Ranma hovered over to the Red Horse and extended his right hand after putting away the Masamune. "Come, get on board," he called.
"So you can pitch us around like baseballs?" Nabiki snorted. "I think not."
"Come on, Nabs, this might be our only chance of getting in there," Rikku shouted.
Nabiki snarled. "Don't call me that!"
They carefully stepped into Alexander's giant metal hand, and the giant robot Esper carried them over to Sin's fallen form. Just over the black scar, caused by Excalibur and Masamune, there was some sort of black rift, out of which pyreflies came seeping, like they were his blood.
"Let's jump down there," Yuna said. "I can feel it, it leads inside Sin's body."
They all gathered their courage and jumped. Kimahri scooped up Kasumi and jumped in with her in his arms. Nabiki needed a little shove from Rikku and Akane before she was ready to jump.
After everyone of his friends had vanished into the rift, Ranma flew directly over the hole and called Alexander back. The giant armor instantly disappeared, and Ranma fell...
He saw billions of lights and sparkles before his eyes while going down. And as he couldn't really see clearly, it seemed to him that for a slight moment, he was looking into two frowning eyes that were gazing at him coldly. And besides, he could swear he could hear a sinister voice laughing in a chilling tone... a voice that he knew very well...
----
He appeared directly next to his friends. "Where are we? Did it work?"
"Yes," Aura said in an edgy voice. "This... is the inside of Sin..."
The whole floor was wet and squishy, and everywhere was some kind of mist that was floating directly over the floor. The mist was forming several big clouds and seemed to be impenetrable. In-between the fields of mist, several corridors of empty air were being formed. Pyreflies and mysterious symbols were floating through the air. It was cold.
Ranma nervously looked around. "So, somewhere around here should be Braska's Final Aeon, huh?"
"Yeah..." Tidus murmured. "My old man..."
They began marching through the misty corridors. Akane shuddered. Ranma looked at her. "What's wrong?"
Akane shrugged, then said: "Well, when we jumped down here... for a second, I could swear I heard some voice laughing."
Ranma looked around grimly. "Yeah, I heard it too. I was hoping I was just imagining it."
"I heard it too," Kasumi told them. "And I think I know that voice."
They all looked at each other. "Seymour?" Tidus asked.
"No doubt," Nabiki replied. Ranma cursed. "Damn! Can't this troublemaker go bother someone else?"
"He seems intent on becoming one with Sin," Aura said. "He just waited until we took him down, so he could enter his body freely."
"I wonder if he knows the secret of Yu Yevon," murmured Yuna.
"Well, we shouldn't wait to find out, ya?" Wakka said.
"Just stay alert," Ranma told his friends. "I bet he's lurking somewhere around here..."
----
After they passed through the misty field, they arrived on a squarish podium that rose over the clouds of mist. They could see some stairs leading upstairs, into the darkness. And in front of these stairs... Seymour was waiting for them. He smiled. Tidus cursed. "You again, Seymour? Can't let your precious 'bride' go in there by herself, can you?"
Seymour snickered. "I have no further need for her - or the rest of you, for that matter! I am inside Sin... just one step away from merging with Sin. And by doing so... I will become Spira's liberator."
"You talk nonsense," Akane snapped. "Get out of our way, or else..."
"Wait!" Out of Tidus' body, the image of Shuyin stepped, surrounded by light. "Let me fight with him. Only Ranma can defeat Yu Yevon, but if I free Spira from Seymour, perhaps I can find peace..."
"I'll help you," Lenne said, while stepping out of Kasumi's body.
"All right," Tidus agreed. "We're counting on you... show him what you've got!"
"Be careful, Lenne," Kasumi said. "And good luck!"
The songstress and the swordsman both nodded and walked back into their host's bodies...
...only that by now, they were looking exactly like the two spirits, only as living beings.
"Tidus and Kasumi let us control their bodies," Shuyin told the others.
"If we take full use of their and our abilities, we will be able to overcome anything," Lenne added.
In a quiet voice, Shuyin asked Lenne: "Do you have a good song in mind to accompany our battle?"
She nodded. "Kasumi told me of a favorite song of hers... it's from some sort of show - they call these shows 'Anime'. And I found a way to strengthen our minds and bodies using this song." She smiled. "She said it would suit us well."
They turned around to face Seymour, who chuckled. "How amusing... two souls of a dead city, having found death themselves... and they want to defy me, the harbinger of death. So be it!" He smiled. "You know how it is to die... let me show you how painful the destruction of the spirit can be! And your two hosts... will be destroyed as well!"
He concentrated his powers, and like before, the Alpha Fiend's abilities transformed his body. Seymour grew until he was twice his previous size. His body turned into a flowing, translucent purple that made his clothes flow and shimmer, and his face turned into a mask of nothing. Around his body, four giant wheels were appearing, showing the four symbols of the four elements of Spira: Fire, Water, Ice and Lightning!
"Well then," Seymour said in his demonic voice. "Show me your strength!"
Shuyin and Lenne looked at each other, and nodded. They closed their eyes, and sparkles of light began flowing from their forms. They floated through the air and coated every corner of the area.
Suddenly, like they were surrounded by a shimmering wall, the scenery around them shifted. In front of them Seymour was still standing, in front of the floating wheels... but the insides of Sin faded away and gave room for an entirely different place...
They were standing on a bridge - no, a highway - that was leading through several tall buildings. And in the distance, the intact Yevon Dome could be seen.
They were in Zanarkand!
Seymour looked around and smirked. "Interesting! Your emotions and memories transformed the inside of Sin's mind... and just what are you planning to accomplish with this?"
Shuyin raised his hand, and his black sword appeared. Lenne grasped her microphone, and a floating, circular platform raised her above the scenery.
"It's giving us strength!" she said.
And with a shower of bright, colorful sparks, she began dancing and singing, while Shuyin got ready to fight.
----
Arashi no HIGHWAY hashiritsuzuketa
Togireta yume no yukue sagashite
Nigai maboroshi subete no uso o
Senaka de hajikitobashite
----
The wheels surrounding Seymour's body turned around, until the four yellow circles pointed at him. Seymour could feel the magic flowing through his body. "THUNDAGA!" he yelled, and the magical thunder bolt came crashing down from the sky. Shuyin jumped aside and stormed at Seymour. Seymour barely had time to cushion the strike a little by using a Protect spell.
----
BIG CITY kodoku na HEART TO HEART
Minna ai no mayoigo
BIG CITY namida wa DAY BY DAY
Nemuranai omoi o yusaburu dake
----
Seymour realized that in this position, he was unable to avoid Shuyin's furious swipes, so shrunk his form a little, turned his robes into a battle suit and raised his hands. The elemental wheels flowed into his hands and formed the same scary-looking lance he was carrying while fighting at Mt. Gagazet. The elemental symbols were ligned up at the shaft of the lance.
When Shuyin attacked again, Seymour welcomed him with his weapon. With an assortment of 'CLANG's and 'SHING's, the clash of weapons continued for a while.
Lenne began dancing with more passion by now, letting the chorus of the song strengthen their will to fight.
----
Konya wa HURRICANE
Anata ni HURRICANE
Tsutaetai no LOVING YOU
Konya wa HURRICANE
Kanjite HURRICANE
Sugao no mama TOUCH!
GIVE ME TOUCH!
----
Seymour jumped high into the air while avoiding another sword swipe. From up there, he hurled his weapon at his enemy. The lance luckily bounced off a metal shoulder guard, but it nevertheless hurt Shuyin seriously. While Seymour once again landed on the ground and picked up his lance, the warrior from Zanarkand came up with another plan.
----
Kotoba no DARTS nageau dake ja
Mune no itami wa wakariaenai
Oshiete hoshii nani ga anata no
Hitomi o kumoraseru
BIG CITY chigireta HEART TO HEART
Yoru ni odoritsukarete
BIG CITY utsuro na DAY BY DAY
Sasayakana nukumori machikogareta
----
Remembering Tidus' small arsenal of White Magic spells, Shuyin concentrated... "Haste!" he shouted and let the acceleration magic surround his body. He had to take one hit of Seymour's spells, but he accepted it and rushed forward. Again, the two opponents met in a clash of weapons, but this time, Shuyin was clearly faster than Seymour.
----
Konya wa HURRICANE
Anata ni HURRICANE
Tsutaetai no LOVING YOU
Konya wa HURRICANE
Moo ichido HURRICANE
Dakishimetai TOUCH!
BURNING TOUCH!
----
Seymour got furious. "You begin to annoy me, you troublemaker," he shouted. "Time to show you my true power..." And as he raised his lance, he concentrated his magic powers on Shuyin...
Shuyin let out a gasp... he couldn't move. "What... are you doing?" he shouted in panic. Seymour smirked.
"ULTIMA!" he shouted and let one of the most devastating spells loose that existed. Shuyin's body vanished under the burst of anti-matter that made the area around his body explode.
Lenne felt her love's pain, but she didn't cease dancing for one minute. She concentrated on their love, on their feelings for each other, and for the feelings for their new friends.
----
BIG CITY kodoku na HEART TO HEART
Minna ai no mayoigo
BIG CITY namida wa DAY BY DAY
Nemuranai omoi o yusaburu dake
Konya wa HURRICANE
Anata ni HURRICANE
Tsutaetai no LOVING YOU
Konya wa HURRICANE
Kanjite HURRICANE
Sugao no mama TOUCH!
----
Shuyin moaned in pain, but he was still conscious. But another spell like this... he wouldn't stand it.
Seymour laughed. "Hurts, doesn't it? Why don't you spare us the trouble and surrender now? I shall gladly end your suffering..."
But Shuyin let out a loud yell and cried: "Never!" And he pulled out a medicine flask that Tidus had previously put into his pocket.
An Elixir!
The curative item healed all his wounds, physically and mentally, and prepared him for his next attack. He pulled out his spiked metal ball, hurled it at Seymour and rushed at him.
Seymour could easily deflect the metal sphere, but had no time to react to Shuyins next attack. "Terror of Zanarkand!" Shuyin shouted and hit Seymour with a flurry of sword strikes. They hit him everywhere... and he couldn't defend himself!
----
Konya wa HURRICANE
Anata ni HURRICANE
Tsutaetai no LOVING YOU
Konya wa HURRICANE
Moo ichido HURRICANE
Dakishimetai TOUCH!
BURNING TOUCH!
GIVE ME TOUCH!
BURNING TOUCH!
----
And when Lenne shouted the last word of the song, Shuyin finished Seymour with one final, powerful slash!
The music ended abruptly, Seymour let out a short gasp, and the scenery shifted back to the square podium within Sin's body.
Shuyin pulled back his sword, and the shimmering form of Seymour turned back to normal, while his lance fell out of his hands and clattered to the ground.
Yuna walked up to the collapsing form and raised her rod.
While his body dissolved into pyreflies, Seymour looked up at her one last time.
"So it is you, after all, who will send me. But even after I am gone, Spira's sorrow will prevail." And he vanished.
And this time, for good.
"Sin will be right behind you," Shuyin snorted while putting away his sword.
----
In an entire different dimension, a certain Knight Saber looked around and growled. "My Copyright Senses are tingling!"
Sylia shook her head. "Priss, you're talking nonsense..."
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(Posted Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:16)
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