Chapter 25: In Umbra, Igitur, Pugnabimus: Part 2

Rikku slid to the end of the cable and jumped out of the elevator shaft to the pathway that led to the engine room. Her heart was pounding with terrified anticipation of what she would find. The hallway was dark, and only the lights along the base of the walls were lit. It created a surreal outline of the pathway amongst the darkness. She took a step forward cautiously, half expecting there to be nothing but air beneath her feet.

She cursed herself for not bringing a light and gathered enough courage to continue without one. The air grew thick with smoke the closer she got to the engine room doors. She somehow made it to them and fumbled with the lever, throwing her shoulder into the door to force them open.

Gazing into the remnants of the engine room, she was mortified by the destruction. Canisters of fuel were ruptured and spewing their contents, creating lakes of jade colored fluid. A majority of the machinery was straining to work, whining and ejecting smoke. As her eyes crossed over a large heap of debris, she gasped, noticing her father pinned under one of the fuel canisters that had fallen on him.

"Dad!"

Her voice didn't stir him, and she ran forward to help him. It was then that one of the Saikin flew at her from the side of the room. She ducked and rolled away from it as it passed over head. The creature turned around to come back for her, and Rikku wished she had a weapon to defend herself with. Her fingers wrapped around something metallic and she picked it up quickly and smacked the Saikin into the ground with in.

Looking down at the wrench in her hand, Rikku breathed a sigh of relief. She stood over the Saikin's twitching body and kicked it over with her foot. It stopped moving but she threw down her wrench on it, just to make sure, and returned to her father.

"Dad, please say something," Rikku pleaded with him as she knelt beside him and began to try and lift the canister. She was able to roll it away, and the second she did he groaned.

"Rikku…"

Rikku smiled with relief and kissed his bald head. "Can you move?" She asked.

"Just give me a sec," he said, trying to sit up, but he fell back immediately, swearing and gasping for breath.

"Don't force yourself. What happened?"

"Damn, bat things busted into this place. I tried to redirect the fuel, but the whole thing exploded."

Rikku looked around for more of the creatures, but none seemed to be around. She looked at the machinery all around her and knew there would be no way to fix it.

"Rikku!" Cid Highwind burst into the room and ran to where they were. He looked around the room and his face fell.

"We won't be able to stay up much longer like this," he said. He spun around looking for some tools. His expression was conveying all the thoughts that were running through his head.

"We can't do anything," Rikku's father rasped, attempting to sit up again. Rikku shook her head and forced him to stay down.

"Those things could still be down here?" Rikku reminded them both. As if on cue, their cries could be heard throughout the room.

"Rikku, girl, work on what you can. I'll try to keep them off of you," Cid instructed, grasping tighter his spear and looking around the room.

"Come on," Cid muttered under his breath, "You bastards tore up my ship, and now you have to answer to me."

Quistis and Yuna made it to the door of deck of the ship and listened to the sounds outside. They had given up trying to override the lock down on the cargo bay, and had decided to get help. They could hear shouting and gunfire and paused, looking at each other for whether the other thought opening the door was still a good idea. Quistis eventually decided for them and slammed down her fist on the panel beside the door.

The shield around the group was failing, and Lulu was exhausted. As Yuna and Quistis approached she shot them both a worried look. She bit her lower lip and nodded toward the others.

"I can't hold it much longer!" she screamed above the cries of the Saikin and the gun shots.

Holes were forming in the shield and many of the Saikin were discovering them. Barret and Irvine were yelling back and forth to each other to cover new holes when they appeared.

"How can I help?" Yuna asked.

Vincent, who was close to them, heard her question and turned immediately to her. Holding out one of his handguns he told her to take it.

"I've never used one before," she said, taking the gun from him cautiously. She held it like a dead fish by the handle.

Vincent grabbed her hand and folded it around the gun correctly. He put her finger on the trigger and pointed down the sight.

"Point that end at them, and pull the trigger," he briefly instructed before returning to the fight with his shotgun.

Yuna timidly pulled the trigger and was thrown back a bit by the recoil. However, one of the Saikin fell to the deck, and she smiled gleefully.

"I did it!" She exclaimed.

"That's wonderful, sweetheart, now just keep firing!" Irvine shouted back to her.

Lulu groaned, her face paling quickly.

"If I let go they'll kill us," she gasped, looking to Quistis for help.

Quistis felt helpless. She was about to cast one of the weak cure spells she had on her, when the inevitable happened. The shield fell away.

"Run!" Lulu yelled to the others, who had already caught on. The Saikin began to fall down like a tidal wave upon them.

Everyone made it back to the door, but Yuna tripped and fell to the ground. Quistis ran back for her and helped her to her feet and together they ran for the open door. The others stood in the entrance waving for them to hurry, but the Saikin were faster. Quistis knew they weren't going to make it, and she shoved Yuna from behind into the airship before some of the Saikin side swiped her, knocking her from the deck.

Vincent watched the whole scene before him in slow motion. He saw Yuna fall and Quistis run back for her. As soon as Yuna was pushed into the ship and into Lulu's arms, he pushed the door panel and jumped out onto the deck. The door slammed behind him and the Saikin swarmed all around him, smashing into the door and him.

He ignored the pain, letting it fuel his inner beast. He pushed through them, running as fast as he could, letting them tear at his flesh and clothes. Chaos was boiling underneath his flesh, and as he made it to the end of the deck, he leapt over the edge after Quistis.

Rinoa couldn't stand the noise. The creature's earsplitting screeches wouldn't cease and she held her ears as she crouched behind the crates.

"They keep coming in…You're good with magic. You can seal the door, ya?" Wakka shouted as he crouched beside her.

Rinoa smirked at his comment about her being 'good' with magic. She risked a look around the crates and cast an ice spell toward the open doors. A thick wall of ice covered the open door, and the inflow of creatures ceased.

"Wish I had thought of that earlier," she mumbled to herself. She looked up at the creatures that were still flying around the cargo hold. They seemed to have noticed her movement and that she was the cause of the ice barrier. A few dove toward he and she rolled away from them and behind another crate. A few more headed for her but she held up her hands in defense.

"Stop!" she screamed, not realizing the power behind her words. The entire room fell into time freeze. She looked up and saw the beady eyes and needle sharp teeth of one of the Saikin inches from her face.

"Good job!" Yuffie congratulated from her hiding place. She stood up from behind the pile of grain sacks and dusted herself off. She noticed a creature suspended in mid air beside her and smacked it across the face with her shurikin. "Take that!"

"Show them who's boss, Yuffie," Wakka laughed.

"And where were you?" Yuffie scoffed back.

Rinoa ran around the creatures to the door and pounded on it. She pushed the panel beside it furiously, but it refused to budge.

"Yuna! Quistis! Open the door!" she pleaded, pounding on it a few more times. She eventually stepped back, trying to think of what to do next.

The Saikin outside were scraping away at her ice wall, and the ones suspended in the air were starting to stir.

"We need to get…"

Rinoa was thrown to the ground before she could finish, as the airship suddenly began to nose dive.

Quistis knew she was falling, but she couldn't see or feel anything but the beating wings and of the Saikin. They ripped at her arms and legs and she could feel their bodies slamming into her back as she plummeted down through them. She closed her eyes trying to shut out the image of their grotesque eyes and teeth flashing before her face. She flailed her arms in all directions swatting them off of her.

I'm going to die. If they don't rip me apart first, I'm going to splatter across the ground below me…

She brought up her hand to push them away from her face, and felt another hand lace fingers with her. She opened her eyes and saw Vincent falling with her and trying to pull her up into his arms. The Saikin slammed into their wrists, cutting them and forcing them to let go of each other.

It was then that Quistis felt the break from the swarm. The cold night air on her bruised and torn back startled her and brought her fresh pain. She began to fall faster and she kept looking up, her palm spread wide, waiting for Vincent to emerge and take her hand. When he didn't appear she began to panic and the thought of death choked her with fear.

Please don't let me die! Not like this…

He wasn't coming. There was nothing left to do but accept her fate. She said a quick prayer and lost consciousness as a wave of peace took her over.

Vincent burst from the black cloud of creatures as Chaos. He saw Quistis and immediately dove toward her. He reached her within seconds of escaping the Saikin and caught her. Supporting her in his arms he descended to the top of a canyon below and watched as the Saikin and the Osiris screamed through the night sky toward Asgard.

Squall looked back at the pass fading into darkness as his chocobo sprinted through the gorge. He was bringing up the rear of the group, and could hear the screams of the Ryongi shadows closing in. He couldn't see the plains ahead of them and the rock walls loomed over them endlessly. They seemed to be coming closer and closer together.

Squall suddenly felt his body flying threw the air, as his chocobo fell out from beneath him. One of the creatures had caught up and had dug its claws into the chocobo's shadow, pulling it to the ground. Squall rolled over a few times, his body bruising against the rocky ground. He knew the second he stopped that the shadows had caught up and he stumbled to his feet to run.

Tidus had seen Squall fall and had come back for him. He stretched out his hand for Squall to grab onto, but a wave of Ryongi shadows fell over them and went for the other riders. The soldier, Cloud and Tifa were also thrown from their chocobos as the creatures began to feed on their only fast escape. Cloud covered Tifa as they lay on the ground surrounded.

Another cluster of clouds blanketed the moons in the night sky and the darkness of lightless night ceased the Ryongi shadows' screams. In the pitch black the sound of beasts' heavy breathing and the tapping of claws encircled them.

Aeris could hear the noise around her; the clashing of swords and claws, the yelling of commands back and forth between the warriors surrounding her. The creatures had found them and she was jeopardizing everyone's life by staying where she was. Auron was shouting her name and pleading with her to hurry up. He knew what she had to do was important and that gave her strength.

She found it hard to concentrate on the other sounds within her mind. If she tried to describe them, she would be unable to. They were ethereal, surreal, breathtaking, and sounds that she had missed so much since she had left the life stream. Communing with her world gave her strength. Something she had been unable to explain since she had arrived in Eliana.

She was pleading with it now.

Light…lend us your light…please hear me, use me…

Someone fell upon her lightly. She could feel their hot breath upon her face. The presence was familiar and knew it was Auron kneeling beside her. Was he shielding her? His voice was distant, begging her to hurry, and telling her that they were losing.

She was too far into it now to leave. The noises of the fight were so faint now and only the sound of the planet was flooding her ears. She could feel fear tightening her throat. Desperation had settled into her pleas. Auron's voice was no longer there, nor Seifer's nor Kimahri's, but she could feel their pain

I know you can hear me… that you still live within me…help us!

Auron spun around from Aeris and sliced the Ryongi behind him clean in half. He looked to Seifer and Kimahri who were trying their best to keep the creatures away from Aeris. Neither one of them looked like they would be able to take much more of the onslaught and Auron's pleas with Aeris had fallen on deaf ears.

"Just grab her and run!" Seifer shouted to Auron.

"We cannot leave yet!" Auron growled back at him, taking a knife from a sheath on his leg and throwing it into the skull of another attacking Ryongi.

"Then this is it," Seifer muttered to himself as he used one of his last spells from his world to cast Firaga upon a group of the Ryongi. Ever since the clouds had covered the moons, their fight against actual flesh and blood had been an improvement, but not much of one. He was tired and knew his fight was over.

Kimahri had taken on a few of the creatures at once, injuring himself badly. He was not going to give up, however, and continued to engage the next beast, despite the blotches of red growing in his matted blue hair.

Red looked back at Auron and saw that Aeris was wide open to attack. Two of the Ryongi lunged for her and Red jumped into one, pinning it to the ground. The other was still coming at her fast and Auron leaped in front of it, driving his blade through its shoulder while its claws went through his. They both hit the ground, sliding a few feet away from Aeris. Auron grabbed onto the Ryongi's snout while it tried to tear into him and pushed it away.

"Aeris!"

Aeris' eyes snapped open at the sound of her name and she stared upward to the heavens. At that same moment a great pillar of pure white light erupted upward from her body, sending a shock wave through the entire gorge. No one was able to stand as the wave thundered past them. The Ryongi began to writhe in pain as the magnificent column began to spread outward. It devoured their bodies, and rapidly spread in all directions. The beam pierced through the heavens above and the darkness within hundreds of miles of the pillar was pushed back to the horizon.

Zell was pulling back so hard on the controls that he felt they would snap off. It was all in vain and the Osiris was not about to pull out of its nose dive. The fuel lights that had been flashing since the attack suddenly shut off as well as all power within the cabin.

Selphie was still pounding the lifeless consol, and trying hard not to panic.

"I'm sorry, Zell," she said brushing away tears that she couldn't hold back.

Zell tightened his belt and leaned back in his chair, still grasping the controls. His knuckles were white and he smiled reassuringly over at Selphie as she put her hand on top of his.

"I'm still going to try to land it. It's not over…it's far from over," he gave himself a pep talk as the windshield started to crack from the repeated abuse it had taken.

It was then that the entire ship shuddered from a force from behind. Before either of them knew what was happening, a piercing light filled the entire cabin, blinding them both. Selphie cried out and covered her face to shut out the light, but it penetrated everything.

Selphie couldn't hear or see anything, but she felt the crash. Her stomach flew up into her chest. Her knees slammed up into the control panel and her head snapped back forcefully against the seat. Then there was stillness and nothing else but the ethereal, white luminescence.

The light from Aeris rose from the canyon and the surrounding land to create a sphere in the sky above. It was like a small sun, basking everything in a light, turning night into day. The orb churned into itself as if it were made of liquid and remained above the gorge.

Aeris collapsed, and Auron grabbed her before she hit the ground. He swept her up into his arms and let her rest there. Her head rested lightly on his chest. He stared up at the night sun she had created and his mind reeled with the thought of all that had just happened. She had saved their lives and all he could do was thank her silently.

I was studying abroad in Brazil and I'm back now. Since its summer I really want to write this on a regular basis. Enjoy and reviews are more than welcome!

Rinoa-FF8- Thanks! I'm glad you liked my title.

Euphors21- Sorry that I kept you waiting for this one too. Thanks for the reviews.

Tore-Thanks for the compliment. I try to work on it when I can…but, sigh…I take so long…

Luna-Starr-Thanks again. Hope you like this one.

Platonic1-Thanks for the suggestions. I will start mixing character relationships really soon. Promise! The Rikku and Squall thing was fun and I might entertain it more, but I love Rinoa and Squall. Laguna is coming back next chapter and will be journeying with the group from now on. Irvine plus Cid, plus girls and booze would be hilarious. Thanks for that suggestion. Oh, and I'm a good student I promise…I just get bored sometimes…but you are right. J Thanks for all the advise!

UltraBeing-Glad you like it!

FenixPheonix- Aeris and Auron are pretty close…we'll see what I decide to do with them.

Shandy-Your reviews are my favorite. You are so detailed and complimentary. Thanks for all your help and feedback.