Chapter Text
Chapter I
Rowne
There’s always something about the Spring that makes her feel sad and at peace at the same time.
The forest is dying, had been for quite some time now. Yet the magical, almost ethereal beauty of the place never failed to draw travelers, like her, in. Despite the deadly fiends roaming around, seething with hatred over the living, people seemed to seek the tranquililty the forest offers to its weary visitors.
While the Farplane provides a bittersweet, brief reunion with the departed, the Macalania Spring gives sweet solace to the people still living. A sanctuary for those who choose to suffer alone with their misery.
Rowne shakes off the lonesome thoughts, standing up from the rock she'd been sitting on for several minutes now. The Hyphellos are still having a lot of trouble pushing the stuck wheel of their caravan from the mud from last night’s storm and now some of the able-bodied men are using a thick rope tied on a tree to free it out.
Sighing, Rowne walks over to them, pulling her chain sickle free from her right arm. Her machina weapon often baffles adults around her and she can understand why. Just imagine a petite girl with cropped blonde hair and heart-shaped face running around with a wicked-looking sickle swaying on her hips. Over the years, people have grown tolerant over Machina but a Machina weapon is still subject to weary stares and even scowls, especially if it's wielded by an Al Bhed like her.
“You guys need some help?” she offers, gesturing at the rope.
They ignore her.
“You sure?” she persists, allowing the slightest bit of taunting in her voice.
“Just keep an eye out for fiends,” the tallest among them dismiss her with a wave of his hand.
“The longer we stay here, the bigger the chances we’ll gonna be attacked by one,” Rowne insists.
“But isn’t taking care of them your job?” The man retort. “So beat it, girl. We don’t want that nasty piece of junk around us malfunctioning and blowing up in our faces.”
Rowne clicks her tongue in irritation. “Hey, this “nasty piece of junk” just saved your asses earlier from a Chimera that’s gone berserk, buster.”
Seventeen years since Sin is destroyed and people are still clinging on that belief that the Machinas are inherently evil. Still, she remembers her mother's words, that no one can rule out the possibility of people using machinas for destructive, selfish reasons. The old Order of Yevon had lost its power over the people and it’s nothing more but a small circle of ultra-conservatives in the aristocratic neighborhood in Bevelle the rest of Spira doesn’t particularly care about. Although the Council has been doing a great job leading Spira so far, its restrictions and laws over machina have been vague and limited at best, leaving people to think that the machinas are still things to be feared over.
Like most Al Bhed her age, Rowne makes it a personal mission to travel across Spira and teach people how to use Machinas. She even comes across a few kids who are naturally gifted in tweaking with it, as if they’d been using it throughout their lives. But no matter how she tried to dispel the fear and suspicion of people around Machina, seventeen years isn’t enough to banish a thousand years of stigma and fear.
“Ish everything owkay?” The Hyphello ask her, its bulbous, large eyes blinking slowly that makes her a bit sleepy just by looking at it.
She just nods, still feeling a bit stung.
“Rowne?” Jett’s voice comes out of the static of the radio attached on her left ear. “Come in, Rowne.”
“Yeah, we’re still in the southern section from the Spring,” she reports back, pressing the radio closer. “No fiend activity during the last thirty minutes.”
“Last thirty minutes?” Jett sounds amused. “You guys planning to make it easier for those fiends?”
“It’s not my fault I’m surrounded by idiots wanting themselves to get killed.” Rowne simply dismisses the mean looks some of the men threw on her direction.
Jett chuckles a bit before his voice turns serious. “Jurei and I ran across a Komodo at the eastern side. Well, ten Komodos to be exact.”
“Ten?! Are you sure?”
“I haven’t lost faith on my ability to count just yet,” he says defensively but Rowne can still sense the smile in his voice.
“Were you guys hurt?”
“Not by a long shot. Jurei is more shaken than hurt,” he pauses. “Just be careful out there, okay? Fiend activity in these areas is getting more dangerous. We’ll clear out the eastern side but you’ll have to handle anything that comes too close yourself.”
She nods, forgetting Jett couldn’t see her. “I will. You guys be careful too.”
Jett doesn't click off the radio yet and the silence prompts her to prod. “Yeah?” Really, despite his bravado, Jett can be a worrywart sometimes.
“I just…” Jett hesitates. “I feel something’s up in the air. Like there’s a crack that’s spreading fast on the ice we’re standing on and we don’t know any better.”
“I’ll be really careful if that’s what you want to hear.”
She hears him heave a deep sigh from the other line. “Yeah, see you on the other side,” he replies distractedly before turning the transmitter off.
Rowne chews her bottom lip, thinking of Jett’s cryptic warning. Knowing his brash, cocky attitude in fighting, it’s rare to see him get worried over fiends. But unfortunately, he would always end up right. An unusually powerful Fiend would materialize or droves of fiends would ambush a few minutes later. Jurei used to call it “Jett’s Fiend Sense”, more accurate than any fiend detector pickets Jurei and she can ever make.
She slowly returns to her post, watching the effort of all these men with growing boredom and disdain. They could have saved an awful lot of time if they weren’t being pig-headed as usual.
Just as she leans back, she feels a sudden chill at the back of her neck. She sniffs the air and immediately senses something is wrong. The forest stilled, and her ears pick up the tattletale miniscule cry of the pyreflies. A familiar and terrifying sound.
She is about to unbuckle my sickle free when one of the men near the wagon lets out a terrified yell. There before them stands an enormous Spectral Guardian, a fiend that she's absolutely sure can only be found in the harsh mountaintop of Gagazet and the lonely ruins of Zanarkand.
This will be messy, Rowne thinks grimly, before plunging to battle.
Jett
There’s something about the Spring that puts Jett in a somber mood. It’s like stepping inside the miserable and decaying remains of Baaj in one of their missions. Just one blow to its columns, one devastating attack of a fiend, the whole place is ready to crumble. With the forest however, it seems to grow more beautiful at each passing day before it finally dies out.
He hates taking an entourage mission through Macalania, but the traders look desperate and he couldn’t stand the doe-eyed look those Hyphellos for him to finally agree. Good thing Rowne is quick to volunteer to lead this mission and have the boys quietly do their job in the background.
“You don’t look so well,” Jurei, his cousin, absently notes even as he tinkers with a small toy Machina while perched on a big rock. They are near the path leading to the Temple and Jett can already feel the merciless, cold biting wind from the spot he’s standing.
“It’’s the fiends,” Jett mutters, looking down at the ground. The ambush of Komodos may have passed but he can't ignore the feeling that the attack is only the beginning and something bigger is about to happen. Worse, if his instinct is right.
Which is always will.
Jurei removes his goggles from his eyes, dragging it way up to his dirty-blond spiky hair. His green, spiral eyes regard Jett thoughtfully, which is all the more disconcerting. Jurei is anything but thoughtful and sensitive.
“Look, Jett. You can go ahead to the Temple if being here bothers you so much,” Jurei shrugs nonchalantly. “I know you don’t like this place. Too many..unpleasant memories. Rowne and I will catch up ahead.”
“And leave you to the fiends?” Jett shakes his head. “I’m your Captain. Your safety is my responsibility.”
“Look, you’ve trained us for this. How can you focus on completing your own missions and cleaning up your territory if you cannot trust us to do a job alone?”
“I do trust you,” Jett replies, looking around distractedly. “But I also trust my guts and it tells me to stay here, even if I don’t like it.”
Jurei just sighs heavily. “Sure, suit yourself. But how about focusing on other things instead of worrying over enemies we haven’t faced yet.” He flashes a cocky grin. “I mean, ten or fifty Komodos, it doesn’t matter. We can take them on anyhow. We can even take care of Sin itself if it decides to pop in here somewhere.”
Despite everything, Jett lets out a small chuckle. “I’m not worried about us. It's Rowne. I was thinking of sending you to her while I take over the watch here.”
“No way, Jett!’ Jurei frantically shakes his head for good effect. “Rowne will kill me. She can’t have us spying on her to see if she’s good with her job, which she is by the way. So why worry?”
“This is something different,” Jett crosses his arm against his chest, “I’ve...never felt this uneasy since..you know..”
At that, Jurei’s face immediately changes into that of sympathy. He puts back his goggles to cover his eyes and silently resumes on fixing his machina.
It doesn't take long before the radio in his right shoulder hiss to life and Rowne’s voice comes in, sounding slightly out of breath. “Jett? Come in, Jett.”
“Yeah, what’s the trouble?”
“Well…” Jett straightens as he detects a distinct roar in the background, followed by what seemed to be a sound of trees crashing to the ground. “We have an unwanted visitor who came all the way from Gagazet. I might need an extra hand to take care of it.”
Jett nods at Jurei who’s instantly on his feet. “Send your location to Jurei. How bad is it?”
“Like Spectral Keeper-bad?”
“What?” Jett clutches the radio close to his mouth. “How did it- Alright, just hold on a bit. Jurei and I will be there in a few.”
“You don’t need to tell me-” she replies before the transmission cuts off. Without saying anything else to Jurei, Jett unsheathes his weapon and launches off to the woods.
It was the sound of fleeing men that alerts Jett to the fiends’ location. It is now obvious for everyone in the forest that a powerful fiend is in rampage and only the most capable fighters can handle it. Following the Eternal Calm, however, finding experienced fighters in Spira is as difficult as hunting for rare spheres. People have been so accustomed to peace that learning to defend themselves become the least of their concerns.
It is for that reason why Jett and his best friend, Vid, formed the Vanguards five years ago. It’s still small, and they depend an awful lot of their own resources to carry out missions and upgrade their weapons but Jett cannot see himself doing otherwise. Though he can’t say the same thing to Vid who is increasingly focusing on his blitzball career lately. Jett loves blitzball as much as the next kid, but he can’t help thinking that surely, he must have a bigger purpose out there than just playing in the sphere pool.
People used to say he takes that after his mother in that regard.
Jett shakes himself awake from the thought of his mother. He needs to focus right now. A huge fiend in a cramped place like Macalania...many people can get hurt. Rowne can get hurt.
They spot her right in the heart of the Spring - the lake. In a tactical point of view, it makes sense for Rowne to lure a huge fiend like that in this part of the forest where she can maneuver around it and hit the weak spots. Still, Jett isn’t sure if he can stay in this place any longer than he possibly could.
“Jett,” Jurei’s voice interrupt his thoughts. “Let’s go! Rowne’s on the ground.”
That snap his attention back to the girl who is writhing on the ground, cradling her right arm. The fiend keeps on thrashing in front of her and any second late would mean the possibility of one of its enormous legs crushing into her. Rowne manages to embed her sickle in its throat but it still has the strength to stand.
Jett pushes Rowne away before it charges to her like a bull. Behind a large tree, Jurei is already positioning himself with a wicked-looking Machina bazooka on his left right shoulder. It takes exactly a minute for it to charge, and Jett knew this is where he comes in.
“You okay?” He helps Rowne to sit up, scanning her body for any sign of major injury. But the blonde girl only shake his concern away. To his relief, the worst she sustained seems to be just dislocated arm and a bloody lip.
“I’ve seen better days,” she mutters. “What took you so long?”
Jett turns his attention back to the fiend. “Get yourself to cover with Jurei. I’ll take care of this one.”
“You don’t need to tell me,” she stands up and half-jogs towards Jurei who is already loading the bazooka. “Hey, get my sickle for me, will ya? You know I can’t-”
“Yeah, yeah. Can’t sleep without it at night. Got it.”
She gives him a weak thumbs-up before heading to Jurei. In between blows, Jett keeps an eye on her progress, praying silently the fiend won’t notice her fleeing. Much to his shock, Rowne stops on her tracks, as if something froze her on the spot.
“Rowne!” He calls out heatedly. “What on earth are you doing?”
But Rowne remains standing, and Jett has no choice but to finish the fiend before it gets to her.
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