Well, with this chapter comes the end of the first "side quest" of the story. More will follow, of course, alone with the main plotlines of the story.

Book I, Part I: Mortal Conflict - A Hero's Challenge

Chapter X: Fate's Hand

One door lies in front of us. Simple, right?

Wrong.

I'm not completely sure I want to find out what's behind the door. After seeing Malthorious, I'm a slight bit disturbed at what might be waiting for us. Angel, however, looks completely fine.

'Wish I was that calm.'

"Coming?" Angel asks, from several feet in front of me. Realizing that I had stopped in the middle of the hallway, I shake my head for a moment to clear it, before nodding.

"Yeah."

Unsheathing both of my swords once again, I tense as Angel begins to open the door, expecting anything on the other side.

Unfortunately, I don't believe I was expecting quite everything. What I see on the other side makes me nearly gag in revulsion. In front of the partially broken throne sits a large creature, appearing to be nothing more than a bag of gray flesh, pulsating wildly. A large eye sits near the top of the creature's body, and several tentacles slither around at the base of the creature's body.

"What is that thing..." I mutter, having to turn away for a moment to keep from depositing my lunch on the floor.

"The leader," Angel replies, without missing a beat.

"Humansss..." the thing hisses, the voice simply heard in my mind, not spoken. "Pitiful creatures..."

"Just what are you!" I yell, trying to get over the creature's grotesque appearance.

"I am that which is dead...that which is born from the flesh and blood of the fallen..." it moans, shifting slightly as the eye focuses on me. Just having the thing watch me is sending a shiver up my spine.

"Scan," I murmur, seeing Angel do much the same as myself.

Forsaken One

HP: Unknown

MP: Unknown

–Guard–

Fire: None

Ice: None

Lightning: None

Water: None

Holy: Weak

Dark: Immune

Non-Elemental: Half

Status: All

'Not a lot of help, but it's weak to Holy energy. Excalibur should work well, since I can't really cast Holy, unless I want to bring the whole room down on us,' I think, trying to devise a way to take the thing out quickly.

"Ready?" Angel asks, swords out and poised to strike.

"Let's get this thing," I reply, dropping into a fighting stance.

(Play: Flash Over - Matsueda, Eguchi; Final Fantasy X-2 International/Last Mission)

A haunting cry suddenly sounds through the air, coming from the Forsaken One. Responding to the cry, several Voidwalkers phase into existence, immediately beginning to engage us to protect their leader.

"Go for the leader! I'll hold these guys off!" I yell to Angel, who nods, running past the Voidwalkers and towards the Forsaken One. Splaying my fingers wide, I charge energy into my hands, sending it out as a duo of Blizzaga spells towards the two closest Voidwalkers. They stop, frozen in their tracks by the icy magic, as three more advance.

"Inverse!" Angel yells, holding a sword wreathed in white energy to the sky. A portal opens up near the Forsaken One, coating the fiend in white energy. A moment later, the energy explodes, sending a small shockwave through the room and causing the Forsaken One to shriek in pain. The tentacles at the bottom of the fiend's body stiffen and begin to whirl around it, several of them striking Angel before slamming him into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Angel!" I cry, before screaming in pain as a Firaga spell from one of the Voidwalkers sends me to the floor from the unexpected attack. Quickly, I rub out a small flame on my shirt, before casting a quick Cura spell on myself and standing up.

"Shell!"

Casting the magic, the reddish-orb of protective energy surrounds me and vanishes as I prepare to engage the offending Voidwalker. Dodging away from a Waterga spell, I rush the fiend, going straight into a Phase Shift attack as I run. Swinging hard, my sword cleaves the fiend in half, and I turn to watch a Blizzaga spell spear another Voidwalker completely, courtesy of Angel. Turning away, Angel returns to engaging the Forsaken One, as I prepare to finish up the last Voidwalker.

"Say goodbye to your life...or what's left of it," I mutter, switching my sword from a normal grip to a stabbing grip and bringing it behind me. Keeping my body low to the ground, I run in a half-crouch towards the Voidwalker, rolling under a Thundaga bolt before springing to my feet and calling my attack.

"Crescent Strike!"

Spinning hard, I bring my sword up high, watching the energy wave slice completely through the head of the Voidwalker. An eerie moan sounds as it bursts into smoke, and finally, I turn to help Angel engage the Forsaken One. Flipping my sword back to a normal grip, it begins to shine with white light as I call up the energy of Excalibur, hoping to seriously harm the creature. The Forsaken One notices my tactic and sends several tentacles at me, hoping to strike me down before I become a threat. Darting to the side, I cut through one of the tentacles with my Holy-enchanted sword before my vision is blocked by a gray object, another tentacle bashing into my face and sending me spinning to the ground. The sword falls from my grip as blood spurts from my nose, and I clench my teeth, stifling a moan of pain as Angel lops off another tentacle from the Forsaken One.

As immobile as the creature may be, it's extremely durable, the tentacles regrowing themselves as fast as Angel cuts them off or wounds them. Muttering 'Curaga' under my breath, I can feel the magic flow over me as I stand up, my magical energy quite depleted now. Pulling an Ether from my pocket, I quickly drink the potion, picking my sword back up and watching as Angel unleashes another Inverse attack on the Forsaken One, with much the same results.

"Angel!" I yell, looking over at him. "I've got an idea! Keep the tentacles away from me if you can!"

In theory, my hastily-made plan should work. At least, that's what I'm hoping as I call on my Angel Wing skill, taking flight as the tentacles continue to strike at the both of us. Dodging one, I cut another in half as a third comes at me, this one taken care of by Angel as I fly near the ceiling of the room, high over the Forsaken One. Two tentacles come at me from either side, and I quickly dive towards the ground, watching the tentacles smash into each other, seconds before Angel slices the both of them off from the creature as well. An eerie screech echoes through my mind from the Forsaken One, the creature in agony from having so many of its tentacles sliced to pieces.

"Let's see just how durable you are!" I yell, white energy gathering around my hands as I hold them above me. "Holy!"

Screaming the word for the spell, I thrust my hands downward at the Forsaken One from my position in the air, almost directly over the creature. The beam of light rockets down, blasting into the fiend with devastating force and eating away at its body, as well as causing the whole room to tremble from the impact. When the smoke clears, the creature is still alive, but greatly weakened, black blood oozing from cuts and other wounds as it sits in a large crater in the ground formed by the attack.

"Can you finish it off?" I yell down. Angel nods, energy flowing into his swords.

"Swords of Heaven!"

Angel's swords lift him into the air, where he hovers for a moment before slashing outward, falling to the ground as two shockwaves slam into the Forsaken One. The creature shrieks once again, even more loudly, as black smoke begins to spew from the body.

(End: Flash Over - Matsueda, Eguchi; Final Fantasy X-2 International/Last Mission)

"You will never...be rid of me..." the Forsaken One pulses, still convulsing. "It is impossible to rid the world of death..."

"Maybe we can't, but we can sure set back your plans," I mutter, watching as the creature slowly turns into a black substance, which collects on the floor and melts into the hole left by the Holy spell, black smoke still rising from the area. Replacing my sword in its sheath, I turn to Angel, intent on getting out of this place as fast as possible.

"Ready to..."

I trail off as I look at Angel, not expecting what I see. Instead of his normal face, his face looks different now, his eyes having narrowed and taking on a slightly yellowish tint. I can see hints of fangs alongside his normal teeth, and I take an involuntary step back after a moment.

"Who...what are you? Are you one of them!" I yell, grabbing my sword again. Angel just stands still, shaking his head.

"I'm not one of them, Ben. I'm just a vampire," he says calmly.

"'Just' a vampire! And you didn't think that was something I needed to know?" I say, stunned and somewhat frightened by Angel's change in appearance. As I watch, Angel's face changes back to normal, reverting back to a human appearance in the blink of an eye.

"No...at least, not now," he replies.

"...Sure," I reply, after a moment. "Let's just get out of here..." I continue, beginning to run back through the castle, Angel following.

Several minutes later, we find ourselves outside the castle once again, the sounds of battle becoming closer to our current position. Quickly, the two of us head upwards and out of the chasm, running back into the Calm Lands before stopping to rest for a moment. In the distance, we can see the Bevellian soldiers and everyone else, fighting off the remainder of the Forsaken. Their numbers seemed to have dwindled significantly since we left, and they seem to be losing ground rapidly as well. Fiend after fiend fall before the combined might of Yuna's group and the Bevellians, and we head towards them in order to regroup.

"Hey! Yuna! Guys!" I yell, as the two of us approach our comrades. "We did it!"

"Great!" Yuna replies, smiling as she shifts back from her special dressphere to her normal Gunner dressphere. The last of the fiends are stricken down as Angel and I catch up to Yuna's group, and I take a minute to kneel down and catch my breath from running so far.

'I'm glad that's over with.'

"We've almost finished clearing out the Calm Lands," Yuna explains. "The commander said that he would take care of the rest. The Ronso have cleared out Gagazet, and everywhere else is reporting that they've either finished the fiends off, or are almost through."

"Just what we needed," I say, standing up again. "Some good news for a change."

"What did you guys find in there?" Tidus asks, looking over at us.

"Everything," Angel replies, stepping past us and towards the Celsius, which had landed nearby.

"He's right," I add, looking at the blitzer, "we found just about everything in that place that you could imagine."

'And some things you probably can't...'

Shouts are now heard, and off in the distance I can see the commander's forces engaging another group of the fiends.

"I say we get some rest," Paine says, taking a look at the sky and seeing the sun beginning to set. A general chorus of agreement comes from all of us, and we head back towards the Celsius, intent on taking a well-deserved rest.

"Glad to be back to more...normal settings," I say to no one in particular, opening the door to my room and stepping inside.

"Ben."

Letting out a small cry of shock, I step back as I see the face of Bahamut, standing silently in front of me.

"You need to quit doing that...you nearly gave me a heart attack, you know?"

"Forgive me. I have something I need to tell you."

Stepping inside and shutting the door behind me, I shift back to my Warrior dressphere, sitting down on the bed.

"Shoot."

"Mistress Freya has instructed me to inform you of this. You must go to Gaia, along with Angel," he says, looking calm. I, on the other hand, am not so calm.

"Whoa...wait a second here. Gaia?" I ask, standing up again with a look of shock plastered onto my face.

"Yes, Gaia. You are not familiar with it?"

"No, no, I'm quite familiar with it...just, why there? Am I supposed to go alone? What's so important about me going there?"

"Patience. Even Mistress Freya does not know all. She merely knows that you, as well as Angel, are needed in Gaia. Why, she either does not know as of yet, or would not say," Bahamut explains.

"Okay, time out. I have to ask right now. Freya? Who is that? I've heard you mention her before, but the name isn't ringing a bell," I say, thoroughly confused now.

"Mistress Freya is the supreme goddess of our reality, as well as others. She rules over all, mortal and immortal alike."

"Then...why doesn't she know? I mean, she's essentially all-powerful, right?" I continue.

"You are partially correct. While the Mistress rules over reality, she does not do so alone. There are three other gods and goddesses that serve directly under her, representing the fundamental principles of existence. Fate, destiny, and what will happen."

"I see...so, what happens if I decide not to go?" I ask, still pondering over the information that Bahamut has given me.

"Fate will continue to run its course, regardless of the decisions made. That is one thing that even immortals cannot change."

Sighing, I sit back down on the bed, looking at the floor for a moment before turning back to face the fayth.

"I need some time to think about this..."

"I understand. It is not a decision to be taken lightly. I will know when you are ready."

With that, Bahamut vanishes, leaving me alone with my thoughts. That is, until a knock on my door breaks the silence just moments later. Standing up and opening the door, I see Angel leaning against the opposite wall.

"Can I come in?" he asks, and I nod.

"Sure."

Stepping inside, Angel looks around the room for a moment before turning to face me.

"Ben, you need to go."

"What? Why?" I remark, shocked for the second time in just as many minutes. "And how did you even know anyone just said anything to me?"

"Because," Angel replies, "the fayth talked to me before I came here. They told me that I would need to find you. They didn't say how, they just said that it would be important."

"So that's why you were at the tournament..." I say, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "You were there looking for me."

"That's right. I was in Luca and overheard some people talking about how you were going to be at the tournament. So, I entered. I figured it was the best way to meet you, and see what you were capable of doing at the same time." Growling a little in frustration, my hands slowly clench and unclench, my teeth pressed tightly together as well.

"So, what? I should just leave Rikku here, alone, without saying anything?" I say, turning away from Angel.

"No. I'm saying that we should talk to them. Let them know what's going on."

"Hold up...I haven't even said I was going yet, and you're saying to talk to Rikku about this?" I say defensively, turning back to Angel with my arms out wide.

"Ben, listen...take it from me. When the fayth says something like that, chances are, it's a good idea to listen."

I have to concede the point to Angel at that. The fayth has always been right before; who am I to argue with the logic of things now?

"...Fine, fine...I'll talk to her tomorrow. But right now, I'm going to get some sleep," I say, finally forfeiting the argument to Angel.

"See you tomorrow, then," Angel says, stepping out of my room and shutting the door behind him. Sighing, I take off my shoes, climbing into the bed and burying my face into the pillow, eventually falling into a deep sleep.

Well...now we move into the next part of the story. Things will pick up from here on out, as Ben finds out that everything in Gaia isn't exactly how he thought it would be; in fact, some things are nowhere close. As always, please review!