Okay, I know everyone's probably thinking WTF here. LOL I tore down the chpt and revised it dramatically. It pains me to say that my last attempt at this story failed and it sucked terribly. Even a few of my viewers agreed with me. And if my viewers aren't happy with a chpt that I post, u can rest assured that the problem will be corrected. Well, I hope everyone finds this chpt at least a little better than the last. Enjoy.
Besaid. . . what was once a place of peace, love and happiness is now nothing more than a dream. No longer are No longer are the children playing, dogs barking, or people living without fear as this was what the Eternal Calm was suppose to bring. It was like Spira was in danger yet again.
The reconstruction of Besaid was in the works and Your Friendly Neighborhood Gullwings were there to help things along the way. Several people were working on rebuilding the huts where several others worked on cleaning up the mess the storm had recently created. However, the high summoner was no where to be found.
Brother placed a small board upon the post that was to be the foundation of the newly built hut, placed a nail to it as he then drew back the hammer and struck, however, instead of hitting the nail he smashed his thumb. Brother squealed as he pulled his thumb away, looked at it as it began to turn a dark crimson and instantly began to wail where he then began to run around like a maniac.
"YUNA!" Brother cried out as he continued to run around. "Yuna, help me! My thumb! It is broken!"
Brother continued to run around in search of Yuna. That is, until he ran right straight into Rikku who was carrying an arm load of supplies. Rikku shrieked as she was knocked down and she and Brother laid in a pile of arms and limbs for a second or two as they try to comprehend what had just happened.
After shaking the wooziness from her head, Rikku's face turned crimson as she began to swat and kick at Brother as she shouted at him in Al Bhed.
"Rikku!" Brother whined. "My thumb!" He then wailed out as if he were dying.
"What about your damn thumb!" Rikku asked through clinched teeth.
"IT IS BROKE!" Brother shouted in pity. "That mean hammer smashes it." Rikku examined his thumb in hoped he would stop blubbering about, however, that only made things worse. "Kiss my thumb, Rikku!" Rikku's eyes went wide. "Make it all better."
"HELL NO!" Rikku shouted at him through clinched teeth.
"Please! Rikku, I am dying!" Brother wailed out. "The pain, Rikku! The pain!"
"What's going on over there?" called a voice from the distance. Rikku looked and seen Wakka approaching them. Brother then stood up as Wakka made his way over to them. "There a problem here?"
Rikku pointed to Brother. "He's MY problem. Do something with him! Please!"
Wakka narrowed his eyes at Brother. "Pick this mess up and get back to work!"
"What!" Brother instantly snapped. "You aren't in charge here! I am! I'm the leader! I give the orders around here!"
Wakka grabbed Brother by his suspenders and jerked him up. "Quit running your kiddy mouth and do as I tell you or I will make you do it, brudda." Brother was totally silent. "Good boy." Wakka then released him. "Now get to work!" Brother just grumbled as he went to picking up the supplies and Wakka escorted Rikku away with him. "Have you seen Yuna?"
"She said she wanted to be alone and took off a while ago." Rikku said.
"She's needed here, ya?" Wakka said softly. "She brought the people of Spira so much hope. She is their inspiration. I think her being here with all of us will kindly lift their spirits a bit. Will you go and bring her back?"
Rikku smiled and then softly nodded her head. "Sure." And with that, Rikku went in search of Yuna.
Meanwhile, standing on the beach watching the waves of the sea, Yuna was lost in deep thought about the events at hand.
The waves rolled in and back out to sea as Yuna stood watching them. She smelt the saltiness of it as a gentle breeze blew upon her face and caressed her mocha trestles. Recent events keep playing before her inside her mind like a movie.
"My home was destroyed right before my eyes. It pains me to be here now. All that remains are a few survivors. Nothing remains of the village. It's as if Besaid never even existed. Should I blame myself for this happening to my home and to Spira? The flooding of The Thunder Plains, the burning of Kilika, and the destruction of Besaid happened because of this journey. All I want to do is to be with my love. I have to be with him to live. . . to breath. It's like he's overtaking me."
Yuna slowly closed her eyes as she tried to shake the events of earlier from her mind.
"Yunie!" called a giddy voice.
Yuna let out an aggravated sigh. Normally, she was filled with joy when her cousin was around, however, it was times like these that Yuna just wanted to be alone. She heard footsteps approaching and clinched her fists together. "I thought I told everyone that I wanted to be alone? Alone is what I meant."
"You shouldn't be alone, Yunie." Rikku said softly as she approached her.
Yuna spun around. "My home was just destroyed before my very eyes and it's all because of me! I refused to give this search up. Therefore, Spira is meeting its end."
"You're not going to quit, are you?" Rikku asked concerned.
Yuna thought to herself for a moment as one solitary tear escaped her eye where she then shook her head. "No!" Rikku smiled at her determination. "I must go on. I have to find this Mistress of Death, whoever she may be, and confront her. And when we come face to face again, I will destroy her this time."
"Again!" Rikku asked "You've met her before? Who is she? What did she look like? What did she say?"
"Long story short; this mistress of death is behind all this." Yuna began. "For some reason, she is keeping me and Tidus apart. The reason for this is unknown, but I will make the truth known to all of Spira. I don't know who this mistress thinks she is, but she's challenged the wrong woman."
Meanwhile, beyond the heart of the farplane where the dimension of souls dwells, the mistress of death is beyond frustration as she confronts the dark sorceress herself.
The mistress of death stood with her back turned towards Raven as she scolded her about her failed attempt at stopping Yuna and her friends.
"You wanted to see me, mistress?" Raven asked with hesitation in her voice.
"Indeed, but I refuse to look upon your pathetic features." The mistress of death spoke. "You were supposed to be the mightiest of my Gatekeeper's beings, but yet this summoner defeated you as well."
"I am sorry, mistress." Raven said as she lowered her head in shame.
"I will hear no excuses from you, dark one!" the mistress warned as she spun around and faced Raven. "You failed! MISERIBLY! You are a disgrace to the beings of the afterlife! You allowed a mere mortal to stop your twister and then you allowed the one whom I seek to take out destroy you as well. How did this happen?"
"A dream stopped me." Raven said. "He aided her in battle and then shielded her from the blood."
"A dream you say?" the mistress asked. "There is only one here in existence in the Realm of Souls. They only way he could have done what he did were if she willed him there, and if that's the case, then he is very weak right now. He cannot aid her in battle again till he has fully recovered." She then cackled. "Send forth my Gatekeeper! I must see her."
"Mistress, I beg you." Raven pleaded. "Let me take this summoner on again. I will not fail you a second time!"
"No!" The mistress snapped. "You failed me once and you will not fail me twice because you had your chance. Return to the netherworld from whence you came!"
Raven narrowed her eyes at the Mistress of Death as she watched her turned away. "No." The Mistress' eyes widen and then narrowed them in anger as she turned back to Raven. "You cannot control me! I want to take out this mere mortal and I intend to do so." And as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, Raven slowly turned away; however, as she tried to walk away, she found that her feet would not move. It was as if she were frozen.
She quickly turned only to see the mistress slowly snake a sinister grin upon her features.
"Who's in control, Raven?" the mistress asked as she then released her hold on Raven who nearly lost her balance.
"What magic is this?" Raven questioned
"My magic." The mistress answered smugly.
"You'll pay for trying to stop me!" Raven said bravely.
"Bring it on!" The mistress challenged
Meanwhile, back in Spira, Yuna stood before her home as she looked around at what remained of it.
Yuna looked around and was quite relieved to see that everyone had pulled together so quickly, however, the fact that it had been destroyed saddened her.
"You alright, Yunie?" Rikku asked gently
"I'll be fine in time." Yuna said
"There you are!" called a familiar voice as Yuna and Rikku looked only to see Wakka and the gang approaching where they soon came full circle.
"Guys, I have something to say." Yuna said before anyone could say anything.
"What is it?" Lulu pondered.
"All this doing is my fault." Yuna said and a few eyes flew open wide.
"What!" Lulu asked.
"Yuna, that's crazy, ya?" Wakka said
"What do you mean?" Buddy asked.
"The search for Tidus is what started all of this. The search I started!" Yuna admitted through tear stained eyes. "There's this specter who calls herself the Mistress of Death. She is trying to stop me from being with Tidus and even finding him. She has released these fiends upon Spira or has gotten someone else to do her work."
"Well, we need to make it our personal business to take her out." Rikku suggested.
"She could very well be a threat to Spira, ya?" Wakka said.
"If she is trying to stop Yuna and destroy Spira in the process, then you know she is." Lulu said.
Meanwhile, beyond the heart of the Farplane where the dimension of souls dwells, the battle of many more to come was about to take place.
Raven and The Mistress of Death stood just feet apart as they waited for either to make the first move.
Raven brought her hands forth as she gathered energy and brought her hands up above her head. A pigment of ginger encircled her hands as they formed into a wave of heat as she quickly gathered energy. And as she parted her hands, two beams shot forth as they intertwined and headed straight at the mistress of death, however, as they were about to enshroud her within them, she just simply held out her hand as it to stop the beams and as they were about to touch her hand, a hue of cerulean began to glow and form what appeared to be a sphere, which quickly widened into a rotating shield and as the spiraling beams of heat came in contact with the spinning shield, they soon turned to a dark sapphire and then crashed to the ground, for they had been formed into pure ice.
Raven stood there in disbelief at the display of power the mistress of death had just displayed. And with a small cackle, the mistress threw her cloak back as she exposed her arms. Raising her arms at her sides, she slowly levitated herself high into the air.
"Mistress, please, I beg your forgiveness." Raven said as she fell to her knees. "I-I don't know what I was thinking."
"You were so determined to try and destroy this summoner that you tried to go against me. ME! The mistress of death! I redeem the souls from the living, I devour the souls that uphold a certain power that meets my needs! And now, you ask for forgiveness?" Raven bravely nodded her head and the mistress just cackled. "You display of courage intrigues me, sorceress. Tell me, what is it that you would be willing to do to prove your loyalty to me?"
"Anything!" Raven admitted.
An evil smirk played up the mistress' features. "Is that so? Well, to prove your loyalty to me, I want you to relinquish all rights of your soul and give it to me!" Raven's eyes flew open wide. "Together, who knows what we would be capable of doing. If we can't stop her alone, then together shall we triumph over all that is good!"
Raven slowly stood and nodded her head. "Take me, mistress! I give my soul to you!"
"Then so be it!" the mistress of death said as she began to show her display of power.
Horizontal rays of a shimmering indigo began to grow as a vertical hue of jade began to spiral around and create a sphere around the rays, which then went from indigo to garnet. A silvery mist showered down upon the rays as they danced within the sphere where they soon united. As the brilliant colors shrouded each other, they soon turned a deathly mist of ebony where soon after the sphere began to rotate back and forth as it then cracked down the center and slowly pulled apart. There, midst the mist of ebony, floated the mistress of death. Flesh eating maggots fell from her bare feet and from under the crimson cloak that surrounded her. She slowly brought her hands forth and placed them upon the top of her cloak as she lowered it from around her face allowing the hood to fall down, which exposed her face and her ebony hair as it swayed within the mist. Raven looked on in utter shock and fright at the disfigured being that floated before her.
The right side of the mistress of death's face revealed the features of a very beautiful woman, however, the left side of her face was nothing but pure skeletal features with small patches of rotten flesh in different places, which the maggots feasted upon.
Slowly, the mistress of death opened her mouth as her face seemed to become even more disfigured as her mouth opened widely as if to form a dark opening that led somewhere within the depths of her.
Sparks shot from Raven's body as she felt herself being ripped apart. She screamed in pain as she seemed to stretch from where she was standing and towards the dark opening the of mistress' mouth. The opening became even wider as Raven's soul was apparently being devoured by the mistress of death. A gust of vicious wind came out of no where as the realm around them began to shudder and quake. And as her soul was fully devoured, pyerflies began to enshroud her inner being as her mouth returned to its normal size.
Suddenly, her entire body began to tremble as both her eyes turned a dark crimson. She screamed in pain as something tried to break through from within her at the sides of her shoulder blades. Blood began to run down her legs from the opening places on her back, which dripped from her feet and to the ground below where soon those tiny drips became small streamlines and soon turned into a river. She yelled in agonizing pain as two serpents protruded from her back. They hissed and slithered their forked tongues. Her cloak then broke free from her and vanished as her naked, decomposed body was fully exposed. Pyerflies enshrouded her face as the skeletal part vanished as was soon full. Her locks of ebony quickly turned into locks of burgundy with two streaks of a light cerulean at the sides. A golden hue formed around her bare body as it glistened upon her where soon afterwards an ankle length ruby red, velvet dress slowly began to cover her outer being, which had a plunging neckline with two lines of sparkling diamonds that spiraled together in a downward motion. A rather large split went from the top of the waistline all the way to the ankle. Her dress flowed with the movement of the magic that surrounded her. Suddenly, an ebony cloak descended towards her and placed itself upon her. A bright light quickly flashed and there appeared a sword of ebony with a blade that represented the blazes from a burning fire with the color of silver outlining it.
"Soon, Yuna!" the mistress gloated "Soon you shall know the true power that lies within. And when out paths cross again, your soul shall be mine." She then cackled evilly as her serpent friends hissed and snapped at each other behind her.
