Seriously. No reviews for chapter 22? NONE AT ALL? Am I really that big of a failure!

Well, I thought I'd give a nice little warning before this next lovely chapter: it's slightly gory. Not "Saw" kind of gory, but someone gets a very bloody death. Okay, okay, it's not too bad. But just in case, alright?

Onward, to this next chapter.

(PLEASE REVIEW? I might cry, if you don't. Seriously.)

Chapter 23- Yui

The people and the friends we have lost, nor the dreams that have faded… never forget them.

((((()))))

The ground was cold, the silence deafening.

Light heard the entire spectacle as it burst out in one tumultuous, spontaneous cacophony, sprawled on the ruinous, decrepit ground of the Old Chaos Shrine. His mind was muddled- he could barely make sense of the different shouts coming from the other warriors. Some were directed to Gilgamesh, others to himself, a few to Rinoa, and the rest just out of shock.

He wanted to close his eyes. He was ready to give up. Terra already knew his shameful secret; his reprehensible lie to the warriors that had put so much trust into him. Light had failed Cosmos by falling in battle, and the just reward for living such a bold-faced lie and ultimately neglecting the promise he swore to himself and his companions so long ago:

I'm going to live, and I will dispel evil out of this world for good.

Shortly after declaring it in such a moment of pride, Chaos appeared, and Cosmos directed him straight to Dissidia in armor sans the rust and dents his other had had. She was giving him a chance of making something better of himself.

That was when the lie first came to his lips.

I… I don't remember my name. I don't remember anything. Cosmos came for me, and… that is all.

So easily the other warriors had believed him! How easily he believed himself! Light paraded around in his fictitious charade, inwardly obsequious in the praise he got from those he desperately tried to lead. He even went as far as to become a hypocrite and fight Squall, pounding the message that there was strength in numbers into him.

Oh, he deserved this, all right. He deserved to see Gilgamesh, his skin white and golden armor now stained in blood, fall before him, the life slowly draining out of him. The breath froze in his throat, begging his fuzzy eyesight was betraying him. Out of the corner of his eye, the Cloud of Darkness staggered back, shaking hands clutching the hilt of an incised sword stabbed through her stomach. Blood gushed from the wound, staining the already maroon floor in a dark crimson.

Bartz's vibrant boots flashed before Light, as he dropped by Gilgamesh's side. He roughly shook his shoulders, yelling at him to speak, to sit up, to do something.

The Cloud let out a hoarse cough, blood spilling from her chin. Her voice dripped with acid as she cursed out and freed the sword from her. Mage, radiating fury Light had only seen when Black Belt almost died on her back when they fought Kary, yanked the sword from her nearly limp hands and stabbed her again. "You don't get to escape death," she spat. "Not after taking his life too."

All at once, the Cloud exploded into a thick, murky sable smoke that dissipated into the air. Metal clashed with metal, and Kain yelled out, "You coward! How dare you leave your comrade like that!"

Mage quickly flipped Light over his back. Her face, a smudge of blood on her cheek- Light didn't know whose it was, but he felt sick to think it was his own- came into his bleary view. She wiped a vermillion sleeve across her eyes and whispered out a croaky thank you to Cosmos that he was still alive.

Cecil, Kain, Golbez, and Celes were fighting Exdeath. Magic flew out in a vicious flurry, erupting into detrimental blasts. The walls were already starting to crumple. Firion already was taking lead, hurrying them out.

Light saw Luneth's stricken gaze look back to him. He said something, but his small voice was lost in the sounds of battle and of grief. Light merely shook his head towards the boy and turned away.

Luneth looks up to you as a big brother. Didn't you realize that when he sat guard with you back at the Tower?

Terra, her face expressionless walked over to Bartz, motionless next to Gilgamesh. She knelt next to him and pulled him into an embrace. Pain erupted in Light's shoulder then, a nice excuse for the tears that sprang to his eyes. Mage ripped off her cape and wrapped him up in it, trying to staunch the bleeding.

Kain spat out a curse- Exdeath and Enuo must have escaped. The dragoon, paladin, and his brother ran over to Squall, still frozen in a thick block of ice. Cecil turned to Mage and shouted, "Mage, we need some…." His voice trailed off as his eyes widened at seeing Light, struggling to keep his eyes open. He may have thought he deserved death, but that didn't mean he'd succumb to it so easily.

"Free Squall," Light ordered as Cecil ran to his somewhat unwanted aid. "See to it he and Rinoa are safely gotten out. Terra…." The half-esper turned, her bright eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm sorry. For lying to you and all the rest. But please, just get Bartz and Mage out."

Mage sucked in a startled breath. "Me!" she furiously burst. "Fighter, you complete and total fool, to think I would dare leave you-"

The entire castle shook. Mage cut off her tirade and swiveled around, gasping.

A low, dark chuckle filled the stunned silence.

"Chaos!" Cecil bellowed. He drew his sword and held it out in front of him. "Get those unable to fight out- NOW!"

The demon let out a blood-curdling guffaw at Cecil's audacity. "You think that a simple few of you can hope to fight me? Someone shouldn't have created so much chaos- shouldn't have summoned me."

Cecil couldn't help but glare back at Kuja, who did nothing but stare at him in shock. "I didn't summon him. I swear it."

Chaos's form fizzled as he stood from his broken throne. "Ah, I am not fully to power because I wasn't properly summoned, but rest assured I do have enough power to blast you each into oblivion." As he spoke, Chaos lazily looked to his razor sharp nails. "Perhaps I should shred you puny, worthless play-things of Cosmos. Does she not care to show herself even when those she summoned are facing death? How unkind."

"Like you were there when those on your side perished," Kain growled. "You've nothing to say about Cosmos! If anything, she is here with us in spirit."

Another booming laugh. "With you in spirit! Aren't you the precognitive one! No, foolish warrior, Cosmos is not coming back for you. She is reveling in her weakness! The less order, the weaker she becomes! You have done me a great service, Kuja, fooling them all like this! Truly my most prized warrior- in fact, I almost worried of your life when you did a thoughtless attack on Garland."

Zidane slowly turned to his brother.

Kuja's face was blank. A completely vacant expression, not agreeing to what Chaos had just said, but not denying it either. Zidane shook his head. "No… Kuja-"

"Of course I didn't help him. Don't you realize he's trying to draw more power by creating chaos among the two of us?" Kuja softly snapped. There was a strange tone in his voice, betraying the surprise that Chaos would try to pull such a card.

Doubt was still evident on the thief's face. His obvious indecision brought a toothy grin to Chaos's face. "Ha ha, there is nothing like a good betrayal to create dissension. And what shall I tell about you two, Jecht and Golbez? A few stories about your days as Sin and all you destroyed, or how many lives you took, Golbez?"

"Sir Jecht would never!" Yuna yelled, whipping out her guns. Before Tidus could stop her, she fired away, the bullets hitting home in Chaos's chest. Her heterochromatic eyes widened as the bullets disappeared into him. Chaos held out a hand. From his finger tips rained the bullets she had just fired. Celes barely put up a magic shield in time.

This unfortunately drew his attention to her. "Celes Chere, what stories I could tell of you! You worked with Kefka, betrayed your friends… betrayed your precious Locke."

She sucked in a breath. "How… do you know about him?" she cautiously asked.

"As if I would forget the delicious chaos you both caused each other! I greatly enjoyed the part where you knocked him and your other 'friends' unconscious and ran back to Gestahl," Chaos chuckled. "Which now brings me to lovely, frenzied Terra! You left both of your worlds to ruin at the hands of Kefka- don't deny it now," he cut her off as she opened her mouth to interject. "I believe we all know of your time in Mobliz, wasting precious battles to watch over some rotten children. You didn't even fight to protect that, either, did you? No, you left that battle to Celes and Sabin."

Terra shook her head. She finally stood and glared at him, pressing her shaking hands to her sides. "I did not leave them."

"But you did!" Chaos crowed, pointing an accusing, transparent finger at her. "You left your precious Edgar to die!"

Celes quickly shook her head, stuttering out, "Nothing bad happened to him, Terra, I swear-"

As her stricken gaze hit the floor, Chaos smirked and crossed his four arms. Slowly, she asked, "And were you the one to hurt him?"

The glee seemed to roll out of his mouth as he said, "Yes."

In one bright flash, Terra transformed into a lavender esper. "No!" she screeched, charging up at him.

"TERRA!" Celes called out in terror, running forward to help her friend. "He's lying! I saw Edgar right before I left! He's lying, Terra! Edgar is perfectly safe!"

Celes started a frenzy of spells to try and keep the two apart from each other. Every attack was absorbed by Chaos and thrown right back at her. Terra threw out her own magic. The flurry of fire spells was so fierce that even Squall, on the other side of the vast throne room, started to melt a little.

He locked a stormy gaze on Chaos, struggling to free himself.

Terra simply wouldn't listen to anything her friends desperately shouted to her. Spell after spell she cast, not once slowing. Too much at one time.

Light finally pushed away from Mage, who was unsuccessfully trying to pull him to safety, and bellowed with all his might, "TERRA BRANFORD, STOP YOUR SENSELESS FIGHTING THIS INSTANT!"

And, to everyone's surprise, she did stop. Terra's eyes flickered from deep red back to their original emerald hue, and she slowly floated back to the floor. Another bright flash, and she was back on her knees in her human self. Celes's boots echoed against the dark, cracked marble as she ran over to her. "You promise he's safe?" Terra asked, her voice small and barely above a whisper. "Everyone is safe, aren't they?"

"Yes, yes," she agreed, hoisting her to her feet. "They are safe, but we aren't."

Light staggered again, but Mage caught him.

Chaos readied for the juiciest round of them all. "Fighter, the vagabond from Cornelia. You not only lied to everyone present in this room, but you also allowed Gilgamesh to die. We both know you could have stopped him just like you stopped Terra's little rampage. So why didn't you?"

"Gilgamesh returned to where he had to," rang the clear, sonorous voice of Cosmos. She appeared in front Mage and Light, blocking them from Chaos's twisted words. Cosmos dipped her head in greeting to her rival.

Chaos only smirked. "Well, well. She shows her cowardly face."

Cosmos's lips twitched. She held out an elegant, small hand and snapped her fingers. Chaos disappeared into fit of laughter. Mage dove to catch her, leaving Light in Celes and Terra's hands. Cosmos righted herself, breathlessly thanking her. "I've suppressed his powers. Now, you all need to go to Zanarkand. You must hold a funeral for Gilgamesh there."

She didn't say it aloud, but everyone heard her next sentence: You haven't much time left.

Cosmos turned to Bartz, who slowly stood from Gilgamesh's side. "Of course, Lady Cosmos," he said.

Light wasn't sure what scared him the most, then. The fact that everyone knew he had lied, that Cosmos was steadily losing power while Chaos gained it….

Or the single tear that fell down Bartz's cheek.

((((()))))

"Tidus…."

The blitz player looked down at weary Luneth, trudging along at his own worn out pace. "Yeah?" he asked. Tidus was just as equally tired as he was. They all were.

Luneth frowned. "Why are we going to Zanarkand?"

Tidus wasn't so sure himself, so Yuna, who thankfully caught on to the conversation, replied, "I guess because of the pyre flies. They preserve memories, so… maybe Cosmos wants us to leave our memories of Gil with them."

Both boys blinked. "That… that's actually… pretty smart," Tidus noticed.

"It really is," Luneth agreed.

Yuna rolled her eyes. "Of course. I mean, it's not like the idea came from you."

"I take offense to that!" Tidus playfully burst.

"Really? Just wait until you hear what Rikku's said about you!"

"I knew she couldn't be trusted!"

Everyone was aware of the fake smiles on their faces. They were almost believable. It really hit home in Jecht to think how much experience they must have had to achieve that kind of skill.

Chaos was wrong. Jecht hadn't destroyed Kilika and killed all of those Crusaders. That had been Sin.

But then again, Jecht was Sin, wasn't he? And he had voluntarily decided to turn into the monster and let Braska die while his son had decided the exact opposite: to fight back against the false hope Yu Yevon preached in order to truly defeat Sin once and for all instead of succumbing to it like he had.

Tidus and Yuna's plan had been a success, as Luneth seemed slightly more peppy than before. Arc actually had a small, bashful smile on his face.

Glad to see her mission accomplished, Yuna started whistling again that happy, uplifting tune. Again, no one could really say anything. It seemed too out of place amidst the sorrow and exhaustion, but no one had the heart to tell her to stop.

There was an emptiness in the air as Rinoa's song sprang into their heads. Her awful crowing wasn't comic now- not with her soulless body being carried by a still somewhat-frosty Squall. This only made Yuna hum louder, as if she was trying to dispel the memory with her song.

When Jecht simply hold it back any more, he started to hum as well.

Kuja stopped and stared at him. "Jecht?"

"Hymn of the Fayth," he answered. "It's fitting, so don't butt in, Gay-Skirt-Man."

Tidus and Yuna shrugged and started to sing themselves.

Their three voices slowly gained volume, and it harmonized perfectly with the thousands of pyre flies materializing around them. The wisps transformed into a bald man with bright green eyes turning away from Yuna and starting to sing. The same peppy blonde girl from before, in a slightly more modest outfit this time, also appeared and started to sing. Zanarkand transformed into the interior of an airship.

Yuna's singing came to abrupt stop as she saw herself from two years ago, wistfully watching as Cid gave the order to bomb Home. How different she was… how solemn she was back then. The scene before them quickly changed into another one.

Tidus, Yuna, and a group of people the others didn't know were on the airship. Far below them on Spira drifted up a chorus of the Hymn, all of their voices loud and sonorous.

Spira's conjoined voices seemed enough, so Jecht and Tidus also fell silent. "This was how we got through to Jecht while he was Sin," Yuna explained. "All of Spira joined together to sing. For once, we weren't just a scattered few towns hoping we'd be spared the next time Sin came by. We were one. And, together, we put our faith not into Yevon, but in ourselves. That was how we won."

"Are we ready?"

Tidus, Yuna, and Jecht turned around to see Cosmos. She held a thin staff in her hands. Gilgamesh lay at her feet. "If it is not too much to ask…," Cosmos started, gripping the staff. "I figured it would be appropriate considering the location."

Yuna slightly gaped. "B-but… I don't have my powers as a summoner anymore. How can I…?"

Cosmos handed it to her. "Your powers as a summoner came not only from Yevon, but from within yourself as well. They are dormant and much weaker without the Fayth, but they are still there."

She hesitated a moment, looking back to the other warriors. "You don't mind if I send him? Um… so his spirit doesn't remain here, but that he goes to the Farplane."

Bartz numbly nodded. "Go ahead."

The pyre flies flared up again as Cosmos stepped back and Yuna took a deep breath. The dismal, dreary landscape around them switched into a fiery, tropical island wreckage, the setting sun shading the entire scene in red. Yuna was shadowed by a pyre fly-incarnated version of herself from two years, ghosting her every movement.

Beside Tidus, Luneth took off his helmet. Kain, Light, Mage, and Golbez followed suit in respect. The rest watched in awe at Yuna seeming to dance to a slow, melancholy tune. Pyre flies erupted from Gilgamesh, each turning into a different person. Exdeath's right-hand man, the Gilgamesh Bartz and Lenna knew so well; the esper Gilgamesh that Terra and Celes knew, the summon Squall had met, and finally a cocky swordsman with four arms that Zidane and Dagger knew to be Alley-Way Jack.

Yuna stopped, her staff pointing to the ground. The pyre flies all disappeared along with Gilgamesh's body. The staff shook in her quivering hands as an apparition came up to her. A woman in a black, fur-trimmed dress smiled and patted her head. "You did well," she assured her. Then she was gone.

((((()))))

It was a surprise to all when Cosmos decided to camp with them. "Chaos was right about one thing only," she explained. "I've not offered you enough help. It has pained me to see every battle, and so I've decided to guard you all while you get some well-deserved rest."

Light was properly bandaged now, so he figured he could take role as leader again. Mage was miffed by his behavior, but let it slide as long as he didn't move and open the wound. "But Milady, do you have the strength? I can still fight-"

"You're not going to," Terra said firmly, her hands on her hips. "You're going to be a good patient and let us play doctor."

The warrior stared blankly at her. "…What?"

"If I had to endure the masses of ladies doting on me, so can you, big guy," Zidane sighed.

Dagger scowled at him. "Like you didn't enjoy every second of it, you flirt."

Zidane simply laughed off the barbed comment and strolled over to Bartz, who was still in his silent stupor. The thief sat next to him, without a word, and joined him and Lenna's silent vigil for Gilgamesh.

Dagger smiled at Zidane, still unable to get over how selfless he could be. Of course he knew they'd probably stay up all night, but Dagger supposed he'd pass the time gathering his thoughts.

Which hopefully didn't include any girls another than herself.

((((()))))

It wasn't even completely dark outside until snores filled the makeshift camp. Only Cosmos, Bartz, Lenna, Zidane, and Squall were still awake.

The SeeD general had his arm around Rinoa, wistfully glaring up at the stars. There was nothing he could have done to save her, and it dug deep into his chest, as if he were the one stabbed and later sent by Yuna instead of Gilgamesh.

Kain tried to reach her. It was more than Squall could have done.

Squall was sure that Cosmos was ready to give him a lecture about "loving and letting go", but if the woman thought he'd dare let Rinoa go, she had another thing coming. Rinoa had tried her hardest to keep him safe, and he had let himself be trapped and unable to repay the favor to her. Now… he wasn't even sure where she was. In the Void, obviously, but just where was that? And how could he go there and bring Rinoa back?

A wave of fatigue rolled over him. I'll find her. I swear I will, he promised the stars as his eyes closed. His last thought was, I bet this sleep is Cosmos's doing.

Cosmos wryly grinned as his snores joined the rest.

((((()))))

Cosmos sat still in the darkness, her form barely radiating light. She had also cast a sleep spell on Bartz, Lenna, and Zidane- despite the horrible things happening, they needed rest too- and now listened to the sweet silence of Zanarkand. It was such a melancholy place, she thought wistfully, not unlike all of Dissidia, really. She watched pyre flies wander through the ruin, sometimes transforming into figures her warriors must have known.

Heart filled with sorrow, she looked back to her sleeping warriors. Luneth and Arc each had one of Terra's arms wrapped around them, with Arc leaning on Dagger's shoulder.

Squall lay with one arm around Rinoa protectively- it pained Cosmos to see the morose general show so much love to this one girl, so she turned to Cloud and Tifa. The childhood friends were both propped up against the side of the old stadium, Tifa's cheek on Cloud's shoulder.

Firion and Leon lay on either side of Maria. Even in their sleep, they were protective of their one and only sister. It was a sight almost as sweet as Terra, Dagger, and the boys.

A smile just as despondent as the rest of Zanarkand came to Cosmos's lips. She shook her head, the smile crumpling, and whispered, "I hate that it was you who I had to bring into war again."

One of them stirred, and Cosmos looked to the ground as he looked up at her. "Lady Cosmos?"

She waved him over. They sat beside each other, neither willing to look and see the sadness in each other's eyes. "You know what you must do…," Cosmos miserably realized.

He slowly nodded. "Yes."

"You're willing to do it? To give your life to protect the others?"

Again, he nodded.

Cosmos stole a glance at him, his silver hair glinting in the pale moonlight. Uncharacteristic tears were in his eyes. "I'm sorry," Cosmos whispered. "I'm so sorry."

He only stood and walked away.

The Cloud of Darkness finally got her reward for constantly kicking my poor Zidane/Squall around on Dissidia. Rest in PIECES, you stupid witch.

Also, I am a fail. I FINALLY have VI to play, and I've noticed how awful I've portrayed Celes! And I totally screwed up the VI prologue- LOCKE AND CELES FOREVER! I greatly apologize for that, and from now on, I'll hopefully get it right. (Me getting VI also means I have a PS2 now! I can finally play my beautiful IX again! Good, quality Kuja-time… at last!)