Just a quick note: I know someone mentioned how they didn't like Yuna's attitude...and I'll be honest, IT'S HARD TO WRITE HER LIKE THIS!!! HOWEVER, this is a major part of the story...and why she is acting like this will be unfolded!!!!! In case you didn't notice....her attitude in the first couple of chapters was like the Yuna we all know and love: innocent, naive, sweet...etc. However, then as things started to get weirder....her attitude started to change and is progressively getting worse. THIS IS ON PURPOSE!!!! I completely meant to do this!! Also...if you notice, her attitude is worse at some times...then changes back to the sweet Yuna. THIS IS ON PURPOSE!!! Okay??? hee heee.....Anyway, finally I'm updating on this story. Happy reading and r&r, okay??? Thanks. :o)

14. Cloister 78

I wasn't sure how much time had passed since we entered the Via Infinito. I felt like since I haven't seen sunlight in so long, my internal clock was off and didn't know what time it was. Was it nighttime? Was it daytime? The dimly lit halls weren't welcoming or friendly in the least bit, so it constantly felt like nighttime. We were quiet most of the way down there, just listening to the sound of our breathing and listening for fiends. Leblanc finally stopped whining at about the fiftieth floor...mainly because Rikku almost decked her and Nooj told her to stop whining. Yikes, they have so much power over each other it's almost scary. As much as I love Tidus, I hope our influences aren't that strong on each other, ya know? I still want us to be ourselves and not turn into one another.

We were at the seventy-eighth Cloister now, and the fiends were getting harder. There were six of us there, so we didn't have any troubles. I heard something further ahead, and it sounded like struggling and fighting.

"Hey, what's that?" I asked as I pointed in that direction. We all ran over there as quickly as we could, and Gippal was the first to notice what it was.

"Dr. P!" Baralai and Paine were fighting a Megatonberry and not having the upper hand at all. At the sound of her name, Paine whipped around toward us, allowing the Megatonberry to stab her with his Chef's Knife.

"Paine!" Baralai yelled in horror as he watched Paine fall on her stomach, barely dodging the knife himself. He was on his knees, panting, and holding on by a thread. They were clearly in deep trouble.

"Come on, everyone!" I said as we all ran over to help. I must admit, Megatonberries were not my favorite fiend in the world, mainly because they were so strong. Little tonberries are actually quite cute, but the Megatonberries are about ten times their size and about fifty times their strength. I have no idea how Paine and Baralai were lucky enough to run into those. We quickly casted Curaga spells to bring Paine and Baralai to better heath, and then we all worked together to destroy it. It wasn't an easy battle, and we all had to be constantly aware of what was going on with not only the Megatonberry, but also with the other people in our party so no one was close to dying. After the Megatonberry fell over and burst into a plethora of pyreflies, we all tried to catch our breath. Rikku and I fell to our knees, panting.

"I hate this place," Nooj said dryly, reminding me of Auron; my father's guardian and also mine who went to the Farplane. Auron once said the same thing about the Via Purifico when I was still on my pilgrimage.

"Wow, it's been a long time since we've had to fight a fiend like that, huh, Yunie?" Rikku said as I nodded to her.

"Oh, you two amaze me," Paine said sarcastically as she stood up, even though she was panting as well. "Don't you remember the huge machina Vegnagun that we destroyed a couple of days ago? Or a pain-stricken maniac with a 'oh woe is me' attitude who tried to vaporize Spira? What do you call them?"

"Kay, I guess you're right," I said as Tidus helped me to my feet. He had a couple beads of sweat on his forehead and he wiped them off with the hood on his shirt. He looked quite worn out...and when I looked around, I realized that we all looked beyond exhausted.

"What are you doing down here anyway?" Paine asked as she wiped the dust and dirt off of her leather outfit.

"We came to check on you," I said simply as she and Baralai gave me a blank stare. "Well, we um, heard that you went to check things out, so we thought that maybe you could give you an extra hand."

"Or twelve," Baralai said with a chuckle as he looked at everyone else that was behind me. Yeah, okay, there were a lot of us so we all had to laugh as well.

"Did you find anything interesting down here?" Nooj said as he walked over to Baralai, who shook his head.

"Nothing more than your average day fiends," Paine said as she shrugged her shoulders. She slightly shivered as she looked around at her surroundings. "However, I don't like it down here. It's giving me the creeps."

"Nevertheless, it would be a good spot to start training New Yevon recruits," Baralai said with a smile. Once a praetor, always a praetor I guess. He was able to put an optimists' perspective on the Via Infinito, so we all smiled. "I guess we're not finding anything down here, so we might as well go back up to the surface, regroup, and make our next move from there."

"Oh good!" Leblanc said with a happy shriek. Rikku shot her a look and rolled her eyes. "What? I happen to like the sunlight. Maybe you should look into that instead of using that self tanner you use."

"I don't use self tanner!!" Rikku said as she got up in Leblanc's face. "At least I'm a natural blonde!"

"Hey!" Leblanc said as she gave Rikku a look that could've sent her right to the Farplane. "I am a na—"

"Shut up!" Gippal and Paine said at the same time. I'm glad they said something before I had to. I had no idea what had gotten into Rikku when it came to Leblanc lately. Usually Rikku was the one with a lot of patience, but you could definitely tell that she was about ready to pummel Leblanc...and I must admit it was rather amusing.

"We're not going to go all the way down there?" Tidus asked as we all shrugged. "I mean, we're this far, we might as well see what else is down here."

"Maybe nothing, but Yevon does like to keep its dirty little secrets," Rikku said as she raised an eyebrow at Baralai. She was joking, but Baralai looked slightly lost.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Rikku," he said as he blinked a couple of times. "There isn't anything down here, I'm pretty sure of it."

"Then why in Spira did we go down here in the first place?" Paine asked as she glared at Baralai. "I thought that you said you wanted to check things out?"

"I did want to check things out, and we did." Paine had to groan at Baralai and crossed her arms. If there was one thing about Paine, it was that each one of her looks could say a thousand words. However, in this instance, her look meant only five: 'we're here, let's keep going.' Thankfully, Baralai understood it. "All right, all right. Let's just get to the bottom of this place and see if anything is down there so then we can leave."

"I've been noticing an increase in pyrefly activity," Nooj said as we all realized he was right. Every floor we went down we saw more and more pyreflies, and it wasn't from fiends that we destroyed. I felt like they were all following me and I had to swat them away so they wouldn't buzz in my ear. I don't think anyone else noticed that they were surrounding me and slowly seeping into my skin.

"Do you think something really is down there, then?" Rikku asked as she started to bounce on her toes.

"I guess we won't know until we get there," I said as I tossed my hair out of my face and started to walk to the end of the cloister. My forwardness stunned everyone (including myself) for a second, then Tidus ran up to me. It took everyone else a minute and then they followed as well.

"What's up?" Tidus said quietly to me as he slipped his arm around my waist. "I'm worried about you."

"Don't be," I said as I could hear everyone whispering behind me. A cold look entered my eyes as I sharply exhaled. "They better not be talking about me."

"What is wrong with you, Yuna?" he asked me as he grabbed my shoulders to stop me in my tracks. I was slightly embarrassed because everyone could see us...and could see the tear that fell from my eye. Everyone started to circle around me, but Tidus moved his head to motion everyone to continue. "Go on to the next floor. We'll meet you there."

Everyone nodded and hopped down the platforms to reach the next floor. I looked up at Tidus and my lip was quivering. He didn't say a word as he wrapped his arms around me, and he didn't need to say anything. Being in his arms was all I needed right now. I started to feel like I was losing it again. Like something was taking over me...

"Come on, talk to me. Tell me what's on your mind." His voice was soothing and I just let the tears flow. "You're not talking."

"I know," I said with a sniff and I cleared my throat. "I don't want to be here."

"I'm watching after you," he said sweetly as his hand trailed my back.

"That's not what I mean," I said as I looked up at him. "I've beaten up some of the worst things that Spira could spit out, and I want it to just be done, over. I want to be married, I want to settle down. I don't want to be the one that everyone always counts on. I feel so used all the time."

"It's because people know they can depend on you." He said gently as he ran his fingers through my hair.

"I don't want to be dependable anymore. I want to be able to have my own life and not have to fight in this war anymore."

"Life is a war, and all we can do is fight the big fight, you know?" He continued to brush my back with his hand.

"I don't want to die, I'm too young to die." Tears streamed down my face as I fell into his arms again. "I just want to be able to be with you, I'm sick of being a summoner."

"You're...not a summoner anymore." Tidus grabbed me by the shoulders and looked into my weeping eyes. He was clearly confused, and I didn't know how to explain what I was feeling.

"Bevelle is going to win this war anyway. We both know that Zanarkand isn't going to have a chance. By putting summoners on the front lines they're basically executing me. At first I thought that I wouldn't mind dying for my people, but now I realize that I can't. I need to be with you. Don't let them kill me..."

"What in the hell are you talking about? What war? There aren't any wars going on right now! Also, summoners aren't needed anymore. You know all of this! What is going on with you?!"

"Let's run away. We don't need to be here. This war is pointless and I don't want to be a part of it anymore! I can't die, I just want to stay with you."

"I'm right here, I'm never going to leave you! What in the world are you talking about, Yuna?"

"Who's Yuna?" And with that, everything went black.

Hopefully it won't take me as long to update next time....but I'm (hopefully!!!) on a roll now....I already have the next chapter halfway written....but I want it to be perfect. :o) The faster you r&r...the more modivated I will be to finish. Hee hee....aren't I a pain??? All right...happy reading!!