Yuna and the group fight Seymour and the truth of Yu Yevon finally is revealed.

Other than a massive amount of editing for grammar/sentence clarity and a few new sentences added here and there this chapter remains mostly untouched. Now that we are in the final stretch I think I'll do one chapter a day again. Two a week might happen though.

Thank you for the follows/reviews (you don't stop me from writing but you make it worth it).

italics = denotes thought or memory

Not Mine

Voice of the Mother

And the room was silent, Yu Yevon smiled. And then spoke.

"Welcome."

Yuna backed up attempting to stealthily situate herself next to the room where Anima was bound to be. She glanced at Seymour and then back at the room. In front of her Rikku gripped her Godhand weapon, her hand curling around its handle, turning white as all the blood left it. Her body was like a coil, ready to strike at any time. Everyone could see how tense her body was and that her eyes kept glancing back and forth from Yuna to Seymour. Everyone was the same, all of them like Rikku as she was watching to see what would happen between Seymour and Yuna. Auron's mood was pensive and worried, however he knew that no one would speak for a long while unless something interfered, and a standstill was not on top of his list of priorities. His voice broke the silence, "Come to kill us?"

Seymour's mouth quirked up in a smile, his face wrinkling as he did so, "Why else would I be here? He wants you dead, I can hear him speaking to me, kill them, kill them. It's a beautiful orchestra all in my head."

Yuna backed up two more steps, closer now to her goal. She knew everyone could see her, that everyone including Seymour knew what she was attempting to do. But she trusted her party with her life, trusted them not to die and to protect her when it counted. Trusted that they would do whatever it took to bring this world to justice. And that was what made the small part of her, the tiny part that still clung to those childish dreams of a better world - happy. And it was that idea which kept her afloat.

Auron spoke again, his voice being the only one that could even form words at the moment. Everyone else not quite being capable of speech, "No, that's your voice Seymour; you are the one who loved death, aren't you?"

Seymour laughed at that, "That was you I though. You haven't changed since I last saw you, I smelled the Farplane on you then and now, you still reek of death."

At this Rikku let go of her grip on the Godhand and held on to Auron for support as she found her voice. She glared at Seymour - the disdain she felt showing in her eyes, "You leave him alone."

"Ah, and you little girl, you actually think you can save him? You have damned him to life, damned him to a destiny he does not want. You haven't saved him, you've killed him."

Everyone expected fireworks, small explosions of anger, or waterworks, tears that could drown them all, from Rikku. Even Yuna who had spent years with her cousin expected for Rikku to blow her top. But Rikku had cried, she had feared, she had grown. So when Rikku's eyes became hard, and when she spoke in a deadly tone only Auron had heard once, he knew without a doubt that the little girl who Rikku had been was gone, "Death is what you make it. If I've killed him, then haven't I saved him?"

For all his words, for all the hard edges and walls Auron had never wanted to hug anyone more than he did at that moment. Seymour scowled and pyreflies surrounded his body. Yuna watched in trepidation as his body made its final transformation. He floated to the top of the room his body becoming transparent like a crystal refracting light inside his body so that colors shifted over the surface. Circles of red, blue, yellow, and white floated behind him, his weapons. Nooj looked at the broken Baralai and then at Yuna - she could do little to protect them as she was, it was up to him to protect Baralai and their future - as loathed as he was to help the man. Until Yuna could find her footing and created a new destiny for them. He looked back at the door behind her, "Go." Nooj said.

Seymour heard him and turned to Yuna sending three fire spells her way. He was attempting to block her escape. Before she had a chance to react Auron put himself in front of her and Yuna looked on in horror as Auron crumpled to the floor. For a second he didn't move and then his muscles twitched and his hand shot out in front of him pushing himself up even as his body protested against the weight. His body had been damaged and scarred many times over, so this was nothing. Yuna was awed at his bravery, at how he held together, "You heard him. Go." Auron told her.

In a flash Rikku was next to him a potion out, healing him of all wounds. She glanced back at Yuna, "I'll take care of things here," she winked trying to convey a confidence she didn't feel.

Yuna felt her heart beat with pride at the change in Rikku - she had been a girl when they started but now she bore a woman's strength. But she only nodded and quickly slipped into the room behind her. The door shut with a resounding boom and quiet enveloped her. In here she was cut off from the rest of the world. She would not be able to help her friends until she was done. The circle in the middle of the room glowed and she watched as a figure with brown hair and brown eyes shimmered into view. She was wearing a long maxi dress, the bodice purple and the skirt white. Small bangles dangled from her wrists - her voice when she spoke seemed muffled by the room around her as if just this room was holding back her pain, "I was wondering when you would come for me."

As usual Tidus's voice answered her, "We came when we could."

Her bangles rustled a few times, and even though Yuna could not hear them she felt as if she could. Yuna smiled, "You know why we are here do you not?"

Aniaca nodded her face straining as if she was listening to something. Her face became a passive mask and she stepped out of the circle. Yuna watched in amazement as her body solidified, and Aniaca's feet hit the ground with a pitter patter sound that Yuna felt that she had heard before, but only in dreams. Yuna had to blink a few times to make sure what she was seeing was correct. Aniaca looked up at her and then she did hear the bangles, the sweet sound that they made sounding like joy, and peace, and harmony, and all sorts of things she didn't know had sound. Aniaca's voice was better than the bangles when she spoke with her true voice - not the one that had been changed by her death and rise to becoming a fayth. There were no words to describe it, "I know why you are here. The battle outside is unfortunate, but necessary. My son… his anger controls him."

Yuna seemed taken aback by that statement and looked at the woman in front of her, "He's your son?"

"I watched as Paine told you her story. I thought you knew… but now is not the time for long stories."

Beside her another figure appeared - he was not flesh but spirit. His purple robes had been transformed, and he was wearing brilliant white. A symbol of the upcoming battle. It was Braham and he bowed at them, Yuna bowed back. When he spoke his voice seemed dull compared to Aniaca's, "What do you know of Sin?" he asked them.

The room around her resonated and vibrated with Tidus's voice, "Sin is Yu Yevon. It's his shell, where he lies in wait for those to come to him."

Braham's face seemed to agree with him but that was all it did. Tidus's answer had been correct but not complete, "What else do you know? If that is all than you are not ready, not yet."

Yuna bit her lip and bent her neck to look at the ground, as if in thought as she tried to figure out what Braham meant, and suddenly it all clicked into place looking back up her eyes dulled with the knowledge, "He's what makes Sin come back, isn't he?"

Somehow Yuna knew that she had known this, had know that Yu Yevon was what controlled it all. Was what had made Sin continue to return and spread his destruction everywhere and yet something was missing, something vital. And she couldn't place it, she bent her head in thought again as she attempted to figure out what it was. And Aniaca saw her confusion and put it to rest, "Yu Yevon was a summoner. One of the first he created Sin and merged with it - a shell body to carry out his wishes. Now he only lives for one purpose, to summon and to destroy all which he perceives as a threat - malevolent or no. He is not good nor evil. He is awake yet he dreams."

Eye alight on Aniaca Yuna leaned against the wall; she was repulsed at what had been suggested, "He is bad. That I know - I saw him cause so much suffering so much pain. To everyone, to Tidus, to me. How can you say that?"

She felt disgusted, that's what this was and Yuna knew it. She felt awful her body betraying her. Showing a weakness that wasn't supposed to be there, she was supposed to be the leader, strong and caring. The one who had to sacrifice everything for nothing. And now, she just felt ill, "If he is evil then we are too." Aniaca's soft voice spoke to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Aniaca looked to Braham for guidance and he realized that this was something he had to do, he had started this, and it was time for him to finish it, the time for gentle words was over "Even if you defeat Sin he will merge with another Aeon. Will make that his Final Summoning. he will live, and continue to summon."

For the second time Yuna was shell shocked and it made her body feel worse than before, as she attempted to find support where there was none. Trying to come to grips with what had just been told to her, "Yu Yevon uses you, uses all the Aeons doesn't he? You're his tools. To defeat him I have to defeat you, kill Tidus, and destroy Yu Yevon, is that what you're saying?"

"Yes."

It was just one simple word but that was all it had to be, she fell. Aniaca grabbed her as her legs buckled lowering her body to the floor. Everything she knew had just rotted away; somehow during all she had learned and discovered recently she understood this. Tidus had helped her see, Yu Yevon had helped her see, and she had known. Seen this as the truth for what it was, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, "What do I do?"

"During the battle, after the battle, call us. Call us to you."

Aniaca's voice spoke to her softly soothing her nerves. She put one hand on the wall and then the next using their might to push herself up so that she could stand. It was Aniaca's voice that had done this for her, Aniaca's wonderful bell tinted voice, it let her rise again, "And after?"

This time Braham spoke, "After, after the dream will end. And everything will fade."

As he spoke those words his body started to shimmer becoming translucent and then transparent until Yuna couldn't see him at all. Body disappearing back into the world where he had come from. Yuna looked up at Aniaca and noticed that she was looking at Yuna with a sad expression on her face, "Will you take us?"

Confusion etched over Yuna's feature, "Us?"

"The rest of the Aeon's have given me their power, will you take us?"

"This is not something that must be asked is it?"

"After all you have learned, after all that you have gleaned, are you ready?"

She was, she found out staring at Aniaca who wore the same expression of sadness and of self-loathing that was mirrored on her her own face. She was ready for this to end, to finish this. Her eyes flashed blue, Tidus shared her same sentiment. He wanted this over too, he was angry and tired of what he had become, a symbol of ongoing death. He had saved Yuna but in the end he had damned himself. And he was ready to die. Yuna lowered her head and bowed in reverence as Aniaca walked back up to the pedestal. As she did her body once again became a shimmering mass of transparency. And Yuna prayed - a final prayer to those who would sacrifice their lives so that Sin may be defeated. There was no joy in her prayer however, "Fayth of those dead, I am ready. Your power is my power; my life is your life, to blend into one. Please I beg of you, give me your power so that one day, we can and will defeat those who have wronged us. So that we can atone from the sins we have committed. I am your vessel."

Aniaca looked down at the kneeling girl, "You are ready."

Aniaca's body lifted up becoming light and it flew at Yuna as did four other light sources. When they hit s he felt her body surge with power but there was also a familiarity. She knew this energy, it had become familiar to her over the course of her journey. These were the other fayth, her other Aeons. Her family. Yet as they filled her body something inside her laughed gleefully, at her new found power. It had what it needed, it was ready too. Her body hit the cold hard floor and she saw the fareplane. All the stars and white lights that were there; all the spirits, her mother, her father, she saw them all. And then her eyes opened and Aniaca was still there and her body still hummed with power, but differently now. It was a complete power, "What happened?"

"You received too much power at once, it almost killed you." she said.

"And?" she implored.

"And now you are ready. My son awaits, save him from his own mind, give unto him that which he seeks."

Oddly enough Yuna didn't have to ask what Aniaca was talking about, she knew. Standing up once more she bowed and rushed from the room. She had her friends to protect after all.

The room she reached was in utter chaos. Auron lay slumped against the wall, Rikku curled up in his arms. In front of her Nooj, Lulu and Paine were all trying to hold Seymour off. And it was a losing battle. Each had no healer, and she could tell that their potion supply had long been depleted, behind them Baralai was doing nothing to help, his mind someplace unreachable. To out of his mind to react to anything that went on around him. Lulu cried out as a blast of thunder came ripping down from above her throwing her across the room, her dress fluttering around her. Nooj helped her stand looping one arm under her even when helping her made his own body buckle underneath him. Slinking over to where Rikku and Auron lay she held her hands over them and a white light surrounded them - healing them. Rikku blinked and looked up at Yuna as the spell that she was casting took effect on their bodies, "You're here."

Hair shook as Yuna answered her with a nod, "Yes, what happened?"

Stronger now thanks to the spell that Yuna had cast on her Rikku looked up at the blue haired man and pointed a finger at Seymour, "We were doing okay for a while, until these wheels appeared behind him. Suddenly he could cast more than one spell, three or four in fact at a time, not only that but the spells became stronger. We didn't stand a chance at all"

Yuna turned her head to look at what Rikku was showing her and found herself looking at four wheels, they were a light blue and had four nodes inside them. One was red, one a bluish white, another blue, and the last yellow. And indeed they seemed to make him stronger than when she had left. The wheels turned clicking and clacking to the blue and two splashes of dangerous water hit Nooj and Lulu. Yuna turned back to Rikku. Behind Rikku Auron spoke, making it known that she had cured him as well, "Then the objective is clear. Take out those wheels."

Standing up Yuna took out her staff. The top of it glowed and she spun it around herself a few times. And the room seemed to freeze, from her above white pearls began to shimmer and form. Circling around and around and finally circling around one of the wheels, hovering but just for a moment. Until they struck. When they did this they shot out one at a time at the wheel and Yuna swore she heard it creak under the pressure. Now the question remained - had it been enough? For a second it looked as if the attack had done nothing, and then the wheel started to crack, fissures crawling up its sides like a spiders web. Seconds later it shattered sending bits of shrapnel and debris everywhere. Seymour turned to see where the attack had come from and sneered, "Welcome back little one. But your welcome will be short lived; you only come back only to death."

"No, that's where you're wrong."

Yuna stood strong her face staring right at Seymour, "Oh, you think that your visit with the little Aeon is going to save you?

The thing inside her that still clung to the light nodded, "It will. It already has begun to save me."

Seymour smirked, he knew that she was talking both about how the Aeons would save her life in this battle and how they had given her hope. And something in him rose to challenge her. The voice he spoke with next was not his own. Yuna recognized it as Yu Yevon's, filled with knowledge and power, and a little self loathing, "No, you still don't get it. You have yet to truly face me and live."

And it then it was gone, and Seymour was back to himself, crazy and a little demented, but himself, "There is no life, only death. You cannot be saved."

"Watch me."

Another burst of light came from her staff only this time it spewed only darkness. And as the room was engulfed in an inky darkness, blasts of light came from one of the wheels and it too cracked showering the room with its shards. Next to her Auron stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder, "My turn."

Taking a sip from his sake he then looked at the wheel in front of him. Propelling his body he spun in a powerful circle his body motion causing a giant tornado to come from the tip of his sword sending it careening into the next wheel. Seymour looked aghast at what Auron had done; realizing for the first time that he might not win… or was it Yu Yevon who was thinking that? He didn't know anymore - the pieces of his mind seemed to blend into one, creating a giant schism between who he had been and who he was now. Suddenly the tornado burst into flames next to him and the third wheel shattered. Angry he cast all of his remaining water spells on Auron but as if by magic they were deflected.

For a second no one spoke and the Rikku's voice rung out loud and clear, "Don't you dare touch him again."

Rikku held an antidote and a lunar curtain in her hands and they disappeared. Her mixing skills had been almost too late. But almost was enough - Auron's body had been shielded from harm. Then there was a flash of light as she changed. When it cleared she was riding a giant machina. Seymour looked at her and then smiled again, "Then you'll have to do."

His last wheel changed to a completely white color Yuna hadn't seen before and darkness enveloped Rikku. There was burst of light from the center of the darkness and thousands of bullets came streaming from the void each hitting their target - the final wheel. It too, just like the ones before it shattered. The darkness dissipated and Rikku stood there, outfit off and a proud look on her face, conveying it even without smiling. Until a bolt of electricity hit her from her left side and an angry looking Seymour stood up, dark light crackling around his body making the floor quake, "I will not be defeated by you!" His voice was a mixture of himself and Yu Yevon, "I will control it from the inside. I will have its power."

As his body charged Yuna looked at him, "No, it's over Seymour."

And her staff - which Seymour realized she had been holding high above her head fell. And the room grew dark as four chains appeared from the sky and sunk deeply into the ground. Seymour had seen this before and his eyes grew wide, knowing what was to come.

But it was too late now; the chains were dragging from the depths something that would not be quelled. Its body was monstrously large surrounded by a maw of black and scarlet. Red eyes full of hate, anger, and dare Yuna even think it, love. Around its neck hung a picture of the patron Saint of Spira. Hands crossed over the creature's chest her power caused even Yuna to cringe away. Seymour stared at his death, "So you too would fight me? So be it."

The darkness circled both of them, but Anima moved first. The ground sunk under Seymour, his body becoming enveloped. And everyone was given a front seat to his destruction as the floor had become a window to a black void where Seymour now lay. The chains that held Anima back were released and her rage could not be held back any longer as thousands upon thousands of blows were thrown his way. He tried to block out his mother's rage, her anger - But he could not. His whole mind was consumed by it. As each blow landed with devastating force a light sort of feeling swept through him. In that moment Yuna saw it for what it really was - love but for what she did not know. Seymour himself was too far gone and all he felt was the sweet release that he had always wanted: death.

When the darkness cleared Anima was gone and Seymour was on the floor gasping - his eyes wide, staring at what now stood before him, "Mother?" he croaked.

And her form knelt and held him. She looked up at Yuna, "He is free, free of his anger, his hate, and free of Yu Yevon. Send him."

Yuna only needed to nod, it was time, and she danced his death song. Aniaca looked down at her son who looked up at his mother, "I had forgotten what it felt like," then he turned to Yuna saddened, "So it is you, after all, who will send me. But even after I am gone, Spira's sorrow will prevail."

And he was gone, in a whirl of pyreflies and confusion. Aniaca looked up at Yuna, "Thank you."

Soon she too faded going back to the realms where she could not sleep. Yuna turned to everyone and raised her eyes, "Well… it's best that-"

She never got out what she was going to say. Thousands of tentacles reached down for the roof of the building, tearing the it off and sending waves upon waves of water crashing down into the temple. A sensation of sucking took Yuna by surprise and looking over at all those she loved, she saw that it was happening to them too. Being drawn into this endless dampened abyss.

Sin was here.

A/N: I love love love Anima. I think my favorite Aeons shine through in this story, and I'm okay with that. The big fight begins next chapter - how shall it end?