Authors Note: Titles are bitches, and they should die... Point taken with the long paragraph remark, in word it is all nice and double spaced. Unfortunately I think I fail miserably in trying to break them up in a logical manner, so yeah still screwy, hopefully though I will at some point show improvement on that. ((Kicks document editor))
Also, while I absolutely adore each and every review, I mean let's face it, the reason I put the story up, the reason anyone posts their stories is so people can read it, if possible could you guys refrain from including any spoilerish things in the reviews? I personally sometimes use the reviews to decide whether or not I am going to read a story, so I figure it might be best to leave things out, just in case other people do the same, and don't want to know to read a review and find out what happens before they read the story. Hehe, I am always the one to brutally bitch slap anyone who spoils an ending for me, so I figure it might as well do to consider other people who are as testy about such things as I. Anyway, thanks for your remarks, I really appreciate them! Though if I am just being psycho then feel free to ignore me.
Chapter Four: Dissolution
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
- Lyrics from "In the End", a popular song from just after the end of the tenth Calm.
The End... The ominous words echoed through Rikku's mind as she watched the malevolent movement of the inky black clouds. Eventually she tore her gaze away and instead stared at the one who stood beside her, looking for the lie in his eyes. A million questions ran through her mind, but ultimately his meaning was clear. You can't go back there. It's not safe... Rikku took a step away from him.
No...
"No! Not today!" Rikku shouted at him, shaking her head in violent determination, her hands clenched into fists. Hoping to catch him off guard, she shoved him as hard as she could and then whirling around, she sprinted down the beach. The island curved around at about the distance of a blitzball sphere away, and a narrow path wound up one of rocky slopes at the end. It was steep, overgrown, and treacherous, but it was an alternate route to the temple. For this reason, Rikku had run for the beach instead of trying to dodge by the pale haired man again.
She heard him shout out another warning, but seemed to have stopped. Still she didn't look back lest she find him right behind her. As the wind picked up, the sky darkened even further, and Rikku saw that another bank of the dark clouds and appeared from other end of the island. They all seemed to aggregate into a dark amorphous mass that centered over the lighted temple that she could see, shining like a beacon at the top of the steep hillside, a sanctuary against the dark.
Just get to the others...
Twenty feet... fifteen...ten... she really could here him following now, the scuffle of sand being kicked up by the boots. She knew the sound well. After all she was from the desert. Five feet... there it was, Rikku dodged into the underbrush that littered the hillside. Her hair caught on the twigs, her dress ripped, and her skin was scratched by thistles, her feet bloody and beaten by the sharp rocks she trod upon, but she didn't care. Breaking out onto the path, she began the climb, scrambling up, dodging branches as she went, and using her hands at the particularly steep places. Fortunately she was agile and lithe, her strength had always laid in her speed, and that was her advantage now over the man who followed. She could hear him curse as his progress was slowed by the brush, and that gave Rikku the will to move even faster...not fast enough though. The man jumped forward grabbing her foot, and immediately Rikku kicked back. Their rough movements caused the rocks to skitter and as the man lost his balance tumbling back down the hill into darkness. Rikku listened for a moment to see if he was ok, images of his broken body lying on the beach danced through her head, but she couldn't dwell on it. She kept moving.
When she was halfway to the top, the wind died, and an eerie calm settled over the landscape. There was no sound, but for the movement as the pair made their way through the brush.
Silence...
A tremor of fear ran through Rikku's body. This wasn't right, there should be music... She tried to remember if she had heard it on the beach, but she had been concentrating on other matters, and besides, with the wind there was no telling if she would have detected it anyway... But here, now... she should hear them playing. A moment later, the screaming began. Not just one, but hundreds creating a cacophonic chorus of shrill shouts, the horror in each was the only theme.
The only time Rikku had heard anything remotely close to this was when her Home had been destroyed, and that was mostly the agony of the loss, not the unadulterated fear that seemed to emanate from above... There would be no sanctuary at the top.
As Rikku looked frantically up to try and learn what was happening, a sinuous murky arm reached down from the skies towards the temple, ten times the circumference of the black tendrils she had seen extending along the beach.
Even though her heart clenched at the thought of what she would find when she reached the summit, she determinedly pressed on. As she reached the top, she was struck by the emptiness of her surroundings. For the most part the screams had died down, and there was no one around. Steeling herself, Rikku took a step forward only to have her bare foot land in something cold... squishy. She looked down with great apprehension to find that she was standing in what appeared a viscous pool of shadows, as if attracted to the warmth of her body, the blob began to flow as serpentine tendrils snaked their way up her leg. Stifling a shriek, Rikku kicked out and the mass went flying. As it hit the ground it broke into pieces each of which grew and solidified into odd creatures of which she had never seen the like.
As if of one mind, they turned to look at her, and multiple pairs of pale yellow eyes blinked at her, before moving forward, claws dripping with shadowy goop. Rikku reached frantically for her knives only to remember that she was still in wedding clothes and obviously had not thought to arm herself. Rikku turned to see if there was an opening she could slip through, only to find that her way was blocked by more of the horrible wraiths. She was surrounded and weaponless, an odd smile came to her face. She guessed it really was the end. It quickly vanished though, when the closest of the creatures leapt at her with a deep hiss, and she flinched throwing up her hands to ward off the descending creature.
Suddenly, there flash of metal as someone landed in front of her cutting the creature down with a single swipe of a sword. He turned, nodding briefly, then moved to the next fiend, systematically cutting them down.
I didn't kill him after all.
Rikku found that she was relieved, and not just because he had saved her from the strange fiends. Fiends not included, Rikku had never killed anyone in her life. Still her gratitude did not mean that she was going to stick around, and while the man was occupied, she slipped away heading towards the temple entrance, dodging as more of the creatures sprang up from the earth itself. As she reached the pavilion, she was met with pure chaos, fiends everywhere, people running away only to be pounced on by the seemingly endless numbers of fiends. While she watched, a couple was literally sucked into the shadows and they didn't come out again... And the dead... oh the dead... They lay around in piles, their party clothes soaked in blood, and in each one, there was a bloody in the left side of their chest. Every last one of them... She thought she was going to be sick...
Rikku shook her head and kept moving, staying close to the temple walls, not wanting to attract attention to herself. The door to the temple was closed now, and she couldn't decide if it was a good thing or bad. As she reached it, she pulled on thick doors, breathing a sigh of relief as they opened. Even though she knew they could not be locked, she somehow expected them to be magically welded shut.
The first thing Rikku did when she stepped in the door was stumble over Gippal's body, his hands outstretched to protect his lover, also dead. A tear trickled down her face as she remembered her earlier harsh thoughts towards him and the woman who had replaced her. She had really loved him once, and it appeared that he really loved her... Rikku took in the details of her still face, the curly brown hair, and the deep brown eyes. It was a nice face, and the girl had not deserved Rikku's animosity. She wasn't just replaceable clone. Rikku sniffed, and finally turned away, looking to the main area of the temple, where the sounds of swordplay echoed off the walls.
Rikku recoiled at the scene before her. There were still more bodies of those who had fallen, their eyes cast blankly upward, their faces frozen in horror. All of the flowers had fallen now, and the floor was littered with the garlands and bodies, the bloods leeching into the white petals staining them red, while the lights remained twinkling happily from above. Ignoring the carnage, two men moved swiftly across the floor, locked into battle. Tidus and the same black-clad blond who had broken her fall. Tidus jumped forward slashing with his buster sword, but Blondie turned at the last instant and the blade whizzed harmlessly through empty air. Using the opportunity as Tidus was caught in the momentum of the swing, the blond turned smacking Tidus in the back with the flat side of his own odd looking blame. Tidus fell forward and Rikku heard a shout, turning her head to see Yuna struggling in the grip of a Redheaded man. Blondie laughed at her scream, thoroughly enjoying the fight, he stepped forward to strike the final blow when Tidus kicking out his foot, knocking the man off his feet. Now both were on the ground, scrambling to their feet, and as they stood, their swords clashed again.
Rikku took a step forward to go help when she heard a weak voice call her name... her father.
"Rikku girl, is that you?"
She walked towards the sound, trying to discern Cid from the other bodies. Finally she found him, sitting, his back against one of the statues. His dark shirt was wet, and as Rikku rushed over, she saw that it was soaked in blood. Rikku knelt next to him, and her father lifted a hand to her face.
"Yeah Pops, it's me..."
A smile appeared on Cid's worn and weary face, but he still looked as if he had aged twenty years.
"Rikku girl..."
Rikku bit her fist so she wouldn't cry as she leaned forward to hear what he had to say.
"I'm too old for this shit."
Cid wheezed with laughter, but it quickly turned into coughs. Choking back a hysterical sob, she nodded squeezing her dad's hands.
"Me too, Pops. Me too..."
Cid nodded.
"Your brother? He's alright?"
Rikku forced herself to smile as the tears ran down her face. She nodded once.
"He's safe... He's fine... You'll be too, Pops!"
It was a nice lie and Cid breathed a sigh of relief as he let his head fall back. This was what he needed to here. His children were alive. His eyes slowly drifted shut, then they fluttered open again as he looked at her, his pale green eyes shining.
"Stay out of trouble Rikku girl!"
Rikku knew that this was his way of expressing his love, and she nodded as she watched his eyes close shut for the final time.
"I will Pops... I will."
Rikku slowly got to her feet again, her body shaking with tears. She turned back to the center of the room and as she walked forward the door blew open, and a powerful force sent her flying across the floor. She hit the stone of the wall and collapsed, her whole body throbbing in pain. She lifted her head to see a large shadowy figure enter the room. It looked like a man whose proportions had been stretched, unbelievably tall, he seemed to be another variety of those shadowy creatures. It surveyed the room, and for a moment it's eyes rested on Rikku and it's face twisted into a malicious smile and she could see a predatory intelligence in his golden eyes. He might be made of the same substance, but he wasn't just some mindless fiend. Rikku shuddered under the force of his gaze, and despite the pain she pulled herself up.
When the creature had entered, Tidus and the blond man had paused fighting for a brief moment, only to continue again. They were still evenly matched, but as the creature drew closer to Yuna, Tidus grew increasingly agitated in his fear for her. Yuna had stopped struggling by now, and the redhead shoved her, propelling her towards the shadowy being. Yuna fell forward, but regained her balance, standing tall as the creature closed the gap between them. Her face had an expression that Rikku had seen before. Yuna had worn it through out the journey to fight Sin. She stared the man-like shadow wraith down as he got within a foot of her. Her pose was serene despite the fact that her wedding dress was torn and bloodstained, her hair had fallen from it's coiffure, and she had long since lost her veil. She had never looked more beautiful in her life. She turned to look at Tidus, and her sorrowful eyes belied the smile she gave him.
"Tidus, my love. We'll meet again."
The creature smiled again swiftly reaching out a taloned hand and shoving into her chest, tendrils of liquid shadow latching onto Yuna's dress. There was a brilliant flash of light as the wraith pulled his hand free, her heart. Not a bloody pulsing organ, but a crystal perfectly shaped into a heart, but for a slight flaw, a tiny nebulous seed in it's core. Yuna fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Yuna!"
Tidus screamed, and Rikku screamed along with him... As he ran to Yuna's side, the blond used his distraction, and Tidus was cut down, stabbed in the back.The sword fell out of his hands sliding across the floor, and he slumped forward, his hand outstretched reaching for Yuna's, missing by mere inches. Rikku felt all of her pain and anger boiling within her aimed atthe men and the evil being responsible. Tears ran down her face. Everything Yuna and Tidus had done, everything Rikku had done to protect Yuna, to save Spira... it all amounted to nothing now. She didn't know where Paine was or Baralai, but there was no doubt in her mind that they were lost as well. Everyone she loved was dead. Rikku trembled violently with her sorrow and rage, and her vision blurred over slightly with tears. Dimly she registered that the two men were talking, ignoring her presence like she was already dead.
"Well damn, I guess we have to keep searching."
This from the blond man, his voice casual. The redhead nodded.
"What did you expect? They're all the same... We should get out of here now, while there is still time."
The wraith at this point turned and began to walk towards Rikku, the same grotesque grin on his face. The blond just shrugged, then he looked past Rikku towards the entrance.
"Riku, where've you been?"
Finally the rage bubbled over and Rikku ran forward. The men's words didn't make sense to her, and her surroundings had diminished. There was nothing but pain...
The sword.
When Tidus had fallen, the sword had landed near the center of the room. There was still time for her to grab it. She'd get that demon, and those men too. She needed to know how this could have happened, but she was so angry, her mind couldn't even translate to the common tongue.
"Oui pycdyntc! Fro tysh ed? Fryd tet drao ajan tu du oui!"
You bastards! Why damn it? What did they ever do to you?
An amused smile crossed the blond's face as the two men's heads swiveled to actually acknowledge her. Rikku made a dash to snatch the weapon when she was hit hard in the head with the hilt of a sword, a keyblade, and the room descended into darkness...