AughAughAughAughAugh. IknowIamlateIknowIamlate. *collapses* Busy time of year for me.
Wasn't on purpose. Never is on purpose. Inspiration and writing for me cannot be forced, it has to flow otherwise my work will come out looking like hell. -_-
But anyway. I got inspired for this, and it's longer than the last few chapters I've done. To make up for being late. Sorry guys.
As usual, I don't own FFX or FFX-2.
Here's Chappy 12. Enjoy. And PLEASE comment. It's really nice to know people are reading this. Keeps me driven to write more.
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Chapter 12
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"Do these stairs ever end?" Rikku sighed, sounding exasperated and fed up. Paine grunted something, shaking her head wearily, and Yuna just forced herself to ignore it. She was getting really tired of the whole thing. She loved her cousin, but Rikku's constant complaints were beginning to-
"Here we are." Paine said softly, stepping off the steep stairs and onto the level floor below. Rikku muttered something to herself and hopped down, rubbing her legs and groaning.
"Now where are we?" Tidus frowned, looking around the rather dark hall they found themselves in.
"Underground." Paine snorted quietly, and Yuna almost smiled at the attempt of sarcasm from the usually subdued warrior.
Tidus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks, Paine. That really helps."
She shrugged and her tired looking face hinted at the faintest of smiles.
"This doesn't look like the other halls." Yuna said quietly, noting that it was much narrower, and much darker, than the other halls they had encountered. There was a strange absence of fog as well, but Yuna couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. A pyrefly flickered by silently. It wasn't completely unusual, then.
"Well, come on." Without waiting for the others, she started forward. She just wanted to get it over with. Maybe they'd finally come to what they were looking for. Maybe it wasn't the bottom of the underground, but it certainly was something apart from the normal labyrinth.
Rikku followed closely behind, though the Al Bhed didn't seem to want to comment. She was looking more tired by the minute. 'How long have we been down here? It feels like days.' Yuna thought wearily, forcing her legs to move forward. Her head hurt, but she chose to not pay attention. They'd be out soon. Soon.
"Yuna, wait up." Tidus called from behind, and Yuna stopped to turn around. He was standing close behind her, next to Rikku, but he seemed to be referring to Paine. The warrior was lagging behind, but not in the usual sort of way where she was on guard. Paine, seeing them all staring at her, straightened, and tried to hide the obvious limp.
"Paine? What's wrong?" Rikku chattered, looking as if she was going to panic.
"Nothing." Paine grunted, catching up with them and wincing. "Just a flesh wound."
Yuna blinked. The 'flesh wound', as Paine seemed to call it, appeared to be a very large and deep cut in her right leg. It had cut straight through the thin leather and into the skin. It wasn't deep, but it certainly looked as though it hurt. And on further inspection… it looked almost poisoned. "Paine, we have to take care of that."
Paine shook her head. "I'm out of potions, we all are. I'll be fine." Yuna paused. She was about to reach for her white mage sphere, when Paine shook her head again and stepped away.
"No, Yuna. You're too tired. We still have to get back to the surface. I'll be fine for now. Save your magic for when we need it."
Yuna wanted to argue, but Paine was already walking away down the hall. She was stubborn, and she was hurting. Though she needed the healing, Yuna considered the statement. She was right. They still had to get back up, and if Yuna used the rest of her energy healing a wound that could wait till they got back to the Celsius, the journey might be a lot harder.
She felt terrible seeing the warrior in pain, but she forced herself to think that Paine was right. She'd be okay. They'd get back to the surface and it'd all be taken care of.
She was getting really tired of having to tell herself that it'd be okay.
"Come on, Yunie!" Rikku attempted a bounce, but seemed too tired to carry it out. She started to follow Paine, a very evident look of worry on her face.
"Coming." Yuna sighed softly, wondering faintly how she was keeping up.
'Sin was harder then this… Why is this so difficult all of a sudden?' She thought silently as she began to walk after the two, Tidus walking beside her and being oddly silent. Maybe he was tired too.
Yuna felt as if something in the back of her mind was dragging her downwards, as if the headache wasn't only causing pain, but also a strange sort of fatigue. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. Sin had been much harder, and she'd been much weaker then. And she'd pulled through. Now she felt weaker then she ever had, and ready to sleep for a thousand years.
A cry of surprise from ahead of them pulled her out of her thoughts. It sounded like Rikku. Before she knew what she was doing she was running, somehow, running down the hallway. Tidus was right beside her, and looking as though he thought she was going to collapse at any moment. 'Do I really look that tired?' She thought mindlessly as the walls whizzed past.
"What's wrong?" She shouted, as she came to a halt at the end of the hall. It opened up into a large room that seemed very much in the style of the hall, only a little brighter. Rikku stood motionless in the center of the room, looking as though she'd seen a ghost. Paine was a little ways ahead, strangely motionless as well.
"What's…" Yuna's voice trailed off as she looked to Rikku's gaze. All words were swept away from her mind, and she could only stand in quiet shock at what lay below them on the floor.
Hope inside of her faded away, and she felt even worse then she had before.
She'd been hoping to find some trace of the spheres Trema had taken, but she'd never expected anything like this. Nor had she realized how many spheres Trema had gathered.
The room was small, perhaps no bigger then the Celsius's bridge, and it was piled high with shards of colored glass. No. Not glass. Spheres. Thousands and thousands of broken spheres.
She stared in silence, unable to find anything to say. She'd known they would probably find only broken remains, but so many… He had destroyed so many. Her mind reeled. How many memories, historical events, stories, recordings, had been lost? Why had he done it? Why so many? There were no answers, only the dumb horror of it all. One man had destroyed thousands of years of Spira's past.
"Is there… anything we can use?" Tidus finally spoke, looking over to Yuna as she stared down at the shards. She almost didn't catch his words; she was so caught up in staring at the destruction that lay before her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
Rikku slowly turned around, looking at all the shards and in her eyes seemed to be tears. The destruction was over whelming. They had been so happy to find the few spheres they had been able to, and now, looking at the thousands of broken spheres, it seemed… meaningless.
"I… I don't know." Yuna finally managed, her voice barely a whisper. She couldn't take her eyes away from the shards. Everything seemed so far away.
"We better start looking. Maybe some… are still viewable." Paine's voice broke through Yuna's haze, and the warrior began to sift through the broken shards carefully. Yuna managed to pull herself away from the shards, and looked up at Tidus who was still watching her.
His look was supportive, and somehow it gave her that little bit of strength she needed. She nodded slightly, and crouched down, looking down at a rather large pile of shards that lay beside her. She could hear him move to the other side of the room, and too, begin to search.
"Come on, Rikku." Paine called softly, and finally the Al Bhed seemed to snap out of her daze. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words, or the strength.
"But…" Her voice was quiet and subdued. Not the usual kind of voice Yuna was used to hearing her cousin use. The Al Bhed stopped, and shook her head, rubbing her eyes with her hands quietly. There wasn't anything anyone could do now. They had to move on.
Yuna sighed and sifted through the colorful shards. Everything was ruined beyond repair, even if they could find the right pieces to each sphere, they wouldn't be able to view it. The shards were too cracked, too small. It was fine when a sphere was broken in two, or even three, and all the pieces were large and easily put back together. But when tiny fractions of the sphere were cracked and loose, nothing in Spira would make them whole again.
But, maybe they were not all broken so badly. She had to keep hope. Even though she knew that the chances of them finding the clue they needed in a partially whole sphere were slim at best. These spheres were probably from all around Spira, not just Bevelle. What were the odds they'd find an insignificant sphere recording some event that might show them where some abandoned Fayth was?
Maybe she'd get lucky again. She'd been lucky so far. Yuna forced herself to keep up hope.
She picked up a small fragment of an orange sphere and rolled it in her hand. Too small. She placed it away from the large pile and began to move each cracked piece over to it. No point in looking at the same shard twice.
Minutes rolled by, and soon, it began to feel like hours. The pile was getting smaller, at an irritatingly slow pace. Yuna's hands were bleeding in a few places where she'd been careless with a shard and picked it up wrong. But it wasn't too bad. She had to keep looking. She had to find it.
Whatever 'it' was.
She looked over to see how the others were doing. Paine's pile wasn't much better then hers, and Rikku seemed to be having a hard time picking shards up without cutting herself.
Yuna commanded herself not to go over and heal her cousin. She had to save her energy. Rikku wasn't complaining, maybe she knew that there was no point and it wouldn't help any of them.
'I hate this place.' Yuna thought mutely as she looked around the room. Not only was it filled with dangerous fiends and tormented spirits, but to top it off, all the history of Spira had been destroyed in its depths. She'd have to talk to Baralai about sealing this place off one day. It was a surprise and perhaps a miracle no fiends had come out and attacked the city yet.
'What I'd give for a breath of fresh air…' Rearranging her aching legs so she was sitting in a more comfortable position, Yuna looked over behind her to where Tidus was carefully picking through the shards. He looked tired, but still moved with a usual energetic flow. She wondered how he managed to do it. To keep going and going. Maybe it was all the Blitzball. He was moving through the pile faster then anyone else, looking quite determined to find whatever they were looking for and get back up to the surface.
She didn't blame him at all. Turning back around, she began to sift through the pile again. Orange, blue, yellow, green, red, purple. So many colors. So many spheres.
'Don't think about it.' She hissed at herself. It wasn't going to help.
"Hey! I think I found something!" Rikku suddenly shouted, and there was a scramble as everyone turned away from their respective piles and went over to where Rikku stood. In her hands she held three shards, rather large in size, and all the same color.
"Great. Let's see it." Paine blinked, looking as though she were trying to ignore the throbbing pain of her leg.
"Here goes." Rikku breathed quietly, pressing all three shards together. At first, there was nothing. For a moment Yuna worried that a piece was missing, or they were unrelated. Just as she was about to say something, the shards began to glow.
The image was blurry, but seemed intact. Yuna held her breath as she squinted for a closer look.
The sound was a static buzz, but the image began to clear somewhat. It was… in Bevelle. Yuna felt her heart quicken. It couldn't possibly…
The sound came on with a sharp crackle.
"Then we are in agreement." A man's voice spoke, apparently off the sphere's 'screen'.
"Yes." A chorus of voices replied, and the image moved from a barren wall marked with emblems of Yevon, to a large gathering of priests. Yuna recognized the place straight away. It was the same place where she had been 'judged' for her crimes during her pilgrimage. Not pleasant memories.
The sphere turned to a young man who stood on the trail platform. He looked frightened and upset. "But I've done nothing-"
"You have tried to keep a summoner from his pilgrimage. There is no question to whether you are guilty or not. Do you wish to see Sin destroy Spira?" The priest accused, frowning.
"Of course not! But why should the summoners have to die?" The man argued, looking at wits end and as if they were all crazy. The priest said nothing, waving his hand. Two guards came up, and grabbed the man roughly, dragging him off.
"This trial is closed." The priest said, looking at the sphere, and it suddenly blinked off.
Yuna tried to remember to breathe, but it wasn't easy.
"Well… that's not it." Paine finally broke the silence, and Rikku shot her a glare, then looked back to Yuna.
"Yunie…?"
Yuna swallowed. "Let's keep looking."
Walking back to her pile, she tried to put the sphere's contents out of her mind. Sin was gone now, and so was Yevon. But she still couldn't help but remember it all. Her training, her pilgrimage, her blind devotion… and how someone had come up and said those very same words the man had said.
"Yuna?" Tidus said softly, crouching down beside her and looking rather concerned.
"I'm fine." She spoke softly, staring down at the shards below her. "It's over now."
He didn't seem to want to press the matter any further. There wasn't much more to say about it, they'd both been in that situation. They'd both fought through it, and… they'd won. Wasn't that what was important? Despite that thought, Yuna couldn't help but still feel that hopelessness and despair, when she'd found out the truth. When she'd thrown all her beliefs away and fought against something that had been going on for so many years.
"Your hands…" Tidus spoke quietly, taking one of Yuna's hands and holding it gently. She looked down and finally noticed in detail the cuts that covered them. He frowned. "I'll do it." She opened her mouth to protest but he seemed to ignore her. Sitting down beside her, he began to file through the shards that sat before them.
"But it'd be faster if we both did it…" She protested quietly, really not having the strength to argue but feeling she had to anyway.
He smiled at her. "It'll be fine. I'm faster anyway." He grinned at the last part, and in spite of herself she mock glared at him.
"Oh really?"
He grinned wider and then turned back to the shards, carefully picking through them with his gloves. Though she kept the air of acting as though she was insulted, she had to admit he was faster. Then she smiled. Despite all the pain and how tired she was, he was still able to make her smile and feel almost playful. It was nice. She didn't feel alone anymore.
She watched him mutely, feeling useless but knowing if she tried to help he wouldn't let her. The shards whipped by so fast, after a while she found it hard to tell what color they were. But then, it didn't matter, really.
In spite of herself, she felt her eyes beginning to grow suddenly quite heavy. She yawned a little, and blinked. The shards were all of a sudden quite blurry. Rubbing her eyes gently, she mentally slapped herself. Not the time to sleep. She could do that when they got back. Everyone else was doing okay, she should be too.
"Yuna." Tidus's voice snapped her out of her haze and she blinked rapidly, bringing her eyes slowly into focus. He held up a rather large hunk of sphere, that didn't appear to have any cracks in it at all.
"Is there another half?" She looked down at the pile. It was impossible to tell from just looking.
"I'm looking." He handed her the shard, then went back to sifting through the pile. Yuna watched for a moment, but seeing nothing, looked over instead to Paine and Rikku. Both were crouched over their separate piles and hurriedly sifting through. They didn't appear to have found anything, and Rikku looked as though at any moment she'd fall asleep.
Yuna looked back at the shards. She reached forward and began to push the shards aside, looking for that blue tint. It had to be there.
"You-" Tidus started, but Yuna shook her head firmly.
"I have to."
Maybe it was that voice that everyone said she had sometimes. That commanding, yet calm voice that made everyone go silent and listen. Tidus didn't argue, but he didn't stop looking worried.
Ignoring her bleeding hands, she kept looking. She just wanted to get out of here. The faster they got through the piles, the sooner they'd get home. She hoped.
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Tidus sighed as Yuna winced for perhaps the tenth time that hour. She'd cut herself, again. And there was nothing he could do that would make her stop. She was determined to keep looking, bleeding hands or not. He admired her determination; she hadn't lost that in two years. But, he couldn't help but be worried. She was pushing herself too hard; the strain was starting to show on her usually relaxed face.
'Hasn't she been through enough yet?' He thought silently, as if asking Fate.
They'd found the other piece to the sphere he'd found earlier, but it had turned out to be another useless sphere. Well, maybe not useless, but to them, it was. He was sure though that someone in Bevelle would be interested in seeing the wedding between Yunalesca and Zion. But he sure wasn't.
Yuna hadn't been either. He figured that she was probably starting to get quite tired of Yunalesca popping up everywhere. But then, the woman had been immensely important to Sin and Yevon, and, well, Spira itself. It wasn't really surprising they kept running into her. Up until two or so years ago, she'd still been hanging around. If you called being a dead spirit wandering a broken city hanging around.
He groaned and straightened his back. This was getting old fast. They'd been sitting for hours, looking through pile after pile of broken shards. Nothing. Out of all they had seen, they had found only two spheres that had been viewable. Tidus knew they were looking for something that they'd never find, but he didn't want to say it aloud. Yuna knew it. She just didn't want to face it. And he didn't want her to have to until all chances were gone.
Rikku however, seemed to be sure they'd find something. Every once and a while she'd find a shard she thought was connected to another, and call them all over. None of the shards ever worked, but she didn't seem too dismayed. She kept forcing herself on. They all did.
But they couldn't go on forever. Yuna looked as if she was going to collapse at any moment, Rikku appeared nearly the same, and Paine's leg was becoming infected. And him, well… He was getting awfully sick of the whole underground nightmare. But mostly, he just wanted Yuna back up on the surface, where she could rest.
No rest until they solved the problem though. He sighed aloud again. When this was over, he was seriously going to consider running off with Yuna to get away from everything and anybody. It might be the only way they ever got some peace and quiet and time to actually rest, let alone talk.
He figured Yuna probably wouldn't argue with that either.
"Anything?" Paine called over suddenly, shakily standing up and walking away from a pile she had just finished.
"We would have said." Tidus sighed, shaking his head. Paine didn't answer, but went over to another pile and sat down, wincing as she did.
"This is hopeless." Yuna sighed quietly, barely whispering, beside him.
"Don't say that. Don't give up, Yuna.'
She closed her eyes, and a small inner battle was fought. When she reopened her eyes, the little bit of strength had returned. "I'm sorry."
He smiled and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "No prob." He really couldn't blame her. She'd been holding out so long, most people would have collapsed already and given up. But not Yuna. And while he was around, even when she hit her limit, he'd help her keep going.
"What's that?" Yuna asked suddenly, her eyes widening as she reached for a fragment. It seemed to be just a regular, purple shard. Just like the others. But as he looked closer, he noticed it wasn't like the others at all. It was perfectly smooth, and it hadn't been shattered. It'd been cut. Cut in half like a round fruit of some kind. He frowned. That wasn't anything like what they'd seen.
"This is… older." She said softly, running her thumb across the sphere's smooth contour.
"What did you find?" Rikku asked, coming up behind them.
"Trema didn't break this one." Yuna tilted her head to one side.
"How do you know what?" Paine asked, from across the room..
"He shattered them all. This has been… sliced in half." She turned the sphere half over in her hand. "And the cut looks old."
Tidus had no idea how she could tell, but he presumed she'd been hunting spheres for long enough she'd know that sort of thing.
"Is it viewable?" Rikku asked, frowning as she leaned over closer to see.
"Maybe." Yuna frowned. "But we might need the other half."
Tidus looked back at the pile. "Well… let's get started."
With the four of them, the pile didn't last long.
He couldn't help but feel disappointed as the reached the bottom, and found no trace of any other sphere half. He hadn't really expected them to find it so easily, but he'd sure hoped they would.
Yuna however, was not to be put off. She seemed convinced that the sphere was what they were looking for, and silently she stood and moved onto the next pile. Rikku and Paine followed suit, until they all had their own piles again and were hastily sifting through them.
Tidus sighed as he watched Yuna drag large handfuls of shards out of her way as she dug through the mess, searching. She was really going to make a mess of her hands that way. He got up and walked over, sitting down beside her again and shaking his head.
"Yuna, stop." She didn't listen to him, she just kept digging. She was being driven by her unstoppable will again, and even he wasn't going to talk sense into her.
"It doesn't matter." She muttered, shoving another pile out of her way and wincing slightly.
It mattered to him.
He too began to sift through the pile, searching for that right shade. That right shape. He ignored the fear in his mind that the half a sphere was a total fluke and they wouldn't find the other half.
"Guys…" Paine's voice called across the room, and Tidus stopped to look over at the warrior. She was holding a half a sphere in her hand. A sphere that'd been cut in half.
Yuna was up on her feet faster then Tidus thought was possible. He scrambled after her as she and Rikku made for Paine.
"That's it!" Yuna exclaimed almost happily, sounding relieved but still unsure. They had no idea if it'd be just another useless sphere or what they were looking for. The odds of it being what they were looking for…
"Let's see it then!" Rikku grabbed the two pieces from Paine and Yuna, and stuck them together.
There was a low buzz, then the sphere began to glow just as the others hand. Yuna let out a breath that Tidus translated into a sigh of relief.
The image blinked on, but the sound continued its low buzz.
"The sound's broken." Rikku sighed loudly, hanging her head.
Tidus squinted and looked closer.
'Unbelievable.'
Yunalesca stood in what appeared to be the inner room of a Temple. She was talking to someone, though the person appeared to be off screen. Her face was twisted into a smile, though something in her eyes only held malice and anger. It appeared that whatever she was saying, it wasn't happy things.
'Why is it ALWAYS her?' He thought grimly, as the sphere continued on. It wasn't very interesting, but as Tidus looked closer, he noticed something. He'd never seen that temple before. Not that he was an expert in the temples of Spira, but it seemed quite… different then the ones he had seen.
Yuna's eyes were locked on the sphere, as if under some spell.
"Where is that?" Paine asked, frowning.
"Which temple is it, Yunie?" Rikku asked, also looking to Yuna.
There was pause as Yuna squinted at the sphere. There wasn't much to look at, besides Yunalesca talking and the temple walls behind her. But…
"Isn't that snow?" Tidus whispered, blinking in surprise.
"Wha?" Rikku looked at him funny, then back at the sphere.
"On the floor, behind Yunalesca."
Rikku cried out in surprise. "Hey! You're right! Then it must be the Macalania temple!"
Yuna slowly shook her head.
"No."
Yunalesca suddenly turned towards the sphere, a strange smile on her face. She reached towards the screen, then it suddenly blinked out. The end of the recording. It hadn't made any sense at all. Though, Tidus guessed it would have been a lot easier to understand if they'd been able to hear.
"Yunie?" Rikku asked quietly, looking over to her cousin's face.
Yuna slowly looked away from the sphere, to the ground. She looked deep in thought, as if she was trying to remember something.
"I haven't… seen that temple before."
"But you went to all the temples, didn't you?" Paine frowned, looking up from the now dull sphere as well.
Yuna nodded, then looked back up at them. "I did. Or… I thought I did. This temple… I don't think anyone's seen before."
"What makes you say that?" The warrior asked, tilting her head.
"I… just know." Yuna blinked and was silent for a long, uncomfortable moment. Tidus was just about to speak when she suddenly seemed to snap back again into the present.
"That's where it is. The Fayth. We have to go there."
"But where's there?" Rikku cried, flopping her hands to her sides in agitation.
"Mount Gagazet," Yuna whispered softly, slowly standing up.
"How do you know?" Paine struggled up as well, her leg looking even worse then it had before.
"Lemme guess, you just know." Rikku sighed, but Yuna shook her head.
"It wasn't Macalania, but it had snow. Mount Gagazet is the only other place in Spira that has snow, and… There were rumors, now that I remember, that a Fayth was supposed to be on Mount Gagazet. The last Aeon before the Final Aeon. Well, I guess they were more legends. Nobody ever knew of one besides the Stolen Fayth, but that wasn't anywhere near the snow." She went silent, as if thinking again.
"But all the other Fayth were on Mount Gagazet. Why would they have an Aeon there too?" Rikku blinked, looking quite confused.
Yuna shrugged slightly. "I don't know. But… that's where we have to go."
"Well then, let's get the heck out of here!" Tidus almost shouted before Rikku could open her mouth to protest or question one more time. That seemed to break Yuna out of her thoughts. She looked over to Tidus and grinned a bit.
"Yeah, let's get out of here. Are you okay, Paine?" She asked, a sudden worry on her face as Paine struggled to straighten.
"I told you, I'm fine." The warrior snarled, avoiding everyone's eyes and heading towards the hallway where they'd come. "There should be an elevator nearby. Maybe back up where we fell."
Nobody said anything. Nothing needed to be said. Rikku followed closely behind Paine, and Yuna right behind her. Tidus found himself yet again bringing up the rear. He saw Yuna give one last look back into the room, where all the shards lay. She looked terribly sad for a moment, then her face cleared and she forced a small smile. He smiled back, but he knew it wasn't going to help much.
After an eventful few minutes of walking and climbing up the long series of stairs, they found themselves once more in the huge, dark hall.
"Which way?" Tidus asked, looking around and trying to make out any kind of sign that an elevator platform was nearby.
Paine slowly turned in a circle, frowning. "We came this way. We go that way." She said after a moment, pointing down the other side of the hall. Yuna nodded silently, and started in that direction.
'Something's wrong.' Tidus stopped in his tracks and looked around. It seemed… awfully quiet. And the feel in the air was even more tense and eerie then ever before. Almost like when the Tonberries had appeared, but… more intense.
"Uh… guys?"
Rikku turned to look at him with a frown. "Hurry up, Tidus!"
He blinked and found himself walking forward. Keep moving, yeah, that was probably a good idea. Maybe it wasn't anything. Maybe he was just tired.
Or maybe-
There was a loud crash, and the entire hall shook.
'Or maybe I'm actually right for once.'
~~~~~~~~~~
'Not again.' Yuna sighed aloud as the huge creature dropped from the ceiling, and swept her curving arms upwards in preparation to attack.
"Her again?!" Rikku cried, jumping backwards in surprise.
"They don't know when to die." Paine snarled, drawing her sword.
Yunalesca looked almost pleased with herself. Sweeping her claws up in curving arcs, she screeched at them and shook her head. This time, she was guarding it with her tail.
"What are we going to do, Yunie?" Rikku chattered, grabbing Yuna's arm and shaking it. They were all too tired to go through a battle like that again. She squinted and looked past Yunalesca's body. Though it was hard to make out, there was definitely an elevator down at the end of the hall. Their way out.
Yunalesca seemed to realize this too, and was looking even smugger then before, growling and hissing and snapping her fangs at them.
"Do that thing again, Yunie!" Rikku continued, looking from Yuna to the fiend. "When you shot its jewel!"
Yuna looked at her guns, then at the tail that was protecting the fiends head. She'd never get a clear shot. And even if she did, she doubted it would stop her this time.
"Any ideas?" Paine hissed, as Yunalesca began to slither forward, hissing and waving her scythe like arms.
"Yeah." Yuna said, ignoring the argument forming in her mind. She should stand and fight. End this whole thing right here and now. But… she was sick of it. Let Yunalesca haunt her halls. She'd never be able to get up to the surface.
"Run."
Everyone save Tidus looked at her in surprise. "Run?" Rikku repeated, staring at her cousin blankly. "But she'll-"
Tidus shook his head and cut her off. "Yuna said run, so we run. If we keep to the sides and go fast, maybe she won't realize what we're doing until we've on the other side."
Yunalesca was looking at each of them, but she didn't seem to make any reaction. Maybe she couldn't understand them.
"Then let's do it." Paine growled, staring up at Yunalesca. "At the count of three."
"One," Paine slowly sheathed her sword and Rikku looked incredibly nervous but seemed to tense up as if to get ready.
"Two," Yuna slowly edged forward, as close to the fiend as she dared. She was still out of striking range, she hoped.
"Three!" Paine shouted, and all four of them started into a dead run, heading for the small gap that lay between the wall and Yunalesca. The fiend wasn't fast enough in reaction. She stared at them blankly for a split second, then screamed in rage. By that time, Yuna was already on the other side, closely followed by Tidus and Rikku.
Yunalesca spun around as fast as her limbs could take her, and roared in fury. The entire room seemed to shake, and then Yuna caught sight of Paine. The warrior was lagging behind. She was barely running, and limping quite badly. She was close to Yunalesca's claws. Way too close.
"PAINE!" Rikku shouted, diving forward before anyone else could react, and grabbed the warrior by the arm. She threw the woman's arm over her shoulders, and just as Yunalesca swung her long scythe of an arm, managed to drag her out of range.
That bought them a few seconds. Tidus rushed over to help Rikku support Paine, and the three of them started backwards towards the elevator as fast as they could.
Yuna stood in the middle of the hall, feeling Yunalesca staring down at her in fury.
"Yunie, come on!" Rikku managed, gasping for air and somehow struggling on down the hall.
She had to buy them time to get to the elevator, if she ran with them, Yunalesca would be on top of them. She ignored her cousin, for the moment. Her eyes were locked on Yunalesca, keeping track of her limbs and her eyes. The fiend was silent, but looking as though she was preparing herself for something.
How long did she have to wait?
She slowly pulled out her guns, trying to calm her pounding heart.
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted somewhere behind her, and she heard the sound of running footsteps. Yunalesca swung.
Yuna jumped backwards, narrowly missing the blades, and began shooting towards the fiend's head. All the shots were reflected harmlessly off of the fiend's tail, but it bought her another second. While Yunalesca was guarding her face with her tail and her arms, Yuna ran backwards as fast as she dared. Chancing a look behind her, she saw the others were safely on the elevator, and Tidus was heading her way.
"Rikku, get that elevator running!" Yuna shouted behind her, as her eyes locked back onto Yunalesca who had recovered and was moving forward once more.
There was no reply, but Yuna knew her cousin wasn't wasting any time. If anyone could get it running, an Al Bhed could.
Tidus skidded to a stop beside Yuna and held up Brotherhood.
"Let's keep her busy." He grinned sideways at Yuna, but kept his eyes locked on the fiend.
She nodded, and reloaded her guns. For a moment, she thought of how nice it was. Even though she was so tired, and even though they were fighting for their lives again against fiends, she was standing next to him. Standing beside him in battle, together.
Smiling in spite of everything, she aimed her guns and fired away while Tidus kept Yunalesca's claws back with Brotherhood. Though they didn't seem to be hurting Yunalesca, they were sure keeping her busy. Her claws were busy trying to bat Tidus away, while her tail and her head were occupied keeping herself protected. It was impossible for her to move without her tail and her claws.
Soon, they had an easy system worked out. Tidus would strike, and Yuna would fire. Yunalesca wasn't able to get one hit in edgewise, and was getting more and more agitated. Yuna knew that they couldn't keep it up forever, they'd get tired, and eventually they'd slip. But they didn't need forever.
"How's it going?" She shouted behind her, never taking her eyes off the fiend.
"I think I've got it! Come on!" Rikku shouted back, her voice frantic and concerned. Yuna nodded to Tidus, and the two of them began to back up slowly, then increase their pace. Yunalesca, seeming still in a daze from the never ending assault, took too long to realize they were backing off. When she finally did seem to realize it, they were halfway to the elevator.
Hissing in fury, the fiend launched herself forward at a terrible speed, coming down the hall towards them like an unstoppable rockslide. Yuna swallowed her fear and turned around to run. There was the elevator. So close. She pushed herself to the limit, made herself ignore all the pain in her burning limbs, and dived for the elevator.
She made it, and just about crashed into Paine who was sitting in the center, looking quite ill. Tidus ran into Yuna from behind but she barely noticed.
"Rikku, go!" She cried, looking behind to see the fiend only a few meters away. Rikku didn't need any encouragement, she'd hit the button as soon as they'd gotten onto the platform. Already it was beginning to rise, though too slow for Yuna's liking.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Tidus asked, pulling Yuna away from the edge of the elevator and back to the side which sat against the wall.
Rikku groaned. "I'm trying!"
Yunalesca dived forward, claws and tail poised to skewer all four of them.
Yuna saw the event in a kind of slow motion, and time seemed to skid to a halt.
The platform suddenly lurched, and Yunalesca dropped out of sight. Below they heard the rumble and crash as the fiend slammed into the wall where they had been only seconds before. Already, the elevator was lifting up into the shaft, and into the almost welcomed darkness of its safety.
They were safe.
Yuna let her breathe out with a loud sigh and collapsed on the platform. Below, the crashes and screams began to ebb away, until they were mere whispers.
"That was close." Paine grunted, pulling herself up and clenching her leg with her hands.
"But we made it." Tidus was grinning. Yuna couldn't understand how he could be grinning, after all that. But somehow, it made her want to grin too. And laugh. They'd been so close to dying, but they were still alive. They were going back to the surface. They had the clue they needed.
Everything was going to be fine.
