Vincit Qui Patitur

by Quatermass

(AU) Outcasts call to outcasts. At the age of ten, after his abortive Pilgrimage, Seymour is saved from a shipwreck by the Al Bhed. Now, eighteen years later, Seymour is thought dead by Spira...but is the lone Summoner amongst the Al Bhed. During a salvage expedition to Baaj Temple, he encounters Tidus, beginning a quest that will intersect with Yuna's... (Not slash)

1. Foreword

FOREWORD

I have said time and again that I do not take suggestions for stories. The few times I do are exceptions rather than the rule. What inspired this story was an offhand remark by one of my most frequent reviewers, Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros, who, while reviewing my Harry Potter/Final Fantasy X crossover, Cycle of Sin, voiced his opinion that Seymour would not have become a villain had circumstances turned out to be different.

This struck a chord with me, because with Cycle of Sin, I actually could write Seymour as a somewhat more nuanced character than he is portrayed in the game. He's something of a tragic villain, despite his being a smug nihilistic nutjob in the game. And the thought of Seymour becoming a hero, if circumstances were different, is oddly appealing. Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros' original suggestion, of Naruto somehow ending up in Spira and becoming Seymour's big brother or father figure, didn't appeal to me, and neither did doing any other similar crossover.

But what of Seymour ending up with the Al Bhed? This idea appealed to me, not just because I wrote Harry and Sirius doing so in Cycle of Sin, but because a similar thing happens to Tidus in the excellent fanfic Al Bhed Blue by Scottie2. Plus, given how Seymour and his mother were exiled from Guadosalam, I thought Seymour, after a shaky start, would fit in well with the Al Bhed, who are outcasts as much as he was in his childhood. Al Bhed Blue also pointed out something I didn't think of in canon, that Summoners are lacking at Bikanel, and that the Al Bhed's dead are doomed to become Fiends because they aren't Sent. Quite a bit is owed to Al Bhed Blue, for both some aspects of the plot. The same too goes for Anima's Sister by rattlesnakedefender, which gives Seymour a more heroic nature. I recommend both fanfics, particularly Al Bhed Blue, which has recently been completed.

The title of this fic, by the way, means roughly 'The one who conquers is the one who endures'. It sums up the attitudes of a lot of characters in the story of Final Fantasy X, as well as that of Seymour in this one.

Anyway, onto my disclaimers. Firstly, there WILL be spoilers for Final Fantasy X. This is your only warning.

Secondly, there will be a lot of annotations, as is usual for my work. You don't like that? Then don't read this fanfic. I don't want ANY bellyaching.

Thirdly, this is an M-rated work. Violence, dark themes, language, and sexual references will happen. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Final Fantasy X is the property of Square Enix, and all other rights owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, you'll be thrown into the Via Purifico for your insolence…