So sorry! SOOOOO sorry! Getting mono made me write less and miss a bunch of school, so then there was the make-up work, and...oi. Anyway, we're almost done. The last chapter will be number 50, with an epilogue afterwards as well. V So, here's the next chapter! Whee! --Jedi Ari
It was huge, to say the least, and very, very ugly. She couldn't quite remember what the Sin from the original FFX looked like, but she was quite sure that it wasn't like this.
Tall and hunched over, it looked like what scientists would call some sort of missing link in evolution. Its skin was mottled dark blue and gray, with large, bulging black eyes and a huge fin on its back. It had thick, short flippers, much like a stumpy sea turtle, as well, with a pair of legs jutting from somewhere on its rear half. Scars and discolored blotches covered a good majority of its body, with one particularly odd-looking chunk taken out of its front chest.
"Ew!" Niet said, summing up the monster rather simply.
"That's part of my boyfriend you're talking about there, Niet! Watch it!" Arashi warned. Niet laughed nervously.
"Doesn't look much like him right now, does he?"
"I realize that. We have to get him out first," Arashi said, unwrapping the belt from around her forearm. "And for that, we need a little help from the first and still the best!"
Sin roared above them, becoming impatient and thirsty for blood. Mattian looked at Arashi, frantic.
"Any time now would be nice!"
Niet promptly thwapped Mattian on the back of the head, exclaiming, "She's working on it, dummy!"
"Why you—"
"Not now!" Yueh shouted from across the broken chamber. The two ceased fighting, but continued the nasty looks they were giving one another. She shook her head and looked back at Arashi. "Those two, I swear…"
Yueh watched as Arashi began to dance. She swung her arms around in graceful motions, and above all the noise, the roaring and the cracking of the ceiling, a chorus of people could be heard singing. The louder it got, the clearer the song was.
"The hymn of the fayth!" Genki shouted in amazement. "She's…somehow, she's…!"
Mariana, her sharp eyes still on Arashi, placed a hand on Genki's shoulder. "I know, love. I know."
What is she doing? Yueh couldn't figure it out. Arashi went on dancing, twirling her arms. As her belt swung around, the jewels let out long trails of light, making her look rather like the classic picture of a molecule in chemistry class. The chorus of voices got louder and louder, increasing in volume until it completely covered all other noises.
Finally, Arashi stopped, the singing ceased, and the jewels disappeared fully. Arashi held the belt up for another moment before falling to her knees and letting her arms drop.
"I did it…" Yueh ran up to the summoner, despite her close proximity to Sin, and pulled Arashi to her feet. "I did it…!" she mumbled again.
Yueh dragged Arashi back, and the travelers all gathered around the blond, who was smiling.
"I did it!" she exclaimed, giggling a bit.
"Did what?" Mattian asked, looking around. Yueh did the same, and her eyes fell on six familiar figures standing in the entrance to the chamber.
"Did that," Yueh said, pointing with a free hand to the chamber's door. The rest of the group turned to stare at the entrance, which was filled with living, breathing, non-apparition versions of Auron, Rikku, Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, and Yuna, the last standing in front of all of them, holding her summoning rod at her side.
"I had hoped we would be able to meet in this form," she said, giving a small smile before bowing.
"They're—they're—"
"Alive?" Niet asked, stepping closer to the group from FFX. Rikku crept closer to Niet, and the two began to size each other up, finally ending the interesting greeting by poking each other in the nose before cheering.
"They're…alive!"
"We're alive!"
"We're alive in this realm, yes. No longer mere spirits or part of the Farplane," Auron said, stepping forward. He stopped in front of Arashi, who was still halfway bent over, and went down on one knee. "Myself included. I am in your debt, Lady Arashi." He stood up and gave her a small look. "However, I would like my glasses back now."
Arashi nodded and obliged Auron's request, taking the glasses from her face and handing them over to Auron, who promptly put them on his own face.
"You guys know what to do, right?" she asked, glancing at each "original" group member in return.
"I told them your plan, Arashi, and we're ready," Yuna answered for them.
Arashi nodded. "Unfortunately, I forgot to explain my plan to them."
Sin gave a loud cry, causing the blond to add, "And it seems I have very little time to explain it to them."
"Good going, Arashi," Mattian mumbled. Niet trotted over and bonked him on the head.
"Shuddup. We need all the time we can get."
"We'll hold Sin back, Arashi," Lulu said, walking past her. "You can use the time to explain your plan quickly."
"Woo! Time t'kick some Sin tail, ya?!" Wakka said, running forward, blitzball in hand. "We got your back, Arashi!"
Auron merely shook his head. "Please hurry, Lady Arashi."
As the FFX group ran off to stop any advance from Sin, the others grouped around Arashi, who began to frantically explain her 'grand idea.'
"We need to channel all of our energy to open a sort of 'rip' into Sin's main, um, whatchamacallit…"
"Stomach?" Hunter suggested.
Arashi scrunched her face. "Sort of…except they aren't being digested. Anyhoo, we need to get the spirits of Atrah and Tidus out so we can bring their energy back to this realm, like Auron said before."
"So, Auron's alive now?" Yueh asked hesitantly.
Arashi smiled and nodded. "I thought it a just gift for letting him use my glasses for so long."
"You mean he was dead!?!" Niet shouted, her eyes wide. Mattian winced, but didn't say anything.
Gage rolled his eyes. "Yes, he was. Continue, please?"
"Yeah. Now, to release their energy, we need to use ours. In other words, we need to use our gems and all of our magic power and skill to unleash their spirits into this world and bring their bodies back to us," Arashi explained quickly. Yueh could see the worry in the summoner's blue-gray eyes—she was obviously worried about getting Atrah back safely. Then again, who wouldn't be worried about their boyfriend…?
Niet must have noticed, for she put a reassuring hand on Arashi's shoulder and said, "It'll work, Arashi, I'm sure of it! I mean, you brought all those guys back, right? So, what's two more?"
"Ya! You can do it!" Hunter said, pumping his fist. "You're d'summoner, ya? You c'n do anyt'ing!"
"Agreed," Gage said simply.
Arashi smiled and took a deep breath before saying, "So, you guys got it? Concentrate your energy on the window to Sin's soul."
Niet blinked. "Window? I don't see a window."
"She means figuratively, idiot," Mattian said, giving the brunette a glare.
"Hey—"
"Actually, I mean a real window," Arashi said, turning to look at Sin. She pointed to the oddly-shaped "hole" in Sin's chest, which was currently being bombarded by black magic spells. "Tidus and Atrah told me they can see and hear the outside world through that little hole. Neat, huh?"
Niet stuck her tongue out at Mattian, who immediately began to sulk. Yueh rolled her eyes. Of all the times…
"Can it, you two!" Gage yelled. He looked at Arashi. "It's time to battle, right?"
Arashi grabbed her belt and held it taught between her hands. "All right! Let's rock, baby!"
"Didn't you use that line before?" Niet asked, ruining the moment. Arashi looked thoughtful for a bit before replying.
"Heh, you're right. But 'flock off feather face' wouldn't work in this situation—"
"Uh, shouldn't we, you know, do our thing?" Yueh asked, nearly falling over from her friend's bouts of spaciness.
"Ne? Oh, right!" Arashi's face went serious again, and her belt was held at the ready, the crescent moon gem dangling by her right hand. "Atrah, Tidus, we're comin' for you!" The gem began to glow, its aura bright blue.
Yueh closed her eyes and concentrated all of her energy on Sin and his "window," pulling all of her magic power out and into the open. The jewel hanging off of her neck began to glow brightly, and it hovered off of her chest and into the air in front of her, its movement restricted only by the string that held it to Yueh's neck. The magic power in the room grew as the six began to channel all of their power, the gems glowing ever brighter in their colors.
Yueh could faintly hear the hymn of the fayth being sung by the ghostly chorus, as if encouraging the six magic users on. She took a deep breath and began singing softly with them, the words coming from somewhere inside of her. She heard most of the others around her do the same.
"Atrah! Tidus!" she heard Arashi shout suddenly. "We're here!"
Yueh opened her eyes and saw the auras of all the gems blend together to create a nearly blinding white light. The beam shot straight for the heart of Sin, the window to Atrah and Tidus. The light began to pulsate, and Sin started a wretched screaming that filled the entire chamber and pounded at everyone's ears. As Sin started writhing, the light beam ended and went the full way into the window.
"Minna! Everyone! DUCK!" Arashi shouted over the din.
"Why—" Yueh began to ask. Her question was quite quickly answered as the form of Sin began to bloat in a rapid manner, expanding beyond what would probably be deemed normal for it. Both groups quickly scattered to the far sides of the chamber as it exploded, ending the singing and Sin's screaming in one short moment. Clouds of dust rose throughout the whole room, blinding everyone for a little bit.
When the dust settled, Yueh looked up to see Arashi still standing where she had been before, her hair disheveled, her expression both tired and gleeful at once, her eyes concentrating on something in front of her. Yueh moved her gaze to a few feet in front of Arashi.
Two young men were now standing there. One was obviously Tidus, with his asymmetrical pants and bright yellow short coat.
The other had light brown hair and eyes and was dressed in a normal length spring-style, short sleeved coat, with blue on top and a light gray on the bottom, light gray pockets on the chest and light blue cuffs. A muscle shirt was underneath, the same color as the cuffs of his coat. He wore a belt of the same color, with a diamond-shaped silver buckle, and black pants with the same light blue cuffs as his coat. Black boots covered his feet, each with one silver piece of metal keeping it closed. His right arm had a thick cuff on his wrist, and his left had a sort of samurai-style piece of armor on the forearm. Around his neck was a silver chain with a dark green-blue gem on it. This, Yueh figured by a simple process of elimination, had to be Atrah.
"Arashi?" he asked quietly, looking at the blond summoner.
She nodded, smiling weakly. "Atrah…" She began to fall to the floor, but Atrah ran over and caught her quickly.
He held her tightly and smiled. "Thank you…I'm so happy to see you again…"
"Me too," she said, muffled.
Yueh decided to let the two have their moment and turned to look at Tidus, who was looking about the chamber frantically. Spotting Yueh, he jogged over and asked, "Um, hey, have you seen a girl wearing a, uh, dark blue skirt? She's got light brown hair and—"
"Tidus?" came a soft voice from behind him. The blitzer whirled around to see the other summoner standing behind him, crying.
"Yuna!" The two embraced, murmuring words of love to one another.
Niet walked over to Yueh and said quietly, "I guess it's a happy ending, huh?"
Yueh gave a sigh and began to stretch her muscles out. "Yeah, I guess, but it seemed too easy…"
"That's because it's not over," Mariana said, finally stepping out from the shadows of the room.
"Whaddya mean, not over, ya? Sin's dead, ain't he?" Hunter asked, standing next to Yueh.
"We saw him explode," Mattian said slowly. "He must be dead…"
"No, I'm rather afraid he's…not," Gage said, looking back where Sin had stood moments earlier.
"Huh? But—but—"
Yueh looked over to where the dust had settled. Rising from the ashes like some evil phoenix was a menacing, bony black creature, with pointed claws and teeth each as big as one person. Yueh gulped.
From over on the floor, she heard Arashi say, almost happily, "Ah. Now the fun begins…"