Author's Note: Again I appreciate what reviews I have been given. Although my story comes to a close, I leave you behind with a promise that another shall take it's place. For few chapters remain in this fic, but they will be filled individually with the greatest of which my skill can provide. So, I do hope this chapter helps redeem myself for the semi-terrible one I installed recently. With every ounce of talent in my possession, this goes out to all my fans who have stuck by me this far! My time will be put forth to spreading my name across Fan Fiction, I will no longer be a dead writer in the eyes of authors and reviewers. Nor shall I be one whose grammar fails in comparison to theirs. Watch closely, Nikki, Bbychrangel, and everyone else! You all are the cause of my resurrection, so cuddle with the rewards I give you in return!
Chapter 20- The Confrontation
"Yuna, wake up," Paine's voice echoed in the mind of the summoner who lay motionless in the shadows cast by the flickering flames lighting the temple passageways. Her body pressed hard against the freezing marble beneath, skin cold while Yuna's shallow breaths appeared very clear in the air before the dark warrior's eyes. "Damnit Yuna," Paine cursed once more, shaking her briefly yet roughly as she sought to awaken her slumbering companion. "we don't have time for this!"
Yuna remained still, unresponsive to Paine's words and the shaking she was given so frequently. She could hear her clearly, although Paine's voice seemed to be more imaginary than real to the summoner's mind. Only the thought of resting appealed to her, not awaking, not moving around once more. Slumbering endlessly was the bliss desired, and it was in reach. Letting go of her needs, wants, desires, all released and forgotten would allow her that reward. That peace.
"Are you just going to leave Tidus here?" Again the voice came, stern, serious, and like a needle it stabbed into her heart.
Yuna's eyes shot open, feeling returning to her body as she lay in silence for a moments brief time before forcing herself to sit. She collapsed her face into her palm, taking in a deep inhale of breath as she was hit by a deep pain in her head.
"Huh?" Yuna blinked, clearing her blurred vision and scanning her surroundings slightly confused. "How long was I out?"
Paine sighed in relief, chuckling softly while she closed her eyes. "Long enough. Now come on, we're going to save your man aren't we?"
"Right!"
The dark warrior smirked, standing from her the position in which she had knelt and extending her hand quickly. Yuna eyed the offer for a second only, before accepting it by wrapping her fingers around her companions wrist and rising to her feet. Both exchanged glances of determination, confident in their goal to rescue Tidus. Yet the words of the Collector remained carved in Yuna's heart. She could not let them go, but she would not allow Tidus to die. As Tidus had done for her, she would do for him and find a way to save both Spira and her love, putting an end at last to the darkness which threatens them both.
"So, which way?" Yuna blinked with a frown, noticing just at this moment they stood in the center of four paths leading in different directions. Although she could not recall them being here before, she refused to waste valuable time on something so unimportant. They had to make haste.
'I'll show you!'
The Fayth appeared in a flash ahead before the two companions confused and lost within the temple complex of passageways and dead ends. His transparent image flickered like the candles around him, clear at one moment but then hardly visible the next. A result of their wavering strength. Of Oblivion's awakening.
"You," Yuna gasped in surprise, startled to witness another of the Fayth's appearances so shortly after Bevelle's destruction.
'There's no time to waste! Our strength declines with every second, so we cannot remain for long. Hurry, Yuna! You must end this now!'
"Right!" Yuna nodded her head in agreement, glancing to her companion before looking ahead once more and watching as the Fayth hastily hovered backwards up a staircase, never turning to look away from them. "We're right behind you!" In unison, both her and Paine bolted forward in pursuit, following with hopes they would make it in time.
Meanwhile….
"Mindless fools," Gallant roared as he violently flung Tidus's limp body across the platform at the temple's top. "Will the two not give in? Their efforts are wasted! Make it or not," he grumbled hatefully. "they cannot defeat me."
His eyes cast angrily to the sky while he drowned out the constant firing of the Celsius which remained in combat with the leviathan fiend he had summoned. His disappointed grew only greater as he realized the incompetence of his guardian, discovering now how pathetically weak this beast truly was. Regardless of how fearful it may have been in the past, a thousand years buried beneath the sand had made It as threatening as a shopuff. He could only see this seemingly deadly gargantuan as a failure. The one thing Gallant would not have toleration for.
"It seems my confidence was misplaced," he whispered while stepping forward to the edge and watching the back of the creature which swapped futilely at the air to bring down it's opponent. "your not fit to serve me. You, nor any of those cursed fiends, are worthy to exist in my world!"
His hand extended in a flash, fingers spread and palm pressed in the direction of the fiends back. Gallant's cerulean eyes narrowed menacingly, focusing his mind upon the channeling of the strength coursing through his veins. "I will dispose of you myself."
Green particles slowly began to gather where the Guardian towered above, swirling about it in a spiral while more and more of the energies started to amass. The creature could only gaze on helplessly in confusion, it's eyes trying to follow the myriad particles that encircled it.
"Ultima!"
Suddenly, the cluster of energies exploded, consuming the massive fiend in one blinding explosion that pushed forth and incinerated immediately the swarm of fiends that had gathered on the sands ahead. Powerful gales rocked the vicinity, the Celsius swaying as it lost it's stability.
"Whoa," Gippal yelled as he collapsed on the deck, struggling to hold a grip as the ship tossed about madly. "This doesn't look too good!"
"I agree." Baralai, in the same position as his companion just feet away, spoke up over the roar of the explosion and wind. "Dying in a crash isn't the way I had anticipated my end."
"Do you have to be so negative!"
"It's just a possibility, and likely that's what's going to-"
"Ah, shut up!"
Finally the light faded into nothingness, the dust slowly spreading across the terrain while all aboard the Celsius watched in awe silently. The creature was gone, as were the fiends. Not a trace of them remained, only a widened hole that fell endlessly below. The Guardian was no more, annihilated entirely by the spell cast by Gallant who was the size of a flea upon it's body. Incinerated.
'I hope Yuna's got a plan,' Gippal thought in his mind. 'Because if he can create such a powerful Ultima spell, we've got some serious problems on our hands.'
"It appears that everything we sought to accomplish, " Baralai said, shaking his head sadly. "may indeed be beyond our reach."
Gallant chuckled ominously while he observed the Guardian's execution, unaffected even the slightest by the rushing wind that had swarmed over him. The creature got what it deserved, a death quite magnificent. It's pitiful existence ended in the most fashionable way, with lights and all.
"With the Guardian gone, it seems that toy," he laughed in regard to the Celsisus." will be unoccupied. Oh well, they will not interfere." He turned his back unconcerned, drawing his eyes down upon his unconscious prisoner Tidus. All that remained now was to summon Oblivion's power, and Spira would fall. "Let us delay no longer."
Chants, hardly audible to the human ears, began to escape from Gallant's lips. His fragile hands folded together, stepping forward so silently across the plateform tiles until hardly any distance at all lay between himself and his captive. The wind noticeably picked up, the once still currents of air tugging more and more fiercely at Gallant's body while the chanting continued, dark clouds soon rolling over head. The deafening boom of thunder swallowed all in it's roar, the grounds of Bikanel seeming to shake under the sheer force of it's power as it echoed for miles on.
"Tidus!"
The scream drew Gallant's attention away from his task, the icy hues falling upon Yuna and Paine who stood at the entrance with fear-stricken expressions. His face twisted in a frown, hissing hatefully in response to their so-soon arrival. He had not anticipated them to arrive so quickly, not until the Awakening had come to pass. It was necessary that they be disposed of now, for so long they interfered his goals could not be accomplished.
"Fools," he spoke with an annoyed tone, hand drawn to the sword hidden within his cloak. "you should not have come! Oblivion's resurrection is inevitable. You cannot deny the return of a god!"
Paine stepped forward with narrowed, amber eyes that displayed the full extent of her hatred and rage in regard to this man who appeared to be the culprit behind everything, the man behind the curtains. "Yet we stand opposing you. Give in, your not going to succeed!"
Gallant laughed malevolently. "And I suppose you intend to stop me?"
"Rest assured." Paine tossed her head in Yuna's direction, whose aura too seemed to be filled with the hatred for this inhuman being. "Yuna, take care of Tidus. I think we're going to need him," she commanded although certain it was what the summoner intended to do to begin with. And slowly, she brought her eyes level with Gallant's own. "I'll take care of grandpa."
"By all means, do try."
In a flash Paine closed the ground that kept them apart, drawing her blade upward in a diagonal slash which Gallant meet head on with his own blade. Sparks flew in every direction, the two warriors leaping backwards to confront only once again as slash per slash they matched each other's movements. The colliding steel stung their palms, arms wrecked with vibrations produced by the sheer ferocity of their strikes. Yet still the blades held.
"It's amazing," Gallant began with a grunt, parrying Paine's strike and countering with a slash towards her exposed abdomen. "that a mere human would have the gall to stand against me."
"You could never," Paine responded between breaths of effort, narrowly warding off her foes falling blade. "understand what we're capable of. Only what you've learned through studies!" With a yell, Paine swung the sword against Gallant's own with everything she had, watching as she succeeded in momentarily disrupting his balance and sending him stumbling backwards with a powerful kick to the gut.
Gallant reposed himself quickly, leaping backwards to avoid an attack aimed at his throat. "I know your cowardly ways!" In a moments time he was locked in combat once again. "You hide in numbers to conceal your weakness! Without those to stand behind you your nothing! Devoid of bravery and all senses of what's right and wrong vanishes from sight!"
"And you'd know?"
"Yes. Considering I too was once victim of a mortal life."
With a final clash of their blades, both combatants fell back in silence, eyeing each other cautiously. Paine breathed heavily, exhaustion taking it's toll upon her body from the intensity of the battle, surprising herself by how she had managed to hold her own. Gallant, too, was somewhat impressed by her swordsmanship, though suffered not the physical strain as she.
"Excellent. You have skill. Beautiful yet deadly. A potent combination." Gallant sneered with an arrogant smirk, concerned in the slightest not. To him, this was only another battle. Unthreatening to his greatness.
"And for an old man, who looks like he should be using a cane, you can wield a sword pretty well yourself." Paine attempted to match his humor and confidence, glancing quickly over to Yuna and Tidus with hope she had successfully restored him.
"Curaga," Yuna yelled as she cast the restorative spell upon her fallen love, wasting yet another large dose of magical power in her third try to awaken him. He had not fallen to death. In fact he was far from it's clutches, but yet it was as though he chose to remain slumbering. For even the effects of a Phoenix Down did nothing to assist her.
"Damn," she cursed with a sigh of frustration, a crystal tear falling down her cheek. "please! Wake up, Tidus!" Her fists pounded lightly against his chest while she buried her face against him, praying for him to stir once again. "I want to hear you again. Please, I just want to hear your voice…"
"Depressing, isn't it," Gallant spoke with fake sympathy, his tone full of sarcasm. "Reunited in body yet separated still in spirit. It must be a shame to know your lover will never awaken again. His mind has been disconnected, severed from the rest of his body. And I doubt seriously he can ever hear your pitiful pleas."
Paine's blood boiled with rage, her amber eyes beaming with hatred absolute while her mind swirled with the emotions to inflict suffering upon her foe. The darker side, crueler yet far more efficient.
'It's time this fool got a lesson in pain.' She thought angrily in the sanctity of her mind. Yet that sanctity was defiled as a sinister tone, Gallant's voice, ringed through her head.
'How attractive. I always had a fetish for torment.' A mocking laughter soon echoed through her ears.
'Then I guess I'm your woman, because I've got plenty to bring'
Paine hurtled her body forward, channeling the greater portion of her magic power into her sword. Her mind concentrated upon it carefully, tying every strand of magical energy to surround the blade in a blinding light. "Excalibur," she screamed, pushing herself off into the air and raising her blade high above her head. For a second, the flow of time stilled when their eyes met. Amber facing blue, light facing darkness. But it was in those eyes,those terrible, piercing eyes, that Paine discovered the certainty of her fall. Powerless to stop it as she was, still she did not back down. Pulling the sword with every ounce of strength she could provide, the dark warrior rocketed downward at her opponent as gravity took it's toll.
"And so your story reaches it's end. The heroine rears for a final strike, and the bad guy falls?" Gallant's words came dull and uninterested as he watched the woman close down upon him with her blade. "Then you live happily every after."
Everything went numb the moment the blade penetrated her skin. She could only witness it in a motion so slow, yet could do nothing to prevent it. In a blur Gallant had raised his sword, just as she prepared to bring hers down upon him. The movement was so fast, so hardly visible, she didn't know what had happened until already it was too late. And she lay at his mercy, suspended in mid-air with a sword punctured through the left side of her lower abdomen.
Slowly, Gallant brought his lips close to her ear and whispered coolly. "But this is no fairytale." In one swift movement he had slung her off the blade, blood oozing down it's side as the girl went sailing off and smacking into the ground with a thud. He watched her squirm in pain, the wound obviously burning like fire.
"Your mistake was in resisting me," he stated while swiftly kicking her in the chest, making the woman tense and roll to her other side in agony. "To think you believed the two of you alone would be sufficient enough to bring me down. I, Gallant, a god!"
"Your…not a god," Paine whispered weakly, her eyes tensed in pain while blood began to accumulate in a puddle around her. "your just another wannabe."
This struck a nerve. His cool expression was replaced by rage, face contorted in a grimace while he flipped the blade of and raised it high above his head. "If you will not hold your tongue, then I'll do the honor of silencing it for you!"
An impact to the side left Gallant's attack incomplete as he was sent hurtling helplessly through the air several feet before colliding against the ground with a thunderous crack, his body rolling about for many seconds before coming to a halt. For the first time in ages, Gallant felt the experience of pain. He groaned out, his whole body seeming to hurt. Then he saw it, the crimson drop fall upon his hand, more and more splattering against his skin as he struggled to realize what it was. And slowly, his fingertips moved upward and brushed against the side of his scalp, a sharp pain shooting through his head as they dipped into the deep gash that flooded his face with blood. His blood. Blood he hadn't seen in ages and thought no longer existed. Mortal blood.
Worriedly, for the first time he's eyes filled with confusion and fear, the fell upon the culprit responsible for his injury, and watched with growing anxiety as Tidus slowly approached him, engulfed in a radiant, golden aura.
"Well," Tidus laughed as his body pulsated with power. "get up. I'm going to give you a lesson you'll never forget."