I would like to go ahead and thank Kiki and Insane Child for reviewing. Well, you've all been waiting patiently, so here you go.
Chapter 23: I Am God
Rivers of warped pyreflies streamed along the broken pathways of the Zanarkand Ruins, ignoring the five travelers who walked among them. The skies above the city were dark, not from clouds or nightfall, but from the pure evil that emanated from the dome in the center of the ruins. "This place is really creepy," Ria said as they followed the pyrefly swarms.
"This place still looks like the Farplane, you know?" Wakka thought aloud, "Only now it's…evil."
A cluster of corrupted pyreflies halted the group's progress, and everyone quickly drew their weapons, unsure of what to expect. "Everyone stay alert," Auron ordered as the swarm slowly approached.
The tiny lights swirled around them for a while, doing nothing but watching, and then flew away toward the source of darkness. "They were sent to see who we were," Bob quietly told everyone.
"How do you know that?" Rikku asked, watching the retreating pyreflies.
"Pyreflies carry thoughts and feelings, as well as energy," the Tonberry explained. "Fiends can sense some of what a pyrefly carries, and those had the thought 'watch' inside them."
"Seymour's watchdogs?" Auron raised an eyebrow.
Ria shook her head. "If Seymour needed watchdogs, then we would have been attacked already. I think he wants us to come, and those things just happened to be the doormen."
The swordsman smirked, shouldering his katana. "Well, he went to all the trouble of rolling out the red carpet, so let's not disappoint him."
"Yeah!" Rikku cheered. "I'm gonna kick him in the spleen!"
"Can you actually do that?" Wakka asked Ria as the thief skipped away.
"No Pac-Man, you can't, but don't spoil her dreams," the sorceress replied.
They followed the pyreflies for a while longer, and they came to the end of the path. Before them lay the great dome where Lady Yunalesca once resided, waiting for summoners to complete their pilgrimage. Now, though, she was gone, and a force much darker than she had invaded. As they stood before the dome, a man stepped out of the shadows of the entrance. He was the colorized version of the being they faced in the Macalania Woods, and he wore the same oh-so-superior smile his double sported.
"Ah, you've made it, I see," Seymour said, his expression as arrogant as ever, "I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show up, but I see I was mistaken."
"What did you do with Yunie?" Rikku all but growled.
"Yuna? I haven't done anything with her!" the maester replied, nonplussed by such an odd question, "I haven't seen her since she sent me. Wait, do you mean to tell me that you came all the way out here because you thought that I kidnapped Yuna? I have more important concerns! I don't need her, so I didn't bother looking for her! Now, are there anymore questions before I get ultimate power, or do you all want to shut up?"
"What do you think you're doing, Seymour?" Wakka demanded. "You can't become Sin anymore, because we destroyed it!"
The Guado laughed at that, a cold, cruel laugh that sent shivers down everyone's spines. "You fool! I am greater than Sin! I am God!"
"No, you're not!" Ria snarled, "You're just a stupid jackass with delusions of grandeur!"
"Oh, really?" he replied, holding out a small object in his long-fingered hand.
The object was a small, dark-colored crystal shard, and it flickered faintly from within. "This is all that remains of Yu Yevon," he told them, "I found it in the Farplane, just moments away from oblivion, and I saved it. It took a lot of energy for me to revive it, but now it contains all of the power that the great summoner once held. This, combined with my pyreflies, will allow me to transcend everything."
Seymour laid the sharp end of the shard against his chest and quickly shoved it inward. Black fluid poured out of the hole and crawled across the maester's body in all directions as he raised his arms to the sky. In response to some unheard call, all the twisted pyreflies descended upon him in a cloud of inky shadows. "Look out!" Auron shouted as a blinding flash lit up the ruins.
The shockwave that accompanied the flash knocked everyone to the ground, but they were otherwise unharmed. When the light faded, a terrible sight greeted the group. He was still shaped like Seymour, but he was entirely black, like a silhouette. The dark figure was outlined in virulent scarlet fire, and his eyes were a shimmering diamond white. "Do you fools believe me now?" his voice was low, but it still seemed to echo across the ruins. "I am the god who will bring ultimate peace to the universe. Even in death, no one will escape my power."
"Oh, shut up!" Rikku shouted, drawing her daggers.
"You've said all this before, ya?" Wakka faked a huge yawn. "You're starting to bore me."
Seymour's eyes flickered and he raised an arm. "I'm sure you've seen this before, too…"
A huge anchor dropped into the floor in front of them and pulled up a large, emaciated creature. Chains bound its arms and its one green eye wept tears of blood as it roared in agony. "That's the dark aeon, Anima," Auron explained when Ria gave him a questioning look.
"Well, this just makes my day," Bob grumbled.
Seymour looked up at the towering demon and said, "Mother…come and aid your only son one last time…"
Anima roared again and prepared to attack the group, when a shining figure dropped from the sky like a striking falcon. Alexander interposed himself between the aeon and the group, and drew his crystal sword. "Who in Yevon is that?" Wakka asked, staring at the winged knight with awe.
"That's my brother's aeon, Alexander," Ria whispered, her eyes closed.
"Your brother? You mean…"
"Yes, my brother is a fayth."
The two aeons began their battle in a titanic clash of Light and Dark. Alexander flew about the immobile Anima, laying into the demonic creature with vicious, two-handed strikes. Anima retaliated with a burst of energy from its eye, and the knight's right wing exploded in a burst of bright blood and snowy feathers. Alexander dropped like a stone, but managed to catch hold of one of the dark aeon's chains. He clung to Anima like a burr with one hand, spread his remaining wing, and used the other arm to raise his now-blazing sword to the sky.
"Wes, NO!" Ria shrieked.
"What is he doing?" Rikku demanded, seeing the horror on her friend's face.
"He's going to sacrifice himself to get rid of Anima!" Auron replied, not taking his eyes off the battle.
Suddenly, the skies opened up, and great beams of sacred energy rained down on the two aeons, engulfing them both in brilliant light. When it faded, only Wes remained, but he looked like he was having trouble maintaining his form. "I'm so sorry, Sis, but I can't help you anymore," the young fayth said.
Then he exploded in a burst of normal pyreflies, and Ria screamed, "WES!"
…
Back on Earth, the survivors of Panama City had spread rumors of the Singing Statue of the Unknown Angel. People came from everywhere to see this wonder, but on one clear night, the miraculous statue's colors faded, and it crumbled into dust. Everyone stared at the remnants, and the new priest of the church sighed and led the congregation in a prayer for a soldier who finally found his rest on a distant shore.
…
"I didn't expect an Earth woman to be a summoner…" Seymour said, astonished at the defeat of his aeon. "Your people have more power than I would have given them credit for…"
"You talk too much!" Wakka yelled, hurling his blitzball with all his strength.
The maester didn't even raise his hand, but the ball stopped just mere inches from his face. "Pitiful…" he hissed before sending the weapon hurtling back toward its owner.
The errant blitzball struck Wakka in the stomach and bounced off. The breath knocked out of him, the big man doubled over, and the ball came back and smashed into his lower back before finally dropping to the ground. Wakka fell along with it, and Rikku rushed to his aid.
"Wakka, don't try to move, okay?" the thief told him.
"I've been through worse than this," he grunted, trying to get to his feet and failing. "I…I can't feel my legs, Rikku! Why can't I feel my legs?"
"You're gonna be okay. Just stop trying to move, Pac-Man!" Ria ordered.
Seymour laughed hysterically, and Rikku turned to face him. "This isn't funny, you bastard!"
The enraged Al Bhed rushed the Guado and slashed him with both daggers. However, she, too, was stopped short of her goal, and she found herself floating off the ground. "Let…me…go!" she screamed, frantically struggling to break free of her invisible bonds.
"As you wish…" Seymour said, flicking a finger in a careless gesture.
Rikku sailed across the ancient roadway, smashed into the ground, and skidded several feet before coming to an abrupt stop, aided by a pile of rubble. When she did not move, Bob ran to help her. She was still alive, but only just, and a trickle of blood poured out of a gash on her forehead. "Rikku, hold on, I'll…" the Tonberry's reassurances cut off when Seymour blasted him with a burst of dark power.
"I remember you…" the Guado hissed, a note of amusement in his voice. "You were the one who defeated my reflection…I won't make the mistake of underestimating you again, little fiend…"
Bob let out a scream of pain as another bolt of dark power lanced through him, and he dropped alongside Rikku. Seymour moved as if to finish him off, but Auron and Ria took advantage of the momentary distraction to attack. Unfortunately, he expected the assault and nimbly evaded his two would-be killers. The swordsman whipped his blade around in a backhanded swing and scored a hit on the maester, but as he watched, the wound shrank and finally vanished. "I already told you; I am God…You cannot possibly defeat me…"
He grabbed the guardian by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "Now I'll send you back to the Farplane, but this time, you won't come back…"
Suddenly, the sword-like head of the Starblade erupted from Seymour's chest, and he dropped his intended victim, grabbed the blade, and pulled it completely through his body. "Did you REALLY think that you were going to destroy me with this puny thing?" he cackled as he casually broke the shaft of the weapon in half.
The Guado caught the sorceress in his cold, soulless gaze. "You…I could use you…," he said, slowly walking toward her.
"DON"T TOUCH HER!" Auron roared, renewing his assault.
The swordsman's attack might have worked, if Seymour wouldn't have blithely backhanded him across the clearing. Ria wanted to rush to her companion's aid, but she was paralyzed by that malevolent stare. "You are from Earth, and you already know what it's like to grovel before a Power greater than your own…"
"No, I don't. I'm not the religious type," she said between gritted teeth as she fought to escape those awful eyes.
"You will be, I can promise you that…" he chuckled, coming even closer. "Why fight me, hmm? You only know a mere handful of all the wretches you're trying to save…Reject them, Ria, and I will make you my High Priestess…I will give you everything…"
Ria's vision clouded as Seymour showed her all sorts of wonderful things. "Why fight me? Everyone else has left you all alone…" he whispered into her ear, "But I can help you forget them…"
That turned out to be the wrong thing to say, as all the recent memories flooded to the surface. Her last memories of her family, the night she met Auron, and the time she spent with him, Bob, Rikku, Lulu, Wakka; all the memories flowed through her, and in the depths of her soul, she heard the fierce voice that spoke to her that night in the Calm Lands…
…Flash…
"…You will never be alone. Wes came back to help you, Rikku and Bob care about you, and I love you, Ria…"
…Flash…
Those powerful, beautiful memories seared through her veins, and Ria broke free from Seymour's fascination with a scream of defiance. "I AM NOT ALONE!"
The dark Guado looked taken aback at her sudden fight for freedom, and the sorceress used his bemusement to her advantage. Sunny orange light filled her mind as she raised her arms and yelled, "Flare!"
Brilliant fire, subtly different from the elemental form, rocketed out of the ground around the maester, catching him off guard. Unfortunately, he merely brushed the flames aside and sighed, "I tried to be kind, and this is the thanks I get…"
His blazing eyes narrowed in anger. "Let me show you how that spell is done, bitch…DARK FLARE!"
Deep purple and ebony flames erupted around Ria's body, and she screamed in agony as she dropped to the ground. "I can't fail," she thought, suppressing the pain that wracked her body, "I won't fail, do you hear me? I WILL…NOT…FAIL!"
Yes, I know I'm a terrible person for cutting this off just as it was getting good, and I know that Seymour kicked everyone's asses pretty quickly, but trust me; what's going to happen in the next chapter is going to be great! (I hope) I also know that some of you were probably pretty disappointed that Yuna wasn't in Zanarkand, and you'll find out about that later, too. Anyway, do me a favor and review.