Standard disclaimers apply.
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Chaos of Seven
Chapter Nine
By; Kissa-chan
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Rikku-chan was sitting beside the single bed. She was holding Shuyin's hand lightly and kept a teary gaze on him while the others paced around the room. They had gotten into Kilika Temple through a string of wild luck and Rikku-sama was currently on her way through the Cloister of Trials to check on the portal.
"You really are something else," Rikku announced, drawing everyone's attention to herself. "I mean, even when we were all together, I never got the urge to take my shirt off and walk into a public place!"
Rikki smiled softly. "Well, it worked, didn't it? No one noticed anything except my ample -"
"Don't say it!" Ri exclaimed. She still hadn't recovered from Rikki's naked prance around Kilika Temple. She had objected to the plan (along with everyone else) but in the end, Rikki had gone ahead with her plan.
"Shut up!" Rikk snapped. "You guys don't have real conversation so you might as well just shut the hell up!"
The room fell silent again for a few moments.
"Ri, can you cast Curaga on Shuyin again? And... Ensuna, in case he's just sleeping..." Rikku-chan whispered. "I'm really worried about him. He's too pale."
"Ooooooh! Someone's got the hots for a dead guy!" Rikki chirped, gliding across the room to rub Rikku-chan on top of the head.
"Didn't we all?" Rikk questioned flatly. "Unless you're all saying that all our feelings for Auron were just part of me."
"Auron has been dead a long time now..." Rikku murmured. "And we were young, immature -"
"You haven't changed," Rikk pointed out. "Did you love Auron? Tell me that."
"That's not a fair question," Rikku-san protested. "And who are you asking anyway?"
"Hey, no fair! Let me finish!" Rikku exclaimed. "I know that when I first met Tidus I thought I was in love. Then, when I realized he liked Yunie.... and she liked him... I gave up. There was no way that I wanted to compete with my cousin in love... Auron was available. He was there when we, when I, felt that I should be in love with someone."
"That's pretty serious coming from you. However, I hardly think that Auron was a 'love of convenience', you know," Rikki said, finally easing up on her poking of Rikku-chan.
Rikk shifted against the wall. "I still love Auron," she said flatly.
"Maybe that's because when we split, feelings were split too," Ri murmured. "Maybe -"
"I loved Auron at one point in my life. He's dead. I'm not. I know that I have to move on," Rikki interrupted.
"How can you just toss aside our feelings for him!" Rikk objected.
Rikku-chan scooted closer to Shuyin and stifled a sob. "They're fighting again."
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Rikku-sama knew the Trials inside and out. Having the memorized to the point where she could get through them in her sleep, she reached the third chamber with a Destruction Sphere in her hand.
Harper was hoping around her nervously. "Why do you have that sphere?" he demanded.
"Why are the Cloister's being used again?" Rikku-sama countered. "There's no longer any need to test Summoners and Guardians coming to the center of the temple and the former room of the Fayth."
"Well, I can explain," Sanders quickly explained. Sanders was the New Yevon official in charge of Kilika Temple. He had volunteered to lead the way to the portal where Nooj was.
"Go ahead," Rikku-sama offered.
"It's like this," Sanders began. "When the portal appeared, so did the Cloister of Trials reactivate. We're afraid that it signifies the rebirth of Sin."
"Don't talk such stupidity!" Rikku-sama scoffed. "Have you so little faith in High Summoner Yuna's victory?"
"It's not that," Sanders began.
"I don't believe that it's Sin," Harper interrupted, speaking in thoughtful tones.
"Nobody asked you!" Sanders snapped.
Rikku-sama toned the both of them out for a moment. The chasm in front of her had super-heated flames blocking passage through unless the correct combination of spheres was made. She pulled out one Kilika Sphere and watched the flames die down. "Are you two coming?" she asked a couple of moments later.
"Yes! But he's an idiot!" they both exclaimed, following her down the steps. A strange glyph that neither of them had seen before was on the wall. Or rather, more precisely, in the spot where a wall had once been.
"What happened?" Harper asked. "Wasn't there...?"
"Yes," Rikku-sama announced. "But it sank into the floor to reveal that opening. I recall that the Destruction Sphere opens a secrete chamber and was curious if there was anything inside it."
"What about Meyven Nooj?" Harper asked.
"What about that flaming bird monster!" Sanders screamed, scrambling back up the stairs.
"What flaming bird monster?" Harper asked, turning to look at him disdainfully.
"The one right behind you!" Sanders screamed.
Harper turned slowly and seen the gigantic bird opening it's mouth. Hot crimson flames began swirling in it's open beak.
"Run away! Run away!" Harper and Sanders shouted together. They both fled, leaving Rikku-sama to deal with the fiery phoenix.
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Shuyin's eyes opened suddenly. "He's here," he whispered, his voice sounding dry and cracked.
"Who's here?" Rikku-chan whispered.
All arguments around the room faded. "Akira?" Rikk asked, shuddering at the memory of their last fight.
Shuyin nodded and tried to sit up. It was about then that he realized he had a physical form... a form that was stiff and in a lot of pain. He tried to stand and his legs collapsed from underneath him.
Rikku-chan quickly braced him.
"Let's get to Rikku-sama," Rikku suggested. She sphere changed from Thief to Berserker and took up a position supporting Shuyin. "Everyone be prepared for battle."
"Why are we going to see Rikku-sama?" Rikk demanded, crossing her hands. She was still furious that Rikku was refusing to admit ever truly loving Auron.
"Because if he misses us and ambushes her...." Rikku said tightly.
Rikk nodded her head, conceding Rikku's point. "Let's go," she agreed. They headed out of the room and down the steps leading into the Temple.
Less than two minutes later, Rikki piped up. "Does anyone actually remember how the Cloister of Trials went?"
"No, Tidus usually did it all," Rikku-san said. "We let him do most of the work. Why?"
"That's what I was afraid of," Rikki said. "The Trials have been revived. We have to get through them quickly."
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Just outside the temple, Akira stopped walking. He knew that his targets were close. It was only a matter of time before he caught them. He also knew that they could help him now. But more than that, he knew which one was the real Midori.
His target was the girl in the white robes; the one that had healed Shuyin after they thought he had gone. She was the one that was responsible for his renewed vitality.
"RIKKU!" he heard a voice bellow. "Hey, you! Over there!"
Akira turned slowly. "Me?" he asked, voice low and dangerous. The man advancing towards him was an older man with frown wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His head was shaved bald and he walked upright in a stiff manner. Akira decided that he didn't like the man on sight. "I think you had better just leave," he warned.
Cid, naturally, ignored the warning. "I'm looking for my daughter and any men that she might be dating," he explained gruffly. "Her name is Rikku -"
"Ah, I know who you speak of," Akira said with a slight nod of his head. "She is the blond girls with the swirly green eyes."
"Blond girls?" Cid questioned. "What the fsck are you talking about?"
"I am her only... boyfriend. She belongs to me in every sense of the word. You had best remember that," Akira said, ignoring Cid's questions.
"Then you're the fscker that got her pregnant!" Cid snarled.
Akira's eyes widened. "I wasn't aware that she was with child," he snarled furiously. He closed his eyes, black lashes trembling furiously on his cheeks as he searched out her presence. "You will pay," he murmured darkly.
He started walking forward and found himself stopped by Cid. The older man was baring his path, arms crossed and a stubborn expression on his face.
"Move," Akira ordered.
"No," Cid answered flatly, shaking his head. "You had best just forget about Rikku, or else."
Akira laughed then, a cold merciless laugh. "You think that you can bar my path? That you have what it takes to threaten me?" As he laughed the clouds darkened overhead and thunder flashed. "Would you know that it is my spell that corrupts the skies over the Thunder Plains? My power that held her Fayth in check for over a thousand years!"
"Her Fayth?" Cid questioned, shifting to a more aggressive stance.
Akira's face twisted into a cruel smirk. "The Fayth of my beloved Midori. The woman that you call Rikku. In all six forms." Then he struck, blades digging into Cid's arm. "You will die for threatening me. Make no mistake about that."
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Yuna and Paine hurried up the path towards Kilika Temple.
"I can't believe Rikku took the mission without telling us!" Yuna screamed against the sudden wind. Her brown hair blowing across her face and her skirt whipping violently behind her.
"Forget about it for now. From what that Harper guy told us, she needs help!" Paine shouted back, raising her voice against the howling storm.
Several wolf fiends leapt out of the foliage, barring their path.
Paine rushed forward without preamble, striking at the nearest fiend. Her blade caught the monster across the neck, crumbling it to the stone steps with one shot.
"How do you think a fiend like that got in the temple in the first place?" Yuna questioned, her voice a shout against the elements. She took careful aim and unleashed a barrage of bullets on first one fiend and then the one closest to it.
"No idea," Paine responded, striking the last one and continuing up the steps. "I'm more curious about this storm, to tell you the truth." She reached the top of the steps and stopped.
"What do you mean?" Yuna asked.
"It's not natural," Paine answered. She nodded her head forward to the silhouetted figure of Akira. "Come on. We've got work to do."
Seeing Cid's body hit the ground, Yuna nodded her head slightly, determination blazing in her eyes. "It seems everything's going wrong," she murmured. "My baby will live in a peaceful world," she vowed.
Then, together with Paine, she attacked.
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Akira flicked the blood from his twin blades and started for the entrance to the Trials.
"Hold it right there!" Yuna shouted, firing a couple of shots towards his feet.
He turned, eyes flashing dangerously in time with the storm. "And you are dead," he snapped coldly before slashing his swords towards her.
All the way across the courtyard, Yuna felt the bite of his sword. Two deep gashes racked their way across her upraised arm. Her hand went numb almost instantly, dropping one of her guns to the stone floor.
"Fsck!" Paine snapped, aborting her attack and casting a healing potion over Yuna. She turned her crimson gaze back to Akira who had started laughing again.
"Let's play a game called - let's see who runs out of potions and magic!" he called out to the two girls. He swung his sword towards Yuna again and then proceeded to slash at Paine moments later. He had both girls pinned down effortlessly and was slowly cutting away at their HP.
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Rikku-sama was fortunately a very smart woman. She realized that she couldn't give ground to the Phoenix. She also realized that she couldn't defeat it. Her only goal with the monstrous bird was to fight it until reinforcements arrived in whatever form they chose.
So she mixed up a couple protective items and raised her fire defense and kept a barrage of attack aimed at the majestic creature. Using primarily Ice Gems and the Alchemist dressphere, she kept it from gaining ground.
Only the phoenix now seemed to be gathering energy with greater speed. It's eyes had started out as a glittery amber, but now they were burning with white hot intensity and blood red color. The room was getting hotter; Rikku-sama could see the heat sweltering in front of her eyes.
A fiery blast smashed her back into one of the walls and she felt it give slightly. "Great, the walls are melting," she muttered darkly, using a healing potion on her suddenly burnt body.
She looked back at the wall where the Destruction Sphere was supposed to be resting and tossed it in that direction, not really caring where it landed so long as she had both hands free again.
It hit the sphere place dead center and the wall exploded.
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Nooj tumbled out of the room almost instantly. He was sweating hard and looked too thin for comfort. It also looked like his metal leg wasn't working. "Get out of here!" he shouted to Rikku-sama instantly.
She didn't see or hear him. Her entire being was focused on the phoenix before her.
Nooj himself was too weak to say anything more before passing out. Although, he did see the Rikku-gumi arrive in the room with 'Tidus' supported between two of them.
"Seven Rikkus?" he murmured and passed out.
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Shuyin had talked them through the Trials.
Arriving in the Third Chamber, they came face to face with the fiery bird. "Well, it's not Akira," Rikk said, powering up her sword for an Ice Brand attack.
Rikku-chan stepped away from Shuyin and spherechanged to Black Mage, preparing to attack with Blizzaga.
"Erm, I think they got it!" Rikku exclaimed brightly. In response, she got toasted along with Shuyin by a Bone-Burning Wave. She toppled over along with Shuyin, both of them knocked out with one shot.
"Watch out for it's Bone-Burning Wave!" Rikku-sama shouted two seconds later. "My Scan shows it to be instantly fatal!"
"Now she tells us," Rikku-san said, throwing a phoenix down over Rikku. Ri in the meantime had cast Life on Shuyin.
Rikki materialized a bunch of oversized dice and whipped them forward, taking a chance with her Lady Luck dressphere. She was rewards with three sixes, creating a powerful attack that staggered the phoenix for a brief moment.
By that time, the Rikk and Rikku-chan's attacks were ready. They attacked at the same time, chaining their devastating ice based attacks together.
For it's part, the phoenix tried to rise above their attacks. However, in the confined space it was nearly impossible. It's wings, made of flames, beat at the ceiling and it plummeted back to the ground.
The next several moments dropped into a furious routine for both the girls, Shuyin, and the phoenix. Attack, defend, heal. Attack, defend, heal. Over and over with no sign of an end in sight.
Rikku was still with Shuyin, helping to support his weight throughout the battle. "What's wrong?" she asked as his body suddenly stiffened. "You seem a bit up tight suddenly."
"Akira's coming," he whispered just as Ri's attack defeated the phoenix.
It's flames shimmered and then died, plunging the room into a softer firelight. A small red marble appeared on the ground, glittering brightly. Ri stepped forward and touched it lightly with her fingertips.
All at one the stone vanished and Ri toppled backwards and into unconsciousness.
"Ri!" Rikk shouted, catching the shy girl before she hit the ground.
Behind them the doors imploded, destroyed by Akira. He stepped into the room and spoke; "Shuyin will not be able to help you this time. I've already beaten him on the steps outside the temple."
"Yeah right!" Rikku-chan shouted, closing the door as she and the others retreated from him.
"I did," Akira answered. "I defeated him, that old bald man, a girl that looked like Lenne, and some silver haired warrior. They're all dead." He advanced, aware that 'Midori' couldn't hear him anymore. "And soon, I won't be."
He smiled at the thought and started slamming into the new door with his power. "Soon, I'll live again."
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Tidus pulled himself to his feet shakily. "Who the hell was that?" he asked, using a Mega-Potion on the group. They had been beaten near soundly. Sheer luck had kept them all from perishing.
Tidus had been using a Phoenix Down at the exact same moment that Akira's final attack had struck. He had passed out and then came to in the space of a couple minutes. A Mega-Phoenix and Maga-potion later.
He walked over to Yuna, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked.
In response, her eyes narrowed in determination. "We've got to stop him!" she declared forcefully. "He's Unsent and powerful - practically a fiend already!"
"That bastard got my daughter pregnant!" Cid howled, having been effected by the Mega-Phoenix. He got to his feet and charged down the steps into Kilika Temple.
"Cid, wait!" Yuna shouted, trying to arrest his movement.
"Yuna! Forget it." Paine advised, rushing down the steps. "We're going to need all the help we can get."
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Akira's energy was slamming into the door, forcing it to splinter. "We need a plan," Rikk announced.
"What's our potion count?" Rikku-sama asked. "MP levels? HP levels? Are we in any condition to take on Akira?"
"I've got six potions left, two high potions, and a phoenix down," Rikku-chan announced. "I'm at full-life and half magic. I don't have any ether."
"Half-life, no magic, no potions, no nothing," Rikku-san murmured, leaning back against the far wall. "Oh, and Ri's completely KO'd. I tried my last phoenix down on her and it didn't work."
"Midori... I'm coming in now," Akira's voice came from outside the door.
"What's he mean? The door's still holding," Shuyin said in confusion.
Rikku-sama was the only one that had an answer. "The door was sealed to prevent it from being opened. He broke the magic seal and all he has to do is open the door." In time with her words, the rose colored petals shielding the door started to peel away.
"Dammit!" Shuyin cursed softly.
"I got a plan!" Rikku declared at his side. She shoved him forward and through a slightly shimmering oval in the middle of the room. Following him, she vanished from sight.
"What just happened!" Rikki demanded, slashing towards the door just as Akira stepped through.
"Nooj!" Rikku-sama exclaimed. She spherechanged to Gun Mage and scanned the portal in the center of the room. "It's almost closed.... T - 3 minutes."
"Should we?" Rikku-chan murmured. Tears were trembling on her cheeks once more and she seemed on the verge of a complete breakdown.
"No choice, that idiot already went!" Rikk shouted. She shoved Ri's unconscious body into Rikku-chan's arms and pushed them through the portal.
Rikku-san shook her head slightly and opened fire on Akira. "Hold it right there, Greenie!" she declared, keeping up a near steady stream of bullets towards him.
Akira raised his sword, catching the majority of the bullets and deflecting them. With his other sword, he caught Rikk's blade and shoved her backwards, away from him.
Off-balance, Rikk nearly staggered through the portal. At the last possible second, Rikki caught her. "We'll have to hold him here until it's closer to the portal's closing time. We can't let him follow us!"
"Thanks," Rikk answered gruffly. She attacked again, making sure to keep Akira from the center of the room.
"T- 30 seconds," Rikku-sama announced a couple of minutes later.
Akira grabbed the sexy blond by her hair and slammed her into a wall. "I'll be using that portal," he said confidently. "You four will not be able to stop me."
"Like hell we won't!" Rikk snarled. She swung her sword towards him, putting every ounce of strength behind her swing.
Rikki pushed herself off the wall and slashed with her cards. In response to her attack, a tear appeared on the back of his shirt. Stifling an unlady-like curse, she charged forward, meaning to attack using her awful Samurai dressphere.
Akira slammed both swords into the ground and reached behind him, catching her arms as she swung her sword down. He smiled at Rikk. "You're in my way," he said with a smirk. Shifting his weight, he smashed Rikki into Rikk, causing them both to disappear through the portal. "And I will follow," he mused.
"No, you won't!" Rikku-san's voice called out. He turned, meaning to wave behind when the Vjara attack hit him dead on. The lazy blond had stopped attacking him, so he had stopped paying attention to her. Besides, how was he to know that she transformed into Machina Maw after going through all the available dresspheres?
Rikku-sama backed away slowly. It was too dangerous to stick around when the special dresspheres were in use. She felt a shimmering feeling at her back and realized she had backed into the portal what was worse, she realized that the timer had nearly reached zero. "Rikku-san, we have to -" she shouted, and then her words were cut off.
She felt a jerk at her naval and was dragged rapidly through the portal. Colors danced and swirled around her face and eyes. Images and sounds formed and vanished like whips of time. A painful throbbing started to build up in her head, giving the feeling of an impending explosion.
Unable to focus her thoughts, Rikku-sama felt her consciousness rapidly fading away. Her last thought before darkness claimed her was, 'I hope the others are okay.'
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Author's notes; Gee, I hope someone is finding this suspenseful. The Rikku-gumi vanishing into a mysterious portal, oh-la-laaa! Anyway, about Auron; I think he makes a cute couple with Rikku; however, for the sake of this fic, not all the girls still feel the same about him. We'll see where that leads.
Anyway... it looks like I have a bit of writer's block now. (I 'try' and write two chapters ahead of what I post...) I've had several horrible false starts for CHAPTER TEN! Originally, I was thinking that I would have the portal lead to FFVIII; however, after writing a couple of chapters, I found that, while I love the idea, it's too hard to smoothly incorporate into the story at this point.
Meaning....? Writers BLOCK! Yuck. Oh well, hope I get over it soon. Any ideas are welcome.
Next Chapter; The Rikku-gumi are split up once again. Four different groups went into the portal and one girl stayed behind. Will Rikku-san manage to stay alive in her fight with Akira? And just where in the Universe are the others? Find out in the next, CHAOS OF SEVEN!
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
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Chaos of Seven
Chapter Nine
By; Kissa-chan
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Rikku-chan was sitting beside the single bed. She was holding Shuyin's hand lightly and kept a teary gaze on him while the others paced around the room. They had gotten into Kilika Temple through a string of wild luck and Rikku-sama was currently on her way through the Cloister of Trials to check on the portal.
"You really are something else," Rikku announced, drawing everyone's attention to herself. "I mean, even when we were all together, I never got the urge to take my shirt off and walk into a public place!"
Rikki smiled softly. "Well, it worked, didn't it? No one noticed anything except my ample -"
"Don't say it!" Ri exclaimed. She still hadn't recovered from Rikki's naked prance around Kilika Temple. She had objected to the plan (along with everyone else) but in the end, Rikki had gone ahead with her plan.
"Shut up!" Rikk snapped. "You guys don't have real conversation so you might as well just shut the hell up!"
The room fell silent again for a few moments.
"Ri, can you cast Curaga on Shuyin again? And... Ensuna, in case he's just sleeping..." Rikku-chan whispered. "I'm really worried about him. He's too pale."
"Ooooooh! Someone's got the hots for a dead guy!" Rikki chirped, gliding across the room to rub Rikku-chan on top of the head.
"Didn't we all?" Rikk questioned flatly. "Unless you're all saying that all our feelings for Auron were just part of me."
"Auron has been dead a long time now..." Rikku murmured. "And we were young, immature -"
"You haven't changed," Rikk pointed out. "Did you love Auron? Tell me that."
"That's not a fair question," Rikku-san protested. "And who are you asking anyway?"
"Hey, no fair! Let me finish!" Rikku exclaimed. "I know that when I first met Tidus I thought I was in love. Then, when I realized he liked Yunie.... and she liked him... I gave up. There was no way that I wanted to compete with my cousin in love... Auron was available. He was there when we, when I, felt that I should be in love with someone."
"That's pretty serious coming from you. However, I hardly think that Auron was a 'love of convenience', you know," Rikki said, finally easing up on her poking of Rikku-chan.
Rikk shifted against the wall. "I still love Auron," she said flatly.
"Maybe that's because when we split, feelings were split too," Ri murmured. "Maybe -"
"I loved Auron at one point in my life. He's dead. I'm not. I know that I have to move on," Rikki interrupted.
"How can you just toss aside our feelings for him!" Rikk objected.
Rikku-chan scooted closer to Shuyin and stifled a sob. "They're fighting again."
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Rikku-sama knew the Trials inside and out. Having the memorized to the point where she could get through them in her sleep, she reached the third chamber with a Destruction Sphere in her hand.
Harper was hoping around her nervously. "Why do you have that sphere?" he demanded.
"Why are the Cloister's being used again?" Rikku-sama countered. "There's no longer any need to test Summoners and Guardians coming to the center of the temple and the former room of the Fayth."
"Well, I can explain," Sanders quickly explained. Sanders was the New Yevon official in charge of Kilika Temple. He had volunteered to lead the way to the portal where Nooj was.
"Go ahead," Rikku-sama offered.
"It's like this," Sanders began. "When the portal appeared, so did the Cloister of Trials reactivate. We're afraid that it signifies the rebirth of Sin."
"Don't talk such stupidity!" Rikku-sama scoffed. "Have you so little faith in High Summoner Yuna's victory?"
"It's not that," Sanders began.
"I don't believe that it's Sin," Harper interrupted, speaking in thoughtful tones.
"Nobody asked you!" Sanders snapped.
Rikku-sama toned the both of them out for a moment. The chasm in front of her had super-heated flames blocking passage through unless the correct combination of spheres was made. She pulled out one Kilika Sphere and watched the flames die down. "Are you two coming?" she asked a couple of moments later.
"Yes! But he's an idiot!" they both exclaimed, following her down the steps. A strange glyph that neither of them had seen before was on the wall. Or rather, more precisely, in the spot where a wall had once been.
"What happened?" Harper asked. "Wasn't there...?"
"Yes," Rikku-sama announced. "But it sank into the floor to reveal that opening. I recall that the Destruction Sphere opens a secrete chamber and was curious if there was anything inside it."
"What about Meyven Nooj?" Harper asked.
"What about that flaming bird monster!" Sanders screamed, scrambling back up the stairs.
"What flaming bird monster?" Harper asked, turning to look at him disdainfully.
"The one right behind you!" Sanders screamed.
Harper turned slowly and seen the gigantic bird opening it's mouth. Hot crimson flames began swirling in it's open beak.
"Run away! Run away!" Harper and Sanders shouted together. They both fled, leaving Rikku-sama to deal with the fiery phoenix.
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Shuyin's eyes opened suddenly. "He's here," he whispered, his voice sounding dry and cracked.
"Who's here?" Rikku-chan whispered.
All arguments around the room faded. "Akira?" Rikk asked, shuddering at the memory of their last fight.
Shuyin nodded and tried to sit up. It was about then that he realized he had a physical form... a form that was stiff and in a lot of pain. He tried to stand and his legs collapsed from underneath him.
Rikku-chan quickly braced him.
"Let's get to Rikku-sama," Rikku suggested. She sphere changed from Thief to Berserker and took up a position supporting Shuyin. "Everyone be prepared for battle."
"Why are we going to see Rikku-sama?" Rikk demanded, crossing her hands. She was still furious that Rikku was refusing to admit ever truly loving Auron.
"Because if he misses us and ambushes her...." Rikku said tightly.
Rikk nodded her head, conceding Rikku's point. "Let's go," she agreed. They headed out of the room and down the steps leading into the Temple.
Less than two minutes later, Rikki piped up. "Does anyone actually remember how the Cloister of Trials went?"
"No, Tidus usually did it all," Rikku-san said. "We let him do most of the work. Why?"
"That's what I was afraid of," Rikki said. "The Trials have been revived. We have to get through them quickly."
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Just outside the temple, Akira stopped walking. He knew that his targets were close. It was only a matter of time before he caught them. He also knew that they could help him now. But more than that, he knew which one was the real Midori.
His target was the girl in the white robes; the one that had healed Shuyin after they thought he had gone. She was the one that was responsible for his renewed vitality.
"RIKKU!" he heard a voice bellow. "Hey, you! Over there!"
Akira turned slowly. "Me?" he asked, voice low and dangerous. The man advancing towards him was an older man with frown wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His head was shaved bald and he walked upright in a stiff manner. Akira decided that he didn't like the man on sight. "I think you had better just leave," he warned.
Cid, naturally, ignored the warning. "I'm looking for my daughter and any men that she might be dating," he explained gruffly. "Her name is Rikku -"
"Ah, I know who you speak of," Akira said with a slight nod of his head. "She is the blond girls with the swirly green eyes."
"Blond girls?" Cid questioned. "What the fsck are you talking about?"
"I am her only... boyfriend. She belongs to me in every sense of the word. You had best remember that," Akira said, ignoring Cid's questions.
"Then you're the fscker that got her pregnant!" Cid snarled.
Akira's eyes widened. "I wasn't aware that she was with child," he snarled furiously. He closed his eyes, black lashes trembling furiously on his cheeks as he searched out her presence. "You will pay," he murmured darkly.
He started walking forward and found himself stopped by Cid. The older man was baring his path, arms crossed and a stubborn expression on his face.
"Move," Akira ordered.
"No," Cid answered flatly, shaking his head. "You had best just forget about Rikku, or else."
Akira laughed then, a cold merciless laugh. "You think that you can bar my path? That you have what it takes to threaten me?" As he laughed the clouds darkened overhead and thunder flashed. "Would you know that it is my spell that corrupts the skies over the Thunder Plains? My power that held her Fayth in check for over a thousand years!"
"Her Fayth?" Cid questioned, shifting to a more aggressive stance.
Akira's face twisted into a cruel smirk. "The Fayth of my beloved Midori. The woman that you call Rikku. In all six forms." Then he struck, blades digging into Cid's arm. "You will die for threatening me. Make no mistake about that."
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Yuna and Paine hurried up the path towards Kilika Temple.
"I can't believe Rikku took the mission without telling us!" Yuna screamed against the sudden wind. Her brown hair blowing across her face and her skirt whipping violently behind her.
"Forget about it for now. From what that Harper guy told us, she needs help!" Paine shouted back, raising her voice against the howling storm.
Several wolf fiends leapt out of the foliage, barring their path.
Paine rushed forward without preamble, striking at the nearest fiend. Her blade caught the monster across the neck, crumbling it to the stone steps with one shot.
"How do you think a fiend like that got in the temple in the first place?" Yuna questioned, her voice a shout against the elements. She took careful aim and unleashed a barrage of bullets on first one fiend and then the one closest to it.
"No idea," Paine responded, striking the last one and continuing up the steps. "I'm more curious about this storm, to tell you the truth." She reached the top of the steps and stopped.
"What do you mean?" Yuna asked.
"It's not natural," Paine answered. She nodded her head forward to the silhouetted figure of Akira. "Come on. We've got work to do."
Seeing Cid's body hit the ground, Yuna nodded her head slightly, determination blazing in her eyes. "It seems everything's going wrong," she murmured. "My baby will live in a peaceful world," she vowed.
Then, together with Paine, she attacked.
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Akira flicked the blood from his twin blades and started for the entrance to the Trials.
"Hold it right there!" Yuna shouted, firing a couple of shots towards his feet.
He turned, eyes flashing dangerously in time with the storm. "And you are dead," he snapped coldly before slashing his swords towards her.
All the way across the courtyard, Yuna felt the bite of his sword. Two deep gashes racked their way across her upraised arm. Her hand went numb almost instantly, dropping one of her guns to the stone floor.
"Fsck!" Paine snapped, aborting her attack and casting a healing potion over Yuna. She turned her crimson gaze back to Akira who had started laughing again.
"Let's play a game called - let's see who runs out of potions and magic!" he called out to the two girls. He swung his sword towards Yuna again and then proceeded to slash at Paine moments later. He had both girls pinned down effortlessly and was slowly cutting away at their HP.
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Rikku-sama was fortunately a very smart woman. She realized that she couldn't give ground to the Phoenix. She also realized that she couldn't defeat it. Her only goal with the monstrous bird was to fight it until reinforcements arrived in whatever form they chose.
So she mixed up a couple protective items and raised her fire defense and kept a barrage of attack aimed at the majestic creature. Using primarily Ice Gems and the Alchemist dressphere, she kept it from gaining ground.
Only the phoenix now seemed to be gathering energy with greater speed. It's eyes had started out as a glittery amber, but now they were burning with white hot intensity and blood red color. The room was getting hotter; Rikku-sama could see the heat sweltering in front of her eyes.
A fiery blast smashed her back into one of the walls and she felt it give slightly. "Great, the walls are melting," she muttered darkly, using a healing potion on her suddenly burnt body.
She looked back at the wall where the Destruction Sphere was supposed to be resting and tossed it in that direction, not really caring where it landed so long as she had both hands free again.
It hit the sphere place dead center and the wall exploded.
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Nooj tumbled out of the room almost instantly. He was sweating hard and looked too thin for comfort. It also looked like his metal leg wasn't working. "Get out of here!" he shouted to Rikku-sama instantly.
She didn't see or hear him. Her entire being was focused on the phoenix before her.
Nooj himself was too weak to say anything more before passing out. Although, he did see the Rikku-gumi arrive in the room with 'Tidus' supported between two of them.
"Seven Rikkus?" he murmured and passed out.
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Shuyin had talked them through the Trials.
Arriving in the Third Chamber, they came face to face with the fiery bird. "Well, it's not Akira," Rikk said, powering up her sword for an Ice Brand attack.
Rikku-chan stepped away from Shuyin and spherechanged to Black Mage, preparing to attack with Blizzaga.
"Erm, I think they got it!" Rikku exclaimed brightly. In response, she got toasted along with Shuyin by a Bone-Burning Wave. She toppled over along with Shuyin, both of them knocked out with one shot.
"Watch out for it's Bone-Burning Wave!" Rikku-sama shouted two seconds later. "My Scan shows it to be instantly fatal!"
"Now she tells us," Rikku-san said, throwing a phoenix down over Rikku. Ri in the meantime had cast Life on Shuyin.
Rikki materialized a bunch of oversized dice and whipped them forward, taking a chance with her Lady Luck dressphere. She was rewards with three sixes, creating a powerful attack that staggered the phoenix for a brief moment.
By that time, the Rikk and Rikku-chan's attacks were ready. They attacked at the same time, chaining their devastating ice based attacks together.
For it's part, the phoenix tried to rise above their attacks. However, in the confined space it was nearly impossible. It's wings, made of flames, beat at the ceiling and it plummeted back to the ground.
The next several moments dropped into a furious routine for both the girls, Shuyin, and the phoenix. Attack, defend, heal. Attack, defend, heal. Over and over with no sign of an end in sight.
Rikku was still with Shuyin, helping to support his weight throughout the battle. "What's wrong?" she asked as his body suddenly stiffened. "You seem a bit up tight suddenly."
"Akira's coming," he whispered just as Ri's attack defeated the phoenix.
It's flames shimmered and then died, plunging the room into a softer firelight. A small red marble appeared on the ground, glittering brightly. Ri stepped forward and touched it lightly with her fingertips.
All at one the stone vanished and Ri toppled backwards and into unconsciousness.
"Ri!" Rikk shouted, catching the shy girl before she hit the ground.
Behind them the doors imploded, destroyed by Akira. He stepped into the room and spoke; "Shuyin will not be able to help you this time. I've already beaten him on the steps outside the temple."
"Yeah right!" Rikku-chan shouted, closing the door as she and the others retreated from him.
"I did," Akira answered. "I defeated him, that old bald man, a girl that looked like Lenne, and some silver haired warrior. They're all dead." He advanced, aware that 'Midori' couldn't hear him anymore. "And soon, I won't be."
He smiled at the thought and started slamming into the new door with his power. "Soon, I'll live again."
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Tidus pulled himself to his feet shakily. "Who the hell was that?" he asked, using a Mega-Potion on the group. They had been beaten near soundly. Sheer luck had kept them all from perishing.
Tidus had been using a Phoenix Down at the exact same moment that Akira's final attack had struck. He had passed out and then came to in the space of a couple minutes. A Mega-Phoenix and Maga-potion later.
He walked over to Yuna, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked.
In response, her eyes narrowed in determination. "We've got to stop him!" she declared forcefully. "He's Unsent and powerful - practically a fiend already!"
"That bastard got my daughter pregnant!" Cid howled, having been effected by the Mega-Phoenix. He got to his feet and charged down the steps into Kilika Temple.
"Cid, wait!" Yuna shouted, trying to arrest his movement.
"Yuna! Forget it." Paine advised, rushing down the steps. "We're going to need all the help we can get."
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Akira's energy was slamming into the door, forcing it to splinter. "We need a plan," Rikk announced.
"What's our potion count?" Rikku-sama asked. "MP levels? HP levels? Are we in any condition to take on Akira?"
"I've got six potions left, two high potions, and a phoenix down," Rikku-chan announced. "I'm at full-life and half magic. I don't have any ether."
"Half-life, no magic, no potions, no nothing," Rikku-san murmured, leaning back against the far wall. "Oh, and Ri's completely KO'd. I tried my last phoenix down on her and it didn't work."
"Midori... I'm coming in now," Akira's voice came from outside the door.
"What's he mean? The door's still holding," Shuyin said in confusion.
Rikku-sama was the only one that had an answer. "The door was sealed to prevent it from being opened. He broke the magic seal and all he has to do is open the door." In time with her words, the rose colored petals shielding the door started to peel away.
"Dammit!" Shuyin cursed softly.
"I got a plan!" Rikku declared at his side. She shoved him forward and through a slightly shimmering oval in the middle of the room. Following him, she vanished from sight.
"What just happened!" Rikki demanded, slashing towards the door just as Akira stepped through.
"Nooj!" Rikku-sama exclaimed. She spherechanged to Gun Mage and scanned the portal in the center of the room. "It's almost closed.... T - 3 minutes."
"Should we?" Rikku-chan murmured. Tears were trembling on her cheeks once more and she seemed on the verge of a complete breakdown.
"No choice, that idiot already went!" Rikk shouted. She shoved Ri's unconscious body into Rikku-chan's arms and pushed them through the portal.
Rikku-san shook her head slightly and opened fire on Akira. "Hold it right there, Greenie!" she declared, keeping up a near steady stream of bullets towards him.
Akira raised his sword, catching the majority of the bullets and deflecting them. With his other sword, he caught Rikk's blade and shoved her backwards, away from him.
Off-balance, Rikk nearly staggered through the portal. At the last possible second, Rikki caught her. "We'll have to hold him here until it's closer to the portal's closing time. We can't let him follow us!"
"Thanks," Rikk answered gruffly. She attacked again, making sure to keep Akira from the center of the room.
"T- 30 seconds," Rikku-sama announced a couple of minutes later.
Akira grabbed the sexy blond by her hair and slammed her into a wall. "I'll be using that portal," he said confidently. "You four will not be able to stop me."
"Like hell we won't!" Rikk snarled. She swung her sword towards him, putting every ounce of strength behind her swing.
Rikki pushed herself off the wall and slashed with her cards. In response to her attack, a tear appeared on the back of his shirt. Stifling an unlady-like curse, she charged forward, meaning to attack using her awful Samurai dressphere.
Akira slammed both swords into the ground and reached behind him, catching her arms as she swung her sword down. He smiled at Rikk. "You're in my way," he said with a smirk. Shifting his weight, he smashed Rikki into Rikk, causing them both to disappear through the portal. "And I will follow," he mused.
"No, you won't!" Rikku-san's voice called out. He turned, meaning to wave behind when the Vjara attack hit him dead on. The lazy blond had stopped attacking him, so he had stopped paying attention to her. Besides, how was he to know that she transformed into Machina Maw after going through all the available dresspheres?
Rikku-sama backed away slowly. It was too dangerous to stick around when the special dresspheres were in use. She felt a shimmering feeling at her back and realized she had backed into the portal what was worse, she realized that the timer had nearly reached zero. "Rikku-san, we have to -" she shouted, and then her words were cut off.
She felt a jerk at her naval and was dragged rapidly through the portal. Colors danced and swirled around her face and eyes. Images and sounds formed and vanished like whips of time. A painful throbbing started to build up in her head, giving the feeling of an impending explosion.
Unable to focus her thoughts, Rikku-sama felt her consciousness rapidly fading away. Her last thought before darkness claimed her was, 'I hope the others are okay.'
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Author's notes; Gee, I hope someone is finding this suspenseful. The Rikku-gumi vanishing into a mysterious portal, oh-la-laaa! Anyway, about Auron; I think he makes a cute couple with Rikku; however, for the sake of this fic, not all the girls still feel the same about him. We'll see where that leads.
Anyway... it looks like I have a bit of writer's block now. (I 'try' and write two chapters ahead of what I post...) I've had several horrible false starts for CHAPTER TEN! Originally, I was thinking that I would have the portal lead to FFVIII; however, after writing a couple of chapters, I found that, while I love the idea, it's too hard to smoothly incorporate into the story at this point.
Meaning....? Writers BLOCK! Yuck. Oh well, hope I get over it soon. Any ideas are welcome.
Next Chapter; The Rikku-gumi are split up once again. Four different groups went into the portal and one girl stayed behind. Will Rikku-san manage to stay alive in her fight with Akira? And just where in the Universe are the others? Find out in the next, CHAOS OF SEVEN!
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan