Ugh! So sorry for the delay... I was loaded with homework everyday this week so I didn't have a chance to get on and progress with the latest section! Not only this, but I was diagnosed with a horrible disease I know as writer's block... Anyways, thanks for sticking in this long and I hope you enjoy the latest section! Also, for copyright information, see entries 1-10.
====*====
"Paine?" Baralai asked as the gray-haired warrior awoke. The praetor's kind eyes gazed down upon the girl he had known for what seemed like an eternity. She was soaked with sweat after the horrible nightmares she had unconsciously. It had been hours since she passed out.
"Baralai?" Paine asked feebly, getting up. She felt shaky. Baralai had made a temporary "camp", if you could call it that. A small pot was cooking over a magical flame, and it smelled quite delicious.
"Yes, it's me," Baralai said with a grin. "You passed out a couple hours ago."
"A couple hours?" Paine said, hopping to her feet. Her eyes were now full of anxiety. Baralai rose with her. "Oh no..."
"What's wrong?" Baralai asked, concerned.
Paine turned to him, eyes beginning to dim. "Yuna... I saw her in my dream. She was... being tormented by Lady Yunalesca, and... Rikku, she was going down..."
"What?" Baralai asked aloud, confused by Paine's statements. "How could you see these things? They're both far away, and you were unconscious..."
"That's something only you and I know, Baralai," Paine said rather flatly. Baralai turned to her. "I've been able to see things through my thoughts and dreams happening to the people I admire. When you were possessed by Shuyin... When Nooj shot us... And now once again with both Rikku and Yuna. You could call me clairvoyant."
Baralai's eyes widened at this comment. "A... clairvoyant?" he said aloud. Paine nodded slowly. "I would've never known... You are pretty silent with things like that, Paine."
Neither talked for at least a minute. Then Baralai turned to the pot. "I... I made some soup," he said sheepishly. "I thought you'd be hungry when you woke up."
Paine nodded slightly, and Baralai brought out two titanium bowls with two rather bent metal spoons and began to pour the steamy broth into each bowl. He put more of the soup into Paine's bowl than he did into his.
====*====
Rikku was running. Her thoughts raced past her. Cid, Gippal, Brother, Buddy, Shinra, Nhadala... And him. Oh no... Why was she seeing him? He was gone... But she remembered him anyways. Gippal had been the first boyfriend and he the second until he left to the Farplane. She remembered Keyakku.
She remembered herself as a little girl and how Cid disciplined her so much on how she needed to grow up, which she never really did. She remembered how she had gone out with Gippal for a year or so until he became more interested with his work than with her. They split up quickly after that, and she was once again single and Gippal was regretting his decision. He excelled at business, to an extent that he didn't need to put as much fervor as he did into the job. Now she wasn't his to call a girlfriend anymore. She didn't really care about Gippal anymore, but Keyakku seemed to be interested in her. They became boyfriend and girlfriend but then the Guado...
Rikku pushed back the thoughts, and how Gippal was coming back to her. Keyakku would've wanted it this way if he could've told her from the Farplane, a place she had agreed so long ago to keep away from. She never wanted to remember the death of her mother.
Amidst her thoughts she saw starry Bikanel nights and rosy mornings, scorching suns and icy moons. She seemed to be gliding through her past, soon to the present. She saw herself shooting Zuus from the back of the hover and then plummeting into darkness, and suddenly she opened her eyes, dispelling the recollection of thoughts. Pain was the first thing she felt.
She looked around, but couldn't see much except that a large spike of metal from the hover was digging into her leg. She let out a shrill scream at the sensation and couldn't resist crying. The pain was horrible...
"Gippal! Logos! Anybody!" she screamed amidst tears and pain. "Please, I'm stuck! HELP!"
The valley in which she had
landed merely echoed back her voice, and she began to cry. But suddenly she
felt something moving, lodged under her leg. Her heart leapt at the small
squeak she remembered! It was Tihpi!
"Tihpi, help, please," Rikku moaned, and the little Cactuar stood up, shadows cast upon his miniscule frame. He nodded quickly before fervently beginning to pull back the spike of metal. With a wince and a loud shriek the spike was removed and blunted by his masterful hands.
Rikku limped out of the wreckage of the hover, which looked as if it had been avalanched upon by a mountain's worth of rocks. Jagged spikes of metal stuck out in every which way, and the creak of the mangled propeller was not at all soothing.
Rikku collapsed upon the ground, which to her surprise was rather moist. It was only seconds before she found out that the ground was covered with at least an inch of warm water. "Where are we?" she said exhaustedly. Water in the desert? Something wasn't right, unless this was...
"We're in the Bikanel Abyss," said a raspy voice, which she recognized as Gippal. "The pit stop for lost souls of the desert to stay before making their journey to the Farplane."
"Gippal!" Rikku shouted, but she couldn't sense where his voice was coming from. Suddenly a light broke into her vision... It was a lantern, held by the leader of the Machine Faction. The pale yellow glow illuminated Rikku's face and cast an eerie glow upon Gippal's. Tihpi broke the temporary silence with a squeak, jumping onto Rikku's shoulder and giggling nervously.
"You saved his life, Rikku," Gippal said heartily. "If you hadn't thrown him down, he would've flown onto a metal spike. Instead, he was protected by your leg."
"How do you know?" Rikku said, cocking her head slightly. Her former boyfriend just laughed.
"Because I do," he commented. "Logos is over there, sleeping. He took a nasty fall and broke his arm and leg along with dislocating his left shoulder. Nothing I couldn't fix up too quickly, though." The silence returned, only slightly broken by the soft breathing of a slumbering Logos.
"What are we going to do?" Rikku asked. To this question Gippal's face paled.
"I don't know," he said with a sigh.
====*====
"Ormi, throw me a grenade, quick!" Maroda shouted as another batch of fiends began to attack. They had appeared from seemingly nowhere in just seconds. All ready one had destroyed the walkie-talkie, leaving only their shouts and cries audible for Baralai and Paine. However, the neglecting couple had turned their walkie-talkie off.
Ormi did so, being careful not to set it off. A lizard leapt and blew into pyreflies at Maroda's bomb. Meanwhile a sweating Ormi bludgeoned another set of fiends over with his shield.
"They keep coming!" Maroda shouted, whacking a Bicocette fruitlessly with a fighting stick. Ormi didn't reply, he only kept twirling his shield. Both of the two defenders were sweating profusely at the sudden gain in work.
Finally, Maroda hit the Bicocette down into the pit where it shattered into pyreflies. There was an odd silence. "Thank Spira that's over," Maroda said, panting. Suddenly he heard something. It was the sound of quickly whipping air.
"What in the world..." Ormi asked aloud as three sets of luminous yellow eyes pierced the darkness. Suddenly the energy became tense as the figure entered the light.
Two enormous tusk-like limbs arched from under its body, and the limbs obviously had lives of their own. They appeared to be two dark-skinned women without legs, as the lower halves of their body were connected to the main body. Azure locks of hair cascaded down from their dark faces, only illuminated by their luminous yellow eyes. They both had sapphire claws for hands, but the first's fingers were much daintier while the second's fingers were much bulkier and sharper. They were slightly hideous and slightly beautiful all at once. They connected back to a strange figure, which seemed to be a dark woman surrounded by dark-scaled flesh. Silver locks of hair spread past her face surrounded by the flesh, and her eyes were luminous.
"Holy shit!" Maroda said a stream of jet-black flame whirled from the creature like a river, sapping all their energy and sending them plummeting lifelessly to the bottom of the hole they had fought so fervently to protect. He screamed loudly as Ormi plummeted noiselessly, hitting the ground hard. He didn't know that Paine and Baralai were listening in on the entire ordeal. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
====*====
"Holy shit!" cried Maroda's raspy voice over the walkie-talkie, which Baralai and Paine had decided to turn on for no apparent reason. The walkie-talkie went off, but before that was a cold voice that made Paine and Baralai's blood run cold. It sounded like fire, and it said. "Angra Shaoku has awoken."
"That sounds familiar..." Baralai said. Paine's eyes were wide.
"Angra Mainyu... Angra
Shaoku..." she repeated. "They both begin with Angra. Does that mean that they
are...?"
"I think so," said Baralai. "I think they're two of the Five."
====*====
"Wow... What is that light?" Rikku said, pointing ahead. Tihpi was still sitting on her shoulder, Gippal not too far behind. Logos walked next to Gippal, still slightly drowsy. They had reached a valley of sorts, and she could feel strange warmth in the air.
"It looks so beautiful," Logos said, sounding drunk. Gippal snorted. Tihpi didn't budge.
The light was just a few feet
ahead of them now. The warmth was now intensifying with each step, and
perspiration streamed down her face. She felt intense heat against her feet,
and looked down to see that the water was... boiling?
"This is pretty hot..." Logos
commented, wiping his brow. The light was now just a foot in front of Rikku,
the most prominent of the foursome. Tihpi didn't budge as six orange eyes
illuminated above the light, which Rikku could see was a ball of glistening
fire. Her spiraled jade eyes met the center set of eyes, and her blood ran
cold. Could it be... Angra Mainyu?
A low voice rang out, as hot and harsh as the fires of hell. "No longer Angra Mainyu... Now Mainyu Altana has come for vengeance."
====*====
"Flare!" Yuna shouted as a spiral of white flame shot from beneath Yu Rae. It screeched horribly, and then unleashed a powerful counter that was Evrae's Swooping Scythe attack. It was a mixture of both of villains... No, make that the villainess and villain.
"Isaaru, Kimahri, now!" Yuna shouted as two Holy spells hit Yu Rae at once, causing tremendous damage. The Yu Rae shrieked, lashing at all three with angry claws. Yuna fell to the ground. This was too hard... But she had to persevere, for his sake.
The battle roared on, spells and attacks flying every which way. Yu Rae did not falter with a steady stream of powerful attacks each crippling. But Yuna stayed unflagging in her fervor to defeat Yu Rae, to the half-woman half-dragon's annoyance. This girl was a bug, one that needed to be taken out immediately.
Yu Rae's eyes gazed down upon Yuna, filling with malice. "Little girl... Join your boyfriend, shall you?" she shrieked. Yuna had no time to speak or move before she was enveloped in blue light and dissipated from thin air, to the horror of Kimahri and Isaaru.
Yuna felt herself being lifted up and landing down right next to Tidus, who was hammering away at the two Maesters. Neither side was faltering. Tidus slashed and hacked, but left only bloodless cuts. The two Maesters fired faithfully, never killing anything.
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted. Feeling was beginning to grow within him, but it kept fading. At sight of Yuna, the feeling began to stay for once. Yuna's warm eyes filled with love as she hugged Tidus, pressing her hooded face against his chest.
"Where are we?" she asked suddenly.
"We are in some sort of dream..." Tidus said thoughtfully. "But nothing seems to be happening."
"Dreams are dreams, fool,"
said Maester Kinoc. Tidus's eyes grew wide. The Maester had spoken!
"What?" Yuna asked.
"Dreams within dreams are not reality. Resurrected within dreams is not reality. However, life within dreams... They are real," Maester Mika said slowly and painfully before drawing his gun and firing a single shot. The bullet flew as quickly as lightning, and before Tidus could do anything it embedded itself into Yuna's side. She fell lifelessly to the ground, eyes wide.
"Yuna?" Tidus asked, bending over and feeling her pulse. There was none. Her breathing had stopped... No... No. This couldn't be happening!
"NO!" Tidus shouted as pyreflies began to shoot into him as if he were draining them from the air. Suddenly he felt differently. Feeling began to well up within him as the feeling of being a dream lessened. He felt just like he did when he exited his house back in Zanarkand so long ago. "YUNA!" he shouted, thrusting his Caladbolg into Mika's chest. Blood rushed from the wound and Mika exploded into pyreflies. A stoical Kinoc soon fell as well.
====*====
"A dream?" Yu Rae asked aloud. Kimahri was busy spearing its tail with his spear while Isaaru was praying, wishing for another Holy spell. This comment made both the attackers stop.
"He... He has broken the bonds between a dream and reality. He has chosen his fate," Yu Rae said. "She is leaving this world, though."
====*====
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted, bending at the dying summoner's side. Suddenly he felt something roll from Yuna's hand. It was a beautiful blue Dressphere that seemed to ring with music and was filled with musical notes and ancient beauty. It began to sparkle as Yuna began to glow. She was Spherechanging?
A glistening white figure of
a woman with long hair and a man that bore a resemblance similar to Tidus
appeared before fading into pyreflies which streamed into Yuna. She hadn't
Spherechanged after all... This was perplexing to Tidus. What had just
happened?
Yuna's eyes fluttered for a moment as her heart began to pump and her breathing
once again began to start. "Yuna!" Tidus shouted joyously, kissing Yuna
tenderly on the lips. Yuna wrapped her arms around his neck as they began to kiss
and embrace. Suddenly they both began to glow as the scene faded away. They
were now facing a furious Yu Rae.
"NO!" she shrieked. "Dreams are dreams!"
"Shut up," Kimahri said before driving his spear into the creature. Yu Rae screamed before writhing into a cloud of pyreflies. A beautiful, glistening sphere dropped from the aftermath and landed upon the ground with a ring.
====*====
"Caluht cbrana yhymocec uv dra Drihtan Bmyehc ihtanfyo (Second sphere analysis of the Thunder Plains underway)," said the technician, busily pressing a few buttons. A small radar screen began to bleep as it checked the lifeless plains for spheres.
Suddenly it began to beep wildly. "Dryd'c hu cbrana... Dryd'c y veaht! (That's no sphere… That's a fiend!)" he shouted. Suddenly he looked up.
"Angra Tuiyi," a cold, merciless voice as raspy as thunder said as a sphere of white lightning lifted the technician off his feet and began to shock him mercilessly with volts. The dead technician hit the ground hard.
"Finally, the Thunder Plains is mine," Angra Tuiyi murmured viciously as the Al Bhed dissipated into a swarm of pyreflies.
====*====
"This rock sure is odd," Leblanc said, climbing edgily onto its peak. She could see the foaming sea below. Nooj stood beside her, hand upon her shoulder.
"Why is it so foamy? It's so damp," Leblanc said. Nooj looked down, speculating the situation.
"I... I don't know," he said as the waters began to churn.
"Could it be... the sphere?" she asked aloud. The clouds began to darken and the sun was soon covered.
"Watch out!"
