Tidus skidded to a halt as the surroundings changed from forest to metal.
A second ago the Thunder Plains had been in sight. Now he was staring at a metal stairway, surrounded by artificial lights and topped with a metal ceiling.
"Yuna rind!" (Yuna hurt!) He heard.
"Huh?" he asked, and turned around. "Where’d you come from?" he asked to Brother and Buddy, whom he only vaguely recognized. He couldn’t remember their names in the slightest and now that he knew he was on the airship, it only vaguely—even more vaguely—explained where the danger went.
"Funny, we were about to ask you the same question," Buddy said. "We finally got around the Thunder Plains and we see you running so we transported you aboard."
"Well, it’s good to know I can’t suddenly fly, but--"
"What about Yuna?" Brother yelled. "She need a doctor. Now and quick!"
"She said ‘Take me home’ and then passed out."
"Right, Guadosalam!" Brother yelled and jumped in the pilot’s seat and the airship was on the move.
"But—doesn’t she live—"
"It’s best not to ask questions until the disaster’s over," Buddy commented. "And it’s best not to ask them to him."
"What about you?"
"Oh no, I’m not getting involved," Buddy said.
"Involved in what?" Tidus asked.
"Don’t ask me either," Shinra said.
"Who the heck are you?" Tidus asked.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
"Owwie," Rikku complained, lifting herself from the water. She had barely made it into Bevelle. Macalania had taken most of the water, but it refused to be contained. She had been taken by surprised by a three-foot high wave and thrown off her feet.
"This don’t look good," she said to herself.
Bevelle, once the center of religion—although she had never cared for it herself—and almost of the entire world, was little more than a kiddy pool, and it seemed closed for the season.
"Well," she said to herself. "Looks like no one’s hurt."
"That would be because there’s no one here anymore," she heard. She turned around, there was nothing more than water.
"Up here, toots," someone else said.
"Hey, its you guys!" she yelled, and waved to see the two topmost members of the LeBlanc syndicate low overhang. "What are you doing here?"
"We decided to make the end o’ da world better on da boss," Ormi said.
"No, really," Rikku said, smiling. She could use a good laugh about now. "What’re you two doing here? Gonna go swimming for a sphere? I’ll let you keep it this time."
"Actually, we are indeed awaiting the apocalypse," Logos confirmed.
"Doesn’t really look like much fun," she commented.
"No, one wouldn’t think it would be," Logos said.
"If you’re here, where’s LeBlanc? Annoying someone or making eyes at Nooj?"
"Beats us," Ormi said. "She was hired ta get everyone outta the city."
"She’s probably at the rendezvous point, then," Logos said.
"Then why are you here?" Rikku asked.
"Ain’t tellin’" Ormi said. "An’ ya can’t make me."
"We’d rather not get into that part," Logos said, pulling a sphere out of his pocket and tossed it to her. "But this should explain a few things."
"Do us a favor an’ don’t go tellin’ the boss, 'kay?" Ormi said.
"Tell her what?" Rikku asked, testing her intercom. Nothing, not even static, came through. Apparently it wasn’t as disaster proof as she thought. "Mind if I watch it here?"
"Apparently, like us," you don’t have anything better to do before the world ends," Logos said.
"Well, you don’t have to be so gloomy about it," Rikku said and started the sphere.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Jyrrin, healthy and alive, and maybe even in the eyes of someone closer to her age, beautiful gazed into the sphere for a moment before tossing it and sending a blur of buildings and people into the screen until it landed on the street, and bounced enough times to make Rikku think she was going to get airsickness.
Rikku's stomach and eyes hadn’t been given much of a break when the sphere stopped bouncing.
It had been thrown into the midst’s of a crowd of people running and screaming; she could hear shouts that something was coming and that it got someone. How many were revelations of the obvious and how many were merely repetitions that wouldn’t help the situation she had no idea. All she saw were feet and shoes, several of which sent the sphere rolling across the floor until someone else kicked it or it hit a wall.
There was the sound of machina weapons being fired, and slowly, one by one, the sounds died.
There was only one left.
The crowd soon dissipated, leaving no bodies, just the single owner of the single weapon: Nooj the Undying.
"Hey!" a familiar voice yelled and Rikku knew where the two who had given her the sphere came in. "Leave some for us, woncha?" Ormi said, though he was hardly as smug as he usually was.
"It might be advisable to only fire at what one can see," Logos commented; again there was little smugness, merely a cynical statement about what appeared to be reality.
"The fact that you can’t see it only makes it more dangerous," Nooj replied, looking around for something.
"Quite," Logos agreed.
"Lost it?" Ormi asked.
The three looked around uneasily, each prepared to strike first and ask questions once the target was dead. They stood there, watching and waiting and hoping to get whatever it was before whatever it was got them.
"Why exactly are you two here?" Nooj asked, staying alert and keeping his weapon poised in case something decided to show up.
"Da boss said we was to gitcha outta here in one piece," Ormi said.
"One LIVING piece," Logos said.
"I’m not afraid to die and you two know it," Nooj said defiantly.
"That’s great, but she told us if we di’n’t bring you back, we shouldn’t bother showin’ up," Ormi said.
"You’d be ruining three lives, not just one," Logos said. "Kill yourself on your own time."
"Let go of me!" they heard Jyrrin yell, although they had no idea who she was, and for a second they were distracted.
The strange thing didn’t really need a distraction, but either it or fate decided it was the time to strike. Out of the air, something inky and black began to creep over Nooj’s artificial arm.
There was the sound of doors opening, and then the sound of footsteps as someone approached the sphere.
"Civilians were ordered to evacuate the area!" Nooj stated.
Meanwhile Ormi had noticed the blackness creeping over his arm, and how fast it was spreading over the machina limb. He seemed to be rendered speechless, so he did the best thing he could: he punched his partner in the arm and pointed.
By now, Nooj noticed the dumbfounded expressions on the two and wondered what could possibly be so startling and glanced at them and then followed their gaze.
"What?" he muttered, and attempted to step back, but the blackness held him affixed to that particular spot in the air and it began to crepe further and faster.
The inky darkness wrapped itself up to his shoulder and touched flesh. He had it, he had it right there, but he hesitated for too long. Even as he hated his machina limbs for their artificiality, he couldn’t render himself a cripple once again… probably compounded by the fact that the thing that intended to take them from him was Sin, or too close of an imitation.
"What the…" Ormi asked.
"I think this is a good place not to be!" Logos yelled.
"But—"
The blackness shot out in all directions, enveloping Nooj, who fell to his knees, clutching his collarbone as the sounds of muscles and tendons ripping from bones emanating from the cloud, which grew thicker and darker. His glasses fell form his face and his gun and cane had been abandoned on the floor.
"What the hell—"
"Come on, were’ obviously next," Logos yelled and ran off. Ormi found no other option to follow, despite the hand reaching out of the cloud, as if reaching for something to pull himself out with.
Jyrrin had been completely ignored and the two ran past her without even knowing she was there.
The cloud had by now devoured the warrior and was beginning to dissipate, leaving nothing but his fallen belongings.
Jyrrin wandered closer. The cloud ignored her as best a cloud could.
She reached to it and it immediately shrank back, but gave no further indication of being sentient.
She thrust her hands in and it writhed, as if trying to escape, but it seemed stuck on her hands. Jyrrin smiled. "I’m doing this for you, Anzi," she told herself, and the darkness enveloped her as it had Nooj, but she went willingly, and seemingly unharmed.
Instead—as Rikku thought was meant to happen—of a transformation from person to monster, into an Aeon to defeat the darkness, the room grew brighter. The darkness seemed to fight against being absorbed into the body and grew stronger and in contrast the light was brighter which made the darkness redouble its effort. Eventually the room began to glow and the darkness lost and was forced into its prison of a host.
Jyrrin seem unchanged. There was still a fire in her eyes, a will of her own written on her face, but now the color had gone and the eyes were dull.
She looked around the place, as if for the first time, in curiosity but showed no sin of being surprised.
"We have promises to keep…" she muttered and waked away.
The sphere showed no more.