A/N: Sandstone here with another story. This one was titled 'FF Orix' in my profile, but I shortened it to Orix because I could do so. Since I recieved more than one request for this story to be published, I decided to do so. However, though I do have some chapters written out, this will be a very SLOW story. Don't read this if you can't stand stories where the update rate is once every few months. Yes, I'm dead serious, months at least, once I reach the 'stopped point' in the story.

Thanks to: A certain neneko / goddess and a goddess of the dark. You know who you are.

Zanarkand's fall:

"You can't do that."

I mildly sighed, and brushed aside a strand of brown hair, looking at the ethereal figure. It had been a long time since I'd been able to even affect my own body, the strands of hair were long enough that I could be confused for a flat-chested woman (a brown haired one). Strange, seeing how that 'small puny kid' was also the Aeon Bahamut. "Why not? It would save lives… and your dreaming… it could end sooner. Besides, my own nightmares aren't getting any better, they're getting worse. I don't care about the code anymore, there's just so much wrong with this…"

Almost reluctantly, Bahamut nodded. "I… I actually do agree." He lowered the purple hood on his head, revealing a brown-haired and brown eyed kid's face, of maybe ten or eleven years. "I do want to rest. I'm tired."

I nodded quietly. "Me too." I chuckled, and as Bahamut gave me a questioning look, I explained, "I have no right to be tired, really. I'm only seventeen, and no immortality or time slipups to make me that way. Well… in a way, anyway. It's complicated, you know that."

Bahamut gave me a secret smile I was familiar with, and held out his hand. "I'll speak to the others, if you promise to not…"

I grinned. "No worries. I've got someone waiting for me…" I lightly touched my heart, and a strand of blue energy appeared, energy that pulsed in both directions at the same time, that traveled off into the distance, fading as it did so. Not that distance mattered where we were, we were both standing in the middle of the void. I could feel her slightly, as she suddenly stiffened (with whatever she was doing), then called my name questioningly, before sending back a massive flood of emotions through the link – worry, fear, pain, relief… open love, loneliness… I could even feel a bit of lust flitting through the link.

Bahamut looked over the bond, then looked at me, and nodded. "Go. You will need to talk to the others yourself, and not in their Aeon forms."

I sighed unhappily, but nodded. "You know that Yevon has made me a 'person non-grata', right?"

Bahamut nodded, pulling his hood up. "I know. But there is little we can do… little that I can do. After all, we are merely souls tied to statues."

I smiled, and reached under the hood, tousling his hair. Normally, my hand would have gone through, but since I myself was in a similar state to the Aeons right now, there wasn't much question about if I could touch him or not.

Bahamut stiffened, then nodded quietly. "Take care… brother"

I nodded slightly. We weren't blood brothers, but in this situation… well, the Aeons were basically a family, and I was one of them now, in a way. I concentrated, and felt for my body, eventually re-entering it, sighing as I did so. It was the same thing again – I was chained to the wall, deep within Bevelle. I couldn't call the Aeons, but I could feel their immortal (well, not really immortal, but close) song within my heart, echoing sadly. The guards they'd assigned to prevent me from trying to deal with the chains were still there.

I looked over at them, raising my head. My left eye was covered in blood (long since dried), so I couldn't use it, but I didn't need it. The guards noticed, and pointed their weapons at me. I merely bit my lip, trying to think. I couldn't call on the Aeons to help me, Yevon had proved it's true colors and allegiance with this. I shuddered, and started to draw on energies I had sworn off using in mortal realms, due to the raw damage it did to the universal fabric… I did not have a choice, sadly. Yevon, in their greed, was drawing on me to use that energy… thankfully, I still had enough to do what I needed at least. Raggedly, I panted, "Don't… blame… me… for… what… I… must… do…"

The guards cocked their weapons, but I merely gave them a bitter smile. Their helmets exploded, bathing me with blood and bone. With their life energies shattered, I could feel the remaining energy flow into me. Almost sadly, I used their own life energies to heal my own, snapping the bonds that held me at the same time.

I stood in the darkened room, surrounded by headless corpses, and looked upward, toward where I knew at least one of them was watching me, via magic. "Your hold shall soon be petrified, shattered, and destroyed. I will no longer be chained by guilt. Those that you have chained for your own greedy purposes…" I reached back, and ripped out the tubes that had been inserted into my body, draining away the power that I wielded, the power that never should be tapped within this world… "will only be chained for so long. Now… you have an insurrection on your hands."

More guards, alerted by a silent alarm, started to rush in, I could hear them. But I didn't want to kill them, nor did I really want to fight. So I did the easiest thing – I charged for the blackened depths, guards chasing after me. After a few turns (thankfully, Bahamut was helping me navigate by telling me when to turn by whispering in my ear), he said softly, "This could very well destroy your soul…"

I mentally told him what he could do with that comment, and he sent back a mental image of himself, smiling. That grin was the last thing I saw, as I jumped into the massive pit, guards arriving far too late to stop me. Pyreflies danced around me, screaming, as the farplane rushed toward me.

Last words I whispered before I entered it was, "Sorry, love…"

&&&&&

I woke up in an urbanized city, and looked around, trying to get a feel for this place. Bahamut was standing beside me, invisible to everyone else but me, but remained silent. I looked over toward him questioningly, before he explained, "It will start here, and spread. Your strength will be needed, now that they are on alert… otherwise, there will never be a chance."

I said in a soft tone back, "Others have prevailed before…"

Bahamut shook his head. "If it only worked like that. Yevon was not truly destroyed… there is are only a handful of true ways to destroy Yu-Yevon's soul, and destroy him forever. And we are short a True Name, so yours is the only option that we can use."

I looked guiltily at my own hands, which were covered in blood again. "No… I'd have to… use that?"

Bahamut's silence was all the response I needed. Sadly, I nodded. "You risk a great deal, B." Bahamut nodded, saying almost bitterly, "Risk big, and win everything… or destroy the universe. Be careful, we cannot always help."

I nodded, and looked around. "It's time, isn't it?"

Bahamut merely faded away, as a massive wave rushed forward. I looked at it, then shrugged, sitting down against a heavy concrete wall, waiting for it to arrive… and for everything to begin.

&&&&&

A dark voice called, "Look!"

I slowly looked over at the dark red-coated figure, and the blond-haired young man who was trailing after him… well, that was interesting. They were looking up at something. I rubbed my left eye (damned blood had hardened to a tough shell, so I didn't dare open it yet), and used my still-good right eye to look up, at a sphere of water… and IT. IT… the one that brought me here in the first place, held me chained captive in that damned lockup for over a year… it and its puppets, dancing to it's tune… damned Sin.

Sir Auron (joy… that traveling did give me something, I know this one… where the hell has he been for ten years?) said to his companion, "We call it "Sin.""

His blond companion asked, "Sin?"

Creatures appeared, dropped from Sin… or it's sinspawn, I wasn't sure. Tidus (now I know his name… must have hit my head when the wave hit) tried to punch away one of them, but it shot spikes at him instead, leaving him cursing as he pulled them out. Auron merely produced a red-blade with a lethal-looking 'fishhook' at the end of it, and handed it to the teen, saying simply, "Take it. A gift from Jecht."

I started to get up, but heard Tidus say a few words that chilled my blood "My old man?" Damn… Bahamut is right, Tidus… he is different. A lot of fate is coiled around him… he's going to play some major role in upcoming events.

Auron said sarcastically, "I hope you know how to use it", then slashed at one of the sinscales as Tidus got the balance of the sword he'd received down. I shook my head, and stood, walking over to the sinscales slowly, and joined the two. Tidus seemed to be surprised by my appearance (I probably didn't look too good, I could tell that I had a number of pitted holes in my clothes, and looked rather… injured), but Auron merely glanced at me with his good eye, then nodded silently, cutting another sinscale. "I hope you're prepared."

I shrugged, and called out for my blade, holding it in my hand. The weight of it was familiar, as was the apparently 'jagged' crystal part, that composed the 'blade' of the weapon (more of a bastard sword than a regular sword in shape) and thankfully, it lightened up as it realized how weary I was, the white-electrical energy coursing down it flowing into my body, helping to replenish my own energy stores. "Not really, but it is time, is it not?"

Auron nodded, while Tidus merely blinked, and asked, "Uh, Auron? Who is this guy?"

Auron snorted, and motioned us onward. I sprinted ahead, eager to start slicing away at Sin's power, even if it was minuscule. Three stood in front of me, but I merely smirked, and raised my blade skyward. "Some can't wait for their end. Chaos fall!"

Three separate white balls fell from the sky, and into the sinscales. Maybe I used too much energy… because they blew up, and the walkway started to shake. I looked back, and said, "Crap… get moving!"

The two raced ahead, and I trailed after them, slicing another Sinscale as I did so. We kept on pushing through them, until we met one foe, escorted by two sinscales.

Tidus looked to me, and then the larger… I supposed it was a sinspawn. "Hey, can you just blast that thing?" I blinked, and started to concentrate, but then sighed, and shook my head. "No, I can't. I keep on doing that, I might use too much energy, and destroy the city. The flaw of drawing on Chaos like that, I suppose. 's why I hate using it, to be honest…"

Auron just snorted, and inserted his sword into the ground, lines of force blasting away the two sinscales, while Tidus rushed the sinspawn, doing a series of flips, then hitting it as he flipped with his blade. Spiral Cut… that was what it was called. Odd name…

Its retaliation was a burst of a gravity-based spell… it felt like my innards were being torn out, and then shredded into pieces. I staggered up with the other two, and glared at it, before whispering, "Power."

The blade in my hand grew from a sword no longer than Tidus's to a bastard sword, nearly a great sword the size of Auron's. I could feel the energy coursing through it, and knew it wouldn't last long (Foresight… my weapon was weary), so I charged, and started swinging repeatedly, not letting it get enough of a break to charge up a demi spell again.

Tidus rushed in, and finished it with another Spiral Cut, before leaning on the ground, panting. I squeezed my blade, breathing heavily myself. Auron produced two bottles, and tossed them. One to myself, the other to Tidus. I caught mine on reflex, and then chugged it quickly, making a face at the horrible taste. "Ew. Can't they at least make these things taste at least somewhat pleasant?"

Tidus scratched his head, and asked, "Uh, who are you, anyway?" He drank the potion, then made a face himself.

I looked over at him, then shrugged. "I am an orix of the Spirit World. I… well, I sort of forgot my name, names aren't important there, so just yell 'Orix' if you need my attention. I was dragged here because of that monster you call Sin showed up for a brief period. I was in the middle of attacking it when whatever controlled that monster decided it would be better to return to here… because it disappeared, and dragged me with because I was in the middle of trying to stab its eyes out."

Auron looked over at me, and I caught a mild frown on his face, before he sighed, and motioned onward. "Keep your blade powered up, if you can, we need to get somewhere as fast as possible."

I nodded, and shifted Foresight so it rested on my shoulder, even as it continued to slowly gain in strength. "Alright." It had fallen to a mid-power form, and was still recharging, but that could wait. After all, I didn't need it in 'I kill you with just a few blows unless you're a god' mode to kill these pests. Tidus studied his blade for a second, then started to run after Auron. I took a breath, then dashed after them, relying on the effect of hastening that the blade generated to keep up with those two. Being locked up and drained for so long does make you weak, after all.

Tidus stopped to glare at a sign, one of his father. I could guess why he hated him… he took his mother away. She wasted away when her husband disappeared. It's happened in other worlds… I witnessed it happen here, through some odd temporal fluctuations while I was imprisoned. But still, I felt sort of sorry for the old man… he didn't deserve what he'd become. "What are you laughing at, old man? Auron… Orix… let's get out of here!"

Auron snorted, and looked skyward. "We're expected." He looked over at me, and amended, "Well, most of us." I sighed, and then shook my head, while Tidus said in surprise, "Huh?"

Auron walked onward, and Tidus scowled. "Gimme a break, man! Orix, do you know what he's talking about?"

I nodded, but quickly noticed the sinscales massing. "Yes, but right now, we've got to worry about other things. I'll explain later." Tidus sighed, but started running, as did I, trying to keep up with that damn Auron, who was carving his way through a mass of Sinscales.

The two of us joined him, fighting back, but they seemed endless. For every one we killed, another one stepped up to replace it. Tidus was already hurting, and I wasn't feeling so good myself. I looked around, and said, "Screw this...", and ran to a tank full of what I knew was highly explosive something or another (after all, all those caution, warning, and other signs on it was there for a reason), and started attacking the supports. Tidus, noticing, shouted, "What're you doing!"

I looked back, and shouted, "Saving our lives. Just cover me!"

Auron gave me a disgusted look, but used Dragon Fang to clear up some of the sinscales, buying me time, which I used gladly to hack at the supports, finally cleaving three at once.

Just as Tidus shouted, "O… Orix, hurry up", I finished. The tank fell into the water and exploded, causing the nearby building to collapse. "Now get running!"

Tidus and Auron outraced me, both jumping across. I was just a second behind them, but it was a second too late. The roadway crumbled, and I fell down into the water. I could see plenty of fiends, and human corpses (well, technically, they aren't real, but if they bleed and die, it's real enough), but thankfully, they left me alone. Well, until three water-based fiends started to head toward me.

I started to quietly pray for strength, until ice fell on top of the three fiends, leaving behind pyreflies. I turned, and was met by Shiva staring at me, her blue skin radiating a chill that made the water near the two of us freezing.

She mouthed, "You owe me", and disappeared. I looked skyward, and figured that it was about time… because I could feel myself being pulled upward, into Sin.