Yuna followed quickly behind her mentor as her heels clacked loudly in the empty corridors. Auron would not tell her what his plan was until he faced Cid. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she wondered what he could be thinking. She soon found out once he had everyone's attention on the bridge.

"What are the latest reports?"

Cid leaned over a screen before answering. He read off all the details in front of him keeping all emotion from his voice. "Besaid and Kilika are no more. We know that Djose is now destroyed. Gippal says he is willing to rebuild and help the other two islands as well. His people are devoted to that cause. We had a report come in from a valley outside of Guadosalam of something huge flying past about a day ago. I had my experts look into it, but they have yet to come up with an answer.

"Yuna has been thinking about what that fayth kid told her when they visited Bevelle. She has come up with no leads on that riddle yet though." He sighed before dropping his head to his chest.

Auron walked over to him and placed one hand on his shoulder. "It's hard, I know. I have a theory."

"I'll do almost anything at this point." Cid answered as he stood and turned.

Auron turned his gaze to each of them assessing what they could handle before speaking up. "Rikku is in a war within herself. The figure seen in the skies outside of Guadosalam can be nothing short of an aeon."

"You think it was the one from Besaid?" Yuna questioned starting to put the pieces together.

Auron nodded. "But now, answer this. Why would she avoid the city. What is there that could harm her?"

The bridge was still as each person tried to search for an answer to the question. It was Tidus who came up with an idea first.

"Well we know it's where Seymour used to live. Maybe she was avoiding that memory."

"A good guess, but wrong. The fayth blocked her memory in that regard. Yuna, with the information you just learned about me, tell me what your thoughts are."

"What? Huh? I...Oh. She was avoiding the farplane."

"Exactly."

Cid picked up in the thought and ran with an idea of his own. "So what you're saying, is if we can get her into the city, the farplane will weaken her enough for us to make our move? But she averted her course from there meaning she knew what would happen. We have to find a way to trick her into coming back."

"And do it before she destroys another city," Auron added. "Cid, if you will, drop me off in the far northern expanse. My presence will be needed there."

"You're not going alone!" Cid protested with a shout. While he trusted the man to know what he was doing, Auron did things in ways he would rather not know about.

"It will be for the best if I do."

"But, Auron!" Tidus jumped in. "Can't you let at least one of us go with you? Yuna and I think we may have a plan. But we need you to help us."

Auron shook his head negative before looking at Cid. "The northern expanse." Without saying another word, he left the bridge.

--

Rikku left the temple making sure that the statue used to hold the fayth was destroyed. She was not about to let anyone else have a chance to pull the aeon away from her and back into the stone. The one person who tried to stop her was met with a painful crack of a thunder spell. She struggled to leave the city without being seen. For some reason she found it difficult to destroy this city like she had the others. It was as if whatever that man she met in Djose did something to her will power when he pressed his lips against her own.

While she couldn't deny she enjoyed the feeling, if only for a moment, she could not allow it to happen again. But something about him drew her to know him more intimately. It was almost as if she should more about him then she did.

"What is this feeling?" She questioned herself as she worked her way through into the forest of Macalania. She avoided going south, that awful feeling might return if she did, so she went north. The Aeon Soul in her chest told her another fayth resided here somewhere.

Forgetting the inner thoughts, Rikku headed closer to the fayth's statue. Or at least where she thought it could be. A loud roar was heard overhead about an hour after she walked. She ignored it thinking it had nothing to do with her now. But when she heard it again some time later, she knew something was up.

Rikku stopped walking and summoned her new aeon. Bahamut flew down from the skies crashing into the ground sending crystal and rock in all directions. She had not renamed this one for she wanted the fayth to feel shame as he helped bring Spira to ruin with his own name. Bahamut had been hard to get, but it was well worth the effort. As soon as the dragon saw her, his eyes were full of anger, yet one could almost detect an underlying sense of pity within.

"Stop staring and carry me north!" Rikku yelled at him. She climbed onto his back as he lowered himself to her level. With a wicked grin, Rikku prepared herself for whatever trap was in store. She was sure that group would try and intervene once more, but she would be ready for them.

It was only a twenty minute flight on the great dragon, but something did not seem right as she arrived. There was nothing but empty space here. A chasm split the earth at the top of the plains before it fell away to the sea. Bahamut circled the area under her command as Rikku searched for the reason she felt uneasy about this place.

Bahamut roared as she guided him east. A building was tucked away hidden from all eyes by a cliff. She knew that was where she would be able to find another aeon, one that felt even more powerful then the one under her now. Rocks and debris was thrown around once more as he landed in front of the monolithic doors. She dismissed the aeon as she approached.

"Now, how do I get inside?" She wondered to herself out loud. Squinting in thought, she reached one hand out and touched a symbol imprinted on the outside. Far above her head, a symbol matching the one she touched began to glow. "Ah, now I understand." Quickly moving her hands so that the other two would glow, she stepped back as the doors opened for her. "That was too easy of a trial. I was expecting something more grand for such a strong power."

"That wasn't the trial, Rikku." A man's deep voice replied to her from within the temple.

Rikku gasped before her face fell into a scowl. "It's you. What do you want?" She asked recognizing this as the man who kissed her not so long ago. "I should have taken your life when I had the chance. You are forever a thorn in my side."

"If that is what it will take, then I offer my life in exchange for yours." Auron spoke calmly hoping to show her how sincere he was. He did not carry any weapon knowing she would respond with hostility if she were to see it. But he did have it close by, hidden behind a pillar if he were to need it.

"An exchange? Your mind must be warped. I cannot take what you do not have. I know about you, you are as one of those who pretend at life. You are just as dead as the fayth who are powerless to stop me. Because of my life, I am stronger then you."

"That's where you are wrong."

Rikku scoffed once before glaring at him. Light began to circle around her and Auron knew he was in trouble. He would not survive an encounter with an aeon alone. But in the same regard, he needed to show her that what he said was true, he was willing to give up the gift that the fayth gave him. He stood his ground and watched as Agrona hovered in the air just in front of him.

"Is it really my death you want? I will not fight. I..." Auron paused as if he was unable to say the next line he wanted to. Instead he fell to his knees and lowered his head. "I want to see the real you again," He whispered so low Rikku could not hear it.

Without even meaning to, Auron had made himself into the trial. The test for Rikku now was a choice. She could kill him and risk losing everything about herself, or let him go and have him be always be the resistance to destroying Spira.

A spark of her past self shone through for an instant. She fell to her own hands and knees before crawling over to him. Very slowly her hands reached out to touch his face. "Auron? It is you, right?"

He lifted his face to look at her eyes. They stared at him with with a softness only the real side of Rikku would have. He nodded once before moving forward. Being apart from her was taking its toll. He didn't know how much longer he could stand to see her destructive ways. Suddenly the eyes that stared back at him with such love and care flashed. He had just enough time to flinch before her hand stuck his cheek.

Rikku was standing over him and shouting now. "You deceiver! I almost fell for your tricks! If I didn't have a better use for you, I would kill you now and be done with it."

Auron didn't say anything. He waited to hear what she was going to do. If it meant he could stay by her side, then perhaps his plan would still work. He only needed to lead her back to Guadosalam.

"Not that I really need you, but I think I will keep you around for a little fun. Yes, you stayed out of the farplane so that Spira would not be destroyed, didn't you? What makes you think that one person can stop me? You and those fayth are all fools."

As she ranted, Auron couldn't help but notice a light shining from within her chest slightly to the left of where her heart would be. He knew without a doubt this was the Aeon Soul Seymour had stolen. They would not be able to defeat her while she carried the sphere within her. This answered so many questions though.

Seymour had made sure it would not be found by hiding it within his slave, but why her and not himself? Perhaps his body could not contain the power it held. But neither could Rikku. The soul controlled her, made her do things that she would not do normally.

"I will serve you." He found himself saying when she had stopped speaking. Cid would not like this one bit, but the plan had to be changed quickly in order to gain at least some of her trust.

For her part, Rikku just grinned. Something deep inside said she wanted him close by. She didn't know why, but if it helped her, then she wasn't going to complain.

--

"I don't believe it!" Cid shouted as he looked over the latest information on the screen in front of him. "The fool joined her and they are going north not south!"

Yuna came over and peered over his shoulder to see what he was talking about. "I thought he was going to lead her back here." They had gone ahead and landed the airship just south of the city and waited for Auron's return. But instead were presented with this new information.

"So where are they going then?" Tidus asked from across the room. He was leaning against the window trying to stay out of the way of all the rushing crew. "There are no temples left, are there?"

Yuna stood up and turned around. "No temples, but there is still two more aeons. The location of them is shrouded in mystery. Hidden inside ancient scrolls."

Tidus threw his hands in the air and huffed. "And how are we supposed to find them then? If they get there first, it will only make it harder for Rikku to be led back here."

Cid tapped the control panel next to him in thought. He shook one finger as he brought up another thought. "I think I may know what Auron is trying to accomplish. If Rikku holds all the aeons within her body when she passes through the barrier, they will be unable to escape thus creating this problem again.

"When Yunalesca created the aeons, she trapped them in stone. But she trapped them on this side of the planet's barrier. I know someone who may be able to give us more answers. Gippal told me there was an Al Bhed who was studying fayth before he left the ship. I think it's time we called him in."

Yuna smiled happy that they finally were going to get some answers. Cid contacted Gippal asking about the location of the Al Bhed. To their fortune, he was still on board the ship.

"Okay, so his name is Shinra. Supposed to be some kind of intelligent mind or something. Now I'm not sure how much he really knows, but we will soon find out."

The doors opened and everyone turned to see a little kid enter the bridge. At first they didn't pay him much mind until he walked up and approached Cid. "I hear you are looking for Shinra?"

"I am. Why are you here?"

"You called for me. I'm Shinra."

Several mouths moved and heads shook. No one believed this could be the person Gippal was talking about.

"But you're just a kid." Tidus was the first to point out the obvious.

Shinra shrugged as if he heard that all the time. "But I have the answers you want." He noticed a monitor next to Cid and sat down behind it. Right away he began tapping on the keyboard bringing up information like they had never seen before.

"What is all this?" Tidus asked as she moved closer and leaned over to see better.

"It's information about fayth and aeons. I assume Rikku has already left Remium. She must be on her way to the pit where Yojimbo rests." No one dared question how he knew about Rikku. Things were odd enough about him to begin with, best not question further.

"So what do we do then? Should we just let her go?" Yuna asked.

"For now, I would say yes. If we pressure her, she might blow up and start trying to demolish more cities. Let her think she has the upper hand, then you make your move." Shinra typed some more bringing up a map of Zanarkand. A yellow dot near the outskirts of the city blinked several time before he zoomed in closer. "This will be her destination. Let her gather the aeon then we can lead her back to Guadosalam. The farplane will be close enough to weaken her grasp on the aeons."

Cid cleared his throat in an attempt to get the kid's attention without doing so directly. "We still have one more piece of information I don't think you know about. Apparently, before Seymour's death, he carried the Aeon Soul."

Shinra stilled as he processed the info. After several minutes he went back to hitting keys. "Then we must move fast. By my calculations, she will be completely controlled in...four days. Any longer then that and we will all be on the other side of the farplane."

"Four days?" They all shouted at once. "Just what can we do in four days?" Cid went on.

"I don't know, I'm just a kid."

Cid had to hold himself back. His body shook with controlled rage. All that knowledge and the kid couldn't do more to help?

"Uncle Cid, it will be okay. I know it will. We just have to trust Auron knows what he's doing."

--

Well, not too happy with it, but better something then nothing, right? Just, I planned so much more for this, and it seems to have fallen flat. I want to finish it soon though because I don't like have a bunch of uncompleted stories. So, make me feel better and hit that little button down below, won't you?