Hey, everyone. Sorry I'm so late with updating. I have just been very tired due to work, stress, and life. I just needed a break from it all, but I'm back. :) I hope everyone likes this new chpt. Slightly different from what I had planned, but the idea came to me at the very last second and I decided to write it in. So, on with the story.
I want to thank everyone for their wonderful reviews. They are greatly appreciated.
Frail from complete exhaustion, Yuna laid on her bed in the cabin with her friends at her side. All were very concerned, for she hasn't awoke for what has seemed like hours now. Yuna was there physically, but is she inside herself spiritually?
Brother eyed Yuna carefully as pondering questions roamed through that pea sized brain of his.
"Is she even breathing!" Brother asked.
Rikku rolled her eyes. "Of course, she's breathing. Look at her chest!"
"Wrong suggestion, Rikku." Paine said as Rikku quickly narrowed her eyes at Brother and as she noticed what he was doing, her face almost turned a bright crimson.
"SICKO!" Rikku shouted as she grabbed Brother and shoved him away from Yuna only to kick right square in the butt, which incidentally caused him to loose his balance as he staggered forward only to go flying over the side rail. He screeched out as he went over and landed with a thud on the floor below. "Brother!" She and Paine ran over to the side and looked over only to see him laying splattered out on the floor, arms and legs extended out as far apart as they could possibly get.
"Well, I've heard of falling head over heels for someone, but that's a bit drastic." Paine said playfully.
"That's sick, Paine. Even for you." Rikku teased as they both turned their attention back to Yuna. "I say we head to Besaid."
"Good idea. Being around familiar surroundings might restore Yuna faster." Paine added.
Meanwhile, beyond the heart of the Farplane where the dimension of souls dwell, Tidus, Lenne and Shuyin are all exhausted as well at the attempt that was made, however as exhausted as Tidus may be, his anger was much stronger.
Tidus paced back and forth in anger as Lenne and Shuyin sat on what appeared to be a thin, pearl hue covered by mist beneath them.
"Tidus, you should rest." Lenne suggested. "You need your strength as well as Shuyin and I if we are to try and help Yuna again."
"Help!" Tidus pondered as he narrowed his eyes at Lenne in anger. "How is what we did helping her! She tried to touch me through that roaring blaze of fire only to be burned!"
"Did you not see her hand, Tidus?" Lenne asked softly. "She may have felt the heat from the blaze, but the blaze itself didn't touch her. You were there. Your love protected her from the fire that was surrounding her."
Tidus' expression of anger quickly melted from his features as he softly sighed. "I want to go to her so much that it hurts." He then turned away from his friends. "But I can't. Not yet."
Shuyin and Lenne stood and approached him. "Tidus- -" Shuyin began till Tidus turned to face them.
"Don't pity me, guys. That only shows weakness." Tidus said "It's times like these that we must be strong and stand together. Only then will this war be won."
"I know what you are going through, Tidus." Shuyin said. "Imagine feeling that kind of pain for 1000 years."
"I've felt it for two years too long." Tidus said. "It's time that Yuna and I reunited."
"What are you planning to do?" Lenne asked.
"I'm going to go to her. . . tonight. . . while she sleeps. I shall be a dream within a dream."
"Will you be strong enough?" Lenne asked concerned.
"Positive." Tidus said very assured that his attempt will not fail.
That is. . . until. . . everything went from a hue of pearl to ebony as golden rays of light pierced the sky above when suddenly a voice broke through the mist from the Realm of Souls. . .
"And shall that attempt be in vain." the voice echoed throughout the distance. "For tonight, the one whom you seek shall fall and lose her grasp on life. I will capture her soul once the blood of the raven falls upon her very flesh." The voice then vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Tidus, Lenne and Shuyin took in their surroundings as they quickly looked about as the shade of ebony turned to ivory.
"What the hell?" Shuyin blurted out.
"That was not the same voice as before." Lenne stated nervously as she looked to Tidus and Yuna. "Tidus, go to Yuna! NOW! It may be your only chance to warn her of what this voice just spoke of." Tidus couldn't think of anything to say. Therefore, he just ran off into the mist where he soon disappeared. "Good luck!"
Meanwhile, back at Besaid, nightfall has fallen upon all as Yuna was taken inside Lulu's and Wakka's hut where she laid resting. Rikku and Paine spoke with Lulu and Wakka about the events that had unfolded along their newly found journey. From running into Seymour disguised at Jyscal to finding a dressphere to aid in the departure from the real world over to the spiritual world. From the Thunder Plains being flooded to the destruction of the town and woods and Kilika.
Just by the mere mention of Seymour's name was enough to raise those little white hairs in the back of Wakka's neck.
"SEYMOUR!" Wakka nearly shouted in anger and he shook his fist. "That no good, rotten, son of a shoopuf! What's he doing back here in Spira!"
Lulu sighed. "He tried to stop Yuna as stated by Rikku just seconds ago. But Seymour's the least of our worries! What about what's happening to Spira? Kilika is no more, the Thunder Plains have been transformed into a body of water. What next?"
"Who's knows, Lu." Rikku said. "I'm really afraid to find out."
Meanwhile, in the other room, Yuna laid resting and appeared to be sleeping, but was she truly sleeping?
Yuna was slowly aroused from her deep sleep as a few flowers swayed before her and tickled her nose. She slowly rose and noticed that she was dressed in her songstress dressphere as she then took in her surroundings. Pyerflies encircled her and all around the atmosphere she was in.
"I finally found you." came a strong, gentle voice from off in the distance.
Yuna gasped as she turned around only to see a dark figure approaching her. "Is that. . . really you?"
Suddenly, Yuna's eyes widen when she soon realized that this was the same moment when she met Shuyin face to face. Was that Shuyin approaching her? Why was this happening again?
"It is." the voice said "It's me."
Yuna's eyes widen and were quickly glazed over as the tears began to sting them as the image came into view. "Tidus?" Tidus only smiled and nodded his head as the tears fell freely from her eyes as a few traced the shape of her cheeks. "How can this be?"
"I've missed you." Tidus said. "Your search for me has caused Spira to perish. You must stop! Stop this at once."
Yuna couldn't believe what she had just heard from the man she loved. "Wha- -"
"Don't listen to it, Yuna! It's a fake!" came a voice from behind. Yuna turned around only to see TIDUS standing behind her. She then looked towards the front of her only to see Tidus as well.
Meanwhile. . . back at Besaid. . .
The moon hung low in the sky as a silver mist slowly glided by, however, it's only when the mist was midst the center of the moon that it began to spiral inward as a small hole began to form. The moon turned pale and quickly turned to ebony as the silver mist continued to spiral from within the hole.
There, within the mist, from the depths of the lunar eclipse, a pair of glowing crimson eyes emerged. The eye of the raven was looking down upon the small town of Besaid.
