The Son of Auron: The Hope of Spira
Chapter 16
TheApocalyptic Eve
With the twin blades in his hands, Jack cautiously stepped onto the thresh hold of Mi Yevon's throne and up the glowing staircase.
Tidus and Yuna observed from the other end of the chamber.
With each step Jack took, the stair beneath him quietly hummed a single note belonging to the hymn of the faith.
Every step his foot left disappeared behind him.
After what seemed like hours he finally reached the summit of the staircase.
Turning he could only stare at the cupped hands of the statue, with no supporting platform between them.
Jack asked himself in his mind why the stairs led him here instead of higher, what is the significance of the hands based on Callikiller's forging.
He examined the hands from where he stood, but found no trace of assistance.
Yuna cried out, "Jack, hurry! Trust the balance."
Jack called a reply, "I don't know if this applies to this or not Yuna. We can't take chances."
Tidus joined in, "For the future of Spira, I think we don't have much of a choice!"
Jack looked nervously at the gap, took a deep breath and stepped out into empty space.
His feet did not connect with anything at all, yet still he floated there rather than plummeting to his death.
Opening his eyes and sighing in relief, he took a few more slow steps until he stood between the palms of the statue.
More relief reached him when he noticed a deep notch in the palms of each hand, making his objective obvious to even the simpler eyes.
He placed the end of the two swords in each notch, gripping the blades tightly.
He waited for something to occur but to his surprise, nothing did.
Tidus and Yuna were also confused, and tried to concoct their own solutions but none came.
Their thoughts were interrupted by a nerve wrecking shock wave from Jack's direction.
Jack looked around himself and noticed his outline burning bright with a white light. (Hey, that rhymes!)
Soon, he was completely consumed with the glow and was indistinguishable to Tidus and Yuna who were now crouching in cover behind a large pillar.
The glow expanded to Jack's swords and then to the entire statue.
At the same time, a heavy wind picked up in the great chamber and was soon after joined by the hymn of the faith, which seemed to come from the walls themselves.
As the wind grew harder, the hymn played faster and the statue with Jack still gripping the blades grew even brighter than before.
Squinting in the statue's direction, Tidus could just barely make out the unbelievable sight of the stone construction slowly start rotating its hands.
They finally grew still once more when the hands were in the same pose as represented in the prayer of Yevon.
As it was moving though, the hymn grew so quick, it was a loud hum by the time the statue ceased its movement.
Also during the event, Jack's outline was seen bringing his outstretched arms, still holding his weapons, up over his head, touching the two blades together.
Apon contact, the swords' outlines seemed to melt into one.
That was when, the hymn grew fainter until stopping at last with the wind but even though the glowing dimmed, it still held a barely visible aura around Jack's body.
As Yuna and Tidus stood up from their shelter and regained their posture, Jack was lifted by some unseen force and slowly returned to his comrade's sides.
In his hand, he held the satin hilt of a sword, but nothing more.
"Are you all right?" asked Yuna with concern and Jack nodded then said, "I felt so strange. I can't explain it, but it was almost like, for a moment, my mind was somewhere else. There was a barren wasteland around me and I heard a voice calling out from nowhere."
He took a moment to catch his breath then continued, "It said to me 'Your task is nearly completed but it remains unfinished. In your hands, you carry a weapon of purity, a weapon that can change the face of Spira forever whether good or evil wields it. Because of this, it will fully reveal itself when the eve of its duty calls. Until then, do not doubt its power.'"
Tidus cut in, "Is that why you only hold the hilt and not the blade?"
Jack nodded and Yuna asked, "Did the voice say anything else?"
Jack replied, "Yes. I asked it who it was and for them to show themselves to me. For a few moments, I heard nothing, but then, two people appeared on either side of me. One was a man who appeared to be a soldier of some sort, the other was a beautiful woman who had a calm yet cautious presence at once. The two spoke simultaneously and said, 'We are the souls trapped within the confines of the broken Callikiller, Olo Eopia and Rhianon. We have been reunited at last after so many years alone and we would like to show our gratitude but we still require more assistance. Our spirits shall not truly be together until the destruction of Mi Yevon. They demonstrated this by walking towards each other, holding their arms out. Rather than their hands touching, some sort of invisible appeared to stand between them, and I stood between the wall. 'Please,' they said. 'We need your help one last time.' I agreed to their request and they promised to assist me throughout my duel with Mi Yevon. I don't know how, but I am now more confident of victory."
Yuna then said, "Then I guess there is only one thing left to do."
Tidus teased, "Don't worry, Jack, she won't lay a hand on you with us to back you up."
This caused a brief smile to form on Jack's face only to disappear when he spoke once more, "Friends, this may be the last time we see one another. Promise me this, though: If I do fall in battle, you must find any way to escape. Also, if this is to happen and you make it out of the Farplane, tell Rikku I-"
Yuna interrupted, "-You will be the one to tell her whatever it is you want her to hear. You will defeat Mi Yevon and you will live to see her again."
Jack did not answer back to this and instead spoke, "Let us go, even now, Mi Yevon is wrecking havoc upon the Farplane's core."
-
Now in the cathedral once more, Yuna pointed Jack in the direction of the pentacle that she had seen earlier where two tall torches bordered it on each side.
"This was what caught my attention before we battled Seymour, I'm not sure what it is, but I thought that maybe you would," she said.
Jack bent over to closely examine the strange symbols written on the stone floor.
Standing back up, he shook his head and said, "I have no clue what this is supposed to be, but I can assume from that outline there," he said motioning to a portion of the pentacle resembling a sword hilt, "That I need to place some sort of sword there, and I'm guessing that it's the Callikiller."
Withdrawing the hilt from his pocket, Jack turned back to Tidus and Yuna and said, "Better stand back, I don't know what might happen."
They did so as Jack hesitantly placed the hilt in the empty shape.
At first, nothing happened, the hilt lay motionless.
"Why is nothing happening?" asked Tidus with slight annoyance in his voice.
"Maybe we're missing something," Yuna said.
None of them seemed to notice the bright light that streamed from the open doorway leading to the balcony suddenly go pitch black.
Then, a strong wind picked up, blowing the torches out.
Jack jumped up in alarm and Tidus yelled out, "What's going on?"
"It must be working, Jack" Yuna said. "Look at the pentacle!"
Sure enough, the glyph on the floor, with the sword hilt still in place, was glowing a bright orange tint.
Jack cried out in alarm when a heavy piece of debris struck him in the shoulder, as the wind grew stronger.
Soon, the trio was being showered with pieces of rock from the stone walls, which was mysteriously deteriorating in seconds.
After ducking down, Yuna began to notice by the glyph's light that the pentacle was acting as a vacuum and seemed to be pulling the entire palace into it's mysterious depths.
Jack also noticed this and cried out above the now roaring wind, "GET DOWN! THE PALACE IS IMPLODING!"
The three lay as flat as they could on their stomachs, gripping the two torch columns alongside the pentacle with all their might, as more and more of the palace began to disappear.
Soon, all but the twin columns and a small portion of the cathedral's floor remained as Tidus, Yuna, and Jack held on as tightly as possible.
After what seemed like an eternity, the winds finally began to die down, and the three heroes, who hardly had any strength left, finally let go of their supporters.
When the winds had dropped to a gentle breeze, the trio rose to their feet and checked their surroundings from the little light still given off by the glyph.
They now stood on the floating circular area of stone that remained of the cathedral, which was hardly 3 meters long.
They were surrounded by nothing but a vast, dark emptiness.
"This can't be it!" Jack said.
"Where are we? Did we do something wrong with the glyph or something?" Tidus asked.
Yuna asked, "Where's Mi Yevon? Is she here?"
"I don't know Yuna. We better stay on our guard," Jack replied.
Yuna found a small stone that survived from the destruction of the palace.
After picking it up, she tossed it out into the abyss and watched it fall until the orange glow faded off its surface. It's landing was never heard.
Then, out of nowhere, the glyph began to shine brighter and brighter, expanding the little light that the trio had.
The next event to occur was the orange light departing from the pentacle and begin to move across the floor through the outlines of cracks and scratches.
Even when the outlined light reached the edge of the platform, it kept expanding, and to the group's surprise, it started growing at a downward angle, changing into symbolic carvings in the floor.
Stepping closer to them, Tidus found that whatever area of darkness the light overlapped, the empty space below it would become solid ground.
A rounded staircase now led him down from the platform and the carvings continued.
Once the light leveled, it began to outline a much larger circular platform than the one that he had arrived on.
Once that was complete, it outlined a narrow walkway, which led to yet another small platform.
It was on this platform that the light reached its end.
It was also here, that a large bright silver crystal protruded containing an object that Tidus was unable to make out.
Jack and Yuna now stood by him as the bright symbols in the floors brightened enough for even weak eyes to see clearly.
"Where are we?" asked Tidus.
Yuna replied with fear in her trembling voice, "We are in the furthest depths of the Farplane. We are in the Farplane Core."
Jack began to walk down the staircase rather quickly without warning.
Upon reaching the bottom steps, he turned to Tidus and Yuna and warned, "Draw your weapons, she is here."
They responded quickly to this and ran to catch up to the boy who resumed his pace.
Once along side him, trying to keep up, Yuna asked, "What is that at that last ground?"
"That is Mi Yevon, herself." Jack replied. "She has encased herself in that crystal while she can concentrate her powers on the core's destruction, for protective purposes."
Sure enough, encased in the crystal, was a young woman who stood in place, within the crystal.
Her head was slumped over as if she were in a state of sleep, and her long hair hung over her face, obscuring it from view.
"She can't be that powerful if it's taken her so long to destroy something this small," Tidus said.
A fair, yet thunderous voice sounded from the crystal platform, "You are most unwise to question my endless power, you arrogant mortal!"
"She's awake!" said Yuna in surprise.
The voice ignored her statement and continued, "You are most unwise to doubt my power because what you do not know is that the core was once a great and endless plain, full of life and energy. I have decimated the land and reduced it to this vast nothingness."
By then, Jack was walking across the walkway to her crystal, now running, summoning the Death Seeker from his hand and leaping to strike Mi Yevon.
His plans were foiled, however, due to some sort of invisible wall surrounding the crystal and the tyrant it protected.
The wall absorbed the swing and sent Jack flying backwards onto the walkway again and his weapon over the edge and into the dark depths.
"CALLIKILLER!" Jack cried summoning the hilt of the legendary blade.
"So, the blades have finally been united," Mi Yevon said. "Well, as long as I am in my protective encasing, I am untouchable."
Jack sneered as Mi Yevon continued, "But I can see that you have come so far, so I'll at least give you a death worth dying for. I have grown quite bored in this crystal for so long, so while I continue my destruction of the core, you will fight for my amusement."
Tidus, Yuna, and Jack were shocked and Tidus stepped forward and said, "Listen Mi Yevon, we didn't come here to entertain you, we have come to end your madness, and we will succeed!"
Mi Yevon grinned, "Oh really, mortal? You seem most confident of your power, a very common aspect of your kind. Well then, I guess I will have to present more of a challenge for you then."
When she said this, two bright beams of light flashed from her eyes and the ground beneath Tidus and Yuna grew soft, causing them to sink.
Once the ground level had reached their ankles, the ground around them hardened once again, locking them in place.
Jack then felt an unseen force send him flying back and landing him in the center of the middle, larger platform.
"Since your services to Lord Seymour began those many years ago, I have heard countless stories of your unmatched strength, your battle techniques, the great power you had obtained. For a long time, I simply dismissed them as mere fables, fairy tales, and pure make-believe, and I still follow this. Now, I can finally witness your skill for myself. So, boy, I present to you a simple task," Mi Yevon said.
Jack stood up, catching his breath after the collision.
Mi Yevon continued, "I have always believed there are three true feelings that mortals possess. You will meet the three in battle, their forms I will choose appropriately. The first of these… is hatred."
Her eyes flashed and a dark shadow appeared at the edge of the platform, on Jack's right side.
For a few moments, the shadow simply hovered off of the ground, but then, it began to quiver and take shape.
Once it retained its solid form, Jack could do nothing but stare agape as the looming figure of Omega stood, leering in his direction.
Mi Yevon spoke once more, "The second…is fear."
At that, another shadow appeared on Jack's left, and soon formed into a dark figure, wearing a black hooded cloak, which obscured his face. In his hands, the figure held the deadly Axe of Darkness.
Jack would have screamed at the sight of the unknown, if his throat had not gone bone dry.
"And the third, although weak in concept, yet deadly all the same…is love." Mi Yevon finished, eyes flashing.
The third and final shadow loom directly in front of Jack and then took its form.
Rikku now stood before the young Emrys.
At this, Mi Yevon made a closing statement, "Now is the test of your power. Are you prepared to face them? The time is up. Show me your skill, Emrys!"
Jack dismissed the hilt and then returned his glare in the direction of the new arrivals.
A mere fraction of a second was all Jack needed to predict his opponents' form of attack. The three foes leaped straight toward him, with their weapons pointed in his direction, expecting to sink into their target's flesh apon landing.
Jack was quicker though, for he immediately dove down into a crouching position, with his torso parallel to the floor.
A single word was spoken and the Death Seeker was in his hands as he whirled around to slash the nearest enemy just as they were landing.
He felt a rush of accomplishment as he saw his blade heading directly for the exposed torso of Omega.
The attack would have been a killing blow had the scythe not been knocked away by the Axe of Darkness.
Though his anticipation had been extinguished, Jack used the swing given from the Axe's parry and continued the swing back towards the unknown.
Impact was made, but only a small trickle of black blood from the hand is all that proved the attack successful.
Jack tried the swing again but was delayed by a crushing blow to the temple by Rikku's gauntlets.
Jack stood quickly as he found the trio assaulting him with full force, to deflect the weapons as quickly as he could manage.
He looked up at Rikku, to see a look of pure hatred and bloodlust in her emerald eyes.
"Rikku…" Jack gasped desperately, "It's me! It's Jack, you must remember!"
The plea proved useless, as the look in her eyes didn't even flicker.
Jack then realized that he had lost focus for that brief moment after taking a blow to the face from Omega's foot.
The blow sent him flying back and over the edge of the platform into the empty abyss.
Tidus and Yuna gasped in shock, and the three attackers looked down at the plummeting boy, who was fidgeting with some object on his wrist in desperation.
Before they could see what his intentions were, he had been swallowed by the darkness.
Then, Omega's eye turned around rather quickly and looked up to see the Hope of Spira appear out of thin air, bringing his scythe down towards them.
If Rikku and the symbol of fear had been aware of the boy's return as soon as Omega, they may have been able to prevent the strike from succeeding.
The scythe's blade sunk itself into the exposed eye of Omega just as it was extending its claws to block it.
Upon impact, a great shock wave escaped from the beast as its body dissolved into a pile of red sand.
The shock wave also sent Jack, Rikku, and the unknown flying back in all directions.
Jack luckily landed in the center of the platform, but the other two were much less fortunate, for they were sent over the edge.
Jack quickly recovered and dashed to the site where the duo had fallen.
"Rikku?" he called as he cautiously peeked over the edge and stared into the darkness.
He was answered by a sweeping kick to the face by Rikku's boot as she swung back over onto the platform into a powerful kick.
Jack stumbled back in alarm as she continued her assault as before.
Jack found it much easier to parry her attacks as opposed to dueling against her and two others.
His thoughts were interrupted by a mind numbing pain that hit his upper leg.
He cried out and glanced down to see the Axe of Darkness embedded in his flesh, which then removed itself as the wielder swung at him again.
Limping, Jack turned to block the unknown's weapon and Rikku's at once.
Even with their strength seemingly endless, Jack found his own rapidly slipping away, faster than he expected it to.
Each parry became more and more sluggish as his blade took blow after blow from the two.
"He's not going to make it," Tidus said.
Yuna replied, "He's losing his strength, very quickly too. It can't be right, he's fought better than this."
Tidus thought about it and then, a thought stuck him and he cried out, "Jack!"
Sweat and blood glistening on his scalp, Jack slowly lifted his head in acknowledgment, through the battle.
"They are not real!" Tidus said. "That's not the Rikku that you love, she is just an illusion! Fight her, show no mercy!"
Jack nodded, then winced in pain as the pointed barb on Rikku's weapon sank into his shoulder.
He still continued the struggle, though he showed no change in tactics.
"It's not working Tidus, he still thinks she's real!" Yuna cried.
Tidus tried again, "Jack, listen to me, she isn't real!"
Jack still tried to accept what Tidus said, but he couldn't shake the image out of his head of the beautiful young girl that he loved now facing him in combat.
Tidus was about to try again but he was interrupted by Mi Yevon's voice in his head, "Don't even try to sway his thoughts, mortal, for the traits of fear and love has taken hold of his mind. That is their purpose."
Tidus sneered and continued calling out and soon, his voice was joined by Yuna's, "That is not Rikku, simply one of Mi Yevon's creations, just like the other you fight!"
The Axe of Darkness then tore a deep cut in Jack's face, and he cried out in agony, but still parrying the attacks.
Finally, the unknown pulled back its weapon in preparation for a powerful slash.
Jack held up his weapon in desperation as the axe came down, but the end had come for the strike cut through the scythe's blade with a loud crack.
Stumbling, Jack slowly reached down to grasp the blade end of his now shorter weapon.
Before he could, he felt a cold hand clasp around his throat and slowly lift him off the ground.
He looked down to see Rikku with an evil grin on her face as she tightened her grip, bearing a strength he wasn't aware of her to possess.
As he felt the life slowly begin to pass from his bones, his vision began to melt into a mere blur and the cries from Tidus and Yuna began to echo and distort.
Just before their voices vanished completely, and as his eyes were closed completely, he heard one last thing from Yuna, like a beacon in the darkness: "Jack, look into her eyes and tell me that your true love would ever do this to you."
Weakly, he managed to partially open his eyes, where his gaze traveled to look into the emerald spheres that had brought him hope throughout the entire journey.
He had looked deeply into those eyes before, when they first met, when he and her had sat together and had had their first conversation in the light of the Moonflow, and when he had told her of his past for in his heart he knew that she could be trusted.
Those memories had never left his mind, and whenever he looked into those eyes, he had seen those memories reflecting back at him, but more importantly: he saw hope.
Now, he looked into the eyes of the one who was now rapidly draining his life from him.
In those eyes, he saw no joy, or hope, or love.
In these eyes, he saw nothing, merely a green empty surface, and nothing more.
Upon realizing this, his senses began to quickly return to him and he felt the fake Rikku's grip begin to weaken as some sort of unexplained force was weighing him down against her.
Finally, she couldn't hold him anymore and she let him drop to the floor.
Jack's body didn't move at all and Yuna's voice quivered, "I-I-is he…i's he…dead?"
Tidus didn't answer for his face was frozen in place.
Then, the body twitched and with a groan, Jack slowly lifted himself to his feet.
At the same time, the duo of love and fear now began to slowly step back in caution.
Jack limped back a few steps from them as well.
Then, he painfully stood upright, as his robe slowly began to renew itself from the series of tears and blood stains that still drenched Jack's face.
Then, to everyone's astonishment, the slashes and injuries he bore began to vanish.
A newfound strength appeared to hit him, as he casually wiped the remaining blood off of his face and hands and walked over to pick up his severed weapon.
Mi Yevon then cut in, "YOU FOOLS, KILL HIM!"
Rikku and the unknown seemed to lose all sense of fear they had previously shown and dashed towards him, with their weapons out.
Jack stood back up without retrieving his blade as the two rushed as him.
He simply stood there with a calm expression on his face, waiting for the impact.
Finally, the spiked gauntlets and the Axe of Darkness struck out at the boy and hit him directly in the chest.
Miraculously, their attacks had the same effect as hitting a solid concrete wall.
Pulling their weapons back in alarm, they once again started backing away in fear.
Jack spoke calmly, "No." At this, the two froze, unable to move.
Jack continued, "I will no longer be fooled by your mirages, Mi Yevon."
He then started strolling toward the large crystal that the dark empress resided in.
When he was a few feet from passing the now frozen creations of Mi Yevon, we gave a light wave with his arms and the two vanished, leaving behind two small piles of sand, the unknown's being black sand and Rikku's being green.
Despite the unexpected unveiling of the boy's power, Mi Yevon said nothing from within her encasing.
He stopped at the walkway to her platform and reached back with his right hand toward the previous battlefield and the blade end of the Death Seeker rose from the stone.
Tidus and Yuna were in awe and Tidus whispered, "How is he doing all of this?"
Yuna remained silent, for Jack now swung his hand back toward Mi Yevon's crystal, with the blade following the swing.
"I release you, fallen goddess," Jack said as his scythe embedded itself into the crystal wall, a beam of light shining from the new opening.
"But-" Tidus said, "I thought he couldn't break it."
Jack appeared to have heard this and turned to the two, smiled, and said, "Do not be afraid my friends, this madness is about to end."
Jack's attention was broken when Mi Yevon hissed, "Arrogant mortal!"
The entire crystal suddenly exploded in a wave of shards, in which Jack dropped to the ground and lay on his stomach.
Tidus and Yuna's feet suddenly rose from the ground just in time for them to do the same.
When it was safe again, Jack stood and turned to face the goddesses' shining outline before him.
It was a moment later that he, along with Tidus and Yuna finally saw her face.
Or, it was almost seeing her face for where that should have been, was a round white mask.
Where the eyeholes were supposed to be, two twin diamonds were embedded in the pale steel.
Painted around the jeweled sockets, were what appeared to be two orange suns.
No mouth was on the mask or air holes, which Jack assumed unnecessary for the queen of light.
"So, Mi Yevon has so far been right," Mi Yevon said.
"I now see your true strength, were it anyone else than I in the prophecy, then I would believe it to be completely true."
Jack calmly replied, "You have called me headstrong, yet you speak no differently than I do."
Mi Yevon laughed and said, "Oh, believe me, young one, I express no arrogance of my ability, it is not my nature to be overconfident. What I speak of is the destiny and fate of Spira. That scythe may have destroyed my chamber, but I can be harmed by no other weapon but Callikiller."
Jack defiantly threw his Death Seeker at the woman, but the moment it left his hand, the scythe melted in thin air and vanished into the floor.
Jack summoned the hilt of Callikiller in response and held it facing the goddess.
"Callikiller!" Jack said, "I summon you blade, to conquer this menace!"
As great as his words were, no blade appeared from the hilt and Mi Yevon started to laugh.
"Poor boy," she said. "It looks like you have broken your toy. I guess you weren't the prophecized one after all."
Jack gaped in astonishment at the hilt, wondering if her words were true and he wasn't the Hope after all.
"Well, it's too bad," Mi Yevon said in mockery. "I was hoping you would at least have some sort of weapon to defend yourself. I wanted a challenge, but beggars cannot be choosers so I guess I will have to kill you as you are."
Jack took a few steps back, now terrified.
Mi Yevon grinned wickedly and shook a finger at him, "Now, now, little one. You can't just run away after coming all this way. You came here to fight me, so now you have your chance."
With that, the last true battle for Spira began.
-
A/N: (que trumpet fanfare) "CALLIK HAS RETURNED!" lol. Hey everybody, I would like to apologize for my long absence. After my computer was fixed, I tried to work on this chapter, but I just couldn't do it. Might have been writer's block, or maybe just laziness, I don't know. I kinda needed to break to catch up in school and shizzit, I guess. Whatever the reason, I am so sorry to all of you who were anxious to read the end of this story. I couldn't have left you at a worse cliffy in the previous chapter, so please forgive me. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter, cuz I worked on it the past to weeks for countless hours trying to make it as good as I could, though I still think more could be done. Maybe I'll change it later, who knows. If you review this chappie, I won't take so long with the next one I promise (not that I will take 7 months to write the next chapter either). So, please review, and I look forward to updating.
Callik