FFX-2: Ties That Bind Fanfic

Chapter 11: Crimson Eyes

"Sorry we had to win." Paine smirked.

"You like that!" The Blitzball Ace cheered.

The fiend collapsed as The Blitzball Ace delivered his final blow, flanking him were Helm-P22 and Paine. Behind them were Rikku and 'Yuna' working on a Machina console outside a building, they were all hasted.

"Got it!" Rikku cheered as the door hissed and opened.

"Hurry everyone, Helm-P22 will watch the gate, let's see how bad it is inside." 'Yuna' urged.

Paine paused, looking to the Blitzball Ace, her voice low, "Can you handle things here."

He tilted his head curiously and looked at her, "Paine?"

"I need to return to the Celsius, speak to Shinra, see if I can get a garment Grid for our new friend here so we can at least get back Yunas, among other things."

He nodded, "Y-Yeah I can carry your slack."

Paine nodded, walking away, "Rikku I'll be right back, he'll cover for me." she said wit ha casual glace back at the Blitzball Ace.

Rikku paused, hesitantly, "P-Paine...your not going to search for Yunnie alone are you...I don't..."

Paine cut her off quickly, "No the Celsius."

"Good," 'Yuna' said quickly, "You wouldn't last long solo."

Pain said nothing and just walked away. The transport sphere wasn't far away and soon she found herself on the bridge, approaching the Al-Bhed boy Shinra. "I presume you know why I am here?"

"I know everything," he quipped, "Yuna is no where on my sensors..." he paused looking around, then took a relive breath, "Brother on the other hand is becoming hard to handle."

Paine rose a eyebrow, "He heard what the imposter said?"

"More or less," Shinra confirmed, "We've had to keep him distracted so he doesn't run off on his own looking for her."

Paine nodded, "...and getting himself killed." finishing the thought.

Shinra nodded, "I have a new Garment Grid user being programed now, should be ready soon, I should be able to lock onto Yuna, if she is still alive, with the imprint from her own Grid. Is there something else?"

Paine nodded, "Wait here."

Shinra watched her walk away confused. A few minutes later she returned with a memory sphere, handing it to Shinra, "Can you make a Dresssphere from this?"

Taking it he plugged it into his console, a figure clad all in black appeared on his screen, "Who is this?"

"Shadow." She said without further elaboration.

"How did you?" Shinra began to ask.

"Not important," Paine glowered, "can you make a dress sphere of him?"

Shinra watched the video for a couple moments then nodded, "Yes."

"Do it." Paine said stepping away pulling out her garment grid to adjust it.

It did not take long for Shinra to return to her holding the new dresssphere, "What will you call it?"

Paine thought a moment, "Ninja."

Shinra looked at Paine's garment grid a moment, "Your going to use Wish Bringer now?"

She shook her head, "I need too many dressspheres, Wish Bringer is my backup. I'll be using it and The End alternatively."

"Make sure you tell the others so they don't make adjustments to it for their own uses."

Paine nodded they paused a moment, "Why is it that we each have personalized Garment Grids but the Dresssphere placement is shared."

Shinra shrugged, "Don't ask me, I'm just a kid."

Paine groaned. "I hate when you say that."

Paine returned the the surface, sighing as she looked around then glared up at the sky, "Shinra you dropped me off back at the first teleport sphere!"

His voice came through her radio almost instantly, "I can teleport you up from any sphere but something about the area disrupts the signal down."

Paine sighed, sphere-changing to Berserker and putting her new accessory to work in hasting herself before she hurried off, "Just perfect."

Inside the compound Rikku looked nervously around, "It's getting late, where's Paine?"

"I'll..." The Blitzball Ace started to say, before 'Yuna' cut him off.

"I'll go look for her, I know this city like the back of my hand after all."

Grudgingly they both nodded, Rikku piping in quickly, "Then you can give back Yunnie's Garment Grid!"

'Yuna' scoff-laughed "Not likely, the only reason I've been able to leave my own bunker was because this grid gave me the power I needed even since the Fayth stopped taking to me."

As she was about to leave, shifting into thief in the process the Blitzball Ace stopped her, "Are you a Summoner?"

'Yuna' stopped, looking reflective a moment, "Up until a little over 2 years ago, when the Fayth just went silent."

Rikku froze, as he mind began to make connections, "T-that's when we defeated Sin for good."

The Blitzball Ace nodded as 'Yuna's' eyes grew wide, "Sin is gone?"

He nodded, "It's the Eternal Calm, and with it the Fayth got to sleep."

'Yuna's' eyes narrowed, and suddenly her hand came hard across The Slayer of Sin's face, "Then it's your fault that the fiends over run my home. Your fault they killed what few of us survived! Your fault that my companions are now fiends! You stole the Fayth from us! You doomed us all to die!"

The Ace stepped back in shock as Rikku put herself between them, "Now wait just a moment! Sin is gone! We didn't choose for the Fayth to retire, they did. You couldn't have been a very good Summoner if they abandoned you!" reaching for 'Yuna's' bag just as she slipped away, "And give me back Yunnie's Garment Grid!"

"Rikku!" The Ace stepped between them, holding her back, then he turned to 'Yuna,' his eyes full of regret, "We are sorry for what happened, I'm sure the Fayth had a reason. But we can't just throw around blame. But we can fix things. For one thing, we recreated the Summoner as a Dresssphere."

'Yuna' spoke with a venomous tang, "I noticed, but it has no Aeons, I'm better off as myself! At least I can summon Dark Aeons to defend the city!"

"That was you?" Rikku said aghast, "Dark Phoenix tried to kill us all!"

"We went over this," 'Yuna' glowered, "I thought you were a enemy faction. None of the Machina have attached you recently have they?" Glancing toward the exit to emphasizing her point, "In fact isn't one of them guarding the exit as we argue?"

"'Yuna' Go" the Ace said pushing her into the hallway, "and find Paine."

She huffed, crossing her arms as she stormed off, "Fine, but only because I need you all alive to fix everything you destroyed!"

The Slayer of Sin turned to Rikku, holding her shoulders firmly, "Rikku relax, you can't blame her for lashing out. Imagine if your own home was infested with fiends, and everyone you loved died before your eyes." He paused himself looking reflective, "It may have only been a Dream of the Fayth but to me Zanarkand was real."

Rikku looked up into his eyes, seeing them tremble and felt all her anger wash away, her arms shaking as they wrapped around his. "I know...but...Yunnie."

"Is still alive," a fierce determination in his eyes, "S-She has to be...the F-Fayth brought me back for her..."

Rikku wrapped her arms around him fiercely, tears in her eyes, "N-Not just for her."