Finally, everything is starting to wind down...or is it? Matter of opinion, I suppose. Anyhow, on to the replies!

Daniel Wesley Rydell: (waves hand in front of his eyes) Are you blind? I clearly had paper.

Iron Reaver: Yes, yes, I deserve maiming. But you cannot do so. They're paying me. I told you that. And ya know, always believe me when I say I'm going to do something, because once my mind is set on it, it shall be done. (grin)

Harry4: Thank you for the kind words. I don't normally think of myself as talented, but recently I went back and looked at something I wrote about a year ago, and compared it to this. It made my jaw drop to see how much I've improved.

EkaSwede: Welcome to Destiny's Call, Swede! No, I haven't been playing the game while I write, it's a combination of good memory, having the script handy, and simple writing technique. Okay, allow me to clear one thing up about the Saturn Sigil, as you weren't the only one that asked. The sigil was used as somewhat of a plot device. It doesn't have a purpose in my story. You could say it was some sort of collector's set of items, or such. The reason it was there was to jog Ben's memory about the legendary weapons, which he may have not thought about had he not seen the sigil.

Auron's Fan: Right now, Ben's weapons are the pair of suwayyah, a staff, his katana from the start, and a wakizashi which is rarely used, due to his simple lack of proficiency with dual-wielding swords. As for the death question, it's explained in game that strong emotion could bind you to the world. Seymour has extreme hatred and persistence to become the next Sin and destroy Spira. That should be able to do it, don'tcha think?

FFfanboyX: I know how that goes. (grin) Anyhow, read my reply to EkaSwede to answer your question about the sigil.

SS5Matt: Understandable. Hope you enjoy the last chapters!

ShadowStar05: Yep, you've just seen one of the worst villain cliches ever. (shrug)

Bracey Face Anime Gurl: Yep, he's kicked the bucket again! Okay, as for Ben's legendary weapon, imagine this. A small, cylindrical object that slides over the hand and wrist, with a metal bar for you to grab. Extending from the top, over the back of the hand and out about a foot, is a blade. To either side of the central blade, at about a 45 degree angle to it, are two more blades. That's a scissors suwayyah. A regular suwayyah, or wrist blade, only has the central blade.

desert-tiger: Yep, you just answered your own question.

Now, finally, onward through the caves of Gagazet!


Chapter 35—No Turning Back Now

The inside of the cave is, well, much what I figured a cave would be like. Dim, damp, gloomy, and treacherous. Crags of rock and stalactites are everywhere, stalagmites around in places too.

Coming to a small, open area, we find our passage to the north blocked by a large hole. Walking to the edge, I look down, hoping to see the bottom. There really doesn't seem to be one.

"So...what now?" Tidus asks, examining the pit. Looking around, I scan the area, before seeing a small area of water to the west.

"There. Water. We can swim there, maybe find something to cross this chasm with." I tell him, walking over as Rikku and Wakka join me, Tidus lagging behind the three of us. Taking a moment to examine the water, we all look at each other, before Wakka speaks.

"Looks like we got a job to do, ya?" he says, and Tidus, Rikku, and I nod, stepping forward.

"If anything should happen in the water, we're relying on you four. If it gets dangerous, pull out quick." Lulu says, giving a small nod to us.

"Right!" Wakka says, turning towards the water.

"Be careful." Yuna tells us, as we walk up to the edge of the area.

"Always are." I say, smirking, before diving into the water head first and beginning to swim. After a moment of swimming, we come across one of the oddest things I've seen since being here in Spira. And that's saying a lot, mind you. It appears to be a small ball, just floating in the water, with a shield of some sort of light surrounding it. The shield is rotating around the ball, and it seems to have two openings.

"Eh...what do we do with this?" Tidus asks us, looking at the strange device.

"Let's see...oh yeah." I say, snapping my fingers. "Wakka, hit that thing with your blitzball." I tell him, and he shrugs, before pulling out World Champion and aiming carefully. Hurling the blitzball at the core of light, Wakka watches on as the blitzball flies through the crack in the rotating shield, and nails the core perfectly.

"Got it!" I exclaim. "Good job." Wakka just nods, reclaiming his blitzball, as I turn back towards the way we came. "Let's get out of here. We should be able to cross the chasm now." I say, swimming back towards the surface.

"Look at this!" Yuna says as we step back onto dry land, pointing to the chasm. A set of stairs now go over the hole, leading us north once again.

"It was a puzzle. Must've been meant to test us." I say. 'Yunalesca's doing, no doubt.'


Moving forward again, we continue to walk. The cave seems to be getting even steeper now, and I deduce that we must be getting very near the summit, and consequently, Zanarkand. Suddenly, we hear a mighty roar from in front of us, and all of us gasp as a large Behemoth fiend appears in front of us, standing tall amidst the rocks.

"Oh man..." I hear Wakka mutter, stepping back some, as Auron moves up in front.

"Behemoth." he states, and everyone pulls out their weapons, prepared for a tough fight. The Behemoth roars, and charges, horns pointing at Lulu as it intends to skewer her before she can react.

"Ha!" Wakka yells, throwing his blitzball at the Behemoth's face. The blitzball hits with a sickening crack, stopping it in its tracks, and blood runs down the face of the Behemoth from the blades along the sides. Auron runs in, slashing downwards along the creature's chest, which causes another long cut. The creature still stands tall, though, and charges us. Swatting Auron aside, it brings a claw down at Wakka, only to be blocked by Kimahri's spear. Thrusting outward, Kimahri jabs the thing in the arm, before I bring my katana down along its wrist.

"Wait a second...guys! I have a plan! Anyone here have anything that will turn a fiend into a zombie?" I ask, and everyone looks at me, confused. Auron nods, and charges the creature again, striking down with his blade. The Behemoth growls, before its skin and fur suddenly changes to a gray pallor. Smiling, I turn to Yuna.

"Yuna. Life or Full-Life it, whichever you have." I instruct, and her eyes go wide, as she now realizes my plan.

"Full-Life!" she cries, white feathers floating down from above the Behemoth and passing through it. The Behemoth gives an anguished cry, before it falls and dissipates into pyreflies.

"How did you...?" Tidus starts, and I hold up a hand.

"Simple. Yuna knows powerful white magic. White magic hurts the undead severely. I figured, if we could turn it into an undead, we could dispose of it a lot easier than trying to kill it by normal means."

"A bold plan." Auron says, turning to me.

"Yeah, it worked, though." I reply, pulling out my Sphere Grid and inserting another sphere into it as Auron turns to us.

"They'll be upon us soon. She has sent fiends to test our summoner's strength."

"Who is 'she'?" Yuna asks, turning to the monk.

"Yunalesca." he replies simply.

"Lady Yunalesca?" she echoes, as if she had heard him wrong.

"In Zanarkand, she awaits the arrival of the strongest."

"She..is still alive?" Yuna asks, tentatively.

"As much as Mika and Seymour." Auron replies, to which Yuna nods.

"I see."

"Lost your nerve?" Auron queries.

"No." Yuna says defiantly. "Nothing frightens me now."

"Braska would be proud." Auron states, turning towards the path.

"Then...I must not let him down." Yuna says softly, turning towards the path as well and continuing to walk, Auron and Tidus by her side with the rest of us behind them.


After a few more minutes of walking through the damp cave, we finally see the dim light of a sunset, coming through what appears to be the exit to the cave. Stepping out into the light, we all stop, as Auron looks around. Setting his eyes on something, he stares ahead blankly, before stating two simple words.

"It comes!"

Looking towards the direction Auron is facing, we suddenly see a gigantic beast lumbering towards us. A massive, four-legged dragon type beast, the creature also has two sets of wings. One main pair, with a second wing hanging off the front of the main two. It also has large, tusk-like protrusions on either side of its face, reminding me of a beetle. This is the Sanctuary Keeper.

(Play Star Ocean 3 theme March For Glory)

"Let's give it all we've got!" Tidus yells, using his Cheer ability on the whole team, as Auron runs in along with Kimahri. Stabbing downwards, Kimahri strikes the creature in its skull, while Auron slashes downward with his Power Break ability. Charging in, I grab my suwayyah, and slash twice at the creature's face, before it roars and knocks the three of us away. Turning my backwards momentum into a roll, I come to a relatively easy stop, right as Lulu casts a spell over my head.

"Demi!" she yells, the gravity based spell sucking in the Keeper, and then pretty much spitting it back out, weakened a great deal in short time.

"Take this!" Wakka yells, spinning his blitzball on his finger as a frosty covering encircles it, before he slams the ball towards the Keeper with his foot. The ball impacts it in the chest, and it howls in pain, before the wings on its back stand straight up. Before any of us can react, energy beams blast out of the wings from numerous holes and strike all around us, throwing us to the ground.

Standing back up, we take a moment to heal Lulu and Yuna, who were the most hurt by the attack, before we retake our stances. Tidus runs in, spinning and flipping before slamming the Caladbolg down on the Sanctuary Keeper. The creature growls, before slapping Tidus away with a claw. With deceptive speed for its bulky frame, it charges Auron and slashes downward, sending the monk to the ground again.

"That's it. Time to summon." I say, putting my suwayyah away while pulling out my staff and dropping into a summoning stance. Spinning the staff, I turn, a portal opening behind me. Raising my staff, a bolt of lightning flies into the portal, and I spin to pull the aeon Ixion out of it.

"Aerospark!" I cry, Ixion giving a short cry before slashing his horn downward, a crescent shaped wave of electric energy lancing out into the Sanctuary Keeper. Raising its head slowly, the creature growls, before a huge beam of orange-red energy slices through the air and into Ixion, who gives a pained cry before dissipating into pyreflies.

"Uh oh..." I mutter, stepping back. "He can wipe our aeons out just like that...I didn't want to have to do this yet, but I guess I have to." Stepping forwards again, I raise a hand to the fiend, as orange energy begins to gather around it. Smiling evilly, I call out my newly acquired spell.

"Flare!"

The beam of orange energy blasts out at the fiend, slamming into its face with a large explosion as I drop to a knee. The reason I didn't want to use the spell is because it drains me of way too much of my magical energy. The good thing is that it gave my friends a chance to attack.

"Holy!"

"Bio!"

"Dark Buster!"

Yuna's spell connects with the face of the Keeper as well, Lulu's poison spell also making the creature roar in pain as the toxin spreads through its body. Wakka's blitzball hits the fiend in the chest, cutting into it and also blinding the Sanctuary Keeper.

Seeing a chance to attack, Auron brings his sword back, before running at the Sanctuary Keeper. Swinging the sword powerfully, the blade bites into the neck of the fiend, and it howls in pain, before suddenly straightening, the waves of a Curaga spell washing over it and mending some of its wounds.

"Yuna, use Reflect on it!" I yell, slowly getting back to my feet from the use of the Flare. Yuna complies, and the magical barrier springs to life around the creature, just as it uses a second Curaga, the energy bouncing off and hitting Tidus instead.

"Coming through!" Rikku suddenly yells, as a large object sails through the air at the fiend, before a chain of Waterga spells go off right in the Keeper's face. The fiend gives a final, defiant roar, before falling to the ground, dissipating into pyreflies a moment afterwards.

(End SO3 theme March Of Glory)

"Well, they're definitely getting more powerful..." I mutter to myself, gulping down a rare Elixir as Rikku walks over to me. Auron turns to continue walking down the path, but is stopped by a shout from Rikku.

"Hey! Can't we rest a little?" she yells to the monk, Auron turning to face her.

"No need. We reach the summit soon." he replies, and Rikku looks down a little.

"I know, that's why I want to stop for a bit." she says, turning around and crouching down. "Soon means that...there's not much time left."

"It's okay, Rikku." I say, kneeling and putting an arm around her. "We'll think of a way to stop this from happening, I know it. You just can't lose hope."

"Rikku..." Yuna says, walking up to her cousin, who stands up to look at her.

"Fine. I'll think on the way." she says to Yuna, who nods, and begins to walk down the trail with Auron and the rest of the group. As I start to walk, I notice Tidus hasn't moved, and everyone turns, noticing the same.

"Hey, come on, let's go." Wakka says, walking back towards the boy.

"We are almost there, aren't we?" he asks, looking out over the horizon.

"We've come a long way." Wakka tells him, and Auron smirks, chuckling a little.

"What's so funny?" Tidus asks, looking at the warrior.

"You remind me of myself. Before, the closer I came to Zanarkand, the more I wondered...when we arrive, Braska will call the Final Aeon...he will fight Sin, then die. I thought my mind was made up. But when I stood here, my resolve wavered." he explains, causing Wakka to shrug.

"Huh, never would've figured. Legendary guardians choke sometimes, too, ya?" he says, Auron turning to the former captain.

"Legendary guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too. But I changed nothing. That is my story." he tells Wakka, walking away towards the rest of the group. Gazing out into the sunset, which has nearly faded now, I can't help but feel exactly as Auron says.

'I can't waver. Not now. I've come to far to just...to just give up, turn around, and leave. I have to see this through, to the end. Even though I'm not quite sure how things will go, I can't just stand here in fear of the unknown. I have to go through with it, unafraid of the changes that may come.' I think, sighing, before following the others along the path that will take us to the ancient city of Zanarkand.


Finally, in the next chapter, the party arrives at Zanarkand, a city dead for a thousand years! What will they find there? Keep reading to find out, and as always, please review!