Hey, it's me, Famfrit! Sorry for the delay, my teachers are merciless, especially algebra (I am NEVER going to use linear equations EVER) and I hope this new addition will be just as good as my previous ones, if not better. My writer's block is fading away now, so please excuse me for the end of last addition... Anyways, copyright information (I'm sure there are plenty of readers eager to sue me) are located throughout chapters 1-10. Anyways, enjoy!
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"Angra Shaoku and Angra Mainyu equal two, right? Then that means there are three others. We've found the ones in Bevelle and Bikanel, so that means the ones of Zanarkand, the Thunder Plains, and whatever the final place is are still left," Baralai commented as the two rushed down the hallway, running as quickly as they could to get to Maroda and Ormi.
"Yes," Paine said quickly. "The One of Fire is Angra Mainyu, but what is Angra Shaoku?"
"Well, it is awfully cold down here in the Labyrinth," Baralai said, thinking briskly. "Maybe Angra Shaoku is an ice-based fiend?"
"Who knows," Paine said, leaping nimbly over a precarious ledge. Finally they found themselves gliding up the chain, almost to the place where the fayth of Bahamut had rested for so many years.
Maroda was out of breath, and wasn't breathing very quickly. Paine crouched by him, feeling his faint pulse. He groaned a bit at her touch, but soon quieted down. It was too painful to groan anymore. Dark marks lined his wounds as if he had been tattooed, which perplexed Paine. What were these strange markings? To her horror, she found out that they were burns.
Ormi had fallen on his shield, which protected him from most of the impact but gave him a nice whack in the head. Ormi was out cold, a large purple bruise throbbing on his forehead. The odd marks lined his bare skin as well, and Baralai smoothed them out with a potion before turning to Paine.
"They've fallen a long way," she commented, and then realized something horrifying. "Where the hell is Angra Shaoku?"
Baralai, stricken with terror, looked up. Angra Shaoku was not there. Where could something as large as it hide? He found out the answer when the presence of Angra Shaoku began to form just behind him, a presence as cold as liquid nitrogen and just as fluid. Paine grabbed Baralai's hand and looked around, staring on Angra Shaoku who had somehow appeared right behind them. They took in every detail, ingraining it into their memory. It was obviously female, if you could give it a gender.
"Hello fools. Why do you enter the Domain of Ice?" she asked, her voice just as chilling as her presence. Her two tusk-like limbs didn't move: they only let their frosty locks wave in the wind.
"Domain of Ice?" Baralai asked. Angra Shaoku was not amused by this comment.
"There is a Domain for each of the Five," Shaoku said. "This is my Domain, the Domain of Ice. Why do you seek the spheres held within it?"
"Spira's past," Baralai said shakily. "That is what New Yevon does."
Paine fired him a fierce glare. Why was he spilling this out to this... thing? It obviously didn't care.
"No matter, foolish boy. You and your friend must be eliminated from existence." At that instance her two icy limbs sprung to life, adding high-pitched giggles to the subzero cackle of Angra Shaoku. "Millith and Lilith, we must fight these petty mortals!"
Millith, the one with the sharper, bulkier fingers, began to glitter. Lilith, the one with dainty fingers, began to glitter as well. Angra Shaoku began to glisten with the same light. To Paine's horror, she realized they were all casting spells.
"Baralai!" she shouted. "We need to fight them off!"
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Mainyu Altana began to cackle hideously, and suddenly Rikku was reminded of the haunting image of Maester Seymour. She pictured him in the place of this hideous creature, laughing his echoing, unsent laugh. He stood there, cackling, mocking... "STOP IT!"
Logos, Gippal, and Tihpi all looked down at Rikku, surprised by her strange outburst. In rare situations like these, Gippal noted to himself, Rikku must take things in a more serious approach. Mainyu Altana stopped laughing as his limbs sprung to life. "Come, my unsent allies, Tawrich Altana and Zarich Altana!"
Tihpi leapt off Rikku's shoulder, sensing danger in the air. Gippal withdrew his large gun, fully loading it with powerful capsules. Rikku brandished her Alchemist's gun carefully as she instantly Spherechanged. In a snap, Logos loaded both pistols and held them at the ready.
"Taking a hostile approach, I see," Mainyu Altana snarled. "Just like last time. But this time you won't be so lucky."
Tawrich Altana inhaled deeply, and then released a foul, thick breath upon the area, his famed Bloody Breath attack. Rikku began racking her mind for the formula to make a Panacea while Zarich Altana snapped its undead fingers, causing the infamous Glimmer of Despair attack to be unleashed into the air, leaving the party to feel jumbled and magic-deprived. Gippal fired his lethal Mortar attack, incinerating Zarich Altana and Tawrich Altana. The two became lifeless, but didn't fade away. Tihpi readied a flurry of needles when Mainyu Altana decided it was time to let them taste Perdition's Flame.
Rikku felt the white-hot evil sear her very skin, causing her to fly onto the ground, coughing and sputtering as sandy water splashed everywhere, sizzling in the intense heat. Gippal watched as his gun flew from his grasps, landing five feet behind him. Logos wisely sheathed his pistols as he was knocked into the ground. He got up quickly after, helping Gippal to his feet. Tihpi had somehow kept on his feet the entire time, and it was about a minute before Rikku realized the Cactuar hadn't even suffered any damage from the attack.
"What the..." she muttered as Tihpi giggled his spooky laugh. Then formed a long golden needle on one hand and watched it fly at Mainyu Altana. Immediately the unsent creature countered with not an attack, but instead began to shake as he gripped the sandy earth. Suddenly a stream of black threads shot from the ground, clinging onto Tawrich Altana and Zarich Altana before instantly fading. The two limbs immediately came back to life.
"Just like an eternity taught us, my comrades," Mainyu Altana bellowed as his undead limbs began to sparkle at once. Logos fired a round of powerful bullets, each one embedding themselves into pyrefly-deprived flesh. Suddenly the two unsent limbs attacked at once. Tawrich Altana darkened the air around the arena while Zarich Altana lifted them into the air. Rikku, now edgy, began to squirm as she felt her legs raise above the earth. Even Tihpi rose into the air, followed by Gippal and Logos, both of which were trying to keep still. There was no light beyond the limbs, but somehow Rikku could see herself and Gippal, Tihpi, and Logos. Grisly stars began to twinkle in the distance as energy began to fly around in dark wisps around each person, conjured by both Tawrich Altana and Zarich Altana. Rikku felt pyreflies float away from within her soul, and suddenly she lost consciousness.
Keyakku stood there, smiling at her. She ran to him, ready to hug and embrace. But she grasped thin air as a figure of... no, she couldn't be here! Rikku watched in awe and sorrow as her mother appeared, smiling. Rikku remembered her mother vividly. She remembered when her mother would bake hot cookies at Home and how she would read tales of powerful fiends and even stronger heroes when Rikku and Brother readied for bed. She remembered how her mother loved Cid so dearly. And then she remembered how she had gone with the others into the desert. Lost upon her way, she died from dehydration. Cid almost entirely missed her thirsted body two days after her death, and when he did he ripped the fiends off of his wife's corpse and brought her home, eyes blank. Rikku remembered seeing her mother, so limp and peaceful. And then she swore to never go anywhere to remind her of the tragedies that befell her mother, especially the Farplane.
"Mommy?" she called out. Her mother smiled. "Mommy!" she shouted, leapt at her mother and then grasped thin air once again. Countless friends slaughtered by the Guado then began to flock around her by the hundreds. Why was she seeing all of this? Suddenly she remembered the pyreflies leaving her skin like steam curling from boiling water. Was she... dead? No... She felt herself living. But how could she see all these dead... It hit her like lightning. This was the Bikanel Abyss, the pit stop for spirits on the way to the Farplane. Maybe it wasn't a pit stop, but in fact linked to the Farplane? She felt the same essence she had when they had so boldly slain Vegnagun. Suddenly everyone faded. She saw Keyakku's face one last time, then her mother's, before she felt wet ground and darkness.
Rikku fell to the ground first, pyreflies still streaming from her body. Gippal soon followed suit, pyreflies curling away from an all ready worn body. Logos hit last, pyreflies swirling from his mind of mingled sorrow and pleasure. Tihpi never hit the ground. He simply floated down like a feather back onto the ground.
"You dare challenge me, Tihpi?" Mainyu Altana boomed, voice as bold and strong as lightning. Tawrich Altana and Zarich Altana began to chuckle, shoulders rocking with laughter. "Where do you expect to get, farther than your ancestors?"
Tihpi made three loud squeaks. Mainyu Altana burst out into dark laughter. "Savior or not, Tihpi, you will not defeat me. What are you going to do, gore me to death with your blunt needles?"
Tihpi made one soft squeak, followed by a quick fit of his spooky laughter. The three undead entities fell silent, eyes fixated upon the Cactuar who dared laugh at the might of not just Angra Mainyu, but his dead version!
"You can't even touch me, puny Cactuar. Not after I gored your mother, and your father, and all your squeaky, bratty little brothers and sisters," he belted out, this time much more serious. "I squashed them like bugs. Oh, you should have heard them squeal and scream... just like little mice."
Tihpi felt anger rush into his mind, but did not succumb to it... not yet. There was a time for all things, just like his grandmother Marnela used to say. He did not speak at all, though. Mainyu Altana began to resume his taunting of the helpless cactus.
"Yes, you may be the only Cactuar with the blood of Haboob," he snarled, "but you are definitely not him. He might've sealed me but in the end it was only because he knew I could destroy him and his puny, insignificant race."
Tihpi felt his phloem and xylem begin to boil. No one would dare disrespect the Great Haboob, hero of the sands. He was his heir, and that was a name to live up to. Only he could wield the power of the Bikanel Winds, now that Haboob was gone. Haboob, his great-grandfather, the one who had chosen millennia in advance who would be destined as the Savior of the Cactuars of their time. Haboob had been the first. Marnela had been second, and he, Tihpi, had been third. No one would dare speak about the Great Haboob that way!
Tihpi let out a few angry squeaks, venting his anger. He hadn't reached his peak: not yet. He would let his anger reach its peak before he unleashed. Mainyu Altana saw anger fill him, but still dared to taunt the tiny creature as if it were his prey. "Oh, but none of them were as feeble as your grandmother, the 'wise' Marnela," he snarled. There was much satirical emphasis on 'Wise'. "She was 'wise'? Hah! More like the 'stupid' Marnela. Sacrificing herself just to keep those basilisks at bay... And what did she spawn? A pest like you!"
The comment on Marnela caused Tihpi to begin to writhe with anger, a display which made even Tawrich Altana and Zarich Altana back off a little. Mainyu Altana nearly watched in sick delight as the Cactuar squirmed like a wet earthworm. Tihpi felt his xylem and phloem get as hot as the baking Bikanel sun. He looked to the kind lady, Gippal, and the strange man. They had died defended not only themselves, but... him.
"Puny Tihpi," Mainyu Altana said with a cackle. "You can't even vent your anger correctly." With that, he unleashed Flare upon the spastic cactus, causing Tihpi to dry out. He felt his skin bake and his eyes fill with water as needles melted. Before Tihpi could recover, Tawrich Altana and Zarich Altana had lifted two large boulders from the nearby cliff and thrown them on top.
"That will take care of him, for now," Mainyu Altana sneered. "We must now join Shaoku, Tuiyi..." He would've said the names of the One of Water and the One of Darkness, but he was distracted by the shaking of the boulders that were supposed to have entombed Tihpi. Light began to spill from between the cracks of the boulders... Oh no. No, now he was becoming...
Tihpi broke loose of all the boulders, his new coat of glistening gold shining like a candle in darkness. Mainyu Altana, Tawrich Altana, and Zarich Altana all turned and looked in horror at Tihpi, who was now fully gripping his powers as the Savior of the Cactuars: the Golden Cactuar. His needles became gold and his eyes filled with a cerulean light that Mainyu Altana knew would never be quenched until evil was destroyed. When he looked into Tihpi's eyes, he didn't see Tihpi. He saw a foe he thought had died long ago: the Great Haboob.
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The dome began to fill with light as the sphere hit the ground. Yu Rae was gone, the Maesters were gone, and the dome was finally silent. This was the sphere they were looking for, the sphere that was the hub of all the chaos. Isaaru, Kimahri, and Tidus watched as Yuna walked out and grasped it. The sphere was as brilliant and round as a pearl, but as cold as ice. Yuna then pulled it to her eye to view.
"Father, what are you doing?" said a young girl, obviously in her teens, dressed in a strange white gown that was lined with white feathers. It reminded Yuna of her dreadful wedding gown. The girl's snow-white locks touched the ground, and her eyes were a soft, beautiful cerulean hue. Yuna presumed the 'Father' she was referring to was a tall, dark man who wore beautiful white robes embroidered with light, glowing lavender. She couldn't see his face or front. This sphere was old... very old.
"How many times have I told you to not disturb me while I am reading?" the man snapped rather bitterly. The girl cowered a bit.
"I'm sorry, Papa," she said, and then turned around and walked out the door, wiping tears that were streaming down her face. Yuna figured that the girl's father was obviously an unfriendly man, but was still miffed about the identities of them. Who were they?
The girl walked outside into a dark city full of lights, beautiful arches of water raising from the ground and towering skyscrapers lining every available place. The house the girl had exited was a beautiful dome-shaped house made of a dark material with bright gold windows just like all the other buildings. However, hers had beautiful gardens surrounding the entrance, which added an odd touch.
"Zanarkand?" Tidus asked aloud as he watched the sphere, confirming Yuna's suspicions. Kimahri and Isaaru watched on quite fascinated. Beautiful butterflies of every color floating around the flowers that the girl walked past, and seemed to follow her. Yuna then saw a handsome young man enter the scene with dark, spiky hair. He looked like he was a Blitzer and maybe something... else?
The girl ran out to him. "I'm so glad you're back," she said, laying her head against his chest as he stroked her long hair, kissing her neck tenderly. The white-haired girl and the dark-haired boy were obviously in love... Yuna shockingly realized their identities as the man said the next line.
"Don't worry, Yunalesca, everything will be all right," he said. Yunalesca, obviously much younger than her spooky but otherwise beautiful phantasm, was crying.
"Oh Zaon," she wept, "He'll never give you his blessing ever. He's just so concerned with his stupid studies to care about me or anything about me. Ever since Mother..."
"Yunalesca, calm down," he said, stroking her head and kissing it lovingly. "I'll get his blessing, I assure you. Don't worry, everything will be okay." Yunalesca got up, and then turned to Zaon, kissing him tenderly upon the lips for at least a minute. Isaaru couldn't keep from snickering.
"I was so afraid you wouldn't return from the battle," Yunalesca said finally after their lips parted. "Everyone was telling me about how deadly those Bevelle soldiers are."
"Nothing your Zaon couldn't slay," Zaon said with a smile. Yunalesca kissed him again.
"They sure do like to kiss, don't they?" Isaaru pointed out with a sheepish grin. Kimahri gave him a ferocious stare.
The two headed inside the house and finally back to the door that Yunalesca had first exited. "Zaon..." Yunalesca murmured, and they kissed one last time before he entered the door. The sphere faded for a moment before turning on inside the room.
"Please, let me have your blessing so I can wed Yunalesca," Zaon said. Her father shook his head.
"You will not wed her," he said firmly. "She is mine to give to whom I wish."
"She's not a prize to be won!" Zaon protested. The man merely lifted his eyebrows.
"Zaon... You are stepping down the wrong road. My blessing is for the one I know will be her destiny. You, simply, are not her destiny," her father countered.
"Yes I am!" Zaon shouted. "She loves me just as much as I love her, and yet you deny me your blessing when we are so obviously in love?"
"Yes, you petty fool," the father said. "Get out of my house now, Zaon. If I ever see you again with my daughter again, I will have you arrested."
Zaon fired a nasty glare before storming out of the room, opening the door with a sad smile. The scene faded for a moment – it must have been the passage of time – and then came back into focus. Zaon and Yunalesca were now out on a starry balcony that looked all too familiar... It was the room where they had denied faith in the Final Aeon!
"Yunalesca... Run away with me. Run away from Zanarkand... Then we can be together," Zaon said. Yunalesca looked down.
"But... But my father..." she protested. Zaon shook his head.
"Your father will never let us be," he said firmly. "He will never let us be together."
The two then firmly embraced and kissed again as Isaaru let out a frenzied laugh. Kimahri nudged him and he stopped almost immediately. "Sorry," he said before the sphere resumed.
Suddenly an alarm went off. "BEVELLE!" shouted a warrior. Zaon turned to the streets.
"I shall return, my love," he said. Yunalesca grabbed his arm just as her father burst onto the balcony.
"What is this? ZAON, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" he shouted amidst flaring rockets and shimmering lights. Her father neared upon them as Zaon stood in front of Yunalesca like a guardian...
"I have perfected the design of the ultimate weapon to destroy Bevelle entirely," he said, his voice changing drastically to that of a maniacal scientist. "With it, nothing will stand in the way of Bevelle's defeat. I cannot have my daughter marrying some commoner warrior when I will be the most famous hero in all Zanarkand!"
"Father?" Yunalesca asked, not recognizing the tone of his voice.
"I, Yu Yevon, greatest Summoner of all Zanarkand, will summon the most powerful Aeon of them all! I will summon Sin!" Yu Yevon, Yunalesca's father, shouted, and for the first time turned around and she could see his face clearly. Yuna, shocked, saw the imprint of the main sigil of Yevon on the front of his robes, glittering as the eye bored into her soul. The sphere fuzzed out and the scene ended.