Author's Note: Yay! Another Update - lol. Yah how that for quick? Blah. So I don't have a job anymore, I found that my free time opened up. I read this chapter over the weekend and now it's a week later and I'm updating. It's only ten pages long, and it's a bit rough around the edges. It's been a really long time since I had to write a fighting scene which was the problem I had trying to write this. I legit, spent three full days trying to write this chapters! Ah well, I'm getting close to the end of it which is essentially my goal. I really want to finish this since I started it. I suspect another ten chapters at most, then it'll be all done and I can finally put that binder on the shelf and possibly start a new one? lol I'm sure you'll have questions about the chapter, and feel free to ask them - If you.. read this LOL. I will try my best to answer them in the next chapter. I know I have a few to answer that are glaringly obvious in regards towards the random ending, but I'll get to it! Just wanted to post it. Enjoy if you read, I know I did!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Soon, I won't own this laptop. No money is a bad thing lol

---xXx---

The FarPlane's Guardian

After the long night of training with Sonya, the heirs had been sent back to their bedrooms, bloodied and battered. They were to sleep off the effects of fighting the Dark Angel while Gippal and Rikku navigated the air ship to Guadosalam. The destination had been chosen for a few reasons that Sonya and Maximus had concluded on. The first one being that the FarPlane itself was far to unstable to leave alone for much longer. While it was highly important that all the heirs be present for sealing the literal gateway to the FarPlane, but it was also very important to be sure that it be kept under wraps while they searched for the final heir. There had been too many times in Spira's history where the FarPlane in Guadosalam had been one of the major problems in Spira.

That wasn't the only reason though. Guadosalam was an underground city, built entirely out of rock and earth. It wouldn't be that far fetched to humor that the heir of Earth might be found in this place. While the city was relatively small, and the angel's doubted that they would find the heir of Yanni there they could leave no stone unturned. Besides for such an important place, it wouldn't take long to check around for a random heir. Though – it might be difficult to pin point said heir seeing as how the presence of another five would throw off the sensor that both Maximus and Sonya had. Ah well.

Slipping out onto the bridge, a pair of emerald eyes glared at its occupants. The ships three Al Bheds were there, each one watching Sonya carefully. She scowled at the trio, "Fifteen minutes." The two words sent Julia off sprinting towards her bedroom to get ready. Rikku and Gippal quietly averted their eyes. Tense was an under statement currently. Gippal was annoyed that Sonya was still destroying his ship, Sonya was livid that she was at the "mercy" of humans – and the fact that everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before five people were going to take another long rest in the infirmary left a dense feeling of unease among the HighWind's occupants.

The sooner all of this nonsense was over and done with the better. It had finally gotten to the point where the mortals on the ship detested being around Sonya about as much as she hated being around them. Even Maximus had grown weary of the tension. He himself had his full of Sonya and humans for the rest of the millennium. They needed to get off this airship, find the final heir, and finish the Dios forsaken seals. Once they did that, it would be another few thousand years before they could attempt an escape again. It was such a simple solution and yet, they were unable to complete it because of the difficulties finding a single person in all of Spira was proving to be.

The Dark Angel stormed forward towards the ship's intercom system. Her slender hand grasped tightly on the microphone as she pressed the on button. "Good Afternoon you worthless pieces of flesh. The ship has finally landed on a stretch of land between the Moonflow and Guadosalam. You have fifteen minutes to be ready and off the ship. Do not keep me waiting." The cryptic announcement cut off and Sonya sauntered towards the exit.

---xXx---

Ten minutes was all it had taken for all the heirs to join the angels outside of the air ship. Even Ryu had joined them to help find his opposing elemental heir. He wasn't needed for the seal, but he wasn't sure if Sonya would want him there for the search for the final elemental. So, Ryu took the smart way out and decided to tag along. Worst case scenario, he's sent back to the air ship. It was a better outcome than not showing up, his presence being wanted and Sonya throwing him through a wall.

"All here? Wonderful, let's go~" Maximus' cheerful tone drifted through the air as he ushered the heirs into the underground city.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Tidus muttered as he looked sidelong at a random Guado standing off to the side. Though a good number of years had passed, he still held a resentment towards the guado after all the trouble they had given him and the others on Yuna's pilgrimage. Though they weren't the only people that resided in Guadosalam. Since since Leblanc's syndicate had taken refuge here. It was still unsettling to the blitz star to see non-Guado in Guadosalam, he just never got accustomed it after his return.

"Shut up and be alert," Sonya snarled as she pushed past him, taking the lead. "It's Guadosalam, it doesn't matter who ends up here - these people have a tendency to have their own agenda… So don't get caught with your pants down.."

"Please… if you listen to nothing else she says. Listen to this," Maximus said with a serious tone, as he too moved past the others to where the dark angel was. "I really don't want to see any of you with no pants."

A few soft laughs were heard from the group of heirs, accompanied with an aggravated sigh from the dark angel. She was disgusted with the way Maximus had so quickly assimilated with the others and her respect for him only dwindled as time progressed. He was their superior, and yet, he'd disgrace himself by lowering himself to their level. "Disgusting…"

Nothing followed the single word that Sonya voiced as they continued towards the Far Plane. It wasn't a long distance to the entrance, and if all things went smoothly, the group would be in and out of Guadosalam faster than chocobo on the Mi'ihen. And for a short while – the group was given the chance to be optimistic about the turn out of this day. There had been little incidence, only one Guado who had tried to refuse to allow the crowd near the FarPlane. That problem had been quickly squash by the irate dark haired woman who threatened to impale him to the roof of the community.

The heirs had gone through the process, twice one might add, since Kaden hadn't been paying attention the first time and ended up taking a block of ice to the face. Sonya was none to pleased having to delve into her magical reserve a second time, she was now not only irritable, she was lucky that she was walking. Sonya was a strong willed person, but dipping into essentially what equates to your life stream was tiring even for her.

"Let's go."

Sonya only had to say it once before everyone was scurried off quickly to get back to the airship. The sooner they got back there, the more things they could prepare for and do in terms of finding the last heir. However, as luck would have it, the heirs weren't quite done in Guadosalam. They had barely taken a few steps towards the exit of the the walled off community before a tremor rocked the ground they stood on, tossing a few of the heirs to the ground. Rock shattered under foot and over head as it along with other debris got tossed towards the ground.. "Move!" Maximus instructed as he grabbed the closest heir and jumped to the side. No sooner had his feet landed upon the floor below him had a large slab of concrete crashed down where he had been standing.

"Thanks, Max," Julia breathed as her violet eyes stared at the place she'd been previously standing.

Confused and terrified murmurs ran through Guadosalam as people fled from the area towards a safer territory. Half fled out back towards the Moonflow, the direction the heirs had come from while others took their chances with the Thunder Plains. The heirs stayed frozen, each one holding their breath as they looked around. Dust and soot had been tossed up into the air when the disaster struck, obscuring the vision of the inhabitants. The confusion, however, did not take long to clear up as the dust settled relatively quickly sending Sonya and Maximus into a burst of movement.

The two Angels had been caught off guard, something that did not bode well with either of them. Sonya's magic may have been sealed, but Maximus' hadn't. There was no reason why he shouldn't have felt something. Unless of course it was an explosion set off by dynamite. However, the current overwhelming dark presence dictated otherwise to the pair of angels.

The two dashed forward into the center of the center, only to be greeted with a rather unpleasant sight. "We have company," Sonya said, a sense of anticipation and malice lacing through her words.

Maximus took his position besides the femme fatale and stared at the beast standing before them. Towering over the heir by at least twice their height, this was no ordinary fiend. This was something straight out of a history book. Three sets of ivory fangs glimmered as the light hit the saliva covered extensions of their mouths. Thick black fur, and paws big enough to crush building – they were looking at the guardian of the gate to the afterlife. The watch dog of the FarPlane – Cerberus. 'What in the name of Dios is he doing here?!"

The group of seven stood still as the beast stomped around, it's three heads letting out feral cries in all directions. Well, this was bad.

"Sonya...?"

"What?"

Silver eyes turned towards the dark haired woman. "What are you going to do?"

"Kill it, Maximus... I am going to kill it." A small smile crept onto the woman's face as she stared down the feral beast before her. There was no time to waste. She paid him no heed, and ignored the feeling of fatigue that coursed through her body. Ripping the Twins from their holsters, she moved away from her counter-part, as far as she was concerned death was the only answer to his question.

Maximus shook his head, a small smile adorning his visage. It didn't really matter if Sonya was exhausted or not she wouldn't ask for help, or even give off the impression that she needed. Maximus didn't need her to though, he could pick up on the subtleties that she gave off – but knowing someone for seven thousand years would do that to anyone. Regardless, there was no use fighting with her. What she wanted – she would get whether Maximus thought it was alright or not. "Of course, dear."

The dark angel was back to barking orders to the remaining heirs that had littered the streets of Guadosalam. "Do not do anything stupid. Watch out for it's tail and for the love of Dios – do not get bitten." Bitten, eaten – it was all the same in death which is what would happen if any of the heirs were stupid enough to get close to their mouths.

In a few swift motions, Maximus has rushed forward, grabbing Kaden by the collar and pulling him away from the giant foot that came crashing down. "Keeping your eyes on the target is a good place to start..." His voice was flat as he pushed the heir away from him. It was becoming easier for Maximus to see where Sonya's lack of patience stemmed from when dealing with the novice fighters. It mattered not, it would most likely be the two angels that would dispose of this overgrown puppy.

"Scatter!"

The lone directive came from the Angel of light who was diverting the attention of the right head away from the large group. Sonya followed suit only forcing the attention of the left head in the other direction. If the three heads had their attention pulled in different ways, it would become increasingly difficult for the animal to attack.

"Don't stay in one place – move about, but never be clumped together. Three heads will prevent sneak attacks, but it only has a single body – attacking will become difficult with a group of our size. Be smart."

Sonya snorted at Maximus' instructions as she watched the groups scatter – smart. Tch right. Ryu was rushing towards Maximus, the hand of the ice heiress dragging him along. Tidus jumped, dodged and flipped his way towards Sonya, while the two remaining heirs back peddled from the monstrosity. Well no, that wasn't true – Julia backed away from Cerberus, Kaden on the other hand held his ground.

Impatient and cocky as ever, Kaden threw the first proverbial stone at the animal. With a snap of his fingers, flames larger than the water heir shot up out of the ground, engulfing the front paws of the three headed dog. Fierce and untamed, the flames shot upwards and outward, looking to take out anything and everything in their path – including Tidus and Sonya.

In the time it took Sonya to blink her vision was assaulted with fire and a Tidus who flying towards her to push her back away from the uncontrolled flames. 'Oh no, screw that...' the dark warrior thought she readied to launch herself up and over the tackling heir. However, as she preparing to use Tidus as a human spring board, the irate enemy that had launched itself onto its hind legs had come crashing back down, shattering the earth under its paws. The tremors shook her steadied position, and the angel had all she could do to stand, not that she was standing for long. A toned arm wrapped itself around her waist dragging her back away from the fire that quickly licked up the area she was previously standing in. 'Fuckin' Kaden...'

Huffing, the Dark Angel pushed the water god off her and climbed back to her feet. "Don't just lay around, dose that fire, before that idiot cremates all of us."

.xxx.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of the dog, Ryu was trying his hardest to create a wind current that pulled the flames back towards Cerberus. "Try and keep it down, Ria..."

The ice goddess nodded her head as she placed her hands on the ground. It took no more than a second for the ground to become slick with a thin layering of ice, taking away the mobility the monster previously had. As Cerberus tried hard to regain his balance Three large spikes of ice jutted up out of the ground. Two missed. A result of pure dumb luck that the dog would slide out of the way, but the third connected briefly, slicing up the side of his fur coat.

Staggering in rage, the dog placed his singed paws on the ice and turned his attention towards the trio in the back.

.xxx.

"Tidus, soak it!"

Sonya's voice sliced through the air as she shoved Tidus forward, nearly knocking him over. He didn't know what it was that she had in mind but with the Twins glistening brightly in her hands, he wasn't going to question it. Conjuring up the moist particles in the air, Tidus summoned forth a watera spell. The spell crashed down over the midsection of guardian, forcing the thick fur to become matted against its skin.

"Julia."

That was all the dark angel had to say before multiple lightening bolts shot forwards at the beast. One after another, after another. Sonya knew Julia had good control over her magic, or at least comparatively speaking. However, it lacked power – by soaking the pup in water, Sonya had just effectively increased the power the ability of the volts to strike their target, ultimately making it that much more powerful. Though that would hardly be enough. Pushing forward, Sonya rushed forward, her guns cocked upward as dashed towards the ice.

Leaping forward, she twisted her body, hitting the ice with her shoulder and sliding across the battle field. Shots rang out from her guns. One by one a bullet imbedded itself in the stomach of the beast showering the floor, and Sonya with a lovely shade of crimson.

Roar echoed through the cave as the monster tried to crush Sonya with one of its paws. The angel of darkness had just barely managed to kick out her feet, blocking the massive paw from crushing her body. Straining the muscles in her legs, Sonya held firm not allowing the foot to crush her into the floor. However, by the simple force of the attack, the earth around her crumbled and forced her body down deeper into the cavern. She grunted as the shattered rock sliced at her body. Tossing a single hand up, Sonya unloaded another round into the over grown pup's paw.

The weight was lifted from Sonya's body as Cerberus jumped up away from her, howling. It's serpent like tail whipped around, crashing into some of the pillars of rock, shattering them. Three heads snapped at anything and anyone in the area, and the dog continued to try and bury the dark angel in the small cavernous hole her body had made in the ground. The heirs scattered, each one trying to avoid the monstrous heads that were trying to decapitate them.

As the overgrown dog rampaged, he didn't notice that Maximus had taken flight. Hovering over the large mass of singed fur, he let out a piercing whistle. All three heads jerked upward at the source of the noise. "Good boy," Maximus cooed. A small smile sat on his face as a long rope composed of holy magic shot out, latching itself around the neck of the center head. The magic burnt into the flesh of the dark being, compressing itself. Smaller and smaller until the magical rope came together again and the guardian of the Farplane's head fell off.

"Heads up.... literally," Maximus called down to his companions.

Luckily, only two heirs had to worry about the massive head falling towards them – Kyria and Ryu. Ryu was able to scamper away in time – though the same could not be said for the ice elementalist. She managed to avoid being crushed by the massive skull, but as the head was falling, a fang from Cerberus' mouth managed to puncture through her left arm, making it almost completely useless.

Ryu ran back to her, ignoring the raging two headed beast. His hands stretched out looking to grab a hold of the petite female who was crying in pain.

"DO NOT TOUCH HER." Sonya's venomous words shot out across the field as she dodged around stomping paws making a bee line for the wind and ice heirs. Confusion was evident on his face as he held his hands up in the air, away from Kyria. "Cerberus' saliva is poisonous. Do not go near her."

The wind god back away from the limber heiress who was panting heavily, sweat forming on her brow. Sonya cursed as she watched the heiress fall to the floor. Coming to a skidding halt, she glared at Ryu. "Give me your shirt..."

.xxx.

Julia's attention jerked upward as she ceased her attacks. She looked over at Sonya who was sprinting towards Kyria and Ryu. Spiraled eyes widened as she watched her friend crumble to the floor. "Ria!" She went to move forward only to be caught by the tail she'd be trying so hard to avoid. The long tail wrapped itself around the frame of the slender Al Bhed and tossed her against the hard rock wall. The force of the throw was enough to knock Julia's shoulder straight out of the socket and shatter any hope of it being popped back in.

She whimpered as Kaden ran to her side, doing his best to deflect the flailing tail that was striking out at them once again. "I got you, babe..." was the last thing the Thunder heiress heard before she blacked out.

.xxx.

Blue eyes jerked back and forth as he slowly watched the heirs begin to drop one by one. Things were getting a little out of control and just when it looked like they were going to come out of this without any injuries. Tidus rushed forward, the traction-less ground of ice gone since Kyria had fainted. Propelling himself upward, Tidus lunged at the beast, his blade held up over his head. It connected - the edge of Tidus' blade delved deep into the leg of the animal.

Using the weight of his body, Tidus pulled the blade down, cutting through countless muscle tissue in the dog's leg. Forcing the blade back out from the leg, the blonde stumbled backwards as the ground shook from the beast momentarily falling forward. "Max, think you should finish it off..."

.xxx.

"KILL IT." Sonya's shrieked at her counterpart. Her emerald eyes were wild as she looked around at the damage this thing had done to the underground city. "It's going to bring the damn ceiling down on our heads – Guadosalam hasn't seen a fiend this big since that incident with the god damn Gate Demon. The whole fuckin' place is going to collapse." Sonya had Kyria draped over her shoulder, her wounded arm wrapped in Ryu's shirt. Sonya held one of the twins in her left hand to keep her from being totally defenseless. Cocking back the gun, she unloaded a few rounds into the chest of the beast.

The dark angel frowned as the small heiress in her arm began to shake from the poison's effect. She needed to be treated – and fast. "Stop jerking around, idiot."

Her counterpart rolled his eyes. She was normally the one taking out fiends, but without her powers she was stuck to ground work and watching over the heirs was part of that duty. Though with Kyria in need of help, and Julia was out from her encounter with beast's tail, this needed to be finished quickly. Ah well, maybe another time he could stretch his wings and get a decent fight in.

If there was a next time. As Maximus prepared to summon forth the same spell he used before, he could feel the magic in his body run dry. An alarmed yell echoed from the depths of his chest as wings vanished and he plummeted from the sky. Landing with a grunt, Maximus' fingers wrapped tightly around the fur of the beast so not to fall to the ground below. His head was spinning, and he felt nauseous. The urge to get sick grew increasingly stronger as the dog tried to toss Maximus from his back.

Sonya's head jerked up as the suffocating presence of holy magic disappeared. A bewildered expression crossed her visage as she ran towards the entrance. With one of the twins in hand, Sonya shot off rounds into the beast as she went along. 'What the hell is going on...' Not certain of what happened to her partner she rushed to find a relatively safe place for Kyria to be place.

"Max! What the hell?!"

The voice of the fire heir asked the question everyone was thinking. This was too serious for Maximus to simply be screwing around – not to mention the fact that he was currently in a poor position himself. Something went wrong and they were in a really bad spot. "Kaden – watch her." She roughly placed the body of the heiress on the ground not far from where Julia was laying. "Do not touch her."

Wasting no time, she sprinted up a small pathway to her right. The dark angel was panting, this fight needed to end soon – or she was going to be in a pile next to the other two girls soon. As she pushed forward, her foot found itself on a ledge tossing her out into the air. Twisting her body, Sonya shoved her gun back in it's holster before ripping Oblivion Rapier from its sheath. The black blade stabbed into the back of Cerberus as she landed, securing her position on the beast.

She ignored the growls of the guardian as her slender fingers wrapped around Maximus' arm, pulling him up onto the flatter part of the back. Her eyes locked with his, "What is going on?"

"I... don't know.. I just can't... do anything"

Had this been any other time, Sonya would have made a snide remark about him always being useless and how that hadn't changed, but this was serious. Maximus was without his powers, and so was she. Relying on the heirs to finish off this beast wasn't something that was going to bode well for them. "Shit," was her only reply. Though it wasn't because of Maximus' condition. The adrenaline wasn't doing it for her anymore – and the blood that was still trickling out of the wounds she'd gotten early on was making her woozy.

Placing a hand to her head, Sonya tightened her grip on Oblivion Rapier as she tried hard to toss away the dizzy feeling. "Kill this thing, Maximus." Was the only thing she could bare to say as she ripped Oblivion Rapier from the body of the beast. "Ryu, Tidus and Kaden are not the people I want to rely on keeping us alive..." Standing, Sonya got ready to jump back down to ground so that she wouldn't run the risk of fainting from such a height.

Though, fate was just not on the side of Sonya this day. Maximus, still not used to the fact that Sonya was without powers, gaped at her visible signs of fatigue. Knowing she was tired was one thing, seeing the small beads of sweat on her head was not bad, however, watching Sonya fight off the feeling of fainting had thrown him for a loop. He had watched Sonya fight through broken limbs without stumbling. To see her so...human like... was disconcerting to say the least. So it was no wonder that without his own magical powers, and his stunned expression he did not see the long tail swooping down after him.

"Get out of the way, idiot." Sonya snarled as she grabbed the front of Maximus shirt and pulled him forward out of range from the tail. Falling to her knees, Sonya's fingers wrapped around the damp fur on the dog, leaving her wide open to the back swing of the tail. Wrapping its long, snake like tail around her waist, Cerberus lifted her up from his back. Lifting her up into the air, the tail whipped her around before forcefully throwing the angel to the side. Her mind was jumbled and she was disorientated. She wasn't sure which way was up, down, left or right. All she knew was that the sudden force of a wind pushing her the other way was going to be the only thing that kept the wall of Guadosalam from shattering the bones in her body.

.xxx.

"Good Job!" Tidus cheered on his fellow heir as he took a running start towards the wall. Pushing up off the ground, the blitz jumped towards the wall – using it as a spring board to leap up and catch the falling angel. His toned arms cradled Sonya as he came to a skidding halt on the rocky ground below. "You ok?" He asked more out of instinct than anything else.

Tidus half expected the old witch to punch him square in the face and tell him to screw off. She most likely wasn't going to be pleased that she had to be rescued and by humans no less. But, when she didn't immediately open her eyes, a wave of panic washed over the water heir. "Sonya?" He held her body close to his, lightly shaking her – goading her to wake up. "Sonya? Sonya, please wake up. Sonya..."

Slowly, but surely a pair of Emerald eyes blinked open. She looked up at the blitzer who was entirely too close for comfort and frowned. "What have I said about touching me...?" Her tone was flat as she rolled out of Tidus' grip. "Stop slacking – kill this thing already." Though she tried to be fierce, and there was a hint of malice in her words., Sonya's body was too shaky for Tidus to take her seriously.

"Sonya, you're not going to be able to stand, just don't move."

She scowled at the advice the human gave her. "Who the hell said I was going to stand." Sitting on the ground, Sonya pulled her guns from their respective holster.s "I don't need to stand to shoot the damned thing."

.xxx.

Maximus had finally managed to shake his surprise. His normally cheerful expression was replaced with one of determination. This was getting out of hand and dangerous. Unsheathing Divine Steel Maximus rushed forward, plunging the blade deep into the skull of the left head. The neck that the head was slumped forward, tossing Maximus back down to the ground. Blade still in hand, Maximus turned to look at Ryu who was aiding Kaden's magic from afar. It was a relief to see that even if Ryu didn't know how to handle his magic properly alone, he could aid to the others that did. Either way, there was another head left and this pup was none too pleased.

To make matters worse, Cerberus had decided to focus his attention on the Angel of light. Moving forward, the dog swooped down, attempting to bite off the hand that Divine Steel was in. Maximus quickly discarded the blade, as it got caught in the mouth of the beast when his hand jerked back. The Angel of light frowned as the blade refused to reappear in his hand. The magical dominance that Cerberus had over him now was too great for him to summon the blade back without his powers. Cursing Maximus ducked around the snapping head making a run back towards Kaden who wasn't using his blade. "Kaden, your blade! NOW"

Though, the blade never came – nor was it necessary. As the fire heir fumbled to get a hold of the hilt, a female voice cut through the air, summoning eight condense spheres of holy magic that plunged into the tall beast in the center of Guadosalam. With a final howl, the guardian of the FarPlane burst into hundreds of pyreflies that immediately flew back through the gate from whence they came. "Yuna!" Maximus' gray eyes were wide as he rushed towards the former Summoner. "To Kyria, quick. Esuna and Esuna her hard."

"Esuna will only temporarily work..." The Dark Angel's voice was low as she staggered towards the group. "You'll need the lily pads from the Moon Flow to cure the venom from Cereberus. Provided that the damned things haven't been polluted by your stupid culture – that is the only rumored cured." She stopped when she met up with Yuna who was trying to get the brunette to stop convulsing. "You'll need to hurry – the venom is strong and fast. She won't last the rest of the day at this rate..." Looking around at the faces around her, she scowled. "That means move."

Yuna's head tilted up, her bicolored eyes looked at Sonya. "...Are you going to be okay, Sonya?"

Her body tensed at the question as she tried her hardest to straighten her back. "Spare me the false concerns. There isn't a damned thing any of you could do for me even if I wasn't alright. Now unless you want the world to end – I suggest moving. I'm getting a bit aggravated that one minute you are all angry at me for killing you, and the next minute you're all gawking at me while someone is dying right before you."

"Yes, right..." Yuna let the conversation end there. "Please then, let us hurry."

Tidus scooped up Julia while Kaden grabbed a hold of Kyria. The group hurried forward, each of them rushing back to the airship. Well, except Maximus, Sonya and Ryu. Ryu was still a bit a head, but lagging behind the others. The pair of Angels were lagging for another reason.

"Can you walk, dearest?"

She scoffed, pushing his hand away. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Maximus countered, his expression turned grave. "You look like your about to fall over."

"And you look like something I want to run my sword through." Her emerald eyes were narrowed as her petite hand moved towards the hilt of Oblivion Rapier. "Go get your stupid blade and let's go...."

Maximus shot her a wary glance before backing away from the dark haired warrior. Jogging towards his blade, Maximus quickly picked it up and placed it in its sheath as he moved back towards Sonya. "Alright, let's get back before anything else busts out of the FarPla-" The words died on his lips as he watched Sonya drop to her knees. Running forward, Maximus took a knee next to the dark angel. Pushing aside the long dark hair that obscured his view of her face, Maximus spoke, "Are you ok?"

She pushed away his hand again, before falling forward. "I just... need to rest. I'm fine."

"Then let me help you back to the air ship." Sonya scowled. "You can't walk, Sonya. Unless you want me to just leave you here. You can sleep on the floor." He stood, his arms crossed over his chest. "No one is around, Sonya – let me walk you half way to the ship and if your ego is so big that you can't be seen with me helping you, you can stagger the rest of the way. You won't make it back if you don't."

Sonya frowned, her hands balling into fists as she glared at the floor. If she had her magic she'd be fine – maybe a little bruised, but nothing she couldn't heal in a few seconds. But she didn't. She was essentially a human that couldn't really die and a ridiculous level of skill with a sword. "Fine." Reaching out her hand, she grabbed a hold of Maximus' outstretched arm. "But you mention this to no one."

"Angel's Honor." He held up his other hand as a smile slipped over his lips.

Not that his promise meant anything or mattered at all. The two hadn't made it out of Guadosalam before Sonya slumped over, her body finally giving into the wear and tear it endured today. The Angel of Light sighed, a small, sad smile on his lips. Slipping his arms around his counterpart, Maximus cradled her in his arm, taking a few strides out of Guadosalam.

As he made his way towards the air ship, he caught up with Ryu who had seemingly been lingering outside the entrance of the small town. "What happened?"

"I swept her off her feet with my dashing good looks and charms, Ryu."

"Seriously, Max..."

The Angel of Light sighed. Well, Sonya didn't make him promise not to explain why she fainted. "She's tired. She tapped into her reserve powers twice today, then had to fight. She's strong willed, but her body just can't handle that kind of stress. She fainted. She'll be fine tomorrow." Pulling ahead of the wind heir, Maximus called over his shoulder. "Though, Ryu – I wouldn't mention this to anyone. Pick your battles, remember?"