Finally! Chapter 7! This chapter was a LOT of fun to write. i don't think i did too good a job proofreading tho, but i thought i'd post it and then repost if it was too bad. anyway, on to the fan reply section!
lightningwizard- I'm glad you liked the blitzball match! i actually flipped a coin to decided whether the Aurochs would win or lose. and as for the chidori/lightning edge move, i've had that planned since the very start of the story. i'm glad you liked it.
Sephirothxx- Yes, those snow days were spent writing. I'm glad you like my description of Auron, and i'm sorryif i made him slightly out of character. i tried to fix that in this chapter,and i know i put the wrong team. i'm gonna fix that later too!
Da KeR MysTeRr- i'm glad you liked the last chapter. This one will be even better! at least i think it is. and thanx for the encouragment. i'll try to post the next chapter as quick as possible without making it crappy!
and now on to the story...Chapter 7:The Long Road to Djose Temple
"This has got to be the longest fucking road ever." Andy muttered as the three found their room at the inn. Due to lack of space, everyone was being forced to share rooms. Yuna, and Lulu were sharing one, obviously, and Kimahri, Tidus and Wakka were in another. Ryan, who had now officially titled their group's diplomat and spokesperson, Matt, and Andy were taking up a third. None of them knew where Auron was going to sleep, but at this point they didn't care.
"Only because you get a ride to school…" Ryan muttered. He was used to walking, at least more used to it then Andy or Matt. "But the constant fiend battles aren't helping either, are they?"
"Not in the least." Matt answered for Andy. "I'm going to bed. Screw you all." Ryan laughed as the two grabbed pillows, Matt instantly going for the lazy-boy chair in the corner of the room.
There was a knock on the door about ten minutes later, and it snapped Ryan out of his nearly asleep state. "I got it." Ryan muttered to himself. Andy was already snoring, and you could never tell with Matt since he didn't move around or snore… most of the time. "Geez…"
"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" a tan man with green swirled eyes and bright blonde hair asked when Ryan opened the door.
"No, my friends are just a little tired. What can I do for you?"
"My name is Rin. I'm the owner of this establishment." Rin answered with a smile.
"Oh, well nice to meet you. Say, aren't you an Al Bhed?" Ryan asked, remembering Wakka's earlier complaint.
Rin's face paled for a second, but he smiled and nodded. "I am indeed and Al Bhed. I hope that does not dampen your mood." Ryan looked at him in confusion. "You are not an Al Bhed hater?"
"Should I be?" Ryan asked bluntly. Rin gawked for a second. "What? You're the first Al Bhed that I've met. So you use machines, big deal." Ryan shrugged. "Besides, I try not to judge the many by the actions of the few."
Rin smiled. "Well, then perhaps you would be interested in learning our language?" He asked.
"You have your own language?" Ryan replied in surprise. Rin nodded. "Why not. It's always good to know how to talk to people."
"Please, take this." Rin said, handing Ryan a small book. "It's the first book on how to read, write, and speak Al Bhed. There are other scattered throughout Spira, one for each letter of the Spirian Alphabet. It might be fun for you to try and learn out language."
"Maybe." Ryan muttered to himself. He glanced back to see Rinstill standing there. "I take it that's not why came here, is it?"
Rin shook his head. "Sir Auron requested that you go to the back of the building after the sun sets."
"Wha?" Ryan asked in confusion.
"The only other thing he said was that you were going to need this." Rin said, producing a bamboo sword from the wall next to the door.
"Okay. Anything else?" Rin shook his head. "Well thanks then. I'll make sure to be there." Rin nodded and left. "Why the hell would he give me this?"
"Why else do people use bamboo swords?" Matt asked quietly.
"Still awake, eh?" Ryan asked with a small grin.
"You didn't answer the question." Matt said flatly, still not moving.
Ryan sighed. "Well, my guess, would be that he wants to beat the hell outta me without killing me. Or, as someone else might say, teach me the way of the sword." Matt nodded slightly before someone else knocked on the door. 'Well aren't we just popular this afternoon.' Ryan thought as he opened it to find himself face to face with Yuna. "Yes, the three musketeers office, Ryan speaking. How may I help you?" Ryan asked in the fakest girl voice any of them had ever seen, causing all three of them to burst into laughter. "No, seriously, what's up Yuna?"
"Well, after seeing how often you get hurt," Yuna started, smiling slightly when Ryan laughed nervously, "I figured it might be good to teach you how to use a basic healing spell."
"Seriously?" Ryan asked, more then a little surprised.
Yuna nodded. "Well, that and Lulu said that you'd once said you'd rather learn white magic than black, and she already taught Matt and Andy a spell. I figured that it couldn't hurt, right? Besides, I may not always be able to get to everyone in time. If that happens you'll be able to help them, at least until I get there."
Ryan nodded. "Very true. Who knows, with this development, I might just live to see this thing through to the end after all." He added in a sarcastic voice that caused them all to laugh again. "Hold down the fort Matt." Matt grunted in reply.
An hour later the sun was setting, and Ryan was just starting to get the hang of the Cure spell. "You picked that up pretty quickly. I have to admit… I'm a little jealous." Yuna admitted. "The sun, it's setting."
"It's been a long time since I've seen a sunset like this." Ryan said, watching the sunset in awe.
"Well keep practicing. You'll get better the more you use it!" Yuna said as she stood up and started walking off.
"Thanks Yuna!" Ryan yelled at the retreating Summoner who turned back and waved before continuing. "Well now… I wonder what Auron wants. Well, better early then later, right?" He muttered to himself as he walked behind the travel agency.
"Hey, you got called here too?" Tidus asked when he saw Ryan.
"Yep." Ryan said. "Bamboo sword too? That doesn't seem good."
Tidus laughed. "Let's have a match!" He said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on ya."
"Cocky for a blitzball player, don't you think?" Ryan asked as he picked up his bamboo sword and dropped into a Battou Jutsu stance. Tidus hesitated for a second. "What's wrong? Scared?"
"You wish!" Tidus replied as he charged in. At the last second Ryan's sword flashed out. Tidus brought his sword up as fast as he could, catching the deadly attack, but not blocking it. The sheer speed of the attack carried both blades into the side of his head and knocking him to the ground. "Damn it!" Tidus yelled as he jumped back to his feet and shouldered Ryan, knocking him to the ground.
"Are you two finished playing around?" Auron asked the two, appearing out of seemingly nowhere.
"Auron! When did you get here?" Tidus asked while Ryan got back to his feet.
"So what do you want with us? And what's with the swords?" Ryan asked.
'Straight to the point. Good.' Auron thought, as he looked the two over. "Yuna will need strong guardians. Right now you two are the weakest. Fighting each other with training swords while we're not fighting fiends might give you some hope of getting better." He said bluntly.
'Well that's wonderful news.' Ryan thought as Auron tuned to Tidus.
"Your problem is that you're too hot headed. You can't focus enough. That's likely to get you killed one of these days." He said bluntly before turning to Ryan. "You, on the other hand, have very little talent with a sword," Auron said bluntly, "but you have a sharp mind. Learn to use your talents better. Then learn how to use your weakness in battle."
"If you have heaven seek earth. If you have earth seek heaven. And if you have both heaven and earth you can do anything, and defeat any opponent." Ryan muttered the ancient saying. "Guess you can't argue that logic."
"What? Did I miss a meeting or something? What's all this about heaven and earth?" Tidus asked, confused by the saying.
"Think of heaven as intelligence, and earth as power. If you have intelligence, increase your power, because you're probably lacking in it. If you have power seek intelligence, since you probably rely solely on brute force. If you have both intelligence and power, heaven and earth, there's no one you can't beat." Ryan explained.
"Where did you come up with that?" Tidus wondered aloud.
"Worry about that later. Right now you need to practice." Auron ordered.
"Right." Tidus and Ryan said in unison. Tidus opened with an overhead slash, which Ryan dodged by swinging his right foot behind his left, turning a half circle. Tidus grinned, changed his grip when his swing was about knee height and brought it back up on a rising diagonal cut. Ryan hopped back and slammed down on Tidus' sword with a double-handed strike that pinned Tidus' weapon to the ground. Spinning towards Tidus he broke the lock, and finished by slamming his sword into Tidus' neck.
Or he would have if Tidus hadn't rolled forward, avoiding the deceptively powerful attack. 'Fast, as always.' Ryan thought as Tidus charged him again. Thrust, shoulder check, spinning slash at the head. Side step, bracing against the ground, recovery, duck, slash to the hand. Tidus yelped when the bamboo hit his hand, and dropped his sword in surprise.
'Interesting strategy.' Auron thought as Tidus rubbed his hand gingerly. "Again." He said simply. With a sigh the two went back to where they'd started the match, a surprisingly far distance from where it had ended. "Start."
Tidus charged in, slashing horizontally at Ryan's chest. Ryan stepped back and swung up at an awkward angle that allowed Tidus to dodge easily. Before Ryan could recover Tidus jumped backwards and charged. Halfway through his charge he jumped and did a flip, slamming his sword down onto Ryan's back.
'Geez!' Ryan thought as he struggled to see through his suddenly foggy vision.
"What do you think of my spiral cut?" Tidus asked as Ryan stood up, rubbing his back gently. "Hurts, doesn't it?"
'Speed and agility. That's what he's good at.' Ryan thought, blocking out Auron who was talking to him. 'Not to mention he's in better physical shape then me, and he's better with a sword.' Ryan laughed inwardly. 'I have to keep the fight in close. That or make his skill with a sword useless.'
"Ready?" Tidus asked as he dropped into his fighting stance.
Ryan grinned, suddenly getting an idea. 'This had better work.' He thought as he dropped into a Battou Jutsu stance and nodded. Tidus stopped and looked at Ryan nervously. 'One shot, that's all I'll get. If I miss, he'll win without a doubt.'
Tidus charged in, his blade held out and down to the left. 'If I can stop his attack with one that's stronger I'll get a clean shot at his back. This should be fun.' He thought as Ryan's sword shot towards him, slightly faster then it had before, but this time Tidus brought his sword around with all his strength, easily knocking the attack wide.
For a split second the two boys gazes locked. Tidus' heart nearly stopped when he saw Ryan grinning. Ryan spun, twisting his body as much as he could to add as much power as possible to his real attack. 'One shot to win. Just one!' he thought. His heart nearly stopped when Tidus ducked under the swing, planted his hands on the ground and kicked out with both legs. Ryan's mind froze, but his body spun on it's own, avoiding most of the attack. 'I can still win!' he thought mid-spin, letting go of the sword's hilt with his right hand and moving his left hand nearly to the bottom. Tidus spun as he landed, slashing at Ryan when he came into view. He felt a sharp pain in his chest at the same moment his sword connected with Ryan's side. Both of them were sent to the ground, panting for air.
'Interesting. He used the faster, more deadly of the two attacks as a distraction, and followed up with a weaker attack. When that missed he improvised and came up with a third strike, one fast enough to hit Tidus.' Auront thought, mildly surprised by how quickly Ryan had adjusted to the situation. 'He has some natural talent. Perhaps more then I gave him credit for at first.' He though as he smiled slightly. "Ready?" Auron asked the two, producing a bamboo sword from under his jacket and resting it on his shoulder.
"What do you mean 'Ready'? We just went four rounds! We're exhausted." Tidus complained, propping himself up on his elbows.
"Then land one hit. After that you can go to bed." Auron said.
"Auron!" Tidus yelled.
"Give it up Tidus. He's not gonna let the two of you go." Matt said, opening a window no one had noticed in the growing darkness. "Hurry up Ryan, all this noise is making it hard to sleep."
"Geez… what a hassle." Ryan muttered as he stood up. He silently went over what he'd seen of Auron's fighting style. 'He's not the fastest, but he dodges well, and he's got more power in one arm then me and Tidus probably have combined. Not to mention he's a legendary guardian, which means he's also got more experience in battle then the rest of the guardians have combined. Plus he's as cold as stone, and as hard to read as a rock. He's perceptive too, which means any strategy will probably fail. Could things be stacked against us anymore?'
"Stop day dreaming and come on." Auron ordered in an emotionless voice. "The sun has already set. Wait any longer and it will be too dark to see."
'Too dark to see… darkness! That's what we can use!' Ryan thought. 'That just might work.' He thought as he took his sweatshirt off and put it back on, inside out. Auron grunted.
'Trying to become a shadow, eh? Interesting approach.' Auron thought as Andy walked over to the window, at Matt's request, to watch the last match of the night. "Go."
"Take this!" Tidus yelled, charging in with a slash at the stomach, which Auron dodged by stepping back. With one swing he disarmed Tidus and knocked him to the ground. "Ryan, some help here!" Tidus yelled, trying to crawl out of the way of the attack that was coming. He shut his eyes. 'This is gonna hurt tomorrow!'
There was the smack of wood hitting wood and two surprised gasps from off to the side. Tidus opened his eyes and saw Ryan's sword, it's point nearly pressed against the ground under the brute force behind Auron's powerful swing. Auron grunted in surprise.
"Ready to get beaten down?" He asked in a bored tone, slightly lessening the pressure without realizing it.
"Haaaaaaaaaa!" Ryan yelled, pushing up with all his strength and barely managing to send Auron's sword up over his head. The old guardian's one good eye met with Ryan's.
'What in the name of Sin?' He thought, noting the slight color change. 'Is my eye playing tricks on me? And why is he trying a straight up fight? That's not his style.'
"Here!" Ryan yelled as he swung his sword at Auron's head, which the battle hardened veteran ducked under before swing at Ryan's exposed shoulder. Auron grunted when Tidus body checked him in the side before his attack could land, buying Ryan just enough time to twist out of the way.
"Ryan, now!" He yelled as he grabbed Auron's sword right above the finger guard.
'What kind of…' Auron's train of thought was cut off when Ryan jumped at the wall of the travel agency, absorbing his impact by bending at the knees.
"Tidus, move!" Ryan and Matt yelled in unison as Ryan went into a Battou Jutsu stance while still on the wall. He pushed off, swing his wooden sword as fast as his fatigued arms would let him as soon as Tidus' had ducked. Auron grunted as the blow hit him right below the armpit with surprising force.
"That's enough for tonight." Auron said before walking off towards the front of the travel agency, ignoring the dull throbbing where Ryan's attack had landed.
"What the hell was that?" Tidus asked after Ryan had hit the ground.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Style Ryu Kan Sen Tsumuji. Basically you push off of something and hit the target in the mid section with all of the force of the drawing of the sword, your speed, and your weight in one attack." Ryan panted. "When you combin all of those together you get a strike powerful enough to bisect at least one person, if you're using a rea sword. Of course, after fighting you four times, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do."
"Well let's get to bed. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." Tidus said with a laugh as he helped Ryan to his feet. "See ya tomorrow!"
"Hurry up and get in here, you're letting the breeze in!" Matt said, signaling for Ryan to climb through the window. He was pretty sure that he didn't break his habit of being asleep before he hit the pillow that night.
The next morning Ryan was woken up via a bamboo sword to the back. "What the hell!" He asked, jumping off the bed and spinning to see Tidus standing there, grinning. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry, couldn't resist. Everyone's waiting for you three, get a move on!" He said as he walked out of the room. Grabbing their weapons Ryan, Andy, and Matt walked out of the room just in time to hear some scream something about the chocobos.
"Never a dull moment with this group, is there?" Matt muttered sarcastically.
"That's our cue. Let's go." Auron said as he went out the door.
"Thank you for your help." Rin said to Ryan as he went to walk out. "Please, use these. If all of you arehurt just throw one of them in the air and it will use curative magic on you all."
"Thanks!" Ryan said as he turned and handed one to Tidus and ran out to give Yuna the other one.
"Why'd he give me one?" Tidus asked.
"Have you seen Ryan fight? The kid's getting knocked around like a rag-doll half the time, they'd just break if he held onto them." Matt said with a chuckle as they headed out.
"To the chocobo corral!" Lulu informed them before turning and heading for it herself. When the group arrived at the Chocobo corral they didn't see anything. Suddenly there was a roar, and a massive scale covered brute that had long arms that ended in three clawed finger and was more mouth then anything else jumped down from on top of the travel agency, scattering the chocobo.
"And we're supposed to fight that thing how?" Ryan asked as he starred at the massive thing.
Auron grunted before drawing his sword and charging the thing. "Figure out a way to kill it Ryan." Matt said before drawing his axe and joining Auron in his charge.
"Why do they always rely on you to come up with a way to beat things?" Lulu asked. "Matt seems almost as observant as you, if not more so."
Ryan sighed and shrugged. "They're just incredibly brain dead in the morning, and I'm not?" He asked as much as stated.
"That doesn't explain why they always turn to you for the plan." Lulu stated flatly.
"Yeah well. Your guess is probably about as good as mine on that one." Ryan said as Wakka's blitzball flew into the things face, bouncing off without doing any damage. When the thing turned it's attention on the group Auron, Matt and Kimahri charged in and attacked, dealing the thing a great deal of pain. 'What the hell? Why don't Andy and Wakka do any damage, but Matt, Auron, and Kimahri do?'
"Thunder!" Lulu yelled, drilling a spell into the thing's head, but doing nearly no damage. Lulu growled, "Fire!" She yelled. This time the thing roared in pain when the fire burned its face. Lulu smirked, "Fire Fury!" She yelled as she cast eight fire spells on the thing in quick succession.
'Fire works well. That means Andy should be able to do some damage. But that still leaves the question of why only Matt, Kimahri, and Auron can do any physical damage.' Ryan thought as Tidus' sword bounced off the thing's armored hide. "The scales!" Ryan whispered to himself.
"What about them? They're scales, big deal." Lulu replied while casting another fire spell.
"That's why only Auron, Kimahri, and Matt are doing any damage. Auron and Matt have heavy weapons, and when you combined the weight of the weapons with the speed they're being used at, and the strength of the wielders, they can break the scales. Kimahri can break the scales because he's got a weapon designed to pierce armor." Ryan stated and Lulu looked at him in disbelief.
"I think I understand why they turned to Ryan now Lulu." Yuna said with a giggle.
"Hey, this is no time to be laughing, ya? So what do we do about the scales, brudda?" Wakka asked as his blitzball bounced off the thing, again doing no damage.
"Well that would be the question, wouldn't it?" Ryan muttered to himself as the thing sent Kimahri and Matt flying, leaving Auron alone to face its wrath. "Shit!" Ryan muttered as he took off, drawing his sword as he ran to help Auron, barely noticing Andy temporarily abandoning his spell casting.
"He just loves to run head-first into trouble, doesn't he?" Lulu asked as she helped Matt to his feet.
"Yeah well. Nobody said we were very intelligent, right?" Matt replied as he started to walk towards the thing. "Besides, what kind of person would leave their friends to fight a thing like that alone?"
"Good point." Lulu replied as she cast another fire spell on the monster, hitting it in the arm and stalling its attack long enough for Ryan to dodge it.
"Any time you feel like lending a hand!" Tidus yelled as the thing swiped one of its massive, armored claws at him, barely missing.
"Power Break!" Auron yelled as his sword started to glow a red-orange color. With a grunt he hammered the massive monster with his sword, drawing a shriek of pain from it. As it cried out it fell onto its back, revealing a very vulnerable stomach.
"Now! Everyone hit the stomach!" Ryan yelled. In reply two fire spells and a thunder spell slammed into the stomach, followed by an orange beam that went straight through.
"I guess that is the end of that fight, isn't it?" Andy wondered aloud as he watched pyreflies start to leak out of the hole Valefor's overdrive had left in the massive fiend's chest. "So, what's next?"
"Andy, move!" Auron yelled, but it was too late. A massive, scale-covered claw slammed into Andy, nearly sending him over the cliff, and he only stopped because Auron grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back up. "Move next time." He growled before dropping Andy to the ground.
"Fucking fiend!" Andy yelled, his right fist starting to glow bright red. "Go to hell!"
'What the hell Andy?' Ryan wondered as he watched his friend launch an impossibly thin blade of fire at the chocobo eater, splitting the creature in half. "What in the name of? Andy, why the hell didn't you do that earlier?"
"Didn't… know I could… do that." He gasped as he dropped to the ground. "Man, I'm beat. Anyone up for another stay at the inn?" Andy asked, drawing a glare from Auron. "Or not."
"Have you an interest in renting some chobobos? As a token of gratitude, the first time is free of charge." Rin said with a smile as he approached the battered group, all of who were sucking in large gulps of air. "Please ask the attendant if you wish to rent."
"Ko." Andy said with a salute.
"We walk." Auron decided.
"Any reason in particular?" Tidus questioned.
"You need more experience." Auron replied simply. So they walked, eventually coming on some girl from Yevon who held a conversation with Yuna. After that they continued on down the road.
"Does this thing ever end?" Ryan wondered aloud after another of the countless fiend battles that they'd fought on the road.
"Hang in there. This is the last stretch." Lulu said. "See? Right up there is the entrance to Mushroom Rock Road."
"Well that's good to know." Ryan said with a hint of relief in his voice. "Oh god." He corrected almost instantly, his voice becoming gloomy, as they got a little closer to the gates.
"What?" Matt asked, not quite sure why Ryan sounded so down suddenly.
"I see Dona." He replied, and everyone but Auron and Kimahri groaned.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm a Summoner!" Dona yelled at a guard.
"Sorry, ma'am! No exceptions!" The guard replied in what Yuna's group could've sworn was almost a pleading voice.
"Well, you haven't gotten any less annoying." Ryan said bluntly as they approached the scene. Dona spun around and glared at him angrily, Barthello following suit.
"As you can see, not even a Summoner can pass." She said as she turned to face Yuna. "But they'll call on us in the end. Just wait and see. In the mean time I think I'll have a nap. Oh, Barthello?" Dona called as she started to walk off, Barthello following behind closely.
"Looks like we've got some time to kill." Andy said as he sat down on the ground. "Hey, I've got an idea! What about the Chocobo rides Rin said we could have?He said the first time was free, right?"
"Hey, that's not a bad idea, brudda." Wakka agreed.
"Sir Auron?" Yuna asked, not wanting to go against the guardian's wise judgment.
For a minute Auron didn't answer. "Fine, but we move quickly." He agreed at last, drawing a cheer from the group.
"We'd like to rent some Chocobo please." Yuna asked the attendent at the entrance to Mushroom Rock Road.
"First time is free for Chocobo Eater slayers." The attendant replied in broken Spirian, opening the Chocobo pen for them. After a quick demonstration on how to ride the giant birds the group set off down an old, twisting path that Auron called the Old Highroad. Along the way they met a few crusaders, but the most eventful thing was when they encountered a Summoner named Belgemine, who challenged Yuna to an Aeon battle.
"I accept." Yuna said with a nod. Suddenly Belgemine did something that made a startled Yuna glow.
"There, I've healed your Aeons. Now, let us begin." Belgemine said as she summoned Ifrit.
"Valefor, will you help me?" Yuna asked as the giant bird landed next to her, and everyone felt the gentle calmness coming from it that felt oddly familiar to Ryan.
"Attack!" Belgemine yelled, and Ifrit obeyed, jumping at Valefor in an attempt to slash the agile Aeon with its claws. Valefor dodged, and countered by digging its talons into Ifrit's shoulder.
"Energy Ray!" Yuna called out, and Valefor was quick to answer. The beam cut into Ifrit, drawing a screech from the Aeon that sent chills down the spine of everyone present.
Belgimine smiled. "Fira!" She yelled. Everyone nearly fainted when the spell hit Ifrit rather then Valefor, healing some of the damage Valefor's overdrive had caused.
"Blizzard! Yuna yelled and Valefor cast a blizzard spell on the fire Aeon, damaging it severely. "Again!" She yelled, and the process was repeated until the mighty Ifrit finally fell.
"Congradulations Yuna." Belgemine said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had lost. "You are strong. Perhaps one day you will defeat Sin."
"Thank you," Yuna replied with a bow, "but I believe you're closer than I am to beating Sin."
Belgemine's smile fell for a split second. "I fear I can't, or could not."
"What do you mean?" Yuna asked, but Belgmine shook her head, said good-bye, and walked off. "That's odd. I wonder what she meant by 'could not'?"
"Don't dwell on it. If we needed to know then she'd have told us." Andy replied as he mounted his Chocobo and started around the bend towards the dead end.
"That is the end. Let's go back." Auron said as he started to turn his Chocobo around, only to see Ryan and Matt ride past him towards the end of the road. "I said let's go." Auron repeated.
"Go on ahead, we'll catch up!" Matt replied as he dismounted from his Chocobo and started to look around. There was always something in the dead ends in RPG's, maybe that held true here. A few minutes later Andy called them over.
"What'd ya find?" Ryan asked his friend who held up two small tokens. One was red, and shaped like the planet Mars, and the other was multi-colored, and resembled a small Earth. "What the hell?"
"Don't know. They were just sitting here." Andy replied as he pocketed the two items. "Guess we'd better head back. Auron's probably fuming by now." Andy said as the three rode back to the entrance to Mushroom Rock Road, laughing.
As they approached the entrance they saw Yuna and the rest of the group talking with Luzzu and Gatta. "Hey!" Ryan yelled, waving to the two crusaders who waved back. By the time the three had put their Chocobo away the two had left. Ryan's eyes narrowed, and he spit in annoyance, growling slightly.
"Yo, you okay? Got rabies or something?" Andy asked as he took a step back in mock fear.
"Seymour." Matt hissed as the Maester of Yevon started talking to Yuna. "God do I hate that guy."
"Something about him isn't right. He's hiding something." Ryan muttered as he turned away from the half-Guado, half-Human, his hand dropping to the hilt of his sword, an action that didn't escape the attention of Andy or Matt.
"Chill out. Better not to make such powerful enemies." Matt whispered. "It'll just make Yuna's pilgrimage that much harder."
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Ryan muttered, but his hand stayed on the hilt of his sword.
"Hey you three! Come on! We're going through!" Tidus yelled, waving for the three to join them.
"Well, looks like even Seymour has his uses." Andy said as they walked over to the group, which continued down the long, confusing road, encountering various, more powerful fiends as they went. Along the way they encountered Shelinda again, who was now helping the Crusaders with her white magic. After she healed some of the more serious wounds of the group they thanked her and continued on, talking to various Crusaders who gave them various items.
"Excuse me, Lady Yuna!" A man in armor yelled. "Maester Seymour requests your presence at the command center. Follow this road," The man said pointing to the road of the group's left, "and it'll take you there. We're still in the midst of preparations this way. Sorry." He said before turning and running back to his post.
"Thank you." Yuna replied before leading the group in the direction that Clasko had pointed. After about a dozen more battles, several of which Aeons were needed in, the group arrived at the lift to the command center. Even outside they could hear the Crusaders cheering for Maester Seymour.
'Damn, the people really like that bastard.' Ryan thought, his eye twitching slightly in annoyance. "Whoa, look at all those cannons." Ryan said in surprise when they arrived at the main area of the Crusaders efforts. "There must be fifty of them!"
"Damn sacrilegious contraptions!" Wakka yelled as he kicked one, seriously hurting his toes. Everyone but Andy, Ryan, and Matt walked off to talk to Seymour.
"Do you think this will work?" Ryan asked in the awkward silence that followed after the rest of the group had left.
"I don't know. We've seen Sin once, and it destroyed an entire town. Not to mention it's said to be unstoppable." Matt replied somberly. "Who knows whether a bunch of cannons will be able to stop it, I know I don't think they will."
"Yeah. Seymour probably knows that too." Andy stated.
"Which means he's leading them right into their own deaths." Ryan put the two thoughts together, voicing the thought that was drifting through all three of their minds. "So what do we do? If we tell them that, they'll call us heretics. If we don't tell them, they'll all probably die."
"So you figured it out too." Auron said, walking up behind the three. "Seymour is not the only Maester of Yevon here. Maester Kinoc is also leading them to their deaths."
"What kind of people could do this?" Ryan muttered under his breath. "They're monsters, how can they be allowed to lead the people of Spira?"
An alarm suddenly sounded. "That's our cue. Let's go." Auron said as he drew his massive sword and headed back towards the main part of the command center with Ryan, Matt, and Andy following suit.
"What is that!" Ryan cried out when he saw a massive fiend. It had a small body with 2 legs, a long neck which had 2 arm like things coming off of it, and claw, spike like things going up it's back. Its head was red and looked like it was way too small for the thing.
"Sinspawn." Wakka informed.
"God, these things just get uglier as we go, don't they?" Matt asked before he charged in. He swung at the thing's body, but one of the arms shot in at the last second, blocking the attack and barely taking any damage in the process. 'Armored?' Matt wondered in surprise when he saw the small damage his attack had done.
"Matt move!" Tidus yelled as the other arm swung around, the point at the end headed straight at him.
"Fire! Fira! Thunder! Cure!" The three black magic spells hit the arm at once, destroying it instantly upon contact. The whit magic washed over Matt just after he was slammed onto his face by the arm that had blocked his attack. Matt's vision swam, and when he rolled over he groaned. Two Aurons were standing above him, side-by-side with two Ryans. "As if one of each wasn't bad enough." He muttered as he tried to focus his vision. Suddenly the Aurons disappeared from his sight, and 2 of the massive heads slammed into the two Ryans.
The next few moments passed in slow motion for the two teens. Ryan's left arm was flailing around, desperate for something to hold onto to stop his flight. He held his right hand out as from his body as far as possible so when he landed he wouldn't be cut in two by his own sword. His left hand did find something, namely the back of Matt's shirt. Instinctively it clutched. Ryan's momentum didn't stop though. Instead it carried the two boys over the side of the cliff.
'We're dead.' Matt thought as he hit the side of the cliff hard, his vision blurring even more as pain shot through his back. Again and again the hit the cliff, vaguely aware of the warmth spreading across his back as they fell.
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"Ryan! Matt!" Andy yelled when his friends went flying over the cliff. "Damn thing! Blade of Hell!" He yelled, his right fist glowing red again before he punched out, the thin blade of fire cutting the arm off completely.
"Now! Kimahri, Tidus, let's go!" Auron yelled as he charged in at the fiend, cutting into its soft flesh while Lulu and Wakka made sure that the head was unable to defend it. Yuna summoned Ifrit and the three cleared out when it stepped in to fight the massive Sinspawn. One Hellfire attack had the thing nearly dead, and a Fire spell finished the fight.
"We have to help Ryan and Matt!" Yuna said, running to the edge of the cliff and looking around desperately for a safe way down.
"I think that's going to have to wait!" Tidus yelled, pointing at the massive fiend that was rising out of the ocean.
"Sin!" Yuna gasped. Suddenly the Chocobo knights charged towards the beach, and the Al Bhed cannons opened fire on the massive creature.
"Ryan and Matt are down there!" Andy whispered. "With all that skin that the cannons are knocking off, there's going to be thousands of Sinscales!"
"They're dead. Forget about them." Auron said, turning his back on the cliff and sin.
"Fuck you Auron!" Andy yelled causing everyone present to gasp in surprise. Auron smirked slightly, not bothering to turn back towards the scene.
'Too easy.' He thought as he heard Andy hit the side of the cliff.
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"Sin is here!" The Fayth said from behind Matt and Ryan.
"Sin's here? Now?" Ryan asked with a groan. "Come on, we just got knocked off a god damn cliff! What the hell can we do to something like that?"
"Nothing." The Fayth replied. "You do not yet have the power to stop it. But it doesn't matter. You are dead, both of you."
"Fuck you! I didn't come this far to quit! Things were just starting to get good, put us back!" Ryan demanded loudly. The Fayth smiled thankfully.
"You truly desire to go back? You will only die again." They said with a hint of sadness in their voices.
"So then you can bring us back again! We're Yuna's guardians, we can't die, not here, not until she defeats Sin. We have to protect her!" Matt said crossly.
"That's right! Then we'll celebrate, all of us! We'll go out and party for hours after she kills it! And we'll make sure that it stays dead!" Ryan added.
"Will you? Would you protect her with your life, even if we couldn't bring you back to life?" The Fayth asked, genuinely interested.
"That's what friends do." Matt and Ryan replied in unison.
"Words are words. They are easy to speak, but not easy to follow. Perhaps you will protect her." The Fayth said quietly. "But there is also the chance that you'll abandon her, right when she needs you the most. What proof can you give us that you won't?"
"Hey, you are the ones who brought us here, you're the ones who brought us back to life, and you're the only ones that can send us home. I don't know about you, but we don't seem to have much of a choice. Besides, how long would we last alone in Spira?" Ryan asked. "If we leave her, then kill us. How does that sound as proof?"
The Fayth thought the deal over for a few moments before responding. "Alright then. Be warned however, we will not bring you back if you leave her. Or if we think you're even considering leaving her. Understood?" The two boys nodded, smiling slightly. The familiar bright light filled the purple mist filled void as the two were sent back to Spira.
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"Ryan, Matt, get up!" Andy yelled as he slid down to where the two had landed. "Ryan, Matt! Get up, we've gotta get out of here!"
"Shut up Andy! I've got a headache bigger then… Sin!" Matt yelled, spotting the massive fiend. "Sinscales!"
"Wonderful." Ryan muttered. Suddenly hundreds of Chocobo were charging down the beach, followed by just as many, if not more, foot soldiers following as quickly as they could.
"Guess we're not quite as outnumbered as we thought." Andy said, a hint of relief in his voice.
"Don't be too sure." Matt said, still watching Sin as the cannons peppered its skin, but did no real damage. "As long as they keep firing on Sin, the Sinscale will keep coming."
"Yeah." Ryan agreed. "Perhaps we should make a tactical retreat?"
"How exactly are we supposed to do that? There's nowhere to go, the fighting is everywhere, and if we try to climb up we'll probably just fall back down." Matt said as he stood up and retrieved his axe from the sand.
"Way to be an optimist Matt." Ryan muttered as he picked up his sword and waited for the flood of Sinscale to come after them. It was a very short wait. Within two minutes the Sinscales were swarming around the three boys who were standing with their backs together. "Hey guys, I don't know about you, but if I'm going out, I'm taking at least a hundred or so of these things with me."
"Only a hundred?" Matt asked sarcastically, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, nervously awaiting the beginning of a battle they all knew they could not win.
"It's been an honor guys. I'm glad we got to meet." Andy said sadly as the ring of Sinscale began to close in.
"Hey, none of that 'this is the end' talk, got it? I'm going back home, and you guys are too, even if I have to drag your half dead asses there myself." Ryan stated flatly.
"Me too. I've never given up on anything before, and I'm not going to now." Matt said with a grin.
"Sure you have Matt. You gave up baseball, didn't you?" Ryan asked. "And I'm sure there are other things too."
"It was meant as a figure of speech!" Matt said with a laugh.
"You're right guys. What do you say we take the fight to them?" Andy asked. "After all, if we can get to the rest of the Crusaders, we might just be able to survive this thing."
"And here I was thinking Ryan was the one that thought quickest on his feet." Matt said with a chuckle. "But that's a hell of a long run Andy. And a lot of Sinscale arein the way too."
"Maybe I can help with that." Ryan said as he turned till he was facing the way that they needed to go. "Hiten Mitsurugi Style Do Ryu Sen!" He yelled, sending a massive wave of sand at all of the Sinscale. "Come on, while they can't see too well!"
The three charged through the disoriented fiends, cutting down three for every time they got hit. They split through the Sinscale like a hot knife through butter, leaving nothing but the corpses of the Sinscale that had tried to kill them in their wake. When they finally met up with what remained of the Crusaders they were greeted by a grim sight. More then half of the Crusaders lay dead or dying, and the other half were quickly joining them.
"Wonderful." Ryan muttered as another group of Sinscale assaulted them. Suddenly a beam of energy shot out of something the three couldn't see, and slammed into the shield Sin had erected to protect itself from the constant barrage of cannon fire.
"What the hell was that!" Matt yelled in an agitated voice as he cut another Sinscale in half, only to get cut on the leg by one to his side.
"That, I'm guessing, was an Al Bhed machina!" Ryan yelled back as he and several of the remaining Crusaders battled back against the never-ending wave of Sinscale, desperately trying to protect a white mage while she healed someone that wasn't beyond hope yet.
It didn't work. One of the fiends got past them and charged up behind her. Before she even knew it was there it rammed one of its pointed front legs through her back, covering the horrified man she was healing in blood as it erupted out of the front of her chest. For a few seconds she looked around frantically, coughing up blood the entire time. Ryan's eyes met hers for a second. They were filled with pain, despair, fear, but only at first. Slowly they grew warmer, and she tried to say something but chocked on her own blood in her attempt. Ryan's heart stopped for a second. The mage's face disappeared, and in its place was the face of a girl with brown hair, sad brown eyes, and somewhat pale skin.
'No. Not again.' Ryan thought, his heart beating faster then it ever had before. He didn't notice his heart beat though, andhe didn't notice the Sinscale that he was cutting in half. All he could see was her face, pale, sad, afraid, and betrayed. 'Stop, leave me alone!" He thought as his vision started to fade until eventually it was all black. Even then, in the cool darkness of sleep her face haunted him.
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Yuna watched in horror as Sin charged up for an attack. "We have to stop it!" She yelled. "It'll kill them all!"
"We can't. Forget about them. They're beyond our help now." Auron said as he watched the energy field around Sin expand. 'Jecht.' He thought bitterly, the hatred that came with being an unsent rising until he could barely control it.
With a flash the Al Bhed's secret weapon fired again, the two powers colliding. At first it looked like the machina might actually win, but then Sin stopped holding back, and its energy field easily overtook the Al Bhed laser. Not only did it destroy the cannon, but the field also expanded down, overtaking the beach and started quickly to head for the Cliff the group was standing on.
"Everyone down!" Auron yelled, grabbing Yuna and dragging her to the ground with him just before the field overtook the cliff. Being an unsent, Auron jumped up and absorbed most of the attack, saving his allies and Seymour, despite the fact that many of them were thrown around in the process. He glanced down towards the beach, and watched as almost everything living that the field touched died. Suddenly there was a flash, so bright that, even with his sunglasses, Auron had to shield his eye from it. Three colors combined, white, yellow, and red, to form a glowing dome of energy inside of Sin's field. "What in the name of Spira?" Auron wondered aloud as Sin's energy field started to disappear.
"Sir Auron!" Seymour said calmly. Auron turned and grunted when he saw the Sinspawn get back up. "We must protect Lady Yuna!"
Auron nodded and moved so that he was in-between the Sinspawn and Yuna's unconscious form. He growled at the thing quietly. Suddenly a powerful fire spell burnt the thing's head nearly clean off. "Power Break!" he yelled, slamming his glowing sword down on one of the arms, nearly cutting it off.
"Fira!" Seymour yelled, hitting the other arm with the magic, disintegrating it instantly. "Sir Auron, the body!" He yelled as he cast another spell on the other arm.
"Ah!" Yuna yelled when she saw the massive Sinspawn revived and fighting with the two men. Her voice caused Auron to glance back, and the massive creature regenerated an arm and sent him sailing back towards her. "Oh my gosh, Cure!" She yelled, pointing her staff at Auron.
"Thanks." Auron replied as he stood up and charged the fiend once again. This time he jumped up and drove his sword into the ground. Energy traveled through the ground and slammed into the Sinspawn's body and arm, killing both instantly.
"What was that?" Yuna asked in surprise.
"Bushido: Dragon Fang." Auron replied as he sheathed his massive sword and Seymour put away his staff.
"Oh, Sin!" Yuna gasped as she saw the monster starting to leave. "Everyone stand back, I'll summon!" Yuna yelled as she prepared to summon Valefor.
"You won't hurt it!" Seymour stated. "Your powers are still… too weak."
"I must do something!" Yuna replied, still not lowering her rod.
"You can't!" Seymour yelled. Finally Yuna dropped her staff, only to notice Tidus swimming after Sin. "Tidus!"
"Fool." Auron muttered as he watched until Tidus gave up the chase. 'But what was that light on the beach? It was powerful enough to stop Sin's attack.'
For another hour Yuna and Auron searched throughout the carnage, locating their friends painfully slow. When they got to the beach they were shocked to see so many Crusaders had survived Sin's energy field.
"It was those three." Luzzu said, pointing to the unconscious forms of Matt, Andy, and Ryan. "Thank Yevon they were here. Whatever they did, it saved us. I truly hope they're okay." He added somewhat sadly. "They haven't moved once since I woke up."
"God you're such a pessimist!" Ryan yelled suddenly, throwing a handful of wet sand at Luzzu and hitting him in the back, drawing a laugh from Gatta and the other surviving Crusaders. It was a grim laugh. "And what the hell is with all this 'they saved us' crap? I didn't do shit."
"Perhaps, but the light that saved us came from the three of you." Lucil said, doing the prayer gesture towards the waking teens.
'What? They made the light?' Auron thought to himself, more then a little surprised. "As soon as you three are able to walk we head for Djose Temple." He ordered. An hour later they were back on the road, fighting the various fiends along the way until they at last reached Djose Temple.
YAY! it's finally up. please, tell me what you think, i desperately need more reviewers so recommend it to your friends! and what was the light that Luzzu claims came from Ryan Matt and Andy? How was it strong enough to drive off an attack from Sin? and what happened to Ryan before he blacked out?i hope you enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it. sorry about the errors, i know i missed some.i always do, no matter how much iproofread.but i seem to be averaging 20 pages a chapter now... or at least with these last three reviews i have. anyway, just read and review and recomend this story to your friends!