Via Infinito
AN/Warning: Okay; this is going to be long, because I have a lot to explain. Just bare with me. This story was written for the purposes of National Novel Writing Month. It is over 50, 000 words long, and the first draft of it was written entirely in November 2005, as per the rules of the competition. This means that it is going to be long, but the updates should come pretty quickly.
Why Isaaru and Beclem you ask? Because absolutely everything is working against them getting together. Work that one out if you can. I figured Yevon would probably be homophobic too, which is why homosexuality is a crime in this story. I personally don't have anything against it. In fact, it's just the opposite.
If you haven't noticed, then this story will eventually contain yaoi in the form of Isaaru/Beclem and one-sided Beclem/Chappu. It will also contain hints of other pairings, which I'm not going to spoil for you. All I'll say is that there's also mild het and a little bit of suggested yuri. This story also contains attempted suicide, violence, and too much angst, so if any of this disturbs you, I'd recommend you read another story.
This story is based on the 100 per cent complete version, meaning Tidus will be back and Isaaru will be in charge of Bevelle. If there's anything else you may have missed which has relevance to this story, then it will probably be explained. And yes, Beclem and Chappu really were friends. If you got one hundred per cent you would have found this out.
Disclaimer: I'll only say this once. I own nothing but Keekah and Dorian once they find their way into the story, and I'm not making any money out of this. Feel free to borrow anything you like; just let me know first.
Cloister Zero
Beclem had heard of the phrase 'the calm before the storm' before, but had never experienced one quite as obvious as this.
'The calm.' Those two words caught his attention as they drifted across his mind, and he couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement. 'The Calm'; if only. If there was a true Calm, then he wouldn't have been here, miles away from anything resembling home, sharing a tent with a person that was both his shining light and constant, but unknowing torturer.
Said torturer caught his eye from the opposite bedroll, and gave Beclem a smile that said he knew something was wrong, but also that he wasn't going to bring it up if Beclem didn't want to talk about it.
The entire camp was silent now, as though every soldier that was gathered here was waiting for something disastrous to happen. Everyone was all too aware that barely a stone's throw away from their tents was a handful of captured sinspawn. Sin always came back wherever they were left. Tomorrow, the Crusaders knew, they would be fighting Sin, the entity which was the bane of all Spira.
Beclem didn't want to die leaving so many loose ends behind. There was something he had to know.
"Chappu," he called, alerting the man on the other side of the tent.
"Ya Beclem?" Chappu responded in the thick Besaid Islander accent that always made Beclem smile.
"There's something I need to tell you." Forming the words was harder than Beclem ever thought possible. His mouth felt leaden. Every syllable was a struggle to make his lips and tongue form the right sounds. "Just in case I die tomorrow."
"Don't talk that way!" Chappu interrupted. "You're gonna make it."
"Just in case," Beclem repeated, fixing Chappu with a glare. "I don't want to die with any secrets still left untold."
Chappu sensed that this was important, and moved the short distance across the tent so that he was sitting beside Beclem.
"Please don't," Beclem asked, but Chappu just ignored him and threw a friendly arm around Beclem's shoulders. Beclem had always had a problem with physical contact; a problem which, to the most part, Chappu had completely ignored.
Chappu noticed a droplet making its way down one of Beclem's cheeks. Beclem didn't cry, so whatever this was, it was extremely serious. Chappu removed his arm.
As soon as Chappu's warmth left him, Beclem erupted in a series of short sobs.
"I'm a homosexual," Beclem confessed.
The tent was plunged into an awkward silent. There wasn't even the sound of life outside the tent to break the quiet. It cut like a knife.
"Go ahead. Call for the guards to arrest me if you want," Beclem said, choking back whatever sobs were left in him.
"Why would I do that?" Chappu finally answered, throwing his arm back around Beclem's shoulders. There was a tension there that wasn't before, as though Chappu could no longer relax around his friend. Beclem could tell that Chappu was affected, even though he was trying not to show it.
"It is a crime," Beclem reminded Chappu.
"Ya, but you're my friend," Chappu answered. "Besides, it doesn't really affect me if you think about it. It's not like you're in love with me or anything."
The sorrowful look Beclem gave Chappu said all he needed to say.
"Woah!" Chappu exclaimed. His arm flew away from Beclem's shoulder once more. Beclem knew Chappu didn't realise he had done it, but it still hurt. "I'm flattered, ya, but I got a girl back home."
"That's all right," Beclem said. "I never expected you to return my feelings. This was about as much as I could hope for."
The tent fell silent once more, but this time, it was stuck half-way between a calm silence, and being the setting for a thousand and one thoughts to go flying noisily through the minds of two young men.
"Beclem," Chappu finally broke the silence.
"Yes?"
"I'm gonna give you something," Chappu told him, before sending his friend an unexpectedly jovial wink. "Just in case I die tomorrow."
Chappu leaned over and reached into his backpack then, emerging with a small blue sphere in hand.
"I want you to give this to Wakka, all right?"
Beclem stared at the glowing sphere in his hands for moment. Once again, Chappu was talking about his older brother, Wakka, who, if Chappu was to be believed, was the greatest person in all of Spira.
"I want the two of you to meet each other," Chappu added. "I reckon you'll really like one another."
Beclem didn't miss the innuendo behind Chappu's statement, and smiled because of it.
"And the odds of the great and almighty Wakka being like me are what?"
"Not as small as you'd think, ya?"
Chappu returned to his side of the tent, and settled into his bedroll.
"You can watch it if you want," Chappu told Beclem, who was still staring at the sphere in his hands. "It's nothing special though. Just something I wanted to say to him."
"I'll save it," Beclem answered, tucking the sphere away in his own bag. "Good night Chappu."
"Good night Beclem."
One year later…
Isaaru bowed, trying not to stare at the strange features of the man in front of him. Seymour Guado's shockingly blue hair and striking facial features would stand out in any crowd, but it would not be seen as polite to stare overly long at one of the most powerful people in Spira.
"Lord Seymour," Isaaru greeted the leader of the Guado.
"Lord Isaaru," Seymour returned.
Isaaru stood straight once more, his auburn hair falling back to frame the sides of his face.
"Do you know why I have called you here?" Seymour asked.
"No, my Lord."
"It is about Lady Yuna."
Isaaru froze. The topic of Lady Yuna's apparent treachery was one that he found himself avoiding at all costs. He had met Yuna a few times, and she seemed like an incredibly kind and decent person to Isaaru. If a person such as Yuna found a reason to go against the precepts of Yevon, then she undoubtedly had good reasons for doing so. At least, that's what Isaaru hoped. He was quickly finding that he no longer knew where he stood when it came to issues such as these.
"I want you to take care of her," Seymour continued.
"Take care of her?" Isaaru asked, not wanting to understand what Seymour was asking of him. He didn't know if he would be able to kill someone as inherently nice as Yuna was.
"She has been found guilty of betraying Yevon," Seymour explained. "She is currently in Via Purifico, but knowing the resourcefulness of my wife and her guardians, that probably won't be enough to kill her. The only way to effectively destroy a Summoner is with another Summoner. I will be waiting outside Via Purifico if you fail, but I would prefer if you took care of her as a, shall we say, favour for me."
Seymour let out a light chuckle at the end of his explanation, which sent nervous shudders down Isaaru's spine.
Isaaru contemplated disagreement for a moment, but there was a dangerous glint in Seymour's eyes. If he could so easily kill the woman that he had once proclaimed he loved, there would be nothing to keep him from destroying Isaaru as well.
Isaaru bowed. "It will be done Lord Seymour," he told the Guado.
"Good," Seymour commented, turning his back on Isaaru.
Isaaru took this as his sign to leave.
He frowned as he made his way to the secret entrance to Via Purifico. Was this what he had been reduced to; Seymour Guado's lap dog; to bite when he was told to bite, and nothing else?
He had become a Summoner in order to defeat Sin and make some sort of difference to the world. It would ultimately mean his life, but at least he would die knowing that people would be able to sleep safely in their beds, if only for a little while.
This was not what he had become a Summoner for. As he reached the entrance to Via Purifico, which served as both dungeon and sentence for all who dared to betray Yevon, he silently prayed that Lady Yuna would win this fight.
Beclem looked down the rows of Crusaders and knew that they were all, in the back of their minds, scared, or at least nervous, despite the fact that the expressions on their faces were all mostly covered by the metal helmet which formed part of the Crusader's uniforms.
He smiled at Chappu, who was standing beside him, bravely facing the ocean from which Sin would emerge. The Besaid Islander smiled back enthusiastically, almost succeeding in fully hiding his fear, unlike some of the other Crusaders, who were obviously nervous wrecks. Beclem honestly couldn't blame them. Not many people had fought against Sin and lived to tell the tale.
Someone down the end of the line screamed out, and sure enough, there on the horizon was Sin, rising out of the water like an island.
Someone barked an order, and the Crusaders moved as one to fire at the entity. The guns did nothing to stop Sin, as the Crusaders had expected, but hopefully, with enough persistence they would be able to gradually wear it down. Volley after volley was fired, but Sin just kept advancing, steadily moving closer and closer to where the Crusaders stood.
Soon a group of several sinspawn were shot out from Sin's bulk. The smaller creatures began attacking the Crusaders as soon as they reached dry land. Even the smallest of the sinspawn were taller than humans, and the Crusaders fell quickly to their vicious and swift attacks.
Beclem found himself paired off against one of the monsters, and drew the two pistols he used for close-range combat. He fired a round straight into the monster, but this only slowed it down for a moment. Chappu jumped in, firing at the sinspawn for long enough for Beclem to reload.
Beclem chose stronger ammunition this time, and the creature fell with a few well-aimed shots. Yet all around him, more and more sinspawn were attacking, and more and more soldiers were dying. Sin was almost on top of them now, and yet it didn't appear to be hurt at all.
"Retreat!" an officer screamed.
Beclem and Chappu nodded briefly at one another and turned as one away from the shoreline. They were surrounded by sinspawn now. They aimed their guns straight ahead at the same time, and continued to shoot as they ran, clearing a path out of the melee.
Suddenly the ground shook beneath them, and a loud rumbling noise began. Sin was attacking.
Beclem and Chappu continued to run as far away from the shoreline as they could, but it was no use.
Beclem glanced over at his friend for just long enough for them to exchange smiles, before something connected with the side of his head, and he knew no more.
Isaaru braced himself as his second aeon fell against Lady Yuna's. Perhaps he was not concentrating as well as he should have been. Perhaps it was in part, deliberate. Or perhaps Yuna was simply far more talented when it came to summoning and controlling her aeons. Whatever the case, Isaaru found that he was loosing, despite the fact that his aeons should have been just as strong as Lady Yuna's.
It was time for him to bring out his last and most powerful aeon; Spathi, a Bahumut. Isaaru had not yet tested the abilities of his newest aeon, but he had heard that it was incredibly powerful.
He concentrated, and felt the spirit of the aeon flow through him.
Soon the sky went dark, and Spathi descended from the ceiling of Via Purifico. It let out a roar that shook the walls of the labyrinth, causing several stones to fall from the roof. Spathi, like all Bahumuts, resembled a great black dragon. It stood on its hind legs, and regarded Yuna with an air that said it would like nothing better than to crush her.
Yuna seemed to contemplate Isaaru's choice for a while, before summoning the half-bird, half-beast aeon known as Valefor. Being a Besaid Islander, Yuna's Valefor was her oldest and most experienced aeon.
Isaaru commanded Spathi to attack, but Yuna's aeon was far faster, and leapt out of the way before Spathi could strike. Valefor countered with a beam of energy that made the Bahumut flinch a little.
Spathi's second attack hit home, but was swiftly followed by another attack from Valefor. Spathi let out an almighty roar of frustration, and attempted to strike Valefor, who once again dodged Spathi's attack.
One more beam of energy had Spathi leaning on one knee, obviously tired and injured. Isaaru commanded Spathi to use a more powerful attack. There was no way Valefor could dodge this, and the bird-like aeon soon collapsed.
Yuna merely frowned, and summoned another aeon. This time it was Ifrit. Isaaru didn't know whether to frown or smile at this choice. His own Ifrit, Grothia, had been his first aeon when he had started out as a Summoner on his island home of Kilika.
Grothia had already been defeated by Yuna. Yuna's Ifrit scowled at Spathi, and threw a fireball at the dragon. A brief flash of anger showed on Spathi's face, before Isaaru's aeon admitted defeat and disappeared into nothingness.
Isaaru knew that now he too had to admit defeat or die. He didn't know anyone who could come up against an aeon and win. He stared into the bright, unforgiving eyes of the creature he usually considered his ally and sighed.
"You win, Lady Yuna," Isaaru said, bowing low before her.
Beclem opened his eyes, and immediately wished to return to unconsciousness. His head ached like nothing he had ever felt before, and his vision had become slightly blurred. His helmet lay in pieces around him, shattered by whatever piece of debris had knocked him unconscious. There was something sticky on his forehead, and he touched his hand to it, pulling it away to discover blood.
He looked around him, prepared for blood and wreckage, but even still, the scale of destruction was even worse than he had expected. There was no sign of Sin anymore; only sinspawn and human carcasses lay scattered across the length of the shore.
Just beside Beclem lay another Crusader who was not nearly as fortunate as he had been. A machina had been flung into the air by Sin's attack, and had crushed the other Crusader's torso.
Beclem crawled over to the man's side, trying to tell himself that the man's body wasn't familiar to him.
He gently pulled the other Crusader's helmet off, and was sure enough greeted by Chappu's bright red hair and once sparkling eyes. The face that had once smiled so warmly and so often now seemed to have lost all colour and purpose.
Sin was, according to the temples, the punisher of the wicked, and the dealer of death for all those who lived wrongly or against Yevon. Yet Chappu was the kindest person Beclem had ever met. He may not have prayed as often as he should have, and Yevon did say that using machina, as Chappu had so often, was wrong, yet somehow these small transgressions didn't seem like nearly enough that he should face the wrath of Sin, especially when Beclem had been left alive when his own crimes were judged by Spira as being so much worse.
Beclem gently closed Chappu's eyes. The pain from his own injuries didn't seem as great when compared to this new aching hole in his heart. It was so great that he couldn't even find the strength to cry.
Instead, he just screamed, not caring whether or not anyone could hear him.
"WHY!" he shouted at the heavens. He didn't know who he was screaming at; Sin, Yevon, the whole world perhaps?
"What did he do that was so wrong? Was forgiving me such a great crime? If you had to punish someone you should have punished me! Not this; not him! How dare you? How could you?"
He broke off in one long, loud cry that echoed across the wreckage covered ground.
"Thank you," Isaaru whispered as he watched Lady Yuna walk away.
The guilt of having Yuna's blood on his hands would have been far too much for Isaaru to bear. He was just glad that his two younger brothers were not with him to witness this. One summoner fighting against another; what was Yevon coming to?
Isaaru felt as though the ground was swiftly falling away beneath his feet. His whole life he had believed in the teachings of Yevon, had believed that they stood for all that was good and right, and that one day someone, maybe himself, would defeat Sin.
But why should he believe in something that said that Yuna was a traitor, even though she was doing everything in her power to defeat Sin and bring a new Calm when it would ultimately cost Yuna her life?
And if he couldn't believe in Yevon, what could he believe in? Himself? Unlikely. He couldn't even trust himself to choose which path was right and which was wrong.
Should he disobey Yevon's wish, as Yuna had, and continue on his pilgrimage no matter what Yevon said, or resign himself to a fate in which he served Seymour and the other leaders of Yevon?
For once in his life, Isaaru wished that someone would tell him which path was the right one; not Yevon, not Seymour, and not his younger brothers, who would only choose whichever path they thought would be kindest to Isaaru. The easy path was not what Isaaru wanted.
What Isaaru wanted was… He didn't know what he wanted anymore. There was a time when he had just wanted to make a difference, but in ten years time, when his Calm had faded away, what difference was that really? A few lives would be more peaceful for a while, but then Sin would only come back.
Isaaru found that he wanted to scream; to release all the inner turmoil he had been suppressing since the beginning of his pilgrimage. Down here, in Via Purifico, no-one could hear you scream. It was the perfect place.
He screamed, and screamed, and even though he wasn't sure why it was he was screaming, he continued, releasing all the frustration and doubt that he had kept bottled up inside for so long.
It echoed through the winding paths of Via Purifico and back to his ears. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
And somehow, across time and space, as a Summoner and Crusader both screamed at the world that had betrayed them, something connected…
