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Drake House, Zanarkand

Auron had a perfect view of Raine's wedding from the roof of the garage, but his sunglasses were level with the ocean, scanning the white-capped shores. The air's substantial gravity was oppressive and charged, like an approaching storm, minus the visual cues of thunder clouds and distant flares of lightning, and he was feeling a little like a human wind vane, the erratic ocean wind flapping the red banner of his sleeve in all directions.
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[/ When the weather got like this, Sin was not far. It was also the only time in Zanarkand when the Pyreflies in Auron got restless, when they knew Sin was close, but how close he would get was yet to be determined. Auron anticipated Tidus would not want to miss his little sister's wedding, whether he approved of it or not. Auron had the impression Tidus wasn't easily impressed when it came to Raine's suitors, but whatever the case, Sin wasn't in the habit of arriving to events unobtrusively.
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[/ Vaguely aware of some mild disorder in the narrow gully between the garage and house, Auron sidestepped down the shingles to investigate. There was a problem with the dress, apparently, although from this angle Auron saw nothing wrong with what he saw, and when the father of the groom sauntered over to take his post next to Raine, Auron glowered as Mr. Drake lecherously partook in the same view. Auron hoped she might do something to stop him, say something sarcastic to put him in his place or, even better, slap him like he knew she could, but Raine was too polite. Looking startled and embarrassed, she held her tongue and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. To resist jumping down and ripping the elder Drake's throat out, Auron stalked over to the opposite roof to resume his watch of the ocean.
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[/ The music had started, playing over the white noise of the surf, the procession in motion as the first couple bridesmaids paced with agonizing deliberacy. Another one of Raine's milestones played out before him, but instead of getting choked up, he watched with a staid glare. Even without Sin lurking behind the horizon, it felt all wrong: a horde of sphere-cams hovering over the jury of reporters, strangers in Raine's VIP section and a groom who was only now stumbling up to the wedding arch. Admittedly, Auron didn't know what kind of wedding she wanted, but this couldn't be what she had in mind.
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[/ Auron stiffened when the first black Sinspawn bobbed up from the shoal, the first of many, it turned out. Auron counted twelve in all. At first they resembled thorny clamshells until they, one by one, began to part like the jaws of a carnivorous plant, their armor flapping like wet laundry before settling on their backs as two mint-green wings. Looking very ancient and prehistoric, the only way Sinspawn could, a small army of black Sinscales invaded the beach with precise formation, stalking in unison.
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[/ At the expectation of combat, Auron felt a cord of excitement tingle through him, and with an easy roll of his shoulder, liberated his arm from his cloak.
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[/
Raine held her breath at the look of horror on Darwin's face as his flawless wedding march dissolved.
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[/ The first scream was the loudest, to alert the rest, and the screams that came after were out of terror, followed by the first wave of frightened guests as they stampeded across the yard. There was a collective clatter of collapsing chairs as the wedding guests who couldn't run down the aisles climbed over the seats or tossed them out of the way. Raine couldn't see what was prompting the chaos and attempted to move up against the garage to get a better look, but she was halted by Mr. Drake, who pinned her hand against him with his elbow. She wasn't sure if he was doing it out of alarm, or to keep her from escaping his son's wedding.
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[/ Darwin, the wedding planner, moved into the open and the look on his face made his earlier conniption about the torn wedding dress seem like a simple eye roll. It made Raine want to piss herself. He gestured with an urgent shepherding motion. "Run!"
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[/ Some of the faster, more ruthless wedding guests jostled Raine as they ran passed her and she hardly noticed when Mr. Drake released her hand and followed them.
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[/ Darwin grabbed Raine's shoulders, staring wide into her eyes. "Fiends. Come on, in the house!"
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[/ Raine wrestled out of his hands. She had to see.
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[/ Through gaps in the turmoil, Raine could see the insect legs scuttling out of the water and sinking into the white sand. As the creatures shook salt-water of their grotesque bodies, the membrane of their foam-green wings flickered ominously.
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[/ Woozy with relief, Raine fell on her knees, hypnotized by her reprieve, which had come in the form of Sinscales. Sinspawn meant Sin was close.
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[/ A smattering of guests came running through the strip of space between the garage and the house and one of Jory's groomsmen stopped to help Raine to her feet.
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[/ "Raine, what are you doing? Get up!"
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[/ The groomsman yanked her up by her armpits and dragged her by the hand, away from the beautiful sight of her wedding being destroyed, and that's when she remembered her great-aunt Naya had been sitting in the VIP seats.
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[/
Auron searched for Raine in the current of the crowd, spotted her in the grasp of one of the groomsmen as he ushered her around the front of the house.
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[/ The former warrior monk paced the roof like a tiger stalking a trout from the riverside, but there was no good place to jump down to. His reflective glasses lifted to the roof of the house, across the eight-foot gap, and he internally hmphed. He hadn't made a jump like that in years, but he backed up to the apex of the garage's gable roof anyway and took a running start. His boots smashed a few of the terra cotta shingles when he landed, but he paid no attention and ran around to the veranda at the back of the house at an awkward slant, like one leg was longer than the other. Free-falling down to the support beam on the wooden trellis, his arm shot sideways for balance only to compensate for the weight of his katana, and jogged across the narrow board with short, calculated strides. Dropping down to the soft grass, Auron landed in a crouch, ignoring the shock prickling up his shins.
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[/ It was unusual for Sin to send Sinspawn on his behalf, but here they were, scrabbling into the backyard, squawking like angry seagulls. Swiping an insect leg, one of them shattered the wedding altar like it was made of Popsicle sticks and paste. Another scurried up to its brother, smashing the chairs in its path, chasing away the remaining guests. Rising from his stoop, Auron ducked as a sphere-cam zipped over his head, suspending in various positions like a hummingbird for the best angle. Auron scowled, but didn't waste swings.
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[/ Digging the side of his foot in the sand, Auron dropped his katana off his shoulder and the razor-sharp edge swiped upwards at a charging Sinscale, splitting a twitching maw in half. With a satisfying whump, the exoskeleton broke like a brittle eggshell and shards of black casing peppered the sand. Staggering, its segmented, saltatorial legs stabbed at the beach until it tipped on its side. Its wings faded grey as it died.
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[/ Eleven left. There were too many to keep track of. Auron could only cut through the ones that were closest.
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[/ Another Sinscale skittered toward the house and Auron scuttled sideways to block it. The Sinscale reared, backed up and its wings flickered pistachio-green. It made an unpleasant sound, an eerie sigh, and Auron just managed to dodge three spiny projectiles as they shot off its thorax. They landed in the sand with muted thumps and Auron swung sideways, rending through its dense wings like an old scroll ream. Auron didn't swing unless he had a mark to kill, and as he hacked through another two, blood splattered on the grass like ink.
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[/ Eight left. Except…
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[/ …Auron only saw 7.
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[/
In the front yard, Raine was able to break away from the groomsman. Scuffling in sandals to the edge of the drive, Raine skimmed the lilac shaded street for a flash of red before it filled with shrieking wedding guests.
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[/ "Auron!" she shouted through the disorder. "Auron!"
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[/ If Auron was here, he could take care of himself. Aunt Naya, however….
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[/Raine turned back to the house. Some of Jory's relatives channeled through the front door and Raine got in line. Just inside the foyer, people milled anxiously, spilling into the kitchen and parlor, the rooms dimming as curtains and blinds were closed. The young flower girl and ring bearer were inconsolable, faces rosy with tears as one of the bridesmaids kneeled to their height to comfort them. Darwin was beside himself, sitting at the edge of a stark white sofa, eyes wide open but seeing nothing. A half dozen people suddenly funneled through the foyer hall to the sunroom by the veranda to gawk at the Sinspawn from a safe place and the foyer became easier to maneuver.
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[/ Mrs. Drake had gathered her own audience. She had lost a shoe and her dress had ripped to the thigh and she was wringing her hands together. Her bloodshot eyes seared at Raine as soon as the rooms thinned enough for Raine to be noticed. "You! This is all you, isn't it?"
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[/ "I—" Raine was frozen, speechless.
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[/ Two women flanking Mrs. Drake soothed her with supportive pats and shot Raine similar looks of disgust. Raine thought they might be her sisters. If it wasn't for her concern for her aunt, Raine might have turned and taken her chances with the Sinspawn outside.
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[/ "Mindy, listen to yourself," said Mr. Drake from the kitchen. Even in a crisis he was nonchalantly picking up appetizers from various silver trays and popping them in his mouth while a soux chef in white stood by with a dirty look. Might as well, before they went bad. "These things happen sometimes. It's not Raine's fault. "
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[/ But wasn't it? Playing the victim was just too tempting, even for Raine, who was secretly delighted in the arrival of Sinspawn, barring any injuries or deaths, of course.
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[/ "Has anyone seen my aunt?" Raine asked.
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[/ "No I haven't seen your aunt," Mrs. Drake snapped, the word "aunt" coming off her lips like venom.
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[/ Raine ignored her caustic comment and addressed the rest of the room. "Chestnut hair? Early sixties? She was wearing a blue and white flowered sundress?"
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[/ "I saw her," someone said behind Raine. She was sitting on the steps, holding hands with one of the groomsmen, probably his date, and Raine thought she recognized her as a former underclasswoman from school.
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[/ "Where?"
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[/ "She was sitting in one of the front rows, wasn't she? In the VIP section?" She glanced at the groomsman for confirmation but he only replied with a shrug.
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[/ Raine brightened. "Yes, that's right."
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[/ "I haven't seen her since," she said, looking around nervously, realizing everyone was staring at her, most notably Mrs. Drake with her dagger eyes.
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[/ "Run!" someone screamed from the sunroom and Raine started. A streak of wedding guests sprinted back through the foyer hall, but it was the explosion of shattering glass that agitated the room into fresh chaos.
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[/ "Stairs!" Mr. Drake shouted, dropping his shrimp cocktail on the tray.
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[/ Mrs. Drake's sisters motioned to the stairs and wedding guests swirled around Raine. The queue for the stairs was anything but orderly as she was swept into the current, beyond her better judgment to become trapped on a second floor. The throng was largely unsympathetic as she stumbled on the hem of her dress and paused to adjust the sandal strap on her heel.
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[/ In the second floor hallway, guests dispersed to various bedrooms, and Raine commenced into one, but someone who didn't notice her slammed the door shut. The next couple doors closed before she could lay claim to them, the quick whisper of furniture on carpet as the doors were barricaded from within.
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[/ There was a horrible ruckus of crumbling drywall and snapping handrails as the 4-legged Sinspawn staggered its way up the steps made for bi-peds, wing tips unhitching family photos off the wall anchors. Raine found the sight of hairy insect legs scrabbling on the hardwood stair tread revolting, alien, and a little silly, despite the tickle on her spine, like a hundred mini Sinscales tumbling down her back.
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[/ "Raine!" hissed a voice at the end of the hall. Darwin was at the last open room, curling a finger to beckon her. Raine lifted her dress and clapped over. Darwin retreated inside and Raine risked a look back as the Sinscale lurched up to the second floor, its gigantic roach legs as uncoordinated as a newborn fawn as it skidded on the floor runner. Composing itself, the Sinscale's pointed head seemed to swing toward her in recognition and though Raine could not quite identify where its eyes were, their gazes locking for split second before Raine lost her nerve and slammed shut the bedroom door.
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[/ The room served as refuge for most of the wedding party. Mr. Drake and Darwin were already sliding a dresser along the wall, a ship in a bottle wobbled on its wooden display from the dresser's sudden stop in front of the door. Mrs. Drake moaned to her sisters at the edge of the sailboat bedspread, agonizing about Jory, who was, as Mrs. Drake reminded them, still outside with those "things." At least half the bridesmaids and a couple groomsmen argued about the attack habits of Sinspawn, which didn't include inside residences and certainly not in these numbers. Even the flower girl and ring bearer were shivering together in the corner arm chair.
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[/ Moving aside the ship in a bottle and other nautical trinkets, Raine pressed her ear to the door, listening to the graceless ticking of hard insect legs on wood floors.
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[/ "We should wait this out," Mr. Drake said, hands in his pockets.
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[/ "Wait?! But there are more out there, where our son is!" Mrs. Drake protested.
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[/ "If you haven't noticed, we're trapped in his room," said one of the groomsmen. It might have been the one who picked Raine up outside.
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[/ "That's his fault," Mrs. Drake spat, jutting a chin in her husband's direction. "It was his idea to go upstairs."
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[/ Mr. Drake showed his hands to defend himself. "How was I supposed to know they could climb stairs?"
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[/ "Quiet!" Raine hissed and everyone looked up sharply. She thought she heard the alien footsteps stop. "I think it's going away."
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[/ The bedroom became deathly quiet, save for the light whimpers of the children in the corner and Raine held the lip of the dresser as she stretched across it to press her ear on the door. She could only hear the pulse of blood in her head and an almost sea-shell whisper of muffled air. Without anyone to chase, the Sinspawn most likely became idle in the hall.
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[/ "Do you hear it?" Darwin murmured, breaking the long gap of silence.
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[/ As if in answer, the door rattled violently, jarring brutally against the side of Raine's face, the crack of splintering wood deafening in her head. Punched through the door, a dark, spotted claw fought to wiggle free, so close to Raine's face, she could see beach sand in the black sprouts of hair on its exoskeleton.
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[/
Auron thought he saw someone in the wreckage of broken fold-up chairs, but there was no time to investigate.
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[/ Exhilarated by combat, Auron fought with a permanently wicked fleer. He hadn't been in battle for months, not since his struggle in Spira to get back to Zanarkand. Surrounded in a pincer attack, Auron arched his sword downwards on the closest Sinscale, beating it into the sand, not killing it, but severely injuring it. It writhed to its feet, but too many of its legs were broken to lift its own weight and eventually settled in defeat. Another slammed into Auron from behind and he swung around, throwing the blade aloft. Oily innards smelling offensively of chocobo dung slopped on the ground seconds before the Sinspawn's limbs buckled. The next one went down almost as quick but the fourth skipped back as Auron dropped his sword with a misstep, slicing sod instead of cracking through shell.
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[/ "Hmph," he said, stepping back to rest his katana on an aching shoulder and study his opponent's movement.
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[/ The battlefield was teeming with Pyreflies. Further off, another Sinscale dragged the remains of the wedding arch in a loop around the back lawn, the lace tangled in its legs. Auron was only distantly aware of the remaining two, savagely chucking chairs in wild gratification.
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[/ But Auron could hardly take his eye off the Sinspawn dancing in front of him, swifter than his brothers. It circled around with wide berth and Auron revolved in place, daring it to turn its back, and it lurched gracelessly over one of its dead comrades. Its sea-green wings glowed and shivered and Auron bowled left, seeking cover from another fallen Sinscale as the tiny missiles soared passed. Scrambling to his feet, Auron leapt over the insect casualty, driving the end of the sword down over the top of the Sinspawn, pinning it like a lab specimen and killing it.
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[/ The other Sinscales distracted, Auron jogged over to the debris of white wedding chairs, flinging a few out of his way. An older woman lay on her side, just coming to as Auron kneeled down. Aunt Naya.
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[/ "What happened?" Raine's aunt asked, groggy-eyed until she recognized Auron and darkened. "It's you."
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[/ The racket of the wedding arch banging by directed Aunt Naya's attention to the remaining Sinspawn, her eyes growing so big Auron thought they might spring out of her head. Instead, she deflated and fainted. Auron grabbed her frail shoulder and her head lolled back like a fresh corpse. Losing consciousness under stress must run in the family, he thought.
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[/ The last three Sinspawn were drifting closer in their destructions and Auron lifted to his feet and swiveled towards them…
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[/ …except now there were only two.
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[/
"Everyone in the closet. Now."
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[/ Raine grabbed the flower girl, who was almost too big to lift, but Raine hoisted her up on her hip anyway. The little girl's white tights were scuffed with grass stains and they instinctively wrapped around Raine's waist. Reaching for the ring bearer's tiny hand, Raine helped him scoot down.
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[/ Slivers of wood flew into the room as the Sinscale axed away at the door. Darwin was first to the closet and as he opened it, Raine was relieved it was a walk-in, full of out-of-season clothes. She dropped the girl onto her feet, gave the children a gentle shove towards the back and ushered most of her wedding party inside.
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[/ "You too, Mr. Drake," Raine said.
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[/ Jory's father opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a shrill voice from inside the closet.
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[/ "Jerry, get in here, now!" Mrs. Drake shouted.
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[/ With a wary look in Raine's direction, Mr. Drake wandered into the closet.
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[/ Raine faced Darwin and jerked her head to the closet.
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[/ "What are you going to do?" Darwin asked lowly.
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[/ Fiddling with the bracelet loan on her damaged wrist, Raine shrugged. "I'm not sure." She managed to find the clasp and as the jewelry swung off her arm, she handed it back to Darwin. "I won't need anything old or borrowed, but I hope you still get paid."
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[/ Darwin laughed harshly. "I won't be surprised if she sends me a bill."
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[/ In the hall, the Sinscale stopped hacking for a moment, the ugly, pointed contour of its face lingered at the hole for a moment, to check its target was still inside, and then inserted a long claw through the beaten hole and pushed the dresser forward, ship in a bottle slipping off first, shattering, and the dresser instantly crushed the intricate model.
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[/ "Go," Raine urged.
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[/ Darwin ducked inside. "Try not to ruin your dress."
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[/ "No promises."
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[/ Raine closed the door and hurried to the window, peering out onto the roof, flinched at another woody smash as the Sinscale rammed against the last shreds of door.
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[/ Swiveling the latch on the window, Raine released it sideways and thrust the screen out. She swung a leg out the window, but waited for the Sinscale to squeeze through the narrow entry and stagger over the dresser. The clicking of its talons turned to soft pattering as it scuttled onto the carpet. Raine ducked sideways, dropping down to the shingles. Above her, the Sinscale wriggled out the window, legs first.
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[/ Raine peered over the edge of the roof to the giant hydrangeas landscaping the side of the house, 12 feet down, but the Sinscale was efficiently spilling out of the window like a hermit crab from its shell house. Scrambling down on her knees, Raine had to hunch to work her way to the edge of the roof, her dress binding tightly around her bust just as she heard a seam pop apart somewhere. The terror of being chased was more overwhelming than any height fears, and as she threw a leg over the side, she held onto the lip of the rain gutter and dangled over the side. Over her, the Sinspawn slipped inelegantly on the terra-cotta shingles, sliding downwards, piercing holes in the ceramic roof for something to grab onto. Raine let go moments before the Sinscale flew over the side of the roof, Sinscale and human equally vulnerable to laws of gravity.
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[/ Landing in the bushes below, Raine was relieved the Sinspawn launched further away from the house, struggling to find its feet again as Raine tugged her train from the foliage snarls. She turned and ran towards the front of the house before the dress had completely unraveled, ignoring the ripping sounds of lace and silk, noticing as one of the wedding guests came careening around the corner of the house, towards Raine, followed by a second Sinscale, stabbing across the sod.
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[/ Raine stopped.
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[/ So did the other girl.
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[/ "Lindsey Seawell," Raine grated under her breath.
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[/
Two more dead Sinscales crashed in the grass and Auron kneeled down to Raine's aunt, lifting her around his shoulders like a sack of rice, carrying his katana at his side as he rushed to the veranda. He maneuvered through a machina ruins of broken equipment, abandoned by the long-gone reporters. One of the Sinscales had been through here. Auron bowed cautiously through a gaping hole in the side of the sunroom. His boots crunched on the glass as he approached the last of the surviving wicker furniture, the rest lying in shreds across the room, and he felt the older woman's weight shift on his shoulder as she began to wake up. Leaning forward, Auron gently set the woman on her feet, righting the tipped chair for her to sit. Immediately on sitting, Aunt Naya crashed her pale face into a bony hand.
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[/ "As soon as you're able, find someplace better to hide."
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[/ Numbly, she nodded into her palm.
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[/ Auron started back out the hole.
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[/ "These creatures," the old woman called, "they're because of Raine?"
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[/ "I believe so." A message from Tidus, Auron reasoned. He never did like Jory.
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[/ Naya fished into the elbow of her sleeve, pulling out a wad of unused, but crinkled tissues and began dabbing at the sweat on her temples. "I don't usually cry at weddings, but I'm glad I tucked these away just in case."
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[/ Auron heard screams on the side of the house and his muscles tensed, but Aunt Naya wasn't finished talking.
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[/ "Raine is lucky to have someone like you to watch over her, but let me tell you something about her I think you should know. She is strong like Jecht," Naya said, folding the tissues as she looked down at them, "but she loves like her mother. It consumes her."
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[/ Aware of the direction the conversation was going, Auron turned towards the jagged gap, surveying the ocean for more Sinspawn. He was familiar with Aunt Naya's theory Raine's mother died of a broken heart after so many years waiting for Jecht to return. Had Raine felt the same way when Auron was trapped in Spira? It was hard to believe Raine would go the same way as her mother, fading quietly away in her sleep. If anything, it was the pain of living that made it unbearable for Raine and her attempt to exit life had to be aggressive if it she had any chance of succeeding. For once, Auron was glad for her pugnacious father, the part inside her that undoubtedly drove her to live anyway.
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[/ Although it wasn't Auron's habit to think on these events, there were times he wondered if Raine's mother would have been better off if he'd told her Jecht was dead. But Auron was convinced it was the hope Jecht was still alive that kept her going as long as she did. False hope. Wasn't that what he was trying to end in his plot to destroy Sin? It was false hope planted by the Yevon leaders that the people of Spira would eventually atone and Sin would disappear forever. Without false hope, the weak would die like Raine's mother, but the strong would carve new beliefs out of new evidence.
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[/ Another scream, this time further away, but Raine's aunt continued, unhurried and seemingly oblivious to the far-off cries for help.
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[/ "She won't admit it because she hates to be vulnerable, but she needs to be loved the same way. Don't get me wrong, Raine learned a lesson during her stay in the hospital, a lesson her mother never had a second chance to learn after Jecht disappeared, but if you aren't able to be consumed by her, then you should let her go."
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[/ Auron clenched his jaw for a variety of reasons, but the thought of leaving Raine made him queasy. He couldn't imagine being more consumed by Raine. Even as a child she had been recasting the igneous rock in him that had long ago cooled and hardened. Apart from those three agonizing months in Spira, he had spent every day for the last eleven years with her in his scope. He would give his life for her. How could that not be enough?
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[/ "Rest assured Raine will go on living without you, if she has to. Happily, even, I'm sure, after enough time has passed."
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[/ "Hmph," Auron grunted, unconvinced he could function as easily if Raine ever died before him.
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[/ Aunt Naya sighed in forfeit, the way someone would when they knew their words weren't sinking. "Look, I think you're a decent enough guy and believe me when I say I know what you're going through. Cete's mother hated me at first, but time has a way of dissolving grudges, and our fifteen year age difference didn't seem as important to her once we were both over the hump of mid-life." Her eyes unfocused, going someplace else, probably to the past when Cetan was still alive. "She'll keep you young, but you have to treat her as an equal. It took me years before I learned to stop nagging my young husband like a mother." She laughed softly. "Although sometimes I think he secretly liked it."
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[/ Auron distractedly thought back on a few times he had scolded Raine for one thing or another. Little wonder she needed a therapist's help to sort through her feelings.
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[/ Two screams this time, almost in unison.
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[/ Auron shot an irritated look at the old woman, who dismissed him with a flap of her liver-spotted hand and said, "Go save her."
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[/
Raine dove into a clot of trees at the property line, Lindsey Seawell close behind, and further back, two scampering Sinscales. Coming out the other side to the neighbor's yard, her white dress was smudged with grass stains and there were twigs stuck in her hair. Raine turned to yank Lindsey through the branches snagging at her pleated skirt and when she was free, Raine gathered her own dress so they could bolt across the lawn together.
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[/ Soon, Raine heard a soft galloping behind them and dared a look over her shoulder. One Sinscale had somehow bypassed the trees and was charging towards them. A split second later, the other one landed several strides after the first, grasshopper-jumping across the property line. Its segmented legs were already in mid-dash when they hit the ground.
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[/ Ahead, a high wooden privacy fence divided the two lots and Raine's first instinct was to pick a direction—ideally the direction opposite Lindsey Seawell. But after a quick peek back, Raine discovered the Sinscales were not so much chasing as they were flanking them
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[/ "This way," Lindsey said and began to veer right, but she was head off by one of the Sinscales. Raine had the peculiar feeling of being herded.
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[/ Racing through an arrangement of patio furniture, Raine and Lindsey were forced to stop at the wall of the fence, both women jumping in a vain effort to reach the top, but it was at least eight feet tall with no footings to climb over. The Sinspawn encroached at their leisure when they realized they had cornered their prey.
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[/ "Come on," Raine said, turning the woman around by her shoulders so that they faced each other. Raine hitched up her dress high enough to expose the elastic garter. "Step up shoulder stand."
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[/ "What?" Lindsey shrieked, edging on panic.
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[/ "Come on, has it been that long?" Raine snapped.
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[/ Something clicked behind Lindsey's green eyes. "Are you serious?"
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[/ "Do you think this is a time to joke?"
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[/ "Shit." Lindsey bent over and fidgeted with the clasps on her sandals, quickly flicking them off her feet. "Don't drop me like you did the first time."
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[/ "No spotter, no promises."
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[/ Lindsey pressed her lips together in determination and grabbed Raine's hand. The familiarity of her grip brought Raine back to the field behind the school where they used to practice. Raine assumed a half-squat, her stance wide, knees at almost ninety degrees, feet pointed out, keeping her thigh exposed so Lindsey didn't lose her footing on the smooth fabric of her wedding dress. Lindsey nestled behind her, planted a bare foot at the crook of her right hip, took a couple preliminary bounces and jumped. Raine's legs trembled, but she reached over her head to catch Lindsey's other hand to help her balance as Lindsey's other foot landed on Raine's left shoulder. It was best done with a spotter, who could give Lindsey an extra shove to help her, but without one, Lindsey's foot burrowed cruelly into the side of Raine's neck as she struggled into a shoulder stand. Raine gritted her teeth together to withstand Lindsey's adult weight with muscles she hadn't used in a long time. After several almost-attempts, Lindsey's right foot left Raine's thigh and found her right shoulder. The whole exercise took less than thirty seconds and in both Raine's peripheral visions, twitching Sinscales closed in on them. Raine could feel Lindsey's legs shake as she struggled with balance, her hands squeezing Raine's as she faltered to stand erect on Raine's shoulders.
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[/ "Let go Lindsey," Raine said under her breath. "I got you."
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[/ Lindsey released her left hand first and Raine used her freed hand to brace her partner's shin. Gaining confidence, Lindsey did the same on the right, until they were in a full shoulder stand, if a little wobbly and without the flourish at the end. Lindsey's weight shifted slightly toward the fence and with a final dig into Raine's left shoulder, Lindsey propelled forward, swinging a leg over the fence to straddle it, her hands holding the fence under her crotch.
/]
[/The Sinscales sensed their targets were escaping and became frantic, upsetting the design of outdoor furnishings, and toppling the padded lounge chairs. One of them took a crack at a short cut, skidding over the top of the patio table made of wrought iron and tempered glass, but didn't anticipate the canvas umbrella folding down from the jarring impact. In its attempt to escape the collapsed canopy, the entire assembly tipped over with a terrible clamor. Raine hopped sideways to avoid the umbrella's pointed finial as it came crashing down.
/]
[/While the Sinspawn were distracted, Raine reached up the side of the fence. "Okay, Lindsey, now pull me—"
/]
[/But Lindsey had already slipped over the other side. Through the cracks in the fence, Raine saw Lindsey tumble into the grass and sprint through the neighbor's yard without even a look back.
/]
[/"Lindsey!" Raine cried.
/]
[/ Back to the fence, Raine stood motionless as the fiends stalked her, their wings quivering aggressively as she listened to the awful song of their clicking mandibles….
/]
[/
Lured by shrieks, Auron plowed through the strip of trees between the ocean-side properties and stopped in his tracks. One Sinscale lunged tentatively around Raine as she prodded it with a closed patio umbrella. Its mandibles snapped down on the pointy end, testing it territorially. The second Sinspawn was lying in a black heap, surrounded in Pyreflies, and Auron wondered who had killed it.
/]
[/ Circling around the yard, Auron intended to approach the last Sinscale from behind, but its pale-green wings glimmered menacingly.
/]
[/ "Raine, get down!"
/]
[/
At the sound of her name, Raine scanned the yard and glimpsed the splash of red by the driveway and for a few brief moments, the Sinscales receded into the background…
/]
[/ …until three quick stabs into the side of her abdomen doubled her over and made her scream. Initially, Raine thought the Sinspawn bit her, until she detected three bloody spines shaped like arrowheads, half concealed in the skin of her belly. She used to spend hours scraping those damn spines off the bottom of her houseboat.
/]
[/ Baring her teeth to stifle another scream, Raine braced the umbrella on her healthy hip. As the creature's face-hole chewed on the end of it, its great strength was apparent through the conduit of the umbrella's shaft. Lunging forward, Raine jabbed the umbrella's tip into the most brittle part of the exoskeleton and the handle wrenched violently out of her hands as the Sinscale stumbled backward, thrashing around the patio until it crumpled in the grass and died.
/]
[/
Auron jogged forward, but Raine gestured for him to stay back. She found an upright lounge chair to lean over and a mouthful of clear vomit sputtered between her lips. Inwardly sighing, Auron slid away his sword and adjusted the scabbard on his shoulder. He slipped an arm around her waist to steady her, avoiding the spines spiking just above her hip bone. They had ripped the expensive dress, exposing slashes of her belly.
/]
[/ "I can't breathe," Raine wheezed.
/]
[/ "Sit," he instructed. He meant on the chair, but she plopped down on the patio bricks, her legs surrounded in a stiff white bell of satin and lace.
/]
[/ "It's this ridiculous dress," she panted, indicating the back so he could loosen it. "It's too small."
/]
[/ Kneeling down behind her, he discovered no less than a million tiny buttons against her spine. "A zipper would be easier," Auron muttered.
/]
[/ "I'll remember that for next time," she said through her teeth.
/]
[/ Auron inserted his fingers under the lacy drapery at her shoulder blades and tugged the dress apart. Minute but lethal buttons pelted him, bouncing and ticking all around them like freed pearls from a necklace. Raine didn't seem to mind and immediately disrobed to the waist, pulling her arms free of the sleeves. Suddenly gasping from the rush of air to her constricted lungs, she promptly fainted, flopping back into his open arms.
/]
[/ The ringlets of spun gold piled on her head tickled his face and as he carefully laid her down on the patio bricks, his eye slid passed her artificially tanned cleavage to avoid diversion. One of her fake black eyelashes was lying crookedly over the top of one cheek. Her arms were covered in scrapes and scratches, although not all of them were bleeding, and there were several tears in her hosiery. Aside from an upset stomach and lack of oxygen, she was relatively unharmed.
/]
[/ It was best if she was out cold for the next part anyway. One at time, he plucked the spines out of her soft belly and tossed them into the grass, leaving three oozing lesions. He used the top half of her dress to soak the blood, but the cloths were slippery, the lace full of holes, and soon there was blood everywhere. Auron perused the house for assistance, but there didn't seem to be anyone home.
/]
[/ With an aggrieved whimper, the full raven wings attached to Raine's eyelids flapped open.
/]
[/ "Keep still," he warned preemptively, knowing she was going to want to hug him. He reached into his cloak, to a pocket where he always kept a spare potion and handed her the ampoule. "Drink this."
/]
[/ Popping the cork off the mini-beaker with her thumb, she propped up on one elbow to swallow the contents without spilling. After, she scrutinized the remaining liquid coating the sides of the glass. "What is it?"
/]
[/ Auron smirked. "Does it matter? You already drank it." He peeled back the gauze of her dress and was pleased her wound was already on the fast track to healing.
/]
[/ "Aunt Naya!" she cried and then flinched when she moved too suddenly.
/]
[/ "Easy," he cautioned. "Your aunt is safe. I saw to it personally."
/]
[/ The severe look in her eye diminished and she lied back, relieved. "Thanks, Auron." Her attention drifted over to the twisters of Pyreflies spewing from the Sinscales. Here, fiends were self-sending. "No one's seen a fiend in Zanarkand in years. Not since Sin destroyed the stadium."
/]
[/ Auron nodded.
/]
[/ "Those are what you've been protecting me from all these years?"
/]
[/ "Yes."
/]
[/ "Well you're doing a terrible job," she said. She looked at him with a glint in her eye, a glimpse of the real Raine breaking through all the hair extensions, fake tan and false eyelashes.
/]
[/ "I'm starting to wonder what I've been doing here all these years." If she didn't need his guidance or his protection, why exactly did Tidus send him there? Surely it wasn't solely to steer her away from Jory.
/]
[/ "Should we hide from Sin?" she asked.
/]
[/ "He won't come any closer. He will only send more Sinspawn."
/]
[/ "Until you defeat him?"
/]
[/ "Hmm."
/]
[/ She stared unhappily at the sky. "You have to go back soon."
/]
[/ "Soon," he agreed.
/]
[/ She was quiet in her thoughts for a while as he examined her wound again. It was near superficial now. Auron thanked the fayth those weren't poisoned spines. He didn't often carry antidotes.
/]
[/ "Will you show me one of your cards before you go?"
/]
[/ "Again?"
/]
[/ "I want to see your marriage card."
/]
[/ "Hmph. You've seen it."
/]
[/ "I know. I just want to know…was it hard for you to turn down the high priest's daughter?"
/]
[/ "What does any of that matter now?"
/]
[/ She looked away, back to the Sinspawn, nearly completely disintegrated now, but she wasn't really looking at them. Her eyes fixated on something far away in her mind. "How did you know it was the right thing to do?"
/]
[/ "The marriage benefited others more than it did me."
/]
[/ "It must have taken a lot of courage to call it off, knowing so many would be angry."
/]
[/ Then Auron understood. The majority of Zanarkand was anticipating Raine and Jory's union. Gently, he said, "I knew there would be harsh repercussions."
/]
[/ "And you did it anyway."
/]
[/ Slowly her eyes met his and he nodded.
/]
[/ She retreated back into herself to think and for a long time they didn't speak as Auron tended to her wound. The bleeding had stopped and scar tissue was already beginning to form.
/]
[/ "Will I live?" she asked.
/]
[/ "I think so."
/]
[/ She winced as she sat up. "Oh my," she breathed, glancing down at her injury. "What's in that stuff?"
/]
[/ Auron chuckled, but he honestly didn't know.
/]
[/ Scooting to him, she leaned wearily against his chest, an easy, affable gesture, one friend seeking comfort from another and his gauntlet came up to her spine. They hadn't been this close since that night he returned from Spira, on her bed at the houseboat, not long before she slapped him. Usually the events played out differently when he thought back to them, but sometimes he'd leave in the slap for variety. But then he would think he should make an appointment with Raine's therapist, to figure out why that turned him on.
/]
[/ "Maybe you would like to trade marriage cards?" she asked.
/]
[/ "Jory's not my type," Auron teased, deflecting because he knew where this conversation was leading.
/]
[/ "He's not mine, either. Not anymore. And I don't want to marry the high priest's daughter, either." Craning her neck, she found his gaze. "I want to marry you."
/]
[/ Arching an eyebrow, he glanced down ironically at her dress. "You have to work on your timing, Raine."
/]
[/ Sensing his reluctance, she frowned crossly. "I know it will be simpler with you. Just us. That's all I need. Those damned Sinscales saved me from a mistake."
/]
[/ "Don't let them drive you into another," he murmured.
/]
[/ He remembered the nights after she banished him, standing at the distant edge of the marina parking lot to watch over the houseboat. Occasionally, she would step out on her front deck, wrapped in an old brown sweater to shield her from an evening breeze and just stare out at the docks. Sometimes Auron thought she might be looking for him and it was a special kind of hell to see her every day and not be able to split a beer or sit quietly next to her on the back deck while she read the sports page or a hundred other things they had not actually done except for inside his head. He couldn't keep track of how many times he stopped himself from approaching her those evenings she would wait outside. She asked him to stay away. It might not have been what she wanted, but somewhere inside her, she believed it was what she needed and he had to respect that. At least until Sin came to collect them.
/]
[/ "If you marry me, you have to take me to Spira with you."
/]
[/ "We don't have to be married to cross the portal."
/]
[/ "I know. But it's the only way you'll bring me."
/]
[/ Not true. He was supposed to bring her as a Summoner; it was what Tidus wanted. While marrying Raine would cement her accompaniment into Spira with him, how much different was it really from marrying a high priest's daughter? They were both very high-profile, very political unions and the only difference he could see was that a marriage to a future Summoner would benefit all of Spira when it was time to call the Final Aeon, not just the Yevonite priests of Bevelle. Raine was hoping for discreet with Auron and he was touched her intensions to him were modest and pure, but marrying him would not be that much different than Jory once they reached Spira. A union between the Legendary Guardian and Tidus' sister from…Zanarkand would be scandalous indeed.
/]
[/ "Put your hand up," Auron ordered.
/]
[/ "What? Why?"
/]
[/ "Your hand. Put it up."
/]
[/ Blinking in comprehension, she tucked her hand possessively behind her back. "No," she said, shaking her head in refusal.
/]
[/ Auron put up his hand, holding out his fingers in a frozen wave, waiting passive for her to comply.
/]
[/ She rolled her eyes. "Auron, I'm never going to be as big as you. It's a genetic impossibility.
/]
[/ But she dragged her hand off the patio and grudgingly mirrored him. He touched her hand, pretending to be very deliberate as he measured them up, hers falling short of his by a good inch. She saw it, too, and her face crumpled tearlessly, signaling he had let the charade go a moment too far.
/]
[/ "Close enough," he said and quickly interlaced his fingers with hers.
/]
[/ She shoved him with both hands, smiling impishly, but then snatched him back for a fierce hug, hiding her face in his cloak. Auron's face hardened as he absently returned the embrace, contemplating another marriage that would benefit others more than it would him.

Just get her to Spira, he thought. The rest, he'd have to worry about later.[//]