This is a really long chapter, but it definitely my favorite chapter that I have written for this story. It's mostly Tidus' thought process...but I like writing for him...therefore, I like this chapter. Only the Epilogue remains for this fic...I hope you've enjoyed it...

3. Into The Darkness

It was amazing how silent we all were as we walked into Baralai's office again. This time, I carried Yuna in my arms, and of course that caused concern with everyone that we passed. I had a sheet wrapped around her to keep her concealed because we knew that people would question even more about how she's pregnant than they would if they just saw her unconscious. It would've been more of a pain and a complete waste of time to go all the way back to the Celsius and grab her after retrieving the Orb off of Baralai's desk, so we just decided that I would carry her. We ignored everyone's questions and gasps when they saw the unconscious High Summoner in my arms and continued to walk to the Teleport Glyph that would bring us to the Via Infinito.

Thankfully, we were able to just warp to the 100th Cloister and didn't have to waste countless hours of time (not to mention risk our health) by descending floor by floor. This place gave me the creeps anyway, no use staying down there longer than I had to.

When we reached the 100th Cloister, I saw a sight that sent a chill down my spine and froze the blood in my veins. Shuyin and Lenne, standing among a sea of pyreflies, standing on a large emblem of something on the floor. I couldn't tell what it was, and I wasn't about to walk up to get a closer look. It was releasing a strange glow, which reflected off of their features, making them look even more sadistic.

Looking at Shuyin was exactly like looking into a mirror. Same features, same hair, same way we stood, everything was just the same. I knew that everything in my life was basically based off of his, but seeing him face to face was something I don't think I was ready to handle. The similarities were too astounding.

Holding Yuna tightly in my arms as I watched Lenne and Shuyin looking over at me was quite possibly the most frightening experience I have ever had to go through. The hatred in their eyes…I have seen that look before. I have seen it in Yuna's eyes lately; proof that the pyreflies truly took over her true being. The calm, cool-natured girl that I left two years ago was just possessed now. She was an empty shell filled with foreign feelings of two disturbed people.

Will it ever stop for her? Is her fate to forever be the target for fiends to come after? Will she one day be able to just live her own life instead of risking her life for the people of Spira?

These questions filled my head as I swallowed hard. Lenne and Shuyin had their gaze directed on me. I was their center of attention because I held the carrier of their child. They wanted the baby safe and the rest of us dead. For as nervous as Baralai had looked before, he now looked as though he had enough confidence to take on anything that came his way.

"Tidus," I looked over at Baralai as he shut one of the books that he had been studying from and handed it to Paine. She gave him a worried look as she gently placed the book against her chest. We were all nervous because we weren't sure what was even going to happen, or if this was even going to work. What if it didn't work? What, were we going to have to fight Shuyin, Lenne, and all the potential fiends on our own? If we pissed the two of them off enough, the pyreflies would all turn into fiends, and would attack at their beckoning. Being equipped with our weapons didn't make me feel protected at all. Baralai pointed to the walkway toward the emblem, Lenne, and Shuyin without saying a word and reached into his pocket for the Orb of Imasakiza.

"Yes?" I asked as he just shook his finger to emphasis the gesture. "What? Oh no, you're not making me put her closer to them!" I spoke in a harsh whisper as I held Yuna closer to me. Baralai walked up to me and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Tidus, I warned you about this already," he said firmly as I vehemently shook my head. I knew that I had to, it was the only way to complete the exorcism, but it could also lead to a direct path to her death. She was helpless and unaware of what was going on in my arms, and I felt that I would be betraying her.

"If you don't, Lenne and Shuyin will come directly for us!" Rikku said as she let go of Gippal's arm and grabbed out her thief swords. As I looked around, I realized that everyone else reached for his or her weapon as well. I glanced down at Yuna one more time and shuddered as I exhaled.

Her skin was so paper thin and pale that it almost looked translucent, her lips looked the same color as the snow that constantly fell on Mt. Gagazet, and of course, her pregnant stomach had something moving about in it. Pyreflies started to head straight for Yuna and I; I'm assuming directed toward Lenne and Shuyin's baby. I tried to keep my stature as the pyreflies buzzed in my ear and soared around me.

"Tidus!" Paine yelled at me as I looked away from Yuna and directed my gaze toward Paine's voice. The pyreflies that were surrounding everyone else now started to fall toward the ground and transform into people. Unsents. They all had the same ghoulish look on their face as they started to head our way.

I know everyone was waiting for me, but I just couldn't find it in my soul to do it. I felt as if I were sacrificing her. Sacrifice; the one word that Yuna grew up on. Her mother made a sacrifice for love by betraying her Al Bhed family when she went off and married a man who believed in Yevon. Her father sacrificed himself for Sin. And of course, Yuna even was willing to sacrifice herself on her own pilgrimage to defeat Sin.

"No, I don't want this anymore," I said firmly as I gritted my teeth. No one heard me; they were all too busy fighting off the unsents, who had morphed into fiends. "I can't do it."

"What are you waiting for?" Gippal shouted above the clash of sword and flesh. Destroying the fiends only made the situation worse for us, due to the fact that when the fiends burst into pyreflies, the pyreflies turned into more fiends. We were running in a downhill spiral right now. 'Spira is full of death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly.' Auron's words ran through my mind as I slightly gripped Yuna harder.

To my shock, she moved, causing the blanket that was over her to fall to the floor. I was too busy thinking that I didn't even realize the abundance of pyreflies that were seeping into her skin. I realized what I was observing; 'the pyreflies seeping into her skin.' When she passed out in the Via Infinito, I remember pyreflies billowing around her then simply disappearing. They were entering her, filling her with memories and with a child. The thought dawned on me and my breathing started to accelerate. I looked down at her face in horror as she fluttered her eyelids then opened her eyes.

Her eyes were completely black. No sclera…no green or blue iris from her Al Bhed and Yevonite heritage…Just blackness, like two gaping holes that led to an abyss in her beautiful face.

"Baralai!" I yelped as she started to struggle in my arms.

"Put her down!" Baralai said as he barely escaped a large blow that was headed directly for his shoulder. I almost objected, but I realized that I didn't have any other choice. I started to walk closer to Lenne and Shuyin as Yuna thrashed about in my arms, thinking of where to put her. I tried to gently place her on the ground, but with the way she was moving, I practically dropped her. Luckily, she landed on her feet and was able to stand up on two wobbly legs. "Back away, Tidus!"

I obeyed and ran back to where Paine, Gippal, and Rikku were fighting fiends. Nooj, Leblanc, Buddy, and Brother were about twenty feet away from them, doing the same thing. As I pulled my sword out of the holster and stood in a fighting stance, I glanced over at Yuna again. I looked up to see that Yuna had walked over by Lenne and Shuyin and stood in front of them. Lenne turned Yuna around and looked into her black eyes, as if she was looking right into her soul. Shuyin gently placed a hand on Yuna's back and smiled. As a shiver ran up my spine from the horrific sight, I could hear Baralai start the spell in Latin, softly at first then his voice became louder with the intensity of the spell.

"Ego temerarius vestri intentio!" With those words, Lenne and Shuyin stopped smiling, and Shuyin pulled out his sword. I glanced at the sword that was in my hand and had to shake my head when I realized that it was the same one that Shuyin was holding. Yuna turned toward Baralai with her two guns in her hands, ready to shoot. I cursed at myself that I didn't unarm her, but part of me believed that she was going to wake up and help us with the battle. If she were to wake up without her weapons or dresspheres, she would've been helpless. Having her armed was my only way of staying optimistic throughout this whole ordeal. I could see the look of fear wash over Baralai's face as he saw her raise her arms, but he continued to speak the spell with the Orb of Imasakiza starting to emit a bright blue glow in his hand. "Qui flos unus timeo! Solvo vestri queritor et en universitas!"

Yuna started to walk toward Baralai, and after a good five yards, she stopped once again. She carefully aimed, and used Trigger Happy right toward him. We all let out a warning shout toward Baralai, but he calmly put up his free hand toward Yuna. The bullets seemed to ricochet off of an imaginary shield and turn into feathers. We all watched in disbelief as the feathers floated down toward the ground. My mouth was slightly agape and I noticed that Yuna had the same look on her ghastly face. Sweat beaded up on Baralai's forehead and as he continued, colorful spheres of light started to surround his body. It reminded me of a 'null-all' spell, but more spheres of light, and they definitely possessed more power.

"Vos postulo non exsisto hic ullus diutius! Reverto ut umbra quod ago vestri vita in secundum universitas!" Yuna dropped the guns she was holding and Shuyin dropped his sword. The pyreflies that were flying around us all seemed to cease their movement and Baralai now powerfully yelled the words of the chant as the brightness of the orb filled the room. "Solvo!! Solvo!!"

With his last word, the spheres that were surrounding Baralai's body shot out directly toward all the pyreflies, Yuna, Lenne, and Shuyin. Yuna dropped her guns, clutched her stomach, let out a scream in pain, and fell right on the ground. I dropped my sword and ran to her side, cradling her in my arms as the pyreflies flew out of her body through her skin. I looked over at Lenne and Shuyin, who were embracing for one last time. I couldn't tell if they were happy to go to the Farplane or not; they just looked at each other with loving glances. Shuyin even wiped a tear that was falling down Lenne's cheek as they started to fade away and turn into pyreflies.

We all watched the pyreflies of Shuyin and Lenne rise out of the Via Infinito, and watched how all the other pyreflies followed without saying a word between us.

"Is it over?" Rikku asked, swords still up in a ready-to-strike position. Everyone else looked around for more potential fiends, but we realized that there weren't any left. Paine rushed over to Baralai, who was exhausted from the spell. He was on his knees and panting heavily with sweat still dripping from his forehead.

"Yuna…" I said as I looked down at her. She was breathing normally and she once again looked peaceful. She was unconscious, but she was okay. The color was returning to her cheeks and her lips were retaining the rosy color that I was so used to. I trailed my fingertips over her stomach, and to my relief, it was back to normal. I moved a wisp of hair out of her face and stroked her cheek.

"Is she okay?" Gippal said as he and Rikku rushed over to where I was sitting with Yuna in my arms.

"She's breathing, if that's any consolation," I said as I kissed her gently on the forehead. "I would feel better if she woke up."

"But she's alive," Baralai weakly said from the spot he was sitting in. The spell took a lot more out of him than he thought it was going to, that's for sure. I smiled and looked back down at the beautiful girl that I was holding.

She made a slight groaning noise and started to stir in my arms. My smile widened as she fluttered her beautiful eyes open. One sapphire, one emerald…back to normal. She blinked at the brightness of room, even though it was still dimly lit in the 100th Cloister. When her eyes focused on me, she gave me a gentle smile and my heart almost burst.

"Hi," she said in almost a whisper as I kissed her on her forehead again. I was so choked up that I couldn't say anything back to her as I wrapped my arms around her in a strong embrace.

"Well, it worked, Lai," Paine said as she went down on her knees so she could look at him in the face. She brushed away his sweat-soaked platinum hair from his forehead and smiled at him.

"Yeah, I guess it did," he said with a soft chuckle and brought Paine into an embrace. I couldn't find the words to thank him properly, but I prayed I would be able to show him my gratitude someday.

"Can we go home now?" Leblanc said with a slight whine. I had to chuckle slightly when we all nodded. Wow, for once in her life, Leblanc made an intellectual statement. Even Rikku had to crack a smile, instead of having visions of cracking Leblanc's face.

Paine and Gippal helped Baralai get to his feet, Rikku carried the books Baralai brought with him, Leblanc walked with Nooj, and I picked Yuna up and held her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled as she buried her head in my chest. We all walked into the Teleport Glyph and warped up to the surface of Bevelle Temple.