Main Characters: Danaya (18), Alisa (15), Taehyr (17), Rhys (40), Iyana (20), Analise (22), Xanxus (26), Sargent (19)
Characters that die: Tidus, Yuna, Baralai - Vidina (20) is seriously injured
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or any of its characters. I only own my character, Danaya. The following OCs belong to the following people. Any of my plot similar to anyone else's is simply pure coincidence.
Alisa, Taehyr - Xedina Fairlady
Rhys - Teamplaya101
Analise - MemoriesoftheForgottenGuardian
Xanxus - Big K Studios
Iyana - Roseria Sylvester
Sargent - AcidRain14
Sorry it took a while, guys! I needed some family bonding in my life ahaha. ^^ Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
3rd POV, Unknown Place:
A groan echoed throughout the unknown place as a man by the name of Rhys awoke. He had been placed on the floor, while Mirage and Makero patiently waited for him. "Augh….where am I? That was some fight, you guys…" Rhys mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. When he realized he wasn't with the group nor was he anywhere near the Calm Lands, Rhys jumped back and laid his eyes on Mirage and Makero. "You guys? What the hell do you guys want from me? Where is everyone else?" Rhys shouted, reaching for his sword. However, he took in the fact that Makero had Rhys' sword in his hands. Mirage chuckled and shook her head. *She's about the size of Danaya, but a little bit taller…* Rhys observed as he cautiously glanced back between Mirage and Makero.
"Now, Rhys…I think we all know why you're here…" Mirage started off. Rhys straightened himself up and began forming his hands into fists. Mirage continued, "You failed to do your duty as an Elemental Guardian. You have not taken enough leadership, letting your puny, powerless little niece get the best of you and take control. I have had to cause such destruction in order for you to realize that you needed to get yourself together, but nothing worked." Rhys furrowed his eyebrows, getting angrier by the minute.
Rhys argued, "I have been doing my job well, lady. The people of Spira are much safer now than they were with Vegnagun, Sin, and other dangers. Considering the situations of some of the other Elemental Guardians, I think Alisa and I are doing a pretty good job."
"A good job? Then explain to me how you weren't able to stop my fiends? Explain to me how the High Summoner, her husband, and the leader of New Yevon were killed under your care? You think that's a good job?"
Rhys got ticked off, but he was speechless. He had nothing to say because Yuna, Tidus, and Baralai DID get killed. "What do you want me to do?" Rhys asked quietly. He wasn't acting like his usual confident self, but only because he was starting to think of himself otherwise.
Mirage smirked and answered, "Fight." She looked at Makero and gave him a nod, signaling Makero to hand Rhys his weapon. Rhys thought he was going to fight either Makero or Mirage, but he was wrong. Mirage threw her arms out, and her entire body glowed red. The ground rumbled, forcing Rhys to put himself into a defensive stance. "If you think you are keeping Spira secured as the Elemental Guardian of Fire you are, then prove it. Fight Ignis, the monster of the eternal hellfire!" Mirage called out. Rhys widened his eyes.
*Is she a summoner?* Rhys wondered. Mirage and Makero backed away, carefully watching what would be the outcome of this battle. Rhys got ready, lifting his sword up against the monster, Ignis. Ignis was not as weak compared to the aeon Ifrit at all. The monster Ignis was a massive furry beast, just glowing with flames and small embers floating around. Its eyes were crossed out, leaving an eerie atmosphere around them. The mouth of Ignis stretched from the end of its face, making Ignis seem maniacal and twisted. He stood on all fours, growling menacingly at Rhys. Ignis made the first move, jumping into the air and smashing the ground, causing the ground to separate and form jagged rocks. Rhys jumped up and flamed up his sword, getting ready to attack Ignis.
"Sword of the Inferno!" Rhys shouted as he drove his sword through the top of Ignis' head. You would think that the flames from the sword would actually heal Ignis, but you're wrong. The attack is not just made of fire power, but it's enhanced with the damage properties of Holy and Flare as well. Ignis was just angered, not even affected by the attack at all. It threw Rhys off and sent him flying to the wall. Rhys used the wall as a booster, jumping straight towards Ignis again.
"Kaze Suraisa!" Rhys called out. Wind Slicer. He charged up his sword as he struck Ignis with a tremendous amount of power. Ignis slid back, but not by much. Ignis roared and jumped towards Rhys, enveloping itself into a ball of fire. Ignis was so enormous that no matter where Rhys ran, he still was caught underneath Ignis' attack. Ignis eventually landed, putting the entire ground into flames. Rhys was heavily injured, bruises and burns all over his body. *I should have been able to absorb all the fire power…why couldn't I?* Rhys thought. He struggled to get back up, his black hair a mess. Ignis went to make another move, slowly gathering up its magical power. While Ignis tried to regain its power, Rhys took this chance to get up and charge up another attack.
Rhys jumped up and began forming something in the palm of his hands. "Hell Arrows!" Arrows that glowed orange, not red, began to form in Rhys' hands. Rhys shot them towards Ignis, trying to delay Ignis' attack further. Ignis opened its eyes and threw what seemed to be a small smirk at Rhys. Ignis simply raised its head and let out a screech, the supersonic waves simply turning the arrows back towards Rhys. Rhys screamed as the arrows punctured his legs, sending him back to the ground. He tried to get back up, conjuring another attack.
"Fire Dragon: Blaze of a Thousand Suns!" Rhys screamed out. His fire dragon came out, roaring intensely. The fire dragon instantly flew towards Ignis, enveloping Ignis and making him snarl as a result. Ignis seemed to grow weaker, but it still stayed standing. Ignis forgot about its move and ended up going straight towards Rhys. Ignis scratched Rhys on the leg, making Rhys scream out in pain. The scratch burned Rhys' leg up intensely, as if he was burning alive. Rhys was unable to move as Ignis slashed him again and again. After the consecutive attacks, Ignis jumped back and began preparing its final move. Rhys' pain was agonizingly torturous, as he was unable to move. He even tried to reach for a Hi-Potion, but he couldn't due to the many scratches on his arms and legs.
The black mark on Rhys' neck began to glow. *Time to put out all the stops…It's all or nothing…* Rhys' body began to rise in mid-air. Rhys placed his sword in front of him, and it floated in mid-air as well. He made a hand-sign and closed his eyes, hoping this fatal attack would work. Rhys' sword began to be encrusted with rock, slowly forming a huge meteor. Rhys was concentrating all his power into it, and soon, he too became encrusted into the meteor. Makero and Mirage stepped back. Mirage placed a defensive shield around her and Makero to be safe. The meteor was finished forming, and Rhys wasted no time hurtling himself at Ignis. *Meteor from the Seventh Depths of Hell!* Rhys thought as he collided with Ignis. At the same time, Ignis had finished his final attack and blasted an energy ball at the meteor. The entire area exploded with smoke, rumbling the ground of the Omega Dungeons and shaking the entire place.
Mirage and Makero remained untouched. Rhys had broken through one of the walls, leaving debris everywhere. Mirage deactivated the shield, and Makero made sure she was all right. Amongst the rubble, Rhys laid on the ground. He trembled while getting up, every bone in his body aching. His attack took out so much power that he felt like he had nothing left. Rhys was anxious as the smoke slowly cleared away; he wondered if the monster had been destroyed. Alas, Ignis appeared from behind the smoke. It was standing, but it was weak. However, Ignis was not killed. Rhys collapsed onto his knees and widened his eyes in shock. *I should've killed him…That attack should've killed him.* Mirage held out her hand, signaling Ignis to cease his attacking. Mirage and Makero made their way over to Rhys.
"You are a disgrace to the title of Elemental Guardian of Fire. A true Fire Guardian would have beaten that with ease," Mirage stated with nothing but a smirk on her face. Her eyes were void of any emotion. Makero simply crossed his arms, staying quiet. Rhys was speechless. He had nothing to say because he figured she was right. He didn't know what to do now, so he just stood there until Mirage spoke up again. She walked up to Rhys and hugged him. Surprised by this, Rhys simply stood there with his eyes widened. Mirage smirked. "It's all right…we will restore order to Spira. We will properly educate everyone on power," Mirage whispered, tightening her grip on Rhys. Rhys' eyes narrowed, but they showed signs of defeat.
"Yes…" Rhys started. "We must." Rhys furrowed his eyebrows, confused by everything now.
Danaya's POV, Calm Lands:
We were all devastated about Uncle Rhys. Nobody knew where he was, and we had no idea if he was even still alive. Once we got back to the airship, Uncle told us that it was nearly almost fixed. Everyone kind of just sat around, not knowing what to do. *Danaya, pick everyone up. You have to continue on.* Analise advised me. I stood up from the rock I was sitting on and gripped my sword. "Guys!" I called out. "We have to go on, with or without Uncle Rhys. He is a strong person, and we all know that. He can handle himself. I know he is alive somewhere. The best thing we can do is visit other places and try to find more information about Mirage. I got a message from Leblanc, saying her, Ormi, and Logos got more information on Mirage," I explained. At that piece of information, everyone's heads lifted up. Once Uncle finished up on the airship, we all piled in and headed straight for Guadosalam. In record time, we got to Guadosalam and went inside Leblanc's Chateau.
"Just in time, loves," Leblanc mumbled as we gathered around her, Ormi, and Logos. My eyes darted from person to person, itching to know what they discovered about Mirage.
Ormi cleared his throat and spoke out, "You sees, I went home ta Bevelle after the Crimson Squad. My neighbor was a nurse, and she had this daughter. This daughter liked ta create new characters and pretend to be different people with her Illusion magic, yanno? I got to knows them very well because they always visited me. Then, Logos called me up about working for Boss. I never saw the motha and daughter again. Then, when Yuna was defeating Sin, I had heard something about 'em. Heard that Sin fell onto their house at first and killed the motha." Ormi paused and looked down, a pained expression on his face. I almost reached out to him out of pity.
He continued, "Once he got back up, I went ta see if they were okay and just found the little girl looking down at her dead mother. She wasn't smiling or giggling anymore like she used to. I was going to comfort and take her with me, but she surrounded herself in magic and took on the appearance or character of her mother. She shimmered and disappeared away. I never saw her again after that, but I've been tryna look for her since. I was wishing it wasn't her, but…"
For the first time, I had witnessed Ormi crying with a truly sad expression. I placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "I'm sorry…" I glanced at Alisa and signaled her to lead Ormi away from us and try to comfort him.
"What about Makero? Her bodyguard?" Taehyr spoke up. Leblanc shrugged her shoulders, having no idea who that was. I glanced to see if Ormi would have any reaction about Makero, but he didn't. Logos, however, narrowed his eyes. I stared up at him.
Logos muttered, "Now why does that sound familiar? I swear I've heard that name somewhere." I looked up at him desperately, but he shook his head. Sargent rolled his eyes.
"Useless…" Sargent commented. I punched him on the shoulder and bowed towards Leblanc, Ormi, and Logos.
"Thank you for telling us at least something. Please let us know if you guys find anything else," I asked of them. The Syndicate nodded their heads.
Xanxus chimed in, "Are we visiting the Farplane again?" I nodded my head. I wanted to ask my parents what we should do. *Maybe I'll find out what to do once I talk to them*When we walked out of the Chateau, I noticed Iyana and Taehyr stalking off to the Thunder Plains. Their expressions were grim, having lost their father. Before going into the Farplane, I decided to join Iyana and Taehyr near the entrance to the Thunder Plains.
"Are you guys okay?" I whispered, placing both my hands on their shoulders. Iyana nodded her head, but Taehyr bit my lip to prevent future tears from coming out. "I'm sure Uncle Rhys is okay. I know he is. He's the Elemental Guardian of Fire," I tried to reassure my two cousins. The crashing of thunder drowned out their sobs while I comforted the both of them. This was a very disheartening sight to see because I already had lost my parents. *Why do they have to go through this, too?*I leaned Taehyr's head on my shoulder, and I patted Iyana's head. There was nothing to talk about, as the only thing I could do was soothe their grieving.
"Danaya…you can go. We'll meet up with you to go to the Farplane later," Iyana murmured. I respected their wishes, stood up, and walked away from them. I crossed my arms as I walked inside a shop, people greeting me here and there. I bowed deeply to all of them as I just simply glanced around at all the interesting trinkets. Sargent entered the shop as well and found me.
"How are Iyana and Taehyr?" Sargent asked me.
I replied, "They're all right. They just need a little bit of time." I sighed as we both exited the shop, not finding anything that we needed. "We have to find Uncle Rhys."
"Don't you think it's a bit weird? They only captured Rhys, but that's it. If we were to go on the reason that he was an Elemental Guardian, why didn't they take Alisa, too? Why just him?" Sargent questioned out loud. I stared at him in surprise, but Sargent just stared back at me in wonder. "Did I say something?"
I laughed and pointed out, "You may be onto something here, Sarge! Smartest thing you've ever said." Sargent smiled triumphantly, but when he realized what I said, his smile turned into a frown. I giggled and ran off from him, everyone eventually meeting up. Together, we made our way to the Farplane once again. I paid just a little bit more attention to the intricately-designed hallway that led us to the Farplane. Everything seemed crystallized, as if it was glowing. The designs would shine and sparkle, reminding me of tiny diamonds. Once we reached the steps going up to the Farplane, no one hesitated to step in right away. Once we got inside, a peaceful silence hit us. No one else was there to visit their deceased love ones. Alisa and I walked off to a corner and called to our parents. The image projected, and we saw our parents floating in the air with pyreflies surrounding them. Alisa and I stayed silent, quietly communicating with our parents through our mind. *Mom…Dad…what do we do now? I don't even know where to start…*
My mind flashed back to three years ago, when Malfonse was a threat to the world. I remembered how we defeated him. Everything just seemed to flow perfectly for us back then. *Now everything is just a jumble of mess…So many things are happening at once…* I closed my eyes and looked down at my boots. Then, I looked up and took a glance at everyone else's faces. Xanxus' face looked worn out and tired. He had such a tough exterior, but I could tell he was still deeply saddened by all the occurrences. My head turned to Sargent. He looked so angry, but full of despair at the same time. Iyana tried to keep a stoic expression, but I knew her all too well. She was crying on the inside. She had so much pain built up inside of her. Taehyr looked so traumatized and miserable. Alisa…
I stared at my sister, who stared back at me. I almost teared up at her expression. Alisa looked like she believed all hope in the world was lost. I lifted up a corner of my mouth to show her that there was still hope in Spira. I placed my hand on her shoulder, but that couldn't stop me from seeing the pain and misery in her eyes. "It's going to be okay…" I whispered, pulling my sister in for a hug. "We sh-" I was interrupted by a sudden shake in the ground. The shake had ended abruptly, but then we heard a rumble. Next thing you know, the entire platform was shaking.
"What's going on?" Sargent shouted. My sister and I desperately tried to grab something to hold onto, but Alisa was too late. She fell off the edge of the platform and plummeted down the Farplane.
"ALISA!" we all shouted. Without a second thought, I grabbed her sword that she dropped and jumped in after her, clinging to both our weapons. I couldn't see Alisa; I only saw bright light.