Standard disclaimers apply.
Chaos Of Seven
Chapter twenty-two
By; Kissa-chan
Shuyin reacted instantly to Lenne's voice. He threw himself ontop of Tidus, trapping the younger man underneath him. "Lenne... you're alive," he breathed. "No, that's not right. You died. We both faded."
Lenne smiled at him. "And yet here we are," she said softly. She almost reach towards him; however, at the last second she remembered her task. "We can still save her." She began to sing her cadence again, not wanting to lose the moment.
"How...?" Rikk demanded, eyes lingering on Yuna for several seconds.
"Isn't it obvious?" Rikku-chan said, tears gleaming in her eyes. "We kill Yu Yevon." She ran across the floor and flung open the secrete door, barreling headlong into the passageway.
"How'd she know that was there...?" Shuyin murmured.
"It was ajar," Rikk responded. "She's right." She didn't waste anymore time. Instead, she ran across the room, putting every once of speed in her body into catching up with the crybaby.
"Wait for me!" Rikku-sama called after them. She turned towards Shiroi and Rikku-san. "Let's go! We'll make him pay."
Rikku-san, who hadn't entered the room yet, glanced at her. "Rikku's missing," she announced to thin air. Rikku-sama had already crossed the room, Shiroi hot on her heels.
"She's probably already in the room," Baralai said softly.
"Probably." Rikku-san hoped that he was right, but didn't actualy mention that fact to him. She let him push the door open all the way and followed him into the room. The scene that met her eyes pushed all thoughts of Rikku from her mind.
Shuyin and Tidus seemed to have engaged themselves in a brotherly spat. Lenne was singing softly, casting worried looks at both Tidus and Shuyin. Her feet were shuffling through a dance number and her summoning staff whirled gracefully through the air.
And then there was Yuna, soul trapped in stone, unwillingly torn from her body and trapped as the spirit of a Fayth.
"What's going on?" Rikku-san asked, deciding to 'know' the situation before diving into combat.
Baralai took a slightly agressive step towards Lenne and then backed down. "What is the problem?" he inquired, although it seemed obvious to him. However, remembering Lenne bringing peace to Shuyin, he was willing to believe that she was one of the 'good guys'.
"We can still save her," Lenne said, halting her singing for a moment. "I need two additional summoners and songstresses." She wanted to explain much, much more, but she didn't dare stop her cadence.
"Where are we going to find them?" Rikku-san asked softly. Behind her, Shuyin tackled Tidus, and both boys crashed through what had appeared to be a brick wall. They toppled from sight, still locked in a death embrace.
"I... don't know," Lenne confessed. "I meant to prevent this from happening."
"Let's think. Don't panic," Rikku-san murmured. "We can have anyone become a songstress by using the Garment Grid..."
"Where is the Orginal?" Sarra asked, cutting through everyone's thoughts unexpectedly. The Fallen had made her way to the room without difficulty and was now looking around for Rikku.
"Lost." Rikku-san managed to say. Then, remembering that Fallen were deaf, she held up a pen and wrote 'lost' on the palm of her hand. Flashing it at the Fallen, she turned back to the task at hand. "Ignore her, she's a Fallen and can't hear anything we say anyway..." her voice trailed off and she yawned.
"Don't sleep now..." she murmured to herself.
Rikku had gotten lost... kinda. It was more like she had heard something that sounded like crying down a narrow passage. Determinded to find out what it was, the Al Bhed girl had slipped through the opening and headed towards the sound.
Naturally, she hadn't thought to let the others know what she was doing, so she was by herself.
The passage was lit by an errie green light, barely illuminating the mysterious runes on the narrow walls. Every ten feet a small alcove dotted the left side of the wall. Sitting in silent guard, stone statues in the likeness of many people gazed out at her with bitter expressions on their stoney faces.
"Okay, this place is officially creeping me out." Rikku murmured softly. Her voice sounded hushed in the hallway, like she was speaking with the volume turned way down. Since that creeped her out almost more than the statues did, she opted not to speak anymore.
After a couple of moments, she spotted a dark figure in the middle of the narrow hall. Due to the darkness and strange shadows, she couldn't tell anything other then the fact that the crying was coming from the person.
"Hey... are you all right?" she asked softly, which was a mistake. Her voice seemed barely audible, as if it had gotten swallowed by the green light.
"Leave me alone..." the figure sobbed, waving her sword weakly. She looked up, revealing teary red eyes and short silver hair. "Why do you look like her?"
"Paine?" Rikku asked hesitantly. She reached out and caught the older girl by her arm, helping lift her to her feet. "Are you okay? There's not anyone cutting onions around here, is there?"
Paine didn't respond.
"I take that as a 'no'. What's wrong?" she repeaed. "Don't you want to take away some of my 'respect points' for pesetering you?"
At that, Paine flung her arms around the blond. "Rikku!" she sobbed tearfully.
"YOU'RE NOT PAINE!" Rikku screamed, trying to pry herself loose from the silver haired 'person.'
"We failed Yuna," Paine said. "She's a Fayth..."
"Who told you that? Whoever it is was lying!" Rikku said, forgetting her accusation of Paine being an imposture.
In response, Paine hiccuped and pointed at the closet alcove.
A statue of Yuna gazed out of the opening, eyes looking longing and fearfull. Unlike the others, she didn't seem bitter. It was more of an intesnse lonilness that filled her face.
"What...?" Rikku asked dryly, all upity comments fleeing before her. She reached towards the statue, intending to touch it's face to prove that it wasn't Yuna.
"There's more..." Paine said, pointing past Yuna and down the hall. "I can't believe I let you die. What kind of friend am I?"
"You let me... die?" Rikku asked in confusion. Paine was pointing at an alcove that she had passed already. Because she had been focusing on Paine's outline, she hadn't bothered to look at the statue in there.
"Well... I let one of you die," Paine whispered. "There's more than one 'Rikku', isn't there?"
Rikku felt a wash of fear sweep through her. "Who? Whichi one? How come I didn't feel anything?" She pulled away from Paine, racing back to the alcove.
Paine had been telling the truth. In the alcove, a statue of Rikku gazed bitterly from it's prision of stone. Rikku reached her hand toward the image and then stopped, letting her eyes see what was really there.
"That's not me," she said finally.
"It's me..." a voice said from behind her.
She turned slowly, having a feeling who she was about to see. "You're Midori, aren't you," she said with certainty.
The woman tossed her hand elegantly. "I may be," she acknowleged. "Or rather, I may have been at one time." She laughed erriely, making the hands stand upright at the back of Rikku's neck.
"She claims to be the Memory of Midori," Paine said brokenly from the floor.
"What happened to you?" Rikku asked, pointing at the statue of Midori. "What does this statue represent?"
Midori's image laughed again. "You want to know about Yuna, don't you?"
Rikku nodded once. "Yeah, actually I do."
"Let me tell you then..." she leaned foreward, placing a hand on either side of Rikku's face and leaning foreward. She moved her face closer, her lips hovering over the younger girl's.
Rikku jerked away quickly. "What are you doing?!" she demanded.
The blond woman shook her head, features melting away. Her blond hair shortened, turning black with streaks of grey. Her Al Bhed green eyes turned to a dark brown. Her shoulders broadened, becoming much more masculine. Within moments, an image of Auron was standing before her.
"Rikku, we need to save Yuna. We're her guardians," the image said.
"You're... Auron now?" Rikku whispered. "I don't understand."
"Look at me. Know me," the figure said. It crossed the room - Rikku was almost positive that it wasn't Midori or Auron. Whatever it was wasn't human and probably never had been. Whatever it was could change shapes...
Even as those thoughts flitered through her mind, Auron's hands were on the side of her face and his mouth was against hers, trapping her in a kiss.
Her mind blanked, loosing all rational thoughts with the feel of him mouth. She knew something was wrong, but it was becoming harder and harder to think. It was hard to push him away.
He had never gotten a chance to be Tidus's little brother. Being the smaller baby at birth, he had been the one his parents had chosen to give away. Jecht had wanted his firstborn kid more that he wanted the second born boy.
Shuyin's adoptive parents had both died during a freak fiend attack in Zanarkand. He had been shifted from orphenage to orphenage after that, always without a family. But he'd known that he had a brother. He'd known who his father and mother were.
Once before he had been involved in a situation where he could help Tidus. Of course, that had led to Akira's hatered of him...
Tidus had been crying - no surprise there - about his father. Akira had gotten upset since he didn't have any parents of his own. Since Akira had never been the patient type, he had attacked Tidus, intending to put him in his place, teach him some gratitude, get some anger out of his system.
Shuyin had interfered then, beating Akira in a fair fight in front of the orphenage they were both attending. He'd saved Tidus from a beating and gotten adopted for his admirable fighting skills in one day.
Akira still held a grudge...
Saving Tidus usually ended up badly, but Shuyin still wanted to protect his family. He twisted while they fell in mid-air and shielded Tidus as they hit the ground hard.
"Yuna..." Tidus breathed, looking up. He fastened his hands around Shuyin's neck. "I'll save her! I'll kill you!" he shouted furiously.
"Don't be an idiot," Shuyin repremended his brother. He knocked his hands away from his neck and stood up, winching at sharp pain in his leg. Glancing down, he saw a glimmer of white and the rapid darkening of red blood against his pantleg. "Broken..." he murmured.
Tidus drew his Calaborg and dropped into a fighting stance. "You won't get away with your crimes."
"What crimes?" Shuyin demanded, confused now.
Tidus didn't answer. He drove himself foreward, getting every ounce of momentum into his lunge. The sword in his hand flashed downward towards Shuyin's head.
Shuyin had a bare moment to react. He raised his own sword defensively, blocking the shot; however, the force of the attack sent him staggering backwards. His leg buckled, threatening to give out from underneath him, preventing him from following up his defense with any offensive action. The pain shooting upwards from the break kept him from attempting to reason with Tidus.
Tidus on the other hand had remained unhurt during the fall thanks to Shuyin. He was in perfect condition for attacking and was taking every advantage that he had. "You're not my brother!" he snarled, casting Haste on himself.
Shuyin bit back a curse. "Yes I am!" her shouted back at the attacking blond. Tidus's attacks were coming with greater and greater speed, making it hard to defend in time. More than once he felt the Calaborg cut through skin and draw blood.
"I'm an only child!" Tidus retorted.
"Yeah... you were raised to believe that, weren't you?" Shuyin responded.
"My Mom wouldn't have given anyone up for adoption -" Tidus stated to say, but then cut himself off. His sword arced downward, knocking Shuyin onto his back.
"You're my older brother," Shuyin replied softly, sheathing his sword. "You promised me that the next time we met you would save me. You promised that you'd be strong enough to save me from a battle I couldn't win. You don't remember, do you?"
Tidus paused, searching his mind for a memory that wasn't there. "I..." he said, shaking his head. "I don't think so."
He put his own sword away and pulled a healing potion out. "That never happened." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."
Shuyin focused on his healing leg, not looking at Tidus. "It's okay. Are you all right?"
"How do you know what I was apologizing for?" Tidus asked, pressing one hand against the sleek walls.
Shuyin didn't answer for a moment. "You're apologizing for attacking me. If you don't remember our history, it can't be helped. You have nothing to say 'sorry' for in regards to a past that only I remember."
"Yeah," Tidus agreed.
"It's this place... It brings out the worst in people. The more you find your emotions shaken, the easier it is for the Heisson to manipulate you into actions you wouldn't normally take," Shuyin said.
"We need to get back to Yuna," Tidus answered.
"We'll have to take the stairs," Shuyin said, pointing towards a spirialing staircase. He started up the stairs at a light run, Tidus hot on his heels; however, the stairs quickly turned into a slid and they slid down.
"What the..?" Tidus said in surprise.
"We'll have to walk," Shuyin answered. "Quick movements will turn them into a slid."
They both started walking up the stairs in silence.
"Alcione, you have failed me!" Yu Yevon snarled into the comm.
Before he could hear his youngest daughters response, the door behind him burst open. "Prepare to die!" Rikku-chan declared, still crying freely. She didn't give him a moment to spare, casting Flare on him in hopes of taking him out as quickly as possible.
"You freak!" Rikku-sama shouted, blasting him with her gun. For once, she didn't bother to Scan her enemy. He would die all the same regardless of how things played out.
"And that's a mild term for your kind," Rikk said, tacking her own attack on with the other two girl's assualts.
"Heal this," Shiroi added. She sliced across his back with the Lost Nightmare.
"Aggghhh!" Yu Yevon shrieked. He pulled away from them all, casting Shell and Protect on himself in an attempt to stave off their attacks. He also cast Cure on himself, but the wound on his back refused to heal. "What is this?" he demanded.
"Death," Shiroi said.
Saara was starting to get mad, which was saying something since she was a Fallen. The Orginal was no where in sight. She kept coming across groups of scattered Splitlings, but they weren't who she wasn't to see.
"Haara... I cannot locate the Orginal," she called mentally back to her fellow Fallen.
Haara didn't answer her for a moment. "Saara... child, I'm sensing Spectral Energy levels spiking at the Hiesson. Forget about the Orginal and deal with the Spectre."
"Lord Haara... There hasn't been a spectre in over three thousand and five years," Sarra responded. "Why would one arrive now?"
"The Dark One is causing havoc," Haara replied.
"You mean from the last person affected by the Lunar Crystal?" Saara asked in surprise. "My Lord Guardian of the Relms, whatever would he gain by releasing a Spectre?"
"I know not..." Haara answered wearily. "Seek out the Spectre and destroy it. Forget about the new Splitlings. It seems that those affliated with the Lunar Crystal are fated to die. They will go quietly. It is better than the last ever did."
Saara didn't respond immediately. She had tracked the Spectral Energy to it's source... almost. "My Lord... the Spectre resides in the Hallway of the Dark Fayth," she said softly.
She flew down the hallway swiftly and came across three figures. Two of them she was searching for. The Spectre, in the form of a dark haired man, was kissing the Orginal, lulling her soul into hibernation.
"STOP!" Saara shouted, but there was nothing she could do. The Spectre's Kiss could only be broken by the one being kissed. Judging from the blissfull look on her face, she wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon...
Author's notes; Errr... This all happened while taking up more time then I actually expected it would. Meaning Saara and Rikku aren't talking about Sealing Yu Yevon right now. Furthermore, I seem to have a problem writing really good fight scences, so you'll have to imagine them to be better.
Is there anything else? Well, not that I can think of at the moment except, "Thanks for all the reviews!"
Next Chapter; Rikk, Rikku-chan, Rikku-sama, and Shiroi hog the spotlight during their battle with Yu Yevon. But will they kill him and seal Ri's fate by failing to Seal him? Find out in the next exciting chapter of CHAOS OF SEVEN!
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
Chaos Of Seven
Chapter twenty-two
By; Kissa-chan
Shuyin reacted instantly to Lenne's voice. He threw himself ontop of Tidus, trapping the younger man underneath him. "Lenne... you're alive," he breathed. "No, that's not right. You died. We both faded."
Lenne smiled at him. "And yet here we are," she said softly. She almost reach towards him; however, at the last second she remembered her task. "We can still save her." She began to sing her cadence again, not wanting to lose the moment.
"How...?" Rikk demanded, eyes lingering on Yuna for several seconds.
"Isn't it obvious?" Rikku-chan said, tears gleaming in her eyes. "We kill Yu Yevon." She ran across the floor and flung open the secrete door, barreling headlong into the passageway.
"How'd she know that was there...?" Shuyin murmured.
"It was ajar," Rikk responded. "She's right." She didn't waste anymore time. Instead, she ran across the room, putting every once of speed in her body into catching up with the crybaby.
"Wait for me!" Rikku-sama called after them. She turned towards Shiroi and Rikku-san. "Let's go! We'll make him pay."
Rikku-san, who hadn't entered the room yet, glanced at her. "Rikku's missing," she announced to thin air. Rikku-sama had already crossed the room, Shiroi hot on her heels.
"She's probably already in the room," Baralai said softly.
"Probably." Rikku-san hoped that he was right, but didn't actualy mention that fact to him. She let him push the door open all the way and followed him into the room. The scene that met her eyes pushed all thoughts of Rikku from her mind.
Shuyin and Tidus seemed to have engaged themselves in a brotherly spat. Lenne was singing softly, casting worried looks at both Tidus and Shuyin. Her feet were shuffling through a dance number and her summoning staff whirled gracefully through the air.
And then there was Yuna, soul trapped in stone, unwillingly torn from her body and trapped as the spirit of a Fayth.
"What's going on?" Rikku-san asked, deciding to 'know' the situation before diving into combat.
Baralai took a slightly agressive step towards Lenne and then backed down. "What is the problem?" he inquired, although it seemed obvious to him. However, remembering Lenne bringing peace to Shuyin, he was willing to believe that she was one of the 'good guys'.
"We can still save her," Lenne said, halting her singing for a moment. "I need two additional summoners and songstresses." She wanted to explain much, much more, but she didn't dare stop her cadence.
"Where are we going to find them?" Rikku-san asked softly. Behind her, Shuyin tackled Tidus, and both boys crashed through what had appeared to be a brick wall. They toppled from sight, still locked in a death embrace.
"I... don't know," Lenne confessed. "I meant to prevent this from happening."
"Let's think. Don't panic," Rikku-san murmured. "We can have anyone become a songstress by using the Garment Grid..."
"Where is the Orginal?" Sarra asked, cutting through everyone's thoughts unexpectedly. The Fallen had made her way to the room without difficulty and was now looking around for Rikku.
"Lost." Rikku-san managed to say. Then, remembering that Fallen were deaf, she held up a pen and wrote 'lost' on the palm of her hand. Flashing it at the Fallen, she turned back to the task at hand. "Ignore her, she's a Fallen and can't hear anything we say anyway..." her voice trailed off and she yawned.
"Don't sleep now..." she murmured to herself.
Rikku had gotten lost... kinda. It was more like she had heard something that sounded like crying down a narrow passage. Determinded to find out what it was, the Al Bhed girl had slipped through the opening and headed towards the sound.
Naturally, she hadn't thought to let the others know what she was doing, so she was by herself.
The passage was lit by an errie green light, barely illuminating the mysterious runes on the narrow walls. Every ten feet a small alcove dotted the left side of the wall. Sitting in silent guard, stone statues in the likeness of many people gazed out at her with bitter expressions on their stoney faces.
"Okay, this place is officially creeping me out." Rikku murmured softly. Her voice sounded hushed in the hallway, like she was speaking with the volume turned way down. Since that creeped her out almost more than the statues did, she opted not to speak anymore.
After a couple of moments, she spotted a dark figure in the middle of the narrow hall. Due to the darkness and strange shadows, she couldn't tell anything other then the fact that the crying was coming from the person.
"Hey... are you all right?" she asked softly, which was a mistake. Her voice seemed barely audible, as if it had gotten swallowed by the green light.
"Leave me alone..." the figure sobbed, waving her sword weakly. She looked up, revealing teary red eyes and short silver hair. "Why do you look like her?"
"Paine?" Rikku asked hesitantly. She reached out and caught the older girl by her arm, helping lift her to her feet. "Are you okay? There's not anyone cutting onions around here, is there?"
Paine didn't respond.
"I take that as a 'no'. What's wrong?" she repeaed. "Don't you want to take away some of my 'respect points' for pesetering you?"
At that, Paine flung her arms around the blond. "Rikku!" she sobbed tearfully.
"YOU'RE NOT PAINE!" Rikku screamed, trying to pry herself loose from the silver haired 'person.'
"We failed Yuna," Paine said. "She's a Fayth..."
"Who told you that? Whoever it is was lying!" Rikku said, forgetting her accusation of Paine being an imposture.
In response, Paine hiccuped and pointed at the closet alcove.
A statue of Yuna gazed out of the opening, eyes looking longing and fearfull. Unlike the others, she didn't seem bitter. It was more of an intesnse lonilness that filled her face.
"What...?" Rikku asked dryly, all upity comments fleeing before her. She reached towards the statue, intending to touch it's face to prove that it wasn't Yuna.
"There's more..." Paine said, pointing past Yuna and down the hall. "I can't believe I let you die. What kind of friend am I?"
"You let me... die?" Rikku asked in confusion. Paine was pointing at an alcove that she had passed already. Because she had been focusing on Paine's outline, she hadn't bothered to look at the statue in there.
"Well... I let one of you die," Paine whispered. "There's more than one 'Rikku', isn't there?"
Rikku felt a wash of fear sweep through her. "Who? Whichi one? How come I didn't feel anything?" She pulled away from Paine, racing back to the alcove.
Paine had been telling the truth. In the alcove, a statue of Rikku gazed bitterly from it's prision of stone. Rikku reached her hand toward the image and then stopped, letting her eyes see what was really there.
"That's not me," she said finally.
"It's me..." a voice said from behind her.
She turned slowly, having a feeling who she was about to see. "You're Midori, aren't you," she said with certainty.
The woman tossed her hand elegantly. "I may be," she acknowleged. "Or rather, I may have been at one time." She laughed erriely, making the hands stand upright at the back of Rikku's neck.
"She claims to be the Memory of Midori," Paine said brokenly from the floor.
"What happened to you?" Rikku asked, pointing at the statue of Midori. "What does this statue represent?"
Midori's image laughed again. "You want to know about Yuna, don't you?"
Rikku nodded once. "Yeah, actually I do."
"Let me tell you then..." she leaned foreward, placing a hand on either side of Rikku's face and leaning foreward. She moved her face closer, her lips hovering over the younger girl's.
Rikku jerked away quickly. "What are you doing?!" she demanded.
The blond woman shook her head, features melting away. Her blond hair shortened, turning black with streaks of grey. Her Al Bhed green eyes turned to a dark brown. Her shoulders broadened, becoming much more masculine. Within moments, an image of Auron was standing before her.
"Rikku, we need to save Yuna. We're her guardians," the image said.
"You're... Auron now?" Rikku whispered. "I don't understand."
"Look at me. Know me," the figure said. It crossed the room - Rikku was almost positive that it wasn't Midori or Auron. Whatever it was wasn't human and probably never had been. Whatever it was could change shapes...
Even as those thoughts flitered through her mind, Auron's hands were on the side of her face and his mouth was against hers, trapping her in a kiss.
Her mind blanked, loosing all rational thoughts with the feel of him mouth. She knew something was wrong, but it was becoming harder and harder to think. It was hard to push him away.
He had never gotten a chance to be Tidus's little brother. Being the smaller baby at birth, he had been the one his parents had chosen to give away. Jecht had wanted his firstborn kid more that he wanted the second born boy.
Shuyin's adoptive parents had both died during a freak fiend attack in Zanarkand. He had been shifted from orphenage to orphenage after that, always without a family. But he'd known that he had a brother. He'd known who his father and mother were.
Once before he had been involved in a situation where he could help Tidus. Of course, that had led to Akira's hatered of him...
Tidus had been crying - no surprise there - about his father. Akira had gotten upset since he didn't have any parents of his own. Since Akira had never been the patient type, he had attacked Tidus, intending to put him in his place, teach him some gratitude, get some anger out of his system.
Shuyin had interfered then, beating Akira in a fair fight in front of the orphenage they were both attending. He'd saved Tidus from a beating and gotten adopted for his admirable fighting skills in one day.
Akira still held a grudge...
Saving Tidus usually ended up badly, but Shuyin still wanted to protect his family. He twisted while they fell in mid-air and shielded Tidus as they hit the ground hard.
"Yuna..." Tidus breathed, looking up. He fastened his hands around Shuyin's neck. "I'll save her! I'll kill you!" he shouted furiously.
"Don't be an idiot," Shuyin repremended his brother. He knocked his hands away from his neck and stood up, winching at sharp pain in his leg. Glancing down, he saw a glimmer of white and the rapid darkening of red blood against his pantleg. "Broken..." he murmured.
Tidus drew his Calaborg and dropped into a fighting stance. "You won't get away with your crimes."
"What crimes?" Shuyin demanded, confused now.
Tidus didn't answer. He drove himself foreward, getting every ounce of momentum into his lunge. The sword in his hand flashed downward towards Shuyin's head.
Shuyin had a bare moment to react. He raised his own sword defensively, blocking the shot; however, the force of the attack sent him staggering backwards. His leg buckled, threatening to give out from underneath him, preventing him from following up his defense with any offensive action. The pain shooting upwards from the break kept him from attempting to reason with Tidus.
Tidus on the other hand had remained unhurt during the fall thanks to Shuyin. He was in perfect condition for attacking and was taking every advantage that he had. "You're not my brother!" he snarled, casting Haste on himself.
Shuyin bit back a curse. "Yes I am!" her shouted back at the attacking blond. Tidus's attacks were coming with greater and greater speed, making it hard to defend in time. More than once he felt the Calaborg cut through skin and draw blood.
"I'm an only child!" Tidus retorted.
"Yeah... you were raised to believe that, weren't you?" Shuyin responded.
"My Mom wouldn't have given anyone up for adoption -" Tidus stated to say, but then cut himself off. His sword arced downward, knocking Shuyin onto his back.
"You're my older brother," Shuyin replied softly, sheathing his sword. "You promised me that the next time we met you would save me. You promised that you'd be strong enough to save me from a battle I couldn't win. You don't remember, do you?"
Tidus paused, searching his mind for a memory that wasn't there. "I..." he said, shaking his head. "I don't think so."
He put his own sword away and pulled a healing potion out. "That never happened." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry."
Shuyin focused on his healing leg, not looking at Tidus. "It's okay. Are you all right?"
"How do you know what I was apologizing for?" Tidus asked, pressing one hand against the sleek walls.
Shuyin didn't answer for a moment. "You're apologizing for attacking me. If you don't remember our history, it can't be helped. You have nothing to say 'sorry' for in regards to a past that only I remember."
"Yeah," Tidus agreed.
"It's this place... It brings out the worst in people. The more you find your emotions shaken, the easier it is for the Heisson to manipulate you into actions you wouldn't normally take," Shuyin said.
"We need to get back to Yuna," Tidus answered.
"We'll have to take the stairs," Shuyin said, pointing towards a spirialing staircase. He started up the stairs at a light run, Tidus hot on his heels; however, the stairs quickly turned into a slid and they slid down.
"What the..?" Tidus said in surprise.
"We'll have to walk," Shuyin answered. "Quick movements will turn them into a slid."
They both started walking up the stairs in silence.
"Alcione, you have failed me!" Yu Yevon snarled into the comm.
Before he could hear his youngest daughters response, the door behind him burst open. "Prepare to die!" Rikku-chan declared, still crying freely. She didn't give him a moment to spare, casting Flare on him in hopes of taking him out as quickly as possible.
"You freak!" Rikku-sama shouted, blasting him with her gun. For once, she didn't bother to Scan her enemy. He would die all the same regardless of how things played out.
"And that's a mild term for your kind," Rikk said, tacking her own attack on with the other two girl's assualts.
"Heal this," Shiroi added. She sliced across his back with the Lost Nightmare.
"Aggghhh!" Yu Yevon shrieked. He pulled away from them all, casting Shell and Protect on himself in an attempt to stave off their attacks. He also cast Cure on himself, but the wound on his back refused to heal. "What is this?" he demanded.
"Death," Shiroi said.
Saara was starting to get mad, which was saying something since she was a Fallen. The Orginal was no where in sight. She kept coming across groups of scattered Splitlings, but they weren't who she wasn't to see.
"Haara... I cannot locate the Orginal," she called mentally back to her fellow Fallen.
Haara didn't answer her for a moment. "Saara... child, I'm sensing Spectral Energy levels spiking at the Hiesson. Forget about the Orginal and deal with the Spectre."
"Lord Haara... There hasn't been a spectre in over three thousand and five years," Sarra responded. "Why would one arrive now?"
"The Dark One is causing havoc," Haara replied.
"You mean from the last person affected by the Lunar Crystal?" Saara asked in surprise. "My Lord Guardian of the Relms, whatever would he gain by releasing a Spectre?"
"I know not..." Haara answered wearily. "Seek out the Spectre and destroy it. Forget about the new Splitlings. It seems that those affliated with the Lunar Crystal are fated to die. They will go quietly. It is better than the last ever did."
Saara didn't respond immediately. She had tracked the Spectral Energy to it's source... almost. "My Lord... the Spectre resides in the Hallway of the Dark Fayth," she said softly.
She flew down the hallway swiftly and came across three figures. Two of them she was searching for. The Spectre, in the form of a dark haired man, was kissing the Orginal, lulling her soul into hibernation.
"STOP!" Saara shouted, but there was nothing she could do. The Spectre's Kiss could only be broken by the one being kissed. Judging from the blissfull look on her face, she wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon...
Author's notes; Errr... This all happened while taking up more time then I actually expected it would. Meaning Saara and Rikku aren't talking about Sealing Yu Yevon right now. Furthermore, I seem to have a problem writing really good fight scences, so you'll have to imagine them to be better.
Is there anything else? Well, not that I can think of at the moment except, "Thanks for all the reviews!"
Next Chapter; Rikk, Rikku-chan, Rikku-sama, and Shiroi hog the spotlight during their battle with Yu Yevon. But will they kill him and seal Ri's fate by failing to Seal him? Find out in the next exciting chapter of CHAOS OF SEVEN!
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan