Hello people, another chapter up and running.
Riku: "Ever planning on giving up this story and saving us a ton of trouble?"
Hmm, don't think I'll stop until I'm done, since I kinda like this story.
Narrator: "Okay, I've read this, it's as long as the previous one, if not longer, so I'll go prepare."
Sora: "This one doesn't have as many cameos as the others, does it?"
Actually, read more carefully, it has plenty of cameos. The length of the story is mainly due to the length of this game, so pardon me for preferring long games.
Acronos: "Just stick with books or movies, it'll save a lot of page space and time."
Umm, I'm not too fluent in movies, and books are rather normal, but don't worry, I actually have most things planned out.
Narrator: "Dun dun dun!"
You didn't have to do that, you know.
Disclaimer: "Author owns nothing but the plot and concepts, beep!"
Okay, I don't think I need to destroy you yet.
Disclaimer: "Author does not own his own powers…"
Okay, you die now! I own my powers, and I shall show you their full extent!
Riku: "Buh-bye. Wasn't nice knowing you."
Sora: "Okay then, unless you've played Final Fantasy X and beaten it, you might want to skip most of this chapter, it's basically the entire plot of the game, altered a bit."
Riku: "Hey, I just thought of something, who came up with the legends of the keyblade masters and wielders and stuff? Seriously, it can't have just occurred to people…"
Damn you, I was hoping to save that plot detail for later! Anyway, just read the story and be prepared to use a lot of your time to finish it. Oh yeah, and review while you're at it.
Once the fiasco concerning both Yunas had subsided, everyone left. Older Yuna showed her new Aeon to the crowd. Regular Yuna summoned her version of it and they began to talk stuff that most likely only they knew. By this time it was nightfall and a large bonfire had been set up in the middle of town. After eating happily, Acronos and the rest of our group sat down to talk about the future.
Acronos couldn't help but notice that Tidus kept looking at older Yuna, and sometimes at regular Yuna. Usually the ones concerning younger Yuna were looks in between her and her older self, followed by him scratching his head. However, the looks he gave older Yuna were those of curiosity, a deep curiosity. Acronos could see the romance beginning to develop already. Later on everybody went to sleep, with Acronos at guard outside. ("It's warm enough to be outside anyway.")
Some time later, older Yuna came out of the temple with a huge briefcase, saying they were gifts for the temples. She was obviously struggling under the weight, so Acronos came forward and lifted it upon his back with ease.
Acronos: "I can take these for you, but it will slow us down quite significantly."
(O) Yuna: "Hmm, you're right. Could you leave them here?" He set them down with relief. As he was returning them to the ground, he noticed Tidus talking with Wakka. Now this in itself is normal, but Wakka giving him a sword of water crystal similar to Acane's spear was a little odd. After further discussion, they left. On the way they encountered some fiends, monsters if you will.
Easy prey, but what was odd was the fact that each seemed suited to a certain character, and the few heartless there could only be damaged by Acronos' keyblade. The path to the ship was uneventful aside from Tidus meeting Kimahri, the blue, bipedal lion from before. Acronos found out that he was the silent type. After Tidus' brief training match against him, Acronos congratulated him, namely Kimahri, on being that wise.
They got to the ship, and met up with a bunch of people there to send off older Yuna. She kept smiling, even though regular Yuna was almost in tears. After this, the Yunas began talking some more, and everyone was left to do what they wanted. Tidus messed around, while Acronos decided to be the stoic of the group until they came across Auron, and sat watching the horizon. Then some problems came along, namely Sin heading for Kilika!
Acronos shook his head and wondered if he could teleport yet. When they speared one of Sin's fins, this became a battle. From where he stood, Acronos jumped forth, grabbed the rope, and pulled hard enough to slow Sin down in surprise. Charging up some energy, he quite simply blew the fin off in one shot.
He smirked, but fear almost had him when all of Sin surfaced and looked straight at him and Tidus. He shook it off and prepared another shot. Sin just threw him with gravity.
Acronos: "Now I'm mad! Drake, out here now!" This indicated his Wyvern heartless. It flew at Sin and began using its body as a missile to damage Sin. The monstrosity kept trying to swat it away, but to no avail.
It used a special attack, calling tons of small missiles to rain down upon Sin. It did good damage, but Sin took this opportunity to raise its arm to swat it harder away. As the small dragon watched the arm descend, neither noticed Acronos. Sin really should have, because he'd charged up a massive ball of red-hot energy. As Sin's arm went down, Acronos threw the orb, and it exploded on contact, and Sin was pushed back.
Acronos began shooting energy and magic like crazy, while his Wyvern attacked physically, and with specials. Acronos stopped for a moment and smirked.
Acronos: "Hah! Luck's in my favor today! I just figured out how to do, Strike Raid!" His already thick blade charged with energy, making it twice as thick. Hefting it up, he slashed once. The circle that accompanies Sora's version of it came forward and hit Sin for some damage. He lifted his keyblade up again and began slashing faster and faster. When he'd reached top speed, he was firing shots in every direction, but mainly at Sin.
He began his finishing strike, holding his blade at the ready, and then throwing it. The blade rotated inside the target, and then created an explosion, and disappeared before the explosion, reappearing in Acronos' hands.
The power of the attack caused Sin to reel. Drake charged up a dark beam of energy, and shot Sin while its guard was down. The damage from the combo was pretty good.
A little off to the side, Irvine was charging most of his energy and magic into his gun. Finally he felt that he couldn't put any more energy into it. Raising it, he wondered how he could use this shot without blowing up his gun. Due to the energy of the gun, it transformed into a bazooka.
Irvine let an evil smirk cross his face. Running forward, he came next to Acronos and leveled his bazooka.
Acronos: "Where'd you get the gun?"
Irvine: "It transformed when I put too much energy into it. Now, lets see how Sin takes this!" He took aim and fired! The resulting explosion sent him flying back into a wall, laughing maniacally.
He'd fired a huge orb of energy, and this attack hurt Sin badly. It raised itself from the water and flew away instead of returning fire. Acronos saw Kilika in the distance. Sin flew at it, seeming prepared to ram it. Instead of hitting the town, it hit the barrier in front. It kept attacking the barrier and it wavered dangerously. Yuna and older Yuna both strengthened the barrier themselves.
Acronos jumped down to the engine room and found a bunch of Chocobos running in hamster wheels, powering the ship. Setting his computer to their language, he yelled for them to put it in high gear. After some persuasion, they began running really fast, sending everyone back from the sheer speed. Acronos managed to get topside, and yelled out "Ramming speed!"
They were upon Sin in a moment, and suddenly the ship stopped. Acronos had made sure to jump forward at the time, so he flew at Sin. He landed, cutting through one of its cores. It roared in pain, and Acronos was exposed to a huge amount of the toxin.
Acronos: "So there is a toxin. It's pretty evil, enough to Devil Trigger!" He does so and begins cutting at Sin quickly in different places with his dark energy blade. Finally Sin got ticked, charged up an orb of dark and gravity energy, and hit Acronos with it. He tried his best to hold it off, but just wasn't strong enough. He was sent flying through the barrier, swearing profusely.
Sin swung its arm, blasting a part of the town. It then left. Nobody pursued it, since they wanted to help anyone. Later on, Acronos was found at a bar drinking stuff that was really high on sugar. The effect was similar to being drunk, except that he only seemed sad and not stoned.
They picked him up and they headed to the temple. A thing called Lord Ochu, which took some effort to destroy, blocked the shortest route. On the way to the temple, they encountered a Sin-spawn. After beating on it a bit, it came out of its shell. Further beating prompted it to do something drastic.
It raised its tentacle-filled hand, and tried to crush older Yuna. Tidus was the first to be in front of her to try and stop it, but it wasn't necessary. From out of nowhere, someone shouted out "Final Heaven!" and nailed the spawn, stopping it in its tracks. It was still alive, and Tifa stood up.
Tifa: "I didn't manage to hold off Sin, perhaps killing you will ease my conscience."
A chained pole came from the trees, enhanced with fire energy. The spawn was plant-like, and this hurt it pretty badly. The pole swung back, and Kairi flew in on Bahumat's back. Bahumat called forth some energy, and blasted the spawn into oblivion.
Kairi: "Hey guys! I absolutely hate these things, what about you?" Acronos smirked, happy that he'd come across more of his friends.
Acronos: "Hey guys, great to see you!"
Tifa: "Kairi, I didn't know you were here."
Kairi: "I am. Everybody was really surprised when I first called Bahumat, you know? Hey Yuna! There are… Two of you!"
Yuna: "Yes, it appears most of us have counterparts on this world."
(O) Yuna: "You didn't tell me your friends were summoners as well."
Yuna: "Sorry, but to me, summoning is normal."
(O) Yuna: "It's okay. Anyway, lets go to the temple."
Inside, Acronos, Irvine and Tidus were barred entrance. Tifa just gave anyone who dared defy her an evil look, so she could enter. Kairi had a summon, so she could go inside too.
Wakka: "Sorry bro, you guys ain't guardians. Can't go in, you know?"
Tidus: "Well, okay I guess."
Acronos: "(Pulls out some cards) Anyone got a game?"
Irvine & Tidus: "Poker!" They played for a while until another summoner named Dona, and her guardian Barthello shoved them into the cloister.
Acronos: "I knew this was coming. Follow me." He led them calmly, solving the puzzles, including the destruction sphere, with ease. They ended up in the chamber of the fayth. The older Lulu began reprimanding them for going into a place they shouldn't have been. A few moments later, both Yunas came out of the room with the fayth.
Yuna: "We're done, lets go."
Acronos: "Could you do us a favor and make us your guardians? It would save us some trouble."
Wakka: "You can't just randomly and coolly ask to be a guardian! You've gotta prove yourself worthy, ya?"
Acronos: "Ahem. Who almost killed Sin? Who's gotten through each of these cloisters as if they were cake? Who besides either Yuna or Kairi can summon?"
Wakka: "You guys, you guys, and I think that's you."
Acronos: "Good then. Have we proven ourselves?"
(O) Yuna: "Yes, indeed you have."
Lulu: "However, I still think you shouldn't yet. Do you even know the first thing about Yevon?" Acronos had to bite his tongue from yelling out that it was a false religion.
Lulu: "That's what I thought." Acronos felt his rage building at not being able to yell out. Before he could say anything scathing, older and younger Yuna came forward to stop the fight.
Yuna: "Now Acane isn't the only one with Ifrit. I just hope this one's sane."
Acronos: "I think so."
(O) Yuna: "Lets be on our way." Back outside, everyone walked forward until Tidus stopped, and older Yuna began talking with him.
Acronos: "Now, I know something's supposed to happen…" Tidus screamed really loudly to get the stress of his chest.
Irvine: "Let me guess, that was it?"
Acronos: "Yep."
Tifa: "Lets be on our way, I'd prefer to meet our friends quickly."
Acronos: "Oh yeah, your friends are probably on this world, right?" She remains silent. They take the next boat out of there and go to Luca. Right upon entering, younger Wakka greeted them.
(Y) Wakka: "Hey guys, great to see you, ya?"
Irvine: "(Frozen in a scream)"
(O) Wakka: "Hey, you're me, except younger."
Lulu: "Two of them? Oh boy." After this, there was some more commotion when Tidus decided to announce that the Blitzball team from Besaid would win. After a while, the games started. Older and younger Yuna were captured, and Tidus had everyone available help him in searching. After dismantling a large machine easily, older Yuna and younger Yuna both came out, apparently unharmed.
After hearing more about older Yuna and her past, they headed back to the Blitz dome. Wakka was hurt, so he told Tidus to substitute for him. Acronos stepped forward and healed him, and then pulled Tidus away.
Acronos: "Can you do the Jecht shot yet?"
Tidus: "How'd you- never mind. No, I still can't do it."
Acronos: "Okay, just think of it this way: you know the thing by heart. Now who the hell is gonna stop you? Are you gonna let your old man stop you from helping out your friends?"
Tidus: "No way!"
Acronos: "Then do, that, shot!!"
Tidus: "YEAH!!!!" He jumps up, grabs a nearby Blitzball, and performs it perfectly.
Acronos: "There you go. Now go out there, and kick some snotty Luca Blitzer ass!"
Tidus: "Yeah! Hey wait, you're not going out?"
Acronos: "Huh? There's enough room?"
Tidus: "Yep."
Acronos: "(Smirks evilly) Then prepare yourself for some really interesting shots." They all go out, and Acronos casts Aeroga on himself. When the teams were supposed to shake hands, the opposing leader pulled his hand away and taunted Tidus. Acronos had to restrain him from taking his sword out.
Acronos: "Well your mother -(Edited out to maintain decent rating)!" The player's eyes widened, along with everyone else's. Acronos smirked for a bit, and then took his place. He heard the announcers wondering what he'd said. Using some magic, he spelled out in the water "You really don't want to know what I just said." The announcers started to get ready for the game. Everyone took their places, Tidus gave him a thumbs up, but the rest of the team kept gaping at him. The other team gave him the most evil stares he'd seen in a while. The game began!
Acronos dashed forward and spiked the ball to a teammate, and he passed it to someone else. The leader of the opposition came straight at him. Acronos spun at the right moment, dodging him and taking note of who'd stolen the ball.
He rushed her, and smacked her with a tackle, stealing the ball and throwing it to Tidus who was near the goal. The pass was strong enough to make it. Unfortunately, Tidus was flanked immediately.
He smirked and used the Jecht shot, knocking both defenders away long enough for him to unleash a really powerful shot that scored. He spun around and gave a thumbs up. Acronos nodded and the game again began.
This time Acronos took the position of middle forward. The second the ball flew up; he launched himself forward and grabbed it from mid-air, so to speak. He shot forward, ripping through the defense and offense. He came upon the goal and began spinning very fast. As he spun, the water and air coated him, making it impossible to see him. Yelling out, "Leviathan shot!" the water created the illusion of a blue dragon that shot the ball from its mouth.
The sheer speed, power, and fear of an Aeon made the score inevitable. At halftime, Tidus substituted himself for Wakka. He got a goal, and eventually the game was won. Though they'd won the game, Tidus, Wakka, and Acronos stayed behind a bit.
They stayed behind long enough for swimming fiends to invade the pool. A smirk crossed all their faces as the destruction began. Soon however, things got hectic. Older Auron came in, and killed a rather large fiend. Then they all ran in and helped him face an even larger one. When it was defeated, the Maester Seymour summoned a huge Aeon and destroyed the remaining fiends.
Acronos: "That was the Aeon that was in that temple we first arrived at." Tidus was awestruck. Later on, after some events, everyone in the group joined as guardians.
The next segment was a really long route with very little going on. Well, compared to what had been happening. Shortly into the route, they encountered an old scholar named Maechen. Everyone else chatted pleasantly with him a bit, and left him. Acronos, though, felt like talking more.
Acronos: "So, you've been around Spira?"
Maechen: "Indeed. I have traveled this world, and I was troubled by what I saw."
Acronos: "Yeah, you already mentioned that compared to Sin, humans are weaklings. I don't think so, though. Sin lives, so it can die, and I think that anything strong enough can do that."
Maechen: "True, but what besides the Final Aeon is that strong?"
Acronos: "I think that we have the potential to be."
Maechen: "Interesting..."
Acronos: "Anyway, since you've been all around, would you mind telling me a bit more about Spira?"
Maechen: "Certainly." Everyone not directly from Spira listened attentively. Maechen finished, they nodded and left. Further down the road they met another summoner.
"Ah, a summoning group. I am Belgemine."
(O) Yuna: "Hello, I am Yuna."
Yuna: "As am I, but I am not from Spira."
Kairi: "Hi, I'm Kairi."
Acronos: "Name's Acronos, nice to meet you."
Belgemine: "All of you are summoners?"
Acronos, Kairi, Yunas: "Yes."
Belgemine: "Oh boy. Well, how about a one-on-one duel? It should help."
(O) Yuna: "Okay." They had a quick duel between Belgemine and Ifrit and older Yuna and Valefor. Older Yuna won. Kairi faced Valefor with Bahumat and won by the skin of her teeth.
Belgemine: "Well, I can't exactly face you with an Aeon you've never seen."
Acronos: "Go ahead, I'm not using a summon you'd know either." Belgemine summoned a samurai bodyguard. Acronos called forth Fenrir.
Belgemine: "What is that Aeon?"
Fenrir: "Name's Fenrir, lord of wolves and such." He jumped on the bodyguard, ripping at it. Fenrir jumped back and lunged again. He barely dodged a blade. Fenrir launched a gust of wind that cut the bodyguard a bit. It summoned its dog and had it attack. Fenrir raised a furry eyebrow and swatted it away. He called forth white energy into his mouth and blasted the bodyguard with the attack, "Moon Beam". It raised a dagger, twitched to show three daggers, and threw them, injuring Fenrir a bit. Fenrir then did its howling attack, the one that summoned meteors. The bodyguard was defeated. Belgemine congratulated all of them and handed them some good items.
After killing a large fiend called a Chocobo eater at a travel agency, things got boring. When they'd reached the end of the road, they found out that a large operation was taking place; some people were going to try and defeat Sin without summoners. To do this, they were drawing it in with its Spawn, and were planning to blast it with cannons.
After traversing the lower section via Chocobo, Maester Seymour got them in. Acronos and Tidus both glared mildly at him. Finally, because he didn't much care about the plot, Acronos went up to Seymour and mentioned meeting his mother. His eyes widened and he said never to speak of that.
Acronos: "To be simple, this is blackmail. If you do anything stupid, something might just slip, you know?" Seymour nodded and they all headed forward. After some more walking, they reached the focal point of Operation Mi'ihen, as it was called. They all prepared for the worst.
The plan went relatively smoothly, until the Spawn merged and escaped. The job of killing them was assigned to our group; everyone else was busy, busy getting ready to attack Sin, that is.
It had sent a bunch of Sin-scales to attack them after they'd fired standard cannons at it. After the first volley of cannon fire, everyone ran to the beach to attack the scales. Next, the people revealed why they thought they'd win, a huge energy cannon.
The giant Sin-spawn just wasn't dying as quickly as anticipated, so Acronos jumped into the air and impaled it in the stomach. A round of magic that finally destroyed it followed this. Acronos immediately ran to the cannon to try and help out. Unfortunately, Sin had earlier created a dark shield, and was blocking the cannon.
Acronos came as the cannon was about to pierce the shield, or so they thought. The indentation was getting deeper, but then the portion of the shield that wasn't being attacked suddenly shot forward, blowing up the cannon. Acronos was ticked, and launched Strike Raid at full force. Sin's shield broke from the attack. Acronos raised his hand and called forth all his heartless and summons.
Acronos: "All of you, anyone who can, hit Sin with everything you've got!" All his summons nodded and charged. Unfortunately, summoning actual monsters requires your spirit and constant energy to keep them existing, so you can't attack.
Sin was having trouble with the summons, since they were small and quick, but still had a good deal of strength. Up above them all, Lance glanced down at the scene. He smirked and called forth some of Sin's ability, creating a heartless Sin-spawn.
It came at Acronos, and his summons had to rush to help him out. To be able to attack, Acronos called back Fenrir and Odin, and defended against the attack. From the sheer force of the strike, he skidded back a couple of feet. The thing was huge, a giant insect-thing with plant tentacles from its shoulders. It was dark and evil looking.
Another swing came at him, and Acronos jumped back from it. He charged, using Sonic Blade, but the insect spread its wings and stopped his movement with the power from the beats. He started Strike Raid, but the insect's tentacles blocked each attack. He tried standard attacks, but to no avail.
While he was trying to destroy the spawn, Sin blasted all the soldiers who'd tried to harm it, killing them all, but only knocked out the group since they were far away. Though damaged, Acronos still stood. His heartless were annihilated, since they were too close. Standing up shakily, he ran at the spawn, but it flung him away with ease. Thinking a bit, something came to him, Ars Arcanum!
Getting close enough, he unleashed the attack. His blade extended and thickened, and he quite simply went into a slashing frenzy. Slowing down a bit, each slash came with an explosion of energy and magic. Finally he came to his finishing strikes. First off, he slashed from lower left to upper right, powerful enough to send them both into the air. After finishing that, he turned to face his target, and putting all his power into it, he slashed downwards. When his blade connected with the ground, there was a small nuclear explosion.
The spawn no longer existed. Acronos looked around and saw older Yuna, Auron, and Seymour facing the large spawn from before. He rushed in, right in time to see Seymour's overdrive, a nice explosion/implosion he called Requiem. The spawn didn't survive it. Acronos relaxed then and there, sitting down.
Two things occurred, older Yuna wanted to summon, but Seymour stopped her, and Tidus swam out, seeming to want to destroy Sin himself. That obviously didn't work, and he washed back up on shore. Acronos glanced around a little later, but immediately wished he hadn't.
Nearly everyone involved had died, and older Yuna was busy sending them to the Farplane. The group was helping each other up, finding potions for healing themselves. Acronos got up and paid his respect to the dead. They all left for the next temple after a bit.
The fiends on that route were tough, and made even harder by the fact that everyone not from Spira was dispirited. At one point, several people had a flash of anger, and nothing stood in their way, at least until the anger faded.
Before actually entering the temple, the group met up with a summoner and his guardian brothers. The next temple wasn't that difficult to solve, and older and younger Yuna got a new lightning Aeon, a unicorn of sorts. The time period after that, Yuna felt compelled to help out, since every casualty from operation Mi'ihen was pouring into the temple. Acronos felt obligated to help as well, and both of them spent the night helping anyone they could. In this time period, Acronos learnt how to save a person just about to die; he unsealed their heart, unleashing the darkness or whatever element there was inside. It was risky, so he only used it if the person had no other option.
Both he and Yuna worked themselves to the bone, and Yuna quite simply fell asleep standing up. Acronos picked her up and put her in bed, and decided resting on the wall wouldn't be that bad, just for a second… He opened his eyes to Tidus watching over Yuna, and Acronos figured he'd just gotten in…
Acronos: "Ahh! Crap, I slept in!" Continuing on their way, they reached the Moonflow without much incident. The Moonflow is a river where pyreflies gather, and it's very beautiful. On the way there, Acronos noticed a patch of yellow that he might have missed earlier. Looking at it, he realized that it was Selphie!
Acronos: "Is that you Selphie?"
Selphie: "Acronos! (Hugs) Great to see you again, I thought I'd lost you guys forever! Did you get everyone?"
Acronos: "Not everyone. I did find Irvine though."
Irvine: "Someone call me? Selphie, that you?" Selphie is breathless for a moment, but then yells Irvine's name and running tackle/glomps him. Burying her head in his chest, neither says anything.
Acronos quietly leaves them alone, and just for an instant; he wishes he had that sort of a relationship. Only for an instant though, and shakes it off immediately. Going further on, they find a giant elephant-like creature that older Yuna says is necessary to cross the Moonflow. At the creature, they saw younger Tidus hopping around. He obviously liked riding it.
Acronos: "Tidus, what's up?"
Tidus: "Acronos, nice to see you again! Hey, have you seen… Yuna…" She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
Tidus: "(Sheepishly) Uhh, hi?" Yuna just looks at him a moment, and runs at him, embracing him tightly. Tidus seems surprised, but hugs back.
Yuna: "(Quietly, so only he can hear) Don't ever leave me again."
Tidus: "I won't." They stay like that for a bit, and their older versions look at each other. All the older guardians look at both. Younger Wakka smiles proudly. After a bit, introductions are made, and they get on and begin crossing.
Older and younger Tidus begin a heated conversation, most likely older asking younger if Yuna was his girlfriend, and younger debating whether to deny it or agree. Acronos stared out in the distance, and was wondering about what parts he needed to fix his computer, but thoughts of Maioko kept invading his plans. He gave up on it and decided to take a nap, but the annoying thoughts were still there, so he decided that perhaps writing something down might help.
He began writing his travels, thinking that if he published it on Earth, it would make one hell of a story. He finished after about an hour, and looked around. Nothing was happening, and his eyes began to close. Just as he was about to take that nap, he felt a cloth put on his mouth.
He could sense that it was knockout gas, and felt where the person holding it was, and elbowed them hard enough for them to let go. He flung the person into the water and took note of the situation.
Older Yuna, younger Yuna, and Kairi had all been taken. Wakka of both ages, and Tidus of both ages jumped into the water. Acronos cast Aeroga and jumped in as well. They found all of them encased in an orb on top of a giant robot thing. Acronos felt rage sliding through his veins, and he could see the same thing going through both Tidus' minds. They all began slashing the thing like mad, trying to free their friends. The robot blasted them several times.
Acronos functioned as the healer since he was the only one with healing spells; he also was the one using magic. Finally the machine fell, and they grabbed the orb and began swimming upwards. Once they'd gotten back on the vessel, they opened the orb, freeing their friends. Acronos helped Kairi, while both Tidus' helped the Yunas. Finally they got to shore and headed forward to Seymour's city.
On the way there they found someone washed up on shore. She got up and addressed Acronos and Tidus familiarly.
??? : "Oww, you big meanies, that hurt!"
Acronos: "Huh, do I... Rikku! We thought you'd drowned or something!"
Rikku: "Nope, not gonna happen." She unzips the one-piece wetsuit she'd been wearing, making Acronos turn around instantly.
Rikku: "What, you thought I was getting undressed in front of you two?"
Acronos: "Sorry, force of habit."
(O) Tidus: "Alrighty, lets go then. Guys, this is my friend Rikku, she really helped me and Acronos (Acronos: " 'Acronos and me!' "), Err, Acronos and me out when we first got here." The girls talked for a bit separately, (not that it helped against Acronos' hearing, but he didn't much care since all they were talking about was whether Rikku knew Yuna's uncle Cid), and Rikku was accepted by them. Auron looked at her eyes somewhat freakily, since they were green and swirly. He nodded and stalked off.
Everyone didn't mind Rikku, so they went on their way. At Seymour's home city, Guadosalam, home of the Guado, everyone separated and wandered off, leaving older Tidus alone. Acronos went with Rikku when she mentioned being able to customize weapons and stuff, hoping she'd be able to fix his computer.
After a bit, older Tidus gathered everyone to go meet Seymour, who'd invited them earlier. Acronos was happy because Rikku said that the items he needed could be found easily, and she could fix it without trouble. Inside, Seymour treated them to some good food, and then showed them visions of Zanarkand. During the show he whispered something in older Yuna's ear, and she had to go get a drink of water. Her face was very red, and she seemed on the verge of hyperventilating.
Rikku: "Yunie, what's wrong, you're beet red!"
Yuna: "Yes elder counterpart, what's the trouble?"
(O) Yuna: "The Maester, just asked me to marry him!" Everybody was shocked, but Acronos figured she'd decline. However, just to be certain, he went up to Seymour, cracking his knuckles.
Acronos: "What did I tell you about doing something stupid?"
Seymour: "I am not doing anything stupid. If Yuna marries me, Spira shall be happy, and you know how much she wants that. (Sees the wheels turning in Acronos' head) And besides, (whispering) I now have blackmail of my own on you, keyblade master. If I reveal a traitor to Yevon in our midst, things might get a bit, hectic."
Acronos: "… You are actually evil, the first example I've seen in a while."
Seymour: "Evil you may perceive me, but I still have the power to maintain it."
Acronos: "You know I'd win in a fight."
Seymour: "Would you? Against an army of innocent people?"
Acronos: "Damn, he's good! Where are you getting all this?"
Seymour: "Lets just say that my source is, lacking in something important."
Acronos: "The heartless shall devour you and your soul shall remain trapped in the darkest hells for all eternity."
Seymour: "I do not believe so."
Acronos: "Blackmail or not, I will stand against you."
Seymour: "The question isn't whether you would, but could you?" Acronos gave him the most evil stare he had, (Enough to send most grown men running), and walked away. Seymour smirked and waited for him to leave, and addressed Auron. The two of them were in conflict and both seemed to be trying to outdo each other in cryptic statements, after Auron turned to leave, Seymour addressed Auron again.
Seymour: "Why are you still here, sir? (Auron and older Tidus look at him funny) Pardon me, but we Guado are sensitive to the scent of the Farplane." Older Tidus attempts to smell Auron, only to be shoved away. Everybody leaves the house. Older Yuna decides to head to the Farplane to talk with her departed parents about this. Acronos pouts and says she should dump him as rudely as possible.
(O) Yuna: "Why do you say that?"
Acronos: "Guy's an asshole. He'd ruin your life, make it a living nightmare."
Yuna: "But that's not what you'd make the decision based on, right, elder counterpart?" Older Yuna remains quiet, and they head to the Farplane. At the Farplane, everyone is briefed on what it is.
Lulu: "I think you should know, but the Farplane is where the dead go if sent. Once you're there, you can see and talk to anyone who has died and you remember."
Auron: "I'm not going in, it's not my time yet."
Rikku: "Think I'll stay out here too. Memories are nice, but that's all they are."
Irvine: "A bunch of dead people? No thanks, I don't think they make good conversation."
Selphie: "I don't know anyone who's passed on."
Tidus: "Same with me."
Yuna: "I think I'll remain out here as well."
Acronos: "… (Goes in)" Everyone else follows. Older Wakka talks with his brother, older Yuna with her parents, and older Tidus decided to talk to everybody, (more like listen to what they're saying). Acronos had gone to the farthest edge. He stood there for some time until younger Wakka came up to him.
Wakka: "Hey bro, who'd you want to see?"
Acronos: "..."
Wakka: "Oh. Well, Uhh, ya. Remember that you can't deal with a memory unless you face it."
Acronos: "..."
Wakka: "Alright, ya? Irvine is the one who translates silence."
Acronos: "... I do need to see my parents. I'll remember, thanks." Wakka nods and leaves. Acronos takes a deep breath and calls forth memories of his parents. Their images come up and he looks at them.
Acronos: "Hi mom, dad. How've you been? I guess the Farplane must link to all worlds, or perhaps it just shows the illusion of your memories? Well, there I go again, off on a tangent. In fact, I'm almost completely talking to myself here. Actually, it isn't so bad. At least I know you're watching over me." As he says this, his symbol reacts, and two regular hearts float out. They connect with the memory, and Acronos' parents gain the ability to speak.
Mom: "Hi son. You've gotten stronger."
Dad: "You're becoming more of a man each time I see you."
Acronos: "! Thank you. I have gotten a bit stronger, but it's still never enough."
Mom: "You're setting your standards too high."
Dad: "Yeah, you can cut through anything with that keyblade of yours, right?"
Acronos: "Yeah, but I still got all my friends scattered on this world."
Mom: "Yes, and you're finding each one of them."
Dad: "Time apart tends to strengthen friendship when the two return."
Acronos: "Yes, but I still haven't found Lulu, Acane, Auron, or Maioko!"
Mom: "Wow, sounds like you made a bunch of close friends rather quickly."
Dad: "Now, who are these people?"
Acronos: "Acane is a spear and double blade user with a difficult past, she lost her sister, probably here too. Auron is a stoic katana wielder, with an interesting past and nothing to say. Maioko is a martial artist with a tomboy attitude, a past like mine, and a good heart. Lulu is the one over there in the black dress, except a bit younger."
Mom: "Hmm, this Maioko girl, aside from being a tomboy, what's she like?"
Acronos: "Uhh, she's a good person. I think she's actually using the tough exterior to hide the fact that she is a bit insecure. I think she's as strong as I am physically."
Dad: "Hmm… (Smiling)"
Mom: "Aww, how sweet."
Acronos: "Oh no, not you too!"
Dad: "Ah, I get it. By any chance, do you want to make her happy and protect her, for no real reason?"
Acronos: "Yeah…"
Dad: "Thought so. Okay, here's my advice: be careful around her. If for some reason she wants to stick with you for a while, let her. Don't give her the impression you don't like her or anything, but don't overdo anything."
Acronos: "Hmm, okay I guess. That doesn't sound like anything concealed, so I'll do that. Hmm, do you guys know anything about a guy named Blasphemy?"
Dad: "No, can you give us a description?"
Acronos: "Long hair, distinctive scar, kinda evil-looking?"
Mom: "Nope, but there was someone who seemed to disappeared off the face of the Earth…"
Acronos: "Thanks." The hearts return to him and they all leave the Farplane. Acronos had heard older Yuna talking with older Tidus, and had heard her say something about accepting the marriage to make the people of Spira happy. On the way out, he continued to try and persuade her to think otherwise, but to no avail.
Upon reaching the exit, a guy tries to leave the Farplane, trying to become unsent. Older Yuna has to send him, and he drops a sphere that she takes. Auron seems hurt by the sending, but dismisses it as a headache or something.
(O) Yuna: "Everyone, I've decided. I will accept Maester Seymour's proposal." There are a few mumbled acceptances and good luck sayings, and Acronos mumbling something about finding Acane and getting her to get Ifrit to attack Seymour. The wheels begin turning really quickly inside his head, and he pictures Seymour running around screaming like a little girl with his insane hair on fire, with Ifrit munching happily on his head. He actually laughs out loud at the picture, and he is asked what was so funny.
Acronos: "Sorry, I was just picturing Seymour with his hair on fire and my friend's messed up version of Ifrit munching happily on his head while he runs around screaming like a little girl." Everyone thinks for a moment and begins chuckling or laughing. The mood is lightened by just a bit, and older Yuna says she'll try that on the honeymoon. Acronos quite simply shudders at the thought of Seymour and Yuna honeymooning, but likes the idea of older Yuna setting his hair ablaze.
They go inside, but after much searching, only find a priestess who tells them that Seymour left for Macalania a while ago. Acronos shrugs and they head out to the thunder plains. Immediately inside, Rikku squeals in fright of the lightning and younger Tidus laughs maniacally.
Acronos: "Tidus, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Tidus: "I'm just happy to be back, my element is lightning, remember? After spending so much time here, I've learnt lightning spells that make Ultima seem weak in comparison!"
Acronos: "That's 'cause you're not a mage."
Tidus: "Oh no, I'm talking about Lulu's Ultima."
Lulu: "Oh great, a smaller copy of me, how grand."
Acronos: "Don't worry, she's almost exactly like you."
Lulu: "That's what I was afraid of, the strain will probably cause Tidus or Wakka to collapse into a fetal ball."
Acronos: "… You know, that's probably true. Question is, which one will go first, young or older?" Silence, (aside from the lightening) reigns within the group as the two age groups stare each other down. Finally they set off, and after some time reach a travel agency. There, Rikku pleads to stay just for a bit. To be honest, she was extremely freaky, laughing scarily for a few moments until the lightning flashed again and she fell to the ground and crawled, grabbing the nearest leg. This happened to be Acronos'; he just rolled his eyes and patted her on the head.
Acronos: "Sigh, Rikku, just look at it this way. Lightning is just the ions in the sky being attracted to the ions in the ground or something of that sort. It's science and doesn't have a mind of its own. The type of elemental magic here merely preserves the storm for extended periods of time. Lightning is just an element, and thunder a gong, so get over it!"
Rikku: "You try being electrocuted at a young age!"
Acronos: "Sigh, one time does not mean lightning hates you."
After much complaining, (Auron griped that she was worse than the storm), she managed to get them into the agency. Acronos suggested that they all get some sleep while the sleeping was good; since it was basically evening and nobody had slept in a while. Upon reaching bed, Acronos passed out like a light, screw the fact that 'bed' was a sleeping bag on a hard floor. He had a strange dream, which was becoming more and more common to him.
Acronos: "Where am I? What's going on? Why is there white on every single side of me? Where the hell am I? Computer? Huh, you're actually here? Good, any ideas?"
Computer: "No, location cannot be determined. Map function is disabled, remember?"
Acronos: "Oh yeah. Hmm… Might this be End of the World?" He called forth his keyblade, and after a bit, it came to his hand. He pointed it in a random direction, (forward), and let loose the beam that sealed worlds. No effect, it hit a barrier. He tried the unsealing one, and that cracked the barrier. Again and the barrier splintered, sending out darkness in high quantities.
Acronos was surprised, and pointed the sealing one, and managed to re-seal the barrier before too much darkness came through. The remaining darkness combined into forms. They took the shapes of humans in black cloaks. One of them took off their hood to reveal Blasphemy. Acronos raised his keyblade in a defensive stance. They all took out weapons, and the fight began.
There was what seemed like a wrinkle in time, and a second later Acronos was standing over a bunch of unconscious cloaked figures, and Blasphemy was in front of him. They did a final charge, and Blasphemy went down.
From the white, an enormous darkness approached, encompassing all! From this darkness, two points of shining darkness, (if that's even possible), stood out. They came at Acronos and quite simply won effortlessly and without sustaining any damage whatsoever. Their leader laughed, and Acronos woke, sort of.
He awoke into another dream. He could feel that it was a dream, since he was seeing himself from the outside. The song from the beginning of Kingdom Hearts was playing, and he could see a female singer in front of him, shadows all around, and she was singing into a microphone.
Acronos didn't recognize her, but figured she must be Utada Hikaru, the artist of the song. He seemed to be sitting in a café for no real reason, and was watching the events unfold as if watching a show. The show began with the spotlight on Utada, and she sung out the beginning of the piece (you might want to be listening to "Simple and Clean" right about now). It suddenly began to alter between the Islands and her, shifting to her for certain pieces, as if a beginning movie. Acronos raised his eyebrows and decided to watch it.
After her singing, the vision of himself appeared on the Islands and was facing the water. It rose up as a hand and reached for him. His keyblade appeared in his hand and he slashed at it, jumped back, and began blasting it with energy. It attacked; he dodged, and blasted it again and again until it 'died'. He turned around and saw Maioko smirking at him, he smirked right back and waved.
As he came over, darkness came from the water and charged him. He grabbed her hand, and the two of them began running. He had no idea where the space was coming from, but one thing was for certain, Acronos was running while blasting his opponent with energy.
Finally a wave consumed them, but it was only water. Acronos quickly looked around, and saw Maioko swimming around, trying to regain her bearings. He swam towards her, but the current became very strong. With one final push of desperate energy, he grabbed her hand again, and they both surfaced.
She looked at him, and he at her, and they both swam to the islands again. As they came in, everyone from their ragtag group greeted them with a smile or a wave of some sort; even Lulu and Auron were smiling. Kairi pointed upwards, noticing something in the sky.
Using black meteors as surfboards, the cloaked figures from before were coming to the islands, but they no longer wore their cloaks, and Acronos in Devil form was amongst them. The outside Acronos was pleasantly surprised, and Utada sung solo for a bit, and then the scene shifted back.
Acronos and Maioko both sprouted golden wings that covered them, and when they parted, two archangels stood there. Acronos moved fastest and charged his Devil form. The two fought, and the human form came out, made a quick peace, and the three combined, creating even more power.
The remaining cloaked figures were dealt with quickly, and then the two from the earlier dream appeared. The outside Acronos thought 'how will they solve this?' and continued watching. Acronos went into a really strange, powerful, and new Devil form, and kicked both their asses! From behind them, a huge darkness came, and everyone looked at it in horror.
It descended, and just as it was hitting, Acronos woke up. There was some vestige of light, and Acronos felt that he'd rested enough. For once cursing his habit of waking up early, he got up and went for breakfast. After this, he consulted his computer, hoping it had gotten the dream recorded. It hadn't, and he cursed the bad luck of not remembering a premonition.
The computer pointed out that one of the necessary items was nearby, a fiend was carrying it. Acronos summoned his keyblade, and walked out smirking. He came back with a bunch of items and gil, and sat down to wait. In a state between sleep and being awake, Acronos got even more rest, increasing his stamina, just in case. When someone came down, he opened his eyes fully, jumping to being awake easily.
It was Irvine, who was getting to be able to wake up decently early. Tidus was next, followed by his older counterpart. Acronos just went back to the half awake, half asleep state and waited like that for a while. Auron punched him, and he got up, placing his blade to his throat before he could even retract his hand.
Acronos: "A simple 'lets move' would have done it, you know?"
Auron: "Sorry, couldn't resist."
Acronos: "Sigh, (puts away blade) whatever." They then left, and crossed the Thunder plains. When they were about to get to the end, they stopped under a lightning tower with a roof, and the discussion of the marriage continued. It was truly accepted that older Yuna was to marry Seymour.
Strangely enough, every time older Yuna was talking about this, Yuna edged close to Tidus, and intertwined her fingers in his. He returned the grip, but Acronos was certain neither was aware of it (Acronos: "Have they shared a Paopu too? ). They left the Thunder plains, and came upon Macalania forest. Younger Lulu came from out of nowhere.
Lulu: "Now where am I?"
Acronos: "Getting lost? I thought you might ask for directions."
Lulu: "Hello Acronos. I did ask for directions, but they only confused me further."
Acronos: "Ah, well follow us, we should find the way out of here, I hope." After a while, (and many times getting lost), they made it to the exit of the forest, where Auron had them go into a spring where they killed a strong fiend, and watched a sphere that older Tidus' dad had made while he was in Spira.
After saving at the Agency in front of Macalania temple, the group was about to let older and younger Yuna head to the temple alone, when a large gun-machine came at them, and older Yuna went to fight with them, even though she shouldn't have. The thing summoned up a smaller floating machine to negate magic. Acronos shrugged and called his keyblade, but to no avail. This pissed him off to no end, and he pulled out his knife.
Acronos: "I don't mind when you mess with me, but when you mess with the blade or my friends, then we've got problems!" He goes on a slash happy rampage, decimating the machine, but not killing it.
In the process, he ceased the existence of the magic blocker, and the machine began charging up its own magic. Acronos was oblivious of this until the last possible moment, when he would have smacked himself for not thinking, had he the time to do so. Luckily, older Yuna summoned the thunder Aeon, while younger summoned Ifrit, and both defended him with their shield magic. He thanked them and called back his keyblade. With its power in hand, he called to Tidus.
Acronos: "Yo, Tidus! Show me the power of your new lightning magic! (Raises blade)"
Tidus: "One kick-ass lightning spell, coming right up!" The resulting explosion of lightning magic would have annihilated just about anything, including Acronos, had it not been directed at the blade. He held it with reverence, (his eyes closed though), and sensed where the machine was.
It was done charging up its cannon, and was aiming to fire at the entire group. Acronos ran at it, and there was slow motion as he jumped and it started firing, his blade connected with the blast… A blinding flash of light, and Acronos stood up behind the machine, which was now completely severed in two.
Older and younger Yuna were then escorted to the temple, while her guardians were instructed to wait at the agency. Disregarding that order, they ran to the temple, but to save time Rikku hot-wired some scooters and they zoomed off into the distance. Since there were too few of them, Acronos just ran beside them, but he was more than fast enough.
They reached the temple, and rushed in. There was some trouble with those not from Spira and Rikku entering, but that was resolved with some evil looks and the fact that they were guardians. After some time, someone shrieked and the guardians ran in to see what was up. Turned out that Yuna had left a sphere behind, and in it Seymour's father instructed them on the evil nature of his son, and how Seymour would eventually kill him. He instructed them to kill Seymour.
Acronos: "I knew that guy was trouble from the first second I saw him! Who's with me in kicking his ass!"
(O) Lulu: "It's not that simple. Remember what he said, 'kill my son'. Do you really want to kill him? Have your blade stained with his blood?"
Acronos: "Uhh, I guess I have to."
After talking to a few people the guardians entered the cloister. They found a passage leading directly to the fayth and stormed it. On the way, he contemplated what might happen. Up until now, Acronos hadn't killed anything intelligent. Fiends are embodiments of hatred, heartless can't be killed, only returned to the darkness from whence they came, and any humans he'd faced he'd struck towards their heart, making them give up the fight when he broke their defense and hit their heart. This time, he'd have to take the barrier off his blade and strike as a regular swordsman would. They found Seymour waiting for Yuna. A moment later she emerged, confused as to why her guardians were there. Tidus announced Seymour's intentions, and after some yelling and such, Seymour began the battle.
Two Guado guarded him, and he stood there calmly. Acronos let his barrier stay upon his blade, and all tried to attack Seymour or his guardians. It was annoying since the guardians used potions instantly, on each other or on Seymour. Finally Acronos had the bright idea to have Rikku steal their potions.
After that, Acronos' keyblade took out the Guado, knocking him out. Older Tidus was about to kill the other Guado, and Acronos jumped forward and attacked him, making sure he wasn't killed.
(O) Tidus: "Hey, that was my kill!"
Acronos: "Key word, kill. That guy probably had parents or a family."
(O) Tidus: "Oh."
Seymour: "Hah, is this the best you have? You can't even kill!" He used a Fira spell to burn them into oblivion. This pissed Acronos off to no end, and he dislodged his barrier and charged. He got Seymour across the chest with a good slash, but only a surface cut.
Seymour: "Hah, not bad. Feel my pain, come Anima!" The Aeon he'd summoned a while ago appeared, a creature that had two purple wings on its sides, encasing it, dark skin, arms coming out of the neck to wrap around it and hold a pendant with a woman on it or something. The head was wrapped in tape, with only one eye showing, and the entire Aeon seemed to be coming out of the floor itself. This Aeon was rather frightening, huge, and obviously powerful.
Acronos readied his blade and prepared to attack. Anima couldn't move, but definitely could do some serious damage with magic. Everyone attacked it, doing heavy damage, but older Yuna was the only one who noticed it about use its Overdrive. She summoned Ifrit, who blocked the horrific attack, at the expense of its life. Acronos took note that this was too powerful for them to take on physically.
Acronos: "Yuna the elder! Summon your new Aeon!" She did, calling forth the ice goddess Shiva. She had her heal by using blizzard on herself, and boost when Anima did its attack. Shiva managed to hit it with Diamond Dust several times, destroying it.
Seymour: "That power that defeated Anima, it will be mine!"
Being annoying like that, he destroyed Shiva with a Firaga spell. He began attacking with powerful magic, but eventually they won. Actually the final blow was struck, and then Acronos impaled Seymour through the stomach. He pulled the blade out after a moment, and looked at Seymour. He looked back, and asked Yuna if she would pity him even now. He fell to the floor, and older Yuna rushed over, after a moment she closed his eyes.
Acronos: "Sigh... May you finally find peace in death."
(O) Tidus: "I thought you hated the guy?"
Acronos: "The dead are gone, along with the evils they committed in life." He nodded and they paused for a moment. Tromell, Seymour's assistant, came in with a few Guado.
Tromell: "What has happened here? Lord Seymour! How could you?"
(O) Tidus: "It's not what you think, he attacked first, he's the bad guy!"
Tromell: "Leave him be, traitors!" A bit shaken, everyone began to depart, but the moment they stepped onto the ice passage, it disappeared mostly.
Acronos roared that they didn't have time for this. He ran through the puzzle, solving it extremely quickly. Upon exiting the cloister, a group of Guado stopped them. After making it clear that the guardians were not to be let out alive, Tromell destroyed the sphere and they ran out and exited in all due haste. Guado followed them from the temple as they made their escape. Meanwhile, at the agency...
Acane: "Now where are we?"
Auron: "I believe we are near Macalania temple, if this map is correct."
Acane: "We've had a map?!"
Auron: "For some time now, ever since we left Bevelle."
Acane: "(Eye is twitching badly) And why didn't you mention this tidbit, EARLIER!!?"
Auron: "You never asked."
Acane: "(Eye is really twitching this time) ARGH!! IFRIT!!" Auron took off at top speed as the pyromaniac Devil/ comic relief began chasing him, with Acane following closely behind. Mid-way there, they bumped into Acronos, literally!
Acronos: "Hey guys, no time to chat, we've got to escape!" Neither argued, and everyone ran off until they reached the frozen lake. The Guado caught up to them there, and called forth a large, muscular fiend.
Acane: "I need to vent some rage. Ifrit, lets kick some ass!"
Ifrit: "I'll burn them all!" He made due on his threat, and soon had the Guado skewered, roasted, and ready to eat. Their last act had been to cast protective spells upon the beast, and put it into berserk. Everybody was having difficulty, since the thing took almost no damage from any attack, and was very quick to attack and quick in its attacks.
Both older and younger Auron nodded to each other and set up a team attack. They used Dragon Fang at the same time to disorient it, followed by using Shooting Star to knock it around like a tennis ball. Everyone with long-range attacks then had fun trying to blast it while in motion. An Ultima spell ceased its existence.
Acronos turned around and saw a heartless shadow slink towards them, but dismissed it due to lack of strength. It sunk into the floor, making a pool of darkness while everybody was celebrating. Acronos looked at it again, this time curious.
He went up to it and leaned down, peering into the depths of darkness. For no real reason, he poked the pool, getting a reaction. Invisibles started to pour from the pool like there was no tomorrow, and leading them was a dark copy of what they'd just killed.
Acronos: "(Puts hand to head, shakes head) Oh boy, you heartless never give up, do you?" He drew his keyblade and slashed at the nearest invisible. It flew back a bit, but charged again at him. Shrugging, he charged the invisibles.
(O) Tidus: "What are those?"
Tidus: "Heartless, things without hearts. (Sees the confused look on his counterpart's face) They're the bad guys."
(O) Tidus: "Oh, I suppose we destroy them?"
Wakka: "Ya."
(O) Auron: "Well then, what are we waiting for?" They charged into battle, and began hacking at the nearest heartless. After some minutes of mindless slashing, the invisibles were defeated and the dark copy was left.
It fired off a blast of energy at Acronos. While he dodged, the connection between energy blasts and Maioko was made, but he just yelled mentally at what was making these annoying connections. Landing, he ceased the barrier on his blade, and struck forth.
He was both surprised and satisfied to see his blade cut about a foot deep into the stomach. It staggered, apparently not expecting the gaping wound at its side. In a fit of rage, it smashed the lake really hard, cracking it and sending them all to the bottom of it.
Acronos got up after a while, and saw that a few others had awoken before him, but there were still some sleeping. He got up from his 'bed' and went to talk with everybody. Auron and Acane related their time in Bevelle, Auron mentioning learning what had happened to him on this world, and also learning about Acane indirectly. Acane just mentioned that Auron was a bit of an asshole when it came to traveling alone, but it was evident she didn't really mind the company.
Unfortunately, plans on how to get out or something were interrupted when Sin appeared. It actually didn't appear suddenly with a flourish for destruction as usual, but was merely listening to the Hymn of the Fayth. For whatever reason, it sent them somewhere unknown.
Acronos woke up to sand in his mouth. He looked around and saw nothing but sand in every direction. He gulped and began to wonder if perhaps this was the point in time where he should believe that he was screwed. His computer beeped him.
Computer: "There are necessary parts beneath the sand. Please dig them up."
Acronos: "I'm in the middle of a desert and all you can think about is repairs?"
Computer: "You are in the middle of a desert and all you can think about is your own repair, why should I be any different?"
Acronos: "Too much time with me is giving you a personality, isn't it?"
Computer: "Unfortunately."
Acronos: "Thought so. I'll get the parts." Older Tidus found him blowing up the sand dune with Ultima, and finally he held up a small microchip.
Acronos: "Is this it?"
Computer: "Indeed, that is one of the more vital parts."
Acronos: "Tiny, but then again, your circuitry is rather complex, so I'm not surprised." He joined up with older Tidus and they all followed Rikku. After collecting items, they ended up in a place Rikku called 'Home'. It was under siege by the Guado.
After meeting a man called Cid who was Rikku's father, they went into the place. Cid warned them that he would be blowing the place up soon, so they'd better hurry up. Acronos led them to the chests himself to save time, and then they reached a place called the summoner's sanctum.
There older Tidus found out that to defeat Sin, summoners had to sacrifice their own lives when summoning the Final Aeon. Obviously he was distressed, and shouted a ton of stuff. Younger Tidus and Yuna just looked at each other and held a quiet, private conversation.
Tidus: "Do you have to… As well?"
Yuna: "No, as my older counterpart said, I'm not part of the cycle of Spira."
Tidus: "I promised not to leave you, don't you go and leave me."
Yuna: "I won't, promise." They shook hands to seal the agreement, but it was certainly more then that. A bunch of fiends and Guado appeared, and other summoners came to the rescue, summoning their Aeons. Older Tidus asked them why they were throwing their lives away. They answered that they could do nothing less, it was for the good of Spira, and they dedicated their lives, and deaths, to that goal.
Acronos: "whoa… Would I give up my life in my cause? …Hmm, probably would. To save lives, to free worlds, to allow balance, harmony and existence to reign, that is my goal. Living without accomplishing that is a pointless waste. If my death somehow furthered that, I suppose throwing my life down would be the right thing to do. I mean, who exactly would care? Nobody… right? Right? " Even his own annoying mind kept silent at this. It didn't answer, because something like this is for each person to answer on their own. Then again, to lay down your life is the most drastic of decisions, since you can usually do more over a longer period of time alive, then in one short moment, dead.
Anyway, everyone jumped aboard the airship that Tidus and Acronos had helped excavate. Though it was old, the thing looked good, and flew well. Topside, the ground parted and the airship rose out of the sanctum. Flying off, it aimed missiles at Home, and fired! The resulting explosion was rather massive.
The ship was going full throttle to escape the blast radius, but it caught up… Only for a moment, and the airship burst out in a grand and spectacular finale!
Acronos: "Hell yeah, that was awesome!"
(O) Tidus: "… … …"
Acronos: "Right, older Yuna. Lets go to Bevelle and go get her then."
(O) Auron: "Not that simple. How would we get in? The place probably has a ton of guards for the wedding."
Acronos & (O) Tidus: "The wedding?!"
Auron: "What, you thought death would stop Seymour?" Acronos shudders violently at this statement. It is discovered that fiends are inside the ship.
Acronos: "Aww screw the fiends, lets just storm Bevelle!"
Acane: "I've seen the guards there, there are way too many for us to fight off, no matter how strong we are."
Acronos: "Hmm… well then, lets just storm the heart of the matter."
Tidus: "Huh?"
Acronos: "This thing shall carry us directly to the wedding! We'll storm it, there are definitely going to be fewer guards there than in all of Bevelle!"
Acane: "But…!"
Acronos: "Aww c'mon, lets do it!"
(O) Tidus: "I won't allow this to happen. If I have to follow Acronos' first idea alone, I will!"
Cid: "Right, we're going to Bevelle!"
Acronos: "Do you know how to fly this hunk of junk?"
Cid: "I resent that! This ship is state of the art… Of course I don't know a single thing about flying this thing! (Cackles)"
Acronos: "O_O" Older Tidus wandered around, killing a few fiends. He noticed a dragon flying around outside.
(O) Auron: "That's the guardian of Bevelle."
Acronos: "I don't wanna kill a dragon, I like dragons!"
(O) Auron: "Would you prefer Yuna getting married to Seymour?"
Acronos: "Fine, that dragon goes down!" They rushed outside onto the deck, and the battle began. Older Tidus and Rikku could get Cid to shift the ship away from the dragon, but most of the time they stayed close. After giving it a rather good beating, it died and fell to the earth.
Acronos: "Well then, I don't think we'll be seeing that dragon again." They flew upon Bevelle.
Now, back with Maioko, she decided to head away from Zanarkand. Crossing the great mountain in front of her proved difficult, but not impossible. After the mountain, she made her way through an extremely large expanse of plains. Finally she reached Macalania forest. Looking around a bit, she stumbled upon an entrance guarded by two people.
Maioko: "Hey, where's this lead?"
Guard: "Bevelle, the largest city in Spira."
Maioko: "Why're you guarding it?"
Guard 2: "I dunno, perhaps because of the wedding of Maester Seymour?"
Maioko: "A wedding? Cool! Can I go see it?"
Guard 1: "Sure, but don't expect much room. I hear that the only way to get a direct view is by climbing to the top of Bevelle!"
Maioko: "Hmm, yep, still have Acronos' grappling hook. He must have dropped it. Okay, I'll try the climbing suggestion."
Guard 2: "Be careful. If you miraculously make it, would you mind giving the lady Yuna my regards?"
Maioko: "Yuna? She doesn't strike me as being old enough to marry, or having found love this quickly. My curiosity's piqued, I'll be sure to send your regards." She ran in, and after some climbing, managed to find a spot directly in the middle of it. She saw Seymour and Yuna.
Maioko: "What is Yuna thinking? This guy has freaky hair, he has weird veins sticking out of his forehead, really long nails, how could she possibly love this kind of person? Oh well, love is blind I suppose. Yes, and you have your own. Yeah, I… wait a sec, what are you saying?! Got you, you do like Acronos! Shut up before I kick your sorry ass! That threat won't really work in the face of facts. Face it, you kept thinking of him every so often during this journey. I did no such thing! You did. Well, maybe that one time, but that was only because the weapon looked like a keyblade! … Admit it. I will not admit a falsehood. Whatever. " Turning to look at the sky, she noticed something moving. She dismissed it as a trick of the light, but then she saw it start to close in. She began to back away from the edge. Finally the airship came into full view. Everyone was standing on deck.
The guards began aiming their weapons and firing. The airship fired some really huge chains at the walls and they stuck there. From on deck, everyone jumped off onto the chains. Most slid down calmly, most of the older versions anyway. Older Tidus was more youthful though, and due to the movement of the airship and the chains, had to jump over one, and then cartwheel onto another chain.
Acronos was having the time of his life, going at an almost impossible, and definitely insane speed. He made certain to jump over several chains, knowing full well that due to their size and his speed, any contact would quite simply rip the flesh off him in a moment. Finally things got hectic for him as two chains closed in upon him, one at stomach level, and the other at head level, (If they connected, well, lets just say it wouldn't be pretty, and Cure wouldn't be able to fix it, ever).
Acronos noted that they were moving at the same speed, so jumping over one and dodging the other would be difficult, so he decided to pull a Matrix. With a good deal of strength he jumped onto the one that was previously heading for his stomach, ran on it at full speed, and jumped to the next one, running on its side as well, and when both chains had passed his original one, he jumped back onto it and took it more seriously then because they were about to reach the floor.
Everyone landed, some with flips or cartwheels, and faced Seymour. He just looked at them all and motioned for the priest to continue, while the guards should attack. They did so, but met with the wrath of Acronos, Ifrit, or Tidus.
Though older Tidus wasn't as strong as Auron or Acronos, or even Irvine sometimes, the pure rage flowing through his veins was more than enough. He used Spiral Cut instead of standard slashes, that's how enraged he was. His raw power was fearsome, and only Acronos had the guts to say anything.
Acronos: "Tidus, your Spiral Cut leaves you open, and you tend to miss! Make up something stronger, something you can use at close range! I don't mean Blitz Ace either!" A moment of thought, and he charged in to use his new and improved Spiral cut. Luckily for him, the opponent was a rather large machine, very powerful and at full health. Running at it he slashed from lower right to upper left, and did that a few times in a tornado, and then using the momentum, propelled himself high up.
In the air, he turned fully down to face the opponent and began spinning really fast, faster even than the Jecht shot allowed. Right above the opponent, he turned the spinning into the attack and did a downward slash that quite simply cleaved through the machine. Everyone's eyes widened at the power in that attack which had once had flaws. He smirked and saw a bunch of guards.
Raising his blade, he remembered that he had the ability to manipulate energy to an extent. Using that, he extended his blade a good distance and began jumping around, spinning, slashing, and executing Slice and Dice with a new precision that defied logic.
Acronos: "That's modeled after Sonic Blade!"
(O) Tidus: "And I thank you for the use of it!" Acronos was surprised but nodded. Older Tidus saw even more guards this time, with plenty of machines with them. He knew this would be too difficult for his Slice and Dice to finish. Thinking a bit, he looked to the sun. Crouching down, he jumped up as high as he could go, which is pretty high since he's a Blitzer.
He raised the blade above his head in between two arms, but with the point facing the sun. A large orb of solar energy concentrated on the tip of the blade and slowly, reverently he pointed it at his opponents.
(O) Tidus: "Solar Energy Rain!" From the orb, billions of blasts similar to Energy Rain, but larger, with tips, and far more deadly crashed down unto the hapless guards. Tidus only stopped the attack as gravity made him land. I might like to add that the sheer force of the attack had held him in the air for a good two minutes.
He landed and looked upon the destruction he had wrought. There were no longer any obstacles in front of him. He strolled calmly towards Seymour. Acronos spoke first, since he was the one with logic.
Acronos: "I hereby object to this wedding, in the name of Yevon! On the grounds that Maester Seymour is dead, (speaking quickly only to Seymour) why don't you ever stay defeated, (back to priest) and furthermore on the grounds that he should be arrested on the charges of having killing his father, Guado, and plenty of other people." Even the priest couldn't argue with this logic, and Acronos was just about to make another rebuke, but something shone and caught his eye. It was a gauntlet. He wondered what fighter had seen them and wasn't in the middle of it? His eyes followed the arm, to the shoulder, to the face, and his eyes widened.
Acronos: "Maioko?" At a later time, she would say that she only acted on the absolute energy in the air, and that he was the first person she'd seen in a while. Whatever her later statements, they didn't change the fact that she ran up to Acronos and embraced/tackled him. He managed to stay standing, with some difficulty. Maioko was embracing him tightly, and just holding on to him.
Acronos was immensely surprised, but returned the hug as much as he could, what with his arms being completely pinned to his sides and all. Maioko looked absolutely happy, but Acronos had to say something, he could feel his face turning blue from lack of oxygen.
Acronos: "(With difficulty) Nice to see you… too… Now, could you… please… let go? …I can't really… breathe…" Maioko looked up and saw his face changing to purple, and immediately let go.
Maioko: "(Embarrassed) Oh, I'm so sorry!"
Acronos: "(Inhales and exhales deeply) No problem. It's great to see you Maioko, I thought I'd lost you." The full impact of what she just did begins to dawn on Maioko, and she gulps.
Maioko: "Did I just…?"
Acronos: "Yep, strong hug too. Couldn't breathe at all."
Maioko: "In front of…?'
Acronos: "Well, aside from my friends and Seymour, there isn't really anybody else here. I don't think the priest would say anything either." The priest nods calmly. Maioko blushes completely red and turns away.
Maioko: "Uhh, sorry?"
Acronos: "It's okay, I'm just glad I found you. Err, that we're all back together again. Damn you stupid habit of not thinking before speaking to her! "
Maioko: "(Curious) What was that?"
Acronos: "Umm, that I'm glad we're all back together again?"
Maioko: "The part before that."
Acronos: "Uhh, which one?"
Maioko: "(You-know-what-I'm-talking-about look)"
Acronos: "Umm, I said I was glad I'd finally found you, and I revised that on the belief it sounded strange."
Maioko: "Oh, okay." Both are blushing a nice shade of red right about now.
(O) Tidus: "So, anyway…"
Seymour: "Yes, anyway…"
(O) Tidus: "Uhh, oh yeah. You heard the charges, this guy should be arrested, not married!"
Seymour: "But being a Maester grants me certain privileges. Also, do you have any proof to back up these audacious claims?"
(O) Tidus: "Uhh, well…"
Seymour: "If you have no proof, then you can't be allowed such heinous accusations."
Acronos: "(Quietly) You're unsent, you should have been sent to the Farplane, and Yevon says that unsent shouldn't wander."
Seymour: "Can you prove that, or make anyone care? I am still Maester, and that's all that matters to them."
(O) Tidus: "Grr…" Guards surrounded the entire group, except for Yuna and Seymour. She raised her staff.
Seymour: "Do you intent to send me? Please, try, but know that your friends won't survive it either." For emphasis a guard levels his weapon at older Tidus' neck. Acronos became pissed. Even though neither he nor Maioko noticed it, his arm wrapped around her protectively. The guards noticed, but judging by the fact that he still had his blade out, none were in the mood to gloat.
Acronos couldn't really think of a way to stop the marriage, Seymour would offer Yuna freedom of her friends at the expense of the marriage, and he knew she'd accept that. Thinking of summoning, he raised his arm, but the guard put the gun directly against his neck, and Maioko's. She raised her fist slightly, but nobody could do anything.
Acronos: "Where's a heartless raid when you need one? That's it! Now what did that guy say… " Dangling some energy near Seymour, he was basically calling every heartless within a few miles to attack. After Yuna accepted the terms and started towards him, dropping the staff, the heartless came.
A few shadows rose from the ground, invisibles, Wyverns, anything that could fly up there. The attention came to them instead of the group, and Acronos took this opportunity to put the barrier back on his blade and knock out any and all guards.
Closing his eyes, he flung the energy at Seymour and to the heartless he had just written a large sign saying that there was an appetizing, unattended heart lying out in the open. Every single heartless charged him with a maniacal grin etched onto their faces. Acronos took this opportunity to get Acane to summon Ifrit.
Acronos: "Ifrit, you see that guy? There are many reasons why you should attack him. One being that just about everyone hates him, the other being his hair style in comparison with yours." Ifrit nodded and lunged at Seymour. Though the remaining guards tried to stop him, he rushed through them and unleashed an inferno at Seymour. He weathered it, but some of his hair was set ablaze.
Seymour: "Blast! (Tries to put out hair)" Ifrit jumped on him and began biting his head, and generally attacking him. Seymour pointed his hand at him and cast a spell to send him away.
Acane: "You can send him away? Tell me how!"
Seymour: "Grr, (manages to put out hair), make me!"
Acane: "With pleasure!" She jumps forward and impales him through the head and then electrocutes him with the swords. She steps back, admiring her work. Seymour stands still for a moment, and then pulls the spear out calmly and examines it.
Seymour: "Hmm, the craftsmanship isn't from Spira, but the magic is of our type. Hmm, I'd say that it's from a Sin-spawn, correct?"
Acane: "(Gaping at him, open-mouthed) How...?"
Seymour: "I am a Maester, I'm supposed to know the craftsmanship and magic."
Acane: "No, I expected that, but how'd you survive? I saw the blade protrude from the back of your skull!"
Seymour: "I'm already dead, didn't you hear?"
Acane: "Zombie!"
Seymour: "I am not a zombie, I am unsent."
Acane: "Zombie!"
Seymour: "Unsent."
Acane: "Zombie!"
Seymour: "Unsent."
Acane: "Zombie!"
Seymour: "Unsent."
Acane: "Zombie!"
Seymour: "Unsent."
Acane: "ZOMBIE!!!!"
Seymour: "Fine, whatever."
Acane: "Then you must return to death, be gone! (Throws holy water on him)"
Seymour: "(Looks at water) Now why did you do that?"
Acane: "NO! The zombie can't be cured!"
Acronos: "(Shakes head)"
Maioko: "She's gone mad." By this time the heartless ceased to exist and a bunch of new guards and machines had arrived, surrounding everyone. Older Yuna stole one last glance at her friends, and nodded to Seymour. The ceremony began again.
Acronos' brain was working overtime on how to escape the situation without anyone getting shot. Unfortunately, his brain couldn't come up with anything in time, and the wedding kiss was done, (note that Yuna's hand clenched into a fist for the entire time). When their lips parted, Seymour turned his head.
Seymour: "(Calmly) Kill them." All the focus was on the group, except for Acronos, who noticed older Yuna moving towards the edge of the entire place.
(O) Yuna: "Let them go." Everyone looked at her.
(O) Yuna: "Let them go or I'll jump."
Seymour: "You wouldn't. If you fall, you'll die."
Acronos: "You really don't know Yuna then. She married you, she will jump."
(O) Yuna: "Please, run while you can." The guards ran from them to her, just as she jumped. As she fell, she summoned Valefor and landed on its stomach, and they flew off. The guards turned to them, and Rikku jumped in front.
Rikku: "Cover your eyes!" She threw a grenade to the ground, and it exploded in an extremely bright light. While they were distracted, everyone ran off. They managed to get to the temple, and there was a lot of machinery there. Older Wakka was rather ticked, since machines were against the teachings of Yevon.
The temple puzzle wasn't that difficult, but it involved a bunch of strange timing. Finally they got to the fayth and entered the room. They saw older Yuna acquiring the Aeon of that temple, Bahumat. After older Tidus helped her to get up, guards stormed the room and took them all. Just as they were being pushed out, the fayth said in Acronos' head to return here as soon as he could. They were forced to stand trial. Acronos tried every legal tactic he knew, but all he got was a sentence that wasn't death. Seymour came up next to him.
Seymour: "I have a good sentence for you. A man called Trema is building a training academy for the ultimate warriors. Since he has control of the strongest fiends, surviving this should be very difficult unless you have the blessing of Yevon."
Acronos: "So, what's your point?"
Seymour: "Live and you may leave." He shoved him onto a large symbol that teleported him into a strange place. A freaky old man told him that a child really shouldn't be in a place like this. Acronos said he didn't exactly have a choice. He went through the place quickly, getting to the twentieth level without a challenge. On this level he saw an illusion and it changed into a spider-thing. It took a bit of whacking, but finally it died.
Another twenty levels down was a bit tougher, the fiends stood a chance this time. Another illusion greeted him, and this time it was an elemental, quite powerful at that.
Twenty levels down was just a tad more difficult, but nothing too serious. This was some sort of giant hermit crab. This proved a serious challenge, since its standard attack nearly killed him, it could take away all his mp, and it had an attack that was easy to dodge, but would have been impossible to survive. It had incredible defense and none of Acronos' attacks did serious damage. From all the fiends he'd acquired a ton of accessories, but there was one he hadn't tested yet.
Acronos: "Lets see what you do." The effect was unknown, but it only worked when Acronos had high damage. He did and gripped it tightly. A feeling of divine luck and power washed over him. Raising his keyblade for another round, he unleashed Ars Arcanum. Each hit did grievous damage, and the sheer power ceased its life.
Downing ether, he cast cure on himself. He'd only done it to slow the pain from most likely broken bones, but found that he'd been fully healed. The divine feeling passed.
Acronos: "This must make you invincible while damaged. (Evil smirk) I like it. Prepare yourself, fiends!" He rushed through the next twenty levels, spurred on by the immense power in the stone. Following the illusion, a giant snake appeared. Following instinct, he used a super-powerful attack to knock it right out of combat.
The next level was nearly impossible to pass, each opponent was as strong as a boss, and some of them were the previous bosses! After a while, he became dependant on the stone to win, but made it to the base level.
Acronos: "How long have I been down here?"
Computer: "Processing... One hour, give or take. Please make haste, your group is most likely looking for you."
Acronos: "Can't I just skip this and go up?"
Computer: "Incorrect assumption. There is an item of great power known as the "Iron Duke" located on this floor. You will not be allowed off the symbol without it."
Acronos: "Damn." He stepped forward. A previous illusion met him there and transformed into an enormous creature. It looked like one of the "weapons" he'd faced. Acronos charged forth, only to be knocked back forcibly. He charged again, and barely dodged.
The fiend had two circles on its back, and they unwrapped to make lines from the shoulders. On these lines, points of light appeared.
Computer: "Genesis! Dodge in any way, this attack is too powerful!" He managed to jump away from most of it, but was still reduced to low health. Gripping the stone once more, he charged. The counter that it used hurt its hand, and Ars Arcanum destroyed it. From behind it someone leaped up and beat it senseless, punched it into the wall, and allowed it to explode. He landed and placed his hand behind him.
Trema: "(He's old, and sounds it) I am Trema."
Acronos: "Thanks for the assistance. I'm Acronos, nice to meet you."
Trema: "I previously told you that this was not a place for children. You did not listen and proved me wrong. This place is only open to those of great power, whoever they may be."
Acronos: "Cool. So, Uhh, mind telling me about this place?"
Trema: "I built it as a training academy for the youth of Spira. You see, their hearts are feeble. They have an opponent, but still they have no strength. I believe it my duty to guide them to that strength."
Acronos: "Noble. How do you believe to do so?"
Trema: "Through the strength of their heart. I must re-forge their hearts, I must have them give up their pasts!"
Acronos: "Huh, what does that have to do with anything?"
Trema: "Nostalgia makes the heart feeble. It is the heart's... nemesis. Only one who renounces everything has the strength to transcend anything."
Acronos: "So then I should be invincible, my past is dead, and I only have the present."
Trema: "(Gaining momentum) Indeed, you have lost your past. You have shown much strength to get to this point. Now show me... Show me the strength, that you, have gained!" Acronos was caught off guard, but managed to dodge the punching and kicking combo that followed. Trema pressed the assault, giving him no time to call his blade. Mildly ticked, Acronos began fighting hand-to-hand himself.
He and Trema kept at it for a while, both occasionally getting a hit in. Finally Acronos let his strategy come in. His punch was connected to energy and created a blinding flash. Acronos called his blade and slashed a few times. Trema backed up and used Gravity. It was damaging, but not enough.
Acronos began using his own magic, but Trema had really high defense and agility, so the battle was about even. Acronos remembered his divine stone and stepped back, casting Auto-life. Trema hit him with another Gravity spell, and this put him at low health. Remembering his darts, he began throwing them at machine-gun speed. Most hit Trema, and did serious damage.
He then switched to Meteor, which beat down Acronos. Actually, it knocked him out, and Auto-life made him get up instantly. Upon rising, he figured enemies were required to do a finishing strike. He cast Auto-life again, and returned to throwing darts.
Trema hit him with Ultima this time, and again he awoke. Casting Auto-life the last time his mp would allow, he used Ars Arcanum one final time, and Trema was defeated.
Trema: "Excellent, you are the paragon of not having a past."
Acronos: "Thanks, are you okay? I didn't aim to kill you."
Trema: "Do not trouble yourself, I am alive."
Acronos: "Do you know where the "Iron Duke" is?"
Trema: "I have it. Here, take it. Would you mind telling me why you went down here though? I had only announced my plans to the Maester Mika, Seymour, and-"
Acronos: "Seymour tossed me down here for crimes against Yevon. Actually I just crashed his wedding, which shouldn't have occurred in the first place."
Trema: "Hmm, take care." Acronos went up with the Iron Duke, which drastically increased his strength, speed and defense. The guard tried to push him back onto the symbol, but he grabbed his wrist and snapped it like a dry and brittle twig. The guard screamed and ran around, trying to ease the pain. Though Acronos could have eased his pain with cure, these guards were annoying, and he didn't bother.
Seymour: "(Musing) The blessing of Yevon indeed. You have access to all of Bevelle. Leave while you still can." Acronos smirked and nodded, leaving. He took out the items from earlier.
Computer: "Several more items are necessary. List: Supreme gem, Pendulum, Doorway to Tomorrow, Gold Hourglass."
Acronos: "Those are rather rare, how well can I repair you now?"
Computer: "Map function can be restored."
Acronos: "Great, tell me what to do." A few moments later, Acronos had fixed the computer as best he could. The map appeared and showed his friends heading towards the same area. Acronos determined which direction to go to get there quickest and headed off.
On the way there, he attached the Divine Luck stone to the top of his amulet, and the Iron Duke to his right arm since it was a bracelet of sorts. Running there, he found nobody there and he decided to wait there for a while. Meanwhile, with older Tidus...
Splash! They'd been thrown into an underwater prison, and basically had to escape. Maioko and younger Tidus had been thrown in as well. Maioko cast Aeroga to keep oxygen.
Maioko: "Crap, all the trouble of finding my friends, only to be separated again!" Younger Tidus shrugged and they headed forward. After a time they were attacked by the dragon that had previously guarded the air. They all attacked it for decent damage, but it was a bit too strong.
Finally Maioko had a bright idea. The thing was a zombie, so she just used a Phoenix down on it a few times, killing it. They all shrugged and went onwards, leaving. With older Yuna, she'd been thrown into a maze. After a while, she'd found everyone who'd been chucked into it as well, and they went towards the exit.
At that point, a summoner stopped Yuna. He said that to pass, she had to defeat him in an Aeon duel. She managed to win, and they all left. Both groups met up, and saw Acronos standing with his arms crossed.
Acronos: "What took you?"
Maioko: "A zombie dragon."
Yuna: "A summoner who challenged my counterpart to a duel."
Selphie: "And plenty of fiends!"
Acronos: "Oh. Okay, lets move."
Auron: "Did you manage to talk them out of giving you a sentence?"
Acronos: "No, Seymour tossed me into a dungeon with the most powerful fiends and a guy with a ton of power. I had to get down a hundred floors, destroying tons of fiends and boss monsters in the process."
Acane: "How'd you make it?"
Acronos: "This. (Shows Divine Luck) It gives a ton of power if you have high damage." Seymour strolled in, carrying another weaker Maester. After talking about the peace that was death and such, Kimahri attacked him, impaling his chest.
Kimahri: "Run! Go now!"
(O) Tidus: "But!"
Kimahri: "Go, save Yuna!"
Acronos: "I'll help you out!" He jumped forward, unsheathing his blade at ready. Everyone else finally obeyed and ran. Seymour shook his head and blasted Kimahri away calmly. Acronos caught him, and then jumped forward.
The power the Iron Duke gave him was sufficient to hurt Seymour a bit. He blasted Acronos with Flare, but he lived through it. He charged forward and attacked full strength a few times. Sonic Blade did enough damage.
Seymour: "Ugh, I didn't expect you to have enough strength to face me alone. I have harnessed the power of sweet death, you shall not stand against me!"
Acronos: "I am the one who has forsaken everything, I am the one who can transcend anything! Let us see whose concept is stronger, yours, or Trema's?" Seymour turned into a stone or something version of himself. He was blue-green and purple in places, with a strange thing floating around. It cast Cura on Seymour, and he used a magic spell.
Kimahri jumped forward and cleaved through the thing a couple of times, killing it. To survive, it drained some energy from Seymour, but immediately cast Cura on him. Acronos saw the weakness in this, and casts reflect on Seymour.
He charged at the thing and killed it. After it came back, Kimahri charged it, killing it. They looked at one another and nodded. They alternated between one killing the thing, and the other either healing or attacking Seymour directly. After a nice length beating, everyone came back with a vengeance. Older Tidus used the longer Spiral Cut to create an entrance, and they all ran in.
Acronos: "What took you? I already had a strategy going!"
Maioko: "Logic kept debating with doing what we were told. Took a while, and the run back was slow."
Acronos: "Okay. Attack the floating thing, don't attack Seymour!" They did so and Seymour was defeated.
Irvine: "Lets get going while the getting's good!" They ran off into Macalania forest. Everyone rested there for a while. Acronos saw older Yuna heading off into a spring. Older Tidus came to talk with him.
Acronos: "Yuna went to the spring. You might want to follow her." He was taken aback, but went to the spring. Acronos remembered what occurred next, since it had such a huge impact on the game. He wondered mentally if the same would work with his Tidus and Yuna. Actually, he felt really tired for some reason.
Acronos: "Maybe you feel tired because you've been pushing yourself to the limit fighting-wise lately. The only proper sleep you've had was on the Thunder Plains. Get some sleep while it's available. Yeah, I suppose. " He laid down and felt his spine relax. He popped the vertebrae back into place and allowed his eyes to close, and his mind wandered…
Selphie: "What 'cha doing?"
Acronos: "(Without changing position in any way) I was about to sleep."
Selphie: "This is no time for a nap!"
Acronos: "Yawn, sorry. I haven't slept properly in about a week looking for you guys, so I figured the downtime would be a good time to catch up."
Selphie: "Oh. Hmm… Okay."
Acronos: "No match-making games tonight, please?"
Selphie: "No games. But do you mind if I bring Maioko over here? She's fallen asleep on a tree, standing up, so both of you should be able to get your sleep."
Acronos: "Okay, I suppose it wouldn't harm anyone." Selphie went and practically dragged Maioko over. She saw Acronos sleeping.
Maioko: "(Whispering) He's asleep."
Acronos: "Not yet."
Maioko: "Oh, Alrighty... (Falls asleep)" Acronos caught her as she fell. He placed her down, propping her against a nearby tree. He then lay down and went back to resting. A few moments later, he fell asleep. Maioko woke up suddenly, a bit disoriented.
Maioko: "Huh? Yeesh, I fell asleep standing up! Oh, it seems this time Acronos is actually asleep. You shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard looking for him. Shut, yawn, up. The tree isn't comfortable, use a pillow. I see where you're trying to lead me... And I don't care " She silently crept up to him and put the back of her head on his stomach and fell back asleep. Elsewhere, younger Tidus was exploring some portion of the woods and stumbled upon younger Yuna.
Tidus: "Hey Yuna."
Yuna: "Hello Tidus."
Tidus: "Wanna go check on our older counterparts? They've been gone quite a while."
Yuna: "Sure, why not?" They entered the spring area quietly, but found nobody there. They searched the place, but found nobody.
Tidus: "Hmm, either they left without us noticing, or they're both underwater. " He motions to Yuna, and dives in quietly. He swam down close to the depths and saw both counterparts kissing with a passion he could only believe was true love. His eyes widened to the point of looking like saucers, and he swam up really quickly. Topside, he stood on the bank, breathing heavily.
Yuna: "Tidus, are you okay?"
Tidus: "... Uhh, I swallowed some water."
Yuna: "Is something the matter, you seem very shocked."
Tidus: "N-no, I'm okay. Is that my destiny? I mean, am I supposed to love Yuna? Well, that isn't exactly a bad thing. You know you like her. Maybe not that way, but you still like her. Well, I suppose... But, does she feel the same way? Damn, this is confusing! Well, Acronos is in a similar situation, I'll ask him. "
Yuna: "If you say so. What did he see down there? " The next morning, Acronos and Maioko had to be awakened, since both needed the extra sleep. They woke up and went on their way.
At the next area, the Calm lands, progression was at a good speed, but the place was too vast. They found a monster arena, and were charged with capturing some fiends. Acronos grabbed a knife with that ability and ran out. A few minutes later he came back with each fiend having been transported there.
They left and exited the Calm lands, but were stopped by some Guado. They had a large machine attack the group, but Acronos took care of it by plugging his computer into it, and allowing it to drain the thing of all its data. It fell to the ground, destroyed. They progressed forward until Acronos mentioned a hidden fayth nearby. After beating through a bunch of fiends, they reached the fayth, who was apparently a samurai of sorts.
Acronos: "Let me handle this." About five minutes of yelling and haggling, Acronos came out with a few spheres for enhancing power, and looked a bit dismayed.
Acronos: "Uhh, he kinda decided I was the necessary summoner, but if you go in, he'll help you out." The samurai, (Actually it was a samurai bodyguard, a Yojimbo), left him and connected to the two Yunas. Acronos shrugged and they left. Further on, they reached the base of a mountain.
Maioko: "Great, this place again. It's hard to climb."
(O) Yuna: "Indeed, it is a trial to find out if one is worthy of acquiring the Final Aeon."
Acane: "The Final Aeon? No, I won't allow it to take another of my friends!"
(O) Yuna: "There is, no other way to beat Sin."
Acronos: "I resent that. With just a bit more training I could probably beat it myself."
Maioko: "I thought you didn't like to brag."
Acronos: "I don't, but I did almost beat it each time we met it."
(O) Tidus: "He isn't kidding either."
Maioko: "Gotten stronger again, have you?"
Acronos: "Yep, two powerful new accessories, two new techniques, and another summon."
Maioko: "Well, I got stronger too. Yunalesca gave me a new summon, I've been working out heavily because of the power of all these fiends, and my techniques are only limited by my thoughts."
Acronos: "(Smirking/ smiling) Good job then." They headed forward some more. After a brief speech that illustrated older Yuna's strength of will, they were allowed to pass. Some bullies who wanted to test his strength stopped Kimahri. He showed them by emerging victorious. A bit up the mountain, they came upon a monument to a departed summoner.
Acronos: "May your memories and life be remembered."
Maioko: "C'mon, lets go."
Acronos: "Yeah... Hey, what's that?" He pointed to a point higher on the mountain.
Acane: "I don't know, I didn't notice it on my way up. I'll try and speed up there." She started to run up the wall, but a giant gust pushed her away. She got ticked and ran up with more strength. The wind didn't stop her, and neither did the ground practically turning to quicksand, but she hit a point where the Stop spell hit her and she fell, directly into Auron, who managed to catch her.
Auron: "Be more careful. I don't think we should try to go up there, something seems to be messing with time."
Acronos: "I've got to check this out." He pulled out two darts and impaled them into the mountain. He began using them to climb the wall. The wind had no effect, the quicksand earth didn't stop him, but he stopped at the place where Acane was halted. He went through it, and managed to pass. His form was lost in clouds.
(O) Yuna: "Do you think he'll be okay?"
Maioko: "I hope so." Acronos kept on climbing, and at one point he found a sphere.
Acronos: "Great, another Cloister of Trials" Further on, he managed to pass the trials and got to the top, a small temple that was emitting a ton of power. Acronos went inside and looked around. A small room with no statue, but a pillar of energy. From this energy someone came out.
Chronos: "I am Chronos, one of the sub-Deities of time."
Acronos: "I am Acronos, the keyblade master."
Chronos: "Why are you here?"
Acronos: "I was curious."
Chronos: "Curious? You went through trials that Yevon considered impossible, just because you were curious?"
Acronos: "Sounds about right."
Chronos: "Sigh. Well, as I said, I'm the sub-Deity of time. You need anything?"
Acronos: "Hmm… No, not really."
Chronos: "C'mon, you don't want the burden of being keyblade master passed on to someone else?"
Acronos: "No. I'd rather go through this myself then have someone else go through it."
Chronos: "Hmm… Noble. How about this, I'll go with you on your journey?"
Acronos: "Another summon? I don't mind, but lets see if my summons don't mind either.
Fenrir: "A time sub-Deity? It would be an honor."
Odin: "Yeah, the more, the merrier!" Chronos joined them and gave Acronos a yellow orb for Acane, she acquired the Ramuh summon from it, (an old guy with the power of lightning). They all continued.
The trial was long and difficult, but they made it to the end. At the end was a powerful fiend that they had to defeat. No trouble actually. Further on, older Yuna dropped another sphere, which Acronos and older Tidus watched. It was her will that she'd made a while ago. He shook his head and they went onward. The route from then on in was rather simple, but it was sunset and Acronos looked to see the destroyed buildings. He was saddened by the loss of life, and simply broke out into a run. He didn't stop when he'd passed everyone else, but kept on running, probably only to focus on anything but the sorrow. They came upon the last resting point before entering Zanarkand. It was collectively decided to rest there for a while before entering.
Older Tidus placed the sword older Wakka had given him into the ground. Older Yuna placed her staff next to it, and older Wakka left his Blitzball next to them. There was a small fire, the entire journey just combined into one, calm and sorrowful moment. Acronos found a high ledge and was meditating to clear his mind, wondering where the keyhole was. Younger Tidus came up to him.
Tidus: "Umm, Acronos?"
Acronos: "Yes?"
Tidus: "Sorry to disturb you, but I need some advice."
Acronos: "And you came to me?"
Tidus: "Yeah, Auron isn't exactly the emotional type, I don't know too many others well enough, Wakka isn't really that good in this subject, and Lulu scares me, so..."
Acronos: "Alrighty, I suppose you need romantic advice, right?"
Tidus: "How'd you know?"
Acronos: "You mentioned that the subject dealt with emotions, so I just guessed."
Tidus: "Oh, well, can you help?"
Acronos: "Depends, fill me in."
Tidus: "Well, Uhh..."
Acronos: "Just spit it out, don't make it so difficult on yourself. I'm not the kind of person to divulge secrets."
Tidus: "Alright, fine. My older counterpart's in love with Yuna's counterpart, and I saw them making out. Tell me, is that my destiny or something?"
Acronos: "Hmm… You're not looking for me to say no, or for me to say yes. Well, here's the thing. You make your own fate, and your older counterpart's got a completely different past then you. What you need to do is not let this get to you. Just live on, if you fall in love with Yuna then you fall in love. Up until that point, you're friends. There is only one absolute fate; the fact that you will eventually die, but that's it."
Tidus: "Umm... I guess..."
Acronos: "Sigh, just focus on the present, don't let that stuff get you down."
Tidus: "Oh, I get that. Thanks Acronos!"
Acronos: "Any time." Tidus left and Acronos returned to meditation. To follow another direction, lets focus on Maioko a bit.
Maioko: "Why's everyone so somber? Once we get the Final Aeon, older Yuna can destroy Sin. What could the problem be? " She went over to Acane who was leaning, facing the city, with her spear in the crook of her arm.
Maioko: "Hey Acane."
Acane: "Yo."
Maioko: "Any idea why everyone's so somber?"
Acane: "Nobody wants to have older Yuna die."
Maioko: "What do you mean? If we kick the ass of anything that attacks, she'll be fine."
Acane: "I see you haven't been introduced to the cycle of Spira. Summoners go on a pilgrimage to get the Final Aeon, and when they do, they summon it to kill Sin for a bit of time. The Final Aeon then kills them. It's what's happened for a thousand years."
Maioko: "Oh. So then Yunalesca was right in not giving me anything but Dust Devil and Bahumat Zero."
Acane: "Hmm? Bahumat Zero you say? I've heard of that, it's supposed to be just as powerful as the Final Aeon, and it also takes two people, but apparently it doesn't require any death besides the death of its opponent. If you can summon it, we can just kill Sin with that!"
Maioko: "Sorry, I've only got half of the summon, I need the other half to be found by someone."
Acane: "Oh. So you met Yunalesca, so did I. She's not too bad; it's just the concepts she preaches. This is one of those rare things where the religion is bad, but most of the people are good."
Maioko: "Yeah. So, why do summoners go if they know they'll die? I mean, can't we destroy Sin any other way?"
Acane: "As far as I know, it's impossible."
Maioko: "But the whole concept behind the Final Aeon is sacrificing a human to gain something that's their full potential, we just need to acquire our full potential!"
Acane: "Nobody can do that, no human can reach that utmost point without dying, or perhaps transforming…"
Maioko: "What do you mean? Hello, Acane? Yeesh, she seems to be deep in thought. Maybe someone else will have better conversation? " She looks around, but just about everyone's in a couple and cuddling. Tifa's busy attempting to destroy all the fiends in Zanarkand, Kairi's staring off into the sunset, and Acronos isn't visible from that angle.
Maioko: "Great, it's completely silent. Kairi's probably off on some tangent about Sora or something, and Tifa's probably wondering about her friends. Where's Acronos when you need him? "
Acronos: "Hey Maioko, what're you up to?"
Maioko: "Ahh! There, I guess. Don't scare me like that!"
Acronos: "Sorry, thought you were bored or something. I'll leave you to your thoughts then."
Maioko: "No! Uhh, well, I, umm, didn't mean it like that, I am kinda bored and there's no good conversation around right now…"
Acronos: "Okay. So, where'd Sin drop you off?" She tells him her story and he tells her his story.
Maioko: "So this entire world's a mess, right?"
Acronos: "Yeah. I don't have any idea where the keyhole is, or if the world will survive it being sealed."
Maioko: "Hmm…"
(O) Yuna: "Guys, lets go."
(O) Tidus: "Right." They walked onward, and quiet honestly, you could feel the sorrow. Acronos' sense allowed him to feel it better and it sounded like music at the time.
Acronos: "I think you guys outta hear this."
He used his computer to play the song, a somewhat sad song, but one that made you want to keep going. Fiends attempted to stop them, but really didn't stand much of a chance. The song affected Acronos again and he sort of went berserk. Sort of implying that he just kept right on hacking through any fiend, not using any magic or healing, but he still used his skills and made sure to dodge as much as possible. Either way, they went through Zanarkand and got to the dome, and passed through that. They found several places where memories and thoughts lingered, giving them a show of what happened in the past. In one of them there was one particular summoner that drew Acronos' eye.
Summoner: "I can't believe we have to sacrifice someone else to summon this Aeon! It just isn't right, I planned on dying myself, not dragging anyone else into it!"
Man: "Death isn't the worst case scenario, hell, you all know I've been looking for it myself."
Woman: "Yeah, you're the only death seeker of the time, and the only one still alive."
Man: "In a world of death, I still live, what's up with that? It must be because of this accursed blade! (Summons a keyblade)" A collective gasp rang out through the group.
Wakka: "Acronos, isn't that guy holding a weapon like yours?"
Acronos: "Yeah… It's not a master's keyblade though."
Man: "Hmm… (Looks up) I can feel the weight of life and time pressing down upon us. We are not destined to fully defeat Sin, only to bring about the Calm. I shall be the fayth for the Final Summoning, and I shall finally die because of it. I can feel… the person who shall defeat Sin standing next to me, along with the master of all the weapons such as my accursed blade. I think my weapon might be of some assistance to that wielder, nay, I think the title for them is 'Keyblade Master'. Here is my key chain, oh master of these accursed weapons! Do with it what you will, it does not concern me, for I am the one who shall fail my mission, I am the one who shall die!" The keyblade wielder ran into the room where they'd all come from, with his friends tailing him with looks of concern.
Acronos: " 'The person who shall defeat Sin standing next to me, along with the master of all the weapons such as my accursed blade'. That's what he said. That means us; we're supposed to kill Sin. I think, I think we're not supposed to use the Final Aeon at all. I have a feeling that the Final Aeon has a relation to Sin, a more personal relation. I think we're going to have to defeat Sin with our bare hands."
A glint caught his eye and he picked up a crystallized pyrefly attached to a chain. He equipped it to his keyblade for an interesting result. The blade was standard, but crystalline, of various colors, each reflecting a different element. The hand guard was of varying materials, some of claw, some of wing, some of twine, and other things. A simple diagonal spike protruded for the symbol. What little light there was in the dome seemed attracted to the blade, and it shone off the indentations of runes. This was a summoner's keyblade. Once past the Cloister of Trials, they came upon a beast.
Maioko: "Great, I thought it would've run away, but it decided to stay."
She shrugs and beat it down herself, or at least tries to, but it kept casting berserk on her and countered her every attack. Acronos stepped in and equipped an accessory to stop berserk and stood in front of it, giving it a direct target for its counter. He cast Protect and Aeroga on himself and both attacked the beast, healing Acronos every now and then, and finally defeated the annoying beast. Down the lift it had guarded, they came to the room with the broken statue. The same strange guy came up to them and asked to see older Yuna's eyes. He said they were fine and turned to Acronos.
Old Guy: "Ah, the keyblade master, we've been expecting you. Do you see the old fayth of the Final Aeon?"
Acronos: "Yeah, what of it?"
Old guy: "This houses the keyhole. The world will survive it being sealed, do not worry yourself." Acronos nods and seals it and breaks the barrier. Entering the next room, Yunalesca greets them and tells of how the Final Aeon is chosen. She gives everybody not from Spira a summon, except for Acronos. Maioko got Phoenix, Acane got Shiva, Kairi got Ark, (A dark summon), and Bahumat got the ability to upgrade to Neo Bahumat, younger Yuna got Luna, younger Tidus got Solaris, younger Auron got Mars, younger Wakka got Titan, younger Lulu got Hades, Selphie got Leviathan, Irvine got a Dragon he called Vulcan, and Tifa got Carbuncle.
Yunalesca: "Now go choose who among you shall become the fayth."
Acronos: "Can a massive amount of energy work?"
Yunalesca: "No." After watching some memories of the previous pilgrimage, (Older Yuna's father, older Tidus' father, and Auron), older Tidus said that the Final Aeon was bogus and perhaps Yunalesca might help him find a way to defeat Sin without it. They entered the door from which she'd exited and walked forward, they seemed to be on a platform suspended in space. Yunalesca came forward again and asked whom they'd chosen. Older Tidus asked if there was any other way. Yunalesca told him Sin was eternal; there was no other way to beat it. Older Lulu came forward, speaking a bit frantically, asking how could that be, the teachings of Yevon told that atoning for all sins and crimes would get rid of Sin. Yunalesca asked if humanity would ever attain such purity, and she was obviously sarcastic.
Acronos: "Actually, it is possible, very close to impossible, but possible none the less."
Yunalesca: "Either way, Sin is still eternal, even if by some miraculous chance humanity became perfect, Sin would still be here to destroy it."
Acronos: "You're kidding. Why the hell is it called Sin if it doesn't even correspond to that!?"
Yunalesca: "It does, but only its origin."
Acronos: "For God's sake, you're saying that this entire world is doomed even without heartless interference!"
Yunalesca: "To an extent, yes."
Acronos: "That's horrible! What about the Final Aeon then, isn't there a perfect version of it that can beat Sin permanently?"
Yunalesca: "The Final Aeon becomes Sin. The previous Sin is destroyed, and then Yu Yevon transforms the Final Aeon into the next Sin."
(O) Tidus: "So that's how my old man became Sin, he was the fayth of the Final Summoning."
Yunalesca: "Yes. Now who shall it be? Who shall be the one to renew the hope of Spira?"
Acronos: "What the hell are you talking about, there's nothing to hope for!"
Yunalesca: "Hope is… comforting. It helps people accept fate, no matter how dismal."
Maioko: "So you're saying that you've manipulated the people of Spira for a thousand years, just so they could accept a fate you made? That's horrible!"
Yunalesca: "No that is the cycle of death."
Maioko: "… well in my opinion that just sucks."
Yunalesca: "Sigh, there is much for you to learn. So, who shall renew the hope of Spira?"
(O) Yuna: "No one. I would have gladly died for Spira, I live for it's people, but this is something that simply cannot be allowed to go on. I will face down my sorrow, and I will do it without… false hope."
Yunalesca: "Sigh, I'm sorry you think that. I don't want you to drown in your sorrows, so I will ease you into the peace that is death." Suddenly the tempo picked up, and the view point changed from character to character, going to static rapidly in between. Honestly, it was really cool, a rally of all of the greatest powers in Spira.
(O) Auron: "This is it! This is where your stories end or continue! Will you choose to give up and die and be at peace, or will you choose to fight your sorrows? Your fate is in your hands now!"
Acronos: "The choice isn't even up for questioning to me, I will face down my nightmares and sorrow, no matter what they may be!"
Maioko: "I can't allow something like this to keep on going! Yunalesca, I thank you for the summons, but I will defeat you!"
Kimahri: "Yuna needs Kimahri. Kimahri will protect Yuna."
Rikku: "Well that's good, 'cause I'm going to fight too!"
(O) Tidus: "Yuna! This is our story, lets see it through together!"
(O) Yuna: "Right!"
Tidus: "Where you guys go, I follow! Let's shine some new light onto this barren world!"
Yuna: "I agree. This battle isn't just for us, it's for everyone on this world!"
Auron: "So that's how I died here, eh? At your hand? Allow me to extend the same courtesy to you."
Acane: "You took my sister from me, you took the only semblance of a family I had left! This time, I fight for revenge!"
Selphie: "I may not be from this world, but I just can't let something like this torture an entire world!" Irvine stepped forward with a smirk on his face, everyone half expected him to decline, but then something happened. He shouldered his shotgun and his smirk turned into a look of controlled rage.
Irvine: "(Points gun at her head) It ends here and now, by our hands or by someone else's. Either way, you're still going down!"
Kairi: "As a princess of heart, it is my duty to make sure the balance of light and dark is upheld. This is completely against everything, there is false light and tainted darkness here, and since you appear to be the cause, it is my duty, right, and privilege to emerge victorious from this battle. I will fight you!"
Tifa: "I've lived through so much sorrow in my life, my world being destroyed, loosing my friends, thinking I'd never see the light of life again, I've found out one very important thing about sorrow. No matter how painful or powerful the sorrow, there's always a way out!"
(O) Wakka: "I can't believe we've got to fight Lady Yunalesca, give me a break, ya?"
(O) Lulu: "You could always run."
(O) Wakka: "No way! I'd never forgive myself, not even in death, ya?"
(O) Lulu: "(Smiling) my sentiments exactly."
Wakka: "(Cracks neck) This game's over, and its time for a new one."
Lulu: "Must you associate sports with everything?"
Wakka: "To me, anything's better than running, just so long as we keep on going."
Lulu: "Glad we both have the same objective."
Defeating Yunalesca in combat wasn't as easy as their respective rants made you think, she blinded those who attacked physically, and silenced those who attacked magically. Thinking a moment, Acronos raised his hand.
Acronos: "I haven't tested out Chronos in combat yet. Lets mess with time!" His symbol glowed and burst into silver flames. He reached into his heart and pulled out a strangely colored, fuzzy orb of energy. He placed it to his forehead, and threw it. A pillar of energy appeared, and changed into an hourglass. The sand escaped and slowly, inch by inch, created the form of Chronos, on top of the hourglass. He jumped down and held his hand behind him, towards the glass. It became smaller and thinner, the sides became blades, and two sword points came out from the ends. Chronos stood at ready, grasping the thinnest point.
Maioko: "I suppose irony is a good thing. Lets see if the power of the summons you gave me is enough to conquer you!" She called forth another fuzzy orb, this one of a sandy color. It escaped her hand and began circling her really fast, until there was a tornado, and from it, out popped Dust Devil. It seemed to be made mostly of sand, wind, and objects the gust would have picked up. There were guns sticking out at random points, blades in spots usually associated with guards, and Dust Devil had an eye patch. It seemed to have the sand blasted mechanic look going very well for it. It stood at ready with its hands raised.
One by one everyone began summoning. For Lulu, she traced an extremely complicated rune in the air and flung it to the ground. It widened, and darkness closed in around it. A large figure rose out of it, with the darkness cloaking it heavily, and looked at Yunalesca. It was relatively handsome, in a dark, evil, and lord of the underworld type of way. For Wakka, he smashed his hands onto the earth, and after a bit of rumbling, the earth itself molded into a giant, a Titan. This Titan wasn't really wearing much, a loincloth/kilt, large shoulder guards, and leg bracers. It held up an enormous hammer with edges on the hitting sections. Acane summoned Ramuh, and he created a mountain of earth out of lightning, and on top of it he seemed not too impressive, but the way lightning seemed to bow before him was. Selphie summoned Leviathan by spinning her nunchachu really fast above her head and Leviathan came out of the 'hole', a blue-green, long dragon with fins instead of wings. Irvine summoned Vulcan by shooting a really high-powered beam up, and Vulcan climbed out of the explosion, a large dragon that could stand on two legs.
Kairi raised her staff to the air. A dark symbol floated above, and something shot out, an airship of sorts. It transformed into a giant robot with a large spike cannon and you could feel a smirk coming off it. Tifa didn't bother summoning anything; she didn't feel as though she needed it. Tidus' Solaris simply looked like a star fell down onto the ground, and got up in humanoid shape, radiating too much light to be seen directly, but it had a sword with many curvy blades coming out of it. Luna emitted white light, but it was softer, and it was most definitely a she, while Solaris gave the impression of being a male. Luna used two crescents that curved away from each other as a small hand-held weapon.
For Auron's summoning of Mars, he raised his blade, turned it so the point faced the ground, and hit the ground with it. He kept hitting it, getting faster and faster until an actual drum sounded out, and a march came, and from behind him a man of immense musculature, size, and weaponry came forward. This person smirked and raised every blade known of man, (and some yet unknown), since he had many arms.
Every summon charged and began beating on Yunalesca, sending her through two forms, but the third managed to send them away, but she only had a bit more health left. Tifa ran in with Final Heaven to defeat it, but the tentacles that accompanied the Medusa-head style thing whacked her away. Acronos summoned his Wyvern heartless to catch her before she flew off into space. Maioko stepped forward and charged her own Final Heaven. She was ready to use it, but Acronos felt the need to be helpful and summoned his keyblade, an idea popping into his head. He was immensely surprised and shocked to find it blazing with multicolored lights, and the sprits of all summons called in that battle greeted him. He shook it off and pointed the unsealing beam at Maioko's punch, making it go to a higher level of strength. She gasped, but smiled at him. He then transferred his keyblade's energy to her punch as well, and she used it, destroying Yunalesca. She warned them that they'd just destroyed the last hope of Spira, but they took no heed and left.
The airship picked them up, and they saw Sin, a bit unhappy that the only way it could have died was seemingly gone. Onboard, Acronos messed with the controls a bit and they headed to Bevelle again. They gained entrance because the priestess who'd advised them in Guadosalam had been made captain of the guard for no apparent reason, and decided to let them in. They conferred with the highest Maester, and when he heard the Final Aeon was dead, he sent himself to the Farplane. After conferring with the fayth on how Sin might be defeated, everyone left, but Acronos stayed a little extra, claiming that he saw an item.
Acronos: "Okay, you asked me here, what do you need?"
Fayth: "Actually, it's more of what we both want."
Acronos: "I'm listening."
Fayth: "I know that you remember that the Tidus of this world will disappear when Yevon is defeated. You don't want that to happen, do you?"
Acronos: "Nope, any ideas?"
Fayth: "Well, the only way to support a dream is through a dream, there's no way around it."
Acronos: "Hmm, but what if it isn't your dream anymore? What if it's Yuna's dream, the dream of some pyreflies perhaps?"
Fayth: "That would be good, but how could we do that?"
Acronos: "Hmm, I think that if I make a really powerful sphere… Spheres preserve memories, right? So if I create a sphere and infuse it with some of Tidus' essence…"
Fayth: "That might just work. I think all you'd need is some of his blood, just a few drops, usually blood is the most closely associated with pyreflies, so even when it's a dream the blood is real."
Acronos: "Right-o, I'll just go to Macalania, catch some pyreflies, make a sphere, get some of Tidus' blood, infuse the sphere with it, and give it to him as he disappears."
Fayth: "That sounds almost sane, I think it might work. Oh, here."
Acronos: "A big summon spell, cut in two?"
Fayth: "It's Bahumat Zero. You can't summon it without the other half, which someone else has to have; it requires two people to summon Bahumat Zero. Someone else does have the other half, so you'll have to find them."
Acronos: "Great…" Outside he found everyone waiting for him.
(O) Tidus: "We thought something had happened."
Acronos: "Well, maybe… We're heading to Macalania."
(O) Tidus: "Why?"
Acronos: "We just are, oh and older Tidus?"
(O) Tidus: "Yeah?"
Acronos: "Put out your hand and take off the glove. (Does so) good." He had his knife out, made a small cut, sheathed it, and used a small cylinder to collect the blood, all faster than blinking.
(O) Tidus: "Oww! What was that for?"
Acronos: "If I told you, there'd be no interesting finale, so it's a secret." His eyes seemed to laugh. They went to Macalania and he went to the spring. There he spent a while to collect pyreflies.
Acronos: "Guys, go to the temples and get the items in the chambers of the fayth, go find the ultimate weapons, get the hidden Aeons, beat Belgemine, just go. I'll be here a while, and I'll teleport on board when it's necessary." A long while later they all met up on board the airship, with each and every Final Fantasy Ten person having their ultimate weapon, including their younger copies.
(O) Tidus: "Sure took your time."
Acronos: "Yep, but it's gonna be worth it. Lets go train, I know the perfect spot."
They went to the Omega ruins. Nobody could see the sun, so no one knew how long he or she spent there. However, everyone became a whole ton stronger during this time, and they headed towards the ending. At the end of the place, they found some people facing Omega Weapon. Everyone took up a stance and charged. After a while, the thing became completely enraged and used a powerful attack it called 'Nova' to nearly kill everybody. Everyone was on the ground, quite basically knocked out, and Acronos managed to stand up. Kimahri managed to use Lancet to acquire Nova himself, but Omega unbound the circles on its back and unleashed an attack similar to Genesis. Acronos was barely standing, beaten heavily, bruised, and bleeding just about everywhere.
Acronos: "I… won't… fall! It's time to pull out all the stops, Grand Finale!" Calling upon the full power of the Divine Luck stone, he disappeared and an enormous door rose from behind where he had been, and divided into three. From the dark door, Acronos stepped out, holding a scythe-keyblade. From the golden one, regular Acronos stepped out, holding his Test of Heart keyblade. From the light door, another Acronos stepped out, almost tripping and then rubbing his head sheepishly. This one was holding a staff-keyblade. They all stood side-by-side, facing Omega Weapon, and it charged up Nova once more. They all nodded to one another, smirked, and began the attack.
The dark Acronos focused entirely on a physical assault, the attacks vaguely reminiscent of Ars Arcanum. Justice Acronos used energy attacks and other techniques. Light Acronos was using magic like no tomorrow, blasting Omega with any spell that went through his head. Finally, the beating took a brief pause, and Justice Acronos pointed his keyblade at Omega, in the direction of the keyhole. Light and Dark became little fuzzy orbs of energy and went to the tip of the blade. From the tip, a red orb and a blue orb came out, and light blessed blue, while darkness blessed red. The two combined, and they shot out at full force. From the direction of the keyhole, a beam shot out, the two connected and a large-scale explosion took place.
However, this wasn't the end of the technique. Acronos rose up, emitting a ton of warm golden light. Suddenly, his eyes opened from being closed and he charged, using every technique he knew, some he didn't, every magic, and every energy attack, all at once, with illusions doing the exact same thing. After he finished, all that remained of Omega was a pile of ashes. Regular Acronos stood there for a moment, wavering.
Acronos: "(Sounds about to pass out) Hah… I beat… you. I…win! Ugh…" He fell to the floor, unconscious from lack of any energy.
Maioko: "(Getting up, using Curaga on herself) Acronos! Hey, are you okay? Acronos?" The group that they'd seen fighting Omega was just now getting up, a little worn out themselves. The guy with brown hair spoke up.
"I don't think he'll be getting up any time soon. We were fighting that thing for days, and we barely did any damage at all. I'm surprised he even managed to use all that power without killing himself." The blonde next to him spoke up.
"Squall, you've got to stop being such a pessimist, the kid will probably wake up in a day or something. I'm actually not too surprised he used that sort of power, he's got a keyblade, and you remember how powerful Sora was."
Squall: "Yes, I suppose." The smaller girl with black hair spoke up.
"Oh, so you listen to advice from him, but not me? Well, that's respectful."
Squall: "Have you earned that respect, Yuffie?"
Yuffie: "Who happens to save your butt each time you over-extend yourself against a heartless?"
Squall: "Hmm, I think Sephiroth has done that several times…"
Sephiroth: "Hey, don't drag me into this! I don't feel like getting impaled with a shuriken again."
Yuffie: "Guys, the other people seem to have taken much worse damage than us, some are really badly hurt. I think we'd better help them."
Squall: "We're six people, they have nineteen. There's no way we can take all of them unless we take three people per person, and that still leaves out one person."
Maioko: "Ugh… I'll help. I think I still have some mp left." She casts Curaga on Auron and Wakka. "That's all I've got."
Auron: "Hold on, I think I've got a few hi-potions." He uses them to revive a few other people.
Wakka: "We really need to restock, or at least borrow from those guys."
Squall: "I think that's enough people, do you know any way out of here?"
Blonde: "Yeah, I don't have enough energy to use my dark teleport for all of us."
Auron: "Ugh, I think if we can find a save sphere, we can go on board the airship and recuperate." They managed to get to the save sphere, barely, and boarded the airship.
Cid: "What the hell happened to all of you?"
Squall: "At Omega Ruins, the proprietor, Omega Weapon, decided we should leave and preferred using Nova to blow us out, instead of asking. It was only thanks to that kid over there that we survived."
Auron: "We need to recuperate, is there any place to rest here?"
Cid: "Hmm, there's no place in particular for this many people to recuperate, so I think sending you to one of the temples should do it." He drops them off at Kilika, where they find enough places to rest. After a few hours, everybody gets up, thanks to the healing abilities.
(O) Tidus: "I suppose it's thanks to you guys that we survived."
Squall: "It was nothing. I think we should be on our way. Cloud, would you mind getting a portal ready?"
Cloud: "Where to?"
Yuffie: "Don't tell me you don't know, we're following you!"
Cloud: "Oh yeah… hmm… I honestly can't sense any place we should go. I get the strange feeling that we should stay right here if I want to find my light. I also get the feeling that Yuffie might want to head to Hollow Bastion if she wants to find her light."
Yuffie: "Cloud, shut up!" Back inside, Tifa had just woken up, and had heard that.
Tifa: "No, it couldn't be. My mind must be playing tricks on me, but what if…? Aww hell, a trip outside couldn't be that bad. " She went outside as fast as possible, but that wasn't too fast since she was still injured, and saw all her friends.
Tifa: "O_O My, my friends? Please let this not be some sort of sick game… " She walked over slowly, her injury hurting a lot. Just as she was about to yell out and get their attention, someone jumped down from the roof and grabbed her, putting his hand over her mouth. It was Lance.
Lance: "Now, now, we can't have you getting all your desires at once, now can we?" Tifa struggled as much as her body would allow, but eventually the knockout gas he was holding to her mouth got to her.
Lance: "Far easier than I thought. Perhaps I should just destroy them right now and save myself the trouble of doing it later on. Hmm, nah, I'd prefer a good challenge. " He looked at Tifa lying on the ground, prone.
Lance: "Hmm, perhaps I should have a little fun while I'm here? " As he reached down slowly, the wall next to him shook violently from someone punching it hard. He jumped back very surprised.
Lance: "Well, if I am going to have fun, it definitely can't be here. " He again reached down and lifted Tifa onto his shoulders and prepared to teleport. Meanwhile, Ifrit was watching over Acane, since she still hadn't gotten up yet.
Ifrit: "Sniff, sniff. I smell evil intentions in the air, taint. Hmm, usually where there's a sick person like the one I can smell, there's something to burn. Sniff, sniff, Ms. Tifa? Oh boy." Ifrit ran to the source of the scent, using the shortest route possible. That shortest route involved being on the other side of the wall in front of him. It was a hut, so he just burnt right through it. He came upon Lance about to teleport.
Ifrit: "Well, well, well. What have we here?"
Lance: "Ah, the crazy one. Blasphemy told me about you. Why don't you just pass out and save me some trouble?"
Ifrit: "Nope, not happening. On Blasphemy, I couldn't sense evil intentions, on you they're reeking off."
Lance: "Evil intentions? What do you… holy s***, what was I about to do?! (He drops Tifa as if she burnt, but catches her with magic) Bleh, the darkness must be getting to me, I'm never that desperate for anything! Thanks oh crazy Devil, I shall now take my leave to expend some dark energy. Adieu!" He teleports.
Ifrit: "Ah, so being next to a completely insane person helps to put your insanity in perspective, eh? What's the English term for it, ironic juxtaposition? Okay, enough being smart for one day, or week, or month…" He goes back into the hut, fixing his 'door', puts Tifa on a nearby bed, and returns to watching over Acane. Meanwhile, back with Cloud's group.
Yuffie: "So, lets head back to Hollow Bastion!"
Squall: "On second thought, it might be a better idea to stay here. We're still hurt and such."
Yuffie: "Squall, you never want to have fun."
Squall: "My idea of fun is different from yours, get used to it."
Cloud: "Sigh. Lets ask which hut is open."
Sephiroth: "(Wanting to avoid the argument) I'll go with you." The brunette known as Aerith speaks up.
Aerith: "I'll stay here, they sometimes listen to me." The blonde known as Cid yells.
Cid: "I ain't sticking' around, lets go!" They find some rooms and go to rest. Back with older Tidus, he overhears some people talking about how they know where Sin is, it was heading to Bevelle.
(O) Tidus: "Guys, we've got to go, they've spotted Sin! Now's as good a time as any to implement our strategy."
(O) Auron: "I suppose."
(O) Yuna: "But all our younger friends and counterparts are here, injured badly!"
(O) Auron: "We'll just have to leave them behind then. This was our fight to begin with."
(O) Tidus: "I agree with Auron on this one, it'll be safer if they're here instead of with us."
(O) Wakka: "But Acronos would help us out a lot, ya? He's almost beaten Sin several times now!"
Kimahri: "Keyblade master strong, but now hurt. Cannot fight while hurt. Needs sleep anyway."
Rikku: "Yeah, I know Acronos is probably stronger than any one of us, but as a group we can still beat Sin. Lets just do it!"
Group: "Right!" They went aboard the airship.
Yuffie: "Hmm, do you think we should help them?"
Squall: "I don't know, it is their battle."
Aerith: "I don't think it's a good idea, we're too are injured." Back in Acronos' cabin, Maioko got up from the bed nearby.
Maioko: "Figures that they'd put me next to Acronos. He should wake up now. Hey Acronos, wake up. (No reaction) Acronos, I said wake up! (Nothing) Great, you put everything you had and more into that attack and you're probably not gonna get up for a while. Guess I'll have to take up navigator too, or maybe I can stick that on Acane." She sat on the side of his bed and leaned against the wall, resting. At one point, she decided to open the window, since it was getting rather warm. Acronos, while still keeping his eyes shut, and most obviously asleep, began humming.
Maioko: "Huh, are you awake yet?" His humming turned into the hymn they'd always heard when inside the temples or something. Maioko looked at him strangely, but then she heard it coming from the sky. Soon, it seemed all of Spira was singing. She joined in as well. However, the singing suddenly stopped, Sin had fired an enormous attack, and the results were visible from space. All singing stopped, and everyone waited with baited breath. Suddenly, all the tension stopped, it was quiet, nothing moved. Then, everything just seemed to go back to normal. Maioko shook her head.
Maioko: "Looks like they won." A few hours later, the guardians came back, a little worse for the wear, but still in one piece.
(O) Tidus: "We won!"
(O) Auron: "Barely."
Rikku: "Hey, all that matters is that we won. Nice rendition of Blitz Ace, though, Tidus. Without that, we probably would have been toast."
(O) Yuna: "Indeed, all of our skills were impressive."
(O) Tidus: "Hey, you're the one who Grand Summoned the Magus Sisters to use Delta Attack, that was the one that killed Sin."
(O) Yuna: "(Blush) Well, without all our efforts, I am certain even my summon would have done next to nothing."
Squall: "Hey, back already?"
Cloud: "You beat Sin?"
(O) Auron: "Yes. We decided to rest here for a time." Nothing happened, so everybody went to sleep. The next morning Maioko awoke to the sun rising.
Maioko: "Yawn! That was a good nap. Hmm, where's Acronos? Probably getting breakfast." She stepped outside and was shocked by what she saw. There was a small field nearby, and Acronos was using every technique in his arsenal, summoning, working out, one would have expected him to collapse after a moment of that kind of training.
Maioko: "I was expecting you to be eating, not attempting suicide."
Acronos: "… Not suicide, training!" He continued, pushing himself further and further.
Maioko: "This isn't training, training is actually sane!"
Acronos: "But I need to push myself to a higher level, fast! I can't collapse every time I use Grand Finale, and it has to be available! I need to be able to sustain it!"
Maioko: "Geez. That reminds me, what level are you on, anyway?"
Acronos: "Hmm… I think I'm on level 30 currently. I think that's the average level for everyone too. Auron's level 31, Tifa's 32, and you're at level 30 as well."
Maioko: "Only in the 30's? I kinda expected that we'd be in the 90's after all the training we've done!"
Acronos: "(Doing one-fingered push-ups) Yeah, we've done a ton of training, but this is based off of absolute potential, not the same stuff everyone else's system is based off of."
Maioko: "Huh?"
Acronos: "(Using a tree as a sword, begins slashing) Well, for some, they reach level 100, and can't progress any further. They only can't progress because they don't know what's next. The system of leveling I use is saying that I'm 70 levels away from reaching my ultimate potential. Huh? Make that 69."
Maioko: "Yeesh, so what's next?"
Acronos: "We go inside Sin, kill Yevon, get outside Sin, older Yuna sends the Aeons, and I use my omni-sphere to keep older Tidus existing."
Maioko: "All in one day?"
Acronos: "If possible, that's my goal." Meanwhile, Tifa had just woken up from the knockout gas, (strong stuff, neh?) and looked around. Finding the surroundings safe, she got up silently and walked out. She then saw Acronos and Maioko talking while Acronos did Hell training. She shook her head and went over to them. Mid-way, Squall stepped out from a hut, grumbling about needing to find breakfast whether it was cooked or still living. Tifa just stopped in her tracks and looked at him.
Tifa: "S-Squall?"
Squall: "Yeah, what of… Tifa, that you?"
Tifa: "(Nods)"
Squall: "It's great to see you! I thought you might have died or something when the heartless came!"
Tifa: "(Weakly) Oh, you know me, I'm not the kind of person to give up."
Squall: "Hmm, I suppose not… Didn't Cloud say something about finding his light here? Could he have been talking about…? So, what've you been up to lately?"
Tifa: "Well, I was trapped on Destiny Islands for a while, but when Acronos, the kid over there, showed up, I decided traveling with him would be a nice change of scenery. I've been helping him and his ragtag band of warriors to seal various worlds. What of you guys?"
Squall: "Well, after Hollow Bastion, we went to Traverse Town and stayed there for a while. We met the keyblade master, Sora, there, and after he freed Hollow Bastion, we decided to stay there. After most worlds were sealed, we were stuck there. Cid came by with Cloud, and Sephiroth later turned up training somewhere nearby."
Tifa: "(Trying to hide excitement, succeeding) So, that all? Sounds pretty interesting compared to teaching a bunch of kids of a tropical paradise. So, everyone from our world's together I suppose? That's good. Hey, I know you're the I-travel-alone type, but did you take anyone with you?"
Squall: "Yeah, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and Sephiroth. We all have to watch each other's backs."
Tifa: "Oh, so Cloud felt like sticking at Hollow Bastion?"
Squall: "What are you, kidding? He's the whole reason we're on this quest to begin with! Said he's looking for his 'light', or something along those lines. We all went with him because we were searching for people close to us too. Well, except Aerith and Sephiroth, they just went for fun, and Sephiroth probably just wanted to laugh at Cloud."
Tifa: "Cool. So Aerith and Cloud hooked up yet?"
Squall: "No, nowhere near it. In fact, it's never going to happen, unless of course Aerith suddenly becomes a heartbreaker and Sephiroth looses his honor, and you know the likelihood of that happening."
Tifa: "You always had the strange habit of not getting to the point…"
Squall: "Oh, Aerith and Sephiroth hooked up a while ago."
Tifa: "WHAT!? He's the guy who killed her! I mean, they actually do make a rather cute couple, but still…"
Squall: "That's what I said, but she just went on about forgiving for past errors, him having changed, all that stuff, you know."
Tifa: "Hmm, that's odd, but I guess this is Aerith we're talking about. Umm, where is everyone anyway?"
Squall: "Well, Yuffie bunks with me because we fight well together, Aerith and Sephiroth are bunking over there, and Cloud and Cid are stuck together with them. Cloud probably left to sleep in the woods based on the company he would be keeping. I think that's Cid on the roof, probably about to howl at the moon-"
Cid: "I heard that!"
Squall: "So?"
Cid: "Why I outta, Tifa! That you?"
Tifa: "Cid, you crazy mechanic, how've you been?"
Cid: "Great, I found something to replace trying to get into space. Since we can go into space, I've been working with gummi parts to get through space the best."
Tifa: "If it isn't one flight, it's another, right?"
Cid: "Yeah. Hey, have you seen Spike yet? I think he's been looking for you, but the Psycho and I scared him into the woods."
Tifa: " 'Psycho'?"
Squall: "His name for Sephiroth."
Acronos: "Hey, Tifa! What's up?"
Tifa: "Chatting with some old friends."
Cid: "Hey, you've got a keyblade, who're you?"
Acronos: "The name's Acronos, resident keyblade master."
(O) Tidus: "Hey guys, lets go, we've got Sin to beat."
Tifa: "Just a second, I need to find someone."
Acronos: "What's he like, some basic details."
Cid: "Spike likes using a way too huge sword."
Acronos: "That's enough. (Yelling loud enough for anyone to hear) UNATTENDED GIANT SWORDS!!" There was a strange rumbling, and a huge hole was ripped through the jungle foliage and Cloud ran out with an insane glint in his eyes.
Cloud: "WHERE?!"
Acronos: "Sorry, just had to get you over here really quickly."
Cloud: "Why might that be, and who are you?"
Acronos: "In reverse order, I'm Acronos, and that's why. (Points at a gaping Tifa)"
Cloud: "T-Tifa?" Both stood there, gaping for a few moments.
Acronos: "Okay, that's enough gaping time. Guess, I'll put things in gear" He edged over towards Cloud, noticing that Maioko was heading towards Tifa. They nodded to each other, and at the exact same moment shoved the two at each other. They collided, embraced, realized where they were, and jumped apart.
Cloud: "(Facing away) So, Uhh, how've you been?"
Tifa: "(Same) Umm, just fine, you?"
Cloud: "Great, no troubles at all."
Squall: "(Watching exchange) I can't believe it, they were looking through all of interspace for each other, and when they meet, they can't even look at the other."
Cid: "(Shakes head) Spike never could express his emotions."
(O) Tidus: "Guys, we kinda have to beat down Sin?"
Cloud & Tifa: "Lets go. (Blush)"
Acronos: "Great… Tifa, if you want to stay here a while..."
Tifa: "N-no, I don't mind heading off into a battle."
Maioko: "Look, even Acronos, the guy whose brain stops at the mere mention of love, can tell that you just want to stay here a while. Just get to talking about old times or something."
Acronos: "Right, lets go kick Sin's ass." To save space, lets just say that much ass kicking occurred, and each and every Aeon, and even Yevon had to be destroyed, along with Seymour beforehand, and this time he finally was defeated. Older Yuna sent them all, and older Auron along with them, (mainly because it was just his time to go). Finally, everything was sent, and older Tidus began to fade.
(O) Tidus: "Yuna, I've got to go." She shook her head.
Acronos: "Not happening dude."
(O) Tidus: "Huh? Without the dream of the fayth..."
Acronos: "You don't need that, all you need is this." He held up the omni-sphere, which felt really heavy. He threw it at Tidus and it connected. It shone golden yellow like the Sun, changed into a strange J-shape, and replaced his necklace.
Acronos: "You live, you live, Muahahahaha!"
(O) Tidus: "What did you, never mind. With you, it's better not to ask."
Acronos: "Right. Well, I think that about wraps up this world."
(O) Yuna: "We can't thank you enough."
Maioko: "No trouble."
Acronos: "Hey Rikku, mind lending me a few items?"
Rikku: "Sure, take them." Acronos fixed his computer and headed back to Kilika. Tifa said she'd keep going with them. Cloud smiled.
Cloud: "Yeah, we still have to look for Yuffie and Squall."
Acronos: "That reminds me, you might want to head back to Hollow Bastion, Yuffie." They went on board the gummi ship.
Acane: "Next stop, Devil May Cry!"
Acronos: "Well, at least this world will take less time."
Auron: "Actually, according to universal time, we only spent two days on that world." Everyone looks at him, gaping.
Acronos: "Uhh, Devil May Cry then. Guys, I feel hyper, buckle up." There was a brief frenzy to grab the nearest seatbelt, and then the ship took off at full speed. Ding! They were going really fast, but Acronos was making an effort not to make it too dangerous, but Auron remembered something.
Auron: "(Yelling over the noise of traveling) We need to re-stock our items! We're low!"
Acronos: "(Yelling) Okay, fine, let's turn around and use the warp!" They did so and headed back to Traverse Town. Upon reaching there, they jumped out of the Gummi ship with ease.
Selphie: "Well, I must say that that particular ride wasn't that bad."
Maioko: "Yes, excellent flying, not one chance at a painful death."
Acronos: "(Rubbing back of head sheepishly) Heh. Thanks, I think."
Auron: "I'll take care of the items."
Acane: "I'm coming with you, I don't trust you to pick up enough ethers." They went off.
Selphie: "Great, time to be spent doing nothing."
Acronos: "Poker?" This made several people very happy, but some still were left with nothing to do. Acronos gave the cards to the players and thought a bit.
Irvine: "Why don't we just split up and walk around, that's always good."
Acronos: "No, this is supposed to be a quick stop, not long enough for travel."
Kairi: "With Auron and Acane, I think we'll be waiting here a while."
Acronos: "Good point, so lets split up I suppose, meet back here in an hour." Everyone went his or her separate way. Acronos went to sharpen his knife, Kairi went to go whack some stuff into oblivion because she felt she'd been slacking on her training, Tifa went to test out her summon (play with it is the more appropriate term since it was very cute), Yuna went to test the limits of her white magic, Irvine went as high up as possible and began the target practice of shooting really small objects, Selphie took out her old jump-rope and began skipping, Wakka began throwing his ball against the wall to amuse himself and train his strength and catching, Lulu pulled out a copy of 'War and Peace' and opened it to the middle of it, and only Maioko and Tidus were left to play poker. From out of the darkness, Malfoy came out and wandered around, hoping to find something to increase his magic just enough to kick Blasphemy's ass. He stumbled upon Lulu.
Malfoy: "Sigh, little girl, do you have any idea where I can find anything on increasing magic around here?"
Lulu: "… I don't know. I could duel you though, I am an accomplished Black Mage."
Malfoy: "Why not, not like I have anything better to do." They took up stances, and Malfoy took out his wand. Lulu had her palm out in front of her. Malfoy used a small stunning spell, but Lulu just whacked it away as if he'd thrown a twig lightly.
Lulu: "Anything better?"
Malfoy: "(Raised eyebrow) Well, at least you're not weak." They began to trade their most powerful spells, but neither could really outdo the other. Finally they both used their killing spells, too into the magic to notice, and both cancelled each other out. They shrugged and continued blasting away at each other with magic. Finally they ran out of mp and sat down.
Malfoy: "Good job, I haven't had a duel like that one in quite some time!"
Lulu: "I haven't met anyone completely equal to me in magical strength in some time either."
Malfoy: "The trouble is that neither of us can go past a certain level, even with your creative magic, you can't go too far, something limits us."
Lulu: "Yes, that's troubled many a Black Mage, nobody knows how to pass this limit yet."
Malfoy: "I hope we both discover it and face each other once more, that would truly be something to look forward to." Acronos sat up slowly, putting away his knife and whetstone.
Acronos: "Sorry, overheard. Perhaps the thing is to use the element itself in the attack, not just an attack based upon that element."
Malfoy: "Elaborate."
Acronos: "Well, take Firaga for example, that's a fire elemental attack, right? (All nod) Well that's the thing, it's an elemental attack, not the element itself."
Lulu: "I still don't get what you're saying."
Acronos: "Hmm, well… what if you used fire purely, without anything else, no order, nothing but using the direct power of fire itself?"
Malfoy: "So you're saying my attacks are merely my magical energies being influencing an element, not the other way around?"
Acronos: "I think so."
Malfoy: "Interesting, care to show us what you mean hands-on?" Acronos is shocked.
Malfoy: "You don't really know yourself."
Acronos: "Hmm… Well, it might be easier if I knew what I specialize in… time magic? Okay, I'll try that. " He closes his eyes and slowly and aura pulses around him. It has no real color in particular, and seems not to have any emotions attached to it either. Without wanting to, Acronos' symbol hand traces a rune in the air and the area in front of him distorts extremely, until a person is standing on it, Leon.
Leon: "What the hell am I doing here?" Acronos focuses again and sends him back.
Acronos: "I think that's what you're looking for."
Malfoy: "Hmm… that might just work. I'd like to see an attack spell done like that."
Lulu: "Interesting… I didn't know you specialized in time magic."
Acronos: "Neither did I." Malfoy shrugs, thanks them and heads off. Auron and Acane come back bickering about some random thing, and everyone leaves. Acronos warps them to FFX, and then goes from there. Again he drives sanely and they get there in one piece.
Acronos: "Now how are we going to land this? It appears we're over New York, or a copy of it at least."
Maioko: "Wonder if my home's represented?"
Acane: "Doubt it. Try over the park, less people might notice." They landed in the park, getting as close to the ground as possible, and then jumping.
Wakka: "Where's a save point when you need one?" They all notice Acronos, and he's looking around. It's weird though, since he's crouched down and he sniffed the air.
Acronos: "Argh that smell, it's like acid or something, I know the word, what is it… (Saying it in a feral growl) Taint…" His eyes become reddish.
Maioko: "Acronos, your energy just spiked up heavily, mostly dark though."
Acronos: "There are Devils and Demons nearby, prepare yourselves! Aww who cares, they're just blood to be cleaned off my blade anyway." He suddenly turns and notices some Marionettes, (Human-sized and shaped puppets) heading towards them, but they're possessed by evil spirits and are carrying crescent blades and daggers.
Acronos: "(Slightly evil voice) Hah, Marionettes! I thought they'd all died on Mallet Island! No matter, they're all gonna die either way!" He jumps forward at high speeds and cuts one in two, jumps back, slashes the others a few more times, jumps again, downward slashes, and does a horizontal finishing strike. Nobody moves as he walks back with some red orbs following him.
Acronos: "(Normal) Yeesh, Devil side's getting a bit stronger then usual."
Maioko: "Whoa! Acronos, are you absolutely sure you're not evil?"
Acronos: "I mentioned this before, I'm the element that's the cross between dark and light, so I may tend to act evil every so often, but my intentions are good."
Maioko: "Okay, because that was scary."
Auron: "And apparently not enough, they're still coming, but they appear a bit stronger this time around. These ones are of different make, under the influence of fire."
Acronos: "(Sour) Fetishes. More blood." He jumps forward, but someone else has already cut the one he'd been aiming for in half. He doesn't even look as he slashes the next one a few times. The two slash the Devils a few more times.
Irvine: "Are we gonna end up not needed at all?"
Maioko: "Make yourself useful then." She jumps in and smashed one of the Fetish's heads in. Everyone walks in and attacks, but by this time there were nearly no more Fetishes. Finally there were no more, and everyone looked towards the other person, a man wearing a red trench coat with white hair. He calmly pointed the gun at Acronos' head and his finger started to pull the trigger.
Red: "Sweet dreams, Devil." He pulled the trigger while everyone watched in shock.
Riku: "Well…?"
Well what?
Riku: "How does Acronos' head explode?"
Do I usually let my character's heads explode?
Acronos: "(With the gun still at his head) You're certainly making it seem that way!"
Red: "Shut up."
Dante, you can put down the gun down now, Acronos is like you. He's a hunter.
Dante: "Oh, sorry man, too used to killing Devils."
Acronos: "(Relieved not to have a new hole in his head) Forget about it."
Maioko: "Dante, don't you mean the star of both Devil May Cry's?"
Yep, the one and the same, felt like adding him early.
Dante: "Hey, why are you introducing me here instead of in the next chapter?"
Dunno, felt like it.
Narrator: "Do you enjoy causing me pain and suffering by making me recite all this?"
To an extent, yes.
Riku: "Hey, what's up with that person who had my name?"
Rikku: "My name's different from yours, and I'm a girl!"
Riku: "Yeah, well that's obvious, you're kinda not wearing much."
Rikku: "(Slaps him) Shut up! (Is hit by her own slap) Oww! What gives?"
Sorry, some random law or something must be misreading your name.
Riku: "(Holding cheek) What about me?"
Sigh, all right! I'll give you a cameo next chapter, happy?
Riku: "Yeah! I wasn't even asking for that, but Hell Yeah!"
Great…
Sora: "Can I get a cameo too?"
Hmm, I still don't know anything about Kingdom Hearts II, I can't really give you much, but perhaps it would be better if you were imprisoned, hmm, that could actually work…
Sora: "Oh boy."
Acane: "Will that be another cameo chapter?"
Not entirely, but it should be shorter since I won't be following any plot for the next one.
Dante: "What, are you saying my games don't have a plot?"
No, not that, but think about it, none of your games have anything to do with a park. I'm gonna write a fanfic within a fanfic.
Acronos: "You've already done that, multiple times."
Maioko: "That's why your stories are so long!"
Blasphemy: "Are you going to make it a habit to introduce your characters to their enemies on a friendly basis?"
Sorta, I think I'll include a few others, but I'll save Oni for a bit later since he won't want to be friendly and will be more interested in destroying my characters, but I'll leave that for later. Oh yeah, make sure to review, (It's the little button to the lower left, just click it, sign in, and write something you'd like to send to me)
