Hymn to Fayth

Chapter 14

The Heart of Memories was a dark, cold realm Ziggy had gotten used to over the last two years of his life. It had always been a gentle descent towards the sphere. At least until the Final Summoning has burnt him dry and sent him crashing towards the Heart to merge with the memories of the former Summoners. He was falling fast, at a rate he couldn't control, and he was too tired to care. He was quickly approaching the point of no return and the Heart was wrapping him in the siren song he had ignored for so long to keep him complacent. It would be so easy to just let go and fall into oblivion.

Feeling echoed down to him from his weak link to his body, telling him of something cold splashing against his cheek and a voice pleading with him. "Ziggy! Ziggy, please! Don't do this to me!"

Dillon.

The spell keeping him docile broke. He grabbed onto the feelings drifting to him from life, using them as an anchor to slow his fall towards death. He still kept falling though, couldn't make himself stop. He gathered what little power he still had after the Final Summoning, formed it into the necessary spell he only half-remembered at this point in his mind, then let it go to tear him apart. The slow tune of his Hymn to Fayth spun around his head as his soul split in half, one part sealing away, deep asleep. The other part slammed into the Heart Wall…

But didn't fall in.

-0-0-

Just Before

Tension hung heavily in the air as the team moved quickly through the Venjix facility. They'd been right; this was almost way too easy. It was a trap, they all knew it. But they kept walking forward. They were going to get Tenaya out of here if it was the last thing they did. No one said a word as they worked their way through the compound, keeping an eye out for any machines. They didn't find any. The place was practically deserted.

Ziggy grabbed Dillon's arm when they past a side hallway, tugging him towards it. The two shared a look briefly before Dillon nodded and moved in front of him, taking the lead. The others followed him. After a few minutes, they entered a wide room, broken and disrepaired Grinders lining the walls. Other bits of machinery were placed sporadically around the place. "Looks like a repair facility." Summer whispered. Dillon gasped suddenly, jerking forward. "Tenaya!"

Ziggy reacted automatically, grabbing Dillon's arm again and pulling him back before he could walk into something dangerous. Dillon looked back at him with pleading eyes but he shook his head solemnly before turning to look at the young woman on the table unconscious. Tenaya was laid out on one of the tables, her long black hair fanned out around her. She had been changed into a long white gown and she was barefoot. "Careful. We both know this isn't right." Ziggy whispered.

"Smart boy." A low voice muttered. Everyone tensed automatically and started to look around. Ziggy's eyes narrowed, focusing on the dark shaped half-hidden in the shadows. "Kilobot." He muttered. The other Rangers shifted to face the machines. Dillon stepped in front of him protectively. Ziggy watched the machine carefully, his eyes flickering occasionally to Tenaya, sleeping peacefully on the table. Even from here though, he could feel the presence of the Venjix virus in her, building steadily and destroying more and more of what made her, her. He had to act now.

"Get the thing out of here." He hissed to Dillon, nodding his head at Kilobot. Dillon glanced back at him. "I'm not leaving you alone."

He gave the older man a stern look. "I wasn't going to let you be anywhere near when I used the Final Summoning anyway. It's too dangerous; there's too much backlash energy. Just get out of here." He ordered. Dillon gave him a disbelieving look. Ziggy glared and hardened his tone. "Get out of here."

Dillon turned towards him to argue and Kilobot attacked. Ziggy immediately threw up a barrier, shifting himself away from the group carefully. The others morphed quickly; he didn't. He kept backing up, moving closer towards Tenaya. "Get out of here." He repeated, his voice taking on the tone of a command. They all glanced at him, obviously unsure about leaving him but Ziggy was having none of it. He glared at them harshly, daring any of them to argue with him. They didn't.

It took a few moments, Kilobot was decidedly stubborn, but they managed to herd the attack-bot out of the repair room. Ziggy closed his eyes once they were gone, spreading out his senses to check the rest of the room but found himself alone except for the unconscious Tenaya. He gathered his power around him, focusing his intent clear in his mind so he didn't make any mistakes. The air chilled suddenly and he didn't have to open his eyes to know who was suddenly standing beside him. "Shiva." He greeted softly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked quietly. "There's no turning back once you begin." He didn't say anything in response, just nodded his head resolutely. He heard her sigh and felt her hand move through his hair affectionately, a bite of bitterness coating the movement. "Alright." She whispered. "You will always be my favorite Ziggy Grover."

He sighed himself and opened his eyes to stare at his friend. He seemed determined to break the hearts of everyone close to him now. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay. Just wait." She gave him a look that said she didn't believe him. But she nodded all the same and stepped away from him. Ziggy took a deep breath, mentally steeling himself for what he was about to do, and gathered his power around him. Then it began. He pushed his hands forward. The circle of summoning appeared beneath his feet. Then another above him, then one on every side. Then more still. For every one that appeared he felt more and more of his energy being stripped away; more and more he started to fall away from the warmth and light, consumed by the spell he was shaping.

The power grew and grew till it ran like wildfire through him, burning him, and forget whatever else he'd felt, this hurt! A slow sound built in the back of his head, playing again and again. He latched onto that sound, feeling his body start to go numb but knowing he couldn't quit just yet. Not yet. He still had to save her. He focused on that sound, the soft, repeating hymn, and used it as a grounding point as the final part of the spell approached.

All the power he was gathering, the pure essence of his beloved summons, gathered into a small sphere in the middle of his palms, glowing so brightly it lacked color. He took a deep, but shaky, breath, closing his eyes as reality settled around him. He couldn't undo it now. Doing so would kill him and Tenaya. Right now, he had the power to change the world.

But at such a cost...

He clutched at the sphere of power in his hands, felt like grow and change shape. A pure white staff appeared in his hands, a glowing green emerald wrapped in silver at the top. The entire staff hummed with his power. He closed his eyes to the rest of the world and… he wished. He spun the staff around him in circles, the last summoning circle appearing beneath his feet, coating the entire floor in bright white light. Only one summons responded to this circle. Bahamut, the oldest summons of them all, who only responded to the power of the Final Summoning now. The only summons with the power to accomplish the wish-granting affect the Final Summoning had become after all this time.

The power exploded outward as Bahamut answered his call and his wish. It spun around him in waves, burning him alive with its sheer brilliance. Ziggy was well past the point of pain by now, feeling numb wherever the power touched him. He was going into shock, he realized belatedly. It would get him through the pain that often caused the death of all the other Summoners. However, he would fall to what had doomed the rest of them; the complete loss of power this burnout would cause; his body had become too dependent on his power to survive without it.

That's when he started to fall.

-0-0-

Dillon knew the moment Ziggy did it. He felt the power crash through him, just a small percentage of what Ziggy was going through, and it sent him to his knees. Then the others felt it. The spell crashed through the entire building in bright white waves that knocked everyone off their feet and temporarily blinded them. It was minutes before it was finally over. Slowly they all pushed themselves to their feet. They were all shaky and unmorphed and across from them Kilobot looked like he was sparking in several places. Kilobot looked at them in an almost panicked fashion before he fled.

Scott looked like he was going to go after the machine but the idea never crossed Dillon's mind. He only had one thought in his head. He turned immediately towards the repair room, intent on checking on Ziggy and Tenaya. He didn't get far before the whole world shifted sideways and turned to shades of gray. He fell to his knees, a cold band wrapping tight around his heart and squeezing the air from his lungs. He gasped, struggling against the feeling, a surge of panic blooming in the pit of his stomach for some reason. He came back to himself after a long moment to find the team gathered around him, looking down at him in concern.

He burst to his feet, ran past his teammates, and skidded to a halt in the room. Everything looked like it was all right; the last tendrils of Ziggy's spell still floated over the ground. Ziggy stood in the middle of it all, a staff held in one hand. After to the side, Tenaya was slowly sitting up, looking around with dull, confused eyes. "Ziggy?" he asked. The young man turned to look at him with empty eyes that sent a chill down his spine. The staff slipped from Ziggy's grip to clatter across the floor, echoing around the room forebodingly.

Ziggy collapsed.

"Ziggy!" He shouted. He ran forward and gathered the younger man up into his arms. Ziggy felt cold, his whole body chilled to the bone, and Dillon didn't think that was a good thing. He shook the boy's shoulders desperately. "Ziggy, come on. Wake up."

Ziggy was alright. He had to be alright. He had fainted before from the over-use of his powers and he had always been just fine after he had finally woken up. He would be fine this time to. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong. No matter how much he shook him, Ziggy didn't respond, didn't mutter or shift. Didn't breathe.

The realization was like a punch to the gut. He froze in horror, staring down at Ziggy. The boy was so pale now, his lips turning blue, and he was too cold, deathly cold. He choked, trying not to think the idea that was slowly forming in his head and settling heavily in the pit of his stomach. "No." He breathed. "No, no, no, no, no, no." His stuttered out slowly, his eyes stinging, and he slowly lowered his hand to press it against Ziggy's chest. He waited for the comforting beat of Ziggy's heart but found… nothing.

The other Rangers burst into the room then, half going to help Tenaya slowly stumbling to his feet, the other half coming towards him. "Dillon, what's wrong?" Summer asked, her voice sounding like it was far away. Dillon barely noticed any of them. "Ziggy… he's…" He trailed off painfully, the end of his sentence getting stuck in his throat. Dead. "No." No, he couldn't accept that. He shook his head in denial, moving both hands back up to frame Ziggy's face. The first tear fell then, splashing against Ziggy's cheek. "Ziggy! Ziggy please! Don't do this to me!" His voice cracked harshly. "Wake up. Please, wake up."

"He won't wake up." A soft voice whispered. He looked up slowly, tearing his gaze away from Ziggy's empty expression. Shiva stood above them, gazing at Ziggy with dark, sad eyes. "He won't ever wake up." Those words, coming from her lips, were final. Even Dillon, as deep in denial as he was trying to bury himself, could sense that. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, the tears starting to come faster now. He didn't see it, but Shiva turned her sharp gaze onto him. "No Summoner has ever used the Final Summoning and survived. Ziggy was aware of this."

Dillon jerked his head back up to gaze at her in shock. "You mean, he knew he'd…?"

"Yes. He did. That's why he was so scared to use it."

"Why?" Dillon demanded, his voice choked with emotion. He looked up at her pleadingly, unsure what he was asking of her, tears pouring down his face. "Why would he do this? Knowing he would…? Why would he leave me?"

"Why?" Shiva repeated. She lifted her eyes from him to stare at Tenaya. Tenaya stared back, looking shell-shocked and horrified at what was going on around her. Shiva returned her gaze to Dillon. "Because he wanted to see you smile again." Shiva answered at last. "Because you wanted your sister back and he would have given you the world if he thought it would have made you happy."

Dillon stared up at her in shock, his heart freezing slowly in his chest. It took a long time for the true meaning of her words to fully register. When it did, he felt himself start to hyperventilate. He started to shake his head in disbelief and denial. Around him, the truth of what was happening was starting to set in for the rest of his team as aborted and choked sobs started to echo through the room. Dillon dropped his gaze down to Ziggy's white face as more tears started to flow down his cheeks. "I didn't…I never…" He struggled with his sobs, pulling Ziggy close and burying his head in Ziggy's curls. "I never wanted this!" He finally got out painfully. He started to rock slowly, Ziggy's lifeless body held close to his chest.

Unnoticed, Dillon's watched started to glow a soft white light within the pocket of Ziggy's jeans.