Tidus and Paine approached the Southern entrance to the city of Bevelle, early in the morning. There was a large metal gate connected to an equally large concrete wall that surrounded the city, with a set of stairs on either side of the gate. Atop the wall were four guards waiting for Tidus and Paine. The guards' standard armor was similar to the armor Brackus wore; blue, with silver helmets, and white capes. From the other side of the gate, a loud banging could be heard.
"What's the news?" Tidus asked as he and Paine reached the top of the wall. "And why are there only four of you here?"
"That's partly why we called you here, sir," said one of the guards. "A few of our ranks have not appeared for their duties. There are similar reports from the East and North gates, as well as several city patrols."
"That doesn't sound good," Paine said. "What else do you have?"
"That banging on the other side of the wall," the guard continued. "There's a man taking shots at the gate. They're non-damaging, but he's ignoring our orders to stop."
Tidus and Paine looked over the side of the wall to see Seifer firing his gunblade into the gate.
"Knock, knock," Seifer called.
"Uh, hey, man!" Tidus called down. "Could you knock it off?"
"Do I have your attention?" Seifer said, resting his gunblade on his shoulder.
"He's that guy Yuna told us about yesterday," Paine said to Tidus. "What do you want?" she called down to Seifer.
"Not much," Seifer answered. "Just want to see the look on your faces when the fireworks start, which should right about…"
"What's he talking about?" Paine whispered.
As if on cue, an explosion could be heard nearby on the inside of the wall. Paine and Tidus turned to look, and saw a building down the street erupted in flames. In the distance, several more explosions could be seen and heard scattered throughout the city.
A moment later, a squad of Bevelle soldiers emerged from an alleyway. Their armor was painted red. They took aim with their rifles at the guards on the wall and fired. Two of them were hit and were blasted off the wall. Tidus, Paine, and the other two guards ducked down into cover.
"That explains where those missing guards are," Tidus said.
"You, there," Paine said to one of the remaining guards. "Get back to the spire, update Yuna or Lulu or anyone who's there to our situation. Make sure they use the City Sphere to relay the messages. We'll cover you."
The guard nodded. Tidus and Paine vaulted off the wall and engaged the red soldiers. Deflecting the gunfire with their swords, Paine and Tidus closed in on them and began slashing and cutting them down. The messenger guard ran down to the street level and began making his way back to the spire. The remaining guard joined Tidus and Paine on the ground.
Seifer slashed at the gate, cutting a large X in the metal. He then used a powerful fire spell and blew the gate open, sending large pieces of metal flying down the street. Paine and Tidus were both knocked to the ground by the shrapnel. The last Bevelle guard aimed his rifle at Seifer, but was too slow. Seifer charged him and stabbed him in the chest with his blade. Throwing the dead guard aside, Seifer looked down at Paine and Tidus, pinned under slabs of metal.
"Ah, that's the look I wanted to see," Seifer laughed. "Helplessness. It really brings a smile to my face."
Seifer then made his way toward the spire.
On the other side of the city, Yuna, Wakka, and Kimahri approached one of the explosion sites. The structure that was bombed had been completely destroyed and the two adjoining buildings were on fire. Screams and cries for help could be heard nearby. With a wave of her wand, Yuna cast a Nulblaze spell on herself and her guardians.
"Let's sweep these buildings for survivors," Yuna ordered.
"I'll take the far one," Wakka called, running off toward one of the burning buildings.
Kimahri and Yuna ran through the front door of the closest house on fire. The spell protected them, but the heat was still intense. A quick look around the first floor revealed that it was empty. Some loud bumping noise could be heard from the floor above, so the two ran up the stairs to investigate.
The upper level was comprised of a hallway and three rooms. Kimahri and Yuna split up to search the two closest rooms. They were both small bedrooms. Quickly scanning them, they both concluded that no one was trapped in them. Together, they searched the one remaining room. It was a larger bedroom with a window in front where smoke billowed out. Yuna heard the bumping again, coming from a nearby closet. She opened the doors to find a Bomb, pulsating with energy.
Kimahri grabbed Yuna, covering her with his body and ran towards the window. The Bomb exploded, blasting the roof off the building and sent Yuna and Kimahri out the window, slamming against the building across the street. Still clutching Yuna in his hands, Kimahri landed on the ground, releasing her. They looked up to see Wakka exiting his building carrying a young woman to safety.
"Brother," Yuna said, activating her earpiece. "Are you there?"
"Yuna! Are you hurt? What is happening?" Brother asked in a panic.
"I'm alright," Yuna answered. "I need you and Buddy in the air. Give me an update from above."
"Roger," answered Brother. "One minute."
Just then, several guards ran up to Yuna.
"Lady Yuna," one of them said, out of breath. "We have received reports that each city gate has been ambushed by deserters from our own army. On our way here, our patrol unit encountered several monsters. We don't have the numbers to fight off the monsters and the deserters."
"Yuna, this is Buddy," Yuna could hear from her earpiece. "We're above the city. The streets are a battlefield."
"Can you see how many places have been bombed?" asked Yuna.
"Judging by the number of fires," Buddy said. "At least nine. What do you want us to do?"
"Find a place to land and start evacuating the people," Yuna said. "Can you make contact with Shinra and Lulu?"
"No, we still can't transmit or receive signals from the spire," Buddy answered. "But we'll send up flares once we've landed."
"Good," Yuna said, turning her attention back to the guards. "I need you guys to do something: One of you return to the spire, and tell my guardians we need all hands on deck out here and that we're evacuating the city. The rest of you, escort any citizens you find to the Celsius and help them board. If you run into any other guards, spread the word."
The guards ran off. Overhead, the Celsius could be seen flying toward and landing in a clearing between the buildings. Bright red flares could be shooting upward from the landing site. Yuna and Wakka waved over some nearby citizens and began leading them toward the Celsius.
Back inside the spire, Lulu, Rikku, and Shinra sat around a small table in Yuna's office, discussing their findings from the books they had been analyzing. Rikku sat with her elbows on the table, holding her head up to stop herself from falling asleep.
"It's not unheard of for a Fayth to be missing," Lulu said. "The Aeon Yojimbo's Fayth had been stolen and relocated in Spira. Maybe the Aeon for this city is in a similar situation."
"That may be the case," Shinra said. "But we can't confirm it until we either find the Fayth or its original location. I have a different theory: the Aeon is underground. Specifically, underneath this building. The mystery surrounding the spire's origin and construction is evidence to some sort of secret here. My money is on it being here, but it would take an excavation of incredible scale to uncover it, not to mention it may seriously compromise the structural integrity of the spire. What do you think, Rikku?"
"I think this Aeon…" Rikku yawned. "Has been blessed with being absent from this conversation. Wherever it is, I would give anything to be there, right now."
The door to the elevator behind them opened. Four guards entered and approached the table.
"We have reports from Lady Yuna and the generals," one of the guards said. "The city has been attacked, both by monsters and rogue soldiers. An order has been issued to evacuate the city."
"Bevelle's being attacked?!" squeaked Rikku. "Big yikes!"
"Looks like we'll have to kiss all the City Sphere data goodbye," Shinra sighed.
"It is also requested that the order is relayed via the City Sphere," the guard added.
"Rikku, can you handle that?" asked Lulu. "We'll gather up these books and wait for you on the bottom floor."
"Leave it to Rikku!" Rikku answered, giving a thumbs up.
Opening the double doors to the next room, Rikku approached the City Sphere. She popped her knuckles and stretched her fingers before interfacing with the table.
"Alright. Press this button… and this one with the sword and shield… flip this thingy… and done?" Rikku whispered to herself. "Okay, now how do I close this?"
Rikku began swiping and dragging icons on the table, not knowing what they do. As she became frustrated, her movements became more frantic. Eventually, the three dimensional model of the city collapsed into a flat image. Rikku looked at the map and tilted her head slightly. Suddenly, her eyes widened. The flat image of the spire looked exactly like a Fayth.
"Now that's a big yikes," Rikku whispered. "That's a HUGE yikes!"
Rikku ran out of the room, to the elevator to regroup with Lulu and Shinra. After she left, a portal began to form next to the City Sphere. When the portal stabilized, Seymour emerged. Smiling, he approached the City Sphere and began interfacing with it. He cleared the command Rikku had just input and replaced it with his own.
"The bait has been placed," Seymour chuckled. "Now to spring the trap."