Vaan flicked a coin and caught it. Then repeated the motion as he checked out the huge spaceship the crew filled. It fit all few dozen of them and that engineer Luca promised the atmosphere and life support would last unless something went drastically wrong. Something about crystal-tech fanciness.

Couldn't say he liked the lack of windows, though. They explored what was never explored before and he couldn't even see it from here.

"Hey." Zidane dropped from the ceiling and Vaan startled. "You know this place we're going to?"

"Nope. How 'bout you?"

"The only places I've been before besides Blue Terra are Gaia IX and a world that isn't around anymore."

Booted thuds against metal announced Rikku's arrival. "Hey, boys!" She slung a bag of stuff over her shoulder. "Mind helping me out over here? E-5 is still a mess."

"I'm no engineer," Vaan said. "But I'll watch."

Zidane pouted. "I can help."

"Great!" Rikku said. "Let's get to it!"

They barely made it two feet when the Whale shifted.

Vaan dropped to a crouch, hand on the ground to stabilize as gravity moved. He shook his head to clear the disorientation.

"Is the gravity what we're fixing?" Zidane asked.

Rikku groaned. "What else is wrong with this hunk of—"

The Whale shifted again. Vaan felt lighter and he looked for something to hold on to.

"Luca!" Rikku called. "Fro huf? Where're the anchor systems? Pinhehk cyhtc, tell me they're nowhere near life support!"

His stomach turned as he took in the surroundings. They were in the large, open space of the command room of the Whale. There was nothing to hold on to for way too far. And Luca was still down in the bunkroom with pretty much everyone else.

"Veha!" Rikku pushed up against the ground and somehow found the traction to move at this new angle.

Vaan tried to follow, only to slide against the surface. Zidane hopped his way to the top of the room with ease. Vaan wasn't jealous—Zidane cheated with that tail of his.

"Where am I going?" Zidane asked Rikku.

She pointed. "Click that button against the door to open the panel to engineering!"

Vaan pulled himself further up the floor that was more of a wall. The panel that slid open was still so far away.

He drifted from the ground. Of all the…!

Clattering in the stairwell. Iris appeared first with a dozen others in time for an ink-black portal to form.

Vaan ripped his sword from its scabbard and shoved off the ground. Snarling sounded from within. Vaan tensed as he floated and grabbed a metal bar in the ceiling when he reached it.

Claws reached out of the portal. Glowing eyes made the next visible part of it, but still too inside the portal. He wasn't risking a trip like that.

Sounds of screeching metal filled the air before anyone moved. And at least a dozen more of those inky portals bled open.

"Cred," Rikku said, tense with disbelief.

The first one launched. It threw itself from its portal, directly at Zidane. Zidane leaped out of the way. Vaan shoved off the metal bar and landed his sword between the ears of the critter. It didn't make a sound as it died.

He and the blackened corpse drifted to the ceiling and everyone else joined in. They split to handle the pack.

Penelo shoved off towards Vaan, while Balthier and Fran cut down monsters closest to the stairs. Setzer, Faris, and Bartz managed one big portal as Terra cast magic directly into it. Rydia, Cecil, Palom, Porom, and Leonora split around the edges of the room, as Luca made her way towards Rikku and the engineering room. Rufus and Selphie moved towards the center of the room while Shinra, Baralai, Iris, and Gladio moved to the upper walls. Firion and Maria moved to the ceiling and the gates opening up there.

Vaan hit the top just as Penelo landed beside him. He nodded and pushed off towards a growing cluster, Penelo just behind him.

A throng of twisted beasts pulled themselves free. He sliced and broke flesh.

They howled in pain. The ink shifted and one shoved away from the others and came Vaan's way.

His sword caught and slipped out of his grasp.

Something thudded and it screamed. Vaan pushed off the ground and away from the squirming monster. He floated and caught sight of a gleaming dagger in its shoulder blade.

"Vaan!"

He looked up to see Penelo throw his sword his way. He caught it with thanks and dove back in.


"E ys kuehk du vno ymm draca pycdyntc eh dra tacand cih!" Rikku shouted as Luca arrived. "Come on, we've gotta fix this gravity! You too, Shinra!"

Luca nodded and Shinra cursed. Both hurried her way. Rikku waved them closer and threw herself down to engineering. She pushed off the ladder, then moved against the ground. Fear twisted her gut. "Lead the way, Luca!" she called behind her.

Luca maneuvered mostly by grabbing poles or ladders and only floating a few feet at a time. She led the way to the back of the engineering bay, section X-2, turned off the power, and flipped the box open.

And it looked intact—perfectly so.

"Here it is." Luca pulled out a raked-up cable and tossed it towards Rikku. "If we've got extras, they'll be beneath floor panel 516."

Rikku pulled it open. She used metal bars on the wall to anchor herself as she searched through the meticulously sorted contents. "What am I looking for?"

"Crystal cables, on the right—er, left."

Shinra caught the old one and looked it over. Pulled back casing to reveal crystalline, blue wires. "Marked with this symbol?" He showed it to Rikku. Like two bows connected by a line.

"Got it." She ducked her head into the supply box and checked the wires that looked most like that one. But not one of them had that bow shape.

Thuds sounded above. Her heart raced and she dropped cables. Shinra caught them.

She found one with two bows that were stacked on top of each other, maybe that was close enough?

"How about this?" She threw it to Luca.

Shinra said, "That was an E, not an H."

Rikku tugged closer to the ground. "I know it's not the same. How do you know what the letters are?"

"Because I do."

Luca threw it back. "That's a different end."

"Not good enough for a substitute?" Rikku asked. She caught the wire and replaced it. "Wait, is it just the end?"

Luca nodded, the motion making her bounce in the air. "Yeah, otherwise that type of wire would work."

"Great." Shinra pulled clippers out of his belt. "You wanna do it, or should I?"

"Your fingers are smaller." Rikku handed him the cable. "Make it quick."

"What are you doing?" Luca asked as Rikku found sealant in the supply box.

"Quick-drying." She readied it as Shinra cut the ends off the bad wire and the good wire.

More banging from above. Shinra frowned in concentration as he placed the important end on the good wire. "Ready."

Rikku squeezed glue on the connected ends.


Vaan bit back a scream as a monster's acid hit his arm. He slammed his sword through the gut of the beast and scrambled out of the way of another attack. His flesh boiled.

He narrowly avoided the next before it slammed into the wall.

Vaan kicked back and threw the beast flailing to another side of the room as he slashed against another incoming.

Porom landed beside him, released a cure, and jumped away all in one smooth motion. His skin knit back together, though the burning sensation didn't totally go away.

Another portal opened. Only a few closed in the past few minutes, leaving the interior of the room filled with those black spots.

Selphie kicked an explosive into one of the portals and collapsed it. Palom, Rydia, and Terra focused heavy black magic and took down others.

"Oh, I didn't realize we figured out how to close them," Vaan said.

"Hit it hard, then hit it again!" Gladio yelled back.

Penelo narrowly avoided a hit. "We'd better do that."

Another portal congealed.

"Hey, watch out!" Bartz flipped off the ceiling and angled towards a group approaching Rufus.

Fran took one out with a shot to the neck while Balthier jumped close and fired.

If anyone could do that safely, it was Balthier. Even—

A portal shot open as Balthier and Bartz got close. It sucked them in.

He launched forward, he could make it, they could make it back out—

A fire spell ripped through, collapsing the portal. Vaan hit the other side of the room as sound muffled.

Should he follow? Go through another portal?

Fran landed beside him and shot an encroaching monster. "Trust him to survive, Vaan. Do not place yourself in danger to follow. Penelo!"

Penelo ripped through more monsters and retrieved some of the knives she lost. "Wake up Vaan, we need you here!"

He forced himself to adjust his grip and keep destroying these monsters.


Rikku gently tapped the sealant. It wasn't quite dry enough to throw it to Luca and hope for the best. "We should have done this over there."

Shinra folded his arms. "We wouldn't want to put in a faulty wire, anyway."

A scream from upstairs. Rikku grit her teeth and reminded herself that this was where she was needed right now.

"Hey…" Luca's motions stuttered. "Is it just me, or is it getting harder to breathe?"

Rikku's heart dropped. "Probably just the adrenaline wearing off. But…"

"Don't bet on it." Shinra slowly got to his feet, remaining still by holding a pipe by the wall. "Show me where to put the wire so you can go check on those systems."

Luca looked around as Shinra made his way over. "See that right there?"

"Yeah."

"Plug it into spot 4, and this side right here is the only place the other one can go."

"Got it."

"Okay, good luck!" Luca shoved off with a wave.

Rikku snorted. "More to you! Life support going down is the last thing we need, now more than ever!"

Luca disappeared around a corner and Rikku got to her feet.

"You think it's ready?" Shinra asked.

"I think I can risk moving over there." She kept a grip on the roughened metal walls while her other hand kept the cable's head in place. She slid along the ground and barely risked a breath before she reached Shinra's ladder.

"Pass it up here," he said.

"No, it's gotta wait just another minute."

"Rikku?" he asked with thin lips. "This is the void, right?"

"I'd guess so, why?"

"What's to stop it from destroying these cables again?"

"No idea. Here, I'm coming up."

"There isn't room for you up here! Just pass it!"

"Why do you think I'm coming? Geez!" She climbed a couple of rungs, careful not to jostle the cable. "Here! Make it fast!"

Shinra rolled his eyes and ducked his head inside the box. Rikku moved towards the power switch. Then turned back to Shinra and waited for the signal. It only took another moment for him to turn and give her the go-ahead. She flipped the switch.


A hum sounded and gravity pulled. Vaan drifted to the floor and bounced on contact.

Firion kept cutting. "Close the portals!"

Balthier and Bartz hadn't come back. Vaan ran at one of the last portals. "We can't just abandon them!"

Baralai steadied himself. "They'll have to find their own way back. They know our destination—they can find us there."

"But…!"

"Finally!" Palom lit up with fire directed at the remaining portals. Selphie joined him and launched more explosives.

Vaan watched in disbelief as the last portals closed and the last monsters died. He couldn't look away from where Bartz and Balthier vanished.


Luca looked through the life-support boxes, but nothing stood out. No damaged cables or capacitors or anything that should cause oxygenation issues. Maybe the creatures overloaded capacity?

"Luca, come on!" Rikku shouted.

She grimaced to herself and turned to leave. She checked everything—nothing here would help her.

"We should go upstairs," Luca said. "They might still need help."

Rikku packed up the supply panel and Shinra closed the box.

Gravity grew heavier by the second. Luca leaped back to the entrance and climbed to the top. She emerged to find almost no sign of damage. Porom and Leonora moved person-to-person to heal wounds, but no one looked fatally hurt.

Luca frowned. "They're all gone, right?"

"The monsters, yes." Cecil looked her way. "In the process, we lost two of our companions."

"Who?" Rikku asked as she emerged. "Who's gone?"

Luca counted. Cecil, Rydia, Palom, Porom, Leonora, they were all there, so who—?

"Bartz and Balthier," Baralai said.

"What happened?" Shinra asked.

Iris said, "The portal sucked them away. It pulled them straight through, not like normal portals."

"Oh, duh!" Luca said. "That's why the oxygen was dropping! The Lunar Whale is good at making air, but it must have struggled to keep up with the influx of portals."

Selphie cocked her head. "The oxygen was dropping?"

"Yes, but it's nothing to worry about. How far are we from Eos?"

Porom said, "A few days, still. We'll last that long, won't we?"

"Let's get some rest and keep a watch just in case," Luca said.

Quiet muttering in the group, mostly from the previously corrupted, but eventually Firion nodded. "I'll take first watch," he said.

Luca smiled in thanks, wishing she could help the rest of the group. Slowly, everyone got up and moved, either back to the bunkroom or up to navigation.

Except Vaan, Penelo, Fran, Faris… they worried about Bartz and Balthier.

Luca tried not to think about that. They were too close now.

They had to keep going.


Bartz hit a wall and flew past a golden corridor and into a dark and empty void. Balthier spun past him and Bartz scrambled to get a hold of his friend before they spun into nothingness together.

After a long moment of panicked flailing, Bartz found himself still breathing and relaxed into taking in his surroundings. They floated in the vastness of space with naught but that fading corridor to orient them.

"There goes our ride," Balthier said. "I hope you know an alternative way out of this place because I don't."

Bartz thought of their encounter with Exdeath and when they lost Gilgamesh. "I don't. But I know someone that might."

"And how would they possibly—"

A primal scream interrupted them, and a large, red-clad man barreled into Balthier. They both spun out of control. Bartz moved to catch them, but Gilgamesh adjusted himself and removed the need. Balthier hissed out a curse and Bartz watched them angle themselves back on track.

"You took long enough!" Gilgamesh bellowed. "How long have I wandered and withered! How long has it been since I knew the warm touch of person, man or woman, or the reassuring words of a friend? How long since I tasted the validation of heated battle!"

"You make us sound like lovers," Bartz said.

"Rivals! How I've longed to beat you again! The things I've done, the weapons, I've used, every low to which I've sunk has only served to make me greater and prepare myself for our eventual reunion! I've doubted and I've fought and I've struggled, but now I see I should have kept faith! But it seems I'm not the only one! See the change in your aura! You could be a Warrior of Darkness, I say!"

"We've got bigger problems on our hands, I think," Balthier said.

Gilgamesh released Balthier and pulled swords and guns free. "Bartz! Come at me with all your rage! I'll channel it into stunning combat and breathless battle!"

"I don't want to—"

Gilgamesh yelled and rushed him. Bartz flailed to get away from him, motions strange and unintuitive. This place made it impossible to move!

"Where's your luster, my rival?" Gilgamesh twisted back. "I can't truly fight you if you run! Has it to do with your blackened power?"

"That's the point!" Bartz lost his sword with the airship. The sight of Gilgamesh's gleaming weapons made his stomach twist. "I don't have anything!"

"What of your mime powers? Copying your friend would prove a pathetic move, granted, but you know to take advantage of your surroundings!"

"There's no surroundings here to take advantage of! And I lost my mime powers when I got cut off from the Crystals! Can't we just wait until we get back before we deal with this?"

"I've waited long enough!"

"But you want an even fight! Let me get my powers back and I'll make it worth your while!"

Balthier moved between them. "How about we put off your rivalry until we get ourselves out of this mess, hm?"

"It's not a mess you've joined me in, good men, but a dazzling and sophisticated system of getting from place to place!"

"You know it?" Balthier asked. "So, you can take us where we need to go?"

"Anywhere! I know it like the back of my hands!"

"Then to Eos it is!" Bartz said.

Gilgamesh bounced in place, arms waving like wings to orient himself. "When I said I could take us anywhere, I meant I know how to get anywhere. I could never hope to find a specific place."

Balthier said, "I must say, I think I prefer this place to the nightmare I faced with the living."

"I trust us to take on whatever we face," Bartz said. "We've got some of the best in the cosmos, after all!"

Gilgamesh huffed. "The best are only made more attractive by their strength. We'll be swarmed like so many corpses before we meet our first beast if we even make it close to Eos. And you just complained about your lack of weaponry!"

"Now you're just being pessimistic." Bartz swam through the unnatural currents that formed space in this bizarre realm.

"Fine," Gilgamesh said, "but it's this way. Follow me."

Balthier angled himself to follow and Bartz joined them. Dark and twisted abominations shimmered in the distant space and Bartz wondered what kind of creatures worked for the Void and how they might survive such massive beings' wrath if they crossed paths.

"No path is as reliable as the Rift," Gilgamesh said. "They might get you there faster, but they break and become unstable. The Void, on the other hand, is eternal and never-ending. You'll not find a better way to travel."

"I think I'd rather walk the instability of dead roads," Balthier said.

"Because you're sick with too much sun and wind," Gilgamesh said. "Once you've known the Void, it's hard to live in such chaotic conditions."

"Do you work for the void now?" Bartz asked. "Because it's kinda messing with our planets."

Gilgamesh harrumphed. "I work for no one. I only use the Void when I feel like it."

"Then would you use your independent skills to help us fight off the thing that's trying to take over our homes?"

"Why?"

"Because you're really strong and might turn the tides."

"I don't care about winning wars."

"But you care about winning. I'd count you as better than me if you can get this thing dealt with."

"That's not how it works, chump."

Balthier shook his head. "Just get us to Eos and I'll count us lucky. If we survive the oncoming storms, then let's reevaluate."

Bartz reluctantly agreed and floated with them toward nothingness.