Yuna ran down the mountainside as fast as she could go. What greeted her eyes as she reached the bottom was terrible. Seymour was walking up the mountain path, already Yenke and a few other Ronso lay dead in on the icy ground. Seymour looked surprised as Yuna came into view. The Ronso were lined up, waiting to attack him once at a time. Yuna shook her head, Ronso pride, they refused to outnumber him, it would have got them killed this time if not for Spike.
“Lady Yuna, it is a pleasure.”
“Yuna.” Lulu said. Yuna raised her hands, ready to send him. Seymour looked past Yuna, chuckling. Kimahri turned, seeing Yenke’s still body on the ground.
“No.”
Seymour chuckled, looking at Yuna. “You could end the suffering of this Ronso, of all these Ronso.”
“I don’t understand you!” Yuna yelled.
“Allow Kimahri to die and release him from his pain. Spira.. is a land of suffering and sorrow, caught in a spiral of death. To destroy- to heal Spira- I will become Sin. Yes, with your help. Come with me, Yuna.”
Tidus jumped in front of Yuna, Seymour sneered.
“Once I have become the next Sin your father will be freed again.”
Tidus’ face went white, he glared at Seymour.
Buffy frowned, his father? She looked at the others, they seemed as confused as she was, except for Auron and Kimahri.
“What do you know!” Tidus yelled, running towards Seymour.
“Save some for Kimahri.” The Ronso yelled. Seymour rose into the air, startling Buffy.
“Pitiful mortal. Your hope ends here and your meaningless existence with it!” Seymour cried as he let out a bright, white light. When the light cleared he floated in the mountain path, looking like a strange bug creature, created from intricately carved marble, marble tentacles hanging down from it. His face, also marble was at the front of the creature, above the arms that sat underneath it and beneath the handles of the two swords above it. The battle, Buffy assumed, would have been long and difficult with just the guardians, but as Buffy, Spike, Auron, Kimahri, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku and Lulu attacked the giant creature so too did every one of the Ronso. It would be remembered by the Ronso as the only war ever fought on Gagazet’s sacred slopes. Slowly they hacked the tentacles off the creature, ripping off chunks of marble, arms and claws but still the attacks came. White hot energy like solar flares regularly burst out of the ground and even Buffy, on one occasion found herself a sickly green colour on account of his lance, imbued with a poison that turned people into zombies. Yuna stepped forward and Buffy noticed that her face was hard. Not just determined, it was as though she had become stronger, she stood like stone before Seymour, raising her arms, summoning the fire demon, Ifrit. The giant demon snarled at Seymour as he opened his mouth to speak, it breathed a column of fire at him, pushing him high into the air by the force of the flames, he then reached down, with 6 inch claws, tearing a chunk of rock from the icy ground and hurling it at Seymour.
Seymour shuddered, disappearing in a column of pyrelfies.
“And stay up there!” Tidus shouted.
Rikku ran over to Spike, staring at him.
“What are you doing?” He asked, annoyed.
“Wow! You really knew? Ooh.” Rikku exclaimed.
Buffy walked over to him, taking his hands. “You really saved them all.” She smiled.
He pulled her close to him, stopping with a cheeky grin. “Can’t have the bunny population getting out of hand now, can we.”
She pulled away, giving him a mock glare. He grinned back but his face soon became serious again.
“Listen, I saved the Ronso, true but that’s it. I don’t have a bloody clue what happens now.”
“Oh..” Buffy bit her lip. “It doesn’t matter, between us all we’ll save Yunie.. Yuna even if it means kicking the Final Aeon’s ass!”
“That’s my girl.” Spike smiled.
“Everybody.. We’re going now.”
“Sir Spike..” Kelk said. “You are good man. Ronso never forget what you did for us. Anything you want, you ask. Lady Yuna and guardians.. Thankful we are you came. Ronso children hear your stories, Ronso singers sing your songs. Go now, we have kept you long enough.”
The climb to the top of the mountain seemed to take less time the second go. All too soon they found themselves standing high on the snow covered peaks. Rikku stopped, turning to Buffy and Tidus.
“Zanarkand’s
on the other side you know..”
”I know.” Tidus answered.
“Yunie’ll get the Final Aeon, you know… I, still haven’t thought of anything.”
“Buffy did.” Spike commented.
“Yeah, we kick it’s final butt until it goes away.” Buffy said with an emphatic nod.
“Yeah!” Tidus exclaimed, pumping his fist.
Buffy and Spike stared at him then back at each other, they both shrugged and continued on.
“Wow.” Yuna said as she disappeared around the corner. Buffy frowned, ‘wow’ wasn’t usually a word Yuna used. She followed the Summoner and gasped. The rock beside the path was imbedded with human bodies, sending off a blue, misty light. On the other side of the path was a pool, a waterfall feeding into it. A spiral of water stood over twelve feet high, spinning from the too-blue water.
“Wh..What are those?” wakka asked.
“Those are Fayth.” Yuna said in an awed voice. She walked over to the rock, gasping quietly, they all turned to look at her.
“A summoning! Someone is using these Fayth! Someone is drawing energy from all of them.”
“This many?” Rikku asked.
“Who wields power on this scale and what could they be calling?” Lulu asked.
Rikku ran over to Auron. “Hey, you know something, don’t you? Spill the beans.”
“Look not to others for knowledge, this is your journey too.”
“Yunie might die, you know?” Rikku called out.
“No… Auron’s right.” Tidus said,
“Auron’s right?” Buffy asked, incredulous. “How is withholding information from us and giving us fortune cookie advice to our benefit. Do you even want to help Yuna, do you want to beat Sin?”
Auron chuckled.
“You arrogant bastard! What’s your prob..”
She was cut off as Tidus fell into a faint on the ground.
Everyone crowded around him, begging him to wake up, he lay there, unconscious for nearly five minutes, suddenly waking up.
“Are you alright?” Yuna asked as he jumped to his feet.
He sat down again.
“Hey! We were so worried about you.” Rikku said.
Spike raised his hand. “Except me.”
“You okay?” Lulu asked.
“I…I’m okay.”
“What happened?” Yuna asked.
“Nothing… I blacked out and I was dreaming. You called me… and I woke up.”
He stood up, stretching. “Nothing like a good nap!”
“Oh yeah?” Buffy punched him in the shoulder, Slayer strength and all.
“Oww!” He rubbed his shoulder, looking at her resentfully.
“That was one of the most irritating, badly timed comments I’ve ever heard. You even beat Xander’s record.”
“Who..?”
Buffy glared at him.
“Oh, right, I’ll shut up.”
They entered a cave, a strange, greenish glow lit it with an eerie light. The fiends in the cave were large, leaping from the darkness at fairly regular intervals. The ceiling of the cave dripped water and it was a lot warmer inside than it had been outside. They walked up the sloping tunnel, turning left and going down hill.
They came to a subterranean pool of water, under the water brightly coloured rocks shone. The water was crystal clear and a tunnel could be seen under the water at the back of the cave.
“Looks like we got a job to do, ya?” Wakka said, standing in front of the water.
Buffy knelt down, dipping her finger in the icy water.
“Ugh.”
“What is it?” Yuna asked, concerned.
“It’s cold.”
“This lake is created from the water which runs through the roof of these caves. This water comes from the melted snow which falls on the top.” Auron said.
Buffy pulled a face.
Rikku, Tidus and Wakka stood on the waters edge.
“Maybe, we should wait here, the three of you can go on ahead and see if it is the right direction. Though, if it gets dangerous, pull out quick.” Lulu said.
“Right.” Wakka said.
“Be careful, okay?” Yuna said.
Tidus nodded, diving into the water.
“Spike.” Buffy said as they waited on the edge of the water.
“Yes, pet?”
“When all this is over, what then?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Sin, it comes back every ten years, right, even when it gets killed so if we defeat Sin, we’ll just have to fight it again later anyway. It’s like the story of my life, kill a vampire, another raises.. no offense.”
“None taken.”
“I killed the Master, stopped that apocalypse, we were all songs and dances then, bam, Acathla. I got rid of him..”
“With my help.”
“Yeah, so he’s dead, I’m like, yay and then the Mayor decides to turn into a big snake and kill us all. It’s like no matter how hard I hit evil it just turns around and hits back. Does it ever end?”
Spike looked at his Slayer, she sat there, fierce and hurting, looking to him for answers and he hated himself because he couldn’t give her any. He wrapped his arms around her, she accepted that as an answer.
“Hey.” Wakka climbed out of the water, surprisingly his hair still stood up. “There was nuthin’ much there. Just a switch.”
“Did you activate it?” Lulu asked as though she really thought he hadn’t.
“Of course we did!” Tidus jumped out of the water, shaking himself like a dog.
“Where to now?” Lulu asked.
Auron pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on. “That way.” He pointed up the slope they had walked down. They walked back up, coming to the top.
A set of stairs, ancient looking and decayed now stood where they hadn’t before, the party ascended the stairs, the tunnel went left and right from the top of the stairs.
The group decided to turn left, Buffy’s legs were beginning to burn with all the uphilliness, they reached a crest in the hill, coming to another pool. This time, with no discussion, Rikku, Wakka and Tidus dove right in. They heard a rumbling, to their left rocks were growing out of the wall as though someone were pushing them. They formed a pathway, leading high into the ceiling.
Wakka, Rikku and Tidus came swimming back.
“Did it work?” Rikku asked, jigging from foot to foot.
Buffy pointed at the pathway.
“Oooh!” Rikku remarked.
They walked up the pathway, as they reached the top Auron spoke. “They’ll be upon us soon. She has sent fiends to test our Summoners strength.”
“Who is ‘she’?” Yuna asked.
“Yunalesca.” Auron answered.
“Lady Yunalesca?” Yuna seemed thrilled.
“In Zanarkand she awaits the arrival of the strongest.”
“She.. is still alive?” Yuna was confused.
“As much as Mika and Seymour.” Auron answered.
“I see.”
“Lost your nerve?” Auron asked.
“No. Nothing frightens me now.”
“Braska would be proud.”
“Then I must not let him down.”
They reached the top of the cave, white sunlight came through from the exit.
They were nearly there, Zanarkand, where, one way or another, their journey was going to end. After this everything would change, for all of them.
Yuna would be a Summoner no more and Buffy would no longer be a guardian. With no purpose, no grand, save-the-world, type plan, she would just be Buffy, in Spira, a strange world she would learn to live in and she would not be learning alone.
Spike seemed to read her thoughts, reaching out he took her hand and together they walked out into the sunlight.