A/N: A little more excitement in this chappy. I know I said the final showdown would be chappy 23 but i didn't have enough ideas for another chappy inbetween. Enjoy!

To Emrelle: You still think Lost Love is okay? Mebbe I'll keep it. I'm having enough trouble finding a title for the sequel --;
To Aj-sama: Yessir!
To SongstressLenne: No complaints? You didn't think the last chappy was to short? I did...
To Dr. P: Fine fine. The main reason the story is going to end is because I'm having trouble as it is... dumb writers block. I can only write a story for so long until all my ideas become stupid. That's okay though!!

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Final Battle

Tidus looked at Yuna worriedly. "Are you okay?" he asked. They were standing in front of the mouth of the cave.

"Yeah..." she lied quietly.

Tidus knew she was lying. After all, she was squeezing his hand to death. He was afraid it was going to fall off. Paine and Yuna had told Tidus and Aeris about the Den of Woe, and what happened. He understood they were a bit frightened. "Well then, let's go," he said, walking in.

The cave was dark and muggy, pyreflies swarmed everywhere. Just like Paine remembered it. This was the third time she had entered the infernal cave. She kept her sword handy, just in case. Aeris, who was standing beside her, had out her staff. Silently they wandered through it's dark passages, searching for any glimpse of light.

Yuna continued to repeat the plan in her head. Destroy the energy source, send them... Destroy the source, send them... She grasped her summoners staff in her hand, her daggers handy as well. What struck her as odd, was the fact that Seymour had done nothing the entire time he'd been 'alive'. Sure, he had controlled Aeris and given her nightmares and such, but nothing like Sephiroth. The platinum haired man had continually attacked them. Come to think of it, she hadn't even seen Seymour other than in reflections. Something was wrong. Stop thinking that! she ordered herself, It will be okay!

"Hey guys," Shinra's voice whispered. A flying CommSphere floated near them. "You're almost there!"

"Good luck Yunie, guys," Rikku's voice wished.

"But there is a problem," Buddy said.

"What now?" wondered Tidus.

"Methinks Seymour attacked Sephiroth. He sure isn't moving," Gippal said.

"Oh wonderful," retorted Aeris.

"It's one less guy to deal with. Is this it?" Paine asked as they came to a dark tunnel.

"Yeah, go on in. Be careful," warned Shinra. The CommSphere flew in, leaving the others to ready themselves.

"Ready guys?" Aeris asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be, I'm sure," Paine said.

Yuna held her summoner's staff. "Let's do it."

Their feet made little noise on the cold floor of the cave. A bright light shone in front of them, "That's it. Destroy it as quickly as possible," Tidus said. He and Aeris ran ahead. They were to distract Seymour and Sephiroth while Paine and Yuna destroyed the energy source.

"Hey you!" Tidus yelled. "Seymour!"

The blue-haired priest turned around, a wicked grin across his face. "The son of Jecht. Back from the dead as well, I presume?"

"Dreams don't die. But you will," he said, slowly circling Seymour. His clutched his sword tightly, ready to strike at any given moment. All he needed was the signal from Aeris.

"Much like Sephiroth, you underestimate my power. This will be your final mistake," Seymour cackled.

"What'd you do to him?"

"He's heading back to the Farplane. If you'd like to join him, I'd be happy to lend you a hand!" Seymour said, raising his wand. But instead of bringing it back down to send a spell towards Tidus, he found it floating above his head. "What?!"

"Now!" cried Aeris.

Tidus lunged at Seymour, thrusting his sword at his body. But even without his magical wand, Seymour was able to use his powerful magic. Tidus felt his entire body freeze up, then shot back at the wall. He winced with pain as his sword cut through his leg.

"You've become quite the pest, Tidus. You and Yuna will both pay for the trouble you have caused!" he snarled, sending a blast of fire towards the blitz star.

Tidus rolled to his side, the fire smashing into the wall of the cave. "Damn..." he cursed under his breath. He felt a sharp pain in his leg as it glowed softly. He said a mental thanks to Aeris. She was using Ancient magic to help fight and keep the others safe.

Aeris floated above Seymour, waving his wand playfully. She knew he couldn't use even half of his magic as long as she held his weapon. "Looking for this?" she taunted.

Seymour's head snapped up as he glared at Aeris. "So you've finally decided to use your power to some extent, haven't you Ancient?"

Aeris smirked, twirling the wand in her hand. "You know, I'd be nice to me if I was you. One little snap and half of your magic is gone."

Yuna and Paine tried to get close to the strange energy source, but something kept them back. Everytime they got close, it'd glow even brighter, sending a burst of almost unbearable heat towards them. "What are we going to do?" Yuna wondered. She knew they had to destroy this thing.

"Try magic," Gippal's voice suggested from the CommSphere.

Yuna tried to send a combination of spells at it, but they were reflected back.

"Bad idea," Paine said.

"Just wait," Shinra said. They could hear the furious clicking of keys in the backround. "Got it! It's not an energy source at all. It's just a spellball."

"A what?" Rikku asked.

"A Spellball. It's continually casts a spell on someone, without ever running out of magic power. This particular one continually casts a curing spell on Seymour. It's what's keeping him alive."

"Okay, now that we know what it is, how do you destroy it?" Yuna inquired.

"Simple. You have to counterspell it. It will reflect every spell but it's opposite."

"So if it's a cure spell, we have to cast a flare or ultima spell, right?" Paine asked.

"Correct."

Yuna cast a small flare smell, and sure enough, it began to fade. "That's it then?"

"Yes. It will fade away momentarily," Shinra said.

"Good job kid. We owe you one," Paine said, as they ran into the next room.

"Much more than one," Shinra grumbled.

Seymour stayed calm through Aeris' taunting. "If you're finished?" he said after a moment of silence.

"For now," Aeris spoke. She walked in the air above Seymour's head, smirking sweetly.

"Good!" Seymour hissed. His wand shot out of Aeris' hand and into his. Instantly, he blasted a strong spell at her, knocking her from the air.

Aeris stood up, a delighted look on her face. Everything was going according to plan. And she wasn't a bit hurt.

"What's so amusing?" he demanded.

"Nothing yet. But what will be amusing is the look on your face when you find out what mistake you made by attacking me," Aeris said, smiling. A gusty wind began to blow around them and a silverish aura began to glow around Aeris. "I can absorb your magic, Seymour. It's too primitive to effect me as long as the Ancient's power protects me."

"What?!" Seymour cried. He leapt at Aeris, his wand becoming a long sword.

Aeris threw her staff up in defense, the clang of metal against metal echoing in the caves depths. "You're a summoner and a mage Seymour. You can't easily hit me, can you?"

"The same goes for you," Seymour said. His face still showed little emotion, but beads of perspiration rolled down his forehead. "You can't defeat me. You know it."

The flower girl dodged more of his attacks, trying to distract him long enough. "We'll see about that." She sent a blast of fire at him.

Seymour quickly countered with an ice spell. "I've been using magic for a long time, Aeris," he said, his wand becoming it's own shape again.

Aeris, once more, took the magic blow, untouched. "You're weak! You don't have a chance against me."

Seymour was beginning to get flustered and irritated. He knew he had to do something fast.

Tidus lunged once more at Seymour, his sword slicing through his cloak. He was still too fast to hit with physical attacks.

"Tidus! Look out!" cried Yuna.

The blitz player turned, a blast exploding from Seymour's wand. He cried out in pain as he was blasted into a wall of the cave. Tidus' entire body felt horrible. His blood was boiling hot and his skin was cool as ice. Hot tears trailed down his cheeks.

"Tidus!" Yuna cried again, running to his side. Paine had run off to assist Aeris in fighting Seymour.

"Yuna," he whispered. Blood was caught in his throat, troubling his breathing.

"Shh, don't speak," she said, holding his face in her hands. Yuna closed her eyes, concentrating her magic, trying to send curing spells into his body.

"Yuna!" Paine yelled.

The former summoner ignored her. Whatever spell had been blasted into Tidus was bad, and was taking his life quickly. She couldn't let that happen.

Aeris dashed to Tidus' side. "Let me heal him. You have to send Seymour," she said.

Yuna hesitantly got up, picking up her summoner's staff as she ran to Paine. The warrior had pinned Seymour to the ground with one of her heeled boots; the other had smashed his wand. And he was slowly losing his power. Yuna raised her wand to begin summoning, but stopped. "Paine, give me your sword," Yuna ordered.

Paine looked at Yuna, almost afraid of the fire burning in her eyes, and handed over her one-handed sword.

Yuna took the sword and looked at Seymour. "By now, I'd think you have realized, you can't win against us. You might be able to control us, but you can't win."

"Lady Yuna... you wouldn't..." Seymour pleaded. He knew it was time to play innocent. "It was all Sephiroth... he made me--"

"Shut up!" Yuna snapped. "You killed Sephiroth too. For all we know, it was you who forced him to do your dirty work. But I don't need to know," she said, raising the sword directly above Seymour's chest.

"Yuna! Noo--" his cry was cut off by Paine's sword, thrusted through the area where most people have hearts.

Yuna gripped the sword's handle, and twisted it. She heard the sound of bones cracking and snapping, causing her stomach to lurch. iI've owed you that for a very long time,/i Yuna thought darkly. She pulled the sword from Seymour's corpse, causing blood to drip onto her leg. Smiling weakly, she looked up at Paine, who was terror-stricken by Yuna's... behavior.

"Y-Yuna... s-send him," Paine stuttered. Clearly, she was frightened.

Setting Paine's sword on the ground, Yuna picked up her summoner's staff, performing the sending. Aeris used her magic, binding his spirit to the Farplane. It was over. They had done it. Seymour was dead. The Den of Woe was silent, almost in awe of Yuna's actions.

A/N: Egad! Yuna killed... mercilessly. Oh well, that bastard Seymour deserved it!! Well the story is coming to an end, pretty quick here. I hope you liked this chapter, it's prolly the most excitement there will be for the rest of the story. All the rest will be closing up all the relationships. Mushy-gooey fluffy stuff, hehe.
Oh and just to clear it up, Sephiroth is dead. Seymour killed him. I knew someone would ask so I'll answer the question before it's asked! Hehe. LYL, -Letselina