[Disclaimer: 3...2...1... Nope, I guess that I haven't yet received the copyrights to FFX-2. Heh, my death threats OBVIOUSLY meant nothing]

Upon Silver Wings

Chapter 3: The Forgotten Allies

The darkness began to meld into light, as night into day. Chaos gave break into realism, and the freedom of life began to breathe itself once again into their lungs. As the blindness retreated from their senses, the three young girls slowly began to open their eyes.

"Ugh…" Yuna groaned. Her head spun in dizziness and vertigo. Her mouth was filled with gravel and she coughed as it choked her. She rubbed her eyes, and slowly eased her eyes at her environment. It was like floating amongst the stars, with the black sky dotted with a million lustrous pyreflies. She felt the ground and breathed in the frigid, dark air. She was alone, and upon a floating path of rock, her breaths echoed into the vastness.

"Paine?" she called into the abyss. "Rikku?"

"Yuna!" a faint voice echoed from nowhere. "Yuna!" it called again. She lent over the edge of the path and look down. Rikku was standing far below her, a the same path she was on. The path itself wound downward and spun itself relentlessly until she couldn't see it anymore.

"Are you okay?" Rikku called to her. She put her hands on the ground and pushed herself up.

"Yea!" she yelled. "Wait there, I'm coming down!" Her legs felt weak, but she quickly sprinted down the levitating path to where Rikku stood.

"Yunie, I never want to do that again," she told her.

"Me neither," she responded. She looked around, searching. "Where's Paine?" Rikku shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "I woke up alone. So, this is the Farplane huh?" Yuna nodded, agreeing. It was cold, lifeless, and without beauty. It was nothing like what she pictured it, but the grim clasp of the dark air choked every breath from them, waiting for their lives to gently extinguish.

"Let's start looking for her. She can't be far," Rikku nodded and began to walk down the path. Yuna followed her, and eventually, a misty figure began to emerge in the distance.

"Paine!" the girls yelled to her. She was laying face down in the gravel, her sword resting impaled in the rock close to her. Rikku knelt beside her and began to try and wake her. Yuna stood beside them, staring helplessly as Paine's body laid motionless and cold.

"She's cold," Rikku whispered. "We need to warm her up!"

"But we don't have anything to do that!" Yuna was panicking. Paine was losing her life if they didn't do something quickly. But what could they do?

"Rikku!" She yelled. "Give me the Black Mage dressphere!" Rikku looked confused but she frantically searched herself, and handed over the fiery orb. She raised it above her head and the flames began to flow around it. They began to dance down her body, singeing her clothes. Her body felt cold against the midnight air, her nipples hard from the wind. Rikku stood in disbelief as Yuna's naked body began to cover itself in the Black Mage robe. With a final flare, the orb forged itself into a staff which Yuna grasped with effortlessness.

"I call upon the flames of the netherworld," she chanted. "Light and warmth, fill the void of death with your presence! FIRAGA!" Her voice echoed with power and command. A powerful aura surrounded her body and flew around the three. With Yuna's hand and touch, she gently caressed Paine's body. Rikku could feel the heat emanating from her body, and smiled as she basked in the warmth. Hardly any time passed before Paine began to open her eyes.

"Ughh…" she whimpered. Her body was warming in the fierce yet gentle flames that Yuna controlled.

"Let me help you up," Yuna said. "Here, take my hand," She managed a feeble smile, and outstretched her arm, grasping Yuna's.

"Thank you," she said. She stood up and grasped her sword. They were ready to progress. The flames began to dissipate and Yuna took a sigh of relief, glad that the strain was over.

"Okay," Paine said with gaining strength. "How do we find these Aeons you keep talking about?"

"Yunie, how will we catch them?" asked. Yuna stood there puzzling over the questions.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I don't know,"

"Great…" Rikku said. "So we just have to wander around the Farplane until a dead Aeon attacks us?"

"I guess so,"

"I sooo didn't picture myself doing that today…"

To Be Continued

Thanx for reading my 3rd chapter. I hoped to make it longer but I'm having a brain cramp, so any reviews would be appreciated.