A/N: Here it is people. I present to you the first chapter of Annihilation. As mentioned earlier on in the introduction, this story picks up shortly after where Darkness Falls left off. 3 months exactly, leaving Spira in complete chaos! But Oblivion's return has affected much more than Spira itself. What of it's people? Has Yuna managed to maintain her sanity through the discord, has Tidus? You'll discover shortly! This chapter will be based on Yuna's POV, as the story will usually alternate between Tidus and Yuna's POV. I'll detain you no longer! Enjoy!

Final Fantasy X-2

Annihilation

Chapter One- Happy? ((Yuna's POV))

The wind blasted against my face as I stood on the deck of the Celsius airship, my eyes admiring the scenery flying by. Ahead and above, blue skies stretched across the land, plain and undecorated by clouds but beautiful none the less. As skies always were. Even in their fiercest, skies contained beauty. When they grew mighty with thunder and bright with lightning, there was always something to fascinate, even when it cried it's tears. There was something to please, no matter what.

But in days as this…even the beauty of the sky could not be respected.

Amongst the gorgeous sights I could still see the darkness that defiled them. Regardless of how they appeared they were not as they seemed, tainted by the evil which had plagued Spira and began to corrode it's land and life away. Destroyed slowly. Destroyed for 3 months, but still alive. Even if it suffered terrible scars.

I sighed, shaking my head to express my sadness at the thought, though there was no one to express it to. No one but the wind.

'Do you suffer, summoner?'

My heart jumped at the unearthly whisper, and my chest felt as though it was going to explode as his voice echoed in my head. Gallant's. I could never find myself free of it, even in the presence of others he still spoke to me, in my dreams, in my mind, even though he was gone. Gallant was dead. But his taint still remained, as did his memory. He would likely remain for eternity.

He was another of my scars…

And another of my fears.

I forced the thoughts away as Besaid came into view. My return trip from Kilika Port was over at last. The Wraiths, the terrible creatures that were a product of his resurrection, had begun to terrorize the residents and had been for some time. Myself, and a handful of other summoners, finally succeeded in sending them after a long and tiring battle. Luckily, I had managed to escape without serious injury, as had Paine.

"You're making a habit of wandering off," a voice came from behind me, calm and slightly amused as the sound of footsteps against the metal deck followed shortly after.

I didn't have to turn to tell who it was. "I need to clear my head a lot these days, Paine. If I don't, well, I think my mind would explode."

Paine chuckled a bit as she stood beside me, gazing out across the distance as we rapidly closed in on Besaid. "I guess your right then. With Brother's annoying-meter higher than ever, I suppose clearing your head is something you need to do in privacy. He is, after all, Rikku's sibling. Kind of hard to think when he's around." I could hear the sorrow in her voice as Rikku was brought upon once again for the first time in weeks. It was still depressing to think, let alone talk about her, but we managed.

"DOES PAINE HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!" Brother's voice screamed across the speaker, making me flinch.

"And just what," Paine narrowed her eyes, taking a step towards the camera which zoomed in on us. "are you going to do about it if I do?"

"AWUUUAAH! YOU DARE! NO ONE TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT ON MY SHIP!"

"Get used to it," she smirked, turning away and taking her place by my side once again. "You should know by now your authority isn't exactly respected." I giggled quietly.

"EVERYONE RESPECTS ME! I AM THE CAPTAIN! SHINRA, TELL THEM!"

"He's right," Shinra's voice replaced Brother's, much to my relief. "He is the Captain. Even though he's not a good one."

Once again Brother roared out, distant which indicated he was somewhere in the background. "EH! DO YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS!"

"Nope. After all, I'm just a kid."

Then there was silence, and Paine and myself broke into laughter. It felt good, to laugh like that. For I hadn't in a long, not since Rikku died. Not since he was awakened. I had forgotten almost how happy it made me feel. Happiness itself was even something hard to find. But not now, not in this moment. For I WAS happy.

"Do you think," I began, glancing briefly to Paine, quieting my giggles. "Spira will ever know peace again."

Paine was silent for many moments, and I turned my gaze away, not anticipating a response. But she gave one. "In the years that Sin existed, no one ever thought it would permanently die. But you changed that Yuna, you destroyed it. So if you destroyed something that no one else thought could be destroyed, who's to say you can't conquer this threat too?"

I nodded faintly. "Maybe.."

"Peace is an illusion, Yuna. But it's that illusion that makes life worth fighting for. Whether you fight for love, or for yourself, there will always be peace. There will one day be another Calm, it's just a matter of time."

I smiled, finding Paine's words reassuring, more so than I'd ever believed the warrior was capable of. Maybe I had underestimated her. More than likely, I had. But I had never really gotten to know her as well as I could have. Maybe I should have been more persistent in prying into the lives of others, like her, like Rikku. Then again, in all likely hood, I would have succeeded only in pushing her further away. That I did not want.

"Let's report to the bridge," I spoke while my smile faded. "I'd like to disembark quickly."

Paine's eyes narrowed at the sight of my fading smile. "So you can seem him?"

I cringed. She was correct. She had managed to easily peer into my soul and see what caused it's pain. The thought of seeing him. Of seeing the one man who I have come to fear more so than other person or thing that is alive or was once alive. The man whose even my love for cannot prevent the fright filling my heart. To see him. To see Tidus.

At Besaid….

"Welcome back, Yuna." Lulu and Wakka greeted me the instant I had disembarked from the ship, smiling their relief to discover I had managed to return from my arduous confrontation against the plague of Wraiths. The two of them, for every mission I have taken since my return from Bikanel, have been at my side or here awaiting my return. Through it all, never abandoning me. And I prayed this was the way things always would be. They were part of my strength supply, without them I would without a doubt crumble into pieces. Then even if he returned to the man he was, his love would never put me back together.

I nodded, smiling slightly. "It's good to be back."

"We was getting kind of worried there, ya?" Wakka laughed while rubbing the back of his head, apparently feeling rather relaxed. Undoubtedly due to my arriving back home unscathed. "I'll tell you, you've got a lot of guts taking those things on. Only Summoners like you can handle them, so we common-folk feel pretty much useless nowadays."

I shook my head, disagreeing. "That's not true! Although we are the only ones capable of defeating them, there were many others out there playing their role!"

He seemed to find it rather funny. "Ya, being distractions " He went silent, with a final groan, as Lulu nailed him hard with her elbow into his stomach.

"So the Wraiths have been disposed of," she spoke while crossing her arms over her chest, taking a step toward with questioning eyes.

I flinched, recalling the encounter.

At Kilika Port… (( Flashback ))

"Hold the line steady! We mustn't allow them to reach the Summoners!"

Screeches filled the air as the battle commenced on just one day ago in Kilika. I remember perfectly the panic-filled faces of the Guardians, facing off reluctantly against the swarming group of Wraiths. The transparent figures soared out through the entire vicinity, their mounts stretched open to body length in a horrible scream that could make even the bravest tremble in absolute fear.

Warriors slashed with their blades, mages casting their spells, although none taking affect against our foe. My second encounter with the Wraiths. But with their numbers, I feared it more than before. The odds were stacked, and things appeared grim.

"Do not falter," Nooj screamed his orders while watching from the sidelines, his nervousness apparent. Which was a surprise. Seldom did Nooj lose his cool, and I knew things were terrible at that moment. "Stand tall! You must protect the Summoners, regardless of how frightened you are!"

I felt horrible at this, knowing these men were sacrificing themselves to protect me and the others. Dona, and Issaru had began already the Sending, as well as the others. I just stood there, no doubt looking stupid, the hurt in my heart growing quickly. These men were dying. And for me? From the experiences I had gone through, never again would I let another die for my cause. Gallant taught me that. He showed me my faults, even though he hadn't meant to help.

"No," I screamed, drawing out my guns and rushing forward, the look of shock clear on Paine's expression, who had been fending off a Wraith, as I passed.

"Yuna," Baralai yelled to me, and through the corner of my eye I could see him leaping to the side to evade the charge of another of those damned creatures, only for the man behind him to be a victim of it's attack. And then, for the very first time, I witnessed their power. It passed through like the man didn't exist, and he went still, and frighteningly silent. His skin became pale shortly after, eyes glazing over, lifeless, and he fell to the ground unmoving. Dead by the time he hit the dirt.

The Wraith had pulled the life from him with it's passing…

Was that the fate that awaited me?

'Yes, dread it. You'll perish, fated to exist as another of Oblivion's mindless specters , Summoner!'

Gallant's voice screamed in my head, my mind suddenly overcome with an unshakeable fear of suffering such an end. My head was plagued with negative thoughts, washing over my heart and rattling my nerves like a nightmare. I couldn't shake it. I had no intent to die here! I didn't want to die at all. I wanted to live, not exist as another of those terrible creatures! Death, no I did not desire it! I wanted to be free of the idea entirely, free of that destiny!

'Why fret upon the matter? Hell's not so wicked as you humans perceived it. Why not join me and your lover in it's bowels, you whore!'

I was literally knocked out my pitiful state when a powerful force sent me hurtling to the ground with a thud just in time to evade a charging Wraith. Paine lay atop with a tight hold around my neck, her amber eyes locked with my own, displaying relief. She had saved me, by a second only. I was fortunate to have such a reliable companion, willing to carry the burden of rescuing me when the need to arose.

"T-thank you," I managed with surprising difficulty, sputtering my words as though I was suffering a speech defect. From the way she hit me, I wouldn't have been surprised if I had indeed developed one.

She shot me with a brief smile. "Just stay on your toes. It's fatal if someone spaces out in the middle of combat." With that, she lifted her weight from atop my slender frame, drawing her sword forward in a charge as she hurtled herself back into the conflict. A futile resistance, for their earthly weapons could not phase our foe at even the slightest. Only we, the Summoners, were capable of banishing them.

"Alright." My decision was made. I could not fear the potential threat of death that loomed above all opposing the Wraith's, opposing Oblivion. Gallant's words were shaking, but in my head alone. I had to remember. He continued to exist for the pleasure of destroying me. He had his fun with Tidus, and I would try, no I would, deny him his entertainment with me.

'Feel free to make that attempt.'

I shook the inhuman creature off, his sinister tone now nothing more than an echo in my head. The pieces in which he had broken me where placing themselves together once again, and with the reassembled me, I charged forward to play my role in the battle.

On cue was my choice made.

The instant I entered the discord, my eyes immediately fell to a defenseless Dona, unaware of the approaching Wraith from behind as I flung myself in her direction. The Wraith's were already beginning to disperse, but this one remained, rocketing downward as the woman continued her graceful dance. Determined to take her out before it was sent as was it's brethren. I felt pitiful, stricken with worry. I couldn't make it to her in time, I couldn't reach her. So I acted, and with the pull of my fingers the guns fired, the shot exploding through the air like a bomb.

Back at Besaid.. (( End Flashback ))

"Yes," I finally answered as I was pulled back from memory and into the present once again. "Temporarily at least. For things have become rather unstable in Spira, so I cannot say for certain that more will not come." I knew more were still to arrive. I could not deny that. There were thousands when Oblivion arose, and still thousands more existed. It was a matter of time only until Oblivion deployed more of them to eradicate Spira's people and strengthen their numbers, replacing the once we sent.

"And I'd expect nothing less." In her beautiful eyes, I could see clearly Lulu's pain. Pain I knew was brought forth from memory…on that fateful day when the Wraith's first attacked Besaid. "They will not stop coming, not until we have been annihilated from this realm."

Wakka sighed heavily, a moment later forcing a smile and standing tall with his chest pushed out optimistically. "But that's not going to happen, ya? Sin threatened us the same way, and we put it to rest once and for all. We destroyed it! And we can destroy Oblivion, too."

"A foolish belief."

I turned with a start as that voice interrupted the conversation. To the side of us, as I gazed forward, frightened immediately, I focused reluctantly opon his once gorgeous figure. On Tidus's. He stood shirtless, only a lower pair of brown and tattered jeans clothing his legs, upper abdomen decorated by blue veins visual more clearly than any veins would have normally been. In Tidus's case, however, after the battle with Gallant, normal was no longer a part in vocabulary with his presence. The man I had come to love, was now nothing more than a fleeting memory. Altered by Oblivion's influence, this was the man he had come to be.

"Tidus," I gasped, my body shaking in concern as I focused on his eyes. Those violet, terrible eyes. Days ago, I could recall, his handsome blue orbs still remained, unaffected currently by the rapid change in his body. But now, it appears my hope that those were the one piece of him that would stay, has been shattered.

"The pitiful power within your earthly forms clearly shows the ultimate conclusion of the futile battle you wage in retaliation to Oblivion's revival," his expression remained emotionless. "He knows every move you make or think. And the future. Yes, the visions he has shared with me, are a demonstration of how he intends to remove you. So why continue this? Why do you not flee?"

"Because," Paine snapped from behind me, stepping forward with her hand on the hilt of her blade. "We're not the pathetic creatures you seem to believe we are! We even proved how incorrect his beliefs were."

Tidus's face darkened ominously, and I could not help but flinch. I couldn't believe this was him. "You did nothing of the sort. I proved him false in his beliefs I was the same as you, weak and dependent on the strength of others. You did nothing to show the errors of his sayings, nothing more than bleed and add support to his words. You simply disgraced your race all the more."

They hurt. His words, were painful. I had never heard him speak like this, never heard such cruelly spoken words come from him. I wanted to believe this was an illusion, that it was a nightmare. But it wasn't. No, far from it. It was real. Painful reality. "Tidus, please, just listen to yourself. Your human, too! Just like us."

Then he turned to face me, terrifying eyes meeting my own, and I froze as he began to speak. "In the possibility you've forgotten, I'm far from human. And if at any point I was, then my humanity was lost long, long ago…"