Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.29 Fighting an Aeon
As Bahamut flew at us I saw Yuna hesitate, but Paine called "Fight! You have to!" Yuna looked at her, before hanging her head in despair and nodding. Bahamut tried to swipe at her with his claws, but Yuna jumped back and loaded her gun. She fired three shots but none of them pierced through the aeon's scales, so she switched to Warrior. Rikku ran behind it and stole a Mute Shock, before also cutting it in the back of each heel. It faltered from the injury and turned to look it her.
The aeon growled before extended its hand and casting Curse. A dark cloud enveloped Rikku and she grunted, feeling her ability to spherical being locked away. Paine came up and slashed at that hand, but it withdrew that hand and use the other to throw a Firaga spell at her. Paine leaped back from the fireball, which exploded against the ground with enough force to leave a small dent. Yuna came in and gave it a cut in the side, also inflicting Armor Break. Bahamut glared at her before stopping on the ground and casting Thundaga, making bolts of lightning rain down around him.
One of the bolts hit Yuna and she screamed in pain from the voltage, falling back. Since Rikku was unable to, Paine switched to White Mage and began healing her. I cast Osmose and Drain repeatedly, trying to lowers its stock of magical power until it was too weak to cast spells. It seemed to have noticed, since it flew at me and spun around, hitting me in the stomach with its tail. I shouted and flew through the air, hitting the platform and skidding to the edge of it. I stood up and cursed, casting Drain again to strengthened myself.
Once Paine was finished healing Yuna she charged again, scoring another Armor Break. Paine also cast Esuna on Rikku, who thanked her before changing to her own Dark Knight garb. She pointed her newly blade, Masamune, at Bahamut. "This armor isn't just for show, you know!" she called, and used Darkness. Her body was coated in shadows before she shot at Bahamut. It tried to kick her away but Rikku moved around it, coming up and stabbing it in the left knee. The energy also detonated in a blast that nearly severed its lower leg, but instead simply damaged that joint beyond repair.
Bahamut roared in pain and jumped back. I could feel it gathering its strength, and a black and purple orb appeared around each of its hands and the front of its wings. My eyes widened and I had just enough time to call "Shit!" before it fired Impulse. All four orb flew at us and hit the ground, releasing a chain of explosions that surrounded us. I gritted my teeth and fell to one knee, covered in burns. Paine was much the same, but Rikku and Yuna had been far enough away to avoid the worst of it. As such, Yuna changed to Alchemist while Rikku changed to Warrior, and ran in to distract Bahamut.
Yuna mixed together a Potion and a Hi-Potion to create an Ultra Potion, which she tossed into the air. The glass shattered and rained down its contents on us. The healing properties of the potion restored all of our strength, but I could also see Bahamut smirked and hold up one hand. Holding out five fingers, I understood the message. It wax counting down. Eyes going wide, I called "We have to stop it!" and stood to attack. But Bahamut knocked me back down with a wave of water, courtesy of a Waterga spell. Rikku hit it with Magic Break to weaken its spells, and Paine charged before reapplying Armor Break.
I stood back up and charged, casting Drain before using the health it just gave me to use Darkness. The aeon grunted it pain as it stabbed it in the wing and tore through, also burning it. It spun around to knock me off but Yuna fired with her Alchemist Gun, the Armor Breaks weakening its scales enough to let the bullets through. It stopped and turned to her, holding up its hand again. Four. Then it began charging for Impulse, and Rikku tried to stop it with Delay Attack. But it was immune to it, and fired the orbs again.
Knowing to expect this time, Yuna fired at one of the orbs and actually made it explode in mid-air, while Paine rolled out of the way and Rikku and I jumped back. Bahamut held its hand again and lowered another finger. Three. I changed to Gunner and fired Trigger Happy, peppering the aeon's back with bullets. It turned and cast Blizzaga, shooting a massive spear of ice at me. I countered with Black Sky, firing several black ball of energy at the spear. They were enough to knock it off course, and Rikku used the time that to switch back to Thief and used Pilfer HP. Bahamut growled and held up its hand again. Two.
Knowing that there wasn't much time left, Paine coated her sword in gravitational energy, before moving within striking range. Then she called "Demi Blade!" and slammed it against is chest. But to her shock the attack was ineffective, and Bahamut simply picked her up with one hand before tossing her behind him. Then he held up his hand one more time. One. Groaning in dismay, I moved as far back as possible and raised my guard, the others doing the same.
Bahamut roared before jumping back and flipping until it was on all fours. The wheel on its back began spinning, crackling with power. A single sphere of light began coalesce inside its mouth, growing brighter and brighter. Just when the light grew blinding, Bahamut released the Mega Flare. It shot forward in a massive beam of destruction that hit us like train, knocking Paine off her feet, not having seen Bahamut before and thus not realizing the scope of its power.
Then the beam grew even wider, wide enough to encompass all four of us, and the inside of the beam was filled with small explosion. This continued for maybe a whole ten seconds. When it was done Bahamut stepped back, momentarily tired from the use of its Overdrive. I was just barely hanging on to consciousness, and I could see that the attack had knock Rikku right out. Paine was nearly joining her, and Yuna was also on her last legs. But we couldn't get up. We had to stop Bahamut.
With a cry of defiance I managed to stand, though it took a moment to regain my balance. Yuna aimed her Alchemist gun at Bahamut, and Paine fed Rikku a Phoenix Down before holding up her sword. As one, the four of us charged. Bahamut saw us coming and prepared to use Impulse, but Yuna shot each of the orbs as they appeared and made them explode. Hit with its own attack, the aeon moved away, both its arms and wings taken out of commission. "Take that!" Rikku called, and tossed her daggers. They flew straight at the beast and imbedded themselves in its abdomen, and I stabbed each of my blades in its legs. Paine ended with with a stab to the heart.
Bahamut stood straight and tried to move closer, but then I fell onto my front. Its entire body began turning transparent as it faded away, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of pyreflies that quickly dispersed. Not able to take the sight, Yuna fell to her knees, hanging her head in grief. "Why is this happening? I wish you were here," she muttered, and I knew she was talking about Tidus. Sighing, I switched to White mage and began the process of healing us all, while Paine tried to comfort Yuna. It had been her who urged Yuna to fight, after all.
Yuna gave a small smile at the gesture, and said "Thank you, Paine. You were right. We had to fight it, didn't we?" Paine nodded and patted her shoulder. Once everyone was healed we took stock of our surroundings. Most noticeably, the giant hole in the ground the Bahamut had risen from. "Nothing?" Rikku asked. Yuna looked closely at it. "This hole was made recently," she said. "You think it was Vegnagun? Unreal... How deep do you thin it goes?" the blonde pondered. ]
It was at that moment that Leblanc and her group finally caught up. I glared at them, commenting "Took you long enough to show up." She ignored me though, and focused on Yuna. "Where's Vegnagun?" she asked. Yuna shook her head. "Not here," she stated. Leblanc looked around to confirm it, before smirking. "It must have fled in terror, knowing that I was here," she stated. "I don't think think so," Paine commented, but she was disregarded as well. "I must report back to Noojie-Woojie at once. Boys, record this! I don't want you to miss a single detail!" she ordered.
Both Logos and Ormi replied "Yes, Boss!" and took out recording spheres. Paine looked at the hole. "Vegnagun. Was it ever even here?' she thought aloud. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing. What occupied my thoughts was the same thing I'm sure Yuna was feeling. The Eternal Calm... it was supposed to last forever. That's the entire point of it being eternal. But now... we can fell it crumbling, falling away beneath our feet.
Our thoughts were interrupted by the comm link coming on. It was Brother, yelling "Yuna! We are in super doo-doo! Get back to the Celsius on the double!" Then the line was cut, and I looked at the others. "What do you suppose that was all about?" I asked. Rikku shrugged. "Don't know, but he sounded serious. We should go," she said. The rest of us nodded, and began making our way back to the surface.
When we boarded the Celsius, we were immediately aware of the emergency alarms going off. So there really was some kind of problem. We walked into the bridge and Yuna and I jumped over the rail. "What's going on?" Yuna asked. "Trouble, and I mean big time! Fiends started pouring out of the temples all of sudden," Buddy reported. I blinked, remembering the fiends from Bevelle Temple. "Which ones?" Rikku asked. "All of them! It's a freaking state of emergency! What should we do?" he called, completely forgetting that he was the self-proclaimed 'leader'.
Everyone else looked unsure for a moment, before Brother asked "Is it Gullwing time?" Looking up from his monitor, Shinra said "Not exactly sphere-hunter work." "True. But seeing Yuna around should help people calm down," Buddy pointed out. "They'll expect her to do their dirty work," Paine mentioned. "Yeah, but Yunie wants to help. Don't you?" Rikku asked. The others were silent, and I was still thinking about the fiends. Rikku thought about it for a moment, before snapping her fingers. "Hey! I got it! We can be 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings'!" she suggested.
Raising an eyebrow, Buddy said "You mean taking out fiends and charging for it?" Brother smiled. "E mega ed!" he stated. (I like it!) Paine didn't have a problem either, so she said "What do you think?" "Well, why not? If this means that we can help people in need, than sure!" Yuna said, nodding. Rikku pumped a fist into the air. "Right, that means that for now, sphere-hunting is on hold!" she announced. Yuna also pumped a fist. "Your Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings!" she called. "It's decided! Where to?" Brother asked.
But then the alarm went off again, and Buddy said "Wait a sec." "Rinno ib!" Brother called, irritated. (Hurry up!) Buddy typed into his monitor, before his expression became confused. "What could this mean? Meyvn Nooj, leader of the Youth League... and Baralai, praetor of New Yevon... are gone. They've disappeared," he told us. All of us wore expressions of surprise, and Paine even let out a minute gasp. None heard her though, and Brother said "Fascinating. All right! Where to?"
But then I interrupted him, and said "Guys, I just realized something." They looked at me, and took note of my grave expression. "What's wrong?" Yuna asked. "The fiends are all pouring out of the temple... just the same as the one in Bevelle, right?" I asked, and nodded. I continued "If the temples are acting up, then what's to say everything that happened there isn't repeating itself?" Rikku looked confused, before her eyes went as wide as saucers. "You don't mean..." she began. "The aeons?" Yuna finished. I nodded, and Yuna also gasped. "Then... in places like Kilika... and Besaid..." she trailed off.
Then she looked at Brother, and said "Set a course for Besaid. Now!" Brother nodded and jumped into his seat, entering the coordinates before begin to steer the airship in that direction. I refrained from reaching up to my swords. "Wakka... Lulu..." I muttered. I could only hope we got there in time.
And that ends this chapter! Can the Gullwings make it to Besaid in time to save everyone? What will await them? Stay tuned to find out!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)
