Final Fantasy Fun

Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 40: "The Lady"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Auron, Rikku, Elma, Isaaru, Pacce.
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Word Count: 2200
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The Story So Far: Overcoming the deadly trials of the dream-world inside Sin, Auron and his companions seek an audience with the Fayth of Yuna's Final Summoning.


Illustration by @mintywolf

In dreams, one might trip over a Luca balcony and die on the pavement below, or leap from the peak of Mt. Gagazet and alight on the ruins below with barely a jolt. This was no featherless glide, but at least it was not fatal. Icy boughs tore and broke, skinning flesh and slowing their descent. Tangled vines caught and gave way. Roots and gravestones made a hard landing. Winded and blinded, the party lay waiting for their eyes to adjust to the darkness while Isaaru healed them.

When he was finished, Auron pressed a vial of ether into his hand.

Accepting it meekly, Isaaru crushed it against his throat and looked around. "I could swear I've seen this place before."

"It's Djose," Elma said, voice tight. "Almost. What's with these rocks?"

The darkness of Lulu's garden had assumed a more specific color, blue-black to match the trunks of the Macalania trees. Golden light filtered down from the great crystalline moons of seedpods snagged in their branches. Dark vines and creepers curtained everything. There were fewer flowers than Auron remembered: a solitary orchid, a spray of jasmine with just a few waning stars left, a dusting of withered rose petals clinging to spiderwebs.

"It's beautiful," Pacce said.

"Yeah." Rikku reached out, brushing her knuckles against a hibiscus. "Guess this is the garden Yunie dreams about."

"It's pretty and all," Elma said, "but I smell an ambush. Let's move to open ground."

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 38: "Sea of Sorrow"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Auron, Elma, Isaaru, Pacce, Rikku, Gippal, Baralai.
Rating: PG-13 for violence
Word Count: 3600
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Map/ToC

The Story So Far: The Crimson Squad brings down Sin using Vegnagun in an epic battle over the Thunder Plains. Now Summoner Isaaru's party must deal with what lies within.


"Purple!" by author

Sin lay like a split anvil, a mountainous ruin. Lightning painted it in stark relief against the clouds. Below, the flicker of energy weapons answered with feeble red fire. Cold rain pinged against acres of cooling shrapnel hurled from the Thunder Plain's newest crater.

A thunderclap and a muffled shriek pierced the air.

"You should go back," Auron said gently.

"I'm not scared!" Rikku said, words muffled behind clenched fists. "I'm just worried about you guys. All of you, you know?"

"I know." His hand tightened around the brand across his palm that was, finally, beginning to cool. Lulu's time was running out.

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 36: "Dust in the Sky"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Auron, Nooj, Baralai, Gippal, Paine, Rikku, Isaaru, Shinra, Elma, Lucil...ok, yeah, everybody.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1900
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Map/ToC

The Story So Far: Auron and his allies lure Sin to the uninhabited ruins of Old Guadosalam, hoping that the firepower of an ancient weapon will be sufficient to disable the foe.


"Beleaguered" by author

The Thunder Plains were becalmed while Guadosalam rocked with thunder.

No living person in Spira had ever seen Sin like this: sinking, impotent, flailing in sluggish rage, lashing out with lightning and shockwaves that buffeted but could not shake pursuit. Vegnagun proved surprisingly agile, harrying Sin as it fell. Fiends rained down on the deadlands.

Baralai was locked in a lover's embrace with Vegnagun's controls, miming every attack. He drew a rolling scale up the keys, and a white-hot barrage peppered Sin's upper hull. A cluster of base notes sent Vegnagun's tail swiping across its eyes, following the blow with a red beam that pierced shell and bone. Even Thundaga was turned against its mistress. Lightning leapt from Sin to Vegnagun and back again.

Nooj was piloting. Diving past Sin's flank, he dug into a steep turn that pressed them against their seats. Vegnagun roared back up through the haze in a corkscrew spin, bursting out behind their prey. Baralai whooped and emptied the missile bank into the breach left by the main cannon.

"Don't forget it can kill us," Nooj said, but he was smiling.

"First it has to catch us," said Baralai.

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 32: "Thaw Before the Storm"
Final Fantasy X/X-2 AU
Characters: Paine/Nooj, Auron, Isaaru
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3600
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The Story So Far: Sin has destroyed most of Isaaru's aeons, leaving him with no choice but to use a fearsome weapon from a thousand-year-old war. Now allies and estranged friends prepare for the final showdown.

Juno pulled the old Crusader's blanket tighter around her shoulders. Night had fallen. Snow was beginning to collect in the nooks and seams of Vegnagun's pitted skin. A low tremulous hum hinted that the machina was not quite dormant. Far below, the lake creaked under the weight of its feet slowly settling into the ice. Pyreflies drifted up from the frozen surface, mingling with the fog.

A drone of engines rumbled across the lake and faded. Juno raised her rifle and peered out. Minutes later, Nooj emerged from the darkness, passed her parked snowsled, and limped across the broken ground. He halted under Vegnagun's head. "May I come up? I'm unarmed."

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 30: "Yuna's Cloister"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Zuke, Auron, Isaaru, Paine, Nooj, Pacce, Elma
Rating: PG-13 (Language)
Word Count: 2900
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The Story So Far: Thanks to a vengeful ghost, Bevelle palace lies in ruins, and one of Isaaru's guardians is dead. The survivors of the battle with Shuyin need healing before they can face Sin again.

illustration by mintywolf

"Ah! Sir Auron, there you are."

A drainage ditch was an unlikely destination for morning prayers. Yet there was no mistaking the green robe, high collar, and ceremonial band stitched with Yevon's signs from throat to knees. Yevon's toilet paper, Kinoc had called it, and died in it.

The priest climbed down into the muck. "Goodness gracious. I suppose even legendary guardians are mortal, aren't they? Not too mortal, though, I hope. Let me see." Humming to himself, he began to circle Auron, ignoring the stagnant water and blood wicking up the hem of his robes.

Healing magic lapped out from his hands. A light drizzle pattered down, glazing the priest's bald head. The damp tasted of salt, not only from the breath of the harbor: there were tears in that rain, tears never shed by their owner when she had eyes to weep. The sour odor from the outflow pipe reeked of Sin and the living.

Auron gritted his teeth as bones shifted back into place, following the ley lines of the pyreflies. Breathing became easier, but his ribs still ground together like a sack of charcoal. Auron stared at the man shuffling around him. "Do I know you?"

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The Cloister of Trials groaned and shuddered like a sinking ship. Bursts of sparks rained down. Auron cast a wary eye upwards, surveying the lattice of struts and moving light-paths.

Maroda, still squirming from his brother's parting shot, snatched up his spear and pelted towards the exit. "Pacce! We're right here! Pacce, wait!"

"Wake Elma," Auron said, blocking Isaaru's path.

Isaaru tried to shove past him, a rare, shrill note of anger in his voice. "While my brothers try to kill each other?"

A distant concussion rocked the tower's foundations. High above, a long span twisted loose with a squeal of shorn rivets, banging off others all the way down until it crashed to a halt just overhead, wedged between the wall and a support beam. Most of the pathways winked out, leaving them in near-darkness.

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 24: "Juno"
Final Fantasy X/X-2 (Yes, both. AU.)
Characters: Auron, Paine, Baralai, Nooj, Rikku, Elma, Isaaru
Rating: G
Word Count: 2200
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The Story So Far: Isaaru's pilgrimage against Sin has been put on hold to deal with a new threat. Elder Cid has been possessed by a vengeful spirit bent on using a doomsday weapon against Bevelle. Isaaru's party receives a prickly reception from the warrior monks and Maester Baralai.

"Paine?" Isaaru said. "Nay, that is Juno, Captain of the Guard."

"That's all we need," said Elma.

"Lemme go, you big lunk!" Rikku said, squirming under Auron's coat. "They've got Pops!"

"Rikku, he's right," Maroda said. "They're bluffing. But they might shoot you."

Some kinder god than Yevon had kept anyone from tumbling through the gaping rent in the floor. The only serious wound among them was a bloody gash in Maroda's forehead. Isaaru was patching him with Cura and providing a patient ear to his swearing. A burst of static from the intercom suggested that someone, at least, was still alive on the flight deck, but whatever Gippal or Shinra had to say was unintelligible.

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Love Her and Despair
Chapter 22: "On the Brink"
Final Fantasy X/X-2 AU
Characters: Auron, Elma
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2300
Summary: Auron recalls his last pilgrimage during a lull in the next.
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The Story So Far: Isaaru's pilgrimage has hit a few snags: Sin is destroying the temples, Elder Cid of the Al Bhed is about to attack Bevelle, and Yuna's Sphere has revealed the lies of Yevon. En route to Bevelle, Auron grapples with his private demons and helps another soldier with hers.

The airship soared on through the night sky. There was no sign of Sin, save a thin stripe of corded cloud marching off towards Macalania. The flight deck had emptied two hours ago, after Shinra reprogrammed the autopilot to track their quarry. Now the running lights had dimmed, leaving no visible barrier between its sole occupant and the endless sweep of stars. Sir Auron sat with his back against cold glass, keeping vigil with only his jug of nog for company.

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 20: "Anima Sola"
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Characters: Isaaru, Nooj, Auron, Rikku, Cast
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2000
Summary: Picking up the pieces after Cid goes postal.
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Map/ToC

The Story So Far: While helping the Al Bhed in the wake of a Sin attack, Isaaru and his companions are shot by Elder Cid, who appears to have gone mad.

illustration by mintywolf

My dear son.

(Nay, lady, I am a son of Spira. Yet I would be honored to bear your pain.)

My dear, brave son. This time of the spiral, we shall not be sundered. Do not weep, Seymour, for soon all Spira shall recognize you for what you truly are...

(...a monster!)

(The memory flashed from Isaaru's mind to hers with the unshrouded immediacy of fayth's communion— no smile, no politic speech, no polished gesture to soften the blow— a field of blood-red snow, mangled heaps of Ronso warriors tossed like broken trees in an avalanche. The bodies were gutted and limp as if Seymour had spirited away their very bones, not just their souls, to fashion ghastly armor. Surely, Sin was built in this way. There had been precious few to send, and none to save.)

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Title: Love Her and Despair
Chapter 21: "Love Her and Despair"
Final Fantasy X
Characters: Auron, Isaaru, Maroda, Elma, Rikku, Gippal
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3000
Summary: Revelations from Yuna's pilgrimage.
Navigation: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Map/ToC

illustration by mintywolf

Our Story So Far: On a rampage to destroy the temples of Yevon, Sin transports Isaaru and companions to Bikanel Island, where Wakka and Rikku are raising a family. Gippal gives Isaaru's party a lift to the new Al Bhed Home.

The flyer wobbled under the weight of extra passengers, accompanied by Rikku's swearing in two languages. Maroda rode white-knuckled, his brother with serene resignation. Elma, the machina-phobe, clung to her seat with a dour expression, but gave herself away with a whoop when the flier hopped over a sand-worm that unexpectedly rose behind a crumbling ruin. Auron simply played barnacle. Gippal was quiet too, for once, focused on steering a smooth course for the sake of his unsecured passengers.

They were streaking towards a gray hump emerging from the dunes. The shape soon resolved itself into a bulbous, unlovely hulk of an airship with the profile of an oversized bathtub, its hull a crude patchwork of fins, engine pods, exhaust ports and mismatched panels. It was moored on the southern tip of the island with the bulk of its fuselage hanging over open water. An aft loading ramp extended down to the beach.

The flyer slowed to a crawl and slithered up the ramp into the belly of the ship, coming to an abrupt halt against a stack of barrels. The engines screamed in the enclosed space, then faded to silence. Deafened passengers roused themselves and looked around. Floor-to-ceiling stacks of crates and gun racks loomed on all sides, making it a wonder they had not struck anything on the way in.

"Well, here we are," Gippal said, hopping up onto the flyer's windshield to kick a knob on the wall. The ramp and cargo bay doors began to close with a hiss of hydraulics. Dingy amber lights flickered to life in the ceiling as the rectangle of daylight behind them narrowed and vanished.

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