Calamity Trigger - Sin (World: Spira)

"Wait, h-hold on!"

It was a warning that went ignored as Takato held out his hand. Zora and Ima had already left. His fingers uncurled, a curse biting off the edge of his lip as the boat shook once again. A surge of pain went through him as he stumbled, steadying himself on a nearby table as the "ground" beneath them shook. This was bad, this was really bad. They had seen too much combat in the last few days to fight at full proficiency. Day in day out warfare had left even Raven of all people fatigued and strained, something that the brainy blonde didn't even want to think about. It was an unfortunate taste of stress for the Magi to feel. Ima was their light and hope, that was dimming. Zora was their weakening backbone and stubbornness. Raven was their strongest fighter and fading courage. And...himself?

He was the guy that had all and none of the answers.

Raven, I'm no hero. I don't want you to be one either. Just...be Raven...

Except for one.

"You're a monster.."

Takato held out his hand to Raven, stretched out palm. Only, it wasn't pointed at him. It was held out in gesture.

"That's what you think, right?"

The boat rocked and a sharp, stabbing pain went straight through his chest. The magi felt a strange, harrowing sensation creep through his bones and focus the inner reaches of his torso. A dizziness and strain went through him as he breathed through his teeth, shaking it off as stared at the man. On the outside he was man simply holding out his hand. No preposterous speeches or cliché lines of heroic justice. Just a man leaning against a table with one gloved, beckoning hand.

40%...huh? It was worth it, Ima..

A small, almost dry laugh broke his lips.

"You sure? Monsters don't feel guilt."

The air broke in a loud booming "howl" as the "fin" of Sin cut through the water outside. It's sheer size made the sea itself bend to it's whims, yet all they could see was the very top of it. And that dwarfed the entire boat.  Those on the deck could see the "spines" on the beast flicker alive and explode forth through the air like missles, zipping upwards to the clouds before crashing down with enough force to litereally tip the boat forward a few moments. Tidus barely managed to grab hold of a rope, while the rest of the Guardians huddled together around Yuna. The tension was thick in the air and the "normal" people that was on the boat were cowering in fear, praying for their lives, or hoping to die painlessly.

The "spines" that impaled on the deck of the boat formed rapidly increasing amounts of adult sized, blue "bug" like creatures and one towering, tail-whipping blue "sword" that was firmly impaled in the wood of the boat. The smaller creatures scuttled around this one beast and began to dart around the deck; flickering with blue lights and a crimson, red stare. There was an overwhelming feeling of pressure coming from the tall, twitching "tower" beast as it sat there, unmoving.

"There's too many!"

"Sin AND Sinspawn!? T-That.....just ain't right, ya?"

"Everybody who can't fight below deck, hurry!"

Takato stumbled as people suddenly pushed past them in a frenzy. Panic. Fear. It happened all below deck as they charged in from above.

Only this time it wasn't aimed at them.

Zora...I won't let you shoulder this alone...

It was refreshing really.

That didn't solve his problem though, now did it?

His arm dropped and he turned to the door, grabbing the handle as gave one last tense breath. It was a shudder. A heart wrenching, tired and soul crushing suck in of air.

It was an echo of foreboding doom.

His shouts still could be heard however as he came on deck.

"I-Ima! Aim at the sword-looking thing in the back and stay far away as you can! Zora! Keep those little guys away from the crew. Everybody else, do NOT target the fin."

He would not lose them.

Not Raven. Not Ima. Not Zora.

He would not lose them.

//////////

OOC: I meant to post this before but I had a few difficulties conveying "Takato talking and then getting up on deck" in as brief and straight as I could without just jump cutting. Especially since him just leaving would have felt tasteless and really out of character towards a comrade, so I rewrote this three times until I came up with this.

I also really wanted to stress that your characters are really making an impact in more than just the world around them; always keep in mind how your party members view you. You could be surprised if you asked.

....

I need to stop writing after sappy FFX scenes.

Was it worth the wait? Probably not, but it's up.

(1) What you're fighting.
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131226173718/finalfantasy/images/9/97/Final-Fantasy-X-Sinspawn-Ammes.jpg

(2) Where.
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131226224347/finalfantasy/images/1/11/Sin_attacks_ss_liki.jpg

(3) Listen to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZLV7g1ILvI (Yes. Really.)

Her eyes widened when she saw the giant Sinspawn onboard the ship along with the many little bugs scurrying around the deck of the boat. Not only that, they had the fin of Sin to worry about. Would this beast try to attack them unlike before? She curses, seeing the smaller Sinspawn darting around the deck as she dashes towards them.

"I'm on it!"

At this point, she has stopped questioning Takato's words. There was no longer any point of doubt or fighting amongst themselves. Not only that, Zora was the only one who wasn't involved in yesterday's battle against Kisame. Out of all of them, even with her accursed arm engulfing half of her face and the random bouts of spasms, she wasn't as drained as the other three. As much as she wanted to direct Ima away from the fight, there was no time to even think as she brings her right arm back and aimed to strike a nearby sinspawn with its flickering 'ears'.

".....What?"

Nothing. Her hand was opened. Her arm was outstretched in front of her. But nothing. It didn't transform...it didn't extend...It was nothing more than an ugly arm. Without missing a beat, she was suddenly hit by numbers of spines shooting out of the sinspawn's ears, causing her to cry out and fall backwards. The damage was minimal, thankfully, but she didn't have time to relax as she saw a number of them heading for the innocent people who had no way of defending herself. "Shit!" She scrambles up and dashes over, grabbing one by its ear and swinging it to hit another, sending both of them back towards the tip of the ship. Again, she brings her arm back and throws it forward to kill the annoying insects.

Again, nothing happened.

"No...No no no no no no no no no!!!"

Zora starts to panic, seeing that her arm wasn't transforming. Why? This has never happened before! She had a full day's rest...her arm should have been fine! Even if it was in constant spasms and pain, there was never a time that her arm stopped transforming. Another sinspawn scurries over towards her as she stomps on it and punches its head as hard as she could, effectively killing it. Picking up its corpse, she throws it with all her might towards another bug heading towards Yuna and her guardians as she starts dashing over to them. Already, her stamina was dropping much faster than she was used to, barely grabbing the other sinspawn and crushing it with her foot as she was panting heavily. Her arm was twitching more violently before she curled it into a fist so tight that blood was oozing out of her palm.

Was she going to be useless again...? Unable to help her friends like yesterday?

"Fuck!"

The magi had extended his hand and spoken words with the aim to convince. It was a clip from an average idea of friendship; one trying to help the other in their darkest of times. Raven's head weighed ten tons on his neck and hung down to the floor, and even with his herculean strength he found himself struggling to lift it. He quivered, jolted even, before his eyes drifted up to stab back into the gaze of Takato.

"You ever cast off a Wraith before, Takato? They're....born from regret. Every moment they exist is pain."

He dropped his head down again. He couldn't tell why his body rejected him anymore, whether it was the depression or the extreme fatigue from his battle with Kisame, whose sword, Samehada, still rested with his own, Azrael, next to him. His body rattled like the thoughts like bugs in his brain, and burned like his senses. There was a place in the back of his mind that grew warm in the presence of malicious spirits and spiritual entities. Since they were attacked, it burned like searing coals.

"It's not the beast that regrets anything, man. It's the man who made it possible."

There was no more to say. Raven kept to himself as Takato made his way up to the deck while the innocent ran in.

On the deck, the cold man with the red hair observed the chaos from the center, yet not a bead of sweat ran down his face. Unamused, he passed glances around him at the bug-like creatures scurrying around the ship, the blue tower that dug deep into the wood of the ship....and the fin, dwarfing the vessel they found themselves on. It was an impossible task. Odds that would crush a normal man with their weight alone.

It was all annoying at best.

Producing a half-frown, the amber eyes of the man in black slithered over his shoulder, then back ahead of him. Nothing. He couldn't find his weapon. Everything had to be a job, didn't it.

But he could hear it. Hear it like a whisper down the hall, yet close enough to be right outside of his ear. It was below him.

Below the water, sunken down to the depths and below.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes, holding out his hands and turning them skyward. He stiffened until his body became statuesque. With the pandemonium around him, he was the one image of peace.

Until his body began to emanate a hot, magenta hue. An aura that just barely rose from his body, softly pulsing like lapping water.

The sights and the sun didn't help Ima wake up any more than the screams had, but they helped her focus grow sharper still, sharp enough to actually register her surroundings. Most people were racing to where she had come from, forcing her to quickly step out of their way, and luck was the only thing that kept her from falling over or getting pushed to the ground. Those who remained on the deck afterwards were those who would fight Sin, Takato and Zora and Yuna and her friends, as well as a stranger preparing for battle. Well, maybe. Ima wasn't sure what the man was doing, but she hoped it was something to help with the fight.

With him or without him, the fight looked like it was going to be a doozy. Everyone was tired and there were more Sinspawn than Ima could count many times over littering the deck, one larger than the rest. She'd heard Takato before, saying she was to go for that one but keep as far away from it as possible. Which seemed a silly thing to tell her, in her sleepy head's idle thoughts. She had a gun. Of course she was going to keep her distance, that was how guns worked, silly Takato. But Ima made no comment of this, just prepared her gun to stop the big monster.

Stop, but not kill it.

She wasn't aiming to kill it. Wouldn't kill it. Never before had she killed anything, and neither would she now. Even with how exhausted she was, even with everything that was happening, even with how much safer and easier it would have been to kill it, Ima wasn't going to. Life was a precious, precious thing to her, no matter whose or what's life that was, no matter what that life was doing. To take away life was...sin, she remembered Mr. Horcrux explaining what the word meant. It was sin to take a life to her, to her people. She knew she was among humans now, that they were different than her and her people in their views on this, that she needed to adapt and adopt their ways, but killing was one she would not do, could not do. She couldn't kill it.

She couldn't kill it, but she could do all the rest.

Ima made her final adjustments to her gun, pointed it at the creature Takato spoke of, and started firing.

A cry went out as the large Sinspawn glimmered with a blue light. The air shuddered as the shots attempted  to impact it's form...and yet flickered inches away from doing so. It was as if protected by some sort of invisible barrier. Each "bullet" faded out of existence or splattered helplessly upon, well, nothingness. Ceasing to be. Yet the "sword like" creature made no other reaction, instead flicking it's large tail silently. Unnervingly. There was another strange, purple pulse and more shots were forced out of existence with another wall-like flicker. Amber eyes narrowed and fingers curled before he spok in that airy tone of lonesome Latin,

"Unus Fulgor Concidens Noctem, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat....."

(A stream of light to cut through the night, spring forth from my hand and throttle my enemy..)

Fwoooosh.

"Fulguratio Albicans!" (White Lightning)

Burst of energy let loose towards the "squid" in a steam of lightning, reaching forward in five long strips from a single hand on every finger. Only, much like the blasts from Ima, they faded away helplessly and then flickered out of existence the moment they reached the larger monster. All with that same, strange purple glow that Takato couldn't explain. It wasn't Magic in nature, but it was definitely something akin to that. Yet, why did he have a feeling he had seen that before?

The boat suddenly rocked once more and a loud, echoing "drone" followed as Sin moved briefly in the water. They could see the fin move and shudder for a single moment, but nothing else. In response, the bugs around them suddenly let loose another blue glow and began to emit a loud screechy noise that sounded almost painful. Five bugs rocketed forwards through the air and a blue "ball" slammed into one of them only moments later. Another blue, glinting sword cut through the second, while a third was struck down and impaled by a large lance. Flames and magic alike clashed with those that remained of that small group.

There was still many that remained however.

"How is it using Demi like that..?" said Lulu; a rather adorable looking doll resting on her arm.

Demi?

Takato blinked and looked at the curvaceous woman.

"What are you talking about?"

Surprisingly she didn't reply with a bitter snap.

"Demi. A spell designed to target and wound the foe with non-elemental force. The Al Bhed refer to it as Gravity."

"Hey Lu! They're gearing up for another attack!"

Takato ignored Wakka and Lulu for a moment, stepping back to look at the creature. Was that thing really doing something...like Ima?

He grit his teeth and clapped together his hands, only to jump backwards with his hands uncurled. His form skidded between the general vicinity of Zora and Ima, dragging his heels into the wooden floor. It would have been a strange motion, if one didn't look where he previously was. The wood he had been standing on had been cracked and yet instantly repaired. Silently done in an attempt to solve the damage that had been caused by -his- spell.

"Are you three okay?"

It was rather pathetic question to ask in a time like this towards the two girls and man, but Takato actually seemed to be concerned. Considering he didn't know the stranger too much yet it was rather odd that he'd question such a thing, until you realized the sort of situation that they were actually in. Everyone either had to be at their best to deal with this, or at the very least in -some- sort of shape to handle it.

A purple blast of strange, despair-seeking light suddenly formed on the tip of the enemy "tail" as three more blue "bugs" split off in three directions. One heading to Tidus, another heading to the below-deck door, and the final shooting directly at Ima. The energy gathering on the tip of the "sword tail" however was doing nothing. Just glowing with that same purple-pink light with that odd sound drifting through the air.

Zora curses, seeing that the bugs just keep coming in multitude. They keep respawning faster than she could kill them...and even that number was small as it is. She watches Takato and Ima attacking the giant Sinspawn, seeing that it did very little damage to it. "Tch!" She was annoyed....very annoyed that she couldn't do anything more to help out. All she could do was try to kill off the bugs, and that was a troublesome task itself.

"Demi?" She parrots the words that she heard from Lulu, turning towards Takato and the other guardians. However, as soon as she did that, one of them would be able to notice something abnormal happening to her. Unlike how it was back in the lower decks of the ship, the black curse covering the right half of her face seems to have extended over to engulf her left eye. Of course, Zora wouldn't have realized this herself at all since she couldn't see her face, but the fact that in that small span of time (not even a few minutes) her curse was spreading that quickly was troublesome indeed. Nevertheless, it seems to do little in hindering the blue haired girl.

"I'm.....fine...." She mutters to Takato, hoping he wouldn't realize that her arm was utterly useless and ineffective by now. Of course, she knew he would realize it the more she doesn't use it, but why tell him now when he can find out on his own. A sharp pain goes through her head as she grabs it and curses under her breath. The pain was unbearable...nothing she has felt before. However, she was determined not to cry out and hold her head...not when they need to fight. They had no time to worry over someone in pain. She looked up just in time to see three more sinspawn bugs shooting out towards three different directions, grabbing the closest one which was the one heading towards the lower decks. Hell, it was a miracle that she managed to catch it so perfectly with one hand...Especially since she feels much weaker than she should. Her head was still aching in pain, her body was more tired than usual and hungry...Even so, she tries not to miss a beat as she turns and was about to throw the pod to intercept the other one heading towards Ima....wait....

....Hungry?

Why was she hungry? They just ate not too long ago before they got on the boat, didn't they? However, it was there...the empty, nagging annoyance in the pit of her stomach. It was painful and it felt like it was hindering her abilities to fight back against these things...It was almost like...

Oh fuck...

Those words didn't even get to past her lips as her eyes widened and she stops dead in her tracks. Her arm goes limp yet still holding onto the sinspawn tightly enough so it wouldn't be able to escape its pod form. All she did was stand there, almost as if she'd past out on her own two feet.

She didn't realize she had stopped...in fact, all she could see was darkness around her. Where did everyone go? What happened to the boat...What happened with Sin? It felt like an eternity as she was so confused until she saw a faint white light in the distance....no....It was a silhouette of a person. Was it female? Or was it male? She couldn't get close to it to figure that out, but seeing that silhouette sent a deathly cold shiver down her entire body. The only distinguishable features about that 'person' from afar was its eyes before it tilted its head ever so slightly and gave a ghastly grin as it spoke in her own voice.

Hungry....I'm hungry....I want to eat....I need to eat...No, I can't! I can't eat! But I'm so hungry! So hungry...I need...I need...

It was only a few seconds since she stopped moving did Zora started to move again. She grips onto the sinspawn in her hand as she raised her head and turn towards the guardians. If Takato and Ima were paying attention to her, they could catch a glimpse of of her expression for a split second. It was obvious something was wrong...something was obviously wrong with her as she stares at the guardians with far off gaze and her head tilted back. Before anyone could ask what was wrong, she takes a step forward...

I need to feast.

...and throws the very Sinspawn pod with her inhumane strength straight towards Yuna.

Thud.

The sin spawn pod sliced through the air with a whistle like a well-aimed blade coming down on the summoner's head. There was concern, tension, fear of whatever injury would come from the immediate impact and the ally turned attacker...and then there was the thud.

When the summoner would open her eyes, there was no sin spawn now deployed and ready to attack. There was just red. The shade of deep red billowing in the air, settling down from the impact of the spawn. No spell had stopped the creature hurdling at her. It was a single hand.

A hand attached to Raven Blair.

Raven stood entirely still for a moment, his melancholy face trailing over the creature turned projectile before throwing it behind him, far from the ship and into the rocking waves of the sea. Across his back, both Azrael and Samehada were strung, though he made no attempt to grab them. He just stood there, eyes clutched onto the empty stare of Zora. Had she attacked the pilgrims in a violent rage, just as she had threatened many times before?

No.

He knew the look as he knew the face of a family member, perhaps even more. There was something missing, and yet something new. An animal...or something more. Something else looking at him from behind her face.

Not her too....

"Yuna...." Raven spoke, and with each word his throat burned. His strength was nothing like it had been days before and everything he did....hurt. He even questioned why he was out there, but looking into Zora's eyes he had found his answer. What was there was not the girl he had spoken to earlier. It was a monster. A monster aiming to hurt someone he had made a promise to.

And to subdue a monster....you need a monster.

"Help the others. I'll take care of her."

He pulled one foot back, gaining what little leverage he could with his shaking legs. Whatever energy he was planning on using, it was all that he had left. However, this girl had made an attempt to help him, of all people, before. She deserved more than he did.

"I'm speaking to whatever entity is occupying the body before me," Raven exclaimed in a loud, clear voice, "You're not welcome here. Leave or I will make you leave."

-----------------------------------

"Trying to concentrate."

His voice was deep. These kids didn't seem to understand what closing one's eyes and focusing was intended for, but the red-haired man made no attempt at communicating further. It was so close. His weapon...was so close.

I pray to Hammerstein, Lord of Axes, for the strength to vanquish the unclean.

From off the sides of the ship, just beyond the body of the massive Sin, the water began to churn. It began to churn on both sides of the ship. It was growing closer.

I pray to Reina, Hand of Lances, for the aim true as the voice of the Maiden.

The churning turned to a violent bubbling. It was closer.

And I pray the Maiden....may she embrace these souls with her embrace and undying love.....where I can meet them...

It was here.

With only suffering.

The sea exploded, water rocketing into the air and falling like rain as towers pieced through and grew ever higher toward the sky from the depths below. Towers that shimmered like the water they grew from, made almost entirely from raw, untouched metal. The man's eyes snapped open, his hands turned and gripping down into claws. The towers began to shake like hairs on a windy day, and as the man pulled his arms closer, they erupted into streams of pure metal, meeting over the ship and merging into one, enormous pulsating blob.

The red-haired man finally turned, thrusting a hand at a group of sin spawn. From the blob, dozens of metal spines, like spears growing from the host, shot down, skewering them in all places possible. Their strange blood leaked down, though they vanished as the spines returned back to the host source.

Turning again to the other side of the ship, he held out both hands as two large globs of metal stretched out. He held his hands flat, and the metal twisted and transformed like an unseen smith or artist had carved it masterfully, until they appeared almost as two war hammers fit for a giant. Catching a line of spawn in his sights, he slammed his palms together, prompting the hammers to come crashing through the air and pulverize the spawn with unfathomable pressure in an instant.

Without looking, the man held his hand out toward the door to the lower decks. A blob of metal flew from the host and onto the door, spreading out until the door and the walls around it were gilded in solid metal, sealing off anything from entering.

When that was finished, he clapped his hands together in a slicing motion, turning one toward the side of the ship where the sword-like tower creature dug in, while the other faced a large portion of minor sin spawn. He brought the hand on the minor spawn side down, and half of his metallic creation split from the host. It set on the deck, spreading out and solidifying into a large wall, high enough to hopefully hold that portion of the spawn at bay.

He turned to the larger creature with a ruby glint to his amber eyes, and a scowl below that. He shaped his hand into a fist with his middle and index finger together, pointing like an accuser to the tower. The remaining metal floating overhead began to form with a vibrating groan, shaping into a large, devastating spear.

"Remove the barrier."

He spoke only three words before the spear shot like a bolt of lightning from Mjölnir in the hands of Thor with only one intention: pierce the sword-like monstrosity.

There were a lot of things happening almost at once, and it was difficult for Ima to keep track of them all between the confusion and the exhaustion. After a few brief and failed attempts to take everything in at once, she decided to make a small mental list in the hopes of making things easier. She started with what made her happiest, because you had to start on a high note, right? Right. So first, yay, Raven was okay!

Second, not yay, Zora was not okay!

It wasn't very clear to her what was going on over there, why Zora was acting so strangely. Something about her seemed...off, in a way Ima didn't know how to describe. She sometimes talked like she was going to hurt someone, but had never gone through with it. It was all just...what was the word? Bravo? It was all just bravo, and Ima had sort of figured it was just the way she showed affection at this point, with the occasional exception for a tender moment with those tender feelings. Yet here Zora was acting on those unmeant promises, and acting unlike herself to boot. Something was definitely wrong with her friend. But whatever was happening with her, Raven would be able to help. Even though he was only okay and not good, he was Raven. He'd already helped Yuna with the Sinspawn that Zora had thrown at her. He could help Zora too.

Which brought Ima to the third thing, and what maybe should have been first considering she only had so much time to deal with it, that there was a Sinspawn heading straight for her face and another rocketing towards one of Yuna's friends who she couldn't remember the name of, if she'd ever known it at all. The one Zora caught and threw hadn't been the only one. Ima shot her gun at the one that had been launched at the blond guy, then at the one coming towards her quickly after.

Sinspawn led to number four, the fact that the biggest Sinspawn had deflected her lasers. Ignoring Takato's question (it was already way too much effort to translate what she was hearing, no way was she gonna try speaking), she instead focused on one particular word spoken by the lady in black — gravity. That was what humans called the force she could manipulate, wasn't it? Gtacoyu? So if the big Sinspawn was using that to deflect everyone's attacks...

Before Ima could actually test her idea, the fifth item on the list drew her attention. The stranger. He had done some really amazing things before, moving that huge whatever-it-was with no more effort than a flick of his wrist. Now he seemed to be forming what looked like a giant spear, aimed at the biggest Sinspawn. Ima didn't know if he had a way around the creature's shield on his own, but even if the stranger could, the others might not. 

That took her to six and seven; she was going to have to remove the barrier herself, and if the Sinspawn thought it was the master of gravity then it had another thing coming.

Ima took a deep breath and reached her hands out, as if trying to stop the creature like that alone. She took one more deep breath, then began shifting the gravity around it. Instantly her knees began to shake, threatening to buckle just from that. Normally manipulating gravity was as easy as breathing and equally thoughtless, but with how low she was on energy even this minimal strain was significant. She was at high risk of falling asleep again if she wasn't careful. Maybe even if she was careful.

But it was fine. Ima could do it.

With one more deep breath, Ima ignored her shaking legs and blurring vision, focusing entirely on the Sinspawn, removing its barrier just in time for the stranger's spear to make its descent.

The "shield" around the Sinspawn failed as Ima went to work and brought her own power upon it with a collision of raw forces. It was a combination of teamwork and ability as the giant metal tower impaled the beast the moment the plant went ahead. Unsurprisingly it buckled under the power within this framework and the cry that left it's 'mouth' echoed for a short breathless second before exploding into a pitch of fierce glowing lights. They floated mindlessly up into the air as the beast faded out of existence with a airy chime of sound that sent shivers throughout the air in a trickle of wind. The "sword" that impaled the ship had left a hole and had breached the top of the sea-fairing vessel, but the wood began to crackle with electricity before being rebuilt.

"Success."

Takato broke his hands apart and slowly looked up at the metal objects before bringing a finger to his chin in wonder. At that exact moment (for a few breaths anyway) he lost his battle worn state and resumed being the younger man that fussed over new magic in his classroom. It was an interesting thing to witness and a part of him wondered how the ability functioned. It wasn't what that Erza used, but it seemed to manage the same sort of nature. Intriguing really. Metal bending, perhaps? It was hard to say. It didn't use a magical source from what he could tell it. Still, certainly something to study. And yet, something that shouldn't exist in this world.

"Another one...? I see..."

Possible.

He brought up his hand and flicked his hand, sending out a burst of light along his face.

The cut along his face burned close with a whimper of white light.

"Nice work, but..."

Things were still pretty bad. Zora doing such a thing? Raven stalling her? And....

Sin.

The boat shook as the huge fin began to break up from the water and a sudden deafening silence fell over the boat. Water rained down upon them in drops as a wall of flesh drifted past the boat. The silence continued. As if the very presence of the creature completely cancelled the very existence of those around it. It moved next to the boat the shadow of it's head could be seen, dwarfing the vessel considerably. Unseen eyes from the beast stared down at them and the water parted with every movement before the shuddering of air began to violently move the boat. It was doing nothing but swim near them and yet their feel could feel the wood beneath them -shake- from the motions.

"What....is this feeling?"

Takato stumbled, his head heavy. It didn't seem to be affecting anybody else, yet he felt strange.

His amber eyes trailed down...

...Blood?

His fingers reached up, pressing against the bridge below his nose.

....drip....

The water cried out as Sin moved once more ahead of the boat and let loose a 'call' that hurt the very ears that listened to them. It vanished beneath the ocean and faded into a shadow. The boat was safe, and he couldn't understand why. Why had it left them alone? Why had it attacked them in the first place. Did it not care to even attack them? Were they not a threat? Or...

....were they so beneath the gaze of the creature that it was just -moving- and they happened to be just in it's path?

Oh. Wait.

"Zora! What the hell are you doing!"

Nothing seemed to faze Zora. Not Raven's words....not the death of the Sinspawn...not Sin...IT wasn't until she heard Takato's words did she regained her conscious. She blinks, seeing Raven between her and Yuna with her right arm outstretched. She blinks, confused. What just happened...? She looked at her own arm for a moment in confusion. "What the..."

It was at that moment a sharp pain went through her head. Soon enough, it felt like her entire body was being stabbed over and over. She clutches onto her head, teetering a bit as she did all she could not to cry out in bloody murder. Her conscious was fading in and out so quickly...her vision was fading pretty fast as well. Zora was on the verge of passing out...and doing that right now was NOT what she wanted.

"A_Ahh....M-My head....I...!" She staggers back as she felt her body convulsing. A memory flashed in her head where she was but a small child covered in blood and surrounded by corpses...then it transformed to seeing everyone on the boat all dead at her feet. She didn't want that...she couldn't let that happen...but she couldn't figure out a way to stop it.

"Y-You....Y-Yuna....." She groans, doing all she can to stay conscious. "Y-you know holy magic....or....or light magic....or whatever, right?! M-My arm...." It ws at that point she noticed her arm letting out a faint glow, seeing a bunch of strange red characters all over her arm and whatever was covered by the black curse. It glowed dimly at first, but the glow started to get brighter and brighter, almost pulsing with ill intent. "Shit....no....I....gotta stay awake....I-If I pass out....If I do that again....Please....Just kill me....Dont stop until I'm nothing but a pile of ashes...! Just...Argh!!!" Her arm flashed violently as she doubles over in pain. Everything was hurting...it hurt just breathing at this point.

"D-Don't let me kill anyone...!"

She was begging to be put out of her misery....

Raven felt his hand ache, yearn to reach for one of the swords on his back and do just that. He was a slayer. A hunter of the monstrous. Of all things attached to the darkness....which told him to do it in return. He felt..anger. A small heat in his belly that just began to kindle, eating away at the fuel to grow. His teeth wanted to bite. His hand to claw, to bludgeon.

No.

Raven took a deep breath in through his nose, exhaling with his mouth. A visible sign of mental shaking, one he would never show under different circumstance, but his body was beyond the point of strategy. He was too tired to maintain a facade.

He could have attempted to help her. Possession was one thing they had trained him to face, but he lacked all means of doing so. No potions or herbs, no incantations for something like this. For the cure, he was helpless.

But he wouldn't let Zora hurt anyone.

And he wouldn't let them hurt her.

------------------------------------------------------------

The red-haired man watched the spear penetrate the sword creature, and the orbs of light that it dissolved into. He craned his head up to follow their path to the sky, and closed his eyes. He spoke softly.

"Find peace in her embrace."

He thrust a palm toward his created wall, various spikes launching from them to skewer any sinspawn left, before he brought his hands up. In that instant, all metal he had produced detached from the ship and rejoined the large structure overhead. He pulled a hand down, and from that glob a chunk of metal separated and found home in his palm. The metal hardened into ore which he placed in his pocket.

He then turned to where the others were gathered. It seemed like a real commotion, with the weird blue-haired girl going madder than he had seen earlier. He shrugged, and waved his hand toward the sea. The metal overhead drifted over, and slowly sank into the watery depths below. He placed his hands into his pockets, and made his way through the now clear door to the lower decks.

This wasn't his problem.

Ima stopped manipulating gravity as soon as she was able, but even that was too long for how little energy she had. Her legs continued to shake, just shy of giving out entirely, willpower more than anything keeping her standing. Her eyelids were heavy as her vision went in and out of focus, eventually settling on in with just a bit of blur. All Ima wanted to do was sleep until she finally wasn't tired anymore, until she was finally, finally warm.

She was awake, though. That was important.

When she gathered the strength, Ima looked up to observe what was going on, just in time to see Sin leaving and hear its awful cry. Her hands flew from bracing her knees to covering her ears so fast she almost smacked herself, but the sound was over almost as soon as it began, the monster diving under the water and departing. Which was good, if surprising. Ima would have thought that Sin planned to keep attacking them. Not that anyone would be hearing any complaints from her.

Speaking of hearing, Ima's was off. A little. Maybe more than a little. Her ears were ringing from Sin's loud cry, and that combined with her now even-lower energy made translating what people were saying impossible. Which was not good, because she was really confused as to what was going on with Zora. Her friend seemed to be upset, as well as in a lot of pain, plus acting strangely to boot, and though she could tell that and see the strange marking on her dark skin, Ima had no clue as to why.

But it was alright. She could still help.

Ima headed over towards Zora, forcing her wobbly legs to move and absentmindedly patting Raven's leg as she passed him by. When she reached her suffering friend, Ima readjusted her gun and shot Zora with the white laser to take away the pain, then reached up and patted her friend's bowed head in the comforting way she herself loved so much. 

Maybe she couldn't get the details, but Ima could see her friend was upset, and that alone was enough.

"That...was more than enough...."

Takato turned around and he rubbed his mouth clean of blood. That was rough. He steadied himself and adjusted his joints for a moment. His body shuddering as he began to stand up straight. Looking over his shoulder he could hear Yuna dash over to the fallen girl and began to twirl. Twirling into that oh-so pretty dance. That lazy, clothing-moving swish. The fabrics began to blend together as he sighed and closed his eyes, the sun of the sky washing over his features with the end of the battle. He was tired once again. They all were. His gloved fingers held onto the side of the boat as it drifted.

Back to Yuna, the magic using Summoner let loose a blast of pure healing magic with her shout of "Cure!" into the air. The staff pulsed and the white and green glow wrapped around the fallen girl before transforming into a pitch of blooming blue. Wounds would close and the sheer holy presence would assist the girl in whatever case it could. While the appearance of Zora was off-putting for the muilti-colored eyed girl, she was certainly not going to let her just shudder there in pain. She had to help. She must. And so she did. Calling upon the power she had in her for the heroes of the boat attack.

The boat shook beneath her feet once again. And a splash could be heard in the distance, but at least the boat was stable.

"That looks to be the end of it, ya? Y-You...okay?"

Wakka asked as he strode up. He was staring at Raven while scratching his head. Surprisingly he had none of his racist tangents or even hate on his lips. He just looked concerned and worried. The red-head looked a little tired himself and the blonde sword-user next to him was in no better shape. Blondie looked far more bruised and battered than tired, but the wide grin was far from off-putting. Still, it was the Black Mage next to them all that stepped up alongside Yuna and then bent down to Ima, her oddly motherly gaze meeting that of the small 'child' with curiosity and her own set of concern.

"You look tired, child. That was a brave thing...and I don't know how you did it...but.."

Lulu slowly reached out, only to freeze and pause. As if wondering what she was doing, before continuing. Her gentle hand carrased the head of Ima lightly before she had a chance to react.

"...Thank you."

Back to the group, Tidus crossed his arms behind Wakka and looked around in confusion, head darting around in a puzzling arch of his eyebrows.

"..Huh? H-Hey! Where'd the other guys go?"

Wakka stopped and looked at Tidus.

"Ah'? I think the last one went down to da' hold, ya? Why?"

Tidus scratched his head. About to ask something else.

The boat rocked again. And then again. Only, it became more stable quickly this time. Thankfully.

Lulu stopped and blinked, looking around when she stood straight up. As if something had suddenly hit her. The air was oddly silent and all that could be heard was the beckoning waters as the ship continued on. Kissing the boat with every movement while the lashing strands out in the deep became still. There was no need for it to hammer the boat anymore.

"That still leaves...one missing..."

There was no answer from the ocean. Only a mocking taunt that it had stolen their companion.

The air around her almost glowed a purple hue with Yuna's Cure and Ima's healing shot counteracting the red, glowing markings all over her cursed body as well as the convulsing pain she was suffering as a result. Although her human side was taking the healing magic with glee, fixing up all the wears and tears over her frail skin as if nothing ever happened to begin with, her arm and whatever is covered by this black curse was angry with pulsating redness and violent convulsions. Zora cries out in pain from the white magic reacting badly to that side of her just like how Yuna's powers in the past caused her more pain than healing. Her body jerked again as she tries to step back and away from the two girls. Slowly but surely, she could feel her body trying to calm itself down rather than go on a rampage from Ima's gun shot, taking the pain away ever so slowly.Whatever strength she had remaining was going towards holding herself back at all cost lest she does something she regrets.

All bets were thrown right out the window when Lulu's voice reaches her own ears.

Something snapped inside of her head. It had nothing to do with what she said or what she was doing to Ima...Just the mere sound of her voice was enough to distract her mind just for a single moment. That moment was all her accursed body needed to move on pure instinct. Her red eyes locked on to the black mage for a mere second before her body attempted to lunge at the woman, her right arm outstretched in a possibly threatening manner. Fortunately for the both of them, Zora wasn't able to reach the woman and despite her body being defiant, it had literally no energy to act upon. Not enough for her to stop herself from doing such unnecessary actions...and not enough to continue the action. In those few moments, she fumbled down to the surface of the deck in front of the three females. The red marks covering her blackened body faded away as the blue haired girl felt her conscious fading. "I..." That was all she managed to say from her tired voice before the poor girl outright passed out, both body and mind worn out. It seems like that's all she's ever good for at this point.

The lapsing of the sea against the ship's hull did nothing to dull the sense of defeat that, while slightly smaller in his charred heart, remained in Raven. He had noticed their numbers depleted by one as well, hoping to chop things up to a simple miscount on his part. He was lost in the moment, you know? However, as he turned his attention from the now unconscious Zora, whom he still felt worry for, he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

Where did they go?

Who was the man with the red hair?

What was going on?

Ima let out a contented hum as Lulu ran a hand over her hair, closing her eyes in bliss. She may not have understood what the woman was saying, but she understood the gesture. It was good. She had done good. She had helped.

She only ever wanted to help.

Forcing her heavy eyelids to rise at Zora's lunge and subsequent faceplant, Ima disengaged from Lulu's affections to sit next to her sleeping friend and do the same to her. Poor Zora. She must be so tired, too. Everyone else seemed tired as well. Raven, still only okay and not good and looking dazed, as if waking from a long dream. Yuna, trying so hard to keep everyone safe and healed and happy. Others, whose names she did not know or could not recall, worn from brutal and unexpected battle. Takato-

...Takato?

Where was Takato?

With a final pat to Zora's head, Ima pushed herself to her feet and tottered over to where she knew she'd seen the red of his coat last - at the side of the boat near the broken railing. She was cautious approaching the edge. Even now, even like this, water scared her more than most things could. But she persevered, reaching her destination before looking around as if her friend had vanished into thin air before looking down at the depths below.

Two thoughts hit the child with astounding clarity; that Takato had fallen into the water, and that she needed to help him.

She needed to help him, and there was only one way that she could.

Perhaps, if she had been in a better state of mind, Ima would have been able to think of something better to do. Perhaps she would have realized his absence sooner and been able to pluck him from the water much more easily. Perhaps she would have doubted herself, what she was about to do and her capability of it. Perhaps she would have thought of the aftermath of her actions, where her good intentions would lead. Perhaps she would have realized that there were others who could help, would help, and be better for off for it. Perhaps many different things, if she had been more awake.

Perhaps, and if only, but she was not.

She couldn't speak, but Ima called out all the same.

Leviathan.

A blinding flash and the creature appeared, the ruler of the seas rising from its domain. It roared, the sound of the ocean itself, before diving back into the waters from whence it came, knowing its duty without having to be told.

Its summoner sighed and her little knees finally gave out, too tired to support her weight any longer, and she tried to catch herself on the boat's rail but her arms were too tired, too. Her gun tumbled from her nerveless, shaking fingers, bouncing a ways across the wooden planks and out of her reach, but Ima paid it no mind, could pay it no mind. Instead, she did the only thing she could do at this level of exhaustion - she sat on her knees and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Leviathan returned, Takato held carefully in its jaws. Placing its precious cargo onto the deck in front of Yuna, who could help, the beast roared once more and vanished, like sea foam tossed into the wind.

Ima collapsed, falling once more into a sleep like death.

What a day. I knew not having an extra nap would catch up, but falling off a boat...? I'm worse than Natsu..

These were the thoughts of Takato as he struggled to stand and shook his head, still very much on all fours as the phantasm beast vanished in a pillar of water. His blonde hair was an absolute mess and the sea water stuck to it almost painfully in a very unattractive mess. His amber eyes blinked and his coat was long since discarded as he slowly stood up with aching joints. Bones (where there were some) cracked in release in a stretch and the trickle of blood that had washed down his nose had long since been cleaned away by the watery depths. Metal fingers ran over his form and a "ugh" of disgust formed in the back of throat at a sudden realization.

...Is this water or drool..?

Stupid giant sea-monsters.

The fact that one had more or less saved his life didn't penetrate his skull at that moment. Or, perhaps it did and he just didn't care. He really needed a shower. A dip in the ocean didn't count. Still, he had things to do. His amber eyes took in those around him and Yuna looked at him while covering her mouth. No, wait. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at the whole situation in general. A lot of people on the boat were like that. Various reaction of disbelief and horror at the whole battle, but more than enough shell-shock spread around too. The whole party that belonged to Yuna appeared to just settle on staring.

She moved to raise her staff and he put up his metal arm, his palm flat in dissatisfaction.

"Don't bother, I'm not hurt. Just tired."

It didn't help that he couldn't swim, but he wasn't about to bring that up.

A stumble followed and Takato reached out, steadying himself on a taller shoulder as he closed his eyes. A sense of nausea hitting him. Through his haze he could spy Wakka scooping up Ima in his arms and carrying her gently over to the group, a small circle more or less forming around what was once the battlefield.

"That child saved you again."

Takato breathed in the warmth before looking up at the "older" woman with a shrug. Lulu, was it? She didn't appear to care about the proximity, and he felt nothing for her. Besides, was this really the time to worry about such things? He could barely manage a smile, let alone anything else.

"Yeah. She does that."

The utterly casual way he said that caused Lulu to narrow her eyes with a thoughtful glance.

"...Are you going to keep letting that happen?"

Takato shrugged past Lulu and knelt next to Zora. He raised his hand and went to make a gesture, only for his fingers to flick air. Flick. Flick. Nothing. Not even a spark. Not unexpected. If he was this tired, his magic was probably just as bad. Still, no magic meant no healing. That was an uneasy feeling that he really didn't want to get used to. It was like losing an arm. And that had happened once already, dang it!

And it still sucked!

Blast it.

"I'm the damsel-in-distress. Sue me."

Lulu stared at him and then swooped in with a curve of her robe, kneeling alongside him as she spoke. Her tone was surprisingly gentle as her own arms lifted up the smaller girl. For such a mature looking woman she looked stronger than she appeared.

"I'll take this one downstairs. The captain room only has a single large bed and a few chairs, but it has a shower and the necessities if your group wishes to use it."

Takato raised an eyebrow. Shower? Well, not surprising. Their technology was weird at times.  Boats powered by fat fluffy chickens running, but actual running water and such. Neat. Next thing they were going to tell him was that they had flying airships and giant spinning spheres of doom, but, what were the changes of that?

The blonde Magi would come to regret those thoughts one day.

"This one too, ya? Lil' tyke is tuckered out. Doncha' worry, it's got a small deck port-window thing an' everything. Real fancy. We'll keep an eye on ya but it's gon' be one more day til' we all get ta' Luca.'"

Real. Fancy. Those two words would be pushing it, but it was nice. A big fluffy, red room with a port-window staring straight to the sky. A big bed, a few chairs, and a on suite shower/bathroom-thing. Considering their last nap was more-or-less in a forest, that was a pretty big step up. At least there would be a distinct lack of bugs.

That was from Wakka, who was holding little, tiny Ima. And utterly dwarfed her with his build. She looked like a cub being carried by a big fuzzy orange-haired bear.

"After that, folks' are gonna' need some explanations, ya? Especially after...."

He trailed off, looking uneasy.

"We also need someone ta help with the repairs, ya? Feel like' offerin?"

Wakka stared straight at Raven and Tidus when he said that. The oddly convincing look in his eye would be more convincing if not for the fact that his hair was soaking wet...and yet still managed to point to the sky like a telephone pole. Only he looked surprised when Yuna jumped and bowed, looking rather excited and breathy as she spoke,

"I-I'll help too."

The blank look from the red-head spoke wonders.

"W-Well, okay...?"

Takato made a beckoning gesture towards the downstairs door as he walked past them.

"Alright. Let us get these two tucked into bed. I'll take the shower and a chair. I'm in no fit state to be repairing anything."

A small, embarrassed cough stopped him. It was Yuna.

"P-Perhaps a change of clothes too..? You kind of..."

She trailed off, looking too shy to say it.

"You stink, dude."

It appeared that, apparently, Tidus didn't have such a problem.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

OOC / You have a few options here, just not those directed. Your going to be stuck on a boat for a day. Canon events will play out on deck. Dee and Julie have the option to have their next points with them waking up in the room, or such. A timekip. Shane may do what he did, though he is obviously bound to see more on deck at a certain point. A few neat things can be found below deck too.

In summary, you've hit the long, looong 'downtime' stage that will last all the way to the Mid-Luca arc. Enjoy.

Zora did not wake for even a moment as Lulu carried her down below deck. The poor demon girl was out like a light, unfazed by any sounds or movements that happened as she slept. Both her and the little tiny alien were set on the large bed in the captain's room since the bed itself was about a Queen size, if not King Size. The gentle light coming from the window next to the bed rested against the two sleeping girls as a familiar, transparent cat sat on a chair nearby. One could easily miss the tiny little shadow not just from his size, but from how see through he looked. His being flickered ever so slightly to the point that it almost seemed like the small cat was being replaced by a young man's shadow. It stared down at Zora, taking noticed of the woman seemed to have a bit of a nightmare with the expression she had. A soft sigh echoes throughout the room, barely audible against the gentle waves outside and the sound of a shower running nearby. The shadow ran what seemed to be a hand over its head as if it was disgruntled about something.

"That makes...six times...? Then there's only three left..."

At that moment, any traces of said shadow quickly dispersed and ceased to exist as the blue haired girl shuffles around the bed a bit, opening her tired eyes as she stares at the ceiling. Whatever dream or nightmare she was having, she couldn't remember nor did she want to. Her conscious wasn't fully there as she took the time to relax and think as to where she was and what happened. The demon girl felt something nearby, turning her head slightly to see little Ima next to her on the bed before it all came flowing back.

"That's right...We were fighting against Sin and..."

A twinge of pain shot through her head, grasping it with her left hand as she slowly and carefully sat up. What was it...? She remember fighting against sinspawn...but she couldn't remember anything past that. They had to have won, right? Unless this was heaven...which it doesn't look like it. With a sigh, she shakes her head before looking around and observing the room. It was rather large compared to how it seemed from staring at the ceiling. She glances out the window and watches the waves hitting against the glass. It didn't seem like anyone else was here besides Zora nad Ima...at least, that's what she thinks.

It was Takato.....

He had missed one of his own. In his daze of guilt, of worry, Raven had almost lost one of the closest things he could call a friend to the ocean. He would need to clear his head. How did he do it before, during his training? He had been at the hunt for so long now, never really having a moment to just...think. There was always a bounty, a prey, a hunt, and even now his teeth clamped down onto each other thinking of this Sin...but he knew what he needed to do.

He needed to work.

With a lazy, distant stare, Raven turned to Wakka. "If you'll trust me enough to help, I'll do what I can," Raven said, bowing his head, "and I will help Lady Yuna in her endeavors, if I can."

------------------

Below the deck, in a simple chair in a simple room, a young man with hair like blood sat, one leg across the other, one arm set upon a table at his side. He gazed to nowhere in particular, seemingly more amused with his small glass of an unidentifiable red liquid that gave off a fruity scent.

For a man who had just previously butchered an entire squadron of Sin Spawn, he seemed rather calm, as if this had been nothing out of his usual norm.

Ima was tucked in bed beside Zora, covers drawn up to her chin and the window-filtered sunlight shining on her exposed face. Despite all the blankets, she was cold to the touch, though she did not shiver. In fact, her body did not move at all. There was no twitching of her fingers or toes, nothing from underneath her eyelids to indicate dreams, and even her heart and lungs were still in her chest, hidden though they were. All of Ima was as still and silent as the grave.

And so she would stay until the hour before they reached Luca.

"Children of the land do you hear..."

A distinct whistle could be heard from beyond the room...and what appeared to be singing. It sounded far more pleasant than expected after that gruelling battle and the sound of running water was under the layer of that. This kept up for awhile. Lyrics drifting along the room from the male voice. While it wasn't exactly experienced, it was nice enough.

"Echoes of truths that once rang clear..."

This kept up for several minutes amidst the dripping of water.

It was only until the echo of something being turned off that footsteps followed. The door on the side of the bedroom opened and a messy flail of damp blonde hair was the first thing that could be seen. Takato stepped out completely bare-chested and with a towel over his shoulder. Thankfully he wasn't completely naked and obviously had taken the time to put on, you know, underclothing. Unfortunately this was still little more than shorts. He didn't seem to mind that at all and seemed more distracted with the knots in his long hair. His hair was a shade brighter than it previously was now and lacked the tail. One could take a guess that all that grime built up since arriving here and doing so much.

"Nice to see you're awake."

The Magi had considerably more muscle tone than one could typically expect while wearing his usual clothes. He was still a dweeb with girly hair, but his training had took it's work on more than just his magic. His chest was lightly marked with bruises however and a thick, sealed gash could be seen on his real arm that looked pretty new. He seemed to have a lot of scars, but none of it could hold a candle to where his metal arm was fused together with his skin. Anybody could see how much his body seemed to be pulling at it.

He gave a light stretch and tossed the towel aside, walking over to a nearby dresser. With his back turned to her she could see the horrible blow on his shoulders that looked very recent. Too recent.

"How you feeling?"

/////////////

And so, they got to work.

Tidus seemed little help in repairing the planks of wood that built up the rim of the upper-deck, but he seemed to be trying his best. He hadn't hit his thumb with a hammer yet, so there was a plus. Next to him was a bottle that Lulu had handed them. Said it would help repair the wood. Magic stuff. He didn't get it but he stopped complaining after seeing the cracks nit-themselves back together again. Obviously this stuff didn't work on too-high of a damaged piece of wood, but it helped the minor stuff. The rest was left to good old-fashion grease and monkey work.

He could handle that.

"I can understand this guy..."

The blonde made a casual gesture to Raven,

"...doing this kind of thing. I'm surprised to see you here though, Yuna. Won't your...aa-ha, fans, get concerned?"

You could hear the word 'groupies' from miles away.

It sounded like an honest question. What made the whole situation amusing is that Yuna looked to be doing quite well. Not so much carrying things, but hammering nails and making sure nothing was -too- broken. Hell, she seemed to be enjoying herself if anything. The multicoloured eyed girl looked at him and smiled before shaking her head. "Not at all. I helped as much as I could when I was younger back in Besaid. I don't see anything wrong with helping whenever it is needed."

Yuna looked at Raven, fingers brushing her her hair as she arched her head innocently.

"...Don't you think so?"

Zora didn't register the owner of the singer, listening to the song with little attention as she looks out the window. She let her mind wander off, trying to recall the events that transpired only moments ago for her. Try as she might, she can't seem to remember any important details other than the fact Sin attacked the boat. How long was she out? How much farther from Luca are they...? The girl was lost in thought, trying to recall the answers to those questions before hearing the male voice directing a question to herself. She pauses, staring at his half naked body with a blink here and there.

"W-What the hell, Takato?! Why are you naked?! Hurry up and dress yourself, you stupid shrimpy pervert!"

...Or at least he would expect an answer similar to that to a certain degree. Yet Zora said nothing, simply staring at him with red eyes that seemed void of self consciousness as she turns her head back to the window, unfazed and disinterested in him or his scars.

"Yeah...I'm ok...." She mutters softly, a voice rather empty in its words as her head tries to collect its thoughts back together again. Vaguely, she could see her partial reflection on the window and water, noticing that the black curse did not cover as much of her face as she recalled. Normally, she would be thrilled or ecstatic at the sight o it, yet she wasn't reallly feeling either of those feelings. "It's....really quiet, isnt it..." The lack of emotion in her own tone would mistaken most people thinking she was dead inside, but in all honestly, she wasn't fully awake yet....maybe...

"Work builds character," grunted the silver-haired hunter as he banged in another nail into the hull of the ship, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead now damp and covered with damp hair stuck to it. He had removed his jacket, leaving a bare upper-half that, like Takato below, had seen its fair share of scars, each unique from the various sources they were received. He stood, letting his hammer hang at his side.

"Where I'm from, everyone shares in the work. Men, women, children, leaders and common folk. We work together, so by the time you come of age..."

Raven turned, looking slightly past the lady summoner and on to the blonde past her.

"You're actually of use with tools...and with weapons."

The blank stare that carried toward the young man carried three different messages: you don't want this fight, bite your tongue, and get back to work. He knelt down, examining the work that Yuna was doing.

"Very nice. You have good wrist control, my lady. You'd be good with a sword."

"It is."

His response was blunt and plain as he nodded. His took hold of a few pieces of clothing and silently slid into a pair of trousers without a word. His blonde hair shook before he looked at the tired girl with his amber eyes. He was wearing pants now at least. They didn't look to be as the same material that his standard clothes were made of and looked, well, a little primitive in comparison. Old fashioned at best. Still, they did the job and were quite warm. More than good enough until he had time to wash his other clothes or get new ones.

A metal hand landed on her shoulder. Gentle, but cold to touch.

"What was that back there, Zora?"

His amber eyes were tired and his words never went any further, but it was obvious what he was talking about.

Considering his height, he looked rather out of placed standing over her seated form like this. Yet, his stance was that of concern and surprising warmth from someone who had pieces of metal stuck to him.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, it would just make things...easier..."

No doubt there would be a lot of questions ahead. Takato glanced at the unmoving Ima in the corner of his eye.

A lot of questions.

How long could he keep that hidden?

************

"Well, sounds better than Zanarkand...."

Tidus, never one to miss a beat as he continued hammering away. Just because he was a star player didn't mean he liked how the city ran. Half' of em were more lazy than his old' man and that was seriously saying something. Still, he was a Blitzballer, not a politician. Leave that to the guys in funny clothes. The blonde shrugged to himself and brought down the hammer once again, not noticing where it struck.

Right onto his finger.

"Ow!"

Yuna jumped and looked over at the blonde as he hopped in place a second holding his hand. She brought up her hands to a mouth and lightly giggled, yet made no move to help him.

The blonde pouted.

"Oh, ha-ha. Laugh at my pain."

Yuna did exactly that. In a more cheery way, of course. She slowly broke into a smile and looked over at Raven, placing her own hammer down onto a nearby barrel that was currently serving as a table.

"I....tried to use one when I was younger. I was never any good...and besides..."

Her eyes darted away and a slight red gleam taunted her cheeks.

".....It was always wooden. I could never convince them to give me anything else."

Well, she -WAS- ten. But, still!

The blue haired girl was trying to think...what exactly happened? She couldn't remember a blasted thing for some reason. It had to be the same thing as it was with Cerberus back then...right? Zora turns to Takato after feeling his metal hand resting on her shoulder.

"What...? What do you mean...?" His words didn't make sense...she held her chin as she tries to think deeply and recall anything before she passed out. "We were fighting sinspawn....right? Those little blue bugs? And we won....didn't we? Nothing happened after that. I just...passed out because I was tired....Just like back at that temple. Everyone was tired and..." Again, the demon girl pauses mid thought, her dull eyes slightly widen in realization of something. Even surprised, it almost as if the demon girl looked....bored? Lack of emotion? Something along the lines of that.

"Takato...What...did I say anything before I passed out?" She was hoping her story was right...she was hoping it was just another Cerberus incident of her overexerting herself just like before. It would make sense, right?

...Right?

"I don't need a full synopsis of it...but...Was I....Was I not supposed to pass out? What did I say?"