章 430: The Thunder Plains

"""THE LEBLANC SYNDICATE WELCOMES THE DRAGON EMPEROR!"""

Almost the moment Alex literally dragged all three of the girls into Seymour's former manor with him, now the main base of the Leblanc Syndicate, they were practically deafened by the Syndicate greeting them, or more specifically Alex.

"What the...?" Rikku muttered dumbfoundedly, giving voice to the same exact thoughts going through Yuna and Paine's minds as well.

Last they saw, before they even properly met Alex, he and Leblanc had been at odds, and she ordered her men to kill him after he said she looked like an 'old hag'. Then Alex proceeded to singlehandedly disable her entire organization without any discernible effort, before sending Leblanc herself flying.

Now however Leblanc and her entire Syndicate were rolling out the red carpet in order to welcome him, acting as if they were his followers instead of enemies. And Alex himself didn't even flinch at the reception, instead he simply strode into the manor as if he owned the place.

"Great Dragon Emperor, it is such an honor to see you again!" Leblanc cried out as she descended the grand stairs to meet them, all while pointedly ignoring Yuna and the others as she did so. Despite the flowery words she lavished onto him though, Alex appeared indifferent as he said,

"Leblanc, I trust that the discussions went well then?" That got the girls' attention as Leblanc eagerly nodded before saying,

"Of course! The lovely Miss Grayfia and I came to an agreement, and the Leblanc Syndicate is now in the employ of the great Dragon Emperor." The jaws of all three girls dropped as they watched Leblanc act like a completely different person, while they also noticed more subtle difference, like how she wasn't wearing nearly as much makeup as before. She then turned her attention to the three of them before saying,

"It is also wonderful to see the Dull-erm, I mean the Gullwings again!"

'There's the Leblanc we know...' The three of them all thought at the same time, while Leblanc giggled as she used her fan to cover her face.

While they had been conversing Grayfia, Ormi, and Logos all similarly made their way down the grand staircase, the latter two looking as if they were less than pleased by the new arrangement.

"Master." Grayfia said while bowing her head to Alex in greeting, which made him smirk mischievously before pulling them silver haired maid in close and sealing her lips with his own. Though she appeared surprised at first, Grayfia knew better than to expect Alex to observe propriety in situations like these. Deciding to chastise him later, she then melted into the kiss as Alex prolonged it, until he finally pulled away after nearly a minute straight of their tongues wrestling in each other's mouths.

"It's been a while." Alex said to her as they pulled apart, making Grayfia look away pointedly since he wasn't exactly wrong. She had been busy working on one thing or another during their time in Spira, and any of the free time she had was dedicated to Millicas and Lana instead of him, something Alex would never fault any of his wives for.

"Eh-hem..." Yuna suddenly coughed awkwardly, seemingly reminding Alex that they were all there as well as he said,

"Sorry about that. Yuna, Rikku, Paine, this is one of my wives and 'Pawns', as well as the head of my maids, Grayfia. Grayfia, this is Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, the Gullwings." As he introduced them Grayfia bowed her head respectfully to the three girls, before saying,

"It is an honor to meet the High Summoner that I have heard so much about, as well as her travel companions." Yuna and Rikku similarly bowed their heads towards Grayfia as they said,

"We're honored as well to meet another of Alex's wives." With the greetings out of the way as Paine nodded in agreement behind them, Leblanc nearly shouted as she suddenly said,

"Well then! I believe it is time for dinner, let's eat!" She then led the group through the double doors below the staircase, where there was a great dining hall with a stage at the end, and mountains of food waiting for them.

As everyone else began to dig into the food, Alex felt someone tug lightly on the fur covering his arm, making him look back to see Yuna there as she whispered to him,

"What did you do with Leblanc to make her act like that?" Alex first glanced at Leblanc cautiously before answering,

"Nothing much, I just sent Grayfia to negotiate with her to try and end the unnecessary hostilities between us. Though it appears Grayfia went above and beyond as usual." As he said that Alex sent a look towards Grayfia that was full of love and adoration, which she seemed to sense as she looked towards the two of them, and returned such a look of her own.

For a second so brief that no one besides Yuna noticed it, the two were no longer master and servant, but a man and woman who loved each other. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the moment was gone as Grayfia went back to her position of maid, assisting those who were eating with their dishes or bringing them refreshments.

With the moment ended as everyone focused on the food and miscellaneous chatter, Yuna looked down as an indescribable feeling filled her. Firstly she recalled Tidus, and how he had once looked at her in the same way, while she must have looked at him similarly. She then identified one of the feelings swirling within her as longing, a longing for the man she had fallen for who lifted her up when she was at her darkest.

But then Yuna looked towards Alex, and yet another feeling that she couldn't identify filled her.

How could a man truly love so many women? She had been watching him when he interacted with his wives and children, and while she had yet to meet every single one of his wives, of the ones she'd met Yuna had seen him share similar looks with each and every one of them at some point. Meanwhile, regardless of how they otherwise acted, each and every one of them would share the same look with him, one of complete and unconditional love.

Yuna couldn't imagine someone with so many women and loving each and every one of them so wholeheartedly, while each and every one similarly loved him in return. When she thought about it, the feeling she couldn't identify only grew stronger within her.

She wanted that.

Yuna wanted someone to look at her like that, a look that promised an unconditional and undying love, a thousand kisses, an eternity together. She wanted someone to hold her, to fight for her, someone that would gladly take on the world if it meant making her happy like Tidus had.

However Tidus was gone, and he wasn't coming back...

***

The next morning the group rose at sunrise, though none of them were able to see the sun due to being underground, and prepared to leave. Leblanc, in her desire to be welcoming to Alex, had let them all stay there for the night in her guest bedrooms.

As they were preparing to leave though, Rikku suddenly asked Yuna,

"What's wrong Yunie? You've been really quiet since last night." With Paine also looking over at her, Yuna quickly deflected,

"What? No, there's nothing wrong." Neither of the other two girls believed her though, and continued trying to pester Yuna about what was wrong with her right up until it was time for them to leave.

"You guys ready to go?" Alex called out to them through the door suddenly, making all three girls jump in surprise. Yuna however then leapt at the chance to escape her sudden interrogation, fleeing the room and joining Alex as he prepared to leave.

Before they left though Leblanc and her two lieutenants met them at the doors, and she said to Alex,

"We look forward to hosting the great Dragon Emperor again in the future. My home is your home, your imperial majesty." As she said that Leblanc gave a deep bow that allowed an ample amount of cleavage to be seen from Alex's position, though he didn't say anything about it.

Meanwhile though the girls were once again wondering what Grayfia had done to Leblanc to prompt such a drastic change in her mannerisms towards Alex, the only clue of which that they had was how Leblanc looked noticeably younger, but that couldn't have been all there was to it.

When Leblanc righted herself from her bow though, Alex turned towards Grayfia and said,

"Next time I see them I want the entire Leblanc Syndicate to be up to snuff in terms of combat capabilities, at least as capable as the Haulia." For the briefest of seconds Leblanc's facial expression twitched when she heard that, however Grayfia paid no attention towards her as she dutifully said,

"Of course, I will put them through hell to ensure they are up to our standards." Alex nodded in affirmation to Grayfia's promise, and gave the maid one last kiss before his group departed, leaving her alone with the Syndicate once more.

"What did he mean by that?" Leblanc immediately demanded once Alex was gone, her expression turning ugly since there hadn't been anything said about this in their deal. Their deal granted her eternal youth and beauty, as well a marriage brokered between herself and the man she loved, Nooj, in exchange for serving the Dragon Emperor.

When Grayfia turned away from the door though, Leblanc, Ormi, and logos all flinched when they saw the demonic gleam in her eyes. She then said with a chilling calmness,

"Well how can you expect to adequately serve the Dragon Emperor if your entire organization is so weak? Don't worry though, with our magics it won't matter even if you and your people die a few dozen times from the training. I can just bring you back over and over again." With each word Grayfia said the hearts of Leblanc and her lieutenants became heavier and heavier, as they learned for the first time what it meant to 'make a deal with the devil'.

"Well then, let's begin." Grayfia said with a sense of finality, before using magic to teleport the entire Syndicate into Asora at once, where their training from hell began.

***

Alex's group meanwhile was weaving through the tunnels of Guadosalam as they made their way to the northern exit, and the Thunder Plains. From there they planned to travel to Macalania woods, and then the Calm Lands.

Though the woods could also lead them to the city of Bevelle and Macalania Temple, the group decided to forego going to these locations, the city because none of them had any interest in going there, and the temple because it would undoubtedly be swarming with people after rising from the depths.

With their plans made, when the group finally exited a particularly long tunnel that led north of Guadosalam they found themselves staring out over a seemingly endless jagged and rocky plain that was covered in dark clouds. For a moment there wasn't a single sound as the group took in the sight of the Thunder Plains, before,

*KABOOOOOOOOM!*

A clap of thunder so intense it practically buffeted them shook the air, accompanied by a blindingly bright flash of light as a bolt of lightning struck somewhere close by. While the three girls all crouched down and covered their ears, a large smile broke out on Alex's face as he watched bolt after bolt of lightning strike the land, before the thunder quickly followed.

"Somethings wrong here..." Rikku said seriously as she looked out over the Thunder Plains, drawing Alex's attention as he said,

"Oh yeah? What's wrong?" Rikku looked back at him seriously as she said,

"There's numerous towers across the Plains that are designed to draw the lightning, which makes it safe for people to cross the Plains without worrying about getting struck by lightning." Paine nodded as she stepped forward and said,

"The lightning is striking the landscape randomly, which must mean that the towers are out of calibration. They'll have to be fixed before it's safe to cross." If it had been anyone else then they might've been concerned about their safety, Alex however smiled widely as if he was having fun as he said,

"So that just means that we'll have to dodge the lightning as we drive through the Plains, right?"

...

"OH YEAH! LETS GO!" Rikku cried out in excitement as she once again pressed the accelerator down to the floor, making the car lurch forwards as they suddenly picked up speed.

While hesitant at first to cross the Plains right then, the girls eventually agreed when Alex explained that his car was basically immune to the vast majority of things that could hurt them, like lightning. So they all piled in with Rikku driving like Alex promised, Paine in the passenger seat right next to her since she hadn't sat up front yet, and then Alex and Yuna in the back.

Then once Alex gave Rikku a quick explanation on how to drive the car, which was made easier due to her also learning from over the last two days as he drove, they shot off as they sped through the Plains.

Now Rikku was speeding through the Plains as fast as she could possibly go, swerving, twisting, and turning through the many obstacles that were rocks, lakes, and the very same towers the girls were telling Alex about earlier. There were even several poor fiends that ended up being destroyed due to her wanting to try out the artillery that the car had, making the usually carefree blonde cackle evilly the longer she sat behind the wheel.

"Maybe I'll have to give Rikku her own car in the future..." Alex pondered out loud, making Yuna fear for the future of Spirans on the roads.

For the next few hours Rikku recklessly drove them through the Thunder Plains, something that was taking a while due to the many twists and turns she had to make as they went. There was one point however that was especially bad, where Rikku had to turn the wheel all the way to left as she tried to avoid running them right into a tower that had been concealed within a wall of mist.

"Ahh!" Yuna cried out as she flew forward during the maneuver, only to find herself landing directly on top of Alex after he stretched out over the extended seats.

"Hello there." Alex said playfully to Yuna as he grabbed hold of her hips to help hold her steady.

"Thank you..." Yuna said to him as she tried to right herself, while also feeling embarrassed from how close they were now, to the point that they could feel the other's breath on their body's.

"Woah!" Rikku suddenly cried out as she performed a similar maneuver to avoid a large rock, once again throwing Yuna directly against Alex.

"Mph!" Yuna tried to cry out, only to discover she couldn't due to her mouth being blocked...by Alex's. For a moment neither moved while the other two didn't realize what was going on, Rikku being focused on the road and Paine sitting directly ahead of them, with her eyes on the road as well.

When the realization that they were kissing dawned on her, Yuna suddenly threw herself back away from Alex's face as she exclaimed,

"I-I'm so sorry! It was an accident!" Speaking just low enough that the other two couldn't hear her, Yuna tried to make excuses to Alex about why that had happened. Alex however was completely silent as he stared at her for a second, reaching up and lightly grabbing her chin.

"Eh?" Yuna gave voice to her confusion at his actions, before Alex leaned forward and once against sealed her lips with his own, except this time was no accident.

Yuna had been kissed by two other men in her life. The first was Seymour Guado when he had forced her to marry him by threatening the lives of her companions, only to order their deaths anyways once the ceremony was finished. The second was Tidus after they had escaped from Bevelle, when he was comforting her and promised to always remain by her side. Needless to say it didn't happen.

Now however Yuna was having her lips stolen by a third man, and despite how much she tried pulling away from him, her body refused to listen even before his arms began to wrap around her. From her hips Alex's left hand made its way upwards along the bare skin of her back under her shirt, while his right was much more mischievous as it moved lower to take a firm hold of her behind, though thankfully this one stayed above her clothes.

Meanwhile Alex's mouth was mounting a skillful assault on her own, with his tongue gliding along her lips as if to feel every bit of them before prodding between them, trying to invade her mouth. When Rikku accidentally hit a bump though, the sudden movement was enough for Yuna to open her lips in surprise, and allow Alex's tongue to find access within.

There she felt him exploring every inch of her mouth with his tongue before finding her own, and beginning a wrestling match between the two. Meanwhile Yuna's hands had begun combing through Alex's fur as they mimicked his own, running over his musclebound body and feeling as much exposed skin as possible while their tongues fought for dominance over the other.

Before she knew it Yuna found her own tongue in Alex's mouth, hesitantly exploring it this time while Alex himself seemed to start sucking on it invitingly. And after a while she felt something hot and hard rubbing up against her below through their clothes, but thankfully Alex made no movements to free his mighty tool from its constraints.

Neither one knew how long they had been kissing for, or even registered the movement of the car as Rikku continued her crazy driving, but when Yuna's body finally did seem to acknowledge her will to separate from Alex's body and mouth she was panting and deeply flushed.

She was only just getting started in 'freeing' herself from Alex's grasp though, as one of his fingers traced a line down the bare skin of her spine, and Alex's other hand firmly kneaded the flesh of her butt. Before she could even try to free herself though, Alex pulled her back towards him so that their faces were only a mere few inches away from each other.

Though she wanted to look away from him, Yuna instead found herself being drawn into Alex's eyes. In them she saw lust, desire, and most of all, affection and love.

'Am I imagining it?' Yuna thought to herself, but before she could think too much on the way Alex was looking at her, he then leaned forwards so that his mouth was next to her ear, and whispered something to her.

"..."

Yuna's heart shook with Alex's words as he leaned back once more, before restarting his assault on her mouth. Yuna however was completely unable to 'defend' herself this time against Alex's assault, instead melting even more in the intoxicating kiss with the words he had whispered to her echoing within her mind.

***

After numerous hours of Rikku winding through the Thunder Plains, they finally arrived at the entrance to the Macalania Woods.

Stepping out of the car, Alex stared in awe of the mystic looking blue woods as Pyreflies drifted through the air and the cries of fiends echoed from within. Next to him stood Rikku and Paine, who were similarly admiring the mysticism of the woods, until they looked back as Yuna also crawled out of the car.

"What happened Yunie!?" Rikku exclaimed as she rushed towards her cousin, who was completely red in the face and felt faint as if she had a fever.

"N-nothing happened Rikku." Yuna stuttered out as she leaned against the car for support, while Rikku stilled whirled around and glared at Alex.

"What did you do to her mister?!" Alex however cocked a brow at her as he remarked,

"Who said I did anything? Maybe it was your driving that made something happen?" When she heard that Rikku looked away awkwardly, as she did get a little carried away when Alex let her drive his car, and Yuna didn't refute his claim so she thought that might've been the case.

"If that's all then let's go. We still have to get to the Calm Lands today." Paine then interrupted as she started walking towards the woods, leaving Rikku and Yuna to catch up to her as the latter lightly slapped her cheeks a few times to wake herself up.

With Alex taking up the rear, the group began to make their way through the winding woods as they headed east, the direction of the Calm Lands. Along the way though all manner of fiends that they hadn't seen yet on their journey attacked them, from elementals to flying fish, and an even more powerful type of floating Gel that would alternate between the types of magic it used, making it even more difficult to defeat.

Regardless of what they faced though, the girls were able to defeat them all due to their versatility with the Dresspheres. If one sphere didn't work then they would simply change to another, while the three of them would perfectly support the other two whenever they needed time to charge a spell/skill, or change spheres.

Alex's attention meanwhile would alternate between the woods around them, and the girls as they fought in various outfits, some of which were quite skimpy.

Unfortunately though their time in the woods wouldn't last, as they simply skirted the edge between the southern and eastern entrances. This also meant they didn't get a chance to see some of the more dazzling sights and springs deeper in, but Alex swore to come back at some point with his family to admire the woods as much as they wanted.

Thankfully they had been able to prevent the woods from fading away by restoring the temple, otherwise this amazing place would soon be lost forever.

But as the blue vegetation began to thin, and the trees were growing farther and farther apart, they soon arrived within a small canyon as they exited the woods entirely.

"It's not far now." Yuna said quietly, having recovered quite a bit after the passionate time in the car, though she still refused to look directly at Alex. And though she didn't say what it was that wasn't far, they all knew as they began cresting a small hill within the canyon.

Once they reached the top though, they found themselves staring out into a massive open valley, the east of which led to a sheer drop thousands of feet below, while the northern area of the valley was broken and jagged, being the sight of a great battle with Sin that was now dubbed The Scar. To the west and south though, where they were at, the valley was bordered by great cliffs which also held numerous secrets for the people of Spira to discover.

This was the place where many Summoners would falter in their pilgrimages, not finding it in their hearts to continue on to perform there Final Summoning. Once a land of somber quiet and reflection, it was now apparently a place of fun and excitement as numerous merchants set up stalls with games, while crowds of tourists moved from place to place betting and playing.

"Welcome," Rikku began as she spread her arms out in a grand gesture. "To the Calm Lands!"