CHAPTER 5: The First Swarm
A day had passed since the whole, LULU MASSACRE. Tidus lay resting on the bed in Yuna’s hut, trying to sleep through the sharp burning pains he was feeling from all the burns he acquired from black mage’s flames. Yuna spent over an hour healing the man’s wounds, trying her best not to disturb him. Then she spent over an hour trying to find out why Lulu started the chase in the first place.
“LULU! WHY THE HELL WERE YOU CHASING HIM ALL OVER THE ISLAND? WHAT DID HE DO?” The brunette was practically screaming, obviously very pissed at the black haired woman right now. “LE BLANC JUST YELLS OUT “Tidus and Yuna are getting married” and you expect me to be okay with that? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YUNA? The woman who’s practically been your sister your WHOLE LIFE, is the SECOND to know this?” Lulu was yelling at the top of her lungs, panting from all the screaming.
“Do you THINK I actually told Le Blanc FIRST? Honestly LULU! NOOJ SAW THE RING ON MY FINGER, THEN TOLD LE BLANC! HE wasn’t EXPECTING HER TO SCREAM IT OUT TO EVERYBODY!” Lulu was breathing heavily now, in a fit of rage. “YOU COULD HAVE ATLEAST TOLD ME SOONER!”
Everyone was watching the screaming fight in the middle of village. It was a rare sight. Two, almost sisters, were now fighting more then they ever had before! Rikku and Paine walked up to the circle of people, and watched the scene from the back. “Man, I haven’t seen Yunie this pissed since….ever!” The blonde exclaimed, her face showing a bit of worry for her cousin. “Well….she has a right to be angry. After what happened yesterday. But to scream this much...” Paine was cut short as a voice whispered in
“ I think there’s going to be a cat fight soon.” They both turned to the grinning Al Bhed man, who was slouching over with his hands in his pockets. “Gippal! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in Bikanel?” Rikku asked.
“Are you kidding me? And miss all this action! No way!” Gippal joked, although Paine could detect a hint of seriousness in his voice. “This is nothing to laugh about you know! Yunie and Lulu could really start to hate each other!” Thoughts of what could happen if Yuna and Lulu were mortal enemies, got inside the blonde’s head. Worms in each other’s food….dumping fiend manure on the other….scratching and biting each other….or worse! Spreading each other’s secrets! Very dirty secrets. She put her hands to her head, and shook it like crazy, trying to get these insane idea’s out of her mind.
Just as Gippal was about to aggravate Rikku further, a red headed man came into view, with his hair pointed up as high as ever. “Eh, I haven’t seen Lulu, OR Yuna this angry, ya! Who knew that Tidus could cause something like this! Do you know HOW long Lu was nagging me last night about this! She just kept going on an’ on….I think my head hurt after all that chatter, ya!” He held his head, cradling it in his hand, like it was in great pain. It did hurt after Paine smacked him over the head, making it sting pretty bad.
“What was that for, ya?” The Besadian groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. Paine glared at him. “Stop treating this like a game! This is serious. Those two may lose their respect and friendship for each other! We have to do something!” “But what do we do?” Gippal said.
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Tidus rolled around on the bed, moaning in his sleep. He kept mumbling under his breath. His voice sounded scared. “No….stay back….don’t come any closer! Go, please!” Tidus was in a broken down, wooden mansion. The room was surround by fancy, old pictures, of disturbing scenes. One had a rotted corpse, and another had a sword piercing through a man, and the blood was flowing down his back. There were many other pictures, but Tidus was to scared to look at them. Blood was scattered throughout the room, dripping from various places onto the floor, and blood coming from between the cracks of the wall. Dry blood had also left it’s mark in different places of the room.
He was on the floor, crawling backwards, as he watched his pursuer slowly come to him. “No, go AWAY! STAY BACK! GO!” The creature was in the shadow’s, so he was unable to see it, but for some reason, it terrified him to death. It kept making these strange noises, that were terrifying him. The sound was echoing through the room, like a blade cutting through rough flesh, ripping through it slowly. Tidus finally could go back no further, as his back hit the wall. He looked into the shadows, trying to find his predator. It was not there. He could not hear it, or see it anywhere in sight.
Tidus was breathing more, and his heart beating harder and faster. He could almost hear the thumping of his heart. He scanned the room, and when he could not see the creature he sighed. As he was about to close his eyes, he felt something fall on his shoulder. He opened his eyes, and looked. It was some kind of saliva, and from the way it was burning through his shirt, it was toxic. He looked up, and saw it. It dropped down, opening up it’s claws to catch it’s prey. It hissed out one thing before it finally caught him. “Time for the dream to end!”
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The fight was still going on. No one had even tried to stop it. They were to scared to do it. They thought if they budded in, they would be their next target, for a never ending shouting lesson. Everyone was starting to get really worried. The crowd started mumbling and talking about the current event. “When will they stop?” “Do they ever stop moving those mouths?” “WELL LULU, IF YOU CAN’T RESPECT MY DECISION, IT’S TO BAD FOR YOU! I LOVE HIM, AND NO ONE, ESPECIALLY YOU WILL CHANGE THAT!” “Man, I ain’t never ‘eard Miz’ Yuna talk like dat before.” “This is getting annoying.” “HE’S NOT RIGHT FOR YOU! HE’S ONLY A DREAM!" Just about everyone who wasn't Yuna's previous guardian did not understand this statement. Lulu kept on going "HE WON’T BE WITH YOU FOREVER!”
Finally, after so much yelling, shouting and screaming, someone in the crowd finally exploded. “WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!” Everyone went dead silent, and looked towards the one who shot this out. Paine had a fiery look in her eye, one that said 'You’ve really pissed me off now' ! Paine walked into the middle of circle, right up to Yuna and Lulu. She gave them both a glare before speaking. “You two are supposed to be friends! You’re not supposed to be fighting over things like this!” “But she’s….” “So what if Yuna’s getting married to Tidus. Does it really matter? It’s her choice! If she wants to be with Tidus, let her be with him. Don’t you want her to be happy?”
Lulu opened her mouth, then closed it again. She looked down to the ground, trying to hide her face. A tear went down her cheek, one that only Yuna and Paine could see. She said quietly, “But if Tidus disappears again, Yuna will be…” Before she could finish, a loud scream shot through the village. It sounded familiar. Yuna looked over to where the scream came from. It came from…her hut. “Tidus…” She suddenly bolted through the crowd, telling them to get out of her way. She pushed her way through the people, until she got to her door. She burst through it, and found Tidus lying on her bed, with a horrified look on his face.
His body was covered in sweat, and he was very hot. His heart was beating faster than ever, and he was still breathing very heavily. Yuna ran over to him, and wrapped her arms around him. “Shh…it’s okay. It was just a dream…” Tidus quickly cut her off. “No! It wasn’t a dream! It was real! I could feel it. The fear…the cold…the wood…the pain….” Yuna backed her face up to his. “Tidus, you’re starting to scare me. It wasn’t real, okay…” He shot in again, “It was real! The toxin is on my shoulder, loo…” He looked over to his shoulder, but found nothing unusual. Just the burn that Lulu had placed there earlier.
Yuna had a very worried look on her face, as she lay down beside him. “Tidus….” All of Yuna’s former guardians (that still remained) rushed into the hut, also followed by Shinra, Buddy, Brother, and Paine. “See, this is what I’m talking about! He….” Lulu was about to go on, but Wakka placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Lu…I don’t think now’s the time, eh.” She looked back at her husband, and sighed. She looked back at the couple who was laying on the bed.
“So…what happened?” Buddy asked, crossing his arms as he did. “Yes, why is blondie all sweaty? Gasp! Did….you two….” Before Brother could finish, everyone gave him a glare, and shouted, “NO!” Brother was taken back by this, and just slouched in the corner, listening to the events that had happened.
“So…Tidus man, what is going on?” Tidus sighed, and explained as best as he could to explain the dream, and how real it felt. He described the room he was in, and the pictures that were in it. Everyone shuddered as he told them about some that he saw. He finally told them of some creature that was hunting him. He felt horrified of the creature, even though he couldn’t see it. Then he finally finished the dream, by telling everyone the creature’s last words. “Time for the dream to end!”
Everyone stood silent, and didn’t say anything. After a while of silence, Shinra entered the hut with a machine. He had left a bit earlier to get something from the Celcius. “What is that?” Gippal asked, curious to see what this strange machine was exactly. Shinra placed the machine on the ground near the bed, and turned to Gippal and the others. “This is a Dream Sphere Capturing Device, D.S.C.D. for short.”
“Your invention?” Buddy asked. Shinra nodded, and continued. “This allows you to watch a person’s latest dream. You place this…” He held up a thin tube, with a small needle inside it. "into a person’s neck, and it picks up old waves from the brain, and transmits them to the screen. Let me demonstrate.”
Before he went on, Paine asked, “Why do you have a thing like this?” Shinra said as he was inputing something on the D.S.C.D. “Brother asked me to make this, so he could watch his dreams of him and Y….” Brother quickly jolted from the wall and placed his hand over Shinra’s mouth, muffling out the the word. Everyone, even Tidus, gave Brother a strange glance. “Euh….it is…nothing! Now Shinra, show them how Dream Sphere Watchering thing works!” Brother exclaimed, as he finally let go of the boy’s mouth. He looked up to Brother, and saw sweat on his forehead. I guess he didn’t want his little 'FANTASY' dreams to get out into public.
“Anyways, allow me to continue. Tidus, turn over on your stomach.” Tidus furrowed his brow, but he obliged to his wish. He placed the tube over Tidus’s neck, and whispered to him. “This might hurt.” Tidus’s body flinched at the pain, as the needle entered into his spine. Yuna gasped, and placed her arms over him. “Tidus!”
“It’s okay. He’s fine. He’s just out right now. The one that is hooked up to this, must be asleep for this to funtion properly. Now, if you’ll all look at the screen….” He pointed to the flat screen that was now floating above the machine beside the bed.
They watched all the events that had happened in Tidus’s dream, and saw the pictures, on the wall. Their bodies shook as they saw the disturbing sights. Then they heard that sound. That terrifying screeching. Then….they saw Tidus crawling back in fear, of whatever it was that was in the shadows. “Did I mention….they have to relive the dream?” Shinra shot out.
Everyone looked at him. Yuna was scared for Tidus. “You….your making him go through this again!” Shinra replied “You want to understand how he felt, right?” Everyone slowly nodded in agreement, yet still unsure, but turned back to the screen.
Tidus’s body was sweating and shaking even more, and Yuna tightened her grip on him, and ran her hand through his hair, hoping it would calm him down a bit. On the screen, they could see something moving in the shadows, but then it disappeared. The screeching stopped. They saw Tidus, as he calmed down a bit. He started to close his eyes, but then something from above dripped onto his shoulder, burning right through his shirt. He looked up, and the thing dropped from the ceiling. It hissed it’s last words. “It’s time for the dream to end!”
Tidus woke up screaming, flailing his arms and legs. This shocked Yuna a bit, almost knocking her off, she held onto him tight, trying to constrict him. Wakka came up and held his legs down. “Calm down brudda! It’s over ya!” After what seemed like hours of constriction, Tidus finally calmed down, and noticed he was laying safely in the grasp of Yuna’s arms. He sighed, and held her tight to him. Everyone looked at the couple, and smiled, but still looked worried. Well, everyone smiled but Lulu, who still had a bad look on her face.
A small sphere popped up from the D.S.C.D., and Shinra picked it up. “What’s that?” Rikku asked. Shinra turned to the group, and showed them the black sphere. "This, is a 'Dream Sphere', or more specifically, a 'Nightmare Sphere'. Waves of emotion, either fear or happiness, will transfer through the tube, and go into the D.S.C.D., and make it a certain color. Fear, sadness, or other related feelings, causes it to go black. It will be white, if the user is happy or feeling something similar to that. If there really is no emotion, then the sphere will just stay to a dull gray.”
The boy genius finally finished his speech, as he placed the sphere in his pocket. “I’m going to study this sphere, and maybe try to find out what that creature is, and the location. If what you say about Tidus is true, Yuna….” Everyone looked to Yuna, then back to Shinra. “….this may be more than a dream.” Shinra then walked out of the hut, and back to the Celcius to study this strange dream.
Everyone just stood in silence, not saying anything. Tidus was thinking this through, trying to figure out what that, THING was. I saw it’s face…at least I think I did. It looked like his face. But it couldn’t be…could it?
As he was pondering about this, a loud voice interrupted his thoughts. “This is what I’m talking about! If something happens to Tidus….Yuna…will be….” More tears started to go down her cheeks, ones that everyone could see this time. She turned around, and buried her face in Wakka’s chest, trying to hide her sadness from everyone. Wakka was a bit stunned, for he had never seen his wife cry like this before. He put his arms around her, and patted her back. “C’mon Lu….it’s all right, ya!”
Tidus finally understood. He couldn’t believe he didn’t know why before. It’s not that she hated me……she just didn’t want Yuna to get hurt again…
He looked over to Yuna, who looked like she also understood why she had fought about this so much. Yuna got up from the bed, and walked over to Lulu, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She felt sorry that she had fought with her, even though she was just trying to keep her safe. “Lulu….I’m sorry. I didn’t know….think that you just didn’t want me to…hurt again. I wasn’t thinking.” Lulu started to calm down a bit, although her body was still shaking. She turned to everyone, showing a very red and wet face. The mascara around her eyes were running down her face, making it a very messy sight.
“No….I was just being selfish. I wanted to keep the old Yuna I used to know. But…you’ve grown older, and you want to be with someone you love. So….I cannot choose for you. If you want a life with Tidus, despite the risks their may be, that is your decision. So, be with him, Yuna. It’s your life, and I won’t control it, anymore.” Then both the woman started up the water works. They embraced each other in a hug, and cried together. Everyone was smiling, and glad that the great friends were finally back together.
As Tidus was smiling, he noticed Gippal who was dead frozen at the entrance of the hut, with his back turned to them. “Gippal?” Everyone, even the wet faced women, turned to the Al Bhed. Rikku went up to him, and looked him in the face. “Gippal, what are you….” She then looked over to his direction, and her jaw dropped. She pointed down the road, and screamed one thing. “FIENDS!”
Everyone scrambled from the hut, and outside. They couldn’t believe their eyes. In front of them was a horde of fiends, charging towards the village. Wakka gasped at the size of this! “There must be….hundreds of them, ya!”
Yuna knew they had to do something, and fast, or they would all be killed. She pulled out her guns, and twirled them around, and went down to a prone position. “Y!” Rikku, knew what she was about to do, so she went in and joined her. She took out her daggers, and expertly flipped them into the air, and caught, going behind Yuna. “R!” Paine grinned, and took her sword which was leaning on the side of the house, and flipped in beside Rikku. “P!”
Everyone had puzzled looks, but they all knew that they meant one thing. “LET’S RIP EM’ APART!” Gippal yelled out with his knife pointed towards them. He pulled out his hand gun, and pointed it towards the fiends, itching to let the bullets fly. “Hey, leave some for me, ya!” Wakka picked up a his World Chamion, and held it in his arms. “Lu….you go take care of, Vidina. Make sure he don’t get hurt, ya.” Lulu nodded, and rushed off to their hut. Buddy got down to a fighting stance, with his fists ready.
“I haven’t done this in a while….” Tidus grabbed the Brotherhood, which Yuna had given back to him shortly after he returned. He held it to his side, getting ready for the horde that was coming. “Let’s see if I still remember how to do this….” They all gave each other one last glance, before rushing the fiends that were coming to them.
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The black cloak swayed in the wind, as the man stood on the highest hill overlooking Besaid Village. He smirked to himself, as he walked away from the the edge, happy with the his small Fiend horde. He walked over to a fully bloomed flower, all by it’s lonesome. He knelt down beside it, and started talking to it. “You must be lonely….being up here all alone.” He started, speaking to it like it was an actual person. “But do not worry….you will join your friends very soon.”
He looked up to the sky, which was a light blue, with clouds spread all around. “Just like the rest of this world should have gone, over one thousand years ago.” He picked the flower from the ground, and held it above his head. The wind picked up, and blew the petals off the stem. They were sent swirling around in the air, slowly blowing away, into the distance. He watched them float on the wind, then turned around, making a dark portal appear. He walked into it, and disappeared, along with the portal.
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Tidus made the first move of the clash, by slicing clean through a charging Coyote. The body split in two, and thudded on the ground, blood spilling from the insides. Wakka was taking care of the many Zu’s that came flying in, screeching as they approached their prey. He threw it as hard as he could at the flying beast. It went right through it, making a hole through the whole thing. It screamed in pain, as it came crashing down to the ground. Wakka dove, and caught his ball, and landed swiftly on the ground. He didn’t notice the Drake that had snuck up behind him, and was about to tear right through him. It roared, and Wakka froze. As it was about to finish him, bullets zoomed through the air, and struck the beast down. It fell to the ground, it’s blood pouring from the wound.
Wakka, slowly turned around, and gave a nervous grin. Yuna couldn’t help but smile back, but then raised her guns again and yelled, “DIVE!” Wakka didn’t need to hear it again. He shot to the ground, with his hands over his head. Yuna went Trigger Happy, and shot down the Helms that were behind him. He looked up to the gun crazy brunette, and grinned again. She gave him a smile and a glare, and said, “You owe me Wakka!” In a high pitched voice. Wakka sighed, as he quickly got up, and quickly spun around, tossing his ball at the nearby fiends. “Eh, don’t be telling ME about owing someone, young lady!” The man laughed, as he caught the rebounding ball. Yuna glared at him, but couldn’t help but laugh also. “Fine, we’re even!” She exclaimed, as they both went their separate ways, fighting off the fiends.
“Everyone, stay in your huts! Fiends are here!” Lulu ran around frantically, yelling this out with Vidina in her arms. When the villagers heard this, they ran around screaming through the village, trying to get back to their huts. Evil Eyes started flying in, and catching the villagers, paralyzing them with their gaze, them ripping them apart and devouring them. Lulu had never seen fiends this act this way before. The way they acted surprised her. “Fiends are never like this…so why……” Before she could continue her thoughts, an Evil Eye came in front of her, and barred it’s teeth at her. Vidina was crying, afraid of the creature. Lulu wouldn’t let this beast get to her child. She raised her hand, and shouted, “Flare!” White fire surrounded it, then closed in on it. It engulfed the creature, then exploded, making it’s dead corpse burn in flames.
Rikku and Paine were back to back, cutting through any fiends that got to close. “How many of these things ARE there?” The blonde complained, as she stabbed a charging Lupine in the neck. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t look like this is going to end anytime soon!” The dark woman sliced through a Courel. “Well, it better stop soon, or else my hair is going to get so….gasp! PAINE! WATCH…” The blonde was about to push Paine out of the way, but it was to late. Fire came from beneath them, and burst at them. They flew into the air, with severe burn marks all over them. They thumped to the ground, and were a bit dazed. Paine looked ahead, and saw a Red Flan, smiling like an idiot. Rikku remembered the last time Fire was cast on her, she almost went totally bald. She almost cried at the thought of that. She touched her head just to make sure everything was all there.
She sighed, as she thought nothing bad had happened, but then, when her hand went over her head band, she couldn’t believe it. The thing felt scorched! The material was all totally burned! There was no way it could get repaired! Rikku stood up, and was very tense. The blood was rushing to her head. She was very pissed off right now. “YOU BASTARD!” She screamed, holding her daggers at the Flan. “GIPPAL GAVE THIS TO ME! I’M GONNA FREAKING RIP YOU APART! RRAAGGGGHHH!” She charged at the thing, and literally tore it apart, piece by piece. Gippal was just staring at the scene, his arm still up, shooting the fiends at the side. Atleast he HOPED they were fiends. His jaw was hanging low, and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He finally turned his attention to the wat he was shooting, and to his surprise, he was shooting nothing but air. He sighed, as he spotted a fiend and shot it down. He mumbled something, as he went into the mob of fiends. “Mental note….never….EVER…piss off Rikku.”
Yuna was running low on ammo. She knew she couldn’t keep on shooting forever. It was time to change her wardrobe. “Sphere Change!” Tidus saw a light flash, and looked over to it. He saw someone floating in the light, but couldn’t tell who. When it finally faded, he couldn’t believe who he was seeing. “Yuna!” The brunette was now wearing black jagged armor, with a black helm on top her head. And the weapon she was wielding….he couldn’t believe what it was. “Caladbolg…” He whispered in awe, wondering how she got that weapon. “The sword was shattered…the remains faded with me. How did it come back?” Was the question in Tidus’s mind right now. How did she get that sword? And another question, how was she able to wield it?
Yuna was surrounded by Iron Giants, which had detected her sudden rise in strength. She quickly held it to her chest, then raised it above her, and a dark aura appeared around the whole blade. “DARKNESS!” She brought it crashing down to the ground, dark energy came surging from the sword, striking down all the fiends around her. She saw Tidus who was gawking at her for the moment. She smirked, and spun in a circle, cutting up the fiend behind her, making blood fly from it’s body. “Are we impressed?” He only smirked back at her, then noticed movement behind her. A large Ochu was about to strike her down. “STOP!” Tidus’s spell froze the plant right in it’s place. Yuna turned around, and noticed it there. She then looked back, and nodded to Tidus. The tanned man came rushing in, right up to the Ochu, then launched himself into the air.
“Wakka!” Yuna yelled. He looked to her, and saw Tidus in the air, getting ready for what looked like….a Blitz shot. He understood. He threw the ball up to Tidus, who was ready for the kick. Tidus reached the maximum height, and the ball came into play. “Blitz Ace!” His foot came crashing down, sending the ball rocketing at the plant. It spiked it hard, and the ball bounced back to Wakka. He then came crashing down, with the tip of the sword pointing down. He went right through the Ochu, tearing through the plant like flesh, green ooze squirting from it, going onto Tidus’s body.
He cut his way out of the beast, as it’s body dispersed into pyreflies. He nodded to Yuna, who nodded back. They both dashed in opposite directions, taking out all the fiends in their path.
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This battle lead away from the village, out onto the trail. Everyone was exhausted from all the fighting. Because of the great numbers, and random slashing, some were covered in the blood of fiends. Tidus and Yuna especially. It started to rain, the water dripping down the faces of the combatants. They couldn’t keep this up forever. “We’ve been fighting for hours! When will they stop coming!” Gippal groaned, as he tore through the flesh of fiends with his knife, while blasting down fiends with his gun. Even with Tidus’s Hastega spell cast upon everyone, they were all getting worn out. And soon, the spell would be diminished.
Tidus was totally surround by fiends, and found no opening, or any way of escape. Yuna was trying her best to cut a way through, but to no avail. If she used Darkness anymore, she would be totally drained of her energy. She had to get to Tidus, but it seemed hopeless. It was a good thing Wakka knew how to fight, cause his blitz ball wasn’t helping anymore. Fiends were closed in on him, and were charging him. He punched, kicked, and tossed fiends that came his way. He was using the ball as a hand held weapon, and not for throwing, beating off fiends. He wouldn’t last much longer.
Rikku and Paine were still beside eachother, fending off the fiends from getting to close. The only thing keeping the warrior going, was her determination and passion to never surrender, and the well being of her friends. She couldn’t stop now, despite the fact she was very tired. If she gave up, what would happen to her friends? She didn’t care what happened to her, but she did not want anything to happen to her friends.
Rikku had been a Berzerker for a while now, and that was probably the only thing keeping her alive this long. The feelings of the beast in the sphere, was keeping her fighting for her life! Fighting like a cornered lion, giving it all it’s got before it goes down. But Rikku didn’t want to go down yet. “Please don’t hurt me! I’m to young to die!” She yelped, as she frantically swiped through the dozens of beasts coming towards her. “Will these things ever stop coming?”
As Yuna was hacking a way through to Tidus, something from behind, pushed her down to the ground on her face. She groaned as she rolled over on her back, seeing what had done it. An Iron Giant stood over her, with it’s sword raised high above it’s head. It was going to strike her down. She couldn’t do anything. She was to Tired to move anymore. She could barely roll over.
Tidus saw this, and felt a surge of fear go through him. He didn’t want Yuna to die! He wouldn’t allow it! He tried to hack his way through, but it didn’t help. He was cutting and cutting, blood went flying, but it didn’t help. Everytime he killed one, more came rushing in to take it’s place. At that point, he thought they were all going to die. They were going to die by the hands of fiends.
Everyone saw the beast standing over Yuna, and were trying to cut a path through the fiends to get to her, but there were just to many. They couldn’t make it. They all screamed out her name, almost sobbing as they did. Tidus was the saddest of them all though. He was about to lose Yuna, no matter what he did. He squeezed his eyes shut, and screamed out “YUUUNNAAAA!”
Tidus then heard no noise at all. He slowly opened up one eye, then the other, examining the area. Everything was frozen. He was looking around, trying to figure out what happened. “It’s….just like the dream….”
Are you the dream that will be Spira’s Savior……or it’s Destruction. Only you can decide this. You choose. Choose.
It was that same voice from the dream. Who was it? That sentence kept repeating itself over and over. He was searching frantically for the source of the voice. Then his eyes went upon Caladbolg. The sound was coming from the sword. The legendary sword he once wielded. “Is it….speaking to me?”
Savior……or Destruction…
Tidus then heard, what he was pretty sure, sounded like, children laughing, and other people as well. This made him sound at peace. Then, the next thing he heard, was not so happy. Laughter, slowly turned into pain and suffering. There were screams, and yells of pain. It drove Tidus into fear. He did not know why. Then….there was, that screech. This caused Tidus to go down on the ground and curled into a ball. He was like a small scared child, wanting his mother’s warm embrace.
“Stop…please….MAKE IT STOP!” Tidus screamed out, and with that, the voices went down. He slowly got up on his feet, and looked around. There were many fiends. There must have been over five hundred. Then, he set his gaze onto the Iron Giant. The only thing in Tidus’s eyes that moment, were one thing. Hate.
You want it dead, don’t you.
A voice penetrated Tidus’s mind. He looked around, seeing if there was anyone still moving.
You want it to suffer, for trying to hurt your love.”
Although this voice felt evil, he could almost feel a….friendliness to it.
I can make it die…just tell me, and I’ll do it.
Tidus felt like he knew this voice. Like he trusted it. Yet it was like he had no idea who it was. He looked blankly at the great fiend over Yuna, and replied with one answer. “Yes.”
Time went back into motion, as the sword came so close to Yuna’s body. The next thing that happened shocked everybody. A blood red aura came from the blade that lay beside Yuna: Caladbolg. It took the shape of what seemed like a lance, and pierced through the fiends chest. All fiends stopped there movement, and set their eyes on the great monster.
Blood dripped from the wound that the lance like aura made. It was still lodged in the beast, holding it in place. Everyone was in shock. With a blow like that, any creature would be dead. But it wasn’t. Yuna saw what seemed like… horrible pain, in the eyes of the beast. Even though it was trying to kill her, she pitied the poor creature standing over her. But she was wondering how Caladbolg had made such a thing.
Tidus knew it didn’t deserve this much pain. Fiends slowly backed away from the sword, not wanting to get anywhere near it. Tidus had a direct path to the blade, and walked over to it. He picked it up. “Make it stop, it doesn’t deserve this!”
You wanted it to suffer.
Everyone was now staring at Tidus, wondering why the hell he was speaking to a sword.
You wanted it to feel pain…
"No…not this much. Make it stop.”
You wanted it to die. I cannot go against your wish.
So Caladbolg was really talking to him. Did this mean he was going crazy?
Yuna felt really worried for him now. “Tidus, why are you….” But he cut her off, as though he didn’t hear her. He screamed out. “MAKE IT STOP NOW!” He then pulled back the sword, and ran it through the Giant. The blood aura then dispersed into the air. The eyes of the Giant slowly, but finally started to cloud over, and it’s body disappearing into pyreflies.
Tidus was shaking all over. What had happened? What was happening to him? Why could the sword talk to him? So many things had happened since he had come back, things he did not like. He gulped, and dropped the sword to the ground, falling to his knees also. Yuna got on her knees, and crawled over to him. She put her arms around him, trying to soothe him. “Tidus…it’s alright now…”
The fiends were all still there, but had not moved since the blade had done that. They were all struck with fear. Yuna jumped back, as the man lurched up, and screamed. “WHAT THE HELL AM I!” He was breathing faster, and his heart beat was quickening. Did he do that? Or was it the sword. Before he could think about this any further, a familiar voice shouted through the silence. “ULTIMA!”
Wakka was the first to say anything after that word was said. “Everyone, dive!” Everyone was down to the ground, waiting for the spell to work it’s magic. Yuna had to pull Tidus down herself. He was to zoned out to do anything. A transparent portal was in the middle of the dirt path, as it started to suck all the fiends toward it. They all tried to pull away from the gravitational force, but it didn’t work.
When they were all gathered in the middle, a huge explosion shredded through the fiends, tearing them apart, and blowing them far away. Some parts of fiends just went shooting up into the air, and came crashing back down to the ground. For the first time in a few hours, their was no fiends in sight.
Corpses of fiends were scattered throughout the place, blood covering the path, fresh and dry. Lulu, who had cast the awesome spell, collapsed to her knees, and was still holding baby Vidina in her arms. Wakka rushed over to her, making sure she was alright.
“Lu, are you okay?” He gasped, noticing the many scars and cuts on his wife’s body. A tear strolled down her face, as she sobbed out. “Wakka….the village….it’s been massacred…totally massacred. Everyone is… ” She cried out the last word, which shook everyone to their core. “ DEAD!” She burst into tears, which made Vidina cry as well.
~~~~~~~~~~
They all went around the tree’s, and as the village came into view, sadness filled their hearts. The village was scorched to the very core. Huts were on fire, tents were torn apart, the temple was in different pieces, scattered through the whole place. The once peaceful village of Besaid, now looked like a small war zone, which had been bombed severely.
Everyone was heart broken. They all fell to their the ground, and felt like dirt. They totally forgot about the village. How could they be so stupid. Yuna, was the most saddened of all. Her favorite place….her hometown…the first place he had met HIM, was now, gone? Tears fell from her cheeks, and onto the ground.
After hearing the quiet sobbing of Yuna, Tidus finally snapped back to reality, and saw his saddened lover. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. This place was special to him to. It was the first place he had been in Spira when he first arrived. Baaj Temple was a sad place, so he didn’t count that. “Yuna…oh Yuna please don’t cry….”
Yuna’s tears soaked the ground below her. If Tidus wasn’t here to comfort her, she would have nothing to live for. She accepted his embrace willingly, and leaned into him, shaking as she sobbed out each tear from her eyes.
When everyone had mourned long enough for the people and the village, Rikku finally squeaked out. “Lulu…how many fiends got to the village? Where did they come from?” Lulu stopped crying. She was totally still. She answered, but did not look up. “It was….not fiends.” This surprised everyone. “Not fiends? How could it not be fiends? What has the power to do that much destruction?” Paine exclaimed, as she finally gained control of her emotions, standing back up on her two feet again. Lulu was still on her knees, with Vidina in her arm. She still looked at the ground, as she answered. “A man.”
“A man? A fricking man can do all this!” Giappl shouted in anger, his blood now boiling. Tidus just stood there, still holding Yuna in his embrace. “One man…no, it can’t be.” He yelled mentally, not wanting believe who he thought it was. Rikku interrupted everyone’s thought’s, as she pointed her finger down the path to the massacred village. “Look! I see someone….down the trail!”
Everyone looked from the ground, and down the village path. They saw a man, a man in a black leather cloak, covering his whole body. A hood covered his head, the shadows from it hiding his face. In his arms, was a small boy, about six or seven years old.
Everyone was silent. The man reached the mourning group, and stopped in front of them, showing the child. The kid slowly opened his eyes, and saw friendly faces. He then looked up to the hooded face, and saw an evil smile on his face. The child was scared, and shouted out. “Please, help me! He’s going to kill me, like all the others… ” His words were cut short, as the man raised the child over his head, and snapped his spine. He was completely folded in two. All were horror stricken. The next thing made them all sick. He made the boy straight again, then tore the boy in two. The inards and organs of the boy spilled out from the body, and onto the ground. Blood poured out on the path, covering it in red.
He dropped the two halves of the body, and kicked them away. Yuna saw this, and immediately hurled. She threw up all of her lunch from the day, it pouring from her mouth onto the ground. Tidus patted her back, comforting her, then looked up to the man. He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t. The man in his dream, the one that was trying to kill him, the one that called him a threat, was now standing right in front of him. Wakka’s face was in horror. He could barely speak.
“How could you….do that to a child?” The man turned to the shaking Besadian. “Very easily. I killed his parents. I simply…let him join them. Now they are together, in the farplane.” Wakka was sickened. The man laughed, as he shook his head, seeming to love the way he was reacting. “That is the man…that massacred us all…” Lulu gasped out, as she collapsed on her back, with Vidina on top of her. Wakka held her up, not letting he fall to the dirty ground. The man saw the fainted woman, and started to walk over to the couple. He raised his hand, about to strike them down, until he heard an angry voice. “You…sick bastard….”
The man stopped in his tracks, and turned to the direction of the voice. He laughed when he found out who it was. “Ah…Tidus. So, I finally meet the Dream of Zanarkand in person.” Tidus just stared him down.
“I may be a dream…but atleast I’m not a sick sunnuva bitch that kills innocent people and…children!”
Everyone watched the event. The two men stood staring at each other. Buddy finally spoke up, to break the short silence. “Tidus…you know this guy?”
The man turned to the Al Bhed. “Yes. Tidus and I have met. Although it was not a real meeting.” These words confused everybody. They all turned to Tidus, hoping he would clear this matter up. He didn’t.
“Just tell me, why do you murder innocent victims! Why do you want me dead!”
All heads turned to the man, who was now very still. After what seemed like minutes, he finally answered. “I am just doing….what should have been done one thousand years ago….”