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"Rikku's Destiny" - Chapter Three
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Patience is a virtue.
Though not one that had never been Aradia’s strong suit. A problem she’d always meant to rectify, but had never quite been patient enough to try. How ironic. She sat in the captain’s chair, her emerald and dark brown eyes resting on the soft glow of the control panel as her airship, the Viper, slid silently through the night sky. The pale blues and greens of the control panel was the only source of illumination in the spacious cockpit. It was her rule. As long as she was piloting, no lights shone in the cabin during night flying, save for those of the controls. It was so she could see the stars, which she liked to navigate by. Old fashioned, yes, but she was set in her ways and she would be damned if someone would dictate what she did.
The crackle of the intercom made her jump, snapping her out of her musings. After a calming breath she leaned forward and she pressed the ‘talk’ button. “Fryd ec ed?” (What is it?)
“E's ryjehk cusa tevvelimdo tufh rana,” (I'm having some difficulty down here) came the decidedly male reply.
“Damn it,” hissed Aradia, under her breath and in the plain speech. She favored it to Al Bhed, which was strange for a born and raised Al Bhed. Then again, she liked to think she wasn’t like many people.
She hadn’t wanted to deal with the prisoner, or the sphere, until morning. After all, she was tired. Theft could take a lot out of a person. However, if certain matters demanded her attention, there was little she could do but placate them. Letting out a long breath, she depressed the ‘talk’ button yet again, articulating in clear Al Bhed. “Ymm nekrd, Tabris. E's uh so fyo tufh.” (All right, Tabris. I’m on my way down.) Clicking the intercom off, she put the ship on autopilot and pushed herself out of the chair. Without so much as a second glance at the cockpit she strode out, the snap hiss of the doors sliding shut behind her a comforting sound. When she reached the lift she tapped in the four-digit code for the level of her destination and waited as the lift descended.
Not pausing, she strode out of the lift as soon as the doors slid open. She was confronted with Tabris, who was seated outside the part of the cargo bay. Aradia had converted it into two small holding cells when she had first procured the ship.
Tabris immediately stood, giving his captain a tired look. “Ra fuh'd crid ib,” (He won’t shut up) he murmured, looking a bit embarrassed about having to call his captain down for such a trivial thing.
Suddenly, from inside the further cell there was a loud crash that echoed off of the cargo bay’s interior. “Oui'na tysh nekrd E fuh'd crid ib. Fru dra ramm tu oui drehg oui yna? Fro ys E rana?” (You're damn right I won't shut up. Who the hell do you think you are? Why am I here?)
Aradia sighed, giving Tabris a bit of a shrug. “E cibbuca fa cruimt pa dryhgvim dryd Acrea teth'd gemm res fedr ran dycan. Cra ymfyoc ryc dra jumdyka ib du rekr uh dryd drehk.” (I suppose we should be thankful that Eshie didn't kill him with her taser. She always has the voltage up too high on that thing.) She chuckled slightly, then offered Tabris a small and rare smile. “Oui lyh ku kad cusa cmaab ev oui mega. E tuipd ra femm pa y pudran vun jano silr muhkan. E lyh dyga lyna uv ed.” (You can go get some sleep if you like. I doubt he will be a bother for very much longer. I can take care of it).
“Dryhg oui, Aradia.” (Thank you, Aradia). Offering her a smile of his own, he started towards the lift. “Tuh'd cdyo ib duu myda!” (Don't stay up too late!)
“I won't.” Aradia watched him leave and didn’t approach the cell until the doors on the lift had hissed shut with Tabris inside. It was then that the small smile she’d been wearing vanished, along with any trace of the amiable tone she used with him. She stepped up to the cell door and slid open the small viewing square that was set just at eye level. “Now, what’s your problem?” she asked, her voice cold and uncaring.
The prisoner laughed. “Oh, a bilingual Al Bhed, hmm? Such a talented fruna.”
"No, I am not a whore," she murmured. “And the great leader of the Al Bhed Machine Faction reverts to childish name-calling; to be honest, it doesn’t encourage much faith in the faction. For them to be lead by such a young man, a child really. It’s amazing that they follow you with such loyalty, even after the whole Vegnagun debacle. It’s like the blind leading the blind.” Pausing for a moment, she studied him. “Though you are good looking, even without that eye.” She smiled, derisively. “So the half-blind leading the blind.”
The prisoner looked about to retort with some sort of insult, but then stopped. He ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair, taking a few deep breaths. He sounded much more civil when he asked: “What do you want with me?”
“Simple. You were the only Al Bhed accessible to me who has actually seen Vegnagun in action. And everyone knows that the Al Bhed have the nifty habit of being able to recreate something that they see. That, coupled with the information that I know is on that sphere stolen from the Chamber of the Fayth at Djose, will give me what I need to create something just about as powerful as Vegnagun. And then… well I’m not sure. I suppose I’ll either control the world or destroy it.” She shrugged. “Either way, I’ll pop it into the win column and be happy.”
“You’re crazy,” he breathed, his eye wide. “And if you think you’re going to get me to help, you’re barking up the wrong tree, lady.”
“I thought you might say that, Gippal.” During her explication she had been pulling something out of her pocket. Since returning to her ship she had once again returned to the alchemist dressphere she loved so much, and the pockets always had so many things to mix and keep. She found what she was looking for, a small capsule of her own mixing. “It’s your prerogative whether or not you want to help, but if you don’t I would have to not only get rid of you, but also find another Al Bhed who saw Vegnagun… and I can only think of one other such person.” She saw the smug expression on his face melt into one of disbelief as he realized whom she was talking about. Smiling sweetly, she continued. “But for right now, my crew needs some sleep and that’s not going to happen with you making so much noise… so…” Depressing the button on the capsule, she tossed it in between the bars and slid the viewing window closed. She started to walk away as a soft hissing was emitted from within the cell. Seconds later there was the heavy sound of something falling to the ground. “Night night,” she murmured smugly, and decided to head to down to the crew’s quarters for some well deserved rest. Tabris wasn’t the only one who needed his sleep, after all.
“Problems with the prisoner?” asked Eshie, the second Aradia stepped out of the lift.
“Not anymore, but he certainly gave me a headache.” Aradia shook her head, rubbing her temples with her index and middle fingers on both hands. “What’re you still doing up? I thought you went to sleep.”
Eshie was standing in the doorway of her quarters, unweaving the braid from her long hair. She shook it out and started running a brush through it as she spoke. “Too much noise in the cargo bay for me to sleep. I feel worse for Tabris though. He thought he was responsible for it or something, and the fact that Gippal kept cursing him out in the common speech didn’t help. We have to teach Tabris to speak another language beside Al Bhed.”
“That is another task for another day. Did he pass by here?”
Eshie nodded. “Yep, he went straight to his quarters and the light went out seconds later. I can only assume he’s asleep.”
“Just where I should be,” murmured Aradia, punctuating the statement with a yawn. Running her hand through her dyed black hair, she offered Eshie a small smile. “I’m off. I set the autopilot up, so we’re headed to the remains of the Remiem temple for now. I think that with the bridge out the area will be pretty deserted, save for a few chocobos.”
“Maybe I can teach you and Tabris how to ride.”
Aradia raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Maybe.”
“G’night captain,” murmured Eshie. With a small wave she slipped into her own quarters and closed the door. Aradia waited until she saw the light under the door go out and then went into her own quarters. After all, she had to make sure her crew was getting their rest.
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