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I rolled out of the way of the laser amid harsh gusts of wind. This Aeon was rabid, far from the ones I'd witnessed before. Aeons in the time of Sin were awed and their summoners revered. How far we'd come in only a few years. I'd never been someone who respected the traditional virtues and, after Yevon's fall, I could admit I felt smug about having been right not to. However, it was still disappointing to see there wasn't a shred of truth to any of it. This wild and flailing creature only further exacerbated this reality.



“What's wrong with it?” Emi asked, keeping nearby.


“Its element is the air. This cloister is hardly the proper environment. It's restricting and I don't think the Aeon appreciates that.” I answered, having analysed Valefor's movement.


The previous cloister was suited for arena-like battles as seen from the ones we'd had before. Many cloisters were more suited for travel with the enemies acting more like traps and ambush. Even then, cloisters with the Elder Drakes were inhospitable to them. Despite the danger they posed, they could hardly move and most were easy to bypass. This cloister, while not meant to feature the Aeon as a trap, was likewise not designed for it. The ceiling was too low for it to make use of its wings and gain a proper vantage point for its wide array of spells and the ranged Overdrives it possessed.


However, in response to its unfavourable position, it had become ravenous and created few safe openings to attack it. In spite of this, I knew the sickle would protect me; I could feel it mocking the poor creature, anticipating the kill. This was more of Via Infinito's schemes.


“But what else can I do?” I grumbled.


“Mishka, there's a cut on your arm. Your sleeve is singed.” Emi noted.


I turned to see I'd been burned slightly by the Aeon's Energy Ray. It was hardly a noticeable wound after the others I'd received, but it gave me another option to fighting it with the sickle. I took hold of the Garment Grid I found.


“Via Infinito, did you see this in your plans?” I mused, activating a sphere.


Light draped across me as I felt my armour melt away. The beams soon died down, the dwindling rays unveiling scattered cherry blossoms and a single complete one that took to landing on my head, just beside my left horn. As the rest of the blossoms blew in the wind, the light bent and wrapped themselves around me, forming into robes.


“What... what am I wearing?”


The sphere had left me with festival wear and it was an embarrassingly short pink yukata at that. My legs were bare and my feet only wore wooden sandals. Even the sleeves only went as far as my elbows. And the neckline...


I didn't have time to complain. Valefor began casting a barrage of Fira and followed by charging another Energy Ray. Before it could properly aim, I kicked off my sandals at its eyes, dashing out of the way as the walls erupted from the laser charge. Quickly, I took hold of the Garment Grid and changed. Luckily, the next sphere I used adorned me in samurai garb. Though, I wasn't granted full armour, I held a new sword, which was more than enough. Valefor stayed low, probably to have a better angle to use its Overdrive. That was best for it; it was also beneficial for me. As it began to cast another round of Fira spells, I blinded it with fireworks, moving through the resulting smokescreen and slicing into its wings. However, it was resilient. It couldn't heal so each swipe was dealing more damage to its wings, but for as much ground it lost, it thrashed more violently, ravaging the whole of the cloister despite exhausting itself in the process.


“Um, I think the floor is becoming unstable.” Emi warned.


The sword wasn't able to land a decisive blow and I wouldn't be given the time to cut into the Aeon until it could be defeated. Another Energy Ray came, further destabilising the cloister. Once more, I was able to close in for an attack. First, I landed a slice to distract it from its rampage. This gave me the chance to use another sphere. My new outfit was fitted with a gun and it was of a familiar design, at that.


“Val, guess now I get to try out your moves.” I mused, pointing the gun at Valefor.


The outfit was equipped with every form of spell its previous user had absorbed so I took the strongest, loading in the Blue Bullet for SuperNova, “Hoshin! Zouten Seika!”


The fire enveloped the Aeon whole and incinerated it. I thought on having said Val's spell name and smiled to myself. Moments like that probably wouldn't be presenting themselves for much longer. This became even more evident as I deactivated the sphere. The sickle shook violently, angered by my defiance and craving death ever more. I had to grasp its handle simply to appease it enough to keep Asuka's concealment from breaking.


“That was amazing!” Emi applauded, running to my side.


While under normal circumstances, I'd greet her compliment happily, the episode had emphasised the extent of Via Infinito's influence. It had reached far enough to recall the long dead Aeons and turn them into pawns. Emika likewise was a product of their design. I'd failed to resist its lure several times already. I couldn't hope she'd fare any better, especially after spending years in its presence.


“Emi, how are you feeling? It must be hard for you since you ended up separated from Nikki again.” I said.


Her response was solemn and seeped in regret, “I'm not really Emi I'm a shadow. Emi died a long time ago. It would have hurt my sister more if I chose to be with her. I suppose she is not really my sister but I can imagine how it must have felt for Emi to have her as a sister, to see her worst memories play out in the Via Infinito, to see that I left her alone to cope with all that.”


She then turned to me, a half-hearted smile forced upon her lips, “I may not be real but my friendship with you is real Mishka. You were my first friend, I remember feeling very confused about what was going on, I could only communicate in riddles.”


Taking a breath, she would continue to say, “I want to find my sister yes, but not the Nikki you are thinking of. Who I really want to meet is the shadow as her actions are not her fault. She has no choice but to follow her anger as that is the only emotion she can feel. I want to help her Mishka. Help me find her. Help me bring her peace before they destroy each other.”


I still had my doubts about her, but I had to leave it for now. Emi's words were clear and honest. Until new evidence surfaced, I had no choice but to continue with the charades. I gave her a few words of reassurance and suggested we keep searching. With the cloister in its present condition, even if we couldn't find a way to proceed further down, we might find a weak point I could exploit. It would be only a minute later, but the both of us noticed a slight glow coming from the ground. When I reached for it, I discovered a cracked sphere. Turning to Emi, we silently agreed to watch it. Perhaps there'd be something of use.


Images of blurred landscapes before a dark background were all the sphere could play. It had become too damaged to provide any more of its contents. Even so, there was something odd about it. Normal spheres show simple recordings made by a recorder. This was an entire landscape, impossible to have been done in recording. However, I'd heard of spheres formed out of intense emotions. Could this sphere have resulted from them?


“Mishka I have a request.” Emi's voice broke me away from my thoughts.


“And what might that be?” I answered her.


“After all of this is over, after the Farplane gets better and everyone comes out of this...” She paused, closing her eyes, “Don't leave my sister alone. Look after her, please…”


There was another pause as she took a deep breath, probably bidding farewell to the life she'd struggled as an unsent to keep, “Make sure she eats properly and gets enough sleep. I can rest easy then knowing that she has friends like you looking after her. No matter how hard she tries to push you away, promise me you won't leave her alone.”


I stayed silent for a moment. Emi didn't know the severity of the situation as much as I'd thought. Unconsciously, my sickle appeared in my hands and my eyes would trace the length of my arm to it. Should I tell her what's happened, that I was likely never to reclaim my life, either? Or should I lie to her, give her the assurance she needed to move on into the Farplane? While this was a difficult enough decision to make on its own, I'd had to consider the other consequences, as well. Emi did not only possess her soul; she had with her the many souls lost to this place, as well. Should I tell her the truth and that lead her to break, I'd have condemned them, too.


Before my hesitation became too obvious, I turned to her, biting back my doubts to say, “Your sister has many people looking after her including myself. That's not about to change. Now, what I'm actually concerned with is getting you to where you need to be. When you're safe is when I believe Nikki will be able to move on from her past and let us in. I aim to make that happen.”


That seemed to placate her as she nodded with a smile and a tilt of her head, even going on to say, “And when she eventually finds someone she likes… Lock her in the cupboard with them.”


We both stopped in our step at that remark. It was entirely unlike her. She blinked and put a hand to her mouth not quite understanding what had happened. Once it caught up with her, she became flustered, frantically waving her hands to express that she hadn't meant to say it.


However, when she opened her mouth again, I was sure it still wasn't her words that came out, “No wait don't do that she'll get angry, that is not a good idea.”


“I'm sorry that wasn't me.” That was her.


“Why not? I think it is an excellent idea.”


“It is not!” This time Emi pouted and she followed that with, “Will you twins stop using the girl to talk?” and then, “Right, you'll make Mishka think she's crazy. She's giving us a look!”


Suffice it to say, the scolding voice must have been Gideon's mother and, apart from the obvious voice of the twins, Sakura must have been the one arguing with them. I took to sitting myself down. This could take a while.


“I must say it is cramped with all of us in here.” Emi continued saying, possibly channeling her inner mum again.


There were a few more awkward remarks, but finally, taking a breath, she put a hand up to her chest and said, “I'm sorry Mishka the twins were using me to talk and then they all did and it's all getting really weird and confusing I'm so sorry.”


I nodded my reassurance that I understood. I'd had a few voices talking inside my head, as well, after all. I knew enough about what Emi was experiencing. To be honest, I was relieved. These voices I knew to be benevolent and there was still one voice left that, hopefully, they were keeping silent. Once she'd gotten herself sorted, we continued on. It wasn't long after that we found our way past the cloister.


The damage to the previous cloister had begun to spread into this one, though, just by the gaps in between them, I could almost believe they had been formed separately. The entirety of the area was coated in darkness except for a single light shining in the distance, showing us the exit. Both Emi and I were wary of this; Via Infinito was never straightforward. Even if the light was true and we could move freely to Cloister 93, we chose instead to explore the cloister. The spaces adjacent to the path the light guided us toward were far-reaching and only made me wonder if there were secrets we were meant to overlook. I'd used my Fire bolts back on Cloister 60 so blindly searching was our only option and that option dwindled with each passing second knowing Via Infinito could send fiends at any moment.


“I have a suggestion.” Emi suddenly said, “I believe you still have an arrow with Holy attached.”


“I do, actually, but Holy only illuminates the immediate target and my bolt only carries a single sphere of the spell. We won't be getting much light from it.” I replied.


“Leave that to me.” She said, waiting for me to bring it out.


I obliged, curious to see what she had in mind. It would only take a second after she started for me to figure it out. Emi was now infused with the merging Via Infinito and Farplane. With the purity of the latter, she could manipulate Holy. It would be a simple matter of channeling the twins' magical prowess, which I'm sure those two happily provided, and she could expand Holy's properties without even activating the intended spell. My one sphere exploded into soothing light, beating back the shadows and revealing...


“Ooh, another five minutes...” She groaned as we spotted her form lying on the ground.


“Rikku!” I shouted in surprise. We'd found her.

~ ZERA-MERGED POSTS ~

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“Oh, are you two... spherehunters?” She asked, groggily getting to her feet.



“Used to be. This one, not so much.” I answered.



“I'm Emika. It's nice to meet you.”


“My name is Mishka Guado. We were sent by the Praetor to rescue you.”


“Baralai sent you? Must mean I was gone a while. Those meanies. When I get my hands on them...” She started to growl, but stopped herself to ask, “Have you heard from Yunie? She's not worried, is she?”


“She was actually with us for a bit, as well as, Paine, but it was starting to become too much so Paine and the Mevyn took it upon themselves to see it through for her.”


Hearing that brought her a sigh of relief, “Good, then she's not back here. Then, we need to find Paine. We have to get out of here as soon as we can.”


“I couldn't agree more.”


“So, you've sensed it, too? The Via Infinito is coming alive. Something's happening to Spira. This place was always meant to trap the bad pyreflies from coming back, but I think its got a mind of its own now.”


“Even more so.” I would explain, “The Farplane and Via Infinito have begun to merge.”


“Disasterriffic!” She exclaimed.


“It's a miracle you survived all this time. Shouldn't underestimate one of the famed guardians, I suppose.” I noted.


She only looked downward, becoming more solemn as she said, “I came down here to search for the remaining spheres Trema threw away. I was hoping they might help out since Shinra's so focused on rebuilding Spira back to what it was like then. That kid is smart enough to do it, but people made mistakes back then that brought out Sin. We can't let that happen again.”


“Yea, I think I found one of those spheres, but it's far too damaged to make out any of its contents.” I told her, bringing it out to show her.


“You found that sphere, too, huh? It wasn't that damaged when I found it. Valefor, that poopiehead.”Rikku groaned.


“You were fighting it, too?” Emi asked with concern.


“I was. It was the last thing I had to fight after I was trapped down here.”She replied, then turned to Emi to ask, “Do you have a younger sister?”


“Nope, but I am a younger sister!” She happily chirped.


“Her older sister is my group's leader, Nikki. We were separated recently and the two of us have been trying to find them.”


“Then, let's do that. There weren't any useful spheres down here. Most of them were just like that one.”She sighed, dusting herself off.


Emi stammered as she asked, “Were you alone while you were looking for them?”


Rikku's eyes immediately darted to her. Her eyes told the story. It wasn't as if it was unpredictable. The younger sister Rikku asked about, she'd encountered the unsent. I questioned her on it and she confirmed. As she'd done with me, the other Emi followed Rikku, providing help or hindrance as it fancied her. Rikku had acted as Cyan had and managed to coerce more aid than agitation from her, utilising her to guide her back down to these lowest of cloisters. But then...


“I guess I was getting too close. The Via Infinito didn't want me spoiling things so they stopped me.”She explained, showing a bit more gritted teeth for the situation to be quite so simple.


I started to ask about it, but we'd be interrupted. My bolt's Holy was spent and we were thrown back into darkness. Unfortunately, as Emi would point out, the light that previously shined over the way into the next cloister had followed Holy. No, that wasn't right. As we continued scanning it, the light was there, though something had blocked it.


“Watch out!”Rikku shouted, pushing me away before dodging the other way with Emi.


“What's happening?” She squealed in panic.


After I gathered myself, I scanned the darkness again, barely noticing a new presence in the cloister. Rikku thought quickly, suggesting I rely on my guado senses to defend against our assailant. First, I would find her, noting that Emi was near her. Wagering on her honed senses as a guardian, I found an opening to return her Garment Grid to her. Light returned to the cloister, if only for the brief moment of Rikku changing form. She would emerge to a sort of toon-like sound, but the power she wielded would be immense.


For the short time light bathed all corners of the cloister, I spotted the attacker and was shocked that it was none other than, “Tidus?”