Hey. Not for sure what to say here. Its been a while. Summary: What if Yuna chose the final aeon and Sin wasn't defeated? What if Rikku and the surviving guardians go on a new pilgrimage? What if Bevelle had claimed that Rikku had sabotaged Yuna's pilgrimage and was after her? This is that story. Rated T. Oh it will be Aurikku before the end, so if you don't like, you don't have to read.
Sorry, but I forgot to put this when I first uploaded this, and didn't notice that I didn't put it until now. So... I do not own Final Fantasy X.
Journey of the Hunted
Prologue
Three years ago my cousin Yuna… she died… trying to bring the Calm. There was seven of us, Tidus he was like my big brother, Lulu she was something like a sister to me, Wakka he was our comedian and Al-Bhed hater, Kimahri was always silent and watchful, Yuna as I've already said she was my cousin, there was Auron guardian to Uncle Braska before Yuna, and there was me.
As we traveled we began to understand each other, and before we reached Zanarkand we were like family. Zanarkand is where we lost our hope… or where I lost hope.
We walked into Yunalesca's chamber, where she stood.
"Welcome to Zanarkand. I congratulate you, summoner. You have completed your pilgrimage. I will now bestow upon you that which you seek. The Final Summoning...will be yours. Now, choose. You must choose the one whom I will change...to become the fayth for the Final Summoning. There must be a bond, between chosen and summoner, for that is what the Final Aeon embodies: the bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends. If that bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin. A thousand years ago, I chose my husband Zaon as my fayth. Our bond was true, and I obtained the Final Aeon. There is nothing to fear. You will soon be freed of worry and pain. For once you call forth the Final Aeon, your life will end. Death is the ultimate and final liberation. Your father, Braska, chose this path." She said. "Have you chosen the one to become your fayth? Who will it be?"
Yuna turned to us. "Are there another way?"
"There has to be Yuna!" Tidus said. "There has to be a way to break the cycle. If you choose the Final Aeon… Sin will just come back again!"
"Yeah Yunie, there has to be another way. We'll think of something." I said.
"Yeah, we'll come up with something!" Tidus shouted.
"Listen... You wanna defeat Sin and keep Yuna alive... You don't want Sin to come back, ya? That is just not gonna happen, brudda, you know?"
"If you want everything, you'll end up with nothing."
"But…
"This is the way, this is the only way to defeat Sin. Yuna use me." Lulu said turning back to Yuna.
"But…
"Yuna don't…
"What happens if there is no other way? How many years will Spira survive if there is no way to defeat Sin? How many people would I be killing if there is no other way?" Yuna said.
"You can live your life worrying about "What if", but if you let the "What ifs" of life consume you, you'll end up with nothing." Auron said.
"Sir Auron…
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!" he says. I Think he may have been rehearsing that for ten years.
"Sir Auron, the risk is too great. Even if it does come back, at least the people in Spira will not have to be afraid for ten years, at least Sin will be gone for ten years, and if there is another way another summoner may find it."
"It is your choice." Auron said.
"I choose… I choose the Final Aeon." she said turning towards Tidus. "I know that you believe there is another way. You may be right, but I am not willing to risk it if there isn't. Yunalesca said that there has to be a strong bond between Summoner and Aeon, before we can defeat Sin. Tidus I choose you."
"Okay." he said stepping up to her.
"Summoner and chosen follow me." Yunalesca said as a stairway appeared out of no where. Tidus and Yuna followed her up the stairs. I turned and walked over to Auron. He knew about this, and he seemed to be trying to push Yuna to find another way. I guess I wanted to apologize for screaming at him so much for pushing Yuna to come here.
"What's wrong?" I asked
"I've failed my friends and my friends' children. I've broken too many promises." he said.
"You, you tried. We all tried, all of us except for Lulu and Wakka." I said. He looked at me and walked off. I followed him. We were close to the travelers sphere when he stopped.
"What now?" he asked.
"You fulfilled your duty as a guardian to Uncle Braska, you tried to get him to try another way, but in the end he chose death and tradition over life and hope, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything to change his mind. You kinda raised Tidus, and made sure he was okay, and you made sure Yunie was taken care of… so you kept your promises about looking after them. But now, Yuna is following in Braska's footsteps. You couldn't have changed her mind either."
"Rikku, ten years ago after we fought Sin I couldn't except what had happened. So I went back to face Yunalesca. On Gagazet a group of Al-Bhed provided me with food and shelter during a storm. Before I left a man and his wife asked me would I find a way to truly defeat Sin for their kids. I promised them that I would find a way. I went on and fought Yunalesca, and she struck me down. I managed to crawl to the top of Mount Gagazet where Rin found me. He took me to one of his shops and tried to nurse me back to health, but I was too far gone…
"You're… you're unsent?" I ask as my mind spins out of control.
"Yes."
"I, I had no idea." I manage to say as I stare out at the wastelands before us. 'Oh my Gods, he is, he is like that creepy Seymour.' I think to myself as I continue to stare out at nothing in particular. 'No he's not like Seymour, Seymour was crazy and creepy. Seymour tried to kill us. Auron has saved our lives over and over. But still, he's, he's dead! Eww! No! Rikku! This is Auron, he may be dead, but he's the same Auron he always was. Its not like suddenly he's turned into a monster. He has never been prejudiced against me because I am Al-Bhed, so why should I fear him, because he is dead?' "So you have to keep your promise to the Al-Bhed couple before you can go on wherever um, you go?"
"Yes. Promises are not meant to be broken." he says looking at me.
"I want to find another way to defeat Sin also. Maybe although we will have the final aeon, we still can find a way to defeat it for good… and save Yunie and Tidus."
"No. When Yuna summons her Aeons to fight Sin, it will kill each Aeon. Then once she summons the final aeon Yu-Yevon will take over the Aeon and use it to kill Sin and Yuna. Then he will make a new Sin using the Final Aeon."
"What if we fight the Final Aeon and kill it before it kills Yuna. That's what Tidus would want us to do."
"We could try." he says.
As soon as everyone joined us, we went to the Calm Lands. Auron briefed us on our plan to kill the Final Aeon as soon as it killed Sin. Yuna didn't care much for the idea, and the more I thought about it the more I didn't like it either. I mean Tidus was going to be the Final Aeon and I didn't want to kill him. But he seemed to support the plan. I know Auron had to be suffering also, Tidus was kind of like a son to him.
Once we arrived at the Calm Lands, we engaged in battle with Sin. I hasted everyone and began throwing supreme gems at it, Wakka began hitting it with his blitzball, and Auron cast Auto-Life on everyone before he began slashing at it with his sword. We were doing a pretty good amount of damage. Then suddenly it hit us with something and I was out like a light!
The next thing I knew Wakka was standing over me. "Welcome back to da world of da living." I stood up and Yuna came in to take my place. I watched as she summoned Valefor and instructed her to haste herself, before attacking. After a few turns, she energy blasted Sin. It didn't seem to hurt it much, because after everything settled from the blast, Sin hurt Valefor pretty bad and Yuna dismissed her. Lulu came in and replaced Yuna then. After several spells it got Lulu good. Wakka Phoenixed her and Yuna came back in. Auron kept slicing away at it. Suddenly it attacked with something that KO'd everyone, but Auto-Life kicked in and brought everyone back! Then Yuna Grand Summoned the big, scary, fish-mummy-thing… erm I mean Anima. Anima went into Overdrive mode and Oblivioned the hell out of Sin! After that attack Sin's shell busted and we ran inside.
After several hours of running we found Seymour and kicked his ass all the way to the Farplane. Then we found Braska's Final Aeon and made mince-meat of him. That's when Yu-Yevon came. Yuna summoned one Aeon at a time, Yu-Yevon took over it, and we killed it. Bye-bye Valefor… you've been a good old girl. See you on the Farplane Ifrit. Sorry Shiva, its time to say so long. Ixion, you were a pretty unicorn/horse thing. Bahamut, I hope there is Ice Cream and cake on the Farplane waiting for you. Yojimbo, go on where you belong you con-artist. Anima, you were, a nice big, scary, fish-mummy-thing. Magus Sisters, I think its time for you to say, 'We are taking a long break.'. Then Yuna summoned Tidus. Yu-Yevon took him and before we could make one move, a bright light surrounded us. The next thing I knew was something was cutting through my skin, and then I was out like a light.
Some time later I woke up in a cave. Auron and a Ronso were talking. Then I heard the Ronso tell Auron that the only survivors was Kimahri and us. I sit up and looked at Auron.
"Did we win?"
"Yu-Yevon made Tidus hit us with something… from what everyone says it was some kind of wave. It killed Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu on impact."
"Yuna's dead." I said. I couldn't say anything else. I couldn't even think. I cried. After some time I managed to calm myself down some. "What about Sin?"
"It's still here. You damaged it's shell but its still here. It'll be dormant for maybe a month before it starts attacking again. The wave it attacked you with, flooded parts of Macalania, the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, and some of the buildings outside of Bevelle. Over a thousand people are reportedly dead. Mika is saying that an Al-Bhed spy sabotaged the pilgrimage…
"Huh?" I asked not believing what I was hearing.
"Rikku, they are blaming you." Auron said.
"Mika ordered a raid on all the travel agencies, and somehow managed to shoot the air-ship down. No one on board was hurt. But they are watching everyone on board, closely… watching in case you come to one of them for help." the Ronso said. 'No… no this can't be happening. Yuna's dead, Tidus is going to be Sin, Wakka and Lulu are dead… a lot of people I don't know are dead, Sin's still here, and I am being blamed. Yuna and Tidus will never get to see the Moonflow together at night. Wakka and Lulu will never know whether they could've been more than friends. Yuna will never know what its like to truly live. Tidus won't get to become more famous than Jecht was. Lulu won't get to teach that black magic class that she wanted to teach. Wakka won't get to coach the Auroch's team, or watch them win the world championship. Tidus will never get to propose to Yuna. Yuna won't get to have a family with Tidus. I'll never get to see my cousin, my big brother, or two of my closest friends ever again.'. Tears were streaming from my eyes, and I realized I was screaming. Bile was in my throat and I just wanted to puke until my lungs fell out. I felt like someone had reached inside of me and ripped my heart out. I fell forward and puked and cried. Two arms wrapped around me, holding me up off of the rock floor. Someone was speaking to me, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. After a while the hurt, and the sorrow turned into anger. My tears began drying up, and I began fighting whoever it was that was holding me. The anger kept growing, and I fought harder. I was kicking, slapping, hitting, and biting. Finally as I began to wear down I stopped.
"WHERE IS SIN?" I yelled.
"Its…
"Where is it?"
"Its some where in the Ocean." the Ronso said.
"Why?" Auron asked grabbing my arms.
"I'm going to go kill it!"
"Rikku, you're one person. You're not strong enough to kill it!"
"YES I AM! LET ME GO!" I yelled
"No, stay! Get a hold of yourself! If you want to kill it, you need more training, and more people." Auron said shaking me.
"What if I become a summoner? What if I train hard?"
"I'll guard you." Auron said.
"Okay. Let's go."
"Not until night. Every warrior monk in Bevelle is searching for you."
It has taken us three years to reach Besaid. I haven't seen my father, or brother in three years. I guess they think I am dead. Bevelle has lessened their searches for me, but still the warrior monks have set up checkpoints along every road and in every city or village. We've heard that warrior monks now stand guard at all of the temples. Some time last year we ran into Kimahri who has been traveling with us since. I don't know how I am going to complete my pilgrimage especially now that the temples are guarded. But I have to for Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, Lulu, and everyone that has died because of Sin, and Yevon. I have to end the cycle once and for all. If I am captured by the warrior monks, I'll be executed. If I try and see my family I'll be captured. If I'm not strong enough, fast enough, or quiet enough I'll be dead. But as Auron told Yuna before she… well before she chose the Final Aeon "If you let the "what ifs" of life consume you, you'll end up with nothing."
Tonight I get my first Aeon. Tonight my journey starts.