The Son of Auron: The Hope of Spira
Chapter 13
The Dark Rival
The ground trembled with every step that they took.
The Al Bhed army awaited their arrival with fear.
Rikku was very tense, as was everyone else.
The Chocobos that they all were on were also as quiet as night.
Then, somebody cried out, "They're coming from Gagazet!"
Sure enough, the marching was growing louder from the mountain entrance rather than the woods.
An officer shouted out, "Everyone in position and ready! Steady!"
The army began to fall into position by leading the chocobos into a large area in the center while being surrounded by the machina scouts and many other types of units and weapons.
One again, the officer shouted, "Steady, STEADY!"
Another soldier shouted, "Ready all arms."
All forces pulling out their weapons and aiming at the thundering gorge was the reply to the soldier's command.
After that, all was silent within the Al Bhed army.
What happened next took everyone by surprise as the first warriors appeared out from behind the cliffs.
It was an army but not one belonging to the Guado.
The great army was made of the guardians of Gagazet, the Ronsos.
Armed to the teeth with spears, knives, and lances, they marched steadily into the Al Bhed circle without restraint.
A particularly strong looking Ronso in the front spoke to some of the high- ranking officers even though it was heard through out the entire army.
"My Al Bhed friends," the Ronso began, "Word has reached our ears of a great battle taking place this day between the Al Bhed and the treacherous Guado. For many years, the Guado have done nothing but abuse us and all other inhabitants of Spira. For years our respect for them has grown smaller every day and we have done nothing, but we believe that this is our time to stand for those who died at the Guado's hands. It is time that we rise up to defend Spira!"
Then its voice quieted down a little, "We kindly request that you accept our assistance."
Then one of the officers nodded which caused a great shout of eagerness from every soldier.
A loud voice shouted out from behind the Ronso army, "We also wish to help you through this struggle."
Everyone turned to see another group of warriors slightly smaller than that of the Ronso army.
"And who are you?" asked an Al Bhed.
The same loud voice replied, "We are the united soldiers of Kilika, Luca, and the former Crusaders who resisted against the Guado control. We beg that you accept our help for you will most definitely need it. We have seen the Guado's vast army and it appears almost fail safe but perhaps if we all unite against them, we shall be victorious!"
Shouts of confidence resumed from all of the soldiers throughout the land.
Suddenly, they all quieted down at a sudden sound that rang across the land.
It was a horn that blew along with the heavy feet exiting not only from Gagazet but from Macalania as well.
The horn was the symbol of the Guado, their war cry.
"Fall back into position," cried an Al Bhed soldier and the three groups obeyed.
They waited with their weapons drawn for a long period of time as the horn grew louder and louder.
Finally, the first few Guado soldiers appeared though both entrances.
Then more and more began to appear as they began to circle around the smaller army opposing them.
Finally, the Al Bhed army and all of their allies were completely surrounded.
There were thousands of Guado and a much lesser number of Al Bhed, Ronso, and other people of Spira.
The Guado were also accompanied by many of the people of the Guado conquered lands who did not resist their power.
Lulu, Rikku, Wantz, and Wakka watched in fear on their chocobos as the Guado readied their weapons.
Seymour stood within the army and watched the smaller army like a cat about to trap a mouse.
He then closed his eyes and concentrated and soon, he began to glow.
Suddenly, his body split into two separate Seymours, one having the dark appearance given by Mi Yevon and the other having his former look.
The Shadow Seymour said to the other, "I am leaving this army in your hand. It shouldn't be too difficult a victory."
The other Seymour laughed and said, "I will show no mercy, but I must ask you where you will be?"
The shadow man grinned wickedly and replied, "I must deal with the intruders."
-
His eyes opened and then blinked upon awakening.
Jack sat up and looked around him.
"Where am I?"
"Why aren't I dead?"
"Is this... is this the Farplane?"
These thoughts echoed through his head has he rose to his feet.
He was in a very strange place. The ground was made of crystals and through it, Jack saw blue along with what appeared to be clouds.
There was also a few palm treetops swaying in the breeze.
It was as if he were standing on the sky.
He found himself to be in a long tunnel made of sparkling gemstones. He could not see the end of the hallway.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked behind him.
Jack spun around to see Tidus and Yuna staring at him with a calm posture.
"What happened? There was fire and lava. Why was I uncontious?" Jack asked them.
"We thought you were dead at first," Tidus said.
Yuna began to explain to him what had happened, "As we fell, you must have fainted or something. Tidus and I were very frightened that we were going to die and it appeared that we would. Just before we hit the flames, our bodies seemed to pass straight through it. The fire must have been an illusion to test the courage of the ones to pass the gateway. Next thing we knew, we were here."
"I see," said Jack. "I didn't expect the Farplane to be like this. I always thought that it would look like it did on the outside."
"Me too," said Tidus. "The only thing I don't get is the floor."
"It looks like the sky, like we are the ground looking up," Jack said.
Yuna looked at it for a couple of seconds and cried out, "I know, we are looking at Spira! Those palm trees must mean that we are in Besaid. If that's so, then maybe we can see the Calm Lands to view the battle."
"That makes sense to me," said Jack. "But we must be careful, we are looking for Mi Yevon. That is our only priority here. We are losing time even now, we must go."
The other two nodded and they hurried down the tunnel.
-
The two armies continued to stare each other off, without the slightest sound emitting from either side.
Finally a brave Al Bhed stepped forward and shouted to the Guado, "Even with greater numbers, you Guado scum don't stand a chance against the power of our machina!"
It was Seymour who stepped forward to speak, "Are you sure, for you forget that we also have some of the same machina in our possession. But aside from that, I must ask you one simple question. Just how loyal are your machina to your cause? Is there a possibility of them turning on their own masters?"
"Never!" came the reply. "Our machina are under the most advanced programming of our time, they will never turn on their programmers and creators!"
Seymour smirked and said, "Then what if it was the programmer who did the turning on?"
At this statement, the all of the self-automated machina began to dash towards the Guado's outer circle.
When they reached their destination, they spun around and aimed their weapons at the inner army.
"What the hell is going on?" Cid shouted from within the army.
"Oh, we just have more friends than we thought," Seymour said laughing as Lonar- Boris stepped out from within the Guado circle to stand next to him.
"So it was you," said Cid. "It was you who killed Dala."
Lonar- Boris smiled and replied, "Yes, but I have to admit if I hadn't met lord Seymour and not have learned of his goals, and not to mention my benefit from it, I may still be on your side in a one-sided battle. I was the spy who fed information of the Guado army and its conquering. That way, a vote would be held to decide our decisions on what to do about it. I couldn't risk there being peace even though you wouldn't get it. So, I decided to place the blame on that mad man, Ansem. I snuck into his quarters while he was away and found a rather old but powerful explosive. I planted the bomb inside Dala's chamber and you know the rest. There must be a war so that Spira can be rid of the Al Bhed. The Al Bhed must be eliminated for Spira to be a perfect world. All they do is create weapons and murder others."
Lulu shouted out, "But you are Al Bhed as well."
Lonar- Boris muttered under his breath, "No... I am not."
Rikku shouted out, "That is not true, we are peaceful and are only trying to live peacefully with the rest of Spira. We have killed some yes, but only to protect us when they tried to harm us."
Seymour stepped in, "Enough of this, all forces, move in!"
The Guado soldiers then began to close in on their opponents.
-
"Jack, I just thought of something," said Tidus suddenly as the trio continued down the hallway.
"Yeah, what's that," said Jack without looking at Tidus.
Tidus continued, "I thought you had to have the other sword to complete the weapon to destroy Mi Yevon. Unless you have it already and you haven't told us, I don't think we are ready to face her yet."
Jack stopped suddenly and Tidus and Yuna did the same.
Jack said, "I have looked for Rhianon for many years. I am positive that I have scoured all of Spira looking for it. This is the last place it can be." He paused for a few seconds and continued, "Besides, I already know where it is."
Yuna and Tidus were astonished. "Where? Where is it then?" asked Yuna.
Jack made a small smirk and said, "Kinos has it."
"What! How do you know?" asked Tidus.
Jack's smirk vanished, "Remember in that canyon when he attacked us, I saw it in his hand. He quickly hid it when he saw me staring but I know he has it and he knows I know. That is why he is using that as bait so that he can kill me."
Yuna stepped in, "There is one thing that you haven't told us and that is who Kinos is."
Jack didn't say anything at first but then took a deep breath and began, "Several years ago, when I was searching for Omega and my father, I met a middle-aged man who studied ancient beasts of Spira. With him was his apprentice who was close to my age. The apprentice's name was Kinos. They decided to help me on my journey to find Omega, probably because they thought of Omega to be an ancient monster. As time passed, Kinos and I became close friends. We even trained together, though I was the better fighter. This never seemed to bother him, but instead motivated him to train harder and harder. Then one day, we finally found Omega and the three of us fought him with all of our strength. Unfortunately, Kinos' master perished at Omega's hands and Kinos soon followed. I barely escaped with my life but the grieving that followed was worse than death."
"Wait!" said Tidus suddenly, "How can he be alive now if Omega killed him?"
They continued walking as Jack responded, "He was not sent to the Farplane. What puzzles me is why he has sided with Mi Yevon? He was my friend."
(A/N: I forgot to add something in chapter 3. In this fic you become a fiend if you aren't sent and stay that way for many years. Then, you slowly begin to change into a fiend after that.)
Tidus decided to change the subject and said, "Now about this great sword that you're trying to get, what makes it so special that only it can defeat Mi Yevon?"
Jack responded, "The stories say that it is made of pure light. It was created to conquer all forms of evil, but it can only be used once."
"Why is that?" asked Yuna.
Jack continued, "Because when it makes the final blow, every piece of the blade will shatter, taking the darkness with it. When the sword is gone, Mi Yevon will be destroyed along with all darkness of the past, present, and future of Spira."
"Then all we have to do is find Kinos," said Yuna.
"And your search will end soon," said a voice that echoed through the halls.
"Who is that?" asked Tidus.
"It's Kinos," Jack replied.
Up ahead, the trio could see the end of the crystal halls.
Jack then said, "We must be careful, for Kinos has not only the Emrys gift but also the Cell-o-porter, so he can teleport around the room. This will be a difficult battle."
"We must run," said Jack suddenly.
"Why?" asked Tidus.
Yuna suddenly yelled, "Look out!"
Tidus turned and behind him, the crystal tunnel was vanishing into nothingness.
-
"ATTACK!" yelled the sergeants as the Guado neared.
Hearing this, Wantz charged his Chocobo toward the enemies surrounding circle at full speed with his dark axe drawn.
Around him, everyone else was doing the same except for the Al Bhed arming the machina guns and those piloting the airship that fired apon the enemy lines.
The machina and the Guado also charged at the same time with their various weapons drawn.
Lulu rode her Chocobo around the inside of the area, casting her most powerful spells at the Guado.
Wakka was covering her with his Blitzball.
Rikku was further out than they were, taking the soldiers head-on.
She had just taken down one Guado, but when she turned, she found her face a foot away from a Guado's scythe.
She quickly ducked under it as fast as she could, but the tip of it drew a long, narrow cut across her cheek forcing a high-pitched cry from her mouth.
She quickly spun around on her Chocobo and decapitated the Guado with the scythe.
Turning back around, she resumed her "swipe-dodge" method.
Wantz was doing better than he had thought.
He had killed a fair share of machina and had wounded quite a few Guado, but over time, he had begun to get arrogant.
He saw one machina nearby attacking some Al Bhed.
He steered his Chocobo in their direction with a show off manor.
He reached out with his axe and made a dramatic swipe for the machina's head, but its sensors picked it up, and the machina dodged the assault and followed with an upward stab, which connected with the Chocobo's underside. (Sorry Chocobo fans)
The great bird plummeted to the ground and lay still.
Wantz sat up and cursed before quickly slicing the machina in two.
Meanwhile, Seymour watched from the outer circle while casting a few of his own spells.
He saw that many of his soldiers were already dead and that the Al Bhed may prevail.
"Looks like I may have to use plan-B a little early," he said to himself and he smiled.
-
Tidus dashed as fast as he could down the crystal hallway as it began to disappear behind him.
Yuna started to run, but could not get far in her dress.
Tidus ran back to her and carried her.
Jack was able to reach the end of the hallway quick enough and was waiting for Tidus, but Tidus wasn't going to last much longer.
This new room was circular and had another hallway on the other side.
The walls were also made of crystal like the tunnel that Jack had just left and the floor was made up of a large glyph.
Here, Jack could not see Spira's sky through the floor.
Jack tried to run back for them, but some sort of invisible wall was blocking his exit.
"HURRY, TIDUS!" Jack yelled.
Tidus glanced behind him and saw that the hall was an inch away from falling into darkness.
He looked up and saw that he was several feet away from the exit, so he made a great leap with Yuna still in his arms.
He was able to make it a foot away from the exit but as he began to walk through the sanctuary of the new place, he was stopped out of nowhere by an invisible wall.
"TIDUS! YUNA!" Jack screamed as the two trapped lovers fell into the darkness.
"It seems that we are finally alone," said a voice from above.
"What have you done with them, Kinos?" Jack demanded.
Kinos suddenly appeared in front of Jack and said, "Don't worry, they are still alive... for the moment that is."
"LET THEM GO!" Jack yelled.
Kinos smiled and said, "Temper, temper, there Jack. You may be able to save them."
Jack raised an eyebrow but Kinos changed the subject, "Nifty little thing this is," he said pointing at the Cell-o-porter on his wrist.
He continued, "Do you remember when I used to say that. Oh it was so long ago, before we encountered Omega."
"How did you escape Omega, I was sure you were dead," Jack asked.
"You would want that wouldn't you?" Kinos sneered and continued, "That large blast of energy actually took me somewhere in the Omega ruins, in a hidden chamber. I found myself bound by black ropes and chained to the wall, like I was going to be tortured. It so happens that I was correct in that assumption and soon, Omega showed up and I went through months of pain and suffering. I tried to think of something else to get my mind off the pain but I could only think of one thing, and that was you. I realized that if it weren't for you, my master would be alive and we would not have wasted our time trying to help you with your problems. Then I thought of how you had gained my master's favor by proving your superiority to me at everything. He was like a father to me and you stole him away. As if that wasn't enough, you were the one that stole his life, not Omega. After realizing all of these things, I offered Omega a deal. If he were to give me my freedom then I would kill you myself. At first, he laughed and told me that he could do it himself. I then told him that you would be hard to track down and that soon, you would be strong enough to defeat him. He laughed at this and I asked him who he would rather have dead. Finally, he let me leave and I began training harder than I ever had before, preparing for this day."
"Kinos, I was not trying to steal Stangmar away from you," Jack said calmly.
Kinos clenched his teeth in anger and yelled back, "YOU ARE A LYING BASTARD! HE WAS THE CLOSEST THING I HAD TO A FATHER AND YOU STOLE HIM AWAY BECAUSE YOU LOST YOURS!"
He then looked away, breathing heavily. Once he calmed down again, he turned and said, "Forget about that now, for we must decide who the real Hope of Spira is."
"What are you talking about?" asked Jack.
"Rhianon," Kinos said calmly stretching out his left hand.
A samurai style sword with a silver handle and a golden blade shot from his outstretched hand. (A/N: It looks just like Jack's sword, only it is differently colored.)
Kinos continued, "I know the prophecy as well as you do Jack and I could be the Hope just as you could. I found this blade deep within the confines of an abandoned airship located within a glacier north of Zanarkand. It is finally time for us to see who the true hope is by having a fight. A fight to the death."
Jack looked down at the ground and said, "Kinos, I really do not want to do this."
He raised his right hand up and said quietly, "Olo Eopia."
Jack continued looking up at him with a fire in his eyes, "But you leave me no choice."
With that, the two swordsmen rushed at each other with their swords drawn.
Jack slashed at Kinos as Kinos swung back.
Both expecting the heavy impact but it never came.
Jack and Kinos both looked up to see each other's swords pass through its counterpart's blade and through the holder of the weapon as well.
"What is this? What is wrong with my sword?" Kinos asked suddenly.
Jack thought a moment and then said, "They were created to be one sword, and not meant to duel one another. Their spirits are lovers who seek to combine the sword again, they can't harm the other."
Kinos smiled once again and said, "Fine, it looks like we will have to settle this with our other weapons." After saying this, he dismissed his sword along with Jack.
Kinos then said, "Toropheus."
This caused a long-handled mace to appear from his hand.
"Death Seeker," Jack said causing a long black scythe to come out from his hand.
The two then began to duel once again.
Jack swung his weapon high at Kinos but it was deflected.
Jack spun around lighting fast this time aiming for Kinos' midsection but it was deflected.
He then spun around one last time aiming for the legs, tripping Kinos.
Jack was about to slash at the downed figure but hit nothing but solid earth.
As he struggled to remove the weapon from the ground, Kinos appeared from behind him and said, "That old 'Z' trick of yours may have worked when we were younger but this time, I was prepared."
Jack finally got his weapon loose but acted like he was struggling with it to fool Kinos. Jack then said, "Prepared? You're just teleporting with that watch. You're no different than before, always acting so arrogant, trying to impress everyone... never expecting a surprise attack!"
At that, he swung the scythe around and hit thin air.
"You aren't that perfect yourself, Jack. You didn't think that I saw that you had loosened you scythe?" Kinos had appeared at the other end of the room.
Jack turned slowly then ran at full speed at Kinos slashing like crazy, some blows being deflected, and some missing Kinos as he continued to teleport.
Then, Kinos teleported again, appeared behind Jack and began the assault. The first blow took Jack by surprise and put the mace's spikes within his left arm.
Jack cried out in pain but was able to use his other arm to deflect the rest of Kinos' blows.
As he continued fighting, Jack could feel his energy rising, he was almost powered up.
The question was, what should he do when he was completely powered up, perform Ars Arcanium, or use his overdrive.
For a long time, the fight went back and forth and the two rivals showed no sign of being tired.
Finally, Jack felt his power reach its maximum. All he needed was some space away from Kinos.
What Jack didn't know was that Kinos had also powered up and was almost ready to use his power.
At one point, his mace locked up with Jack's scythe and he said, "I'll bet by now, you are about ready to use that little Ars Arcanium trick of yours. Years ago, I would still have admired that skill, but I have found a new one."
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked with a slight hint of fear.
Kinos smiled and cried out, "RAGNOROK!"
Suddenly, he began to glow like in Jack's skill, but this time, shot into the air and began slashing at Jack from there.
Jack tried desperately to deflect the heavy blows but many of them connected with him and weakened him.
Finally, Kinos struck one last time and as Jack was feeling relieved that it was over, Kinos shot multiple blasts of energy from his mace that hit Jack all at once.
This sent Jack to the far corner of the room where Jack hit the wall hard and crumpled to the floor.
Kinos started laughing out loud at his rival lying on the floor and he said, "It appears that I am the superior this time. I only wish that my master were here to see me in my prime."
He turned and began walking to the opposite side of the room that Jack was on.
Now you can either die slow and painfully, or quick and painless. Let me think... I choose slow and painful."
Jack slowly began to rise to his feet and weakly stagger towards Kinos.
There was blood dripping off his face and off his sore hands.
"Oh look! The little boy is up, careful you don't want to hurt yourself," Kinos cackled.
Jack stopped in the center of the room with Kinos watching from the north end.
Kinos said, "What, to weak to walk six more steps? Poor little Jack, don't worry, I come... help you."
He continued to laugh but stopped when Jack said, "I'll give you credit, that was an incredible attack, but I'm afraid that I have more tricks than Ars Arcanium."
Kinos raised an eyebrow at this remark.
Jack raised both of his bruised arms up and strained his muscles as he powered up his attack.
The room began to quake and Kinos said, "What is this, what are you doing?"
He noticed that Jack's Death Seeker weapon had vanished as well.
Jack then cried out, "FULL... ARMORY!"
At that, hundreds of weapons shot out of Jack's outstretched hands and quickly fell the floor around him.
Jack lowered his hands after all the weapons were summoned.
Within the pile was practically every close-combat weapon ever created.
Jack then raised his arms again, and the weapons rose along with them.
Jack's fists closed and the weapons formed a slowly spinning circle around Jack, with the tips pointed outward.
Kinos watched in fear as Jack's hands suddenly flew open, sending all of the weapons flying in all directions like a shock wave of pain.
Kinos desperately searched for the teleporting button on the Cell-o-porter but before it could be pressed, one of the first weapons, a large knife cut the strap and pinned the watch against the wall.
Kinos looked at the knife and then looked ahead as hundreds of blades, spikes, and poles flew towards his cowering form.
After the attack ended, Jack relaxed and dismissed all of the weapons lodged into the walls and on the floor.
He then walked over to Kinos' twitching body on the ground nearby.
Kinos looked up at Jack as he approached his shivering form.
"Don't look like I betrayed you Kinos, for that is far from it. It was you who betrayed me. We were friends, not just friends... we were like brothers. I had lost my life in less than ten minutes on the night Omega attacked my home. How would you feel? All I wanted was a home. If you thought I was stealing your master, you should have told me so sooner. Things may have been better. But no, you had to take vengeance and side with Mi Yevon," Jack said.
All Kinos did was spit at Jack and slow stood up.
Jack then said, "You challenged me and I admit, if it weren't for my overdrive, you would be standing over me. I know I should strike you down right now."
Kinos sneered and said weakly, "Then... do it."
"Olo Eopia," Jack said and held his sword above his head.
Jack then said, "I will not kill you, Kinos. You will serve an even worse punishment. You must live the rest of your life in shame of your treachery. You shall also live the rest of your life without the Emrys skill to aid you."
With that, Jack took the sword and slashed it in front of him.
Kinos slowly opened his eyes realizing that he wasn't dead and then looked at his sides.
His hands lay on the floor, clutched into fists.
He sunk to his knees and yelled in agony as Jack stood over him.
Jack continued, "That is the only way to defeat an Emrys other than killing them, because without their hands, they are powerless. And when they lose their hands..."
Kinos looked down and saw his hands vanish and be replaced by several of the weapons that he had acquired including his mace and Rhianon.
He looked up slowly at Jack and said, "Who told you this?"
Jack replied, "Stangmar did."
Kinos scowled and quickly raised one of his bleeding arms to reveal a dagger's blade hidden inside his sleeve.
Before Jack could react, Kinos thrust the dagger into Jacks torso.
Jack sank to his knees as Kinos rose to his feet and slowly dashed off into the crystal hall that had somehow reappeared.
Jack weakly pulled the knife from within his chest, looked at the wound, and then fell to the ground.
And there he lay, still as the grave.
-
A/N: Woah! I have finally updated this fic. It's been a while huh? But like I said, I wanted to finish the other fic first. Speaking of which, I have thought a lot about it and I have decided to finish this fic first and THEN complete the Son of Auron: The Ruba Spheres. Thanks to all who reviewed, I appreciated every one.
Dragon and Sword Master: I am glad that you and Jenny figured out the little Tidus, Yuna, Jack deal. When I was writing that chapter, I was a little worried that nobody would figure it out but you proved me wrong.
Jenny: Well, I guess I am going to finish this fic sooner than you thought. I am glad you like my story.
Darkness Kingdom: Five Words: Thanks for your kind review.
Cool-Kitsune: Thanks for your review. I wish so much I could pick everyone who entered to have a role in the fic but I could only pick one. Thanks for your encouragement and I will try to add plenty of romance near the end.
DeAtH25: Thanks for the encouragement because it helped me a lot.
As you have hopefully found out by reading this, I have added the overdrive idea thought up by Storyweaver1 and added a few details of my own. I appreciate everyone's kind review and I hope you keep it up. I hope that you liked this fic and I look forward to chapter fourteen. Thanks again for the reviews and I will update as soon as I can.
Callik
Chapter 13
The Dark Rival
The ground trembled with every step that they took.
The Al Bhed army awaited their arrival with fear.
Rikku was very tense, as was everyone else.
The Chocobos that they all were on were also as quiet as night.
Then, somebody cried out, "They're coming from Gagazet!"
Sure enough, the marching was growing louder from the mountain entrance rather than the woods.
An officer shouted out, "Everyone in position and ready! Steady!"
The army began to fall into position by leading the chocobos into a large area in the center while being surrounded by the machina scouts and many other types of units and weapons.
One again, the officer shouted, "Steady, STEADY!"
Another soldier shouted, "Ready all arms."
All forces pulling out their weapons and aiming at the thundering gorge was the reply to the soldier's command.
After that, all was silent within the Al Bhed army.
What happened next took everyone by surprise as the first warriors appeared out from behind the cliffs.
It was an army but not one belonging to the Guado.
The great army was made of the guardians of Gagazet, the Ronsos.
Armed to the teeth with spears, knives, and lances, they marched steadily into the Al Bhed circle without restraint.
A particularly strong looking Ronso in the front spoke to some of the high- ranking officers even though it was heard through out the entire army.
"My Al Bhed friends," the Ronso began, "Word has reached our ears of a great battle taking place this day between the Al Bhed and the treacherous Guado. For many years, the Guado have done nothing but abuse us and all other inhabitants of Spira. For years our respect for them has grown smaller every day and we have done nothing, but we believe that this is our time to stand for those who died at the Guado's hands. It is time that we rise up to defend Spira!"
Then its voice quieted down a little, "We kindly request that you accept our assistance."
Then one of the officers nodded which caused a great shout of eagerness from every soldier.
A loud voice shouted out from behind the Ronso army, "We also wish to help you through this struggle."
Everyone turned to see another group of warriors slightly smaller than that of the Ronso army.
"And who are you?" asked an Al Bhed.
The same loud voice replied, "We are the united soldiers of Kilika, Luca, and the former Crusaders who resisted against the Guado control. We beg that you accept our help for you will most definitely need it. We have seen the Guado's vast army and it appears almost fail safe but perhaps if we all unite against them, we shall be victorious!"
Shouts of confidence resumed from all of the soldiers throughout the land.
Suddenly, they all quieted down at a sudden sound that rang across the land.
It was a horn that blew along with the heavy feet exiting not only from Gagazet but from Macalania as well.
The horn was the symbol of the Guado, their war cry.
"Fall back into position," cried an Al Bhed soldier and the three groups obeyed.
They waited with their weapons drawn for a long period of time as the horn grew louder and louder.
Finally, the first few Guado soldiers appeared though both entrances.
Then more and more began to appear as they began to circle around the smaller army opposing them.
Finally, the Al Bhed army and all of their allies were completely surrounded.
There were thousands of Guado and a much lesser number of Al Bhed, Ronso, and other people of Spira.
The Guado were also accompanied by many of the people of the Guado conquered lands who did not resist their power.
Lulu, Rikku, Wantz, and Wakka watched in fear on their chocobos as the Guado readied their weapons.
Seymour stood within the army and watched the smaller army like a cat about to trap a mouse.
He then closed his eyes and concentrated and soon, he began to glow.
Suddenly, his body split into two separate Seymours, one having the dark appearance given by Mi Yevon and the other having his former look.
The Shadow Seymour said to the other, "I am leaving this army in your hand. It shouldn't be too difficult a victory."
The other Seymour laughed and said, "I will show no mercy, but I must ask you where you will be?"
The shadow man grinned wickedly and replied, "I must deal with the intruders."
-
His eyes opened and then blinked upon awakening.
Jack sat up and looked around him.
"Where am I?"
"Why aren't I dead?"
"Is this... is this the Farplane?"
These thoughts echoed through his head has he rose to his feet.
He was in a very strange place. The ground was made of crystals and through it, Jack saw blue along with what appeared to be clouds.
There was also a few palm treetops swaying in the breeze.
It was as if he were standing on the sky.
He found himself to be in a long tunnel made of sparkling gemstones. He could not see the end of the hallway.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked behind him.
Jack spun around to see Tidus and Yuna staring at him with a calm posture.
"What happened? There was fire and lava. Why was I uncontious?" Jack asked them.
"We thought you were dead at first," Tidus said.
Yuna began to explain to him what had happened, "As we fell, you must have fainted or something. Tidus and I were very frightened that we were going to die and it appeared that we would. Just before we hit the flames, our bodies seemed to pass straight through it. The fire must have been an illusion to test the courage of the ones to pass the gateway. Next thing we knew, we were here."
"I see," said Jack. "I didn't expect the Farplane to be like this. I always thought that it would look like it did on the outside."
"Me too," said Tidus. "The only thing I don't get is the floor."
"It looks like the sky, like we are the ground looking up," Jack said.
Yuna looked at it for a couple of seconds and cried out, "I know, we are looking at Spira! Those palm trees must mean that we are in Besaid. If that's so, then maybe we can see the Calm Lands to view the battle."
"That makes sense to me," said Jack. "But we must be careful, we are looking for Mi Yevon. That is our only priority here. We are losing time even now, we must go."
The other two nodded and they hurried down the tunnel.
-
The two armies continued to stare each other off, without the slightest sound emitting from either side.
Finally a brave Al Bhed stepped forward and shouted to the Guado, "Even with greater numbers, you Guado scum don't stand a chance against the power of our machina!"
It was Seymour who stepped forward to speak, "Are you sure, for you forget that we also have some of the same machina in our possession. But aside from that, I must ask you one simple question. Just how loyal are your machina to your cause? Is there a possibility of them turning on their own masters?"
"Never!" came the reply. "Our machina are under the most advanced programming of our time, they will never turn on their programmers and creators!"
Seymour smirked and said, "Then what if it was the programmer who did the turning on?"
At this statement, the all of the self-automated machina began to dash towards the Guado's outer circle.
When they reached their destination, they spun around and aimed their weapons at the inner army.
"What the hell is going on?" Cid shouted from within the army.
"Oh, we just have more friends than we thought," Seymour said laughing as Lonar- Boris stepped out from within the Guado circle to stand next to him.
"So it was you," said Cid. "It was you who killed Dala."
Lonar- Boris smiled and replied, "Yes, but I have to admit if I hadn't met lord Seymour and not have learned of his goals, and not to mention my benefit from it, I may still be on your side in a one-sided battle. I was the spy who fed information of the Guado army and its conquering. That way, a vote would be held to decide our decisions on what to do about it. I couldn't risk there being peace even though you wouldn't get it. So, I decided to place the blame on that mad man, Ansem. I snuck into his quarters while he was away and found a rather old but powerful explosive. I planted the bomb inside Dala's chamber and you know the rest. There must be a war so that Spira can be rid of the Al Bhed. The Al Bhed must be eliminated for Spira to be a perfect world. All they do is create weapons and murder others."
Lulu shouted out, "But you are Al Bhed as well."
Lonar- Boris muttered under his breath, "No... I am not."
Rikku shouted out, "That is not true, we are peaceful and are only trying to live peacefully with the rest of Spira. We have killed some yes, but only to protect us when they tried to harm us."
Seymour stepped in, "Enough of this, all forces, move in!"
The Guado soldiers then began to close in on their opponents.
-
"Jack, I just thought of something," said Tidus suddenly as the trio continued down the hallway.
"Yeah, what's that," said Jack without looking at Tidus.
Tidus continued, "I thought you had to have the other sword to complete the weapon to destroy Mi Yevon. Unless you have it already and you haven't told us, I don't think we are ready to face her yet."
Jack stopped suddenly and Tidus and Yuna did the same.
Jack said, "I have looked for Rhianon for many years. I am positive that I have scoured all of Spira looking for it. This is the last place it can be." He paused for a few seconds and continued, "Besides, I already know where it is."
Yuna and Tidus were astonished. "Where? Where is it then?" asked Yuna.
Jack made a small smirk and said, "Kinos has it."
"What! How do you know?" asked Tidus.
Jack's smirk vanished, "Remember in that canyon when he attacked us, I saw it in his hand. He quickly hid it when he saw me staring but I know he has it and he knows I know. That is why he is using that as bait so that he can kill me."
Yuna stepped in, "There is one thing that you haven't told us and that is who Kinos is."
Jack didn't say anything at first but then took a deep breath and began, "Several years ago, when I was searching for Omega and my father, I met a middle-aged man who studied ancient beasts of Spira. With him was his apprentice who was close to my age. The apprentice's name was Kinos. They decided to help me on my journey to find Omega, probably because they thought of Omega to be an ancient monster. As time passed, Kinos and I became close friends. We even trained together, though I was the better fighter. This never seemed to bother him, but instead motivated him to train harder and harder. Then one day, we finally found Omega and the three of us fought him with all of our strength. Unfortunately, Kinos' master perished at Omega's hands and Kinos soon followed. I barely escaped with my life but the grieving that followed was worse than death."
"Wait!" said Tidus suddenly, "How can he be alive now if Omega killed him?"
They continued walking as Jack responded, "He was not sent to the Farplane. What puzzles me is why he has sided with Mi Yevon? He was my friend."
(A/N: I forgot to add something in chapter 3. In this fic you become a fiend if you aren't sent and stay that way for many years. Then, you slowly begin to change into a fiend after that.)
Tidus decided to change the subject and said, "Now about this great sword that you're trying to get, what makes it so special that only it can defeat Mi Yevon?"
Jack responded, "The stories say that it is made of pure light. It was created to conquer all forms of evil, but it can only be used once."
"Why is that?" asked Yuna.
Jack continued, "Because when it makes the final blow, every piece of the blade will shatter, taking the darkness with it. When the sword is gone, Mi Yevon will be destroyed along with all darkness of the past, present, and future of Spira."
"Then all we have to do is find Kinos," said Yuna.
"And your search will end soon," said a voice that echoed through the halls.
"Who is that?" asked Tidus.
"It's Kinos," Jack replied.
Up ahead, the trio could see the end of the crystal halls.
Jack then said, "We must be careful, for Kinos has not only the Emrys gift but also the Cell-o-porter, so he can teleport around the room. This will be a difficult battle."
"We must run," said Jack suddenly.
"Why?" asked Tidus.
Yuna suddenly yelled, "Look out!"
Tidus turned and behind him, the crystal tunnel was vanishing into nothingness.
-
"ATTACK!" yelled the sergeants as the Guado neared.
Hearing this, Wantz charged his Chocobo toward the enemies surrounding circle at full speed with his dark axe drawn.
Around him, everyone else was doing the same except for the Al Bhed arming the machina guns and those piloting the airship that fired apon the enemy lines.
The machina and the Guado also charged at the same time with their various weapons drawn.
Lulu rode her Chocobo around the inside of the area, casting her most powerful spells at the Guado.
Wakka was covering her with his Blitzball.
Rikku was further out than they were, taking the soldiers head-on.
She had just taken down one Guado, but when she turned, she found her face a foot away from a Guado's scythe.
She quickly ducked under it as fast as she could, but the tip of it drew a long, narrow cut across her cheek forcing a high-pitched cry from her mouth.
She quickly spun around on her Chocobo and decapitated the Guado with the scythe.
Turning back around, she resumed her "swipe-dodge" method.
Wantz was doing better than he had thought.
He had killed a fair share of machina and had wounded quite a few Guado, but over time, he had begun to get arrogant.
He saw one machina nearby attacking some Al Bhed.
He steered his Chocobo in their direction with a show off manor.
He reached out with his axe and made a dramatic swipe for the machina's head, but its sensors picked it up, and the machina dodged the assault and followed with an upward stab, which connected with the Chocobo's underside. (Sorry Chocobo fans)
The great bird plummeted to the ground and lay still.
Wantz sat up and cursed before quickly slicing the machina in two.
Meanwhile, Seymour watched from the outer circle while casting a few of his own spells.
He saw that many of his soldiers were already dead and that the Al Bhed may prevail.
"Looks like I may have to use plan-B a little early," he said to himself and he smiled.
-
Tidus dashed as fast as he could down the crystal hallway as it began to disappear behind him.
Yuna started to run, but could not get far in her dress.
Tidus ran back to her and carried her.
Jack was able to reach the end of the hallway quick enough and was waiting for Tidus, but Tidus wasn't going to last much longer.
This new room was circular and had another hallway on the other side.
The walls were also made of crystal like the tunnel that Jack had just left and the floor was made up of a large glyph.
Here, Jack could not see Spira's sky through the floor.
Jack tried to run back for them, but some sort of invisible wall was blocking his exit.
"HURRY, TIDUS!" Jack yelled.
Tidus glanced behind him and saw that the hall was an inch away from falling into darkness.
He looked up and saw that he was several feet away from the exit, so he made a great leap with Yuna still in his arms.
He was able to make it a foot away from the exit but as he began to walk through the sanctuary of the new place, he was stopped out of nowhere by an invisible wall.
"TIDUS! YUNA!" Jack screamed as the two trapped lovers fell into the darkness.
"It seems that we are finally alone," said a voice from above.
"What have you done with them, Kinos?" Jack demanded.
Kinos suddenly appeared in front of Jack and said, "Don't worry, they are still alive... for the moment that is."
"LET THEM GO!" Jack yelled.
Kinos smiled and said, "Temper, temper, there Jack. You may be able to save them."
Jack raised an eyebrow but Kinos changed the subject, "Nifty little thing this is," he said pointing at the Cell-o-porter on his wrist.
He continued, "Do you remember when I used to say that. Oh it was so long ago, before we encountered Omega."
"How did you escape Omega, I was sure you were dead," Jack asked.
"You would want that wouldn't you?" Kinos sneered and continued, "That large blast of energy actually took me somewhere in the Omega ruins, in a hidden chamber. I found myself bound by black ropes and chained to the wall, like I was going to be tortured. It so happens that I was correct in that assumption and soon, Omega showed up and I went through months of pain and suffering. I tried to think of something else to get my mind off the pain but I could only think of one thing, and that was you. I realized that if it weren't for you, my master would be alive and we would not have wasted our time trying to help you with your problems. Then I thought of how you had gained my master's favor by proving your superiority to me at everything. He was like a father to me and you stole him away. As if that wasn't enough, you were the one that stole his life, not Omega. After realizing all of these things, I offered Omega a deal. If he were to give me my freedom then I would kill you myself. At first, he laughed and told me that he could do it himself. I then told him that you would be hard to track down and that soon, you would be strong enough to defeat him. He laughed at this and I asked him who he would rather have dead. Finally, he let me leave and I began training harder than I ever had before, preparing for this day."
"Kinos, I was not trying to steal Stangmar away from you," Jack said calmly.
Kinos clenched his teeth in anger and yelled back, "YOU ARE A LYING BASTARD! HE WAS THE CLOSEST THING I HAD TO A FATHER AND YOU STOLE HIM AWAY BECAUSE YOU LOST YOURS!"
He then looked away, breathing heavily. Once he calmed down again, he turned and said, "Forget about that now, for we must decide who the real Hope of Spira is."
"What are you talking about?" asked Jack.
"Rhianon," Kinos said calmly stretching out his left hand.
A samurai style sword with a silver handle and a golden blade shot from his outstretched hand. (A/N: It looks just like Jack's sword, only it is differently colored.)
Kinos continued, "I know the prophecy as well as you do Jack and I could be the Hope just as you could. I found this blade deep within the confines of an abandoned airship located within a glacier north of Zanarkand. It is finally time for us to see who the true hope is by having a fight. A fight to the death."
Jack looked down at the ground and said, "Kinos, I really do not want to do this."
He raised his right hand up and said quietly, "Olo Eopia."
Jack continued looking up at him with a fire in his eyes, "But you leave me no choice."
With that, the two swordsmen rushed at each other with their swords drawn.
Jack slashed at Kinos as Kinos swung back.
Both expecting the heavy impact but it never came.
Jack and Kinos both looked up to see each other's swords pass through its counterpart's blade and through the holder of the weapon as well.
"What is this? What is wrong with my sword?" Kinos asked suddenly.
Jack thought a moment and then said, "They were created to be one sword, and not meant to duel one another. Their spirits are lovers who seek to combine the sword again, they can't harm the other."
Kinos smiled once again and said, "Fine, it looks like we will have to settle this with our other weapons." After saying this, he dismissed his sword along with Jack.
Kinos then said, "Toropheus."
This caused a long-handled mace to appear from his hand.
"Death Seeker," Jack said causing a long black scythe to come out from his hand.
The two then began to duel once again.
Jack swung his weapon high at Kinos but it was deflected.
Jack spun around lighting fast this time aiming for Kinos' midsection but it was deflected.
He then spun around one last time aiming for the legs, tripping Kinos.
Jack was about to slash at the downed figure but hit nothing but solid earth.
As he struggled to remove the weapon from the ground, Kinos appeared from behind him and said, "That old 'Z' trick of yours may have worked when we were younger but this time, I was prepared."
Jack finally got his weapon loose but acted like he was struggling with it to fool Kinos. Jack then said, "Prepared? You're just teleporting with that watch. You're no different than before, always acting so arrogant, trying to impress everyone... never expecting a surprise attack!"
At that, he swung the scythe around and hit thin air.
"You aren't that perfect yourself, Jack. You didn't think that I saw that you had loosened you scythe?" Kinos had appeared at the other end of the room.
Jack turned slowly then ran at full speed at Kinos slashing like crazy, some blows being deflected, and some missing Kinos as he continued to teleport.
Then, Kinos teleported again, appeared behind Jack and began the assault. The first blow took Jack by surprise and put the mace's spikes within his left arm.
Jack cried out in pain but was able to use his other arm to deflect the rest of Kinos' blows.
As he continued fighting, Jack could feel his energy rising, he was almost powered up.
The question was, what should he do when he was completely powered up, perform Ars Arcanium, or use his overdrive.
For a long time, the fight went back and forth and the two rivals showed no sign of being tired.
Finally, Jack felt his power reach its maximum. All he needed was some space away from Kinos.
What Jack didn't know was that Kinos had also powered up and was almost ready to use his power.
At one point, his mace locked up with Jack's scythe and he said, "I'll bet by now, you are about ready to use that little Ars Arcanium trick of yours. Years ago, I would still have admired that skill, but I have found a new one."
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked with a slight hint of fear.
Kinos smiled and cried out, "RAGNOROK!"
Suddenly, he began to glow like in Jack's skill, but this time, shot into the air and began slashing at Jack from there.
Jack tried desperately to deflect the heavy blows but many of them connected with him and weakened him.
Finally, Kinos struck one last time and as Jack was feeling relieved that it was over, Kinos shot multiple blasts of energy from his mace that hit Jack all at once.
This sent Jack to the far corner of the room where Jack hit the wall hard and crumpled to the floor.
Kinos started laughing out loud at his rival lying on the floor and he said, "It appears that I am the superior this time. I only wish that my master were here to see me in my prime."
He turned and began walking to the opposite side of the room that Jack was on.
Now you can either die slow and painfully, or quick and painless. Let me think... I choose slow and painful."
Jack slowly began to rise to his feet and weakly stagger towards Kinos.
There was blood dripping off his face and off his sore hands.
"Oh look! The little boy is up, careful you don't want to hurt yourself," Kinos cackled.
Jack stopped in the center of the room with Kinos watching from the north end.
Kinos said, "What, to weak to walk six more steps? Poor little Jack, don't worry, I come... help you."
He continued to laugh but stopped when Jack said, "I'll give you credit, that was an incredible attack, but I'm afraid that I have more tricks than Ars Arcanium."
Kinos raised an eyebrow at this remark.
Jack raised both of his bruised arms up and strained his muscles as he powered up his attack.
The room began to quake and Kinos said, "What is this, what are you doing?"
He noticed that Jack's Death Seeker weapon had vanished as well.
Jack then cried out, "FULL... ARMORY!"
At that, hundreds of weapons shot out of Jack's outstretched hands and quickly fell the floor around him.
Jack lowered his hands after all the weapons were summoned.
Within the pile was practically every close-combat weapon ever created.
Jack then raised his arms again, and the weapons rose along with them.
Jack's fists closed and the weapons formed a slowly spinning circle around Jack, with the tips pointed outward.
Kinos watched in fear as Jack's hands suddenly flew open, sending all of the weapons flying in all directions like a shock wave of pain.
Kinos desperately searched for the teleporting button on the Cell-o-porter but before it could be pressed, one of the first weapons, a large knife cut the strap and pinned the watch against the wall.
Kinos looked at the knife and then looked ahead as hundreds of blades, spikes, and poles flew towards his cowering form.
After the attack ended, Jack relaxed and dismissed all of the weapons lodged into the walls and on the floor.
He then walked over to Kinos' twitching body on the ground nearby.
Kinos looked up at Jack as he approached his shivering form.
"Don't look like I betrayed you Kinos, for that is far from it. It was you who betrayed me. We were friends, not just friends... we were like brothers. I had lost my life in less than ten minutes on the night Omega attacked my home. How would you feel? All I wanted was a home. If you thought I was stealing your master, you should have told me so sooner. Things may have been better. But no, you had to take vengeance and side with Mi Yevon," Jack said.
All Kinos did was spit at Jack and slow stood up.
Jack then said, "You challenged me and I admit, if it weren't for my overdrive, you would be standing over me. I know I should strike you down right now."
Kinos sneered and said weakly, "Then... do it."
"Olo Eopia," Jack said and held his sword above his head.
Jack then said, "I will not kill you, Kinos. You will serve an even worse punishment. You must live the rest of your life in shame of your treachery. You shall also live the rest of your life without the Emrys skill to aid you."
With that, Jack took the sword and slashed it in front of him.
Kinos slowly opened his eyes realizing that he wasn't dead and then looked at his sides.
His hands lay on the floor, clutched into fists.
He sunk to his knees and yelled in agony as Jack stood over him.
Jack continued, "That is the only way to defeat an Emrys other than killing them, because without their hands, they are powerless. And when they lose their hands..."
Kinos looked down and saw his hands vanish and be replaced by several of the weapons that he had acquired including his mace and Rhianon.
He looked up slowly at Jack and said, "Who told you this?"
Jack replied, "Stangmar did."
Kinos scowled and quickly raised one of his bleeding arms to reveal a dagger's blade hidden inside his sleeve.
Before Jack could react, Kinos thrust the dagger into Jacks torso.
Jack sank to his knees as Kinos rose to his feet and slowly dashed off into the crystal hall that had somehow reappeared.
Jack weakly pulled the knife from within his chest, looked at the wound, and then fell to the ground.
And there he lay, still as the grave.
-
A/N: Woah! I have finally updated this fic. It's been a while huh? But like I said, I wanted to finish the other fic first. Speaking of which, I have thought a lot about it and I have decided to finish this fic first and THEN complete the Son of Auron: The Ruba Spheres. Thanks to all who reviewed, I appreciated every one.
Dragon and Sword Master: I am glad that you and Jenny figured out the little Tidus, Yuna, Jack deal. When I was writing that chapter, I was a little worried that nobody would figure it out but you proved me wrong.
Jenny: Well, I guess I am going to finish this fic sooner than you thought. I am glad you like my story.
Darkness Kingdom: Five Words: Thanks for your kind review.
Cool-Kitsune: Thanks for your review. I wish so much I could pick everyone who entered to have a role in the fic but I could only pick one. Thanks for your encouragement and I will try to add plenty of romance near the end.
DeAtH25: Thanks for the encouragement because it helped me a lot.
As you have hopefully found out by reading this, I have added the overdrive idea thought up by Storyweaver1 and added a few details of my own. I appreciate everyone's kind review and I hope you keep it up. I hope that you liked this fic and I look forward to chapter fourteen. Thanks again for the reviews and I will update as soon as I can.
Callik