While Bahamut and Ranma in Alexander's armor were descending towards the edge of town, Ranma murmured. "You know, I have the weird feeling I forgot something..."
----
Clinging to a spire that was jutting out of Alexander's armor was a certain young blitzballer from Zanarkand, his face a pale white.
"L-l-legs can't stop s-s-s-shaking..."
----
"I can't believe you nearly forgot me down there," Tidus grumbled after the whole party had escaped into the forest. "I had to jump onto your back to escape, or the guardian mechs would have gotten me."
Ranma sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Umm... sorry about that!"
The Tendo sisters were surrounding the twitching form of Shuyin's spirit that was laying - or more, floating - on the ground between them.
"Lenne... have to... fight for her..."
"That's really sad," Akane murmured. "He was separated from her all this time and only could hold onto his hatred..."
Kasumi smiled. "Let me do something about it, then..." She closed her eyes and let Lenne's image appear next to them.
The songstress kneeled down next to her beloved and softly touched his cheek. "Shuyin," she whispered. "Shuyin, wake up! It's me, Lenne..."
Shuyin slowly opened his eyes. "Le... Lenne... am I... hallucinating again? I saw you... die."
She smiled. "We both died. But, our love surpassed even death. Look, there's no reason to cling onto your thoughts of revenge and hatred - we're together again! Let go of your fury, and just be with me!"
She spread her arms wide open. Shuyin sighed and returned the hug with all his love.
Their light gleamed brightly from their incorporeal bodies, as their love returned Shuyin's senses to his spirit.
When they broke the hug, Shuyin was staring at her in confusion. "Lenne? What... what happened? What... have I done? Vegnagun..."
She smiled. "It's all right! It was stopped. All is fine now."
Nabiki had to grumble at that, but didn't say anything, to not spoil the moment.
Shuyin looked around at all the people surrounding him. His eyes rested on Kasumi. "I... know you. You were the one that... you had Lenne with you." Kasumi smiled and nodded.
His face turned to Tidus and Ranma. "And you two... helped me regain my senses, right? What... can I ever to to make up for all of this?"
"You don't have to," Akane assured him. "It must have been terrible for you to see Lenne die before your eyes... I guess that makes up for everything."
Shuyin didn't look too sure about that. Suddenly, Ranma grinned and said: "You know, you can do something to help our cause: Up to now, you had been hiding in the warrior dressphere, right? I guess that's what helped you avoid being sent to the farplane."
Shuyin looked down at his flickering image. "I guess so," he murmured. "Even now, I can feel my strength fading... If I don't get a fitting host, then I fear I have to leave this world for good..."
"No," Lenne cried and hugged him again. "Stay with me!"
"Don't worry," Ranma said. "You can just return to the dressphere, right? I mean, Lenne is helping Kasumi with our cause anyways... why don't you do the same?" He held out the dressphere in Shuyins direction.
The ancient swordsman looked at the sphere with wide eyes. "To atone for my sins..." he muttered. "Yes... yes, I accept! I'll help you on your quest, whatever it may be - and that way, I can be with Lenne."
The two lovers smiled at each other.
"Are you going to use that dressphere?" Tidus asked in a curious voice. Ranma shook his head. "Nope - you are going to use it."
That took Tidus by surprise. "M-me? But why? I can use a sword by myself, thank you very much!"
"I know that," Ranma nodded. "But this sphere provides you with additional armor, and I think both you and Shuyin can profit from learning from each other. What do you say? Try it out, okay?"
Tidus hesitated for a moment, then grasped the dressphere. "Okay, I'll do it. Who knows, perhaps this will make my job a little easier."
Shuyin stood up and looked at his counterpart with serious eyes. "I'll help you with all my power. I swear, I won't let you down in battle."
He closed his eyes and turned back into a trail of sparks that floated inside the sphere. Lenne smiled and vanished back into Kasumi's costume.
Tidus looked at the sphere in his hands... then he concentrated on activating its powers...
----
Seymour was standing in Vegnagun's chamber in Sub-Bevelle, all by himself. The guards couldn't find a single trace of either the intruders, or the guardian machina Alexander.
He didn't turn around when he heard footsteps behind him. "Maester Seymour," the voice of Goba Guado shouted. "There you are! What happened? Everyone in Bevelle is in a panic, and there's this giant hole in the palace wall... master?"
The Alpha Fiend that was standing next to Goba just tilted his head. "I guess he's thinking about something."
Seymour continued staring down into the dark abyss. Then he said: "Goba, you have failed me multiple times. You lost track of Lady Yuna's group, the Alpha Fiend turned out to be a failure..."
"Hey!" the fiend snapped in an annoyed tone of voice.
"And on top of that, you failed to eradicate the Al Bhed, the most annoying disruptive factor in my plans. With their plans of using machina and kidnapping summoners, everything I planned could have been for nothing."
Goba twitched nervously. "Lord Seymour, I assure you, it won't happen again! Give me just another chance, and I will..."
"NO!" The maester turned around. "I have been much too forgiving with you, Goba. Now... I will punish you for your failure!"
"Master, no..." But it was too late. Seymour raised his hand and murmured the words needed for one of the most destructive spells.
Flare.
But before the whole force of the blast could hit Goba, a four-legged shape pushed away the rotund Guado and took the full force of the spell.
Goba shook his head and looked over to where the Alpha Fiend was slowly dissolving. "What...? Why did you do that?"
The Alpha Fiend snickered quietly. "Because... you're my master. You gave me life... not him..." And then, his whole body turned into a cloud of pyreflies.
Seymour took out a small clay pot and sucked in the pyreflies of the fiend. He chuckled. "His power will be a great help to me, after all. Now, for you..." He approached the cowering Goba.
Goba quickly pulled out a small bottle of water and poured its contents over his head. When he finished turning into a winged teddy-bear, he smiled nervously. "I'm just an innocent little moogle, kupo..."
Seymour didn't even blink. "Nice try..." He just picked up Goba's little body... squeezed his head HARD... and threw him down into the abyss.
The maester threw one last glance after his former servant, then he left the room.
----
After falling for what seemed to be an eternity for him, the little moogle finally landed with a hard 'thud'.
'Lucky thing I have these wings or I would've never been able to slow down my fall like that,' he thought.
Then he looked around. Was he on the farplane? Was he dead? All around him, pyreflies were flying through the air.
But then his gaze fell to the metal floor below his little feet, and to the organ that was standing next to him.
And when the moogle realized his current position, a sinister smile crept over his cute little face.
"You will pay dearly for this, Seymour... Oh yes, kupo, I will have my revenge... Bwahahahahahahaaaa..."
The pompom-headed maniac continued to cackle, as Vegnagun continued to float around the farplane...
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(Posted Wed, 02 Aug 2006 08:57)
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