FFX-2: Ties That Bind Fanfic

Chapter 13: Paineful Past

"Hmph, shocking!" Black Mage Paine scoffed as she turned her back to the Fields as they dissolved into Pyreflies.

"Your a hard girl to find."

"Yuna?" Paine turned quickly, unusually life in her eyes as she saw Thief-Yuna standing there, but her demeanor quickly soured as she narrowed her eyes and saw this Yuna had brown eyes. "No...just you."

'Yuna' approached her looking Paine over who was casually switching her active Garment Grid and dresssphere to Psychic, "Come with me, the others are this way."

Paine scoffed but followed after.

"Your looking surprisingly good for all the punishment you must have had to endure alone."

Paine crossed her arms, "Wish Bringer does that."

'Yuna' paused a moment in thought, then turned back with a smile, "Oh right, so you swapped Garment Grids from The End?"

Paine stepped back, "How did you?"

"I spoke with Shinra, he gave me all the details on your Garment Grid System. In exchange I helped him upgrade the Celsius sensors to track you, and Yuna, down."

Paine gasped, "Y-You found Yuna?"

"Weeeeeeeeell...Not quite, the Celsius sensors can zero in on humanoid targets, but they still can't distinguish Fiend from friend."

Paine rose a brow, "That is...impressive. Is that how you found me, homed in on the Humanoids?"

'Yuna' nodded, "Unfortunately some of my Machina are also humanoid, which gives a few more false positives, and some of my...former..." the last word were bitter tasting in her mouth causing her to glower before all life drained from her lips for the next word, "companions had trai..."

Paine looked curiously to 'Yuna,' "You're not here alone?"

"I am alone, now," her voice low and sad before moving into a more dangerous accusatory tone, "Thanks to your friends."

Paine reached out to 'Yuna' turning her to face her, "What do you mean?"

'Yuna' closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, "I am...was...a Summoner. Until the Fayth deserted us to die here." A few tears began to fall as she looked around, ghosts of the past walking past her reliving old memories, her voice taking a cold edge, "Because Yuna defeated Sin for good, and the Fayth slumbered."

"And then the Fiends killed everyone, only you survived," Paine's voice was haunted, memories of the Crimson Squad flooding back.

'Yuna' nodded silently, "I was lucky, between my Machina expertise and White Magic I was able to survive being stripped of my Aeons. By the others..."

"Your Guardians?"

"My friends," She bit back before her voice grew haunted again, "We...I...never completed the Pilgramage. Instead we decided to try and protect our home, and guild the dead to the Farplane rather then fight in the war."

Paine nodded understandingly.

'Yuna' clenched her fists, "And we were doing well enough, the city had fallen but we still lived, the Machina Lived, our companion beasts lived, and we had the Fayth, Aeons to help us."

Paine saw a Helm field charging their position and quickly pulled them into a blow out building, her hand on 'Yuna's' mouth to quiet her. A minute or so passed before Paine removed her hand and looked into the eyes of 'Yuna.'

"Continue, please." Her voice low.

'Yuna' took a moment and nodded, keeping her own voice low, "Then the Aeons just...stopped responding. It was not the end right away but it marked the beginning of it. Next to fail was our magics. I was reduced to my Machina expertise and the Sending as my only skills. My second companion had it worse, he was a Time Mage, he could not fight but he could use magic to speed us up like your friend, and to slow down or outright stop our opponents." Tears were flowing freely now, her voice cracking. "He was left with nothing. A-And was the first to..."

Paine clenched 'Yuna's's shoulder and nodded, "I-I'm sorry."

'Yuna' sighed looking up to the sky though the hole in the roof, a short laugh broke her mood, "It's funny. Yuna was a Summoner who now favors the Gunner Profession, while Tobius was a Time Mage who turned to archery when his magics failed him."

Paine let a small smirk cross her own lips, "And what happened to your other companions?"

"There was only one other, he was trained as a Dragoon, but Dragons are fiends when you get right down to it, in this place, with me to buys keeping the Machina running and trying to keep us alive to send eventually the Pyreflies corrupted it...he became food for his own loyal steed."

Paine gasped silently glancing down at her Garment Grid a moment as she imagined her own raptor turning on her without warning, and shivered.

"You can imagine it can't you," 'Yuna' said haunted, "I know about the Trainer Sphere."

Paine nodded, "More then that, I have seen...my own allies turn on one another...on me."

This made 'Yuna's' eyes grow wide, "You...have?"

Paine nodded, "Ever hear of the Crimson Squad?"