Chapter 12 – Good things always comes in threes, part 2

- "Hey Lucil, how come you can do that?" Tidus asked the red-haired woman walking next to him.

- "The lightcasting you mean? I actually… Don't know. I've been able to do this for as long as I can remember. It's why I was named Lucil. It means light in old Spirian."

Tidus nodded, impressed. That certainly was a cool power she had there. It had been pretty useful to them earlier.

They were marching along the long corridors of the cave. Lucil would light one torch after the other, and Yuna, now closing the march, would cast Water on them after they had passed, turning the place back to black.

Nooj wondered how Lucil could know where she was headed. This place was like a maze, and they had no idea how big it was. Still, he would never doubt her, and so far she seemed more or less sure of the direction. As they turned left, Yuna left one single torch lit, so they'd know where they had come from, should they need to turn back.

After a couple more corridors, they landed on yet another gigantic room, as dark and creepy as the rest they had explored so far.

Paine jumped, the hairs at the back of her neck suddenly standing on end. She had felt a gust of wind behind her. In one swift move, she turned, her heavy sword in hand. Nothing. Of course.

- "Stay alert guys. Something is here."

As a reply, each of them drew their weapons. They kept walking, carefully, following Lucil. Yuna stopped. She had felt it too. By now, they were familiar with the sensation. Shadows were here. She briefly wondered if they merely enjoyed toying with them a bit before striking, at the risk of losing their however really useful element of surprise, or if they were just bad at being completely quiet.

Her hand found Tidus', and they both closed their eyes, trying to focus on their training. The rest of the team stopped as well. It was no use to keep going until they had finished with them. They formed a large circle, Yuna, followed by Tidus, Lucil, Paine, and Nooj.

- "Come on, little pussies. How bout we get on with it?" Paine asked, trying to provoke them into attacking.

It didn't fail. Her sword shielded her face, just in time for the iron of the enemy's weapon to clinch with it in a loud cling.

- "Let's dance!"

It was time for round two.

- "Do you think they're ever coming for us?"

- "Fear not, Gippunzel. Your princes will come rescue you from your dungeon soon enough."

He chuckled, distractively playing with some bit of dirt on the wall. The girl had sass.

- "If I'm the princess, what does that make you? The dragon?"

- "Nah. I'm… "

- "The noble steed?"

- "Hey careful now." She said, scared to read a sexual innuendo there. With Gippal, you could never know. "Nope. I'm the …"

- "Oh I know! You're the annoying side-kick! You know, the little thing that keeps the princess company while she waits, always jumping around and acting annoyingly happy?"

- "…" She stopped, thinking about it for a while. Then she shrugged, defeated. "I can't argue with that."

Gippal raised both his arms in victory, silently screaming out his pride. "And Gippunzel evens the scoooore" he mouthed, barely whispering the words.

They let the silence sink in for a minute. Then two. Rikku sighed and Gippal echoed her. They weren't sure how long they had spent in here, but it was clear their captor didn't plan on giving them food anytime soon. Her hands rested on her poor, empty little belly. As if it responded to her whiningly, it gurgled so loud Gippal jumped. Then he burst into laughter, and so did she.

- "Haaa. Maaaan. I'm so hungry I would eat the cockroaches, if this place had any."

- "This place is probably too disgusting and creepy, even for them."

- "That's why you fit so perfectly in here."

- "Tss. Too easy."

He began patting his stomach, finding a rhythm. His voice followed, humming a song that sounded familiar to Rikku. But she couldn't remember what it was, and she didn't really care enough to ask him. He had a nice voice, she could even see herself falling asleep listening to his lullaby. Yes… she would dream of the breakfast she never got to have. Her mouth grew watery at the idea of her favorite meal: oatmeal with cannel and sugar, a big cactuar juice and six big machina-shaped pancakes. Her stomach growled again, and she dismissed the thought, biting her lips.

- "Say, annoying creature?"

- "Hm?" She said, her eyes still closed.

- "How bout we try to save ourselves and stop waiting for our princes to show up"That's the best thing you've said all day, princess."

They were outnumbered.

From Lucil's observations, she guessed they were fighting against approximately thirty Shadows. And probably three were on her at this very moment. They had wounded her a bit, but it was only superficial injuries so far. Although the problem was that she was starting to feel really tired. The light she had casted earlier had left her with a lot less energy. She wasn't sure how long she could go on, and Yuna didn't have time to heal her now. She grabbed a potion in her bag and drank it, just as she blocked a sword with her katana. Only when the steel touched her weapon could she see her enemy's sword.

Paine was handling it, for now. One Shadow was attacking her from behind, while two others—or so she suspected—were making the blows rain on her chest area. She managed to dodge the majority of them, and even to counter attack efficiently. But it was getting long. They didn't aim to kill so far. They were just repetitively attacking. She suspected it was to tire her, and to make her used to one attack pattern, until they did something different and surprised her. She wasn't sure they were good enough to have thought about it, but it was never good to underestimate an enemy.

Tidus and Yuna were fighting together, back to back. From what Nooj could see, they were pretty well coordinated. Yuna would cast spells and block most of the attacks, while Tidus took care of the physical offensive side.

"Let's switch!" Yuna told him, and they turned around, switching sides.

How long could they go on like this? It felt like fighting a hydra. Every time they heard an enemy fall, three new ones seemed to emerge. The fight was endless and they were growing tired.

- "Ok, so. Jumping on the bars does not work. Neither does screaming them into moving. And I can't possibly fit under there. What do we do?"

They had tried all they could think of, from the most rational to the less, and nothing worked. This place was heavily protected and, most of all, they had nothing they could use.

Or did they?

- "Toss me your watch and a pin from your hair." Gippal replied, feeling suddenly inspired.

Puzzled, she complied and watched him expectantly. What did he plan to do with those?

- "Are you building a bomb, big boy?"

He stopped for a bit to wink at her, and got back to work. He smashed her watch to the floor repetitively, until it burst out on the ground. Then he did the same with his. All Rikku could do was watch, and try to guide him when he wasn't sure what do to. He was the expert really, but she knew a bit too. They had formed a good team back when they were repairing old machinas together. They could still be a good team now.

After a while, Gippal rose his two hands in front of him. Cupped inside was his little two-watches-shaped bomb. He breathed out, looking at Rikku.

- "Shall we?"

She nodded, nervously biting her lips. He closed his eyes as he pressed the button and threw it on the bar of his cell. It clicked once. Then twice.

And boom.

It had exploded alright. Noisily so. But the explosion had been so small only the dust around it lifted, making Gippal cough. He sighed, disappointed.

- "Throw it to me, I wanna try something."

He picked up the pieces, tried to put it back together, and threw it to her. They were doomed.

- "Did you hear that?" Yuna asked Tidus.

It had come from behind them. Was that another lava river? It didn't seem so. Was it more enemies? Or could it be Gippal and Rikku? Someone had to check it out.

But not now. Tidus fell, knocked out dead by yet another invisible enemy. Yuna revived him just in time before she fell to the ground as well. It was getting impossible to go on. Nooj, Lucil and Paine had tried to regroup a bit, but when the team was growing increasingly exhausted, the number of enemies didn't seem to decrease. Yuna was almost out of mana, and they were out of Ether. Just like they were out of potions, phoenix downs, patience, and stamina.

As an invisible fist crushed her jaw, Lucil fell to the ground. Nooj was panting, his leg hurting more than ever. Paine gulped down the blood that was piling up on her mouth with a grimace. Tidus protected Yuna and received a knife in his stomach. He fell to his knees under the pain. Yuna tried to heal him, but nothing happened. They were out of time.

- "I'm sorry." She said as she dropped her staff to her feet.

- "Don't say that." Tidus said, grimacing under the pain. "It's not over yet".

But wasn't it?

The blows kept coming, and they received them with clenched jaws. This time, Yuna threw herself in front of Tidus as she heard the piercing sound of steel ripping through the air. It broke on the rest of the shield she had casted, reducing the blow. But her HP were critically low, and she couldn't even stand anymore.

Nooj tried to wake Lucil up, but she wasn't reacting. With a trembling head, he checked for her pulse. It was still beating. As he let out a sigh of relief, it morphed into a panting sound. The sword had broken the skin, and blood dripped from his chest.

- "It was nice fighting alongside you, my friends." Nooj said as he dropped to the floor, over Lucil's body.

Tidus and Yuna looked at each other. This was it, they thought. They were either going to die now, or be captured, and be tortured to be killed later. Either way, it wasn't a nice prospect.

- "Not until the end" He said.

- "Always." Yuna replied, squeezing his hand as hard as she could. And he felt her falling. He grabbed her by the waist and buried his face in her hair.

- "Now's not the time to go all softey on mey, mates!"

The air seemed to move. To fizzle. And then came the sound. It was so high-pitched, so loud and deep inside their brains all three of them fell to the ground, covering their ears. During one second, all Shadows were visible in their night gowns, and then they disappeared again. Was it…?

A second wave of high-pitched frequencies hit them, and this time, after twitching a few more times, all enemies stayed visible. The hope and given them a new strength, and Tidus and Paine had never been happier to see their merchant friend, leading the Youth League troops.

Twenty of their best men against fifty-ish of the Shadows-not-so-shadowy-anymore. It looked like they might just have their chance.

- "You heard that?"

- "Yeah. Think it's them?"

O'aka and his supplies had been most welcomed. He had given them—and for free—many ethers, potions, phoenix downs. All the products they needed to perk up. They had flown away from the battlefield with him, aided by five of their men, carrying Lucil and Nooj—Tidus had insisted on carrying Yuna, even if he himself needed help walking. All the while, Nooj's and Lucil's troops were battling fiercely their now visible enemies.

- "Phew. That one was pretty close. Thank you O'aka, you're the best." Tidus said as he shook his friend's hand, a big smile on his face.

- "Hmmm."

He turned his head to see Yuna, who was laying on a stretcher—they had come equipped, he had to hand it out to them—began to stir. Before she could even get up, he was already at her side, hugging her tightly. She coughed under his tight embrace, and he moved back a bit to stare in her eyes.

- "Hey beautiful. How you feeling?"

- "Much, much better." She said in a small smile. "You?"

- "Now, I'm great." And he kissed her passionately, forcing his tongue down her mouth without so much as a warning. A bit startled at first, she felt an explosion of butterflies down her stomach and spreading everywhere, from her fingertips to the tip of her toes, and she responded to his kiss, barely stopping a moan from escaping her mouth. Her hands found his hair, as they usually did, and she pushed his face to hers.

- "Yuck. Guys, seriously. I'll throw up on you." Paine said as she drank from a flask of water.

O'aka looked away after staring for a beat too long.

- "So. Apart from ye guys almost dyin, what's the situation?"

- "I think I know where Gippal and Rikku are. I heard a noise."

- "So did I" Said Lucil, for once not looking so perfectly professional and with her red hair smooth and straight. She was pale, but seemed ok enough. "Shall we move?"

- "I wanna sleep a bit more, mamitaaa" Nooj said as he rolled over his stomach and grabbed Lucil's arm with his, like a boy would his blankie. Her cheek felt warmer, from the surprise, and she was happy it was too dark for anyone to know. She was a grown woman, for god sake's. Grown women did not blush at the mere touch of the opposite sex.

Silence. They all stared at each other for a moment, their eyes as round as a blitzball, oblivious of everything else. It was so out of character they all burst into laughter, which made Nooj jump.

- "What are you all laughing about?"

But then it wasn't so funny anymore. Accompanied by their familiar long, long sigh, they were back. Some were more high-pitched than others, but all were coming their way.

- "Pyreflies"

Brought back to reality, they got up and prepared for yet another fight. But as the first one touched O'aka, it merely traversed him, making him shiver, but it did not possess him. Neither did the others, and they stood, puzzled, as the pyreflies continued their journey, all pouring down from one place to another, deep down the cave. It was like they were being drawn to something. Or… Summoned.

- "Bonecrave." They all said in one voice. And their mood dropped to their socks.

With one look at Tidus, Yuna knew they had understood each other.

- "We'll try to stall him, you go rescue Gippal and Rikku. Sounds like a plan?"

And before they could say anything or argue against their suicidal plan, they were already gone.

Following the path of souls, they arrived in a small, dark room, with some lights here and there from holes in the celling. A footstep. He was here.

The long, creepy sigh stopped as soon as the pyreflies reach the man—or whatever he was—and they stood, disgusted, as he leeched each piece of souls, one after the other.

- "My my, what a pleasure to see you again in flesh and blood, Lady Yuna. I never thought I'd get the chance." The voice emerged from the shadow.

It was a familiar voice.

This voice... She would have recognized it any day, any time. It was forever marked au fer rouge, closely mixed with all her rage and hatred. With one look at Tidus, she knew he knew it too. But how was it possible? Did that man truly refused to disappear from Spira? After all their attempts to rid the world of him and the madness that came along with him?

- "Seymour! How can this be?"

The man laughed, and they turned in its direction, all their members bent, ready to fight.

- "Ha..." He said as he stopped laughing to the apparently hilarious joke only he seemed to get. "You never disappoint, Lady Yuna. But I'm not Seymour. Not anymore."

- "Who are you then? What do you want?"

Yuna had almost yelled those words, holding her staff so tight her knuckles were turning white.

- "Yuna, Yuna, Yuna. Dear, sweet, pure Yuna. I can still see the resolve burning in your eyes. It's beautiful. You haven't changed... I cannot say the same."

He seemed freakishly calm, and didn't appear to want to fight... Yet. He was engaging, and neither was them. The wait was making Tidus loose it. He was full of apprehension, and he needed to act, to fight, to distract his mind and find his cool. This wasn't good. Part of him still hoped for a very twisted Mafia guy. But this. This was so much worse.

- "I have to say I'm impressed. A protective spell prohibiting me from entering your minds. I see someone did her homework. But let's see how long it lasts, shall we?"

Under the effort, Yuna gasped and her whole body bent. Tidus came to her, and grabbed her shoulders, trying to protect her. He put the weight of her body on his, lost as to what to do. He couldn't do anything. The bastard was attacking her mind, pushing her till her breaking point.

- "Hey Boney!" Tidus started, to grab Bonecrave's attention. "I have a question. Are you guys always fighting in the shadows because you're pussies or also because you're ugly AF?"

It worked, he released Yuna, and her body instantly seemed to relax. But the pull hadn't disappeared, it just shifted. And now Tidus fell to the ground, holding his head with his hands, trying to somehow stop the pain.

- "Fine, if you want to die first, I can work with that. I never liked you anyway."

- "Stop it! Leave him!"

In her desperate attempts to free Tidus from Bonecrave telekinesis pull, she was casting all sorts of spells, but with one quick movement of his hand after the other, he was dodging them all. He didn't even seem to be making any effort to do so.

Tidus was yelling from the excruciating pain. It seemed to grow with each passing second. He felt like his head was about to blow up from the inside. All he saw was red, he could barely feel what was going on around him. He was starting to forget who he was, how he had been there. All he saw was red, bloody red blind pain.

- "I'll do anything. Just stop, I beg you!"

And with that, the pain stopped, and Tidus rolled to the floor, panting and gasping. Yuna ran to him, helping him up and curing him with all her last MPs.

- "Anything I want, huh? How I have wished you'd say this one day, lady Yuna."

How could this guy still say he wasn't Seymour when he so clearly was? Yuna couldn't understand. But also, how could he be Seymour? They had fight him four times, two years ago. And the last time, Yuna had sent him. It didn't make any sense. How could this man always come back? He was like Sin, never really dying, bound to Spira's fate.

- "Ha yes... I suppose you are half right. I am Seymour... But I am so much more."

He could read his mind? Had he pierced her defenses already? She was already so tired, and they hadn't even started.

- "What... What do you mean?"

- "I suppose it's story telling time, isn't it? But first, I think it's time you see me at long last, my Lady Yuna."

He took a step. And another one. As he stepped into the light coming from a small hole on the celling, like a spotlight, Yuna and Tidus' faces fell. He was haunting. Bonecrave had trouble walking, and even standing. He was dragging his left foot, weirdly twisted on the ground, with the rest of his horrid, putrid pack of skin. One of his legs had a different, darker shade than the rest of his body and it was clearly longer. That's when they understood: his body was made out of different members from different people, all patched up together in a terrible, grim collage. He was wearing this long, blue and green toga, thankfully hiding most of his members. But then they looked at his face.

One of his eyes was piercing blue, like Seymour's, and the other was dark-red, glowing in the dark. They were a few centimeters apart, and not in the same line. His nose was crushed on his cracked skull, twisted on one side. It looked like he had fell face first from the 13th floor of a building, and never recovered. His mouth was partly sewed, on the right side, and it was contorted, almost vertical. Now they understood what the witch had meant when she had told Elma that he was "many people". They could barely bare to stare at him, but they had to: he couldn't scare them.

"You see, lady Yuna. I was dead, but a part of my soul lived on. My hatred roamed Spira aimlessly. And it did so, for so long, until it found this place, thanks to you, I think. And then it found other pieces of hate, and it merged with mine. Today, you are lucky, I am mostly Seymour. But somedays, I am someone else. It's a bit messy at times, and we want different things: money, power, torture, revenge, death. But you see, we also have this common goal."

He didn't have to say what it was, they already knew. Seymour had always been so twisted. Lord Jyscal, his father Seymour had killed himself, thought it was because of him. But maybe it was mostly because of his mother, who had chosen to die to give her son an aon, Anima, instead of staying alive for him. Then, he had spent most of his life living in exile that he had chosen, alone in the Temple of Baaj. As the son of both a Guado and a human, he didn't fit anywhere. Everybody rejected him, and his own mother had told him he had to kill Sin, hence die as well, for people to accept him. That had to play a lot of tricks on a little boy. And here, he had turned out to grow into the worst person he could have become. A man eaten away by vengeance and hatred for everyone. His soul was as dark as an endless, starless sky.

- "Things are still the same. We still need to put this broken world out of its misery. We have to destroy it all, release all those tortured souls. Join me, Yuna. I still want you by my side, as I always have."

- "How many times do we have to kill you for you to understand that I will never become your ally?"

- "I suppose you are right", he said slowly as he chuckled, his voice turning into a cough. "But it still pains me so to have to kill you. Don't you worry though, I'll kill him first"

With that, he sent Tidus across the wall. His lifeless body came in contact with it so hard that, when he fell to the ground, some stones moved, threatening to fall over him. But as they did, Rikku threw a grenade that blew the stones in such tiny pieces the rain of pebbles was inoffensive.

Gippal followed her, and they stood from either side of Yuna, ready to fight. They were quickly joined by the rest of the team. They formed a line, all of them facing Bonecrave. He still hadn't moved from his stone pedestal.

- "Oh, how fun, all the team is here at last. Did you enjoy your stay, miss Rikku? Thank you for bringing your friends to me, I owe you. But it really was O'aka who did all the hard work. I didn't think I'd have the chance to see you all so soon. It's really…"

- "Shut up! Jeez, don't you ever stop talking?" Gippal said, unimpressed. "We could hear you from across the corridor."

- "Yeah, he's actually worse than you Gip!"

- "Very well. Shall we start, then?"

He was sending pain waves. They couldn't fight against most of them, although Yuna and Lucil were actively trying to protect the team with all sort of magical barriers. But, one after the other, Bonecrave broke their defenses, and Gippal, Nooj and Paine kept getting hit. Hazed by the pain, they couldn't move. Rikku seemed to be the only one Bonecrave couldn't touch, for some unknown reason. But everytime she tried to approach him, she'd hit an invisible wall, and was thrown a few feet back.

Paine got up, ignoring her brain contracting and the pain that supposed, and she casted a special spell on her sword, breaking the invisible wall. She almost hit the monster, but he stroked her down first. Lucil ran to her and took half of the blow as she tried to protect her. Bonecrave laughed, and he casted what looked like a deathly spell towards Lucil. But instead of touching the young woman, it fell against the sharped steel of Fraternity. Tidus took his weapon out of his face, so Bonecrave could see his death stare, proving to him that he wasn't afraid. He had regained his conscience and wasn't close to giving up.

The fight seemed endless, they couldn't reach him. Each time they tried, he disappeared to reappear a few steps further. Nooj thought about what could be his weakness. And then he looked at how Bonecrave was fighting every one of them but Yuna.

- "Yuna! "He called her and nodded towards the monster. After a few seconds, her face lit up as she understood and she nodded. She was his weakness.

- "Seymour, you have to stop this".

- "Stop calling me by this name." He said as he dropped a stone on her, but from far enough so she could easily see it coming and dodge it.

- "You have no reason to do this anymore. Spira is free of pain, now."

- "Is it? How naive are you, Lady Yuna. As long as there will be humans here, Spira will always be ruled by fear and pain, even if you can't always see it. It is there."

- "You're wrong! That's your own grief talking, nothing else"

- "Hm." He distractedly listened to her, as he watched her teammates enabled to move. Tidus, Rikku and Lucil were trapped by a black liquid that was gaining field on their bodies. Nooj and Paine helped them out of it, but it kept coming back.

She had to try again. He had feelings for her, she still ignored why, but he had always had. And even now, more monstrous than he'd ever been, he still felt something for the High Summoner. Anything that was linked to humanlike feelings was his weakness.

- "You can still stop this! I can help you find peace!"

- "Ha. You want to be my salvation, Yuna, is that it?"

She didn't reply, looking without blinking in his misaligned eyes. She knew he would sound out her mind, and she planned on it. As she felt an alienated presence at the back of her head, like fingertips caressing her brain, she focused on all the great things Spira had now. She recalled all the peaceful agreements they walked towards making. They were finally learning from their mistakes, he had to see that. Three honest leaders were ruling Spira in harmony. The Guados and the Ronso were slowly starting to choose the path of peace instead of war.

She knew the second she had thought about the war between the two peoples, that she had lost him.

- "The Ronso. I suppose I should have killed the remaining ones before heading to kill you. How sloppy of me. Fear not, lady Yuna, that's the first mistake I'll correct once I'm done with you."

- "You failed to kill us then, you'll fail to kill us now, don't you get it?" Tidus said, as Yuna realized he was way beyond her reach. "We will never stop fighting!"

At least she had distracted him long enough for Lucil to gently, carefully, annihilate his defenses without him noticing. Or she hoped she had, they still had yet to try to touch him.

- "Oh do shut up". And he dropped a stone on him.

Yuna gasped and ran towards him. In a loud boom she dragged him out of the stone's range. They both fell on the floor, her on him. She sighted, relieved.

- "Are you ok?"

- "Yeah. Thank you."

- "How precious. The lovely couple cuddling. I've alwa..."

He stopped as the cold iron of Gippal's sword went through his chest. While Yuna and Bonecrave were talking, he had discreetly, as only thieves knew how, sneaked behind him, and he had finally successfully attacked the aberration. His eyes opened wide, and he looked at them without seeing them, his dark gaze empty.

- "That'll teach you to shut up."

But what should have been a deadly blow only managed to distract him for a few seconds. Bonecrave's disgusting face came back to life and broke into a horrid grin as he laughed. He jerked his arm in front of him, as if throwing an invisible object. As a reaction, Gippal was thrown at the back of the cave.

- "Alright. I'm done playing nice nows."

And the sword disappeared inside of him. It was as if Bonecrave was sucking it up, somehow. Gippal could still see bits of it, filling some of the holes in his molded chest, across the opening of his cloth. A dark purple whirlwind started at the base of his feet and trapped him, willingly so, growing and growing, morphing him into something even more vile. And when the smoked finally dispersed to show a bigger, more putrid version of him, they were impressed for a bit, but they all had seen way worst.

- "Hey! Give it back!"

Gippal almost felt like he was on the verge of crying. It was his weapon! It had been with him for as long as he could remember, the last piece of his family he had. It had been his first and loyal companion.

- "Rikkuuuu! He stole my sword!"

- "I know, I know. We'll get it back"

He might be playing, and pretty convincingly so, the invincible act, Rikku knew better. He was faking it. Even Sin hadn't been invincible. All they had been doing so far had weakened him more than he thought it would. Lucil noted that he seemed more anxious and less precise. The pain waves he was continuously throwing were failing more and more to touch them, partly thanks to Yuna's hard work and to him growing tired. He had lost some of his speed, and Tidus managed to strike him with his sword half of the time now. As Bonecrave raised his arm, about to cast a spell, Tidus cut the misarticulated member, and it fell to the ground before the monster could avoid the blow. Rikku took advantage of his surprise to cut a bigger hole into his chest with her dagger. The sword fell half out of it, the handle facing his navel. Nooj, also part of the offensive, tried his other arm, but Bonecrave had regained his spirits and with a powerful wave, he sent all three of them away from him. Nooj fell on Lucil, who barely held his weight.

Gippal snapped his fingers, and the sword reacted, bound to her master's wish. It moved, slowly at first, then more and more strongly, leaving the entrails of their enemy to fall back into his owner's hand.

- "Yuck! It's covered with that guy's gastric stream."

Yuna was casting spells, and it finally seemed to be effective. Flare was proving to be the most useful so far. Bonecrave didn't seem that sure of himself anymore, he was reaching his limits. So were they, but to see him flicker was enough to give them the strength to go on. Nooj was the first to get up and to go back to the fight. He was trying to cut his head, while Lucil focused on his arm. Bonecrave kept dodging their attacks, but he didn't have time to attack himself. But suddenly, he was gone. Lucil and Nooj stopped, looking behind and around them.

- "The deathseeker. Hm. Interesting." The voice resonated.

He appeared again and planted a knife inside of Nooj's who gasped under the chock of the pain. Rikku threw a blinding grenade as Lucil dragged Nooj away from the monster.

Nooj could feel him probing his mind. His cold, sticky fingers were around his temples, invisible to the eyes, but here nonetheless. Yuna cured his wound as Lucil took the knife out, like she would have a band-aid. It was still bleeding, but it looked ok enough. Nooj could manage. He would live on.

- "You don't seek death anymore? How unfortunate. I'll have to grant it to you anyway!"

Concentrating all his remaining strength, Bonecrave reinforced the pull he had over Nooj's mind. Everything inside of him seemed to be moving, without him controlling any of it. His strength was leaving his body. It was the most confusing feeling. Bonecrave was sucking up his soul.

As if time had slowed down, Yuna danced with her staff, casting a spell that drained her light, the strongest she could, to fight the darkness that formed Bonecrave. It fell right on the target, and it proved to be as effective as it could. The monster was struck in place, his eyes empty again, burned by the light that kept growing stronger. But he was still fighting back, trying to eat the soul away.

Lucil yelled as she ran in front of Nooj. She casted a barrier made of whit light in front of her and him. Bonecrave yelled, agonizing. Yuna kept on dancing, sweat pouring out of her from the effort. And suddenly, he wasn't anymore. His skin disintegrated, and a thousand, millions, trillion, pyreflies exploded.

But before they could have screamed out victory, they noticed an unsettling thing. The soul-extracting spell had made a breach big enough for a piece of soul to be suck out of Lucil's body. They watched, horrified, as the little pyrefly flew in the air, hanging between the young woman and the fireworks of pyreflies lighting up the dark room of the cave.

Yuna had stroke Bonecrave with the last blow, before the pyrefly could enter his horrible body, but the piece of soul had flown away, and Lucil fell, unconscious, into Nooj's arms.

- "Till next time..." His voice echoed, as if he was whispering those words right into the hollow of each of the team's pair of ears.

Yuna wanted to send all the pyreflies right now, but she was out of strength, Tidus didn't let her since she'll kill herself in doing it. He promised her they'll come back after some rest. But what if a piece still managed to escape and he recreated himself once again if they wait? She wouldn't budge, and so he told the others to go on without them. If she was staying, then so was he.

Back at the headquarters, they transferred Lucil and all the other wounded to the hospital part of the hut. All the white Mage attended to them, but there were so many they had to call in reinforcements. The last of the Gullwings lend their services—for free, this time—to bring more people from all over Spira to help.

Finally, at the darkest hours, Tidus came back carrying an unconscious Yuna in his arms. Rikku, Paine, Nooj and Gippal greeted them, they couldn't sleep until they had heard from them. They asked him about the cave.

- "It's done". Is all he managed to say before passing out.

- "So you really meant all that you said?" Gippal asked.

They had rested at the Youth League camp, and were casually walking around together.

- "What?" Rikku responded, confused.

- "You know, about me being a great guy, you having the hots for me and all..."

- "I meant it..." She nodded. "I think you said that last part, though."

- "Really? Did I?" He said innocently.

- "Yeah", she replied, her mouth twisting to the right side of her face in a sorry-not-sorry face. "Bummer".

- "Hmm. So you don't have the hots for me then?" He said, inching closer to her, his feet touching the tips of hers.

- "Now, that's not what I said either..." She replied, looking up at him, an amused light dancing in her green eyes.

- "Oh no?"

- "Hmhm." She mouthed as she shook her head, her gaze not leaving his.

- "Well then..." He whispered, letting his upper body bend, his face coming closer to hers. She breathed in, almost bracing herself, and his lips slowly, tenderly fell on hers.

As soon as they were in contact, the electroshock they both felt changed the situation. Gippal moved until Rikku's back was up against the wall. He got his hands out of his pockets and around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She grabbed his neck, bringing his face closer to hers, smashing his lips even more on hers. He bit her lower one, and a thousands butterflies flew from her stomach to a downer direction. His hand cupped her ass, and her legs mingled with his, both craving for more and more contact.

Someone whistled, and they were brought back to reality. They still were in the streets, and people were starting to stare.

- "Ahem. I guess it's not really where you do those kind of things."

- "I know a place that is", he said, his eyebrows going up and down, his smartass smile lighting up his face. Rikku chuckled, splashing her hand on his face just as he tried to kiss her again.

- "Lets go then". She said as she dragged him by the hand.