Pierson leaped up and punched the air. "Twenty-five chapters! ßðð¥åkå!" he shouted gleefully.
His muse looked across at him. "How in the hell did you manage to pronounce that?" she asked him.
Pierson blinked. "The same way you pronounce anything with weird characters in," he replied.
"And that is…?"
"$h££r ß|ððd¥-mind£dn£$$," he replied, beaming.
The muse cursed under her breath. Why did I get stuck with this guy? she wondered.
"I saw you think that," Pierson muttered.
Thwack
The next thing Pierson knew when came round; he desperately needed an ice pack.
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Darkness Falls
Chapter 25: Into The Beast
Rikku stared at Sin, which stared back. Unconsciously she took a step back, only to bump into Auron. She turned and looked at him as if to ask; do we have to do this?
"Yes, we do," Auron replied to her unanswered question.
The wind blew her hair over her face as Sin grew larger, and she nervously brushed it out of her eyes, making sure her claw was ready to be drawn out in a second if she needed it. And she would.
"You won't be needing this, right?" Tidus asked.
Rikku looked over to se the boy holding a plain movie sphere in his hand and grinning. Yuna was looking at him as if she had just been told her entire family had been killed, and spluttering. Tidus grinned and took a long step back, winding up his arm and throwing the sphere into the sea of clouds below them. She glared daggers at him, but he just smiled and turned back to see Sin growing ever closer ahead of them.
"You…" Yuna began, but then she stopped and smiled at him.
Rikku giggled and turned back to Auron, who was staring ahead. Quick as a flash she reached up with her hand and stole his glasses. Again. He turned instantly and caught her hand on the way down.
"Don't make me throw you off the airship," he said stoically.
"You're kidding," Rikku said. "Right?" she asked nervously.
Auron chuckled and let go of the hands, taking the glasses with him, and placed them back on his face. "One day you'll get glasses of your own," he said sagely.
"But I want yours!" Rikku said.
"Tough."
"Guys!"
They turned, and saw the others all standing next to the edge of the ship as Sin turned side on and kept pace with them. Rikku looked up and for the first time was struck at just how tyshat big the thing was. She drew her glove quickly and ran alongside with the rest. Strange… It didn't seem like it was going to…
She fell off her feet as Sin rammed the airship, and a resounding crash knocked them all to their knees. Sin drew back and suddenly vanished from view as Rikku tried to clear the stars from her eyes.
"Where'd he go?" Wakka asked as the wind flew across the deck. His question was answered when half a second later everyone was suddenly airborne as Sin hit the ship from beneath, sending them back to earth with a sudden thud.
*Kill that thing! Y ship can't take much more of this!* Cid's voice shouted from over the intercom.
"Easier said than done!" Wakka screamed back. He turned. "What are we gonna… Auron!"
Rikku whipped around to see Auron stood on the edge of the deck, calmly staring down into the clouds. Without giving any words of his intentions, he jumped off.
"Auron!" Rikku screamed, and ran to the edge. She looked over to see Auron falling directly onto Sin. He landed feet first and was running up the creatures back even before his second foot had touched the ground. She watched as he ran up to what looked like some sort of giant… thing… and hit it. Hard.
Instantly Sin roared and turned, coming level with the airship, Auron riding it like some sort of demon-surfer.
"Are you coming?" he shouted to the others.
Rikku sighed in relief, then smiled and took a running jump at Sin. She flew through the air and landed on Sin's back. She stumbled for a few seconds on the edge, arms spread out. Auron caught her and hauled her back to him. They locked eyes for a few seconds, and then the others were landing among them and drawing their weaponry. Rikku sighed in exasperation and followed the others up to Sin's head.
Rikku stopped when she saw what Auron was heading towards. What the ramm?
Before them was some kind of bluish flower hidden behind a huge plant. With teeth.
Why do these things keep hounding us? Rikku wondered as she ran forward and prepared to strike.
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"And that is why we rock!" Rikku shouted gleefully as the grenade exploded in the centre of the huge flower-like fiend. It gave one final scream, and then its petals – or whatever – withered and the colour faded as it died, dissipating into pyreflies in front of them.
She turned to the others. "Now how do we get back up?" she asked the others. She turned to Auron. "You had considered that when you jumped off right?" she asked.
"Not particularly, no," Auron said calmly.
Lulu sighed and walked back down the catatonic Sin's back. Luckily they seemed to have placated it. Now they had to figure out a way to get off, and in. She looked over the edge, and the blue sea below. She looked up suddenly. What the… She looked around for fiends, but all there was were Sin's hard armour and the sky. Then where…
She stood back just in time as the airship reared up in front of her, scaring the living daylights out of the group.
*You might want to get on, I don't know how long this things' gonna stay quiet!* Cid's voice boomed over them, as the airship pivoted and the tip of the deck rested against Sin's bulk. Without hesitating the entire team made a run for it as the airship wobbled precariously, balanced on air and subject to Sin's mercies, of which there are not a great many.
Auron caught her hand again as Rikku jumped across to the deck, glad to be back on something that wasn't made of metal or moved without the use of engines. As they did so Sin moved away, and they watched as it slowly fell down, heading straight towards Bevelle.
"Oh no…" Yuna breathed, as Sin spiralled down onto the holy city, smashing homes and old monuments as it carved a path down the mountain towards the centre of the metropolis. Then they breathed a sigh of relief when it slid to a halt barely a few hundred yards from the city centre, and did not rise.
"Did that do it?" Wakka whispered.
Rikku fell to her knees and sat on the ground, arms supporting her back. She looked up at the sky and laughed. After all that, and we did it… She looked down at Sin, and could barely see the people of Bevelle leaving their homes to take a closer look at the behemoth. Rikku smiled as she saw people pointing up at the airship and cheering. She vaguely saw one blowing kisses. Then the world spun.
Everyone was thrown backwards as a wave of energy ran through the airship. Tidus jumped up and ran over to the airship, staring down at Sin, which was…
Slowly, ever so slowly, Sin was levitating off the ground. Fist the tail started to whip around, and the people scattered as it thumped down around them. Then the massive head rose, and where its arms had been huge silvery translucent wings grew from the gaping holes. Sin flew back up, and perched neatly on the top of the Bevelle temple.
"Aww…" Tidus said, as it turned to face them, watching through emotionless eyes at the airship.
Rikku turned to the intercom microphone. "Vydran! Can you use the cannons?" she asked.
*Nope. They're busted. You're on your from own here on kiddo.* he sent back.
"Great…" Wakka sighed. "I thought we had the thing then,"
"Obviously not," Auron said.
"We should head back and think of something else," Wakka said.
"No!" Tidus shouted. Everyone looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Lulu asked.
"When you got the ball, you gotta score! We need to finish this thing off now!" he said, hitting his fist into his palm. "We got this thing on it's knees, so we're gonna get rid of it once and for all." He looked around at the others. "I promised."
Auron sighed to himself. Kids…
Rikku saw the look on his face and turned back to the intercom. "Take us in," she said.
*What?*
"You heard dad, go closer!" Rikku shouted at the small microphone on the wall.
*Fine! But don't blame me if it kills us all!* Cid shouted back, and clicked off the intercom.
Suddenly the ship lurched forward, and Rikku flew backwards into Auron's grasp as the ship surged towards Sin, watching them. As the massive face sprung into view it slowed, and the airship slid smoothly to a halt right in front of the thing, which opened it's mouth in reply. Rikku got a real bad feeling about that.
"Down!" she screamed, hoping the microphone was still receiving.
Luck, Yevon, or the Great Pumpkin must have intervened because instantly the ship slewed sideways, just as something spherical and black barrelled past where the ship had been seconds before. Rikku looked at its passage and saw that the air and clouds had been warped around it, making a hole where there was nothing. Even the clouds had huge circles cut in them. The airship swung back to face the open-mouthed Sin, and without having to be told the engines cut in and everyone hung on for dear life as they barrelled straight ahead, aiming right for Sin's face.
*Hang on!*
The ship crashed into Sin at several hundred miles an hour, shaking loose machinery inside the ship and shaking loose the people outside it.
Auron was braced for the impact, but it was still a shock, and the vibrations of the hull shook his hand from the deck. He slid down towards the edge of the 'roof'. He felt something grad his cloak, and looked back up to see Rikku clutching his arm with one of hers, the other still gripping the hull. She winked at him.
The airship pulled away, and they saw they had left a gaping wound in Sin's body that was leaking something blue and glowing.
*Once more!* Cid's voice shouted across the air, and this time Auron got hold of something more substantial as the airship rocked with the impact. This time when it withdrew Sin shuddered and sank down a few metres, not even trying to counterattack. The blue glow intensified, to the point where it was hard to look at.
"Now! Take us in!" Auron shouted. The airship powered forward, and, ignoring all rational explanation and several laws of physics, flew through Sin, and into the blue glow that was emanating from it.
Rikku opened her eyes again to see the ship flying through the most beautiful landscape she had ever seen. Stars glittered in the midnight sky and soft clouds whooshed past below them. She got to her feet and looked around in awe. How could something like this be inside something? she wondered. The others were also looking around, and they didn't see the storm until the last minute.
Rikku was the first to look ahead, and therefore the first to see the whirling hurricane of red light as it moved towards them. Before she could cry out it was upon them, and the ship was buffeted by winds that made them hang on for dear life again. They were doing that a lot recently. Inside the storm there was nothing except red light, and a familiar-feeling presence…
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Auron and Rikku looked out onto the misty landscape alone. The others were outside looking around and testing the ground.
"This is it," Rikku whispered. "We're here." She held his hand tighter ad Auron tighter and Auron understood what she was thinking.
"Rikku… you don't have to leave once we're done. Just because you are what you are doesn't mean you have to follow what others do," he said.
"But, Belgemine, Lulu's old summoner…" she began.
"Rikku, you can't leave me alone here," he whispered. "You haven't turned into a fiend, so you can damn well stick around a few more decades," he said forcefully.
Rikku hugged him. "Thank you. For everything," she whispered t him.
Auron put his hand under her chin and raised her head so she was looking right at him. "Rikku, I'll be here for you, always," he said, and kissed her.
Rikku opened her mouth as if to answer, but then he kissed her, and she closed her eyes and forgot about Sin, and Yevon, and Yuna, and everything else in the universe except for him, for a little while.
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We're getting closer to the conclusion.
