight stutter of his words as he turned away from her. Yuna’s heart skipped a beat as she slid away from him again, her stomach sinking a little in disappointment. Had she read things wrong? Of course she had. They had only met a few hours ago after all, even if it had been during a dating event. Faris had clearly just been trying to show her a good afternoon on a boat, and Yuna had ruined it. She suddenly wanted to cry, but she did her best to fight back the tears. They would only make everything worse.
“I learned to practice smiling when I’m feeling sad, you know?”
Yuna forced a small smile onto her lips, though she had a hard time meeting the lavender-haired boy’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-..." Didn’t mean to what? One of her hands balled up near her throat, and she wished that she had her necklace to hold onto as her eyes drifted off to the side. “That was impulsive. My apologies.”
Somehow she’d slipped into her summoner tone of voice, and she hated it, but she had no idea how to fix it when she just wanted to shut down. Yuna had been too eager with Tidus as well. She had seen it in everyone’s judgemental eyes on Kilika when she had said she’d wanted the cheerful blond boy nearby. She’d wanted to scream at them then. To ask why it had been so bad to want one thing for herself before the end. But she knew that she’d never say that out loud. Not even to herself.
Yuna let out a slow breath before sitting up straight and smiling at Faris more genuinely. “Well, of course there’s plenty I don’t know about you. We’ve only just met after all.” Turning her attention forward, she watched as the light of the sunset slowly turned the horizon a golden hue. “But we’ve lots of time until we can find a way home.”
