WOOHOO! Snow day! –does the happy dance- HOORAY! Oops, never mind... Anyways, I hope you enjoy the latest update on Amour et Haine, and… I DON'T OWN SQUARE ENIX, FINAL FANTASY, OR FINAL FANTASY X-2! Okay, now on to the story!
====*====
"Tihpi... Where have I heard that name before? Oh well," Rikku said to herself as the trio – make that a foursome – glided over the dark dunes of the Bikanel Desert. Gippal needed to speak with Nhadala. Logos had been very drowsy ever since he fainted, but he was finally coming to again, to the dismay of Rikku. He wouldn't stop staring at her...
"Stop it!" she said, and hit him on the side of the head. Tihpi let out a few giggles in his own spooky Cactuar tone, and Rikku smiled a bit at the tiny Cactuar. He might have been small, but at least he had a sense of humor.
"Keep it down back there," said Gippal, who was directing the hover. He was the only one in the group with any past knowledge of piloting a hover, but he wasn't doing a very good job. Every few seconds a small bump would cause the hover to lift slightly into the air, making Rikku's stomach lurch. Logos's face did not change its stoical look, and Rikku looked away from the perverted Leblanc Syndicate member.
Suddenly Rikku heard a loud noise, a screeching, squeaking noise. She turned to look behind the hover where the noise had originated. Her heart nearly leapt out of her throat. "ZUUS!"
A large band of the enormous bird fiends was in close pursuit. Gippal let out a vexed sigh. "We must've gone into their territory," he said. "Zuus are the most protective fiends in the desert."
Rikku immediately Spherechanged into a Gun Mage, to Logos's delight. He merely brandished his twin pistols, ready to fire. Tihpi's small, strange mouth curved into a tiny grin as ebon needles gleamed upon his tiny fists. "Fend them off until I can stop this thing," Gippal shouted back. Rikku nodded and fired a blast from her gun.
One Zuu was stunned momentarily before lunging forward in attack. Tihpi growled as he unfurled a blast of black needles into the fiend's face, causing it to fly backwards and screech wildly. "This is not good," Logos said. "You just made the cuckoo berserk."
"Shut up!" Rikku said, and resisted hitting him over the head with her gun. She fired another blast into the chest of the Zuu, who lunged into the air in a swirling vacuum. Rikku gaped in awe as the Zuu went higher and higher, and then noticed something.
"It's coming down!" she shouted as the Zuu began to descend at an alarming rate, ready to hit the hover into a bunch of metal scraps. "It's a kamikaze Zuu!"
"Shut up," Logos said with a sneer before firing a couple rounds of bullets into the Zuu. "Turn left!" he barked to Gippal, who frowned as he obeyed the command. The Zuu, now enraged by the blast of needles and embedded with lead bullets, crashed into the sand just a few feet away from the hover. The rest of the Zuus were in close pursuit, however.
"Hurry up!" Rikku shouted edgily as another Zuu reared to attack. Before anyone could stop him, Tihpi flew like a rocket from the hover and landed on the Zuu's face. Both Rikku and Logos's eyes widened at the sight as Tihpi angrily thrust his fist into the confused creature's snapping jaws. The courageous cactus's eyes gleamed with fury as he unleashed his blast of needles directly into the Zuu's throat. It let out a horrified shriek as Tihpi acrobatically flipped back onto the hover. The Zuu shrieked wildly, its call like nails on a chalkboard as it plummeted to the earth, twisting and writhing madly on the ground like a wet snake. Finally it shrieked, expelled a puddle of blood from its throat, and collapsed and exploded into a cloud of pyreflies. Now there were two Zuus down, and only three to go.
"Good work, Tihpi," Rikku said with a smile, giving a high-five to the Cactuar. He grinned a bit before readying back to attack. Logos was refilling his pistols with deadly bullets. Rikku nodded and began to ready her own gun.
One Zuu was obviously different from the others. Rikku gave it a quizzical look. The unique Zuu had two long wisps of black feathers extending from near its bright blue eyes, which gave it an oddly different look then the other ones. Not only had this, but the tenebrous undersides of its wings glowed with a cerulean aura all though they otherwise resembled its comrades' wings.
"What the..." Rikku said, eyes widening. Logos turned to her.
"It's the Stratavis," Logos explained. "It's a holy Zuu that is only born a couple thousand years on Besaid Island. They are only female, as well."
Rikku nodded slowly and watched as the Stratavis let the two remaining Zuus get ahead of her. The first lunged at the hover, which was obviously not slowing down anytime soon. Rikku grunted and fired a blast from her gun, watching as it hit the bird in the neck. It dove downwards before gaining its balance and shooting forward over the hover, knocking Rikku and Logos onto the ground with a sonic blast.
Tihpi, unaffected by the attack, closed his eyes, which was a rare thing for Cactuars to do. Then he bared three long needles onto his left and right hands and leapt with a squeak onto the Zuu, slashing wildly and attempting to slash its throat. By this time Rikku and Logos were once again awake, and they saw the Cactuar on the Zuu's back.
"Be safe!" Rikku shouted. But Tihpi didn't hear her. The Cactuar was too preoccupied with attempting to slash the creature's throat, as he knew from experience that a Zuu's throat was their ultimate weak spot other than the undersides of their wings. That would be nearly impossible to get to, however.
Tihpi whirled under the thrashing Zuu, ready to stab six long needles into the creature's throat. However, the second Zuu noticed the Cactuar and came to his ally's rescue, clamping Tihpi in its massive jaws and throwing the Cactuar to the ground. The two Zuus then resumed their assault.
"Tihpi!" Rikku shouted, seeing the Cactuar in the sand. It reminded her of all those spheres... The Zuus began to whirl around the hover. "Come on, Logos! Hold him them off!"
"What? You expect me to handle two alone?" Logos questioned, but Rikku didn't reply. She was all ready dashing across the sands to the downed Cactuar, whom she immediately picked up. Tihpi let out a small squeak as the Stratavis neared the two, ready to grip two ravenous claws around the flesh of a human and a cactus.
Rikku dashed back, and the Stratavis nearly missed her. She then lunged at the back of the hover before scrambling on, releasing Tihpi. The Zuus were calming down, as Logos had used his famous Russian Roulette. Rikku resumed firing as Tihpi squealed in his seat, desperately trying to heal so he could help the kind girl and the strange man.
One Zuu lunged downwards, nearly hitting Rikku. She jumped back as Tihpi fired a needle directly into the creature's eye, causing a couple drops of blood to fly from it as it flew back, shrieking. Logos shot it in the throat and it exploded into a cloud of pyreflies. There was only the Stratavis and one Zuu left.
Rikku jumped onto the seat, watching as the second Zuu neared to unleash a sonic blast. That wouldn't happen. Logos and Rikku charged up and fired two shots that landed in both the creature's wings at the same time, causing it to instantaneously evanesce into a swarm of pyreflies. Only the holy Zuu was left.
The Stratavis zoomed forward, her movements like lightning. Rikku attempted to shoot her wing, but she winded up missing entirely. Logos attempted to shoot her as well but the Stratavis was much too quick. Instead, being wiser then her comrades, decided to prey upon the captain of the hover, Gippal.
"Stop it!" Gippal shouted, evading not only the hungry jaws of the Stratavis but a large dune. Rikku shot a sizzling blast and nearly missed it as it flew backwards and then turned to her, cerulean eyes pallid and at the same time gentle. Rikku was quite confused, but it mattered not. The Stratavis was trying to kill them.
"That's odd," Logos remarked as the Stratavis flew back. "Its eyes were a darker blue earlier."
"What does that mean?" Rikku asked.
"Well, discoloration of the iris can either mean two things: one, the creature is infected with disease, or two, the Stratavis is influenced by something... else," Logos said.
The Stratavis lunged again, nearly decapitating Rikku who almost leapt out of the hover. She countered with an angry blast from her gun which singed the backside of the creature's wings. The Stratavis shrieked, turning around and swiping the Al Bhed with two angry talons.
Tihpi looked up, seeing the underside of the creature's wing. He shot a flurry of needles almost immediately and watched as the Stratavis shrieked and flew backwards. Rikku took this chance to hit it in the throat, causing it to swoop down. Logos turned around from behind the hover and gasped.
"A cliff!" he shouted. Gippal, who all ready had noticed it, was attempting to turn: an excellent chance for the Stratavis to strike.
The Stratavis screamed, releasing its dying breaths as it unleashed the infamous Paean of the Heavens attack. The holy winds roared as they dug into the hover, lifting it off the ground and blowing it off the cliff. Rikku screamed, clutched Tihpi, and then grabbed onto something. Logos followed suit. Gippal was all ready gripping the steering wheel for dear life.
The Stratavis faded away, but no pyreflies came out. No one noticed this; however, as the hover was spinning wildly as it descended rapidly into the misty darkness that lurked below the cliff. Everyone was panicked. The mist whipped around the hover as it descended into inky darkness. Rikku let out a piercing scream as the hover hit solid rock.
====*====
Lady Yunalesca smiled, eyes agleam. Seymour, Mika, and Kinoc joined her in the air, as Evrae coiled around the four like a shield. "You have no escape," she said in her strange, unsent voice. Tidus growled.
"Leave her alone!" he shouted angrily, stepping forward. Isaaru and Kimahri, both shocked by Tidus's anger and the reappearance of five dead, stepped back a bit. However, Kimahri held his Spiritual Lance at the ready and the two rushed to Yuna, helping her to her feet.
Suddenly Yunalesca appeared again, this time translucent and in different clothing. It was not her, but a reenactment of past events. "Would you destroy Spira's hope?" she questioned before the apparition dissipated.
"Yes, I would," said Yuna, who was still quite drowsy with shock. "The Final Aeon is nothing but a false tradition that should be abandoned!"
"But your father," said Seymour.
"I'm not my father! And I don't compare myself to him... anymore..." Yuna said, then fell to her knees sobbing. She was in intense mental pain.
"Yuna!" Kimahri shouted, bending down with her and attempting to console her. Tidus's eyes became angry slits as Isaaru hastily joined his side.
"Stop it, Seymour!" Tidus shouted. Seymour merely laughed.
"How about I don't?" Seymour said. The dome began to darken considerably. The pyreflies around the five resurrected began to glow luminously.
Immediately the battle started. Isaaru looked worriedly at Tidus before looking ahead and drawing his staff, ready to cast White Magic and holy spells when needed. Seymour snapped his fingers as two Guados joined his side, ready to defend their master.
"Die, Seymour!" Tidus shouted, and in amazement watched as the dome began to shift and change. Kimahri, Yuna, Lady Yunalesca, Evrae, and the other two Maesters disappeared as the dome morphed into none other than the entrance to the Chamber of the Fayth in Macalania Temple!
"'To protect the summoner even at the cost of one's life.' The code of the guardian. How admirable," Seymour said. "Well, if you are offering your lives, I will have to take them."
Seymour folded his hands, unleashing two sharp shards of ice from beneath Isaaru and Tidus. Tidus lunged at Seymour angrily but only cut down a Guado instead, who exploded into pyreflies.
"This is just like when I fought you two years ago," Tidus said angrily. He looked back to see Yuna in summoner's robes, Kimahri, Wakka, Lulu, Auron, and Rikku. They were seemingly frozen in place. "This is your memory, isn't it?"
"Well, for a dream of the Fayth he sure is smart," Seymour said with chuckle. The remaining Guado made no change in his facial expression. Tidus's eyes once again became slits.
Isaaru raised his hands as a ring of holy orbs surrounded Seymour, then ascended back into the clouds and leaving the malicious Maester damaged in its wake. The Guado lunged at Isaaru, digging two angry claws into the former summoner's body. Isaaru landed on his feet.
"I've learned a few new tricks in the Farplane," Seymour said. "Like how to do this."
He raised his hands as sparkles of white light began to shine from his palms. Almost instantly two Flare spells spiraled from beneath the ground under Isaaru and Tidus.
"Why is Maester Seymour doing this?" Isaaru asked, but he didn't know why. He knew the Maester was dead, but to him the thought of Seymour being this insane was unthinkable. Unless what happened was word for word from the account of Lady Yuna...
"Seymour's a madman, Isaaru!" Tidus shouted back, lunging at Seymour and slashing the half-blood across the face with his glistening Caladbolg. The blow hit the other Guado instead and the unsent creature exploded instantly into pyreflies. Only Seymour was left.
Seymour cackled, raised his hands, and then unleashed a double-hitting Flare again, causing Tidus plummeting to the ground. Isaaru let out a gasp and fell to the ground, the white-hot pain too much to bear. "Isaaru!" Tidus shouted, lunging at Seymour. It was the Maester versus the Blitzer now.
"You are a fool, having such emotions," Seymour said. "You loved Yuna and couldn't bear to see her fragile body disposed of like a useless doll after the Final Aeon would thrash her into pieces. So you set out to save her and landed us all into the Farplane."
"What are you getting at?" Tidus angrily questioned.
"I envied you because of the passion you wielded through not only your heart but your blade. I never had any emotions ever since she left..." Seymour said. "Mother became a Fayth when I was but a child. Immediately the entrance to the Chamber of the Fayth faded into that of a regal room, where a beautiful woman and a small Seymour stood.
"But Mommy, I don't want you to become a Fayth!" he shouted. Tidus couldn't hear the rest amidst his own raging emotions. What the heck was Seymour trying to do? Was he trying to get him to feel pity? That would be the last thing he would feel against such a ruthless... creature.
The scene faded, and Tidus remembered. This was all based on Seymour's memory now. That is how they were transported to the scene. But he didn't care. He lunged angrily, Caladbolg in hand. He stabbed him straight through the stomach, and Seymour let out a gasp. "Lady Yunalesca, I have failed you... Mother..." he said as he faded away. No pyreflies came, and Tidus found himself back in the Zanarkand dome. Yunalesca was just as ready to battle as ever, but not so quickly.
"Kinoc, Mika, rip this dream limb from limb!" she commanded as two emotionless Maesters descended to the ground. Immediately the ground faded to the exact place where Yuna had been taken to be wed. It was really the only place Tidus could remember where both of them had been. An emotionless Yuna stood in the background, frighteningly staring at a petrified Seymour. Monks lined the walls like statues. Behind him he saw the others other than Yuna. And the airship was flying overhead, frozen in place.
Neither Mika nor Kinoc said anything. They merely drew two guns, aimed, and blasted two holes straight through Tidus's stomach. With a loud gasp, he fell to the ground. Nothing happened. Blood did not pour from the wound, nor did he feel any pain. He only felt shock, and a strange emotion of sorrow and rage.
"What the..." he said, standing up. The two Maesters merely stared at him, looks emotionless.
"The Farplane must've changed
them... A lot," Tidus said to himself. "But still, I need to fight them."
Tidus lunged at Kinoc, slashing his Caladbolg straight across the Maester's stomach. He countered with a blast from his gun, knocking Tidus to the ground. Something wasn't right here...
"Maybe if two people share the memory, time stops?" Tidus asked himself. He was feeling rather lonely amidst his rage in this place, as no one was speaking and the only noise was his sword and their guns, not to mention his own voice.
Mika raised his hands,
unleashed Flare, and then lowered them. Tidus flew backwards, and suddenly he
began to feel pain. Suddenly he noticed why he hadn't been feeling anything.
"I'm… dead?"
====*====
"Stop it!" Yuna shouted. Kimahri and a recently revived Isaaru stood next to her. Yunalesca merely laughed as Evrae spiraled around her. She was watching everything that was happening to Tidus and the Maesters in a sphere that Yunalesca had created.
"Hope," was all Yunalesca said. "It is what unites Spira in hopes of ending Sin. However, such a fantasy is nothing more than a mere dream, just like your boyfriend."
"Shut up!" Yuna shouted angrily, ready to bludgeon the first summoner. She knew she wouldn't cause any damage, but she was still too angry for words. "Sin is gone!"
"Oh, but at that you are wrong," Yunalesca said. "You began your pilgrimage to stop him, did you not?"
"Yes," Yuna replied. "But I defeated him without the Final Aeon!"
"Without the Final Aeon? Such a thing is impossible," Yunalesca said. "Yu Yevon is the strongest summoner. He cannot be beat without the Final Aeon before he becomes clad in souls once more."
"She is not with knowledge of current events," Kimahri said. "She is reliving memories. Look around."
Yuna saw that she was no longer in the center of the dome, but in the seemingly infinite room they had faced Lady Yunalesca in for the first time. She remembered all of the traitorous emotions she had felt here for the first time, and how she wanted to give up... Hope. That was what kept her going and that she could get out of here and defeat Sin. Not the false hope that Yunalesca and all those after her projected. But hope that Sin would be gone: forever.
Evrae spiraled around Lady Yunalesca. "You would destroy Spira's hope? Fine then, begone!" she shouted. It was then that Yuna noticed that Lady Yunalesca was beginning to shine with pure white light. Evrae did so as well, and suddenly Yuna found herself in the battle she had participated in to destroy the first summoner. Lulu, Wakka, Auron, Tidus, and Rikku stood behind her, but Isaaru was at her right and Kimahri stood beside her.
Evrae's figure began to slowly dissipate as Yunalesca's began to enlarge. Suddenly she noticed something dreadful, and her heart was made cold at the realization. "They... They're becoming one!"
Suddenly a piercing shriek shattered the dreadful suspense. A beautiful silver wyrm with pure white wings floated before them, locks of white hair coming from atop its head like a feminine mane. Yunalesca's eyes glared from the creature's face, but the body was obviously dominantly Evrae's.
"What in the world?" Isaaru said aloud, and then scanned the newly formed fiend. He came back with scant information.
"It says that its name is Yu Rae," he said. "But I couldn't figure out anything else." Yuna nodded.
"This only means one thing! We fight for Spira!" she said. Kimahri and Isaaru nodded as Yu Rae shrieked in delight.
====*====
"Paine!" Baralai shouted.
Paine had just collapsed to her knees, clutching her head. "What happened?"
"Yuna..." was all she said before she bent back in mental agony, unconscious. The puzzled praetor raised his hands and a beam of light fell upon Paine's face. Nothing happened.
"Thank..." Baralai said, stopping himself mid-sentence. He was about to say Yevon. He never wanted to say that word alone ever again. "She's not to the point of death."
Baralai kneeled by her side, checking her breathing and pulse. They still were going smoothly, all though her breathing was a little slow. As long as she was alive, he was fine.