Only a few left now…
_____________________________________________________________________
Darkness Falls
Chapter 27: The Heart Of Sin
"And now a city?" Wakka said incredulously, as huge buildings soared around them.
"Don't start that again," Tidus groaned.
"I'm just saying ya?" Wakka said. "Cities just don't…"
Then no more sound came from him. His mouth moved, but the words didn't form. Wakka frowned and looked across at Lulu, who had subtly placed a Silence spell on him. Wakka just stared at her in disbelief, and then started to shout at her. At least, he tried to. The others fell about laughing while Wakka just stood there screaming noiselessly at the Black Mage. They got the feeling he was shouting some quite nasty things at her.
"Let him go," Auron grumbled.
Lulu looked as if he had just spoiled the best fun she had ever had, and clicked her fingers.
"…And another thing!" Wakka shouted. His eyes widened in surprise and he stopped shouting. They burst out laughing, and then stopped instantly when something whispered from behind one of the buildings.
"What was that?" Rikku whispered, making sure her glove was in easy reach.
"I don't know and I don't actually want to find out," Tidus said quietly.
"We move on," Auron said.
As they walked through the city-cum-illusion, Yuna was struck by how much it reminded her of Bevelle and Luca, with all the colours drained from it, and she remarked this.
"Reminds me of Zanarkand more than anything else," Tidus said. The tall buildings and harsh corners reminded him of home.
Rikku didn't say anything, but the shapes and machina-look of it reminded her of Home.
"It is designed like that. Sin is just one big collection of pyreflies and lost souls, and when they gather in great enough numbers things like this," he tapped the wall, which made a hollow-sounding noise, "are formed from them. Think of the inside of Sin as one big Farplane and you have it," he said.
"You know an awful lot about this place," Tidus said.
Auron chuckled. "I had to travel to Zanarkand in it, remember? Of course, it looked a lot different then. It changes according to the person who is looking."
"Kinda like; the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?" Wakka asked. The others looked at him. "What? Am I not allowed to make an observation once in a while?" he asked.
"He is correct in any case," Auron said. Wakka beamed.
They moved silently through Sin City (AN: Not a reference to Saigon), their hands close to their weapons and so tense that they could have held onto a pneumatic drill and made it go still. If even a harmless spider had stirred in the shadows it would have been in serious danger of being fried by a well-placed Flare.
When an attack did come, it was a relief, and they fell on the unfortunate subject like the Wrath of Sin, alternately blasting and freezing the thing until it died or crawled away.
Rikku swung around the giant creature and dodged around its large feet/hands/dreadlocks, swinging her glove at its side. To her disappointment her glove just bounced off the armour that surrounded it, and she had to duck to avoid a swing from the appendages.
Auron ran in and swung at its now-unprotected belly, his huge sword gouging the carapace for a good few inches. It roared in pain and turned to him, but he ran backwards out of its reach. It roared again, and suddenly it's arms swung inwards. Its stomach just popped open, and Yuna's eyes widened as a glowing white sphere flew upwards and towards them. Rikku dived for cover behind the nearest building as the mortar exploded amongst the group, sending shards of tile and metal everywhere. She heard a scream, and turned to see Yuna clutching her stomach, blood oozing from a deep gash across her midriff. As she watched the summoner closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. A soft blue glow flowed through her arm and across the wound, sealing it and cleaning it at the same time.
Lulu's eyes narrowed as she dropped her Mog onto the floor.
Oh crap.
She ran for it, and dived just as a massive green explosion appeared, right where the beast had been. She hit the floor and rolled, running away as the Ultima spell disintegrated, tore apart and incinerated the thing all of once. She felt something hot and liquid fly over her head and make a wet slap against the wall in front of her. She ducked and tired to make herself as small as possible as the after-effects of the spell faded, and the noise of a thousand grenades exploding faded, leaving a ringing in her ears, and bits of fiend all over the landscape.
Tidus ran over to Yuna, who still had one hand over her ruined dress. It was covered in blood, both hers and the monsters, and would need cleaning. "Are you OK?" he asked, bending down and helping her to her feet.
"I'm… fine," Yuna whispered through clenched teeth.
Tidus looked across at Auron, who looked back and nodded.
Auron turned to the others. "We rest up here for a few hours," he said.
"But we're so close!" Wakka said.
Auron looked at him. "Sin isn't going anywhere. And even if it did, we're in it," he said, and looked for the nearest price of rock that didn't have bits of fiend splattered all over it.
Rikku wandered over from behind her building and sat down next to Auron, leaning her head against Auron's shoulder. "You know this t-shirt was white when I joined up with you," she whispered, pointing at her red and dripping t-shirt.
"What happened?" Auron asked quickly, turning to face Rikku an checking her for wounds.
Rikku shrugged. "I was a little too close when the fiend exploded," she said offhand. She grinned and suddenly shook her arm in his face. Blood flew off her and scattered across Auron's face. He quickly took a step backwards and looked at her.
"Not funny," he said, brushing blood from his eyes.
"I think it was," Rikku said. She laughed. "Now you've got red streaks all down your face."
"Your playfulness will be your undoing," Auron said dramatically.
"And your stuffiness will be the death of you!!" Rikku said, smiling.
Suddenly Auron lurched forward and run his hand down Rikku's hand, and flicked it in her face. She blinked at him.
"I can't believe you just did that!" she exclaimed. Quickly she flicked her wrist at him, but he ducked, and the now semi-liquid blood hit Wakka in the face. He spluttered and fell backwards off the fallen pillar he had been sitting on.
He got up and stared at them. "Guys!"
"Sorry Wakka," Rikku said, waving sheepishly at him. She turned back to Auron. "That was your fault."
He looked surprised. "My fault? You threw it!"
"But you ducked."
"But you got soaked by the blood."
"But the fiend exploded."
They looked at each other for a few seconds, then;
"Lulu's fault?"
"Definitely."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They walked through the innards of Sin; now rested and healed up from what seemed like days or walking through city, but what had actually been a couple of hours.
Slowly they moved towards the huge tower in the distance, Tidus seeming reluctant to continue as it grew. No fiends attacked them here, and the air had a stale, almost deathly, quality to it, that made them glance behind them every few steps in case something waited to pull them back away from their goal.
Yuna grasped Tidus hand as they walked through scenery that increasingly remained him of his old home in Zanarkand. The semi-circle in the corner over there, the way certain buildings were put together, the way light – what light there was – bounced around the walls and illuminated the darkness around them.
Rikku stared around her at the grim place. If Tidus' father had to live in here day in day out she could see why he was making it so easy for them. And there was something else… Whenever she looked at Auron she got a feeling of sadness. Love as well of course, but she couldn't help but shiver, as If he was going somewhere. It scared her.
They approached the huge tower, and Tidus felt an incredibly strong urge to step away from it, turn, and run like hell back to the airship. But he couldn't. He couldn't run away, not now, not when he was so close to ending this.
"We finish this today," Auron said, seeing his hesitation.
"I know," Tidus said. He took a deep breath and drew his sword. "I'm ready," he said.
"Good." Without another word, he stepped forward and touched the large glowing glyph at the base of the tower. Instantly he vanished. The others drew back suddenly. Then Rikku took a deep breath and ran at it, hitting it with her fist. She also vanished.
"Erm, do we gotta do that to?" Wakka asked.
"Unless you want to stay behind," Lulu said, and walked into the glyph.
Wakka sighed in exasperation and followed on. Khimari, ever silent, followed them. Only Yuna and Tidus were left, staring at the tower where the others had disappeared.
"Are you coming?" Yuna asked.
He looked at her. I want to, but I don't want to leave you. "…Yeah," he said. Together the two teenagers walked forwards. She put her hand in his, and the two touched the glyph together.
Instantly the world faded from view, and they got the sensation of rushing down something. Suddenly the world snapped back into view. They looked around, and saw everyone standing in front of them, staring at a figure in the distance, the old Zanarkand Blitzball stadium behind him, coated in fire. Yuna looked around and saw Zanarkand surrounding them, lights off, sitting there like some sleeping swarm of bats.
Tidus however had eyes only for the figure.
"You're late Auron," Jecht said.
"Sorry," the guardian replied.
Jecht turned to face the guardian, and his eyes widened when he saw Auron gripping the hand of a small blonde girl. He just stared, and then he started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Rikku asked.
Jecht wiped the tears from his eyes. "Congratulations girl, even Braska never managed to crack through that shell of Auron's!" He turned his head, and saw Tidus glaring at him. "Hey," he said, instantly serious again.
"Hi," Tidus said.
Jecht looked his son up and down. He grinned. "You got big but you're all bones! Auron been feeding you right?" he asked.
"Dad…"
"Yeah?"
"I hate you," Tidus said simply.
Jecht sighed, and they saw his face fall. "I know. Listen, we're going to have to finish this."
Auron drew his sword, and the scraping it made was the loudest noise they could hear.
Jecht turned back to Rikku. "So, you and him?" he asked nervously.
"Yes," Rikku said simply, grasping Auron's other hand.
"Then tell one thing, please," Jecht said, holding up one finger.
"What?" Rikku asked.
"You probably don't want to go for a drink after all this is over?" Jecht asked.
"She's taken," Auron said, smiling. Some people never change…
"Shame, she's cute. Nice going Auron!" Jecht said, winking at the older man. Auron rolled his eyes and Jecht became serious again. "We gonna do this?" he asked, and turned away from them, walking to the edge of the platform and staring out at the vision of the ruined stadium.
"I suppose…" Tidus said. He reluctantly drew his sword.
Jecht didn't even turn around. "One last thing, when I change, I won't be able to hold back. No freebies this time around."
"That's enough!" Tidus shouted. "Lets just finish this," he said, with tears in his eyes.
"Yeah…"
Jecht turned around, and they saw that his eyes were glowing.
"Then lets go!"
And he changed.
_____________________________________________________________________
We're so very, very close now.
