Author's Note: I'm back, giving you all an update sooner than I myself had anticipated. With the cliffy I left you all in the previous chapter, my original intent was to wait a rather good few days before adding another installment, but it seems my will to torment you is weak or my desire to write is strong. Whatever, at least I'm updating right? Well, this chapter will be based on Yuna's POV for a short while. The POV will actually alternate between Tidus and Yuna mostly. So you all may catch a glimpse of the climax through their eyes. So here it is, the next and final chapter of Darkness Falls!

Chapter 22- Darkness Falls, Part Two: Wicked Rising ((Yuna's POV))

I found myself unable to move in that instant as the gunshot rang through my ears, the expression of hurt and betrayal, pain I had caused him, splitting my heart in two as the bullet made contact and passed into the left side of Tidus's chest. I knew I had once again regained control over my body, for the powerful presence no longer blanketed my mind, and it's voice rang no longer through my ears. Only the shot, that one shot, was audible to me. And it echoed on for eternity within my head.

Why? It was the only thought I found myself able to think as I stared blankly ahead, the gun falling from my grasp. If I had been able to find myself, I would have acted, and been by Tidus's side in an instant. But I couldn't. I was lost, trapped within a complex of emotions built like a maze in my heart. I couldn't get to him, only be pulled further away by some unseen force.

"Yuna!"

Paine's scream was like a whisper, how I knew it was a scream I didn't know. Maybe because I had just shot my only love? Killed him? Human nature, right? To scream when screaming is necessary. Or wasn't it? Perhaps screaming was unnecessary, an incorrect response to the situation. Maybe humans weren't suppose to scream at all.

Reality was bending. Things like this weren't supposed to happen, weren't supposed to be. Lovers don't shoot their loves, they don't. It's not right, it's a crime, it's a sin. And in this world, sin is unacceptable. Sin doesn't belong. And if I was a sinner, did I deserve to exist?

Finally, feeling returned to my legs and arms. The fog of questions began to clear, and in an instant I snapped back to the real world, or what I thought was. For ahead of me, breathing though barely, Tidus lay in puddle of his own blood. His own life source. Life I had taken away.

"No," I whispered as tears stung my eyes, my strength wavering. It wasn't me. I didn't do this! I had no control, it was something I couldn't have prevented. Or could I? The voice was so convincing, how do I know it truly DIDN'T convince me to do this? I thought I wasn't acting on my own, or was I really and just too blind to see it?

Finally I collapsed by his side, uncaring as my hands soaked in his blood. There was so much, so much of it. I didn't know humans had this much blood in them, it just seemed impossible. But they did, and slowly, Tidus's blood was draining.

"Tidus," I whispered, whimpering quietly as the first of many, many tears began to fall. "I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean to! I didn't want this!" Did I? I shook the question from my head. No, I didn't.

"Y-yuna," Tidus groaned, obviously in pain. Pain I had brought him. His eyes opened to meet my own slowly, but I recoiled almost immediately as I stared into darkness. No eyes, no beautiful blue or golden pupils. Just an empty black, hole devoid of life. And I wondered if I had taken it all from him.

"I'm so sorry!" I tried to scream out my words, but was unable to as a sob rose in my throat and cut it off. "I didn't have any control! I-I couldn't stop! I w-wanted to b-but I just couldn't! I couldn't!" I pressed my head against his stomach, crying uncontrollably as my whole body was hit by wave after wave of quilt and sadness. If he died, I could never forgive myself. I could never continue living this life. And if he died, I'd die with him. Life without him was meaningless, I was meaningless. He made me whole, and no one can exist feeling incomplete.

"It's o-okay." I lifted my gaze up to meet his own, forcing my self to stay level with the terrible blackness. "Don't cry, Yuna. Please don't."

He told me not to cry. Never to cry. I wasn't supposed to cry. Then why did I still want to? How could he lay there, dying, and tell me not to cry when it was my fault? I guess It was just him. He never wanted to see my tears, only a smile. Still I couldn't bring myself to give him one.

"Forgive me," I whispered next to his ear, embracing his neck with my arms and holding him close while I bit my lip to contain another sob. I closed my eyes to stop the tears, but they refused to stop falling. They probably never would.

I felt his arms wrap around my waist, my body shivering in delight at his touch to which it had gone without for many hours. But still the hold was weak, not containing the strength It once had. He was dying, fading. But I wouldn't let him go, I refused to.

I broke away which made a questioning look form on his face.

"Your not going to die here," I told him with every ounce of strength I had to sound reassuring. "I won't let you. My years as a summoner should leave me with more than enough curative spells to keep you alive. I did this and I'm going to fix it."

I glanced back quickly in Paine's direction, pleased to she was still in the world of the living as she looked back at me. I could see the uncertainty in her eye, the distrust, but I ignored it. She had every right to have doubt at the moment, the events hadn't made me appear very loyal. Yet I knew she somehow was aware I wasn't myself in that instant, and if she didn't, I prayed she'd soon figure it out.

I turned my attention back to Tidus whose frown had been replaced by a calm smile, and I hope he believed I could pull it off. I hope he still trusted me, still loved me. But I couldn't figure that out, not now, I would be wasting time only. And every second counted.

"Stay still," I ordered while pressing my bloodied palm against his wound, concentrating my energies upon searching for the bullet that had caused this. It wasn't there, to my own, and Tidus's fortune, passing through, and causing no seriously internal damage. With that task completed, I hastily drew to my next goal, which was healing the wound itself. I had much experience when it came to healing gunshot wounds, and any type of wound for that matter, so it was nothing new to me. But difficult no less, and draining. I'd pull through.

I could feel the magical powers coursing through my fingertips and flowing into the hole made by the bullet, mending the separated flesh and bone slowly. The process was tiring, and depleting my magic with every passing moment rapidly. But I wouldn't give in, not until-

"Ahh," I impulsively screamed as a pair of strong hands gripped my shoulders violently, sending pain coursing through my arms and flinging me back across the platform. I hit the ground hard, rolling as the force of the throw left me unable to stop, and powerless to react. Finally, I came to a halt. I shock off any pain I felt as anger coursed through my veins, forcing my eyes to focus upon my attacker as I willed to stand. "Gallant."

Gallant's seemingly everlasting smirk made me flinch, his arrogance portrayed clearly by the gleam in his eye. For some reason he looked pleased, happy, as he approached me at a slow place, blood smeared all over his face and pouring still. He looked terrible, more than before. But after the beatings he has taken, how could he not? How could even bare to stand?

"Well, Summoner," he regarded me with a laugh, confusing me all the more. "Now look what you've gone and did. For one moment, you at last let your heart be spoken, and then continue on with the lies and deceit immediately after. You shoot the man responsible for your suffering in an effort to extract your revenge, only to regret it a moment after and attempt to keep him alive. How so terribly sad."

"You," I hissed as rage made my body twitch. It was him! He made me do it! He forced me to injure Tidus! It was inhuman. Did this man feel no remorse? Was he a man at all? "You made me do it! You're the one who forced me to fire!"

"Did I force you?" He asked innocently, tilting his head to the side with a confused expression.

"Yes!" I couldn't contain myself from yelling, this beast still continued to mock me! He knew perfectly well he was the one responsible, so why did he persist in playing these games with me? Why?

Another of his chuckles rose within the air, that sinister and annoying laughter, obviously taunting me. "Well, I had no idea. I was under the impression you had finally decided to be honest for once. Such a shame! I was admiring you there for a minute, Yuna."

"No! Don't say another word!"

Gallant sneered, at my anger or in his own twisted amusement, I'll never know. "Can't face the truth? I just gave you the push you needed, you're the one who pulled the trigger."

"That's a lie," I yelled out again, trying to push his words away. He was lying, I'd never do this. Would I? I know my heart is pure, and I'd never shot someone, especially someone I love, out of hate! I believed. "Your lying."

"You sound doubtful." And he was right. I did. I was doubting myself, my heart, and my love. Was I the woman I thought I was? Was I truly? Or maybe, just maybe, I was a woman completely different. I couldn't find the answer, it was nowhere in sight! I searched the depths of my heart and soul and beyond, but nothing was waiting for me. Nothing.

"Did I," I whimpered out loud, struggling within as I sought to end the conflict between who I believed I was and the person I truly was inside. Maybe they were one in the same, or two separate people. "Maybe…I did. But, no! I couldn't ever do that. I couldn't, not to him."

"You'd be surprised how easily it is to bring someone harm," again Gallant's voice came to my ears, amused no longer, cold and serious. He meant it. I could tell, he wasn't lying.

He could have been right, he might just be. Could my beliefs have blinded to me? No! I couldn't keep thinking like this. My mind was being torn apart, drawing close to a decision and then backing away from it. I had to chose, I wasn't the one who shot him. I was me. The me that he controlled, that made me speak words that weren't mine and made me feel emotions that didn't belong in my heart. He had defiled my soul by tainting my body with his presence. This monster, this beast! He couldn't be allowed to live on anymore!

"You monster, your sick!"

He seemed to be taken slightly by surprise by my comment, his eyes widening momentarily before narrowing once more in annoyance. "Am I the monster? Or did you forget. You sacrificed Rikku to get to me, and sacrificed Paine once you arrived to get to Tidus. What makes us so different? Tell me, what truly keeps a summoner, who would sacrifice her own guardians to reach her goal, from being a monster? What makes you," he paused, his voice low and menacing. "any different from me?"

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!"

My eyes turned, heart thumping in it's chest, as my ears caught the sound of a crack, through the corner of my eye watching as Gallant sailed through the air, Tidus's arm extended while his body flared within the center of a burst of golden energy.

(( Tidus's POV ))

I could feel the power coursing through my veins as the tingling in my knuckles passed from the punch I had delivered, successfully sending Gallant's face into the marble stone that supported us. The wound I had received stung slightly, having not been entirely healed by Yuna. But at least the bleeding had stopped. For Gallant had attempted to fill Yuna's head with his lies, I wouldn't allow it. I refused.

"Don't ever," I breathed, allowing my arm to lower. "talk with her like that again. Actually, just don't talk with her at all."

I saw and heard Gallant cough, spitting up a large splotch of blood from my attack. I knew he wouldn't stay down, no, not him. After all I had done to cause him harm, he was no where near slowing down. He would keep coming, until one of us lay dead.

"What is the matter?" He asked me weakly, seeming to stand with great difficulty before facing me once more with a hateful glare. "She's the one who shot you, the one who put the bullet through your chest. Why direct your anger towards me when she is the culprit RESPONSIBLE!"

I was flung back suddenly as a surge of power stung my mind, hitting my head with a sharp pain. I groaned as I struggled to stay on my feet, the ground beneath me passing by in a blur from the sheer force of the attack. I had never been mentally hit before, it was new. And damn it was painful. This jackass just kept surprising me by the second. Maybe it was my turn to do some tricks?

I found my footing once more and stopped, breathing heavily as I let my chin fall against my chest. This bastard would pay for that, just like everything else he deserved to die for.

"You never, ever should have touched her, or made her feel like that," I spoke out loud, making my voice hard and angry. "I know you were controlling her when she shot me. She reeked of your presence! It took me awhile to realize it, but by that time, I guess it was to late. But now I have the chance to return the favor."

Something inside told me to reach out with my mind, and I obeyed it. I felt as though I wasn't myself, for my thoughts were to locate the path his mental energy had followed. And awkwardly enough, I did. What came next I couldn't help but feel excitement at, for a great pressure built up in my head, growing and growing until the point it felt like my mind would burst! I wanted it to stop! And then it released. In one, instant it was there, and then gone, retracing the path of his attack and hit by one of my own, my first no less, mental attack. But unlike when he hit me with his, he didn't stay standing.

"Ahhh," he screamed out as he immediately lost his ground, soaring back further and further away as though Sin himself had swatted him with it's paw. I felt pleased, happy, watching him hurtle through the air like a missile, hitting the ground hardly and skidding even longer. Then he stopped. I could still her his grunts of pain and effort as once again he struggled to stand, and I immediately began to amass another blast of mental energy to end it all. But then I stopped. And I hate myself for doing it.

"You," he began as he stood once more, turning to face me with glazed eyes. "You fools. Y-you think you have b-beaten me? C-conquered a god? Fools, just fools. Even if I cannot use your body to harness Oblivion's power, Tidus, nothing changes! He will return, regardless of his form!" Then he went silent, his face twisting in a bloodied grin. "And so it ends."

I glanced to Yuna briefly, he regarded me with a look of confusion. I, too, was lost. What did he mean? If Oblivion could just return in any form, why go through all this trouble to capture me? And then I remembered. Because I was the best choice. Because any other could not contain the maximum of his power, because I was a dream.

I hurried my gaze back upon Gallant, and then watched in surprise, as he slowly took a step back, and began to fall.

"The end begins today! Farwell Spira, hello hell!"

And then he was gone. Disappeared from my sight. And I stood helpless, unable to act. I could have made a run, or attempted to manipulate him into stopping. But it was too late. He was gone, with his words echoing through the air.

Suddenly, the wind around us began to tug at our bodies. A streak of lightning spreading across the dark skies, a boom of thunder following shortly after. And then there was pain. I found myself collapsing immediately, tugging at my shirt as my heart burned. It was unbearable. This pain. I wanted it to stop, it had to. It was tearing my apart! But it was only the beginning, from then my head was hit by a jolt.

(( Normal POV ))

Yuna watched as her lover lay on the ground, shaking violently. She didn't know what was happening, couldn't understand. He had been fine just moments ago, and then he had collapsed, his expression filled with immense pain. But there was nothing to cause it. Nothing had hit him, that she could see. Yet then again, Tidus had finished Gallant by hitting him with some unseen force. Was that why he was suffering now?

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to face the person behind her with a start. "Paine!"

The dark warrior stood behind her, regarding her companion with a smirk and nodding briefly, one gloved hand covering the wound on her side. "We need to get out of here," she spoke seriously, the smirk fading into a look of concern.

"Why?"

"Something's just not right."

Yuna blinked before nodding, agreeing with her. Indeed something was amiss. The air, no, everything around them had become somehow…disturbed. For what reason she was completely without thought, and ignored it for the better. "Let's get Tidus and go."

But they weren't given the time. Suddenly, a burst of immense energy erupt from the crater in which Gallant had fallen. Massive, transparent tentacles rose into the air, lashing about wildly at nothing while a monstrous roar seemed to shatter the sound barrier itself, making Yuna and Paine flinch as they made a run for Tidus's fallen body.

"What's happening?" Yuna asked in panic. But Paine didn't answer her question.

"We need to get out of here," Paine spoke while scopping Tidus up in her arms and making a dash for the exit.

Yuna followed in silence, worriedly looking at Tidus's face which was now blank and emotionless, which made her feel assured he was suffering no more. Even the energy that surrounded him had faded. And then, taking a glimpse back to the where the tentacles lashed about and the energy flared, something caught her eye, and she stopped.

Paine hadn't gone a few steps ahead before she noticed Yuna was following her no longer, not moving at the least, standing still with her back turned to the direction she was supposed to be heading. "Yuna, come on!" But she didn't respond.

"Damnit," the dark warrior swore before running to Yuna's side and looking to what had caught the Summoner's attention. And she almost dropped Tidus's body on the spot.

Ahead of them, where their nemesis had fallen and been presumeably dead, a dark figure stood in the center of the chaos. The tentacles that now lashed about in the air sprouting from his back, his eyes filled with nothing more than pure evil. It was Gallant. But something was different.

"Now what?" Paine growled threateningly, readying herself to avoid any attack he flung. But he just stood there, suspended in mid-air, gazing down upon them from high above.

"1000 years," his voice rang out, cracked and inhuman. A voice distorted, sounding like how Sin would sound had he been capable of speaking. "and now freedom. I have been released, at long last." He admired his hands briefly before continuing. "But left to enjoy it within this pitiful form. Gallant's body was not meant to contain my power, and the fool sought to attempt it either way. He should have known, should have be smarter than this. But he was only human, and a pawn in my game."

"Who are you?" Yuna yelled out, the possibilties running through her head rapidly.

"I am the darkness that exists within everything and nothing," He responded while fixating his gaze upon her slender frame. "I am the evil your hearts contain within it's shadows. I am," he paused once again as suddenly a series of horrific screams filled the air, dark, shapeless creatures, thousands of them, flying through the hole and spreading out through the air. "OBLIVION!"

"Let's go," Paine yelled above the noise while turning to run, pleased for the first time as the airship, the Celsius, hovered to the side of the temple. The marble platform began to break, tiles falling within as cracks began to decorate it's surface.

"Come on," Baralai screamed as Gippal and Nooj stood at his side, waving them on over. "We must go!"

Paine and Yuna nodded and immediately began to dash for the Celsius, running with everything they had as the ground collapsed behind them. And then they leapt. As soon as their feet left the ground, the ground was no more, giving way to a big empty abyss to which awaited them if they failed to make the jump. Yuna closed her eyes, stretching out her legs as she waited for either her feet to touch something solid or fall into the darkness below. And then she felt the hard surface of the Celsius and meet the deck with a roll.

Tidus lay beside her, unconscious, as Paine set him down, the Celsius immediately taking off to escape the swarm of dark beings that began to close around them. And then Yuna stood. One last time, she turned to face the temple which began to collapse where they once where, where Rikku had fallen. And glanced to Gippal, whose face seemed to basically say he knew what had happened.

"It seems," Nooj began while closing his eyes and shaking his head, unaffected by the terrible screams that echoed from behind as the creatures began their assault upon the diggers. "we have failed."

For the first time, Yuna, Spira's savior, had failed to protect it. The Collector had warned her, and told her that this time she had to make a choice. And if she chose the wrong one, the outcome was this. And this alone. In her sadness, Yuna turned away and walked over to Tidus side, setting down and resting his head in her lap.

'But for you,' Yuna thought in her head. 'It was something I had to risk.'

And then she cried. The savior had become the executioner...

Author's Note: Duh dum! Here it is people, the ending to Darkness Falls! But don't start crying your eyes out yet, for there's still a sequel coming your way! Which I'll probably have up by tommorow or Tuesday. Will, tune in for it and leave me a damn good review for this chapter! n.n Ciao!