Gining does not own these characters or any places mentioned. That honor is Square's. Now, a few people asked me about why Rikku stopped listening to Seymour. I hope this answers that question for you.

--

Auron watched with hidden fear as the young girl moved in closer to him. This was not right, not at all. Something had happened to make her fatally wound Seymour. Not that he minded that part, but still. This was Rikku.

"Rikku, stop." He said softly hoping his voice would have some type of effect. Instead it had the opposite of what he wanted.

Her face contorted into one of rage. "I will not have you tell me what to do either. I will be controlled by none!"

"I don't want to control you. I simply want to talk to you again." He dropped his sword as if appearing to surrender.

Rikku paused, Pyry looked on as if unsure what to do now. "Again?" Rikku questioned. She didn't even remember talking to him before.

"Yes, again." He stepped closer to her well aware of the aeon watching. He had to time everything just right. One false move and he could kiss this afterlife goodbye. But then again, kissing goodbye was the idea. He reached out and grabbed her hand. Before she had a chance to fight back or protest, his lips were on hers.

--

Everyone was on board the airship as they saw the temple explode. Tidus and Yuna threw themselves to the window with a yell in shock. As far as they knew Auron was still down there. They had left him behind as they tried to save everyone they could.

"What in Spira was that?" Cid shouted over the confusion.

"Auron..." Tidus muttered so low only he heard it. Tears threatened to fall down his face. His mentor was dead...again, and they did nothing to prevent it. He slid down the glass into a crumpled heap on the floor. Yuna was next to him in an instant doing what he wished he could do, cry.

He suddenly wished he would have stayed behind and could have done something to prevent this from happening. Cid's shout forced him to look up though.

"Move in closer! What is that?"

His head shot up and he had to force away the moisture in his eyes before seeing clearly. The temple had collapsed, but outside on the ground lay the prostrate form he knew very well. "It's Auron! I know it is."

"I think you're right, son. But until we know for sure, we can't get too close. Who knows what caused that explosion. I'm not about to subject the rest of this ship to danger if it turns out to be a fiend."

"Uncle Cid!" Yuna stood her full hight and confronted the man. Thought she was still not as tall as him, her fierce determination was all that was needed to make her appear menacing. "That is your daughter down there." She used one finger to point at the wreckage below. "I would have thought you of all people would want to at least see if maybe she would still be alive. Or was I wrong to think that way? I know she's not the person we all thought she should be, that does not change who she is!"

All those on the bridge that were able to understand what Yuna said, leaned back away from her. She was scary when mad. It was completely silent before they heard the whooshing of the door closing at her departure. Tidus was quick to follow her. By the time he had caught up, she was in the ship's hanger trying to figure out how to open the doors to let her outside.

"Yuna! What are you doing? You'll hurt yourself if you jump from this high." He grabbed her waist and pulled her back.

She fought his grip making him hold tighter. "Let me go! That is my cousin and Auron down there! I have to make sure they are alright!"

"Yuna, relax. I know how you feel. We won't leave them." He whispered in her ear trying to calm her down before she became hysterical.

The ship rocked as they felt the landing gear engage. A moment later the engines were idling silently.

"We've landed. Come on. This is our chance to check on them." He grabbed her hand and lowered the gate before they ran off together and over to Auron's side. Yuna stood above them as Tidus slid to the fallen man's side. He grabbed his shoulders and tried shaking him awake.

"Auron, Auron. Say something."

Auron rolled over and blinked once. His lips parted slightly as he said one word. "Ouch." His eye closed once more as he passed out.

"We need to get him back on the airship. Cid should have medical equipment there to help him." He sucked in a breath as he thought about how he was going to get Auron back on the ship. While he wasn't weak, Auron was heavier then he could carry alone.

"Tidus, look. Uncle Cid is coming out. Maybe he can help us."

Cid walked over to them and glanced to Tidus who was still mulling over how to carry Auron. With a nod, he reached down and took hold of one arm waiting for the younger man to do the same. Once they accomplished that, Yuna took the moment to speak up.

"Um, Uncle Cid. About what I said before..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not about to let a few words get me down. What you said made me think though. Just one thing."

"What's that?" She asked worried.

"Don't do it again in front of my crew." He winked before helping Tidus and walking away.

Yuna nodded in understanding. She was left behind now and took a glance around her. Stone and rubble lay about the area. There was no sign a temple had ever stood here. It appeared as if it was always a pile of stone. She slowly walked over to the rubble and tried to make out if anything were still inside.

"Rikku? Rikku, are you still there?" She pulled a few rocks away trying to get deeper, but there was still no sign of any life. Even a mana scan of inside told her that. With a fallen heart, she turned and walked away. Rikku was not inside.

--

As airship rockets screamed in departure, rubble was moved aside to make room for a hand to reach out. It was a slender tanned hand, one used to working hard. It reached out and tried to find out what was around them. When nothing but stone and rock was felt, the hand retreated.

Seconds later, the body attached to the hand was exposed in another explosion. Debris went flying revealing a young woman. She looked around her and sneered. There was nothing here for her anymore.

Holding a hand to her chest she could feel the power of lightning inside her chest. She smirked as she thought deeply. "Now no one can tell me what I should do. The aeon soul calls me to Bevelle. There is another power there I must have."

Calling upon the newest acquired aeon, Rikku destroyed all that was left of the area. By the time she left, even the rubble was reduced to pebbles.

She shook her head freeing it from dirt and grit, she began walking north. But what she could not figure out was the closer she got to the underground city of Guadosalam, it make her ill. Her hands shook at her sides as she tried to control it. She kept going unable to place the feeling. Finally her body could take no more and she was forced to fall on her knees to the ground.

"What is this? It's like I am being called, but it's not power that calls me. I cannot go any farther. I must avoid this." Calling upon the flying aeon she received while in Besaid, Rikku forced it to fly her over the city and to the outskirts of the Capitol.

No one knew who she was there. Now that she was away from the influence of the force that put her in such pain, she could walk on her own. She ignored all who called to her trying to sell wares and goods. She was on a mission. The temple stood in the distance. That was where she needed to be.

Guards stood on the outside of the double doors preventing any from entering.

"What is your reason for being here?" One of them demanded of her as he held a weapon out waiting on her answer.

"I have come to take your aeon from you." She replied. A warmth from her chest grew letting her know the power was close. These men prevented her from getting what should be rightfully hers.

They stuttered for a moment after her answer. They never expected someone to come right out and say something like that. "We can't do that. Our orders state to kill any who try and enter this holy place."

"Is that right?" Rikku mocked them. "Then I'm afraid you face my wrath then." Light circled her as a smirk came over her face. Her eyes narrowed as if she knew a secret they did not. The aeon she had named Agrona came to her calling once again. The flying aeon brought her wings together gathering the very air around them before snapping it into the guards. They flew back in opposite directions before stopping several feet away. "Kill them." Rikku commanded in a bored tone. The sphere in her chest taking away all feeling she may have held for life at one time.

After dismissing Agrona, she entered the temple. It was bigger then she expected. Using the Aeon soul for guidance she solved the puzzle quickly. The chamber door would not open unless she did. As she arrived in the fayth's chamber, she saw a little boy she recognized.

"You have come. Tell me, why do you do this deed?"

"That is none of your concern." She snapped back. Bahamut always was the most stubborn.

"They worry about you. He has even come back to save you. Won't you let them save you?"

"Save me? I don't need it. If they want to help me, they should stay out of my way!" The chamber echoed with her shout but it did not bother the aeon.

He waited for the sound to die away before speaking again. "You want helped. We fayth can feel your distress. The farplane longs for what belongs to it. It calls out, begging for them to come back."

Rikku huffed as she crossed her arms. Why couldn't Bahamut just shut his mouth and allow her to take him? He was the only hindrance in her plans.

"Rikku, who are you? You must answer my question if you are to acquire my aeon. Where is the real you hidden?"

She was tired of his games. They would end now. The aeon soul she possessed inside her forced the fayth to enter back into the temples, but she still had to draw the aeon out. "I'm done playing." She snapped at him. "I am taking it now." Dropping to the floor, she placed her hands on top of the dome and closed her eyes.

She did not see Bahamut's face full of anguish as he was forced from the statue. He tried to fight it, but she had become too strong of a summoner. It was just like Yunalesca all over again. Spira would be the one to suffer if Auron could not stop her soon.

--

It took a day, but Auron finally gathered enough strength to open his eyes again. Yuna was there waiting.

His eye looked around trying to figure out where he was. The best he could come up with was a medical base.

"Sir Auron, how are you feeling?" Yuna asked him as she entered his vision.

"I am...fine." He answered somewhat unsure. He was still attempting to piece together what had happened.

"Oh good. Then you are able to help us find Seymour again?"

"That will not be necessary." He replied before slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position. At her wondering expression, he went on to explain. "Seymour has been defeated. Our real enemy now is Rikku herself."

Yuna gasped as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

"Rikku used her aeon to kill Seymour. Something in her mind snapped, and she refuses to take orders from others any more."

"Is that what caused the explosion? The temple does not exist any longer."

"No. That was caused by my actions. I watched as Seymour's final death was presented. I was unable to do anything to stop it, perhaps because I wished it to happen. Yet, it was not enough to break the spell she was under. His death only served to make it stronger. I confronted her, tried to help her to listen." He paused to take a breath, but he knew Yuna would want to hear more.

"I had acted rashly. I dropped my sword showing that I surrendered, but it was not enough. I kissed her without thinking about what might happen. I think it triggered something deep inside though. For she gave in for only a moment before a pain entered my chest. As I was thrown out through the wall of the temple I could see anguish in her eyes. She tried to save me before destroying the building."

"So do you think there is a chance she may still be alive?"

"Yuna, I assume you scanned the remains, correct?"

"Yes, I found nothing. If she was inside I would have known." She stared at him not understanding what he was trying to say. The pieces had yet to connect together.

"Yuna, scan me." He ordered gently.

"But why? I can tell you are fine. Even the machina says your heart and breathing are normal."

"Trust me." He smirked as he felt the cooling mana power run though him. Yuna gasped as she took a step away from him. "As I thought."

"But, but what does this mean? You are right here in front of me, but it is as if you are dead. I do not understand."

"I am not alive. Just as Rikku is not. You would not have been able to find her with a scan such as that." He looked away from her ashamed by his confession.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Auron smirked as he stood from the bed and led her to the bridge of the ship.