Beneath the Blitzball dome

[Aerith Gainsborough]

Xenos-

Xenos peered over the ledge over which the sorceress and her chocobo had so recently skidded. He smiled beneath his mask. "Edea Kramer," he whispered with a fond smile, "still turning sides, I see." He straightened and turned to Squall, "That's them down at the base of this cliff. The blonde is our main objective, but it seems that he's swayed the influence of Alexander as well." He shook his head, "This might be pretty difficult, so prepare youself before we go down."

Edea-

Edea turned and looked up, seeing the predatory glint behind the mask she took a quick inbreath. No, Squall, no. Why side with a monster? Was it really only Rinoa and your friends that gave you a concience?

She glanced at her new companion, Tidus.
"Not to sound cliched but what did you do to piss these guys off?"
Closing her eyes she focused herself and a gentle white-blue glow flowed through her veins. So much weaker than she once was, but she'd taken Squall before and Xenos' history did not exactly prove him sorceress-proof.

Xenos-

Xenos smiled at the weak glow surounding the sorceress. That wasn't the kind of power he was looking for. She wasn't with Edea, no matter how much his brain had tried to fool him. He needed someone magically stronger for his future plans. He was glad for the threat of the fight; it was all he could remember how to do.

Edea-

Seeing the sardonic smile playing across her enemies mouth Edea shuddered. He found her strength so pitiful it was funny to him!

She couldn't win this fight. Unless her 'new friends' were considerably more powerful than she. She had other weapons - she hoped. The word can be mightier than the lightning bolt.

"Xenos. Ultimecia's knight, Ultimecia's prince. Once one of MY white SeeDs. Remembered through past and future as the one who failed."

She paused a moment, savouring this last word, hoping that a part of the anguish she remembered him feeling was still in his heart.

She said it quickly, violently, filled with contempt.
"Traitor."

Squall-

Squall looked back and forth between Xenos and Edea several times. His memory was starting to take on that slippery quality he'd begun to hate. The woman with the black hair was... a sorceress. Squall remembered fighting her. But if Xenos had been a White SeeD, and she was calling him a traitor... A splitting headache descended on him suddenly and he shook his head as if he had water in his ears. Better not to think about it. You're here to fight. Squall checked his revolver and wondered why he hadn't bothered to upgrade it since he'd been thrown into this world. He was not sure how much help he'd be without any GF magic and a weapon that was only serviceable. But Squall had a few tricks up his sleeve, and Xenos had only brought him for support, he was sure. He waited for Xenos' orders.

Tidus-

Glaring at the newcomer, Tidus clenched his teeth with a rage he hadn't felt for a long time; not since his last battle. Reaching for his sword, the young (former...?) Guardian steadied his posture for combat. These men seemed threatening, based on what Edea had said and the looks they were giving Tidus and his party. Still, Tidus was not about to let friends be lost again - no, once was more than enough.

"What do you want?" Tidus breathed sharply, his angry whisper echoing through the crater. In any other place, he may be more casual and perky for the fight. At any other time, he may welcome something new - something different from the humdrum quiet that had taken hold over him and Alexander. But a disturbance in his home, Zanarkand, and a threat to his newfound friends? This was no joking matter - this was war.

Focusing his mind on his allies, Tidus braced himself to protect them from the worst, and looked at Alexander, willing him to understand. "Alexander..." he thought, praying that the Aeon was focused on him and not the newcomers. "Alexander, if you can understand this, I want you to protect Edea. You can help her and you've worked with her more than me. Stay junctioned to me so we can keep in communication, but ensure that she remains safe. I'll distract the guy with the mask; you focus on guarding Edea and maybe she can help you watch my back."

This was not going to be pretty.

Xenos-

Xenos straightened in response to Edea's words, a spark of anger leading him to take a few reckless steps closer to the edge of the cliff. "I am no traitor," he called to those watching, Edea's words rang painfully in his heart. Hadn't he, indeed failed to stop Her. Hadn't he failed to keep these worlds from forming? Wasn't he at fault? Still, he had not switched sides; his goals were the same they had always been. "You who wander the world like mindless insects sit idle and stare at the state of the world with bovine eyes. You do nothing and isn't that worse?" He pointed a long, gloved finger at the party. "You are the traitors. You fight amongst yourselves because you do not see the overlying problem. Your sins blind you. Your past blinds you." He grit his teeth. "My name is Xenos and this is the world I created."

He turned his head to Squall. This was the time to test his work. "Focus your efforts on the Sorceress. Do what you were trained to do. I'll take care of their leader." He drew his katana, the Chirijiraden murmuring the hums of battle in his hand.

This was all he knew how to do.

He stepped forward at the direct edge of the cliff and stepped off into the air beneath and skidded against the rock with the soles of his boots.

Edea-

Edea's eyes narrowed and adrenaline spread through her body. She had hit a sore spot on her possessor's old lover, perhaps now he would be reckless.

Though Edea bore no weapons her sorceress' blood made weapons unnecessary. She raised a hand and shot a ball of blue energy at Squall, then began to chant softly under her breath the words that called fire.

Xenos-

Xenos used the momentum to launch himself at Tidus, the point of Chirijiraden aimed at the young man's chest. Squall could take care of himself. His training, like Xenos's had been for the sole purpose of slaying sorceresses. Those witches who had done nothing to anger the world would always taste the weapons of SeeDs.

Xenos bit back the sudden memory of his comrades surrounding him, urging him to follow what he felt rather than what he'd been told. He hissed inwardly at himself as he charged towards the blonde. "I am doing what I think is right."

Squall-

Squall smiled grimly as the Sorceress sent an attack spinning at him, just a slight upward turn at the corner of his lips. Oh yes, he had tricks of his own. He muttered a brief incantation and before the magic could crash into him, it fizzled into a glittering thread and spiralled into his palm, sinking through the glove and into his skin. Then Squall followed Xenos over the edge of the overhang and advanced on Edea.

As Squall got closer to the Sorceress, he could feel his chest constricting. He put it down to nerves and swung Revolver so that the broad side would crash into the woman's shoulder.

Edea-

The Sorceress stepped into the blow, feeling her body shudder with it. He was holding back, Squall - her Squall was still in there.

Still, this was life or death. She was so close she could feel his breath on her hair, her shoulder was a ball of pain, but she gasped out the last word of her fire spell and shot it point blank into her child's chest.

Alexander-

Alexander froze. No phrase could quite place what was happening as well as that one.

Alexander heard Edea’s sweet voice call his name one moment, and the next moment regret was shooting through him like an entire fleet of Invincibles. It just figured that very the moment he found the one person he had missed most in the whole world; he would find himself junctioned to someone else. One who, at this very moment, was thinking the words ‘some holy aeon’ in reference to the white knight. The fates never sided with the righteous, Alexander figured. Not in matters of personal interest, anyways. Oh, good always won in the big picture, sure, but would destiny dare grant a little convenience? Never.

And so he stood, frozen. He simply stared at his dear friend as a million questions ran through his mind: Not the least of which were her current mental state and what time frame she had been from.

Tidus introduced himself, and he felt Edea’s senses graze his bond with the boy like a gentle breeze. She could tell they were junctioned now, it would seem. Pangs of guilt then proceeded to run through Alexander for reasons he wasn’t entirely aware of, and he closed his eyes for a fleeting moment to block it out. He had to say something, after all, and dealing with even more emotions was not the way to get around to doing that.

He did not move, however. He was still frozen. Alexander remained speechless in spite of his efforts. She was staring at him now. She had been for what seemed like a short eternity, and all he could do was stare back.

This woman had been in the back of his mind all day every day since he awoke in this accursed place. Indeed, since his days in the eighth realm had he entertained memories of their friendship. He had spent a good deal of time with her, trying to ward off Ultimecia to little avail, and in that time he grew closer to her than anyone he’d ever known. He then proceeded to spend an agonizing, vague amount of time junctioned to what might as well have been Ultimecia until he was finally drawn out by force. All that, and he couldn’t even open his mouth to say hello.

Shaking off the dreamlike feeling he was experiencing, Alexander finally unfroze himself and opened his mouth to speak; only to be interrupted by Edea. She had sensed a presence he did not, and he silently cursed himself for letting his guard down. Edea then proceeded to announce the visitor’s name, and the color drained from Alexander’s face. Well, it would have, had he possessed a blood flow.

Xenos. Xenos, the White SeeD. Xenos, Ultimecia’s failure of a knight. Xenos and…

“Squall…?’ Alexander mouthed bewilderedly as he absentmindedly drew his Holy Blinding Sword from its place by his side next to the Murasame. What in the world was Squall doing here? Alexander noted Tidus saying something, but Alexander only acknowledged it after searching Tidus’ memories for what it was he’d just tried to say.

“Right.” He pulsed back mentally, as he fell back to Edea’s side and began casting. Xenos began shouting back at Edea in anger, which brought a small smirk to the so-called Aeon’s lips. He spoke of the world’s state, and how nothing was being done of it. The smirk faded at these words. It was true that even all of the summons, in all their power, were incapable of fixing the world. More brief moments of regret shot through Alexander, and he once again pushed them aside for later.

Then Xenos took responsibility for the world, and Alexander nearly shot off towards him in a rage. He couldn’t, though. The bonds of love and friendship held strong against the pull of vengeance, and Alexander held still. Holding still, however, proved to be foolish; as Edea had been struck thanks to his emotional rollercoaster.

“No!” Alexander yelled deeply in a rage. Edea had recovered and countered well enough, but it served little to quell Alexander’s righteous fury. Quickly finishing up his Wall spell and casting it on Edea, Alexander promptly positioned himself between the two and taking a defensive position. “No!” He shouted again, in a steadier tone; as though Squall were a bad puppy.

{Edea,} He called mentally, blessing her magic nature. He could speak to her in much the same way he could speak to Shiva, although not nearly over the same distance. {Stay back and provide fire support, and try to talk some sense into your boy. I’ll try keeping him away from you while you do.}

Tidus-

Bracing himself for Xenos' attack, Tidus placed Heaven's Cloud in front of him, and leaped onto a rock farther up the jagged slope, toward the menace in the mask. This...this was the man that had created such a warped place? This was the man that had lost him Yuna? This was the person responsible?

This person would die, at all costs.

Weaving in a zig zag pattern up the slope toward his opponent, Tidus prepared to do his best to catch Xenos off-guard. Making a motion to attack the man from Xenos' left, Tidus lifted his head to look the villain in the eye.

"This one's for you, Yuna!"

At the last minute before the sword made contact, the former blitzer jumped into the air, flipping over his opponent's sword and landing on Xenos' right. Making another quick (albeit abrupt) lunge toward his opponent, Tidus awkwardly aimed a slash at Xenos' sword arm. Balancing properly and orienting himself on the rough, sloping terrain was more difficult than Tidus had expected, but his agility was certainly helping him in the situation.

Edea-

Edea felt Alexander shove her behind him, his protective rage vibrating off him before his good nature calmed him a little. She tried to stifle a smirk at his admonition of Squall, he always had trouble fighting the essentially good.

{I will try to talk with him, old friend. I fear he is under Xenos' powers}

Edea began to prepare an ice spell while she knelt behind Alexander's magical wall.

"Squall, my child, please see reason! Remember your friends! This is not the way to save our world!"

Xenos-

Xenos felt Tidus's sword bite into his shoulder, grazing him but not causing enought damage to severly hinder his movement. "For Yuna?" Xenos laughed and spun on the blitzer, glad that his training as a SeeD had stressed his speed more than power-- that had been for someone else.... "Do you really think that YUNA is even bothered by this?" He sent a quick attack to Tidus, but feigned it back. Catch him off guard. Play a little. This was what they deserved. "She could be here, but you wouldn't know. I wouldn't know!" He struck again, viper fast and pulled away before hitting. "All of this is a mistake made by someone of the same cloth as your beloved 'Yuna'." He staggered back slightly. "But you have to wonder- Is she the one who's real, or are you?" With this, he lunged again aiming for a deep blow to the chest.

[Squall Leonhart]

((I took the liberty of deleting all the OOC. You know how I hate clutter.))

Squall cursed, visibly vexed at the Wall spell the GF had thrown up. He had no GF of his own; he had no Dispells. Not even the most creative application of any spell in his arsenal would reduce the efficacy of the spell. The only thing to do was to hammer away at it until the magic wore out. It was not Squall's preferred method of dealing with an enemy.

To be safe, Squall cast Wall on himself. Now, even if it was something of a stalemate, he would not be getting the worst of it. He held his ground and glared at Alexander, waiting to see what the GF's next move would be.

[tidus]

((FORGIVE ME!))

Dodging back, Tidus underestimated his opponent's speed, and a cut was made on his left shoulder. It did hurt slightly, but it was little more than a flesh-wound. Hopping down further into the crater, Tidus tried his best to keep the battle as far away from Edea as possible. Placing the Brotherhood in front of his own face, Tidus dove backwards, hoping to bring Xenos even further down with him and to provide a distraction while he focused on his fighter capabilities more than his supportive ones.

"Come at me, then," Tidus called back to the villain. "If I'm not real, then prove it and beat me!"

[Xenos]

((AHH! EDEA! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN!))

Xenos laughed and paused, "A shadow shouldn't stray far from its Sin," he taunted, then dove down to follow Tidus. Squall could take care of himself, he was sure. The white SeeD thrust Chirijiraden at Tidus, attempting to catch him off guard. The ground was steep and dangerous. If either of them lost their balance.... Xenos smiled beneath his mask.

[Alexander THE GIRL]

Alexander smirked to himself with some degree of satisfaction after witnessing Squall’s irritation. It was an inward smirk, of course, as Alexander had no desire to infuriate Squall further. Doing so would be terribly counter-productive, as Alexander had every intention of snapping Squall out of this nonsense. Of course, this was all of little consequence, as Squall met Alexander spell for spell with his own Wall.

Alexander flinched for a moment at this. As far as he could remember, Squall had never been trained to use magic without a GF, and the white knight felt no such presence in Squall’s mind. While originally the summon had bet his sure victory on knowing how Squall fought, he realized now that the young SeeD had picked up some new tricks. With any luck, however, there would be no need for violence.

“Squall,” he began, hoping to avoid a confrontation but preparing a spell all the same; feeling it better to be safe than sorry. “It is I: Alexander. I was your GF for a time, do you recall? I helped you fight Ultimecia. Squall, why are you standing before me with blade in hand, prepared to fight your old ally? Tidus and I have done nothing to harm you or this dark monster you’re taking orders from.” He reasoned, wondering how Squall came to take orders from a man who not only did not out-rank him, but was not even part of the same organization.

“Be logical, Squall.” Alexander said abruptly as he cast his Haste spell, changing his negotiation strategy from relation to intimidation. “I am every bit as mighty as King Bahamut, and you managed to bring him to defeat only with allies and junctions. You would face me alone now, with a standard Revolver model and no GF to aid you? This is madness! You would throw your life away!” He shouted, drawing the Blinding Sword he had blessed with holy light earlier in the day. He took a passive, slightly defensive stance; not wishing to have the act of drawing a sword taken as one of aggression.

“Squall, where is Rinoa?” He asked suddenly once more, adding a third question to the list and changing his strategy again. This time sympathy would be the hand he played, and then he would await Squall’s reply. Squall and Rinoa’s bond had kept them together through the compression and decompression of time, so it stood to reason that it would keep them together through the time crash. So then…? “Did something happen to her, my friend? Did you lose her somehow? I can help you find her, if you like. It would give me great pleasure to find all of the others and gain some allies.” He smiled, offering his hand without quite lowering his sword all the way. Squall was a smart, trained lad who would surely recognize when an alliance was the most favorable of options. Alexander had established motivation to trust, incentive to avoid battle, and grounds for friendship. He had faith that no action would be needed on his part.

[tidus]

((I am wretched for not posting but I am now. Sorry guys. Also, thanks for doing my job while I sucked, Jess ^^; ))

Tidus leaned backwards, his back almost parallel with the ground that threatened to send both of them spiraling to a rocky end. Xenos' blade passed merely inches from his face, slicing away at a few threads of his shirt but missing anything else. Bringing himself back up to face his opponent, Tidus leapt backwards. "What is it you're after?"

Glaring at his opponent, Tidus saw something in him that reminded him of Seymour. Maybe it was the haughty, "I must save this poor world" attitude, maybe it was all the theatrics...maybe it was just that he was starting to develop a hatred for this man that was equal to that for Seymour. He didn't care; the man was simply his enemy, and that was all he needed.

"What's your name? Are you just going to hide behind your mask like a coward?!" Tidus screamed at the stranger. Hopefully, all this shouting and jumping about would provide enough distraction for the man that Tidus could get a blow in.

Still, this was going nowhere. He had to take a risk, or nothing would come of this dancing about. Summoning up some energy, the boy leaped into the air, so high that he disappeared in the fog of clouds above the stony arena. Hopefully this time, he wouldn't miss.

((If you couldn't tell, Tidus is using Jump. This will be interesting.))

[Xenos]

When Xenos saw Tidus disappear into the clouds he smiled from behind his mask and closed his eyes, face turned to the sky. It would be out of place if he died here and now. "My name is Xenos," he called to the sky, unknowing if Tidus could hear, "and I fight to be forgiven." This last came out a near whisper, but he tightened his hand on Chirijiraden and mustered up all the concentration he could find. That Dream was haunting enough to never truly disappear.... just like his father, Sin.

((Sorry it took me so long and sorry it's not better. >.> A lot of things have been going on, but I know that's hardly an excuse anymore.))

[tidus]

Screaming as his body dove through the gray clouds hovering over the crater, Tidus glared at his opponent, raining down upon him, sword in hand. "Forgiven?" he screamed in rage at the masked man. "You think that twisting an entire world is forgivable?!"

Swinging his blade down and pushing all his weight to the ground, Tidus' blade came down upon Xenos, its blue hue reflecting his opponent's mask. "If you want to be forgiven," Tidus said through gritted teeth. "Then you shouldn't commit crimes like battle!"

((You can parry that if you wish))

[Xenos]

((Sorry... I'm late again....))

Xenos held his ground, his legs screaming beneath him as he held his own weight and Tidus' force above him. Gathering enough strength from his stance, he threw himself away from Tidus' blow. "If you're naive enough to believe that I caused this Time Compression then perhaps you're nothing more than a child," he took a short moment to catch his breath and shook his head, "I simply couldn't stop it." He popped Chirijiraden parallel to the ground, "It's human nature to battle. I would think that you'd see that by now. Who are you to battle and preach nonviolence? A mistake should be forgiven, but maybe..." Xenos sent a precise thrust towards Tidus' chest, "not mine!" This last was thrown as a sort of battle cry, strong but desperate at the core.

[tidus]

Tidus leapt back just as the blade was about to strike, but the thrust had caught him off-guard, and he lost his footing.

For a brief moment - an instant - as his head came tumbling toward a jagged rock, and his body fell further into the core of the Crater, Tidus felt the enormity of it all - Time Compression. It sounded odd, and it sounded foreign, but somehow, he suddenly felt as though millions of tiny spirits swimming in his body, infinitesimal lights moving in a maze of thoughts, scattered. It felt as if his very body had shattered, and for a brief instant, he felt that even if his body collided with the rocks rushing beneath him, it wouldn't matter, because he was already dead. He was a dream, trapped swimming in a world where all the waters were swirling into one mass, one jumbled, chaotic mess of fluid.

"No!"

As he screamed in defiance of this, in defiance of the sick, twisted world that had been created, and of whatever wretched game this man was playing, Tidus swung in a cartwheel back to his feet, landing yards below Xenos.

"Tell me," he shouted, even though his lungs were burning and his body felt as though it were slowly dissolving. "What do you want from us? What did we do to you?"

Readying a counterattack in case Xenos refused to let up, Tidus tried his best to appear pleading and innocent, though a certain rage still burned in his eyes.

[Xenos]

Xenos smiled thoughtfully. "What did you do?" He started laughing, low at first as though chucking to a joke Tidus had made, but it slowly rose in volume until Xenos had to hold his brow to gain composure again. He sobered enough to yell to Tidus "All of you, the 'heroes' to all you hold dear act and act and act, but never THINK! What will your actions do to others? Is killing the only way to solve anything? How do your actions hurt the people you kill. None of you are any different from the people you fight. What would you do? What would you have done if you had no choice but to kill your summoner to save all the countless people in the world-- in the universe? In ALL the worlds?" He shook his head. "You wouldn't do it. Neither would I and now we all must pay for our mistakes. You must to learn and I must, to repent." He took a step back. "Keep playing the hero.... Save the world if you can, but be careful not to throw it into chaos.... We are unstable and if you're not careful...." He smiled and turned away from Tidus. "Good luck."

Xenos caught sight of Squall. "Let's go. We're finished here." A glance to the sky and a silent message to Tiamat brought her winging to the ground. Tiamat, any change in the Faythe?

The dragon turned one eye to Xenos as the men mounted. Bevelle. There's a woman tapping into their hymn.

"To Bevelle, then." Xenos cast a long glance down the dome as Tiamat's great tendoned wings beat against the air. "Come fight me, son of Sin. Prove you're more than them...." he whispered into the unhearing air.

((Sorry guys, but I can't wait on Squall anymore. I'm heading off to Bevelle. Sorry you didn't get more of a chance to do something, Alex....))

[Alexander THE GIRL]

((Just then, Alex woke up from his several months long sleep. "Oh shit, what happened? Did I miss something? Did Squall move? Where did everyone go?"

...No really, I guess I'll post for real in a couple days or whatever.))

[Xenos]

((No. Squall never posted. She's been inactive FOREVER. I had other things that I had to do with Xenos, so I took Squall and ran. So you guys can post with each other and get on to some active players. I'm sorry that all happened, Alex. I thought that at least one of them would be active.

[Alexander THE GIRL]

Xenos had fled.

Alexander stood, puzzled by Xenos’ parting words. He couldn’t quite understand where Xenos must have been coming from. He couldn’t sense the angle. He didn’t see the catch.

“That was…unexpected.” Alexander mused as he watched Tiamat fly off with the white knight’s newest mortal enemy. He thought surely that the battle would progress until Xenos grew tired of duelling and revealed that he possessed some kind of forbidden power. Tidus would be unable to continue fighting blade to blade, and Alexander would be forced to sacrifice himself valiantly in battle as Tidus stabbed Xenos in the back, or something along those lines. Alexander had a bad habit of assuming that every battle would end in some grand fashion.

“Are you alright, lad?” He called to his partner, knowing full well that the boy hadn’t sustained any serious injury.

Alexander pondered Xenos’ words for a moment. Bevelle was a place in Tidus’ memory, to be certain, but where was it? Alexander couldn’t go teleporting to places he didn’t know existed. Furthermore, Alexander was wary of following any directions given by Xenos. More importantly, though…

“Tidus,” The knight started. “Do you want to follow him? If you do then we have to go after him now. Dragons are quick, and much better at carrying people than I am. We’ll lose him if we wait.”

The question, of course, was purely rhetorical. They had to go after Xenos. There was no question, and they both knew it. Xenos was an evil man, and even though it was likely a trap, he had to be pursued. He had to be questioned, trialed, and likely executed. Justice must be served. This was Alexander's charge, and neither hell nor high water would stop him. Tidus, too, must have felt the need for answers.

"Come!" He shouted as he grabbed Tidus around the chest and took off flying after the dragon. Muttering a small chant, the white knight cast a Haste spell on himself in hopes of catching up to the dragon. Though it had considerable effect, every moment continued to put air between the angel and the dragon. It didn't matter, though. He would be likely able to follow it long enough for Bevelle to come into view. A short scan of Tidus' mind gave Alexander and image of the city. Oh yes, he would follow the dragon without much trouble. Justice would be served. If Alexander had to tear this world apart looking for that defiler, justice would be served.