Ruby never worked so hard in her life. Well… not for a while. In this version. The weight of an entire continent provided more than she remembered, and it took all her focus not to let it slip.
Refia—in her adorable, budding glory—acted like the toddler putting their hand on the big wooden beam carried by fifty and proclaiming they helped. But this stretched her muscles and she'd emerge all the wiser and stronger if they survived.
"Ingus is almost done," Refia said, voice hoarse. She looked as flushed as a fevered infant. "Just… a little longer."
Words failed her and Ruby swallowed the worry that bloomed at Refia's glazed eyes. If she fell and hit the ground from this height—
"I'm losing her!" Luneth yelled. He finally stopped flitting about the place like a drunken sprite and even showed fatigue in the grit of his teeth and the heavy breaths he forced.
"Don't you dare!" Ruby shifted her center of focus.
Refia's eyes fluttered. "Ruby…"
"No, Refia! You're not giving up on me!"
"I can't…"
"No!"
Refia let go and fell.
Luneth screamed and dove after her. His half of the continent dropped, and Ruby dropped with it.
Panic filled her before she caught it again and it felt… lighter?
"The people have left," came an ethereal woman's voice. "I'm flooding the land with shadow. Leave before you're caught in the temporal freeze."
Ruby flew after Luneth and Refia. "You got planet powers now, lady?"
"I've taken the vagrant potency of Cosmos and Chaos and absorbed them. Since the beginning of Cornelia—"
"I don't need a history lesson." Ruby caught up to Luneth and helped him carry Refia out. "Just take my reluctant thanks for now."
They flew away from the Floating Continent as it filled with darkness.
Cinque barely thought past the haze brought about by her recovery. It was sloppier than other possessions and she picked up so many of Bhunivelze's thoughts, she lost track of her own.
Everyone fought each other and she knew why, but it still felt wrong to see it. The Cie tried to take Bhunivelze's phantoma, but they couldn't stay focused with so much going on. Cinque could help with that. But the thought of fighting her siblings left a bad feeling in her stomach.
But Eight and King battled them. And they were like the best leaders of them. So, did Cinque have to do the same thing?
"For your insolence," came Bhunivelze's booming voice, "you'll face retribution."
He summoned two others from Class Zero, but Cinque didn't recognize them. They didn't even wear the uniform. Yet she knew… Tiz and Joker.
"No!" yelled King.
Bhunivelze continued, "You insist on fighting the inevitable. You insist on dooming the future of all worlds. And thus, I'll bring more from your world to Revel and learn Truth until Orience is fully Converted."
He released them, but they stilled.
Snow called for everyone to scatter in time for Tiz to release a surge of black magic. It burned Cinque's hair and fingertips.
She screamed and went after them with a vengeance.
Aerith pulled free of the corrupted Lifestream only to find Rufus bleeding out. Ultimecia took his shards. And she was nowhere close to here.
"I'm sorry." She kneeled by him and healed what she could. Bhunivelze's poisonous hold kept her from granting full life.
He coughed and blood dribbled at his lip before his lungs stitched back together. "Don't stop."
"I'm not. But I'm out of ideas."
"You have better ideas than I." He struggled to speak through his broken organs.
"And I'm losing them to Bhunivelze. His hold spreads through the merged worlds, and then we'll lose them to the Void. Don't you have anything? Actually, don't talk, that's bad for you."
"I'm sorry. For before. And for now."
"I've forgiven you. But I don't want you in the bliss of death just yet, okay?"
"I'll not take orders from you. Nor will I die."
Trees fell on the horizon and the torn ground convulsed beneath the surface. Forest floor mixed with badland and humid air clashed with dry. A tornado formed in the hills before dispersing with the broken clouds. "The Dissidian warriors aren't enough," Aerith said. "Ultimecia!"
"If you want the witch, she's left."
"No, I need the other version of her. Ultimecia!"
The spirit and body splintered. Neither retained stability to listen.
"If you would…"
Aerith startled to find Rufus struggling to his feet.
"I said I won't die yet. I've had practice enough to keep power for myself."
Aerith took him and when she focused, she found the telling pulse of a foreign energy within. "You can't take back the planet with so little."
"But I can reach that woman with your help. She turned sickly with what she took. I doubt she'll stay away forever."
Aerith channeled him and Rufus let her. In his fatigue, he failed to withhold spare memories and thoughts. She shuddered at so a many dark reminders before filling him with light. He'd see the Turks again. With that, Aerith gave a final push and reached the dwindling, dead self of Ultimecia.
Time splintered at her call.
Ashe didn't need an expert to tell her what was happening. Basch and Larsa understood enough and from their inklings, she pieced together the obvious. From her room in the palace, she watched her world break.
Ashe tested her connection and asked, "You can hear me, no?"
"A mortal cannot initiate contact," came the Occuria's reply.
"I borrow the power of gods. Gods that have grown desperate enough to protect what's left of our planet that they give power to man. Venat did this same thing."
"And we rejected it."
"But you also will not allow your world to be destroyed, will you? I ask your help. Despite all the powers combining as we speak, the Void threatens consumption of all. We—"
"We will not."
"What?"
"The contamination caused by this merge has ruined this planet beyond repair. It is time we start anew."
"What do you mean?"
They didn't respond. Ashe went for her comm and dialed Basch's code. He answered after three agonizing minutes. "Your Majesty—"
"Any progress?"
"We've lost contact with our men in Giruvegan."
"Giruvegan?"
"There were reported signs of an energy like nethicite near there. And it appears to span many miles. Meet us outside. We'll take your fastest ship."