These past few chapters has been a lot at once, what with Gil dying, some random guy with silver hair soon going to die, and pretty much everyone, even Bartz, down in the dumps…. And I've now come to tell you, this chapter is even worse. Yes, it is possible.

Also, if things start getting to the point to where you can't understand what's going on, PM me right away and tell me to SLOW THE HECK DOWN. Okay? Don't worry that'll upset me or whatever, because I need to know.

The quote is by Kid from Chrono Cross. Very fitting and quite blunt, if I do say so myself. And I do.

Also, the poem in here was written by best friend in the entire world, Austin. He is amazing, and if you steal, may evil bunnies come and devour your Halloween candy.

Please R&R!

Chapter 24- Gisei

If the world's gonna be destroyed, then let it be destroyed! If history is gonna be changed, then let it bloody well be changed!

((((()))))

When the warriors all awoke, Cosmos was still at her post on a fallen pillar, looking out at the bright sunrise.

Zidane's loud, stretching yawn seemed to set off a chain reaction for Bartz and Tidus. The tailed thief looked expectantly to Cosmos. "You, uh, don't have a magic breakfast to conjure up for us, do you?" he asked hopefully.

Cosmos let out a tinkling laugh, warming up everyone's dismal mood immediately. "No, but I will try and help whoever cooks, if I am allowed."

Tifa nodded with a smile. "Of course, Lady Cosmos. What'll it be today, everyone?" the bartender addressed the warriors. "Soup, or the Lockhart-Branford Surprise?"

Tidus solemnly raised his hand. Tifa nodded to him. "Yes?"

"Is the Lockhart-Branford Surprise more soup?"

"Yes."

The entire camp let out an echoing groan.

((((()))))

Once fed, the warriors were a little back to their normal peppy selves. Unless any of them looked at Bartz, who kept his gaze directly on his shoes, or Squall, who held Rinoa in his arms.

Light definitely felt better in terms to his shoulder, but really… he still felt no better than trash. Chaos was exactly right, and Light was well aware of that. He was a liar, a fool, and a fake. Everything he had done in Dissidia… it wasn't himself doing all of those heroic things Luneth looked up to him for. It was the fake persona he had made up.

But the one person who was by far the most miserable was Kuja.

Chaos had first went to him. Of course. It didn't matter what else the others had done, he had passed them all by. Kicked his master off a cliff, decimated Terra, nearly destroyed his brother and his band of friends…. Jecht hadn't even reached that level of destruction, and Kuja knew how many lives he had destroyed. But Jecht hadn't seen the real, true hate in Dagger's eyes every time she looked at him. Kuja had taken both her mothers, both her homes, away from her.

Kuja couldn't quite help himself spitting out poetry in his head. It just seemed calming, no matter the poem nor the situation.

The way I feel for you, to me, alarmsThough you deserve to know,I would rather die with you in my arms

Than know I must let go.

"Chaos has already shown once," Firion pointed out unnecessarily, taking the silence as a chance to go over their plans, "So we've got to prepare for if he shows again so suddenly again."

Cloud nodded, seemingly thankful that Chaos hadn't pointed out any of his past sins yesterday. "We've got to stop being chaotic, then. Get organized, give some more power to Cosmos-"

"No."

The warriors turned to the goddess in surprise. Cosmos shook her head, repeating herself. "I suppose I have waited long enough to tell you all this."

Cosmos took a deep breath. Kuja closed his eyes, whispering a few more lines under his breath.

I feel as if my heart is beating out of my chest,I wish you could fathom how I feel,I promise that I will try my bestTo make this all seem real.

She told them everything. "From the very beginning, from when I pulled my first ten warriors here, I knew that if this conflict was to finally end, Order would have to be destroyed. That means… I would have to give up my life.

"In each crystal you hold, I have put a part of myself into it. My power is divided into you, my warriors, and without it this war will never be won. I myself am now powerless. To appease Chaos, to finalize my power in the crystals, I… will die."

Cosmos couldn't bear to see their faces. Distraught, surprise, horror…. She couldn't do it. "And after I give my life, you will have to defeat Chaos. However, since chaos from all the worlds have strengthened him, it will take an extra push. It will be too much for just you, so I've arranged that you get help."

"Help?" Cecil cautiously asked. "What kind of help?"

The goddess smiled. "I mean that I have visited your worlds a third and final time. I have told your comrades about the war, and I have warned them of anything Chaos may try to do to their worlds to muddle you all here. They each told me that you 'have their backs'."

Cecil gasped. "Rosa! Did you see Rosa?"

"Yes, and she is well," Cosmos replied. "Nothing has gone wrong since you left. But if we do not defeat Chaos soon, that may change."

Cosmos looked back at Kuja. "This is your cue," she told him, trying to keep her voice steady.

He nodded. "After Cosmos… sacrifices herself, Chaos will be at his strongest. With no order, he will likely seek to destroy Dissidia, which will in turn destroy our worlds. To prevent that, we need to restore order as fast as we can. We must defeat Chaos as fast as possible. To give order, anything he says or throws at us, we must be ready for. We cannot let him get under our skin as he did yesterday. After we defeat Chaos, we go back… home."

The word left his mouth dry. The worst part was, he knew, was that he wouldn't have a home to go back to. As if he had one in the first place.

Luneth and Arc's mouths popped open. The two turned to each other and slapped a high five. "We're going home!" Luneth whooped, tossing his helmet up. "We're going home, we're going home, we're going home!"

An excited clamor rose among them. Joy ran rampant for what seemed a forever until the final message finally hit them. Cosmos was going to die.

"So all that remains is where we take our final stand," Kuja finished.

"Our final stand?" Zidane asked. Nothing about that made him feel particularly bright and happy. "I mean, it won't literally be our final stand, will it?"

Kuja rolled his eyes. "Of course not!" he snapped. "I was being poetic."

"I told you guys that he takes down his enemies by spitting poetry at them, didn't I?" Jecht remarked.

The mage gave him a short glare and sighed. "I believe we should get this over with. Delaying it will only let doubt let itself in and we've no use for that."

As discussions rang through about the situation, Kuja quoted the last stanza.

I regret not telling you this before,But now that I am facing death,I miss you each day more and more,I wish you had never left.

Though the point I wish you knew

Is simply that I love you.

((((()))))

It wasn't a decision one came to easily. Home was so close, but so was the final battle. Cosmos's death was so imminent, and no one wanted to see someone else die.

None of the warriors really talked to Cosmos that much. She was the goddess, and they were the lowly warriors. One doesn't have a real chance to call her up and chat. Because of that, no one really knew her, either. Maybe she had done that on purpose. Once you get to know someone, the harder it is to see them go. Maybe she really had planned this all from the very beginning.

Luneth knew all of this, but home was most important on his mind. Ur, Canaan, and all the rest… he was going back to them. He would see Refia, Ingus, and Desch again. Luneth could hardly wait to visit the Princess Sara's castle, too. Ingus would be there in his fancy armor, and Luneth would drop jokes about him and Sara the entire time.

"Luneth… how hard do you think Refia is gonna hit us…?" Arc suddenly thought in horror.

The Onion Knight's happy demeanor instantly turned into dread. "The evil Hammer," he remembered. In all seriousness, Luneth concluded, "Arc…. I think we are going to die."

His companion let out a wail. "I'd rather stay in Dissidia than face the Hammer! Refia is going to kill us! She'll use us as doorsteps!"

"Doorsteps?" Tifa murmured away from the two. "That's an interesting concept. I'll have to look into later." Though I hope my customers won't run away screaming in terror if they see Cloud flat on the ground with shoeprints all over him.

The bartender found the thought even more amusing. But then I can sell Fenrir. Or ride it myself. No, no… Vincent would put it to better use. He actually goes places. But I can't see him on a motorcycle….

"Tifa."

She blinked and turned around. "Yes, Cloud?"

"That look on your face… you're scheming."

"Why, yes. Yes I am."

The ex-SOLDIER shook his head. "On second thought, I really don't want to know." But instead of leaving, Cloud frowned and looked over at Kuja, who was caught in one of Zidane's epic stories of Gaia and what they'd do when they got home, and Cosmos, who had a sad smile on her face as she watched Luneth and Arc freak out over their eccentric, hammer-loving friend. There was something neither of them were telling the warriors.

And that something wasn't good at all.

"You've noticed it too?" Squall intoned, walking up to the two. He had a look in his eye that dared them to look at Rinoa in his arms.

Cloud knew too well what he was going through, and only nodded. "I wonder what the catch is this time?"

The three looked over at Zidane, who yelped in terror at some threat from Dagger. "No, Zidane Tribal, I've told you again and again that we are FORGETTING Conde Petie."

Squall rolled his eyes. "I have no idea. But I don't like how we've still got some of Chaos's minions roaming around. Light, Terra, and Bartz are still bad off, and they'd only get themselves killed trying to fight Garland, Kefka, or Bartz's two."

Tifa shouldn't have been surprised to hear no pity whatsoever in the SeeD General's voice. "Well, they have been through a lot," Tifa reminded him. "I don't think really any of us are ready to fight. Not if Sephiroth and the others are going to be there. They'll overwhelm us together." Not to mention that Sephiroth and Tidus and Yuna's Seymour won't seem to stay dead once we've defeated them.

Cloud seemed to be thinking the very same. "Seymour should already be dead. There's something about him I just can't stand."

"Join the club!" Tidus called out irritably. He, Yuna, and Jecht joined the planning session. Rubbing his arm as if he still felt an old injury, Tidus muttered, "Seymour is what you'd call a royal pain in the-"

Yuna growled and nodded to Luneth and Arc shaking in fear. Tidus quickly revised the sentence with, "-a royal pain in the butt."

With a sigh, Yuna nodded in agreement. "He's a freak- and that's putting it nicely. We're talking about a man that planned to kill all of Spira so they'd have 'peace in death'. I'm sure that he's dead right now, but his spirit is too strong, like last time, and he's still hanging around here. He needs to be sent before he goes away for good."

"And that creepy voice…," Zidane piped in with a creepy voice of his own. Yuna flinched back in surprise at seeing him suddenly materialize behind them.

Dagger nervously laughed as they turned to them. "Sorry for butting in. I figured that we- well, me, really- needed a catching up on the enemy."

Squall shrugged, as if that was understandable. "And Seymour is a magician, which puts us at a disadvantage…," he thought aloud. "Of all the mages we've got, most of them only specialize in white magic. I think only Arc, Mage, Terra, Golbez, and Kuja have feasible magic?"

They nodded. "I have eidolons, though," Dagger reminded him. "As long as I'm conscious, I can keep them summoned for a while."

"And I have dyne- I guess you could call that a kind of magic- but only in trance." Zidane kicked at the stone ground, as if the subject was touchy. He'd told bits and pieces of the story of Kuja's trance and the devastation it brought, and it seemed like a powerhouse for any given genome. The look on Dagger's face confirmed it. The tailed thief suddenly smiled and said, "We don't really need magic to beat them, do we? Tidus and I are certainly fast enough to catch them."

The two slapped high fives and whooped. Yuna giggled and pulled out her guns, spinning them. "And I've been told I'm a good shot." When Tidus when into snorting laughter, her face turned red. "Well, Rikku and Paine think I'm a good shot! A-and Nooj, too! Mmm… I think even Lulu said something about it- wait, no, that was about me hanging around Rikku too much. Apparently, she's a bad influence to me or something and-"

The blitz player shook his head, trying to stifle his laughter. "No, no, that's not it. Just… oh, wow, I seriously never thought you'd go machina-al bhed all on me!"

"What is that supposed to mean!" she cried, more in confusion than actual fury. Her outburst only made Tidus laugh harder.

With everyone preoccupied with teasing Yuna, Cloud turned to look back at Cosmos. She now had her sad smile on them and, meeting Cloud's eyes, she nodded her head, as if to confirm what he thought: They were acting again.

Cosmos sighed and turned to look at the Zanarkand scenery. Not that there was much to see besides the random pyre fly-induced memory or some broken structure, but the goddess just seemed fascinated with the area. Cloud looked around Zanarkand, too. He noticed that a few other warriors, namely, Celes, Kain, and Light; followed Cosmos's gaze out to the nothingness of Zanarkand.

It was a lonely place, that they all knew, but with the void landscape came a heavy weight. This place marked The End. Maybe Cosmos too had chosen this place in the very beginning to reveal her plan.

But the one thing that truly entranced Cloud was how this place seemed to make everything fall into play. He had tuned out most of Tidus's story about Zanarkand and all that happened there, but he did catch the part about guardians sacrificing themselves to turn into aeons for the summoner. Both would die, but so many others would finally find happiness.

It really made Cloud think.

Just who was the guardian? And who was the summoner?

If Cosmos were to die, there would be no order. There had to be a catalyst to break the chaos. Cloud wasn't sure what, exactly, but he had an idea- one that he didn't like at all.

During the battle with Chaos, not only Cosmos would die, but someone else would have to also.

((((()))))

Rinoa wasn't sure when it first started to rain.

The icy drops made her shiver, but then again, just walking alone in the void of the… well, the Void, was enough to make anyone shake. She wanted to sit down and rest, but something just kept pushing her forward, seeming to tell her that if she sat down now, she wouldn't get back up.

The scenery hadn't changed a bit. Dry, cracked earth that refused to turn into mud regardless of the rain ran on and on for endless miles. The sky was still sable black with a strange illumination to light the way for Rinoa's march.

The one that had changed, however, was the yellow lily that kept popping up.

Every few steps, there it was, the bright and cheery flower that seemed to guide her to wherever it was she was going. A few times Rinoa had stopped to look behind her, and the flower was gone. It must have been magic, she supposed, and figured that as long as a monster didn't pop up from it, she'd keep following it. Besides, Rinoa liked the color yellow.

So while Rinoa followed the lily randomly seeming to weave into view, she did quite a bit of thinking. She thought a lot about Squall, and if he was alright at the moment. The battle was probably over by now, and she worried if anyone was hurt. Was Gilgamesh alright? Rinoa didn't want anything to have happened to him. He was too nice to die.

Too nice to die. A very blunt, very unreasonable thing to say. Nice people died all the time. In fact, it was mostly the nicest people that did die.

Rinoa finally stopped. She looked down at the lily, and wondered why it wasn't moving out of her way. It was a very nice flower, actually. Without even thinking, she reached down and picked it.

As soon as its stem snapped, the dry earth erupted into a whole garden of yellow lilies. Rinoa looked around in shock at the sudden changes- looking up from the endless lilies to the bright blue sky dotted with lazily drifting clouds.

When she looked back down from the sky, she met a pair of emerald eyes.

((((()))))

No one knew for sure why they simultaneously drew their weapons. They had put things off long enough, and, just as Kuja had said, delaying the inevitable wouldn't be any help at all to them.

It seemed stupid to everyone to wait around in Zanarkand until Chaos found him, so they decided to head straight to him. "He's waiting for us at the Chaos Shrine, of course," Cosmos explained when Squall had asked her (after many choice comments about the whiny brats too scared to ask themselves). "Oh, he definitely knows why we're coming."

The short journey back to the shrine was nearly silent. Mage and Cosmos made small talk to try and ease the pain of thinking of what was to come.

Tidus and Yuna were well aware that everyone had caught on to their improvised conversations, and were tired of trying to fake cheer anyway.

Zidane had effortlessly picked up the job. "You know, I think I forgot to mention this, but did I ever tell you guys me and Dagger are officially married?"

"Huh?" Firion, who was getting a drink from a canteen, spewed out water at least a foot. "WHAT THE HECK!" he stuttered.

Dagger groaned into her gloves, gaining a chuckle from Kuja. She turned to glare at him between her fingers. "You should have seen it coming," he simply told her before lapsing back into silence.

Bartz turned around with his mouth wide open and burst out, "YOU TRAITOR! YOU SAID YOU HAD TOLD ME EVERYTHING!"

"I did tell you! Remember when I told you about Conde Petie?"

"That stupid ceremony?" Bartz asked, obviously downcast. "That was hardly a special occasion."

Zidane sucked in a horrified breath, putting an arm around Dagger and pulling her close. "What kind of friend are you to call my wedding a 'stupid ceremony'?"

"A smart one!" Dagger snapped, sliding out of his hold. "It was never legal, and you know as well as I do that we only pretended so we could get to the Iifa tree!"

"PRETEND?" Zidane cried. "It's because you ran off before the kiss, wasn't it? So hasty to get on with the honeymoon-"

"Ugh, do you ever shut up, Zidane!" Dagger interrupted him, her face starting to turn red. "It was not a wedding, the trip to Madain Sari was NOT a honeymoon, and of COURSE it was only pretend! Gosh, Zidane, I'm only sixteen!"

He shrugged. "Old enough to be legal in Treno."

"How do you…?" Dagger shook her head and threw up her hands in surrender. "You know what? Think what you want, but please don't torture the rest of us with your immature ramblings."

"Whatever you say, Dearest Wife."

Zidane smirked and slid over to Kuja. "She so wants me."

He rolled his eyes. "You need a lot of work, Brother. I'm sure Garnet and the rest of Gaia does not want a brainless, obnoxious king one day."

The thief gaped as Kuja simply walked past him with a half-hearted smirk on his face. Zidane put on his pouting face, and Dagger prepared herself for having to deal with Round Two.

Instead of sulking beside Dagger, Zidane insisted upon annoying his brother. The thief poked his shoulder, making Kuja recoil in disgust. Totally aware everyone could hear him despite the stage-whisper, Zidane asked, "So when we get back home, would you rather hide out with Mikoto or with me and Tantalus?"

"Why ever would I want to 'hide out' with you or Mikoto?" Kuja asked exasperatedly. "I hardly even know our sister, and I doubt she is willing to take in a brother she probably knows nothing of."

"Ah, she will when I get to her," Zidane assured him. The thief put his arms behind his head and mused aloud, "I wonder who she'll call 'Brother' first. We'll have a lot of work to do with her. She's not exactly expressive."

Kuja sighed. "That's because Garland, as we both know, wasn't the most caring 'father'."

Zidane shrugged and kicked up dust as he walked. "Guess not." A moment later, Zidane scowled and sullenly said, "You changed the subject. I've got to know for sure if I'll have to kick Blank out of my room and make him take the bunk with Marcus! Uh, until you find your own place," Zidane added with Kuja scowled himself.

"Zidane, I will not be staying with you."

"With Miki? Great! I think that between the two of us we'll-"

Kuja shook his head, making Zidane's smile slowly fade. "You just don't get it, do you, Zidane?"

Dagger pulled on Zidane's wrist to get his attention. "We're here," she quietly said.

Zidane gave his brother a wary glance and drew his daggers. "I'm not going to let you go off alone, Kuj," he told him, his fist tight against the hilts. "Gaia's your home as much as it's mine and Dagger's."

"…I'm not going to be alone, Zidane. And as for a home… I know I have one." Kuja pulled out the Chaos crystal. Black and maroon smoke snaked around the dark gray surface, making Cosmos wince. "When you get to Gaia, look up the poem 'Home' by the Baron of Cleyra. I believe you'd like it."

And with that, Kuja looked straight ahead and called, "Chaos! Show yourself!"

A low chuckle filled the air, just like last time. In one dark flash, Chaos appeared, lazily lounging on his throne. "You haven't enough yet?" he asked, getting to his feet. "If it's a battle you want, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until some other time. These past two days, I've invested my time in spreading plagues, famine and death to a few worlds."

He looked quite sincere as he scanned the faces of the warriors and said, "I hope you don't mind I killed your loved ones."

"Enough, Chaos," Kuja sighed, flipping back his hair. "Once is all you'll fool us, I'm afraid."

"You're quite sure?" he checked, unfolding his four arms. "Because I'm sure no one wants to see lovely Cosmos die at my feet. Of course, I won't be one to grieve the 'terrible loss'. A useless goddess as useless as that Gilgamesh fellow."

Chaos grinned as tension filled the air. "Your faces may not show it, dogs of Cosmos, but chaos still runs rampant in you. Order can never come from a bunch of rejects like you. Too many past sins, too many epic betrayals…. Ah, and so much lying! Even today, lies have been spat in your faces as a mockery. Home isn't what awaits you after this, warriors. Instead, you get double the dosage of pain and misery!"

Zidane's breath froze as Chaos pointed to him. "Especially to you."

Cosmos took off one of her necklaces. All of her glow dimmed and faded, her skin turned an ashy gray, and her hair fell limp. "Chaos, I've had enough of the fighting. I give to you my life in exchange for their departure from Dissidia."

Light's eyes grew wide. "What? You're sending us back? We can't go back- not without defeating Chaos!"

The goddess turned her despondent gray gaze to him. "You can't defeat Chaos," she said flatly. "Chaos is a manifestation of creation in its roughest form. If you destroy chaos, you destroy life as we know it."

Chaos greedily held out the two hands on his right. "She is right, kiddies. I am the string that holds your worlds apart from each other so they don't collapse into the entity call Nothing. A boring thing it is, actually. But it is powerful."

Cosmos seemed to wilt as she held out the illuminous necklace. "Farewell my warriors."

A scythe cut the necklace in half before Chaos could grab it. Astos's form fizzled into vision between Chaos and Cosmos. The silver-haired elf smirked at the astounded faces before him. Cosmos sighed in relief as she started to crystalize. "Thank you, dear Astos."

She turned into a tall statue of diamond, a smile engraved on her face. "You're welcome, Lady Cosmos," Astos replied. He turned to Kuja and nodded. "Time to go, friend."

Zidane grabbed Kuja's trailing sleeve as it started to fade into a deep red. "Don't you dare," the thief snarled.

Kuja only chuckled and pulled his arm away. "Astos and I will be staying here in Dissidia," he explained, his eyes flashing to deep red. "Here, we will be sure to keep Chaos company while you restore some power to those crystals."

Behind each warrior suddenly formed a dark blob. "I have to repay her, Zidane," Kuja said softly, turning to face Chaos. "Cosmos gave me a chance to learn a lot from you. I'm glad I can return the favor. Maybe this can also be my redeeming moment. Zidane… thank you. For everything."

"NO!" Zidane shouted, jumping forward. The mass started to pull him, as it did with the other struggling warriors. "Kuja, no!"

Kuja only smiled and charged forward with Astos, shouting out what would soon be considered his last words, "Make sure you get that kiss from Garnet!"

But what Zidane couldn't say aloud as the mass swallowed him whole, the tears running down his cheeks said for him.

And now… I burst into tears.

Spark the Clairvoyant, Kuja is now officially dead. I hope you're happy. Celticskyedancer, I told you Rinoa would get half a chapter and… well… that wasn't exactly even 1/8. Sorry.

Well, a nice little plot twist begins next chapter. In the meantime, I will try and cope with the fact that I just killed off… Kuja…. *Cue overly-dramatic tears* I am such a horrible person.