"I will have to take them." 

The Ochu's vines shoot forward, almost getting ahold of Namjoon. Namjoon slices the vine into half, the vine lying on the ground, useless until it bursts into pyreflies. The spirits making up the vine flies off into the sky. 

"What in the name of Yevon just happened?" Taehyung jumps off Jungkook, letting the Ronso get up. 

"Why did it take you and not Jimin?" Jungkook rubs his head as he gets off. 

"Get rid of the Ochu first!" Hoseok shouts, firing another fireball at the Ochu, hitting it square in the mouth. "Ask questions later!" 

"Tae, you okay?" Jimin rushes towards Taehyung. Where the Ochu had grabbed Taehyung is turning green. Taehyung hisses as Jimin pokes at it. 

"It's poisoned," Jimin, says, placing his hand on the wound. "I'll get rid of it." It starts off as a white sparkle, before the magic actually starts taking effect. Taehyung lets out a sigh of relief as the pain ebbs away, replaced by a faint throbbing. 

"You'd better sit this one out," Jimin says, rising with his staff in hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a Hornet diving straight for him, its stinger pointed directly in between his eyes. Jungkook, with his Ronso speed, grabs his lance and swings it at the Hornet, knocking the fiend out of the way. The Hornet screeches and bursts into pyreflies. 

"We're seriously outnumbered," Namjoon says, backing into the ground as he faces one Hornet after another. Soon, the group is getting backed against each other. There's no chances of escape and there's no way to run.

"The only way to get out of this mess is to kill the king," Seokjin whispers, panting, as he swings his sword, catching a Ragora--a plant fiend--off guard and sending it bursting into pyreflies. He eyes the king of the jungle. "Which is that Ochu." He looks towards Taehyung and Hoseok. "I'm going to need the help of both of you." 

"Huh?" Taehyung looks confused. 

"Al Bhed can mix spoils from enemies like Ice Gems and Electro Marbles for powerful attacks. What we need right now is to mix something to do with fire since that guy is weak to the fire element," Seokjin explains, Hoseok wincing a little as Namjoon manages to slice a Dinonix, a blue over-sized lizard, in half, sending into the ground, disappearing into pyreflies. "We need you," he jabs a finger at Taehyung, "to mix something to do with fire. And you," he points at Hoseok, "to cast whatever fire spell you have. Got it?" 

"I've got a Grenade and a Fire Gem. Will that work?" Taehyung looks through his stuff. 

"Perfect." 

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

"Now!" 

Taehyung shoves the Fire Gem into the core of the grenade and throws it at the Ochu, the grenade landing straight in its mouth.

"Guado!" Seokjin shouts. 

Getting the cue, Hoseok swings his arm and throws a fireball at the Ochu, a more potent spell than the one he always uses. The Ochu stops the fire with its vines. You think that'll stop me? 

Taehyung smiles, just a little. 

Before the Ochu can do anything else, the grenade in his mouth, which he thought he had digested, explodes, sending pieces of Ochu splattering everywhere. The monsters flee with their tails between their legs, seeing that their king is beaten. 

Panting, the seven of time slide to the ground, tired. 

"I don't know why we didn't think of that earlier..." Jimin pants, hitting the ground hard.

"Ochus can't talk," Yoongi mutters. "There's someone...something behind that whole scheme just now." 

"He's right," Jungkook says. "Ochus can't talk, but that one can." 

"Maybe it's of a different species?" Jimin suggests.

"I don't think so. It looks like some normal Ochu," Hoseok shakes his head. "The only other places Ochus appear at is Djose Highroad and Mt. Gagazet, but the ones at Mt. Gagazet are Mandragoras, a different species of Ochus." 

"Well, whatever's done's done," Jimin stretches and stands up, his staff gripped tightly in his hand as he points a finger to the temple in the distance. "Kilika Temple! Let's go!" 

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

"Race you to the top!" Jimin yells to his Guardians. 

"H-Hey, wait up!" Jungkook calls, running up with Taehyung. Hoseok runs up too, shouting, "Wait for meeeeeee!" 

Meanwhile, Namjoon, Seokjin and Yoongi are walking behind, not being bothered to catch up with the hyperactive kids as they amble their way up the stairs. 

"Might as well get to know each other," Namjoon extends his hand to Yoongi. "I'm Namjoon, what's your name?"

"Yoongi," Yoongi takes his hand. 

"You a blitzer?" Namjoon continues the conversation. 

Yoongi side-eyes him, "And what's it to you?" 

"Nothing. You're holding a blitzball." 

"Then you can see for yourself, right?" Yoongi replies coldly. "Besides, I don't need to get to know other people." 

To Yoongi's surprise, Namjoon chuckles, "That's what a lot of people think. Jin didn't think that once." 

"Whatever," Yoongi picks up the pace, leaving Namjoon and Seokjin behind. 

"So much for your 'getting-to-know-other-people"," Seokjin mutters, walking beside Namjoon.

"Relax. He's just a kid, like the rest of them," Namjoon smiles, but his expression darkens. "A kid with a traumatized past." 

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

"Stop beating us, Jungkook!" Jimin and Taehyung sit on the ground of the platform right outside the Kilika temple, panting as he tries to steady his breath. Jungkook has barely broken a sweat. Hoseok also looks like he's about to die from exhaustion. 

"I'm a Ronso. You can't beat me ever!" Jungkook grins. 

"Yah, come here!" Jimin jumps Jungkook and starts tickling his ears. Jungkook squeals as he falls backwards, hitting the ground and trying to toss Jimin off him.

"That tickles! Geroff me!" Jungkook and Jimin laugh nonstop.

"Are you a summoner?" a voice comes from in front of Jimin. 

Jimin looks up, and stops tickling Jungkook, straightening his clothes and standing up, seeing three buff men standing there, their arms crossed over their chests. 

"Yeah...I mean, yes! I'm Park Jimin of Besaid Isle." 

"Oh...that backwards village eh? Can it even be called a village, boys?" their leader, a man with red hair, laughs, looking towards the other two, who snicker. "Right...go home, summoner." 

"W-Who are you to say that?" Jimin's fists are clenched. "That's my hometown!" 

"Not as big as Luca," the man says. "The blitzing season's coming soon. You Loser Aurochs are going down...again." 

"Aurochs?" Jimin looks dumbfounded. 

"The name's--" the man pauses, and his eyes look to behind Jimin. Jimin, wondering what the man saw, turns back again.

"Yoongi..." the man breathes.

"Bickson!" Yoongi sprints across the temple, his voice accusing and angry. Before anyone can even act, Yoongi's tossed his blitzball straight at Bickson. Bickson barely manages to dodge the spiked blitzball as the ball sails across his head, managing to cut his forehead a little before returning to Yoongi. Jimin's never seen this side of Yoongi before, and honestly, it scared him a little. 

"Yoongi!" Jungkook runs up to him, grabbing him in an armhold. "What the hell you doing, man?" 

"Let me go, Ronso!" Yoongi struggles against the younger's hold, but Jungkook refuses to let go. "I'm going to beat his a** so hard..." 

"Why you..." Bickson scrambles up from his sitting positon from the temple's floor. 

"Shut up, you a**h*le," Jimin moves towards him. "No one insults my hometown and our pride and gets away with it. Now go before I do something I shouldn't." 

"I swear the next time I see you, you're dead meat," Yoongi growls at him as Bickson is brought outside by his pals. 

Taehyung turns to see Namjoon and Seokjin walking in. Namjoon purses his lips, "I feel like I've missed something." 

"You missed nothing," Hoseok replies flatly. 

"Then why is he--?" Seokjin jabs a thumb at Yoongi, on the ground, his blitzball at his side, panting heavily, Jimin bending over him and asking whether he was alright. 

"Don't ask," Jungkook shoots Seokjin a look that shuts him up. 

"You alright?" a kid runs over, his cloak draped over his shoulder and flapping behind him as he sprints. 

"Yeah. You'd better run along," Jimin smiles at the kid, before making a shooing motion with his hands. 

"I'm Isaaru," the boy bows. "A-And I'm from Kilika. I-I wanna be a summoner some day!" 

"Then you'd better work hard," Jimin says. 

"I heard something from here," the priest who runs over to them huffs and puffs as he bends over on his knees. "Was there a fight in here?" 

"No, nothing," Seokjin steps up. "Our friend just...was just injured, I guess." 

Yoongi stands up abruptly, body still shaking and the blitzball clutched tightly in his hands, blood dripping all over the temple floor. "G-Get away from me!" He sprints out of the temple.

"I'm going to go after him," Namjoon calls, as he runs outside. "Go ahead for the Cloister of Trials!" 

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

"I wonder what got into him..." Jimin crosses his arms across his chest. 

"Did...Bickson have something to do with it?" Taehyung looks troubled. "Yoongi was...acting weird." 

"Did he ever have outbursts like that?" Hoseok asks.

"Not that i can remember," Jungkook shakes his head. "At least never in my entire time in Besaid." 

The elevator hits the bottom ledge. Fire bursts from the two torches at the sides of the first room. Jimin sees the Kilika Sphere slotted into a recess. He touches the Kilika Sphere, and at once, the flames stop burning, leaving the room in pitch-black again.

Jimin looks up, a determined glint in his eye.

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

"Go away! I don't want to talk to you!" 

Yoongi faces Namjoon, voice still angry and panicked.

"Leave me alone!" Yoongi turns to face the sea as soon as he realizes Namjoon isn't going to let him be. "J-Just go away!" His voice is shaking now, just as his own body is.

"I'm not going to go unless you tell me what's wrong," Namjoon says.

"Hah! You expect me to tell you everything about me when we only met two days ago? As if!" Yoongi screams, not even turning to face him. 

"I may have known you only for two days...but I know someone with a secret when I see one," Namjoon says. "There's something you're hiding, Yoongi. Something you've kept with yourself for a long, long time." 

"G-Go away..." Yoongi's knees hit the ground, unable to keep himself standing any longer. "Just go, please..." 

But Namjoon doesn't. Instead, he walks over to Yoongi, sitting down beside him. "Hey, it's fine. Just don't keep it in." 

"M-My friend...she died because of the Luca Goers!" Yoongi half-screams and half-sobs as he buries his face in his palms. "When she saw that I was upset after being rejected from the Luca Goers, she joined the Kilika Beasts to beat them for me...but when the blitzing season came up, she...one of the Luca Goers killed her! They tackled her from all sides in the sphere, even after...even after she'd...She was gone before they even managed to fish her out of the sphere.." 

A stab of pain flows through Namjoon. That was a hushed up event after it happened. A blitzball player dying in the sphere because of drowning. It was laughable, mostly due to the pyreflies keeping the water a sphere and allowing the players to hold their breath for longer than usual. The Luca Goers had spit in the faces of the Kilika Beasts, commenting on how weak she was and how she managed to die by drowning. 

He never felt it was right for the Luca Goers to do whatever they wanted despite being the best in blitzball in the land of Spira and they always put up a good show. What are the Maesters doing--letting such things happen? In the name of money? 

He shook his head, wrapping one arm around Yoongi's shoulders. "You just want to beat them, right?" 

"Yeah..." Yoongi nods, keeping his face hidden.

"Then you have to train up. Show them who's boss," Namjoon grins. "Come on. It'll be alright." 

"Hah. The Besaid Aurochs have never won anything. Ever. Since three years ago when the team started up," Yoongi stares off into the horizon at the setting sun. "We're never going to beat them." 

"You ain't going to explain the blitzball?" Namjoon nods towards his spiked blitzball.

"A present from her," Yoongi explains, holding the blitzball up, its spikes covered in his own blood. "She said I'd do better being a Guardian than actually playing blitzball. But then again...she knew I liked blitzball, so she gave me a weapon in the form of it." 

"But wouldn't it be painful catching it when it's returning to you?" 

"Yeah, but the physical pain is masking the pain inside," Yoongi says. 

"Look, I think Jimin's really worried about you," Namjoon says. "And you shouldn't hurt yourself like that. Is this what your friend wanted?" 

Yoongi pauses. Is this really what Deenia wanted when she passed the ball to him? To be slowly killing himself like that? He stands up abruptly. "How do you know what Deenia wants? You've never experienced pain like that before!" 

Namjoon catches him by the wrist, "I have. Believe me." Yoongi tries to pull away, but Namjoon's grip on his wrist becomes tighter. "What do you really want, Yoongi?" 

Silence prevails for a few minutes.

"I...I want to beat them..." Yoongi mutters.

"Louder." 

"I WANT TO BEAT THE LUCA GOERS!" Yoongi shouts, face turning red. "And...I want to avenge Deenia..." 

"That's right," Namjoon gets up. "Go beat them, bud." 

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