"They're not enough!" Yuna said. "And I'm losing my grip!"
Lulu struggled to focus. She reached for strength beyond her own and whispered, "… Ginnem. I have no right to ask for help, but you were the summoner of us. We need you back."
"What?" Yuna asked.
"Summon!"
"I can't!"
Lulu lost hold and scrambled to get it back. She found it easier than before and that council kid stepped in to say, "I heard."
Lulu tossed two red materia to the kid. "Even he knows what I'm talking about."
"It'll take more than just us," said the kid. "I pray to the old masters, give us strength."
"Father," Yuna said.
Lulu felt the swelling of old magic like she hadn't in years. It was distant and unfitting, but she felt it. "We need more strength. Gather the rest!"
"I'll cover you!" a girl yelled from below them before exploding a section of wall.
Yuna filled near to bursting with power. Her father appeared with her and bowed with apology before he summoned others. "With the merge," he said, "we can bring back our lost magic."
Lulu's old mentor joined them, and with her brought others. Kurgum brought back a couple of Bevelle summoners. They called others.
"Grand Summon!" Braska told her against the rushing wind. "Remember your old spells!"
Yuna strained against the weight of it. Her muscles ached and every tendon stretched. "They left me years ago!"
"You're not asking for the company of old summons."
"Yuna!" Tifa joined them and slapped two red orbs into Yuna's hands. "Use these!"
The orbs felt like cool water after a feverish search. Yuna gripped one in each hand.
Tifa joined Lulu and glowed purple-black.
"What took you?" Lulu asked.
Tifa talked about the process getting up the tower without Lulu's rope tactic. Yuna drifted in memory, to marrying Seymour, but from his eyes.
The magic in hand woke her from the mist's corruption again. Yuna channeled and it flushed her body of sickening waves.
"Who are you?" she asked the spheres that fit in her hand like they were made for her. "Please, show yourself. I would give my life to know you as I once did."
No need, Spiran, came a voice almost too quiet to hear.
The sphere burst with light. It colored the air and spread like wildfire. Her body filled again with something beyond her control and it split near her temple.
A jacketed boy joined them, also glowing with material power. His was white and reminded her of unseen choirs in a room dedicated to the Fayth.
Kurgum took Yuna's hand and the fire weakened. He channeled with her despite the flooding of his veins and the crashing paradigm shift.
Dona joined them with a warcry and the pain lessened. Yuna strengthened her stance and forced more power into the growing circle. It felt like no matter their numbers, the unseen force of the Old Gate bore down like yet another world crashing into theirs.
Lulu screamed and the material black magic flooded the tower. It mixed with the white and spilled over the stone edge.
Whispers filled her, following the pattern of the small voice. Another world sues for mercy, another world sues for protection, another world sues for a connection to the Eternities.
Yuna's view cleared, and the mist retreated. Clarity dawned and she remembered herself.
"Back, you infectious beast!" yelled Isaaru. "You've earned no place here!"
Light pulsed and flickered from all the magic and summoning combined. Storm clouds gathered, the sun disappeared, and wind tossed about them like waves. And in the distance, beyond the clouds, a shadow descended.
Yuna forced more of herself into the link. Old and new summoners, spanning an unseen vastness, stood on every side. She cracked at the fingers and her knees burst. Blood stained her sleeves. "By all the graves we've rested!" she ordered. "We swear ourselves to a new allegiance! For now, and forever!"
"For now, and forever!" Kurgum yelled. The rest of their army took up the call and the mist retreated.
An immense weight settled on them before lifting. The shadow in the sky vanished and the clouds stilled with a crack of lightning. Rain pelted them and stung Yuna's open wounds.
With a shudder of the ground and a mighty gust, they ripped Spira free of Bhunivelze. And then instead of them bleeding, the world cracked open.
Spirits fled them too soon. The debt of pain left in nature's greatness sucked in all the magic they had to offer. Mist and energy and every flicker of light they had rushed into Spira.
Lulu wrenched more magic from her spheres and yelled, "Almost!"
Yuna kept channeling, but now she ordered down white magic. It filled her leaking veins and sealed open wounds. The dead left them, but she didn't feel alone. Father left a whisper of encouragement before vanishing.
"We're here," Kurgum reminded her. "I can keep going."
Yuna refreshed her channeling and inundated the atmosphere with healing light. She lost strength in her legs. She fell to her knees. She couldn't breathe. She kept casting, but it stuttered in and out of control.
Dona and Isaaru moved closer. "Keep going!" Dona yelled. "Council dog! With me!"
"And me!" Isaaru glared bright with all that magic. "We may die, but Spira lives!"
Yuna sputtered and blacked out. Sweat soaked her collar and dripped from her chin. She felt dry. Like she hadn't drunk in days.
"Thank you, Summoner."
She didn't know the rumbling voice. No one spoke around her. Lulu and Tifa and Denzel and Selphie and Kurgum and Dona and Isaaru and other people she didn't know… they kept fighting, both in the tower and across Bevelle's walls.
A gentle hand on her shoulder. She forced her head up. An armored beast with empty sockets for eyes bore into her soul. He came from a realm lost to the Void. And he came with his incarnation of Espers to join their world. He echoed deep with thanks and promised to stand by her and her people for the rest of this world's lifetime.
"Thank you," she said. It barely made it past the painful blockage in her throat.
He flooded her with strength and mounted his horse. They leaped from the edge.
Yuna crawled to the tower's edge. Other summons joined them and lit the ground in limitless hues before splitting off toward the endless tides.
Spira moaned in anguish and the skies turned dark. Yuna used what remained of the Psychic's levitation and stood. It took all her energy not to topple. She joined Lulu and the others, if only to feel the progress.
They healed the worst of the wounds. Spira hurt, but She would recover. And with the remembered strength of Her Espers, once stolen away and forgotten, She promised renewal.
"We've done it," Yuna whispered. "We can let go."
The others resisted. Dona felt the groanings of the skies and Isaaru connected with the shaking trees.
Tifa yelled for them to let go before forcing a release with her materia.
Lulu collapsed from the strain. Yuna went to her first, though she couldn't feel her legs.
Lulu reached for her, skin lesioned and eyes glassy. Yuna breathed. Air filled her lungs and stars appeared in the night sky.
Yuna dropped to Lulu's side and summoned white magic. It sputtered in her hands and the reach of holy things felt too far to channel. "I've got you. Don't talk."
Lulu smiled at her and it made her look so gentle. Yuna bit back tears. "Kurgum. Are you still awake? I won't lose you, Lulu. To the old gods if I must, I beg your help. To the new gods of Spira, I plead for strength. To whomever formed the ocean, to the creator of the skies and the shaper of cliffs, I ask for only what fraction of your power you'll allow."
That triggered something. A hint of empathy, perhaps, or the distant reaction of a mighty collision. It sparked mana in her veins and brought white magic to her hands. Her pulse calmed and white sung its hymn.
Yuna gathered what she could and refreshed the functions of Lulu's body, brought energy to her mind, and cooled the overheating of her skin. She jumpstarted the parts of her body that slowed near to halt.
"We're not done," Lulu rasped. "Bhunivelze must be chased from every corner of this merging world."
"I'll fix it."
"No, you're too slow."
Yuna spoke without thinking. "We need all who've died to wash the planet in their sentient intelligence. Father. We need Snow." Yuna squeezed Lulu's hand. "How do we reach him?"
We've sent someone already, but it's hard to leave that place they've created. It remains outside of time and space.
Kurgum joined them and managed some pathetic cures despite the blood oozing from broken lips and broken ears. Chuami took up a guard.
"My shards will heal me," Lulu said, "and then I must get to the next weak point. Summon the Celsius."
Yuna reluctantly let her straighten before doing as told.
"Take me with you!" Selphie rushed to their side. "It's still a long way to go, so let's stick together."
Ace's throat swelled at the thought of losing Joker and Tiz. They fought on the side of Light, but Bhunivelze didn't plan for them to survive until the end.
His control stuttered. This felt wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to disobey. Bhunivelze's control degraded. He knew that. He knew that! He saw through all the holes and worn commands, but he still couldn't resist!
"Kill me," he said to the closest Cie, Sazh. "You can do that, right?"
Sazh twisted to see him, distracted as he was with Tiz's magic and Cater's shots. He threw up fire as a barrier between himself and them. "You kidding me?"
"We're lost. I can't stop it."
"If Lightning stopped Hope killing himself, then I'm not gonna change that with you, okay? How are you talking to me? Oh, shit, you're trying to mislead me. Wait, can you guys take our phantoma?"
"For the same reason Bhunivelze can't kill Hope, He can't rip your phantoma without risking damage to his shards. You can take ours, though. Sazh, you can take ours!"
"No, that'll kill you! We've been over this! No sacrifices!"
"Sometimes you have to do dirty things for the greater good! Damn it, why can't you take this one step?"
"Because I have a heart, son! I—!" He wobbled in place— "Have spirits talking to me, dammit!"
Nine landed between them and stabbed Ace. "Shut your trap!"
Ace lost his breath and stumbled back. His vision flickered. He bled.
He'd die.
Ace dropped. Tiz screamed and raged against Bhunivelze's control. "You won't use me for this! Joker!"
He paused his duel with Cinque. Cinque crushed his knee and stilled, confused.
"I'd rather die than be thrown about like a puppet," Joker said. Tiz felt the moment of clarity brought by pain through him, but they'd lose it again in moments. "Tiz, do what you have to."
She readied a death spell.
Nora pushed herself through nothingness. She felt the wavering of lights and connected to those broken souls. There was enough of a break in the control for her to slip through, but it'd be tight.
She blasted through a barrier and tilted. She lost control.
Tiz's spell went haywire before drowning in shattered time. "What's wrong?" he asked. "How'd you lose it? Bhunivelze?"
"Nora." Tiz dismissed her spell, looking stunned. "From Cocoon. She has another plan in mind."
"What kind of plan?"
"Joker." She stilled and reoriented. "There's one coming for you. Give them an opening."
He barely registered her words before something slammed into him like a wrecking ball.
"NO!" Noel landed and took all their phantoma without pulling it out. "Stay put, damn it!"
King joined him and took Queen's, Jack's, and Sice's. "None of you move! Or I'll rip you out!"
"You wouldn't," Deuce said. "That's not what you're here for."
"You want to try me?" King bellowed. "Do you really? You might be strung, Deuce, but you'd never risk something that stupid!"
"Don't listen to him!" Sice yelled.
Queen stood and approached King. "Isn't it worth it?" she asked. "No matter which side is right, we were taught not to hesitate. And you were the best of us at that."
King tightened his grip. "You remember what it was like?" he asked. "You remember the Arbiter? You remember leaving that? Do you really want to do that again to the rest of us? Did our flag mean nothing? Our promises? Our dreams?"
"No!" Cinque jumped between them. "Please, no! Don't!"
Sice howled in frustration. "It was worthless! You're stupid and naïve if you'll hold onto that for eternity!"
"It meant something," Jack said. "But it's not what's important right now."
King tightened Jack's hold. "The hell it's not! Mwynn chose us for a reason. And it wasn't to throw us through another abyss! But if we have to, then we'll take that abyss! For the same reason we hurt all those years ago and for the same reason we made that flag! For the same reason we stayed together and cried until darkness took us! For the same reason we gathered in Valhalla and made that our new home! DON'T TELL ME THAT'S IRRELEVANT!" He turned to Noel and said, "If you're gonna take out this son of a bitch, then DO IT!"
Noel nodded and took off. That left King with the others.
"Now either let me do my job," King said, "or I'll split you off from the rest of us."
Queen breathed heavy, but she stayed still.
Joker joined them, teeth grit in pain. "We'll stay with you. Right, Tiz?"
"You bet!" She rolled in after dodging a laser. "And we've got help!"
"At least that's someone." King focused on holding these ones and ordered Cinque to keep another three. Eight would take as many as were left.
An old spirit blasted his mind with its presence and King swore before losing hold.
Lightning rejected the invader, but they insisted. They prattled on about protecting her from Bhunivelze's twitching of the strings. They couldn't get a hold on Bhunivelze because he kept pulling the ground out and shuffling them about. He couldn't control them, but he had enough hold to disorient them.
"I don't need steadying!" she yelled.
"You're not the only one!" It was a young mage of a spirit. "Please!"
Lightning looked to Hope, still trapped. She forced every false breath. She relented.
"Thank you!"
The space lit up with the chaos of so many souls joining them. Some flailed in the lost abyss, but most broke through. The rest would find their way eventually.
Serah breathed steady. Minwu filled her with reassuring strength and the promise of stability. She saw Bhunivelze's points so clear, she couldn't understand why she couldn't get him before. She took those points and she squeezed.
Bhunivelze roared and his control on the Reds slipped. The conjoining souls took the opening and filled them with protection against further control.
"GO!" Noel yelled. "It's now or never!"
Dajh tended to Ace. Cinque moved to hold off her other siblings. Bhunivelze would order the Reds to kill each other. Yeul might hold off death for some, but they couldn't risk trying. Hope struggled under Seven and Cater's entrapment.
Lightning took hold, followed by Snow and Sazh. Fang and Vanille retook their position and grabbed on. Noel joined them, with Serah following suit.
"For Gran Pulse!" Fang yelled.
Vanille added, "For Cocoon!"
"For Nova Chrysalia and its sanctuary!" Serah.
"For Spira!" Snow.
"For all planets under our watch!" Lightning said. "And for revenge!"
They pulled as one and Bhunivelze gave a bloodcurdling shriek before his form collapsed. Instead of holding the phantoma, they moved it as one to Hope.
Time boiled and shards exploded.
Noel felt the entrance of one outside their boundaries. A lost soul caught in their broken web. He formed a resilience about himself and dropped through the tides to find that soul.
Time swirled about him and moments dispersed into distorted months. Events became years and years turned into seconds. He slipped through timeline after timeline until he caught onto that anxious and twisting presence.
"You're not from a mortal realm?" Noel asked when he found the flailing boy. "You know places like this?"
The boy, clothed in old beads and fabric, reached for him. "We need help!"
Serah was out of reach and cities changed to forest, then to desert. They moved through nothingness and then vast halls and then through ocean waves. "How did you get in here?"
"The Crystals sent me. But even Sarah of Cornelia and Eternity doesn't understand this place you've created."
"Now that you're here, I can't promise I can get you out again."
"You're the god of space, aren't you?" The boy clung to him, eyes wide. "If anyone can get us out of this, it'll be you. Our worlds are merging—dying. If you don't help us stop the crash, then hope is lost, and the Void has won."
"… Well, we can't have that." Noel pulled the boy close. "Hold tight. I don't want to lose you in case this works out. Fang! Cover for me!"
She yelled in protest before he dropped out.
Panic and rage filled him.
Hope fought the confusion and found himself drawn to take Tiz and Joker's place. He remembered his duty at the head of All Things. He ached and reached for that looming presence. His mind fogged and his instincts dulled, but he needed to trap God somewhere.
Panic filled him at the thought of further hurt. His insides clenched and he meant to reverse it. But Bhunivelze filled him anyway.
Hope retreated into his washed-out prison of a mindscape. He wrestled with that instinct to curl up and hide. "Happy now?" he asked instead. It came off as weak as he felt.
Bhunivelze screamed and the prison broke. White walls cracked and fell, windows shattered, and blood pooled at Hope's feet. The shining and pristine stone crumbled and turned rusty. "This was my realm!" Bhunivelze threw Hope to the ground. "Parasites!"
It hurt, but it was in his head. "I was. I listened to you and that was my first mistake. I let you drive into me madness, and then I listened when you said it was to save humanity. I thought your good intentions made you immune to villainy."
"You're blind to your weakness! Killing me will only paralyze you in your chaos-ridden inferiority! With me, you would become better!"
"Then we'll become such on our own." Hope healed his cuts and dismissed the blood. "We've learned all we need from you."
"You've taken my power and you've robbed me of my realm. And now you remove from me even my final dignities."
Hope restored the floors and walls. But instead of frozen and untouched colors, he formed the wooden walls and tiled floors of his home in Palompolum. Bhunivelze stilled at the sight. "We're bound together," Hope said. "You want to return here as much as I want to. We can fix that."
The windows shuddered with a passing wind and Hope remembered hiding under his father's desk.
Bhunivelze said nothing, but Hope felt his defeat. The fear subsided and Hope approached him. Bhunivelze in his avatar form looked as large and intimidating as ever. Hope shook at the thought of confronting him. But he did it anyway.
He summoned a wall of ice and rammed it into Bhunivelze's form.