Dark Summoner

The Al Bhed on the airship stared in awe as they passed, heading for the bridge where Cid and Brother where waiting. When they figured that Sin wasn’t going to be moving any time soon they retreated to the airship to recover. The silence was broken first by Brother as the door slid open to the bridge and the excitable teen leapt out of his station jumping toward Rikku and starting something akin to a jumpy victory dance.

“Rikku, Aqlammahd!” (Rikku, Excellent!) He shouted and the smaller girl got caught up in his excitement and bounced on the spot.

“It’s going to come back isn’t it.” Yuna said softly, bringing attention back to the topic at hand. She remembered what Yunalesca had said, and even if she didn’t have the entire picture that Harry or Tidus could see, she could wager a guess. Those on the bridge stared at her.

“What? You’re kidding me!” Cid hadn’t liked the idea in the least, looking wary as he examined the group who looked rather worse for wear.

“No… we have to beat the guy inside Sin.” Tidus explained. “Yu Yevon.” The Al Bhed leader stared at him, wide eyed in shock as the others faltered to a stop in their tasks to do the same.

“Vilg.” Cid swore bluntly and even Wakka, who didn’t understand a single lick of the language, got the gist of what he said.

“The crusaders would be out of a job if it was this easy.” Gatta explained rather bitterly.

“But we did weaken it.” Lulu murmured from one side, still holding her shoulder awkwardly from when she’d dislocated it after being caught by Tidus. He hadn’t really had the time to be gentle when he was trying to keep them all from plummeting to their deaths.

“Yeah! We’re winning!” Rikku cheered, her enthusiasm not so easily dulled. Cid sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes to the heavens before clapping his hands together in a final sort of gesture.

“Alright, I’ll do what I can with the main gun.” He turned around and started to bark out orders at the recovering Al Bhed, a sharp command to Brother had him running back to his station faster than they could blink. From there they split up, going their own ways in order to recover before they had to fight Sin again. Harry was sitting on a bench, jutting from the wall, a stoic Auron leaning against the wall nearby.

Looking at his Summoner, Tidus thought, knowing that a month ago, he would have been terrified of what they where about to face. Not only was Sin one of the most powerful forces on the planet, but Sin’s defeat would signal the end of his own existence. He’d had enough time to think on it, passing through stages of Anger, grief, denial and sadness before he’d finally settled on determination. If he was going to vanish, it would be on his own terms, by his own doing. The fact he’d take his father with him, was just a bonus.

As if sensing his thoughts Auron turned his head and raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his face that made the blonde scowl. Harry laughed at the byplay, before his expression became sober.

“So how do we plan to do this?” He asked quietly, making the pair turn to face him. Auron rested his sword against the floor and used it as a crutch of sorts, leaning against it as his face turned to a frown.

“We need to break through the Sin Amour.” The old monk said with certainty, “Then we will have to confront Jecht.”

“Yu Yevon will only jump to another form.” Tidus reminded them. Harry closed his eyes and for a long moment he said nothing. A slightly stricken look crossed his features as he opened them again and met their eyes.

“That’s what we’ll need, if we hope to win.” He stated. “I’ll summon during the last battle. Every Aeon I summon and every Aeon we defeat, will make him that little bit weaker.” The prospects of having to fight against his own summons made him feel sick. The Aeons were as much a part of his own soul as they where embodiment of the Fayth. It had taken him a long time to realize that the old Aeons, the ones that he’d discovered after leaving Hogwarts, no longer existed in this world, or even his own. The Fayth where long gone and their legacy had lived on in his memory. Cassandra, Nimune, Merlin and Grindewald had all vanished when he’d fused them and the elements they represented to create Gaia.

He would not be able to summon them in this fight, or he’d die with them.

“Rao!” ‘Hey!’ There was a shout from the bridge and the Sphereocilofinder started to glow, the holographic display spinning wildly. Drawn by the shout they entered the main room, only to find the main display projecting the image of the downed Sin as it began to convulse, its form cracking as it underwent a metamorphosis. Sin raised itself off the ground and the shell on its back broke apart revealing four shining ethereal wings that where nearly invisible against the glowing sunset.

Magic pulsed alongside the wings as Sin took off, raising itself toward the tower that rose above Bevelle, the very same tower where they’d last seen all the Maester’s of Yevon alive. It perched there, like some massively deformed bird and sat, seemingly content to wait while the people of the city screamed in panic.

Sin, was waiting for them to finish it off.

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Alarms went off on the bridge as soon as the Al Bhed realized that the airship was being pulled into the mouth of Sin by an immense gravitational force.

“It’s time... Jecht, he’s waiting for you.” Auron said quietly, pushing off the wall and heading for the door. He moved with long purposeful strides that betrayed he eagerness to get on with the fight. The others noticed him right away, following him past the panicked Al Bhed out onto the deck. Harry followed in their wake, somewhat exasperated as he tightened his grip on his staff. He felt the dark chill of premonition slide down his spine and for a moment he nearly stopped, but he continued on again toward the lift as Tidus lay a hand on his shoulder and grinned. The blonde was shaking, adrenaline pumping hard through his veins already.

For a moment he looked like a predator that could smell blood before the look vanished.

“Lets go.” He said and Harry followed him without a word.

The deck was eerily still, just like it had been after the attack that had made tunnels out of water before their first assault, the only difference this time though, was the slow movement of the ship and the straining of the engines as Cid and the other Al Bhed fought Sin’s enormous pull.

“Get ready.” Auron growled a warning, but they where too far out of range right now for his attacks to work. Their casters noticed this and they took the lead in the attack, sending some of their most powerful spells at the abomination. At one point Lulu reached forward, her Moogle springing to life and leaping out of her hands as she cast the most powerful spell in her arsenal. The Moggle followed her every move and glowed sickly green as a devastating Ultima spell took a chunk out of Sin’s muzzle, but even as the beast roared in pain something rather more significant happened.

They came into range.

The sky lit up with spells and explosions as they let go with some of their most powerful attacks and Sin roared. It’s maw split open and they dove for the opening. Glowing blue sinew stretched between its lips and created a tunnel into another world as what awaited them wasn’t the insides of some great beast but a misty world of stars and magic. The Airship slowed as they drifted through the clouds of pyreflies and out into the great expanse of the farplane. Fields of flowers bloomed at the base of waterfalls that stretched off into the distance. O'aka, Rikku and Gatta all gasped in awe as they realized where they where. For a while the airship coasted along, but then they caught sight of a great spectral eye that was followed by familiar insane laughter that rent the air like a blade.

“Seymore.” Harry frowned as he said the name and looked out across a landscape that no longer felt serene. There was a sinister undercurrent that tugged at the edge of their awareness, reminding them of their purpose here.

The airship descended toward the most solid looking berth and came to rest amid a myriad of transparent platforms that appeared suspended in thin air, half concealed by the spray of the falls around them. The group retreated back into the cabin. Having fully landed they didn’t need to go jumping off the side or take the elevator, they could walk right out the lower hatch. Moving out past a hastily placed ship beacon they stopped to take in the challenge ahead.

“Now where is the old bastard?” Tidus asked aloud, startling some of the others. Auron rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

“We have to go to him.” The monk intoned quietly.

“Far be it from us to keep him waiting.” Harry decided to had as Tidus took point and began walking the glass paths, carefully finding the edges of the jagged platforms and leading them by the safest route. Seeing as they where on the farplane, the pyreflies where thick in the air, swirling around through the flowers far below and the sky above their heads. However a few had come together close to the paths where the innate magic of Sin had warped them into fiends far more powerful than the ones they’d regularly encountered in Spira. Behmoths and Malboro made it difficult to proceed in some places but eventually they arrived at the base of a tall pyramid like structure and stopped to rest.

The entire time they’d been traveling, Harry had felt a sense of dread that grew and grew the closer they got to the pyramid.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what was up there.

Eventually it couldn’t be avoided any longer and they started to climb in silence. Even the normally more animated O'aka walked in silence as they came to the top of the structure and spread out across the wide platform. It didn’t take more than a second to notice the pyreflies going into a flurry of activity at the other end of the platform but they where immediately put on their guard as the twisted form of Seymore stepped out of the cloud and approached them.

Tidus had his sword out before anyone would have even thought to stop him and pointed Caladbolg at the former Maester.

“Don’t you ever give up?” He growled. Seymore stared at him with blank eyes.

“Sin has chosen me. I am Part of Sin. I am one with Sin, forever.” He said it like it was a great honor, like he was proud that He had been chosen for the task of defeating them. The guado never took his eyes off Tidus as he said that and the blonde understood the jab directed at him without anyone having to elaborate.

“Sin just absorbed you.” The blonde replied just as coldly.

Seymore simply shrugged, turning away. “I will learn to control it, from within. I have all the time in the world. Since you were gracious enough to dispose of Yunalesca… the only means of destroying Sin is forever gone. Now nothing can stop us!” The others shifted at that, those who had believed in Yevon longer than the others shifted restlessly at the reminders of what their lost faith had wrought, but they pulled themselves together as Tidus growled out a challenge.

“Well, we can!” Seymore gave them a lofty look.

“By all means, try!” He said graciously. “You should thank me. Your death means your father’s life!”

The blonde growled, his only real response to that comment and charged in. He managed to land a lightning quick blow before he was hurled away and Seymore rose up. He cast out his arms and four giant rings appeared around him, seemingly holding him in the air. At intervals in the circle where disc’s of different colors that they easily recognized from O'aka’s Black magic training manual. Each bore a symbol of the elements, Fire, Water, Ice and Lightning.

The fire discs lined up on all sides facing Seymore at the center and the Guado started to glow, a new power surfacing as he cast Firaga. A wave of fire swept across the top of the pyramid and threw the ones who weren’t fast enough right to the edge.
At the first sign of magic Tidus and Kimahri had both reacted out of instinct, moving to grab their respective summoner’s they leapt over the wave. Auron had managed to shield both Gatta and Rikku but it wasn’t without cost,

“Hey, I got something that might take him down, just gimme a minute to get it ready.” Rikku already had several explosive compounds in her hands as she spoke and was quickly producing several more from various hiding places on her body. Auron nodded, taking up a guard stance in front of her while she worked. Gatta decided that he was better off on offensive and moved out to the side where he’d be out of the way of the next sweep if Seymore decided to do that again, and started to take potshots. His bullets didn’t do much damage, but Seymore wasn’t interested in him and thus ignored the constant pin points of pain that struck him.

The Maester was far more interested in stamping the life out of Tidus who had started provoke his ire, dashing in, making a hit and then dashing back out of range before Seymore Omnis could retaliate. Their foe let out a frustrated roar of his own and lashed out with another more focused fire spell, but he was thwarted by the Nulblaze spell that Harry was casting over and over again. The words had melded together until they where nothing but a droning chant as he let his power wash over everyone else. Finally, it was a combined attack from Lulu and O'aka that gave them the first hint about their course of action in this battle.

The Blizzaga spells tore through the air, returning fire and Seymore was nearly thrown out of the ring’s configuration, seriously damaged, before he regained his composure and straightened. The rings span around behind him, taking on a different element, this time Lightning.

“He’s like that Feind in Machalania!” O'aka’s voice called out over the sound of their attacks. “Use the opposite element!” Lulu took her attack a step further and unleashed a flare spell that nearly burnt out her Moogle. Flare was a non-elemental spell, therefore, didn’t loose any of its power to resistances as Seymore finally managed to get a blow on Tidus. Harry hadn’t been prepared for the sudden change in elements so he was still chanting the Nulblaze spell when Seymore switched to Thunder spells. The blonde warrior had been struck before he’d been able to change his incantation.

As they scored a hit in each element Seymore was forced to change his pattern, and after Rikku tried her attack they realized it wasn’t about to change. After that it became a battle of endurance as both sides started to flag, but in the end it was Seymore that faltered first and it was Yuna he laid down the final blow.

She’d been growing in power since the first day she’d stepped out of Besaid, but without the stress and worry of being a Summoner she’d truly flourished into a powerful white mage, maybe even strong enough to have rivaled Luna at the height of her power. Her holy spell tore away Seymore’s warped form, dismantling the spell wheels that grew from his back and reducing him back to nothing more than a weak and broken Guado man.

“No!” He gasped out as he fell to his knees and the guardians approached.

“We gotta send him, yeah.” Wakka muttered to the side and everyone looked at the summoners. Eventually Harry stepped forward and began the sending, but Seymore resisted the call of the farplane just long enough to pass on his last dark message.

“So it is you, after all, who will send me. But even after I am gone Spira’s sorrow will prevail.”

Finally he broke apart. The Pyreflies molded in his image broke apart and floated off into the misty landscape beyond.

“Sin will be right behind you.” Tidus promised from where he knelt, still breathing irregularly from the effort of fighting for so long.

With Seymore gone from their path, the top of the pyramid structure had changed, and the way was opened into the innermost sanctum of the Farplane. A star filed sky like the one above the ruins of Zanarkand stared back at them, but instead of the peace the ones over Zanarkand invoked, these seemed to churn darkly in the sky. The landscape was equally as warped. Blocks of matter all loomed around them, shifting and changing, with powerful monsters lurking in pitfalls that prevented them from turning back. Yu Yevon’s protections became stronger the closer they got to the source of his power. After a slow exhausting slog through the twisted city of monsters they found themselves standing at the base of a tower glowing with familiar seals of power.

“Well…. This is it.” Harry breathed out, staring up at where the tower top was lost amid the stars above. No monsters dared linger around this area, so the base of the tower was Fiend free and they took the opportunity to rest.

“Do you think we’re ready for this?” Gatta asked from one side of the group where he was making no secret of the fact he and Rikku where holding hands.

“Oh Course we are!” O'aka piped up, but there was a wavering quality to his voice that told them just how scared he really was. The more experienced guardians where faring better. Lulu and Wakka managing to keep their calm while others, like Auron and Kimahri, appeared completely unfazed. Tidus was just glaring at the tower. He already knew what was waiting for him at the top and while, deep down, the prospects scared him, he was determined to see it through.

Harry wasn’t quite sure what to think to be honest. What had started out as just a journey to see the world that was Spira and maybe even find some purpose in life along the way had turned into yet another crusade to save the world from a source of great evil. He couldn’t entirely repress the chuckle that escaped him as he realized they’d all been right about his 'saving people thing'. Somewhere along the line he’d decided that the entire peoples of Spira where all worth helping and he’d taken up their cause. He could feel the warmth of his guardian’s magic around him and inside the connections he shared with his Aeons thrummed and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that they’d win this battle. As long as they fought together, they had everything they needed to fight Spira’s fate.

The others noticed his smile and watched as he approached the base of the tower, reaching out to trace one of his fingers over the largest glowing seal.

“Are you ready?” He asked the others. They looked at each other and with silent nods of agreement joined him by the seal. Once they where all touching a part of it Harry reached out with his magic and activated the dormant power and felt sensation in his stomach not unlike the feeling of having a hook latching onto his navel as they where pulled through a swirling tunnel of light and out onto a platform that overlooked a ruined stadium and at the end of the platform was a figure that more than one of them recognized.

But it was Tidus who broke first and whispered more to himself than anyone else.

“Dad.”

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“You’re late, Auron.”

The Monk was smirking at his old companion as he stepped away from the others and approached the ghost of Braska’s final Aeon.

“I know.” Auron said, more than a little amusement leaking into his voice at Jecht’s impatience. The man turned, eyes roaming over the group before he picked out Tidus from the crowd.

“Hey.”

Tidus stared back at him with hooded eyes. Not sure what to think as he offered a limp wave in return.

“Hi.”

Jecht’s grin seemed to falter slightly.

“Hah! You got tall, but you’re all bones! You eating right, boy? You’ve really grown.” The man seemed to be stuck between the memory of the kid he’d left behind and the man that now stood before him. He’d been here, within Sin for more than ten years and in that time he’d had a lot of time to think…. A lot of time to start missing all the things he’d taken for granted. Tidus gave him a sullen glare, seemingly reduced to a moody teenager at being faced by his past.

“Yeah.” He grumbled in response, “But you’re still bigger.” Jecht gave him a wry smile.

“Well, I am Sin, you know.” He joked, taking a jab that the size of his own shell. Tidus gave him a flat look.

“That’s not funny.”

Silence stretched on between them and they seemed to communicate without words for what felt like forever until Jecht broke the eerie calm.

“Well, then… I mean…” He tried to begin the next part, but couldn’t seem to find the right words. “…you know. Let’s end this.” Tidus buried his hands into his pockets.

“Dad?” He spoke just as Jecht was getting ready to move away and the older man stopped.

“Yeah?” He asked, sounding slightly hopeful in a rough sort of way. Tidus stared on emotionless, seemingly past the point of rage.

“I hate you.”

To his credit, his father’s face didn’t change.

“I know, I know.” He said almost tiredly. “You know what you have to do.”

“Yeah.” The blonde responded shortly.

Jecht looked as though he was going to sigh, but instead he decided to add a few last minute words.

“I can’t hear the Hymn so well anymore. Pretty soon, I’m gonna be Sin. Completely. I’m glad you’re here now. One thing, though… When it starts, I won’t be myself anymore. I won’t be able to hold myself back.” He almost sounded regretful before he turned away adding. “I’m sorry.”

Tidus scowled at him, seemingly waking up from his daze.

“That’s enough. Let’s just finish this, okay?” Jecht must have heard something in his tone that amused him because he suddenly smiled.

“You’re right.” He admitted, stepping into a circle inscribed on the floor. “Well, then… Let’s go!” Light shone from the man and he took a few large steps back to the edge of the platform, Tidus’s sword leapt to his hands and the others followed suit. Drawing their weapons they spread out as Jecht tipped back over the platform and the world around them lit up, revealing the broken and ruined world of the Dream of Zanarkand as Tidus had seen it after it had been destroyed. It seemed to stretch on into eternity as the platform began to shake and rumble and a vortex of light that had taken shape in the place where Jecht had fallen surged upwards, an enormous form stretching to loom over their heads. It’s eyes blazed with power and in it’s hand was a massive sword held in hands the size of small houses. With two shifting pillars of stone hovering either side they finally beheld Braska’s Final Summoning in all its glory.

“Come’on Old Man!” Tidus yelled up at him, getting the beast’s attention. “Hit me with all you got because I’m not stopping till you’re dead! And I ain’t intending to lose!” Jecht roared back a challenge and the battle was on.

None of them held back in this fight. With so much at stake they couldn’t afford to as they lashed out in response to all Jecht’s attacks. As the battle progressed Tidus’s blows became increasingly more powerful as he vented years of pain, frustration and anger that had been building up since he was a child. Jecht stopped holding back too as he almost slaughtered them, the sword in his hands sweeping across the platform and nearly cutting their legs out from underneath them.

Tidus leapt up onto the blade and ran up the mammoth Aeon’s arms to his head and leaving him with a massive gash across his face to remember him by, but even as he leapt back down the air around him was already flaring with the energies of an overdrive and brandishing his blade he sent flames the color of his Dragon fire racing down it’s length where it leapt through the space between them and engulfed the Aeon and the stone pillars either side. The pillars faltered and Jecht roared in pain but it seemed to act as a signal for the others and the others released their attacks the moment Tidus had landed out of the way.

The beast howled in pain as they pushed the assault and began to shrink, every hit cutting away more and more power until suddenly there was almost nothing left of the Aeon and it finally broke apart. A ball of light shot out of Jecht into the sky as the dark haired man fell to the ground and suddenly Tidus was there with him. He caught him before he could fall and held him upright, even as his father seemed to grow heavier and heavier with every passing moment.

“You’ll cry. You’re gonna cry. You always cry. See? You’re cryin’.” Jecht muttered to himself more than anything, but Tidus wasn’t crying. He simply stared at what remained of his father.

“I still hate you, Dad.” Jecht seemed to take that like a compliment, letting out a short bark of laughter.

“Save it for later, kid.” His words held a dual meaning that Tidus, Auron and Harry all understood, even if the others in their party didn’t. Tidus remained stoically quiet that the reminder of what would happen to him after the battle had ended.

“Right…” He said finally. “We’ve got a job to do, don’t we?”

Jecht smirked. “Good. That’s right. You are my son, after all.”

Tidus didn’t seem to accept the words… but he didn’t reject them either and Jecht laughed at him looking over his shoulder to where the others stood, having been forgotten in their little father/son moment. He examined all the people who had followed his son to end his life, nodding to his old friend before his eyes alighted on the Summoners. It kinda made him proud to see little Yuna all grown up in a way Braska would have been proud off but when he looked at Harry he remembered some of the things he’d seen and heard of as Sin and nearly Grinned.

“You know what to do now don’t you boy!” He addressed Harry directly, finding the strength to pull away from Tidus and stand on his own two feet. “The Aeons…” He began, but he was interrupted by the appearance of a small boy in a purple hood, Bahamut’s Fayth.

“We Aeons…” He mirrored Jecht’s words.

“Call them!”

“Call us!”

Then with one last nod Jecht let go, his acceptance of his own death being more effective than any sending, as like Seymore his form broke away into Pyreflies and just like that he was gone. A monolithic sword embedded in the platform where he had been the only indicator that he had even existed at all.

For a split second, they all relaxed, but they where up and ready again as the ball of light they had seen split from Jecht reappeared, circling them ominously.

“Yu Yevon!” Lulu finally realized what they where seeing and called out a warning.

“Here it comes!” Yuna yelled, getting ready to fight like the others but their enemy wasn’t diving at them. It hit Jecht’s sword and the world exploded around them, sending them into unconsciousness as the world melted away.

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Energy swirled around them in a dark sickening maelstrom as the true appearance of the inside of Sin was revealed. Gone was the flowers and waterfalls of the farplane, gone was the ominous stars and the broken city of the inner defenses and gone was the ruined Zanarkand Jecht had stood guardian over as the illusions where stripped away from their eyes upon waking. Harry levered himself up from the ground to see the others standing around him already, staring across the platform floating in the midst of the energy storm to where Yu Yevon floated as a ball of light.

“So consumed by the Amour, not even he could keep the shape he wore as a man.” Auron intoned. “Harry….” He helped him up and nudged him toward the front of the group, keeping his sword in a tight grip, remaining ready for the fight ahead. The others stood behind him in silent support and Tidus clasped down on his shoulder briefly before he got ready to fight and Harry took a deep breath and began what he had come there to do.

First to be summoned was Athena. Rowena’s Summon soared out of the energy and in less than a second Harry felt his link to her sever as she was possessed. It was grim work as they methodically cut down his Aeons. The founders, and the Aeons of Spira all fell to their spells, but not one of them tried to lash out. While his guardians destroyed them the Fayth where fighting just as hard not to cause them harm and if they took to long to strike the final blow the Aeons attacks where far weaker than they should have been even though they where as powerful as if not more so than Harry.

Harry didn’t join in the slaughter, not since it felt like a piece of him was lost forever every time and Aeon was killed, but the pain from the others was bearable, it wasn’t until he called on his friends that it became difficult to stand. Ron’s eyes Stared out at him from under Yojimbo’s mask, and Snuffles turned on the Samurai even as he was possessed. Harry wanted the spirit of his godfather to stay with him badly enough he couldn’t be turned, even as Yojimbo’s throwing knives went clean through his skull before they where turned on them. Harry’s own fury ignited and it wasn’t until after he’d shot off the familiar green curse that he realized what Ron had made him do. He’d made him hate him, really hate him just long enough for a clean death.

Another part of Harry’s soul left him.

Now, there where only five more Aeons left in his arsenal, and out of those five he would only summon one. Demeter, Pheo, Farrl and Kracken couldn’t be summoned here and now, they had no Fayth, not since the day he’d summoned Gaia. They’d become a part of himself and if he summoned them now, he’d only kill himself.

No, his last choice was the Magus Sisters.

Not a moment after the Summoning Hermione, Ginny and Luna all stood before them in a line, their skin darkened by Yevon’s taint and their power fluctuating as they fought their bonds. But they didn’t move. They stood still as statues at the other side of the platform as Yuna’s holy attack once again tore through the air and cut them down.

Harry dropped to his knees and began to cry.

He was out of this fight.

“It’s…. it’s up to you guys now.” He choked out and Tidus crouched to check him over. One hand lingering on his arm before he pushed to his feet…

“Everyone… This is the last time we fight together, Okay?”

“What!?” The other guardians gasped in shock and for a moment Tidus and Harry both looked away, not able to meet each others gaze, or anyone else’s.

“Huh?” O'aka looked at him like it was a joke and Tidus sighed.

“What I’m trying to say is… after we beat Yu Yevon, I’ll disappear.” Lulu looked at him like he was crazy.

“What are you talking about?” She wasn’t the only one who was confused. All but Auron and Harry had been kept in the dark as to Tidus’s true nature and for a moment Harry almost wished he could summon Ron back to kill him again but his old guardian was already gone.

“I’m saying Goodbye.”

Rikku seemed to be the first to catch on that there was something seriously wrong.

“Not now!” She objected, it was too soon to be saying goodbyes before they’d even fought the battle. It was like he knew already that he was going to die… or even worse, they’d all lose. They’d come to far already not to end it now. Tidus gripped the hilt of Caladbolg harder until his knuckles where white under his gloves and he tilted his head slightly to meet Auron’s gaze.

“I know it’s selfish…. But this is my story!” The older man smirked and nodded him forward as Yu Yevon reformed again after his last violent rejection from an Aeon. It didn’t glow nearly as brightly as it used too and the pagoda’s either side rotated slower than before, their combined powers clearly weakened from their beating, but without the bulk of the Aeons to aim for Yu Yevon was harder to hit but they made it work, Hastega gave them the advantage, and a blanket of spells made it hard for the being to fight back. Rikku, her fingers fumbling clumsily from exhaustion used everything she had left in her explosives pouch, creating a massive explosion that engulfed all three forms of their enemy and did some severe damage before she fell out of the battle, retreating back to Harry to defend the Summoner from stray blows. Gatta stayed in the fight, taking precise, well timed shots at Yevon where he could around the ducking and weaving of the others.

Sweating with the effort and guzzling through Elixirs Lulu and O'aka channeled their strongest spells one after the other, chaining their attacks together and rocking the platform almost as badly as Rikku’s explosions had. The others beat away at their foe and Yuna had given up on trying to heal them, casting a spell nicknamed Auto-life, they where awakened immediately if Yu Yevon or the Pagoda’s managed to knock someone out. Kimahri and Auron where steadily beating away at it, hitting where they could, but it was Tidus who was fighting his hardest. Half transformed and fighting as though the world would end he was pouring everything in to this one battle, surpassing the limits he’d reached previously and bordering on desperation.

If he was going to die at the end of this battle, he was going to make sure that the main reason for his and Harry’s suffering went to hell with him and it was with that in mind as he fully transformed and lunged at Yevon, the powerful jaws of his animagus form clamping down hard on the ball of light, but even as it phased through his muzzle and back into the air everyone knew something was different. Tidus swallowed something almost tangible from his bite and reverted to watch as the fighting stopped.

On either side of the now faintly glowing Yu Yevon the Pagoda’s started to slow to a stop. They had done this many times in the battle after taking enough damage, but this time there was a tone of finality about the way their parts froze, one after the other. Between them Yu Yevon trembled, straining as the pillars of stone began to float closer together and suddenly with a bang that nearly made them jump out of their skin the stones slammed together. Crushing the unshaped being before they where sucked away into the vortex of energy as Sin’s power began to drain away and they realized with no small amount of shock that they had done it…

….The Battle was over….

Sin and Yu Yevon were finally Dead.