Here we go again… And wow, it's on time!!! Well, it should be… as long as Fanfiction doesn't take hours and hours to post it…
Or maybe it's late… I guess it depends on your time zone.
ANYWAY, on my clock, it says it's still Sunday, so I'm going to presume it's on time. Whee.
Again, it's a half chapter, so don't expect too much of it… I'll give you guys a REAL chapter soon, maybe in two weeks or so. Family from the other side of the country are coming to stay so I don't know how much time I'll have to write…
In reply to comments…
From Kaci-Kuryido-
IM details you could contact me on? I'm not sure I understand the question, I'm sorry… Though maybe I read it wrong. If you want to e-mail me, feel free. My e-mail is on my bio page, and I'll just write it off here if you wanted it – Anybody who wants to e-mail me go ahead, just don't spam me or send me chain letters and the like. Then I'll be forced to take my e-mail off the page. Okay, thanks…
Elle-
I didn't realize comments got cut off either… That's a shame… I wonder how many of my comments have been cut off… eek… what a thought… If you ever have something you want to comment on but it's too long for the comment box thing, go ahead and e-mail me if you like.
I think that's it… might have missed a couple… if I did… holler at me… I'm a scatter brain lately and need to be hollered at.
Thank you ALL for your wonderful comments. They really help me get through the tough times I've been having lately with writing and life in general. Thanks so much.
This chapter hasn't been heavily edited, I only looked over it a few times.
I don't own FFX or FFX-2. But it's a pity I don't, because then I'd be rich instead of broke.
Okay then. I think that's it. Hope it isn't too bad a half chapter, and, I'll have the next one up ASAP…
(this is really turning into a long story isn't it? I never planned to make it this long either, it just keeps… growing. Dear me… I've got so much more planned too. I hope you guys don't mind long stories, because the way this thing is headed… My longest fanfiction ever. Second longest story I've written… ever… Phew… )
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Chapter 16.
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"So what are we looking for anyway?" Tidus finally broke the silence, unable to take anymore of the eerie echoing of water drops. They'd been walking for what seemed hours, down the spiraling tunnels of rock and occasional pools of water. So far, they'd found nothing that indicated anyone else had ever been down the tunnels. They'd searched what seemed miles of the tunnels, branching this way and that. The only reason they hadn't gotten lost, was because of Yuna's smart idea to place markers.
Beside him Yuna turned her head to look over at him, breaking off from her search of the tunnel walls. "I'm not sure." She admitted, sounding a little embarrassed and a little worried. "Probably some kind of runes marked into the stone. Or some kind of tunnel, or ruins, or…" She trailed off, giving a small sigh. "I don't know. I'm hoping to recognize it when I see it. Because I'm a Summoner, when I get close to the Chamber of the Fayth I should be able to sense it. So far… nothing." She looked back to the tunnel wall, looking grim and tired.
"You said you were still a Summoner…" Tidus mused after a few moments of silence, finding nothing else to talk about. "How?"
She turned again to look at him, a mild look of confusion on her face. "What do you mean?"
Tidus paused, looking for the right words to explain what he was wondering. "Well… When Sin disappeared, all the Fayth disappeared." He regretted mentioning it as soon as he said it, he could see a small twinge in her face as she was no doubt reminded of something she badly wanted to forget. However, she nodded, indicating him to go on.
"Didn't all the Summoners lose their power when the Fayth disappeared?"
Yuna blinked, then looked to the ground. "Yes and no." She spoke softly as they walked, and he could see a sort of sadness in her face. It'd been such a huge part of her life, and suddenly she'd no longer had any use for it. He wondered faintly what that would feel like, and couldn't imagine it.
"We can't summon anymore, of course. The Aeons are gone, though they're still in the Farplane, somehow. But they're just spirits there, really, we can speak to them if we go there, but we can't gain their aid like we did with Sin. But the Summoners who are left, well, we still have the power that connects us to the Fayth. We all went in the same ceremony when we were young…" Her voice grew softer as she seemed to remember something. "The ceremony that connects us to the Fayth and Yevon. We've lost our links to Yevon, but not to the Fayth. Even in the Farplane, we can still, well, sense them. The connection will be with us until we die. And, because we still have that connection, we can still sense the magic that was bound to the Fayth and Yevon." She looked over to him, and seemed to notice the confused look on his face.
"I get it but…" His voice must have shown his confusion.
"I'm sorry, I'll try to be clearer. It's hard to explain… All people of Spira were taught the ways of Yevon, the Summoners, and Sin when they were children. You don't know any more then what you learned on the pilgrimage. I forget that, sometimes…" Pausing, she looked up in front of her down the spanning tunnel.
"We can still feel the power that used to be here, and in some places, that is still here. It'll take years for the power to disappear completely, with the Fayth gone. Just like in Macalania Temple. The Aeon Shiva had been there for hundreds of years, and the power she'd held seemed into the woods. The surrounding area turned to ice and the trees became crystalline in appearance. But now… Now that Shiva is gone, the forest is disappearing along with the magic. Within a few years… It'll be gone forever. It's the same way with all the other magic of Yevon and the Fayth still in Spira."
"So that's why this Fayth has been calling you."
Yuna nodded.
"I think so. She can sense the magic fading, but she's still bound here somehow. If all the Summoners die, they'll be no one left with the power to send her. She'll be left alone forever, while all the magic of the Fayth and Yevon disappear into the Farplane." Yuna paused for a long moment, staring sightlessly ahead of her. Finally, she spoke again, so softly Tidus could barely hear her. "I'm the youngest of the last Summoners. I'll be the one to watch it all disappear and see all the other Summoners die before me." She looked down to the floor.
He wanted to comfort her, somehow, but he knew there was nothing that could change reality. She could be right, if she lived out to be old… She would be the last. Summoners would always be remembered, but the tradition and their power would fade away into time. Just like Zanarkand. Just like Sin, Yevon, Guardians, so many things. Spira was facing a new age. Al Bhed were more accepted, Yevon's traditions were dying, and the people of Spira were becoming closer linked.
'She's terrified.' He finally realized, watching her look back up to check the nearby walls for any sign of… anything. 'All she's ever known… It's going away, and changing.'
"Don't worry about it Yuna… maybe change is what Spira needs." The words sounded silly, useless, meaningless. He fought to find the right words to make it all better for her, to make her smile again. Nothing came.
She looked back up at him, and the hint of a sad smile played on her lips. "You're right. Spira needs change. Now maybe the people can be happier, and we can finally work together to repair all the damage from Sin."
'Another change for Spira… First Sin destroyed Zanarkand, now Sin has been destroyed and for the first time Spira can try to go back to what it was. But what if the same thing happens again?' A sudden chill ran down his spine as he thought silently. 'The Youth League and New Yevon are already nearly fighting… Council or not. Yuna can't unite Spira alone, no matter how much they love her. No matter how hard she tries they'll keep fighting… Just like in Zanarkand. We didn't have anything to fear, so we feared each other. Sin united Spira… but now…'
Yuna looked over to him, curiosity in her soft eyes. She could tell he was thinking.
'What if war comes back to Spira? What if it all happens over again?'
For a fraction of a second, his thoughts went to what Yuna had said about Shuyin and Lenne. Their fate, because of war… And why were they so connected to him and Yuna anyway?
He didn't like the thought of it at all, and his face threatened to cloud over. Somehow he managed to contain himself, and smiled a little at her.
"Oh, nothing… I was just thinking about Spira's future." He said hurriedly, perhaps too quickly. She seemed to see something in his eyes, but didn't mention it. She nodded once, softly, then looked back to the walls around them.
'Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she'll be strong enough to keep Spira together. But… It's not fair everything lies on her.' He sighed aloud, too quietly for her to hear. 'And Lenne and Shuyin… whatever they are… or were… they're gone now. Maybe it was just a strange coincidence.'
For some reason, he didn't quite believe it, but he pushed the thought away just the same.
'I shouldn't be worrying about that. Yuna's got enough to worry about, she's gone through enough. She has to be happy, I'll make sure she's happy.'
"What's that?" She said suddenly, breaking his train of thought, though he was thankful for the distraction.
"What's what?" He echoed, frowning as he looked to where she was pointing.
They'd come to the end of the tunnel at last. Tidus remembered that much, the tunnel had ended and hadn't gone any further. Just a dead end. He'd even told her when they'd entered it, there wasn't much point in looking.
But, against all logic, there it was. A large hole in the wall, leading off into another tunnel. It seemed freshly made somehow, and Tidus knew it hadn't been there when they'd been there before.
Yuna came to a stop in front of the black hole, peering into the murky darkness beyond. No lights illuminated the darkness, which seemed odd as all the other tunnels in Mt.Gagazat had the strange glowing stones.
"This is new." He said quietly, frowning. Something about it seemed very… wrong. He couldn't place it, but for some reason it was giving him the creeps. Just like the underground in Bevelle, though not quite as eerie.
"Are you sure?" She looked back up at him, saw him nod, then returned her gaze to the entrance. "Well, let's go then!" She started into the darkness, and he barely had time to reach forward and grab her wrist before she was eaten up by the shadows.
"What's wrong?" Yuna blinked in surprise, looking up at him as she stopped.
He didn't say anything for a moment, instead just stared at the darkness in front of them. Nothing seemed wrong. It was just another tunnel, a new one, too new for any of the stones to… appear? Grow? Whatever it was they did? But that wasn't it. It wasn't the darkness that was bothering him, he'd never been afraid of the dark. Just something… was wrong.
"I don't know." He said finally, still frowning. "But I don't think we should go in."
She looked from him, back to the tunnel. It seemed she wasn't feeling anything.
"It seems fine to me. We better check it out, this is the last place we haven't looked."
He wanted to argue, to drag her away from the horrible tunnel, but he knew her logic couldn't be ignored. They had to check everywhere. They had to get that screaming out of her head and stop the fiends running rampart around Spira.
But…
"Okay." He said, against all of his instincts. She smiled at him a little, then fished in the small pocket on her belt.
"A dress sphere?" He asked, tilting his head.
She nodded, taking out a tiny black sphere with a strange fire in the center. Without saying a word, she activated the sphere with one of the small grids she carried, and swiftly changed from being a gunner, to a black mage. When she was finished, she twirled her staff in her hands with a small smile, then peeked up at him from under her hat.
"So what was that for?" He asked, curious and somewhat amused by her cute appearance.
"For this." Stepping back, she twirled her staff again and softly spoke a few words. As she spoke, a flame erupted from her staff and formed into a perfect ball, which went to over above her staff silently and with surprisingly little heat. The fireball cast a strong light around them, entering the tunnel and scaring away the shadows.
He was impressed. She'd been thinking ahead while he'd been worrying how they were going to explore the darkness.
"Okay, let's go." She smiled, holding her staff in front of her and directing the fireball.
Together they entered the tunnel, Tidus staying close beside her. Fireball or not, the tunnel still held something 'wrong', and no matter how he tried, he couldn't shake the feeling.
"What do you think made this?" Tidus finally said, after a few moments of walking in the uneventful tunnel. It seemed like all the others in appearance, save the lack of glow stones.
Yuna shrugged a little. "Maybe this was just caved in when you came by before? Maybe something opened it up. Or maybe it had something to do with the Fayth disappearing."
She wasn't sure. He wasn't sure. She didn't think it was odd. He wanted to run the other direction.
Sighing, he felt his hand brushing Brotherhood's hilt. The sword was strapped to his back as usual, comfortably and strangely light. He shouldn't be worried about it. Yuna had defeated Sin, so had he. What could the possibly run into that would be harder then that?
'We had everyone else there though.' He thought grimly. 'Lulu, Wakka, Auron, Kimarhi, Rikku… even Cid and the others were standing by.'
"I think we're going up." Yuna spoke suddenly, peering over at the wall beside them. As Tidus was thrown again from his thoughts, he realized she was right. It was harder going then it had been before, it wasn't level anymore.
"Maybe we'll find another way out. Then we won't have to go back through all those tunnels." Tidus tried to sound hopefully and drag himself away from dark thoughts. It didn't really help.
"I think I can feel fresh air… maybe you're right." She smiled, a genuine smile. She wanted to get out of here as badly as he did.
'And maybe one day we'll find other ways to spend time, instead of running around dark caves.' He through with a shudder as they continued to walk in the eerie silence.
Around them the walls continued to span forward, slowly but surely moving apart and opening up into a larger tunnel. Coming to a stop, they looked around and found themselves in a large circular chamber, seemingly naturally formed. The fireball's light just barely pierced the dark corners of the chamber, while the ceiling remained in shadow.
"Can you see anything?" Yuna looked to the walls, moving the fireball closer to get a better look at them. He shook his head, looking everywhere he could. It seemed perfectly natural. No sign that anyone had ever been there before.
"No." He said with a sigh, after they had walked the whole expanse of the room twice. "I don't see anything."
Yuna sighed as well, looking disappointed. "I wonder where the fresh air is coming from…" She said faintly, looking up above them into the shadows that concealed the ceiling.
"Probably from some crack up there." He shrugged, feeling quite anxious suddenly. "Let's go, Yuna."
She paused, still looking around at the cavern's walls. "Maybe we should look once more…"
"Yuna, we have to go, now." He didn't know why, nothing seemed wrong. She looked up at him with a faint frown of confusion and worry. He took her hand gently and started towards the tunnel they'd entered.
"What's wrong?" She asked, letting him drag her along.
"I don't know. Something's not right." He looked around them, into the shadows. There wasn't anything there. He couldn't even smell or hear anything that seemed out of place. It was just a normal cavern.
Something moved. A light sound drifted through the air, like that of stiff brushes on stone.
Nearly jumping out of his skin he kept his hold on Yuna's hand and looked behind them. "Did you hear that?"
She blinked, starting to shake her head when something moved again, and the sound grew louder. She stopped short and looked around above them. "Yes." She whispered faintly, holding his hand tighter. The fireball above them flickered, growing weaker. The spell was dying.
"Let's get out of here." He turned around and started to dash for the tunnel, Yuna in tow, when something very large landed on the stone in front of them with a sickeningly loud flop.
They stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the darkness in front of them. The fireball was going out, the light beginning to fade. She quickly began to cast the spell over, somehow remaining calm.
Tidus almost felt calm as well, somehow, now that whatever it was that had been bothering him confronted them. Now he didn't feel as if he was being… stalked or hunted.
The light flared up again, and revealed something of a nightmare in front of them.
For the first time, Tidus saw Yuna blanch and look as though she wanted to scream, though kept silent. He couldn't blame her, for the creature nearly had the same effect on him.
They'd fought Malboro's before. Huge, disgusting, formidable creatures. After a while they'd worked out a system to protect themselves from the various toxins. The fights had become easy. Though they were still disgusting in appearance, they weren't frightening because of the fact they knew they could be killed.
But this particular Malboro, made Tidus feel as if he was a little child again, wanting desperately to crawl under the covers to hide from the monster that waited under the bed.
By no means was it a regular Malboro, that was certain. It was bigger, and more loathsome. It had to be one of the mutated fiends, twisted by whatever the Fayth was doing to them. And probably crazed, by the look in it's glowing stalk eyes.
It gashed it's teeth a few times, sending a horrible sound grating through the air. The eye stalks, moving constantly along with the countless tentacles that made it's legs and 'body', seemed to burn holes into him.
It hissed once, long strands of toxin filled saliva dripping from its mouth onto the floor.
He looked over to Yuna, keeping one eye on the nightmare.
She looked paralyzed, her eyes riveted to the creature and her face showing pure fear. Something about it was hitting her deep. She'd never liked malboros when they'd fought them before. But this one…
"Yuna, it's blocking our exit." He whispered as loud as he dared, as the Malboro's tentacles waved at them as if in anticipation to a meal.
Her voice was very quiet and almost shaking. "We have to fight."
His hand strayed for Brotherhood as she slowly reached for her sphere grid. Though she was still afraid, it seemed she still clung to the calm, collected manner she always had. He wondered how in Spira she managed to keep calm in situations like these.
"I'm going to change to a White Mage. To keep us safe from the… toxin." As she spoke she was already changing, into a outfit he'd never seen on her before but somehow seemed familiar and very… well, Yuna-like. Had there not been the malboro standing only a few meters away, he would have taken a better look.
Twirling her staff, the same staff she'd had when she was a Summoner, he noticed with a twinge, she carefully cast a spell around them both. He could feel a surge of refreshing magic inside of him, and already he felt stronger. He'd have to be, he thought grimly. This was his fight. Yuna had to protect them both, and stay in the back. Just like old times.
Except, they didn't have the others with them, nor did Yuna have the choice to call Aeons to help if things got thick.
Tidus took a deep breath, and unsheathed Brotherhood.
Seeing the movement, the malboro suddenly moved forward and a speed that seemed impossibly fast for a creature so big and awkward.
Behind him he could hear Yuna begin to cast another spell.
"Come on ugly, let's see what you've got!" He shouted at it, knowing it'd make no difference what so ever to the fiend, but feeling a little stronger for it.
Before he could think, the fiend was inches away and the tentacles were reaching for him. Putting aside everything else, he focused on the fight, adrenaline rushing through his veins.
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AN:
So there we have it, another half chapter… next one coming soon as I can do it, and I promise, no more half chapters. Next one will be MUCH longer, I plan to stick a lot in it.
