Chapter 12 - The Chaos Ensues/The Spiral Continues
"This sucks!" Wakka kicked the door to their cell, the metal hurting his toe and making him wince in pain.

"Calm down, Wakka," Lulu cursed, "It's your fault we're in here in the first place."

"Oh, don't blame this on me, eh?" Wakka pointed an accusing finger at the mage, "Who's bright idea was it to come see this Hyne guy anyway?"

"Felix said he was a good person and I thought..."

"Oh here we go again!" Wakka threw his hands in the air, "Felix said this; Felix said that! Geez, Lu, why are you so dependent on the guy, it's not like you at all."

"Wakka..." Lulu fought for what to say next, "You're such an idiot."

"Oh, I see how it is," Wakka crossed his arms over his chest, "I know you love him, Lu, but that's no reason to act different."

"Just shut up!" Lulu shouted, fire burning in her eyes.

"Both of you quiet!" the guard shouted from outside the room, "Consul Hyne wishes to see you both."

The door opened and two guards came in. They placed handcuffs on both Wakka and Lulu and Lulu's mouth was gagged. The cell they were in was designed to prevent magic from being used by prisoners, but extra measures were being taken to insure that Lulu would not try to harm the Consul.

They were led through the government complex that was situated next to the Blitzball stadium to the top level, where Hyne was sitting behind his desk looking out over the ocean. The two guardians were placed in the chairs in front of the desk as Hyne turned around to face them.

"I received a sphere this morning," Hyne fumbled with a small glass ball in his hand, "It was delivered by an Al Bhed. I thought you would like to hear it."

Hyne reached his hand across the desk and touched the top of the sphere, starting the playback. Milevan appeared floating over the sphere, flanked by two Al Bhed with weapons.

"Consul Hyne," he spoke in almost a mocking voice, "I trust by now that Lady Yuna and her guardians are there speaking with you. Good, I want them to here this too. I, Milevan, of the Al Bhed, have control of the only remaining Aeon in Spira. An Aeon of Machina called Alexander from the destroyed city below the moonflow. It is my intent to use this Aeon to destroy all of New Yevon. You can, however, avert this disaster by publicly turning control of all of New Yevon over to the Al Bhed. I will give you until evening to decide on your action. If no decision is made, consider this your final warning."

The message ended and Milevan's image disappeared. Hyne then smashed the sphere with his fist.

"I will not be made a puppet of the Al Bhed," he hissed at Wakka and Lulu, "I don't know where your summoner is, and I, frankly, don't care. The crusaders will meet and destroy the Al Bhed before they are able to attack assault any city in Spira. We will hunt them down and kill every last one. As for you, you two will be put on trial as traitors with your Ronso friend and hung in the streets of Luca for all to see."
"You can't do that!" Wakka shouted, struggling against the ropes that bound him.

"I can do whatever I want," Hyne leaned back in his chair, smiling evilly, "That's what the people elected me to do."

"Bah!" Wakka yelled, "You politicians are all alike, just like that monster Seymour!"

"Please don't compare me to that Guado scum," Hyne mocked them, "Guards, take them away."

Wakka tried to rise to his feet, but a pair of guards took him by the arms and forced him towards the exit. Lulu, on the contrary, was less resistive and let the guards lead her quietly out into the hallway. Lulu was guarded quietly by a younger monk, one that seemed to be new to his duties and creed. Without moving suddenly, she started walking closer to the guard. When they entered the hallway where their cell was, Lulu touched the guard, bringing his attention to focus on her. She blinked her eyes seductively, reaching out with her bound hand to touch him. She started mumbling against her mouth restraint and, to her pleasure, the guard reached up and removed the restraint.

"I said," she purred, "You men are all alike. Fire!"

Instantly, the man's boots caught on fire. As he hopped back, Lulu burnt her restraints. She casted another fire spell melting Wakka's restraints. The Ex-Auroch then promptly leveled one of his guards with his fist before kicking the other in the gut.

"We must find Kimarhi and get out of here," Lulu grabbed the weapon from her guard and tossed it to Wakka.

"Yeah, let's do this," they took of running down the corridor.

* * *

Hyne stood looking over the sea once more. It was late afternoon and the Al Bhed deadline was fast approaching. He knew they had no clue where the Al Bhed were or what they were planning, but perhaps, if Milevan's words were sincere, he would be able to sway the rest of New Yevon into his favor. He could not launch a full-scale assault on the Al Bhed without the consent of the other provinces of Spira. An attack on one of the provinces, though, would sway the people to seek refuge under the watchful eye of the Crusaders. And Hyne, he would be there, leading them into victory, destroying the Al Bhed and their false weapons.

"Sir," a captain entered the room, "Two of the prisoners have escaped."

"Unfortunate," Hyne responded, not turning away from the sun floating close to the watery horizon, "Put out an order, I want them shot and killed on sight, got that?"

"Sir?"

"Do it, soldier," Hyne spun around, slamming his fist on his desk, "Unless you want your job taken."

* * *

Yuna sat curled up against Yunalesca's tomb crying into her knees. Untold hours had passed since Felix had disappeared with Yunalesca into the pyreflies. Tidus paced back and forth, often looking down into the abyss to where his sword had disappeared. He knew Wakka would be disappointed, losing Chappu's old sword like that, but it couldn't be helped. He'd have to get a new one before he fought Milevan again.

"It's almost night," Tidus told Yuna, sitting down next to her, "Do you know how long this is supposed to take?"

"No," Yuna mumbled, shaking her head, "I've never seen something like this before."

"Oh," Tidus leaned back against the stone coffin.

He looked at her crying. The girl, no, the woman he loved was pouring her heart out in her tears. She was always lonely, Tidus knew, during the pilgrimage, that she would cry herself to sleep. Wakka, Kimarhi, and Lulu were the closest thing Yuna had to a family, but it still didn't replace one. Wakka had told him when they were in Macalania forest before the fight with Seymour, that Yuna missed her father and would often call his name in her sleep.

It wasn't fair to Tidus, that she would find out she had someone else out there. Someone who shared the same father as her. Someone to call her 'brother', only to lose him seconds later. Why hadn't Felix told Yuna they were related? It wasn't fair at all.

"Yuna, I'm sorry," Tidus put his arm around her shoulder and leaned her towards him, "I'm sorry this has happened."

"It's okay," Yuna sniffed, trying to halt the flow of tears, "I, somehow, felt that Felix cared for me. I thought at first he was trying to love me, but it was different. Whenever we stopped, I would see him looking at me, making sure I was okay. When fiends attacked, he would protect me. He even risked his own life on many occasions to save mine. But, I never thought he was my brother."

Tidus wanted to speak, but there was a bright light behind them. They stood up, hand in hand, to see the vortex reappearing. Yunalesca appeared again, stepping out of the vortex, the usual sly grin on her face.

"It is done," she spoke solemnly, "Lady Yuna, are you ready to accept your new Aeon?"

"Yes," Yuna nodded.

"Very well," Yunalesca outstretched her hand and pointed a single finger towards Yuna.

Yuna felt a bright, warm feeling in her chest, followed by a light pulsing from inside her. Her body was actually emitting the light. Tidus gasped, stepping away as Yuna was enveloped in the spiral of light. It swirled about her as she stood, feeling its warmth inside her body. The warm feeling slowly subsided along with the light and Yuna felt her eyes try to readjust to the darkness in the chamber.

"Felix is now bonded with your soul, summoner," Yunalesca explained, "He is your Aeon, your final Aeon."

"Yuna, are you okay?" Tidus asked.

"I'm fine," Yuna clutched her hand over her chest, "I can feel him, in my heart."

"You should now go," Yunalesca began to fade again, "Night falls, and with it, comes the great destroyer."

* * *

In Hyne's office, he sat around with his closest advisors as the sun dipped behind the ocean. Hyne closed his eyes as the twilight replaced the day. A hushed silence ran through the office as the other officials whispered back and forth, fearful that Luca would be the target of the attack.

"May Yevon have mercy on our souls," Hyne spoke solemnly.

* * *

In the streets, Lulu watched the moon appear on the horizon and begin its ascension into the sky. Wakka was standing next to her with Kimarhi clutching his spear. Around them, no one else felt any different, as the night did not hold value for them. The other people simply went about their business. Lulu, however, felt a cold chill run up her spine as she watched the bright moon cast its reflection across the ocean.

"It's time," she whispered.

* * *

Night fell unceremoniously on the water born city of Bevelle. Since Evrea was killed, the night sky was its darkest in over two hundred years. People were in their homes asleep in the false comfort that the Eternal Calm had brought to them. Only the politicians were awake, scheming in their luxury of how best Spira would be run to suit their own interests.

It started slowly, with a few birds perched along the edge of the temple that faced the great ocean. They felt something below the water and started to move, flying away instinctively towards the mainland. A night watchman saw the birds leaving en masse and decided to investigate. Going down to the docks, the watchman noticed a large rippling of waves out in the blackened ocean. He pulled his looking scope over his eye and peered into the darkness of the ocean. What protruded looked like a long mechanical pole with steam coming out of the top.

Still curious as to what was disturbing the birds, the watchman kept the scope over his eye watching the pole. To its left appeared another similar one, then another and another until there must have been a hundred that stretched almost a mile across. Then, the poles started growing longer, pushing their way into the night sky from the depths of the murky water.

The watchman didn't know what to make of the giant machina that seemed to grow out of the water. It looked almost alive in its massive head, easily the size of a blitz sphere. The machina head carried an almost evil smile with it as it rose out of the water to carry out its devilish deed.

The watchman turned and ran back into the temple, not witnessing the massive Aeon of Machina fully emerge from the water. Its gears roared, alerting the residents of Bevelle to its presence. In its complete infamy, Alexander stood massively against the back end of the Bevelle Temple, towering over the creation to a false idol as a child would its younger sibling.

Struck down with fear, the Yevonites ran screaming into the streets trying to escape the massive behemoth as it poured thick gray smoke into the clear night sky. Towering, its shadow covered all of Bevelle, the people too terrified to really sense the danger.

Its shoulder pockets opened slowly, in perfect unison with each other's. Emerging slowly, small balls of light grew around the machina's weapons. Hundreds of lights lit up the dark night as the machina roared again, another massive blast of smoke and steam unleashing itself to create a cloud overhead.

The light was brilliant in its power, those turning to look blinded by its intensity and sheer magnitude. Others turned their heads, screaming and running through the crowded streets. People that tripped were crushed underneath the weight of those still running. Crying out to their old god to deliver them from the peril they were faced with.

Alexander's beams shot out in an amazing display of firepower, arching high into the nighttime sky. The thousands of bright blue beams reached their peak at the top of moon before falling back towards the planet. They impacted the center of the temple, in the site where the former maester Seymour and the High Summoner Yuna had been falsely wed. The resulting wave of fire arched high into the nighttime sky, creating a wall of flame and heat that reached higher than those on the ground could see. The ones closest to the temple were incinerated first, their bodies melting away in the intense inferno.

As the fire crept outwards, it burned hotter and claimed more of the screaming Yevonites in its path. Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of the attack was its speed. The sea of fire rolled slowly across the city, engulfing its victims and allowing them plenty of times to sea their deaths flow towards them.

The inferno raged, destroying every part of the city it covered. By the time the fire stopped its expansion from around the city, Bevelle was no longer standing. The temple was flattened, suffering the most direct damage. The capitol center was also destroyed; flattened by the apocalyptic destruction. The politicians and their families inside were killed by the fires and those who weren't, the ones lucky enough to hide underground, were also dead. The fire had seeped its way underground, roasting the people inside shortly after the flames had sucked the oxygen from the lungs, killing them painfully.

The fire subsided no more than five minutes after it had begun, but the effects were worse than anything one thousand years of Sin could have brought. Bevelle was gone, completely destroyed, with nearly one hundred percent of its people's dead. In the ocean, the sole survivor, Alexander gave a last roar of steam before descending into the ocean. Disappearing into the murky depths once again.

* * *

"Death tolls are coming in," Hyne heard one of the soldiers report from the command room set up in Hyne's office. He sat low in his chair, a bottle of alcohol in his hand. The soldier approached the Consul slowly, holding a sheet of paper in his hand, "It looks like we're facing a complete loss, sir. Over seven million reported dead with the attack lasting no longer than twenty or so minutes."

Hyne took a drink from the bottle, slamming it empty against the floor, startling the other people in his office. The Consul stood, walking towards the center of the room.

"Let it be known," he spoke, his voice slurred from the alcohol, "That war has been declared for the first time in a thousand years. The Al Bhed have assaulted New Yevon and our retaliation must be swift and overwhelming before they strike again. I want Milevan's head on my desk by the next moon fall!"

* * *

The airship that the guardians had traveled in was docked in the Luca ports. The ship, however, was placed under detention by Consul Hyne and was swarming with guards on the dock and in the ship itself.

Crouched down behind the crates lining the edge of the dock, Lulu, Wakka, and Kimarhi were watching the guards pace back and forth. Lulu peeked her head around the edge of the crate, clutching her moogle in her arms.

"How many you think there are, Lu?" Wakka asked, "Twenty? Thirty?"

"Kimarhi not care," the Ronso grinded his teeth, "Kimarhi dispose of them all."

With that, the Ronso clutched his spear and began to step out from behind the crates. Before he let out a mighty battle roar, another Crusader came running up to the group and saluted the two guards at the ship's entrance. They conversed for a moment, the captain short of breath and speaking in exaggerated tones and gestures. Shortly after that, the two guards motioned inside the ship and the other crusaders, a little of twenty, came out of the ship and filed past the crates where the guardians were hiding.

"Wow, lucky break, ya?" Wakka laughed a little.

"It appears Milevan's attacks have generated more trouble than Consul Hyne would have liked to believed," Lulu stood, straightening out her dress.

"We go," Kimarhi strode past them, "Yuna needs guardians."

* * *

It was morning in Zanarkand as Tidus and Yuna emerged once more from the dome centered in the ruins of the majestic city. Tidus stepped up on a rock, stretching his aching muscles out before spinning around in a circle and laughing.

"I hardly find it time to laugh," Yuna chastised him lightly.

"Hey, you were the one that told me that laughing was the best thing you could do when you felt bad," Tidus hopped off the rock and took her arms just above her elbows.

"Yes, but..." Yuna tried to think of a comeback, but she couldn't, "How are we supposed to meet up with the others? There's no other airship."

"We'll think of something," Tidus gave her a thumbs up.

Behind them, they heard the rumbling of machina, the undeniable mark of the Al Bhed, sent Yuna and Tidus hiding behind a rock. Tidus kneeled, clutching Felix's sword in his hand. The machina appeared, one of the larger land transports. There was a sole driver which Yuna and Tidus recognized instantly as O'aka.

"O'aka!" Tidus called to the merchant. The machina stopped as O'aka climbed down to the ground to meet the summoner and her guardian.

"M'lady, summoner," O'aka bowed, "It is good to see you again. And guardian, the stories told you died fighting Sin. It is truly good to see you alive. Though I wish we could meet in happier times."

"What has happened, O'aka?" Yuna inquired.

"The Al Bhed," O'aka recounted the stories he had heard from the Ronso tribes in Gagazet, "They've constructed a giant weapon of machina and used it to destroy Al Bhed. Word with the Ronsos is that New Yevon is preparing to go to war and invade the Al Bhed homeland of Sanubia."

"War?" Yuna gasped, "He has really started a war?"

She backed into Tidus, who took her hand and held her close.

"O'aka, we need to find our friends. We think they're in Luca, can you help us get there?"

"I suppose," O'aka laughed, "For the lady summoner, anything."

O'aka turned and climbed into his machina contraption to which Tidus and Yuna followed. They sat behind the merchant as he prepared the machina transport to move again.

"Hold on, we're heading out," O'aka threw the lever and the transport headed down the destroyed Zanarkand road leaving the dome behind for good.