Chapter 21 – Three's a Charm?
The winds whipped violently around Yuna as she looked down into the immense gorge. Even as the Calm Lands were grand, they seemed all the more impressive right now. She couldn't understand why, but there was a presence here that enraptured her senses. The picturesque landscape perfectly complemented by the heavenly blue sky felt timeless. With every breath, her lungs filled with the smell of a cool, pure wind.
She felt a nudge against her arm. Looking over, she saw the face of her love smiling at her. Tidus' gorgeous blue eyes mirrored the majestic shine of the sky. His loving smile, which graced her every time she gazed at him, filled her soul with unending satisfaction. Yuna reached over to him, putting her hand ever so gently onto his cheek. The two grew closer, their lips pursed for a kiss.
Too distracted to notice the unnatural change in her surroundings, Yuna yearned for her lips to connect with the man she loves—the man who saved her. The plains quickly became engulfed in billows of dusky fog. Pyreflies shot up from the ground a thousand at a time until their glow lit the entirety of the grassy expanse surrounding her. The sky faded to black, and the wind blustered with lurid force.
Yuna shivered, clenching herself to try to shield herself from the swirling gusts. Raising her hand to guard her face, she looked over at her love. His form had morphed into something not natural, just like her surroundings had become. He appeared the same at first glance, but now something was amiss. Who was this man that looked like Tidus, but wasn't? He reached out, gripping her tightly in his arms. A torrent of trepidation and despair filled her mind, and Yuna began to cry. Her eyes flooded with tears the moment they embraced. Rolling off her cheeks, they splashed onto the back of this imposter.
Looking up, she opened her mouth to demand from him who he was, but no words came out. He gazed profoundly into her eyes, silencing any attempt for her to speak. The sparkle in his eyes glowed wondrously, but not the same as Tidus. Brushing the hair blowing in her face, he smiled.
In a whisper, he spoke, "Together we will be, Lenne my love . . ."
Yuna's sight filled with reality, as she found herself violently shaken from sleep. Paine rocked her furiously, an appearance of hysteria on her face. Yuna hadn't even a moment to lift herself out of her dream state. She stared blankly up at her friend.
"C'mon Yuna, we gotta hurry! There's an emergency in the temple!" yelled Paine, darting frantically outside.
Yuna jumped out of bed, herself still half-unconscious, and stumbled outside of the inn following Paine. Rikku already stood by the entrance of the temple. As Yuna sprinted, she noticed many Al Bhed soldiers were laying on the ground, themselves bruised and bloody. A few Al Bhed medics were going around tending to them as best they could. Whatever had happened, Yuna immediately realized it was terrible enough to turn this place into a field hospital. Journeying into the temple, the girls saw more bodies strewn out across the floor. Chaos ran amok, as Machine Faction soldiers and personnel were manically racing around. One of them came up to the girls.
"You're here! We need your help!" he huffed out, gasping for breath.
"What can we do?" asked Yuna, her hands shaking anxiously.
"And where's Gippal? He should be here!" added Rikku, clawing up the soldier's arm.
He shook his head in reply. "We haven't seen Gippal since late last night. But right now, we need backup for our remaining soldiers."
Paine questioned, "Just what happened? All was perfectly calm last night."
"Early this morning, a gigantic wave of fiends rushed us. We took heavy losses. They also destroyed most of our guardian machina. We're in a lot of trouble!"
Paine looked at Yuna, who shared her concerned expression. They nodded in tandem and readied for battle. Rikku fidgeted around, concern beaming in her eyes. The girls followed the soldier, who led them into the Cloister of Trials. He pointed to a control pedestal at the far end of the hallway. A handful of alarmed soldiers held positions against the walls. Tense muscles and purple bruises conveyed injuries from the current outbreak.
The soldier who led them inside stated, "That control box will activate the lift to go to the second floor. However, the electrified security wall was shot haywire by the fiends. You need to—"
"Don't worry," Yuna interrupted, flashing him a comforting smile. "I've got this covered."
Paine gave her a perplexed look, but Rikku gave Yuna a big thumbs up. The girls took flanking positions on either side of her, letting Yuna maneuver with the spheres. The scuttling of fiends sounded in the adjoining rooms. Four jelly-like fiends roared from behind the electric wall and oozed their way forward. Their yellow-greenish rubbery form flickered with flashes of lightning inside.
Rikku lobbed a special blue grenade, erupting one of them into a watery burst of goo and pyreflies. Paine fought between two others, dancing gracefully with her sword. She grunted a the lack of effectiveness her cuts inflicted. A shot of electricity fired from the fiend to her left side, the bolt shooting into the ground directly in front of her. Static electricity discharged throughout her body like a million pin pricks all stabbing her at once. Paine fell to a knee, using her ichor-dripping sword as a crutch.
A pair of guards shot from behind her at the gelatinous fiend. The fiend which had just fired lightning at Paine dissolved into a gooey puddle, pyreflies dispersing from its form. The fiend to her right redirected its attention onto the guards, sending them scurrying for cover as it fired off a bolt of lightning in their direction. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Paine lifted herself off the ground. Spinning her sword around her body, its blade crashed into the fiend, a bright yellow flashing following the impact. Jumping into the air, she drove the point of her sword into its gooey head, the strike imposing full force onto the fiend. With a gurgle, it dissolved into a puddle of ichor on the floor. Blowing out a sigh of relief, Paine flicked her sword, shooting globs of greenish goo from the blade. A yelp from behind instantly attracted Paine's attention.
"Can I get some help, Paine?" Rikku cried, kicking at the remaining fiend.
It growled as Rikku shook off some of its lemon-lime slime from her foot. Sticking her tongue out at it, she sprung to her side Taking a big swing, Paine stepped in front of Rikku and cut the blob in half, spilling its upper body onto the floor. Its lower half spurted out sparks of electricity before disappearing into pyreflies. Rikku cheered and high-fived Paine.
Scratching her head, Yuna zipped around trying to remember how this Cloister activated. Nobody hated sphere puzzles more than she did. The hours she spent studying them always tormented her when she had trained to become a summoner. Staring at the pedestal, Yuna stomped her foot against the ground in frustration, unwanted memories seeping into her consciousness.
In her hands, she held two charged spheres. She walked over to a pair of pedestals, which already had a glowing purple sphere in one of them. She wondered to herself if that was the Destruction Sphere, but she wasn't sure. Her memory of these things had faded since she no longer needed to be a summoner. She grunted furiously and chucked the two spheres she was holding at the ground.
With a bellow, Yuna yelled, "This sucks—screw the spheres!"
She turned and huffed over to the electric wall. A one-eyed fiend flew beside her. Sharply turning to glare at it, she shouted hastily and backhanded it dead with the barrel of her gun. Paine and Rikku, in awe by her chaotic outburst, followed behind her.
"Um, Yunie, what are you doing?" asked Rikku feebly.
Not paying any attention to her cousin, Yuna lifted her gun in the direction of the control panel and began unleashing a barrage of bullets at it. As her bullets connected, bright yellow sparks flew from the pedestal. A rumble shuttered from behind them, and the lift began to function again. All the soldiers guarding behind them gasped at Yuna.
"Way to go, Yunie! You're awesome!" applauded Rikku, smacking her cousin on the back.
Yuna blushed at her eruption of anger. "I never liked the Cloisters."
"That's for sure," remarked Paine, giving Yuna an approving smile.
The soldier from before approached them again. "Uh, excellent works sir, um, I mean Lady Yuna. Remind me never to pick a fight with you."
At this, Yuna's face turned bright red. "Oh, it was nothing."
"Now then," he resumed after clearing his throat. "We can handle the rest of the fiends here. Please, go up the lift and help our comrades up there."
"You got it!" she affirmed, dashing onto the lift with her friends.
The lift jolted, nearly knocking Rikku off it. Up the Gullwings went—sword, pistol, and grenade ready. Immediately after reaching the second floor, they were swooped down upon by a large, hissing ball of fire. Its orange eyeballs bulged from its flaming exterior. Sweeping down with force, it attacked Paine first, knocking her flat on her back. Rikku threw one of her special white grenades at it but ended up almost walloping Yuna off her feet with a blast of ice.
"Hey, watch it!" Yuna growled before shooting at the fireball.
Rikku smiled timidly while helping Paine up. Grabbing for her sword, Paine marched toward the ball of fire angry and ready to get aggressive. Forcefully swinging upward, she cleanly sliced the fireball. Letting out a taunting hiss, the fiend proved unaffected by her blade. Again it attacked, this time flinging itself at Yuna. Hitting the deck in an instant, Yuna felt the top of her head get singed. Hissing back at it, she popped three bullets into it. It still appeared to not be deterred. The girls, fed up with dealing with this grandiose annoyance, formed a triad. Together they rushed at the fiend: Yuna firing, Rikku slashing, and Paine stabbing until the fiend dropped from their overwhelming assault.
"Hmph! Finally, the stupid thing's dead!" exclaimed Rikku.
"Let's keep focus girls," said Yuna, pointing to a set of five pedestals in an adjoining room. "We have to get to the Chamber of the Fayth now."
Paine let out a sigh. "For once, I really don't want to go. But—"
"But we have to do it." Yuna smiled.
From behind them, a lone soldier stumbled forth. Holding a hand firmly against her ribs, blood dripped from a stab wound, staining her bodysuit red. She limped up to Yuna, placing her other hand against Yuna's shoulder.
Although grimacing in pain, she let out a sigh of relief. "If you have made it up here, then everyone mustn't have died yet."
Yuna shook her head. "No, we killed most of the fiends on the lower level."
"Thankfully—ow!" she grimaced. "This level is defended as well now that you've killed that last fiend."
The girls looked around, noticing the numerous dead soldiers and dead fiends covering the floor.
"I may be all that's left, but I'll hold anything off as long as I'm standing. Just . . ." she muttered, falling to one knee.
Rikku and Paine helped sit her down before Rikku began bandaging her wound. The soldier squealed at the immense pain. After Rikku gave her some blue potion from the bottle she carried, her pain subsided.
Yuna, knowing all too well her fate, choked to hold back her tears. She knelt beside the Al Bhed woman, conveying some final comforts as best she knew how. Yuna wanted to tell her help would come soon, but she understood all too well that nobody would come in time. She also gazed horrified at the long trail of blood the soldier had left behind her. Suddenly she was jolted by the woman's hand grasping her with such firmness.
The soldier pointed to the Chamber of the Fayth, whimpering, "In there is a horrid beast. You must destroy it. For all of us . . ."
Her final words trailed off and the soldier slumped over. Her eyes rolled back into her head; her breathing ceased. Paine closed the woman's eyelids, respecting someone as brave as she. Yuna looked over at Rikku, who had tears welling up in her eyes. More people dying—an event Yuna wished had not become as routine as it had for her.
Hammering together their fleeting resolve, the girls approached the five pedestals. Each pushed in one, with nothing happening. On the fourth one, the door to the Chamber rumbled open. Ready for the inevitable battle, Rikku and Paine marched for the Chamber. Before they could enter, Yuna called out for them to stop. She stood, her face stern and coarse. In her hand were three yellowish bands.
"What are these for?" asked a perplexed Rikku.
Yuna frowned. "We'll need them for the next battle. Just put them on."
The bracelets had a glossy shine to them. An insignia of a lightning bolt was engraved on the inside of the band. Upon sighting this, Paine looked up at Yuna. She nodded, understanding exactly what these were for.
"I guess you were already prepared for this."
Without hesitation, Yuna answered, "I was afraid this would happen."
Without another word, the Gullwings entered the Chamber. Matching their dreary expectation, the figure inside hollered with wretched anticipation. Sparks of lightning flashed off his long, hooked horn. Snorting fiercely, he scoffed with his right hoof, charging for his opening attack. Ixion, Yuna's third aeon, stood awaiting their arrival.
The girls, too, wasted no time with reunion introductions. Spreading out, the girls encircled the beast. Their eyes were stark with determination. Holding their breaths, the girls waited for the first move to be made. In a moment's eternity, all four battlers stood, facing each other. In Ixion's eyes sparked the same singular desire to kill as was in Valefor's and Ifrit's eyes. Yuna recognized this well, only now with the same desire mirrored in her gaze.
Then the explosion came, and the girls began their relentless attack. Rikku lobbed two blue grenades at the aeon. Bursts of watery magic splashed onto Ixion, who let out a pained cry. Firing back without pause, Ixion shot an electrical charge at Paine. It flew so fast, that she had no time to react. She covered her face from the blast, expecting the worse. To her surprise, a dome of faint blue light enclosed her, leaving her unharmed by the electrical blast.
"These are really something!" exclaimed Paine over to Yuna.
Yuna nodded and ran at Ixion, shooting a half-dozen shots into his abdomen. He roared, and swung his big horn around, nearly impaling Rikku on it. She shrieked and dove out of the way. Ixion snarled, becoming increasingly more aggressive with every failed attack. Another charge formed on the tip of his horn, firing at Yuna this time. The same faint blue dome protected her from harm. Yuna smirked, knowing she had the upper hand in this battle.
Ixion realized this fact as well, reverting to only using physical attacks. Paine swung at the aeon with her sword, keeping it at bay. Yuna injected a special bullet into an empty chamber of one of her pistols. Clicking the cylinder back into place, she lined up the shot at her former aeon. The bullet connected, unleashing a blast of arcane fury. Recklessly the beast yelped and fell into the wall behind him. Tiny sparks flew off his body as he shrugged off the magical residue covering his body. With a low growl, Ixon lunged at Rikku. This time he connected, smacking Rikku backward, spilling her hard onto the floor. She cried out and began rubbing her backside, staring up at the aeon with one eye shut.
Paine dashed over, stabbing Ixion in one of his legs. In reaction he kicked at Paine, nearly connecting his hoof to her head. She wobbled backward, ducking out of the way of Yuna's pistol. A rapid stream of bullets sprayed from the barrel of her pistol. So speedily did they leave the barrel, the bullet blurred into a singular line, each one penetrating Ixon's hide in the same place. Wisps of smoke seeped out of Yuna's pistol. She watched as her former aeon wheezed, stumbling around aimlessly. Limping out of the Chamber, he screamed one last battle cry, then toppled over.
Yuna breathed heavily, as were her comrades. They all smiled at each other, hoping now there would be no more aeons to battle. Paine sat down, exhausted from all the running and hacking she had accomplished. Yuna dropped down beside her, feeling fatigued as well.
Rikku, on the other hand, examined a gaping hole at the far end of the Chamber. Peering down, she saw a large swarm of pyreflies emitting from within it.
"Hey guys," she yelled over. "Come look at this!"
Paine approached the hole first. "Hmm, how'd we miss this?"
Yuna put her finger to her mouth. "Now that I think about it, there was a hole like this in Besaid. I think Kilika, too."
"What did ya see in it?" asked Rikku, dipping her head farther into the hole.
Yuna shrugged. "I didn't see anything since I didn't have the chance to look."
"I wonder if this is where the fiends came from?" asked Paine curiously.
Yuna said under her breath, "I wonder too—"
From behind limbered Ixion, still clinging to life. Pyreflies bled out of the gunshot wound Yuna inflicted on him. With a roar, he lunged at the girls and his body erupted in a colorful explosion. Paine and Rikku dodged to the sides of the hole, but Yuna had nowhere to go. Flying off balance, she fell into the chasm. Ixion again fell over, while Yuna's scream faded into the void.
"Yuna!" bellowed Paine into the hole.
But there was no response. She was gone—absorbed by the darkness of the endless abyss. With panic exuding from their faces, Rikku and Paine were helpless to save their friend.
Darkness, whether from the chasm, or in her mind, now enveloped Yuna. Believing her doom at hand, she clamped her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable to occur. When she reopened them again, she was lying face down in a bed of flowers. They smelled so succulent, exuding a pure, sweet fragrance. Examining her new surroundings, she glimpsed swarms of pyreflies dancing about. The sound of waterfalls echoed around her in the distance. She sat up, in awe of her ethereal surroundings. As if she fell right into some verdant fantasy world, this place was like nothing she had ever seen before.
Her eyes caught the path of a lone pyrefly twirling around her. She rose to her feet, still completely unknowing of her environment. The low humming of the pyreflies tickled in her ears. Suddenly she looked down at herself, realizing she was wearing her songstress dressphere. She wondered how in Spira she could be wearing it when it began to glow. Pyreflies shot from her clothing, encircling Yuna. She gasped, frightened by all that was happening.
Footsteps echoed around the field of flowers. Emerging from the hazy mass of fog, a tall, young man paced towards her. It was the same man she had seen many times in her dreams, his yellow boots and messy blond hair made that undeniable. She wondered if this could be Shuyin, the man after Vegnagun—the man who was Lenne's love. He walked nearer, his body steadfast. Both his appearance and demeanor were so similar to Tidus. Even though she realized instantly that it wasn't him, she still couldn't drive out the old memories of her own lost love.
With his lips cracked in a faint smile, he stopped and spoke, "I've finally found you."