As some of you may know, the last three days of my life have been a pure hellish, living nightmare that I cannot wake up from. And I am dedicating the next three chpts in the memory of my dad whom has just recently passed on.
In loving memory of my father,
December 7, 1933 - April 7, 2006
Yuna gazed upon the shiny structural sphere that gleamed before her. Her heart beamed with pride, for she knew within her heart of hearts that was what she sought and what would surely lead her to Tidus. She bit her bottom lip in anticipation as she raised her arms and prepared to extend them in order to take grasp of the floating sphere before her.
Meanwhile, back at the Inn, Brother had already crashed out in one of the room from complete exhaustion. Gippal kept lingering around Rikku like a love sick puppy. I guess one could say he took one look at her knew what a good thing he had given up. And as you may already know, Rikku was far beyond annoyed by him. Paine was gathering some much needed supplies as O'aka babbled on about what was happening to Spira and about Lady Yuna as he still called her. Shrina had some new machina he was trying to get to work and for some reason or another, it kept failing, however, with a few slaps it finally began to work. Buddy just stood back and took things easy for a while as he mingled in with the rest of the group.
Rikku walked over beside of Paine who looked at her, grinned and then went back to gather supplies. She shuddered as she felt a familiar touch that was glided up the sides of her arms to the top of her shoulders. She turned to find Gippal behind her who allowed his fingers to glide through her locks of sunshine as she turned to face him.
"Are you coming?" Gippal asked with a bit of seduction within his tone.
Rikku grinned rather girlishly. "Yeah. Give me five minutes. I'll be in the third room on your right."
"Great." Gippal said. "Let me freshen up a bit." And with a wink of an eye, he headed for the bathroom.
Rikku watched and when Gippal was out of sight she started to walk on until Paine grabbed her. "What?"
"You're not!" Paine asked
A sinister smile played upon Rikku's features. "Watch and learn."
Rikku ran over and hid behind the counter. O'aka looked down at her, raising an eyebrow at her in absolute question. Rikku just looked up at him and grinned, placing her finger to her lips, signaling to him to be quiet about her whereabouts. Gippal then came out of the bathroom, walked passed everyone, and headed down the hallway towards the room where Rikku was suppose to be. When the sound of a door shutting is heard, Rikku stood out and burst into laughter.
"What did you just do?" Buddy questioned as he rubbed the bottom of his chin.
"Getting my revenge." Rikku said. "He pulled my thongs so far up the crack of my butt that I had to literally peel them from my bare skin. He has followed me around like a love sick puppy and he won't keep his hands to himself. He has thrown gestures at me, whistled seductively at me- - THE LIST IS ENDLESS!"
"We get the point, Rikku." Paine said flatly. "Just tell us what you plan to do. Don't leave us in the dark."
Rikku crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "Nope! You'll just have to wait this one out."
Meanwhile. . .inside the room. . .
The room was dark and silence filled the air. Gippal had undressed down to his boxers, looking over at the bed and smiling as he began to approach it. He pulled back the covers, sliding in between the sheets as he scooted over to the small hump that laid under the covers on the other side of the bed.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Gippal said playfully as he neared the hump even closer. "Rikku." He pulled the covers back a bit. "Come on out and play."
Suddenly, a light is turned on. Gippal sat up in bed as did the figure under the covers. There, looking each other eye to eye and face to face, was Brother and Gippal. Both just stared at each other for a moment and then a yell came from both of them as Gippal scrambled out of the bed.
"What you trying to do to me!" Brother shouted in question as he pulled the covers up around him to cover himself.
"What the hell are you doing in Rikku's room!" Gippal shouted, his face turning a shade crimson from both embarrassment and anger.
"This my room, you blonde buffoon!" Brother shouted. "Rikku's room on other side of hallway!" Brother then narrowed his eyes in question. "What you wanting to go on my sister's room for anyway!"
"That's none of your concern." Gippal said.
Laughter is heard coming from several people as Gippal turned only to see, Rikku, Paine, Shinra, Buddy, and O'aka standing in the room. He looked straight at Rikku and sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You think this is funny!" Gippal asked.
"No." Rikku said. "I think it's hilarious!"
"Nice shorts." Paine said.
"No, no, Lad." O'aka said. "That color is not you at all! No way will ye turn the babes on with that!" The little bulb in his head began to flicker a bit as an idea came to mind. "Wait! Let ol' O'aka fix ye right up with the perfect under garments."
"NO THANK YOU." Gippal said through clinched teeth.
"Get out of my room!" Brother ordered though no one paid him any mind. "GET OUT!"
"Shut up!" Paine demanded.
"Shall we call a truce!" Gippal asked. "I've picked on you ever since we left the gorge and I must admit you got me good."
"I guess you can say we're even." Rikku said with a very flirty smirk upon her face.
Meanwhile, beyond the heart of the Farplane where the dimension of souls dwells, things are not going over too well with the Mistress, for she was surely outraged at Yuna's success. Therefore, she had sent for her Gatekeeper.
A screaming wail echoed through the realm of souls, the mist that hovered above the ground below turned ebony as a strong wind began to blow and dark clouds rolled in, lightening dancing within.
"It cannot be!" cried the Mistress of Death, her serpent friends hissing and snapping at each other behind her. "Four of the most fierce souls were rendered asunder by a mere mortal!" The lightening flashed as the thunder clapped behind her. "Her soul must be the one. It must be, for no mere mortal could possibly do what she has done! She will either come to me or I shall go to her."
"Mistress. . ." came a very low, nervous voice from behind.
The Mistress of Death narrowed her eyes in anger at the mere sound of the voice that came from behind her. She slowly turned, widening her eyes sinisterly as she glared upon her Gatekeeper. "You. . ."
"Mistress, I can explain- -" the Gatekeeper began pleadingly.
"I'll hear none of your excuses!" the Mistress of Death shouted as she began to approach the Gatekeeper. "I should just consume your very essence of life as it stands here before me." The Gatekeeper began to pant from fear as she backed away from her Mistress who kept approaching her. "Tell me what it is you plan to do with this summoner."
The Mistress stopped approaching the Gatekeeper who stopped backing away as she cleared her throat. "As you already know, Mistress, I can control the 4 elements; earth, wind, fire. . . water."
"Where is this leading to? Get to the point." the Mistress said.
"I can unleash- -" the Gatekeeper began.
The Mistress just cackled. "The amalgamation?" The Gatekeeper nodded her head. "Very well. Unleash your power upon Spira and this so called High Summoner."
"What of the others?" the Gatekeeper asked.
"Leave them to me." the mistress said with narrowed eyes of anger. And within a blink of an eyes, the Gatekeeper faded away and that's when the Mistress stepped forth.
"Come forth, sovereign of the after life!" the mistress commanded as she began to levitate herself high in the air. "I command thee ol' spirit!" The mist of ebony that hovered above the ground below began to ascend and spiral around her as if to form a barrier around her. Pigments of aqua began to sparkle within the ebony of the mist, swirling into liner circles that quivered and danced all around where soon pyerflies began to come forth, which descended into a spiraling whirlpool only to burst free like an explosion of lava. "Azure Dragon, Wyvern, and Calandra, Doppelganger of the Raven, come forth now!" There, within the pooling swirl of pyerflies, appeared Calandra with the Azure Dragon to her right and the Wyvern to her left. The Mistress gleamed with pride at her three faithful subjects as she welcomed them with open arms. "Join me so that we may stop those who seek to bring life into the Realm of Souls. Let us stop them before they destroy this sanctuary."
"Take us." echoed Calandra's voice
"Then so be it!" the Mistress said. "Prepare to feel the ultimate illusion of hedonism."
And with that said, the mist of ebony instantly turned into rays of sunshine, dancing in a circular rotation. With a bright flash of lavender, a smoky hue of mauve transcended downward and all around, crystallizing into a protective shell. Shimmering drops of crimson rained down like shooting stars within the crystallized shell. And there, within this shell, was the Azure Dragon, the Wyvern, Calandra and the Mistress of Death.
With the strength of the Wyvern, the wisdom of the Azure, the deceit from Calandra and the magic of Raven, I, the Mistress of Death, shall defy the odds and become one being!" Three deep breathes are taken by the Mistress before continuing. "My love, let thy will be done! Create this soul as you would see her when we at last come together!"
And with the calling of her lover, a foul order overtook all. A spider web shaped hue of cerise outlined the very shape of the crystallized shell, which instantly shattered it causing the sky above to be set afire. And within this burning sky floated a deathly shadow, which slowly lowered itself to the ground below.
With eyes of ebony that narrowed in hatred, long trestles of honey with two braids that hung over her shoulders accented her soft facial features. A lilac, Victorian style dress with a plunging neckline flowed with the movement of her body. A staff in hand completed her look.
Meanwhile. . . in another part of the realm of souls. . .
Tidus, Lenne, and Shuyin looked on in utter shock and worriment at the burning sky before them. Little did they know what about to happen to their soul.
"What's going on?" Lenne asked as she looked to Shuyin.
"What ever it is- -" Shuyin began.
"It sure as hell can't be good!" Tidus continued.
"AHHH!" Lenne screamed out as she fell to her knees.
"Lenne!" Shuyin shouted as he and Tidus turned their attention to her. Shuyin knelt down beside Lenne when Tidus suddenly yelled out, grabbed the sides of his temples and fell to his knees also where only seconds later, Shuyin yelled out as well. Pyerflies began to overtake them.
Meanwhile, back at the spring in Macalania, Yuna was just inches away from her destination, however, her goal was not about to be made easy.
Yuna could feel the warmth of the sphere at her fingertips when she suddenly felt a small tremor. She gasped, pulling her hand away as she looked around. Not seeing anything or anyone, she slowly reach for the sphere once again. Then suddenly two streams of water shot forth from within the depths of the spring, crossing each other as if to block access to the sphere. Looping backwards, the shooting jets of water spiraled all around the sphere only to plunge back into the depth of the spring.
"Not so fast there, Miss Goody Two-Shoes!" came a wicked voice from behind.
Yuna turned, mortified at the sight that hovered above her. She covered her mouth in shock only to lower it away seconds later. There, floating high above, was the Mistress' Gatekeeper.
With flowing trestles of mahogany, a full silk body suit of raspberry outlined every curve of her body with dark cerise boots to match. Her eyes of violet and lips of crimson showed off her delicate features. A long, slender sword of gold and the wings of a seraph extending from her back completed her look.
"Who are you!" Yuna asked.
As she narrowed her eyes, the Gatekeeper withdrew her sword and pointed it at Yuna. "Your worst nightmare!"
