InsaneJournal

Twenty Seven
WHO: Yuna and Snape
WHAT: The lady summoner arrives
WHEN: Day 27, morning
WHERE: By the ski lift
RATING: Nothing above a G in this one
STATUS: Complete


It was time. She had chosen this, hadn't she? When she had decided that she couldn't possibly sacrifice her friends to summon the final aeon, she had made her choice. There had been two options, really, and each of them was just as unthinkable in her mind. Kill one of her friends or all of her aeons. She suspected she never would have been able to make the choice if the fayth themselves had not asked her to do this. Which didn't make it that much easier, really, and it was nearly too hard to bear.

Her face was calm, resolute, despite the pain in the depths of her oddly-colored eyes. She was going to do this. There was no other way. Sin had to be defeated, the Calm had to come. But not a Calm that would last only a few years, no, that wasn't going to be good enough for her. She would only accept a Calm that lasted forever. An eternal Calm. And this was the only way to do it.

Well, she would start with the most difficult and go from there. That way, if her strength began to wane, she would already have done the worst. Who would it be, then? Who would she summon first? Who would she kill first? The choice was simple. The one that had been her first, the one that she shared the strongest bond with. The Aeon of Besaid Temple, Valefor. She would summon it, and then she and her guardians would kill it.

The Hymn of the Fayth was over. Yuna wasn't singing anymore, she wasn't leading Spira in song to pacify Sin. She stood with her six friends behind her, but she was very much alone as she began to twirl her staff. The ritual to summon Valefor had begun. What followed would be slaughter. She found her mind trying to wander, wondering if the aeons would fight back despite the agreement of the Fayth to this massacre. She wouldn't think about that, though.

Better to focus on the white light that was forming above her head, the rift that she knew would soon split to reveal the aeon who was also her friend. She wasn't crying. This was far too important for tears. She simply stood still, her face turned upward to the white light. Out of nothing but that light, a winged form somewhat like a very odd, large bird took shape. It swept down toward her, and Yuna walked toward it just as it landed very near to her. Her guardians stayed back for just a moment.

It was just the summoner and her aeon on the field of battle, frozen for a moment in a sad tableau. Perhaps in different circumstances, Yuna would have noticed the black whole opening up at her feet. Perhaps she would have been able to dodge it. But she wasn't, and the first she knew of it, her booted foot was closing on nothing. She gasped and fell forward, and before anyone else could react, Valefor swooped down. Once more, her loyal friend caught her, but it was too late.

There was a shower of bright lights in many different colors. Blue, black, yellow, and more, they all swept down into the hole behind the summoner. It closed, and for a moment, there was nothing. Yuna only had enough time to wonder if she'd been killed, if she was now an unsent, before she felt something on her face. It was cold, and wet, and something that she'd become familiar with on Mount Gagazet. Snow.

The light came next, and she could see. It didn't make any sense to her, though. From her perch securely on the back of her friend, she looked around. Rolling hills, all covered in the white stuff. Where was she? What was going on? Where were Rikku, Lulu, Auron, Wakka, Kimahri and... Tidus? What had happened? Shading her eyes against the brightness around her, she looked around. Maybe she could find someone to help her.