The guardians ran through the halls of the temple, led by Rikku and Tidus. Cloud and his party followed at a safe distance. The halls were made of stone, lit by torches. The damage to the temple left the halls littered with pieces of the ceiling and some of the torches had fallen, creating small fires. Many banners that once hung from the ceiling had been torn and ripped from their fixtures.
As they ran deeper into the dome, they came to a doorway. A cave-in had made it impossible to access.
"Dead end," said Paine.
"We have to find a way around," Tidus said.
Just then, Cloud jumped passed, cutting through the debris and clearing the path. Everyone ran up to join Cloud. Before them was a small room with Yuna on her hands and knees, sweating and out of breath. The guardians rushed to her side.
To Tidus, the room appeared to be a Chamber of the Fayth. Round, and decorated with candles. In the floor, where the Fayth would be, there was a crater with pieces of the Fayth broken and crushed.
"Yunie!" cried Rikku.
"Are you alright?" asked Lulu. "Was there an Aeon?"
"What happened to it?" asked Tidus.
"It's… gone…" Yuna said between breaths.
"Ha! I knew you could beat it!" Tidus cheered.
Cloud crouched down and looked at Yuna.
"That's not what she means. Is it?" Cloud asked.
Yuna shook her head. Cloud sighed and stood up.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Tidus said. "She did her best!"
"Her best? What about your best?" Cloud snapped. "You sent her in here alone! Not only did you not help her, but you fought with us! People who could have and were willing to help!"
A look of regret fell over Tidus's face. "I'm sorry, Yuna," he said turning to her.
"That's alright," Yuna said as she pulled herself to her feet.
The two groups stood across from each other.
"So, now what?" asked Barret.
"We came here to fight a monster," Tifa said. "There's no monster here anymore."
"No hard feelings then?" Tidus asked.
"If that thing's still out there, then there's no telling if people are still in danger," said Cloud. "And if it does hurt more people, then that's all on you."
"Then how about we go after it? All of us." Tidus said.
Cloud turned around and walked out of the room. One by one, the rest of his comrades followed.
"Is that a 'yes'? 'No'?" Tidus called.
"It means," Tifa answered. "'Not Interested'."
"Your loss then!" Tidus called. "Buncha' jerks."
"Yeah, well they're no joke," Paine said. "Did you see what they did to Wakka? And I saw you get beat down pretty bad, too."
"Wakka?" gasped Yuna. "Is he okay?! What happened?"
"He'll be fine, Yuna," Lulu said. "It's nothing your skills can't fix."
"So what exactly happened in here?" Rikku asked. "It was an Aeon, right?"
"It was," Yuna began. "But it was wild, like a fiend. When the Aeons fought with us, they had a certain grace and composure; this one was mindless. As much of a danger to itself as it was to me. It… it looked like it was in agony."
"You said it was 'gone'. What does that mean? It didn't just walk out the front door, right?" asked Tidus.
"It's like it just turned to darkness; faded. I've never seen anything behave like that," Yuna answered. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to explain it."
"It's alright, Yuna," Lulu said. "You're worn out. We should leave this place."
