It seemed that Shinu was correct in thinking that he made the cute girl an offer that she couldn't refuse because she accepted his offer to become a guardian. The news didn't come without a little added baggage in the form of the grumpy old man. Well, how bad could it be? He did catch up to them, so he had to be in at least decent shape and she seemed to think that he was going to be helpful. This didn't help him much, only made him wonder if she was just a kind heart and a pretty face. That was great, but if she was going to be a guardian she'd have to be capable of at least something in battle. Oh well, it's not like he was perfect yet, he'd have to give her a chance.

Alright, I'll be honored to have you both. The more the merrier! I think we're quite merry enough for now though.

Shinu laughed to himself at his own joke and recognized that no one else laughed. He quickly deposited that joke into his vault for jokes to not try to use twice. With that he decided that it was about time to rest, because unlike some of these night owls, he needed to sleep. Lying on the ground was so much more comfortable when you are completely fatigued from a long day. He was put to the test mentally in the cloister and physically in the chamber of the fayth and that was enough to wear him out. Much to his dismay, he had to sleep out in the living room with Nick while Kat got the bedroom and Tif got the guest room. Sleeping with either one of them would be nice, but he could tell that he had a long way to go before that could happen.

When dawn fell upon Spira and its newly born light shone upon Shinu's face through the window, he allowed his right eye to crack open a bit, crinkling his left brow as he let out a sigh of relief seeing that Nick was still there and didn't rob anyone. Shinu wasn't actually too sure as to why he didn't. Maybe he was not in the mood to be caught by one of Shinu's many guardians, or he actually found it beneficial to be a guardian himself. It certainly had its perks, Shinu was seeing the perks of being a summoner, that was for sure.

He gave Nick and nudge and rolled over to get up from his knees. He was pretty upset that he still didn't feel rested at all. His body was feeling worse in all actuality. He had better keep moving though, maybe the island was cursed. Yeah, he would convince himself that was it.

Come on Nick, we have to keep going.

Shinu opened front door and let Nick out first, only to see that her Tif, Kat, Erk, Axel, and Asuma were all outside ready to leave before them.

Well then, I don't suppose we should be holding yall up any longer. Let's get going!

Shinu already figured that Mieli would be the one to walk ahead and get the transportation out of anxiousness and making sure to take the necessary precautions.

It was late and Kat could see that Axel was falling asleep. She took his hand and walked with him to her bedroom letting him rest on her bed. She smiled as he felt asleep almost at the time his head touched the pillow. She covered him and went to the kitchen to make sure everybody will go to sleep. Tif went to the guest room, Shinu and Nick in the living room since they thought that Axel would be scared if he woke up and Kat wasn't there and instead of her he saw just two guys he didn't knew so well. Later Kat went to her bed and hugged Axel softly knowing that her father would sleep in his hut, but she wasn't sure what about other two guardians. They weren't there so she could do nothing about them.

In the morning she was the first one to wake up so she prepared something to eat so they could have breakfast later and then Tif joined her. It seemed that Axel woke up hearing noises comming from the kitchen cause he woke up too and hid behind Kat. When everything was ready Kat Tif and Axel went out the hut where they met Erk and Asuma. Not long after Shinu and Nick came out the hut. Kat blushed when she looked at the summoner but then she started wondering why he seemed so tired. All she could do was to hope that it wasn't cause of sleeping in the living room.

They weren't waiting for Mieli to join them when they started walking towards the beach. Looking at Shinu, Kat was sure that they would meet with Mieli there so she didn't say anything. Axel was always besides her full of hopes that soon he would see his father.

not long after they started they reached the beach and saw Mieli waiting for them, he didn't seem too happy to see Kat, Asuma and even more Axel together with Shinu, but he knew he could do nothing about it.

Shinu tiredly walked up to Mieli who was waiting on him so they could dock the ship. There was no doubt that he was going to want to know why Kat, Asuma, and the little boy Axel were in his company now, and Shinu knew better than to with hold information from him.

Well, I got a few more guardians. I needed another girl around man, this is a long journey, and she says the man is capable, so what can it hurt. If anything, he'll take some of that baby sitting off your hands and you'll just have to worry about me.

He smiled to Mieli, knowing this still wasn't going to make him happier about it. He simply boarded the ship and found an empty corridor with an actual bed that he could lay on, a much welcome sight. He was still not prepared to tell anyone that he was feeling badly, he wanted to keep the mood cheery while they were still getting to know each other. It didn't take too long before he was out cold again, he was going to have to figure something out or he'd never make it to Zanarkand.

Erk shuffled down the paneled corridor and turned into an open door. It didn't matter to him if it was someone's room or not. He slammed the door shut behind him, and turned to the bed... It seemed to be calling to him, and his weary bones....

Instead, he strode across the room and dumped himself unceremoniously into an armchair and sunk down into it's plush depths. Sighing deeply, he rubbed his eyes. He was dead tired. His night-long vigil had taken a lot out of his aged body, and he desperately needed to rest...

But he couldn't. The dreams... ever since that summoner had come, the dreams had become so forceful. So powerful of late... Erk didn't think he could bear to face them again. So he sat in his armchair, awake with the help of the strongest hard coffee he could brew himself in his room, as the moon flew by his porthole.

Kat looked at Shinu went on board. He seemed so weak, something was wrong and she knew it. When she saw him for the first time he was strong, but after he went out that temple everything changed, he was getting weaker and weaker. Now she knew it wasn't her fault cause he was like this since he got his aeon. She smiled at Axel and walked with him to the ship after Erk. He found his room and stayed there. Kat knew she had to find Shinu's room and maybe try to heal him, there was one problem though. Where to leave Axel? She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let him see a summoner that is supposed to help him so weak. In the end she found a room where she would stay and left Axel there letting him eat his breakfast and saying that she had to bring food to Shinu.

It wasn't hard to find Shinu's room, he was so tired that he choosed the first room there was. She knocked the door and walked in blushing. He was on his bed with eyes closed, but she knew he wasn't sleeping. Kat took a deep breath waling over to him and said with soft voice:

"I am sorry summoner, but since you went out the temple you seem to get out of energy really quick. I am sorry, I know I should stay away from others problems but... you may need help. I will try to heal you if you'll agree. You know... I am a white mage, I know few good spells."

She was embarassed to talk about herself being a white mage, but she was hoping that this way he would agree to be healed. All Shinu did was to nod at her to heal him and give her a small smile. Kat blushed more and cast Curaga hoping that it was enough. When the spell was over she looked at him hopefully. She was still kneeling down on the ground ready to cast another healing spell if this one wasn't enough.

Shinu nodded to the girl when she asked if she could cast a white magic spell on him, anything would be better than nothing at this point. It was also good to learn that his new guardian did indeed have a skill set that would be beneficial to the group on the journey as opposed to just another body. He'd have to keep her at a distance from the battlefield, and she'd have to be there to heal when needed, which was more than a certainty.

As the green and white light flashed around his body, he could feel his body being pretty strong. He was still sleepy, and that's when he was sure that it was nothing that Kat could fix for him. It seemed like it had more to do with his inner workings than anything else, and there was no doubt that it was coming from Valefor. He diagnosed the problem, but he wasn't sure what to do about it. He didn't want anyone to worry about him though.

Thank you Kat, you did well, and your white mage skills are obvious. I feel much better, I'm just afraid that I didn't get enough sleep is all. If you don't mind, I think I need to get some rest now.

With that Shinu bid Kat farewell and nodded back into a deep sleep, hoping that when he woke up, Kilika would greet him with open arms. He was certain his mother was worried about what happened to him, and he couldn't wait to see her more than anything.

To Mieli, it was seeming that everyone was passing out all over the boat, so he spent some time with the only person who had to be awake, the man steering the ship.

Mieli walked into steering cabin on the main deck.

"Have you got any liqour in this entire damn boat?"

"Maybe"

"Maybe, what kind of an answer is that for a profession that is referred to most often as 'cursing like a drunken sailor'? I thought a sailor is not a sailor if he isn't drunk, he's a ferryman."

Mieli and the ship's captain both laughed.

"So tell me captain, are you a sailor or are you a ferryman?"

"Oh I'm a sailor alright."

The captain pulled out a bottled of Captain Liki's Old Spiran Spice Rum.

"Rum, I suppose it goes well with sodomy and the lash?"

"Only in Bevelle Mieli."

"Well I guess we can at least have the rum."

They both laughed again.

"Captain, I order you to pour me a couple shots."

"Alright I can do that."

The captain poured four shots, two a piece and slid two over to Mieli.

The captain raised his glass.

"Here's to the open sea."

"No, here is to sailing seas without Sin."



The captain nodded and took his shots as Mieli took his. The two spent a couple good hours drinking sharing a few laughs back and forth as per their drunken openess. Mieli eventually left the cabin and moved back out the main deck where he leaned over the boat's starboard side looking up at the stars.

Mieli light up a smoke. He planned on chaining about four togethor before bed which would of course be followed up by a huge glass of water.

"Well I guess one temple is down, I'm feeling a little crowded with all these people here, but what's important is that we keep making progress. If we cease to, perhaps it will be time to make changes. We're doing this to defeat Sin, not tour Spira. A tour has no final summoning."

"Ugh... moving... always moving... never... stopping..." Erk stood astride the bucking waves. The wrath of the sea roiled beneath him, threatening, always threatening, to throw him off and send him to the bottomless depths should he make one misstep.

Some things never change, even after the sands of time have nearly run out.

Suddenly, new movement under the waves beneath his feet. Sure, steady streaks of motion, alien to the random undulating of the ocean's fury. A human form, cowled and cloaked in black and the darkness of the depths. It rose from the angry surface of the breakers beneath it...

Some things never changed. Erk screamed and threw out bolts of flame at the familiar apparition, but they skipped and thundered across invisible wards surrounding the ghost. It stepped closer, ever closer across the waves towards him, the light from the full moon above creeping into the concealing blackness of his cowl.....

Erk screamed, and lightning blazed from his mouth and eyes.

The ship shook mightily and threatened to throw anyone aboard to their knees. An entire wall separating the rooms was gone, and the carpet smoked and spewed forth acrid fumes. Breathing heavily, Erk stumbled drunkenly from his room and fumbled his way through the blackness until he found the cold comfort of the moon shining down through the stairwell.