WARNING: Brief depictions of brutality ahead. Continue at your own risk.
Sonic the Hedgehog: The Phantasy of Archangelus
Paradigm Forty-Five - Where Do Dreams Go to Die?
Every Summoner who had ever lived could rest now. The Song of Prayer had wiped away all ill will, sad feelings—anger, vengeance, indecisiveness, despair, regret, and sadness—off the face of Spira. Zanarkand could finally cease to exist. Her Summoners no longer needed to dream. High Priest Yu Yevon was gone, and so was his resentment. His Final Aeon was free, both Embodiments awaiting their rescue. Hand in hand, nonresistant, in complete acceptance. Almost in excitement.
"Overdrive: Endymion Blitz."
Lady Yuna's Archangelus Triune—Silver, Shadow, and Sonic—were in position. A pseudo-Chaos Control brought them back to the battlefield. Surrounding Hadean Solaris, armed with Splendent Gleam's longbow. Opalescent mythril solely to Silver, Sonic's was adamant pearl and Shadow's gilded orichalcum.
Instinctively, the Carnal Fervor threw himself in front of the Mystic Illumine. His eyes darted at each hedgehog's steely resolve. The Illumine clutched his lover's torso tighter. A reflexive restraint, that soon quelled the Fervor's protectiveness. A low growl, before the other's sweet hum.
The pyreflies cradling the edges of the Hadean Glyph bobbed away. Hooked braches and thick calligraphic strokes broke from the pattern. They fled into disarray. Like inky snakes, they slithered into different arrangements, fickle and uncertain of how to link together. As if they, themselves, wanted cohesion. The pyreflies seemed to be watching, with amusement. Some even offered to help out.
But the Triune's steely gazes couldn't waver. Neither could their aim.
"It's time, isn't it?" The Mystic Illumine didn't want the Carnal Fervor to get riled up. Tender hands clasped tighter. "Please come. You may end this."
Righteous sapphires sparked. Each arrow was locked on them. Energy from all over spiraled into its shape, all hues ebbing and flowing. Like the heartbreak Yuna shot into Sonic's heart, only bigger. More colorful, aqueous with regret, and stalwart with resolve. Undulation washed over the bows, chest orbs, armor, wing shoulders, and halos.
As did the streaks from that emerald, ruby, and sard.
"Finally."
The final design in the new glyph flashed before disappearing. The triplicate Aeons' feet left it. To trace around it, still well aimed. The arrows increased in size and vibrancy.
Amy spotted the sad teenage girl's giant splotched wings. Dragon-like, they embraced her for a moment before stretching out again. Bigger, bolder, and stronger. They flapped somewhat happily, at the next command in the Triune's strike. Amy could sense it, though strange a feeling it was. The Aerial Aeon's Glyph beamed like there was no tomorrow.
And once enough energy was compiled, the three hedgehogs went into their Overdrive's next move. They soared out of orbit, expanding it while gaining more momentum. In perfect concentricity, their orbits tilted but still maintained a good distance.
"Holyja!"
Once momentum hit its peak, all the force guided the arrows along a curved path. They rained like conscious comets, striking both the Fervor and the Illumine from those separate directions. Brutally sharp, the impacts forced the Fervor to a three-limbed kneel over the Illumine.
Lava droplets beaded against a pain-stricken smile.
But the attack couldn't cease: The Triune's Magical Weapons were on auto-pilot, and they couldn't be stopped. Yuna's commands were truly sent to the Weapons, not the hedgehogs themselves. Unanimity governed the Weapons' acknowledgement, with the help of the hedgehogs. Silver remembered a crucial piece of how that could be true. As he drifted into another position, he noticed his body and armor moving on their own. He frowned a little. 'All this time, it's felt like I haven't been acting on my own. This armor-weapon has been helping me fight, protecting me, and resonating a strange energy…like the pyreflies'!' Splendent Gleam's diamond shell clacked into a different form: From the longbow to a increasingly hulking cannon, much like Bahamut's Mega Flare. 'The pyreflies are utilized by Summoners to manifest Aeons, right? And they never minded it…did they?' He saw his wings flaring toward the back. Now red and blue, Silver's eyes glistened at the unexpected help. 'Thank you, Lady Yuna.'
After a skid, the Archangelus Triune was solid enough to mount their cannons to the floor. Stanchions were stabbed into the tiles, which clicked into place. Prongs, much like Mega Flare's, spread out from the massive barrel. This time, though, there were four. Energy sparked between each spire. Their revolutions hastened. A lightning ball formed at each barrels' mouth. More energy channeled into them via halo. Which all hastened, wobbling from the speed readjustment.
The hooded boy standing on the Astral Aeon's Glyph was no longer a boy. He was the last fayth, serving as Bahamut's past form and the "emissary" to his fellows. The single wing he sprouted bristled. A golden halo manifested at his back, now. Golden claws sharpened his fingers, which curled into fists. Now much taller, and huskier, the man's tail swiped back and forth before blasting a roar to the heavens.
Another flash under the Solaris Counterparts heralded the next attack.
Firing gigantic lasers from the arm-mounts, the three hedgehogs cried, "Giga Flare!" But, for some reason, Shadow kept his eyes away.
The collective bursts from Holyja hadn't totally faded yet. The attack was surely intended to earn an Overkill, a tactic too keen for Lady Yuna. But he didn't question her judgment, for she validated the strike as merciful, even with the strength it required. And the Counterparts allowed it to be so. It felt strange, unsettling. It wasn't murder, but at the same time it was; actually, it was euthanasia, more than anything else.
But the concept couldn't resound in Shadow's head. The Carnal Fervor's painful roar and the Mystic Illumine's banshee scream wouldn't let him. Flumes of white smolder shot up.
Mindy the Bee showed a prayerful clasp, just like her older sisters. Cindy the Ladybug flicked her wings, while Sandy the Praying Mantis flared hers outward. Mindy's wings flapped at her back. Each Sister's Glyph brightened, all at once. The Delta Crown Aeons were ready to assist.
"Final move!" Sonic called out, flying upward. Just as Shadow and Silver dived downward.
Back in Spira's Vacuum, Lady Yuna's nacreous shell purified further. Nirvana's crown became so bright, the light engulfed her body. It seemed to have nearly disappeared.
Three swords flashed in a respective corner in Perish Void: Silver removed one from the Garden of Pain, Shadow unsheathed another from the Zanarkand Dome. Sonic took up the last one, struck into the Helios Core itself. Blue flowers dusted away upon Siler's removal of the sword. Its blade was reminiscent of Jecht's, a former Guardian to Lord Braska. All the blades shimmered, like they contained an entire ocean. Shadow rested the blade upon his pauldron, the groundwork crumbling from the immense power. Sonic growled as he drove the blade outward. Not quite heavy like Demi-Sword, he was able to hold it well enough. All eyes were on Hadean Solaris.
The demigods were braced in a loving hold, the drastically weakened Carnal Fervor still protecting his Mystic Illumine. Horns shattered and respective armor battered out of usefulness, the ghostly body consoled the very physical one. The Fervor did nothing more than heed his whispers. Both his knees had given out on him, and his head now rested on the Illumine's chest.
"I am with thee, dearest." The coo was gentle, like the hands that stroked him.
One lotus remained. And as long as he could smell it, he would be totally content and completely subdued.
The azure tassel on Shadow's sword floated just before a mighty leap. As with the yellow ribbon on Silver's blade, and the crimson one on Sonic's.
The Fervor closed his eyes. Smaller milky globules fell. The Illumine's clear tears revealed his true self, happy and relieved by their long-awaited salvation. He was recounting the spell he'd imprinted on the Otherworld children. "As thou'st promised…the Sovereignty's Onus shall save this Land from the spiral of death. The Vessel hath synchronized the will of the Sun with Ice's order, Fire's passion, Water's truth, and Lightning's wisdom."
"Twelve-Gate Sealing!" Sonic howled, sword prone. Shadow and Silver followed, howling out as well.
"Thou hast Renewed Acumen's light, and Revived Ardor's flame. The auroral bodies hath combined with the power of the conduit. And a power, unlike any other, hath been birthed." The Illumine's pearly tears never stopped falling. "It sanctified the Yevon Covenant, both Acumen and Ardor shall love in harmony forever again. With the Tides of Penance Dispelled, this Land hast been Saved from its Spiraling Futility."
Oceanic blades gleamed. Overwhelming power exuded from each blade. So much that all the Aeonic Glyphs were crashed through, shattering upon impact. No energy was wasted, however: Silver smashed through the Glyphs of the Etheric Aeon, Thalassic Aeon, Nadir Aeon, and finally Mindy's. Shadow's lineup consisted of the Glacial Aeon, both the Aerial and Astral Aeons, and Cindy's.
"Forgiveness wast promised, and granted."
Sonic plummeted through the Infernal Glyph, the Springtide Glyph, and Sandy's Glyph. With the addition of a new one.
"Now we, the Apocryphal Embodiments, canst house hope and solace once more."
Heart-wrenchingly akin to a hibiscus, Sonic soared through the glasslike sigil, shoulder-guard first. The shards were absorbed, and an even stronger opalescence rippled inside it. Sonic's wings did the same, his halo revolutions maxing out. Prismatic Luster thrust the weapon outward. Splendent Gleam and Gilt Patina made the same move. "Final Glyph Gate—Lock!" Within a heaven-shaking battle cry, Lady Yuna and her Archangelus Triune heralded the name of their final move: "Dea Caliburnus!"
"Avowed and momentous salvation hast ensued. The Phantasy Knell hast tolled…at long last."
Great clangs spanned across the emptiness. Spira, as everyone saw it now—engulfed by Infinity Void, soon to be swallowed by Spira's looming Vacuum—was no more. And so was the Spira everyone longed to regain. The Helios Core was split, its Gyres disrupted and destroyed. Perish Void's effects nullified, the teal waters receded. A dodecahedral star impaled Infinity Void's Eye. Branches of light coiled all over it. The Overseer's pupil dilated, as if succumbing to death. Yu Yevon's Glyph had long gone, and now the Dea Glyph was gone, too.
The threat was gone. But so was everything else.
