Yojimbo's thoughts: -

I hate asking for the money, but it's the only way I'll get the metal I need. I was one of Omega's devoted followers. But I knew neither machina nor summons were enough on their own. I gambled that I could combine them both. My experiment was extremely successful. I planned to free the Phoenix using an old Aeon forgotten by all except me. My first thing I remembered to do was to ask him if he minded sharing a prison.

"WHY DO YOU ASK?" he thundered.

"I need the increased power of an Aeon rather than the fleeting dream of an Guardian." I needed his increased power to defeat Sin and hopefully end the cycle.

"SO WHY ME?"

"Our Holy Judgement has come. Should not Yu Yevon's also?"

The voice dropped to an extremely sexy female one. "My preferred fayth would be a female Al Bhed. Despite you being able to use machina, you see it as the cursed magic of myth. It can be used but only with immense caution."

I had guessed that Alex would request an Al Bhed for a fayth if he had a choice but a female one? Was he seeking companionship? But I always heard the joining was easier if the sex was the same. This machina summon was a girl?

"Well at least you took the surprises better than others."

"I came for you." I point out to Alex.

Alex's voice was now naturally gentle "You never expected to find me though. You felt that I had been sent long ago, because despite being a summon, by simply existing I show the teachings of Yevon for what they are, lies. I am the holy summon, and I cannot be imprisoned against my will unlike the others. And those who get this far are surprised to find I am female. Still if you can find a willing Al Bhed female I will become your Aeon, but until then I am merely your guardian force. Summon me if you need me."

I am shocked. I, a person with no summoning talent whatsoever have a summon. A forbidden summon to be sure, but a summon nonetheless. Alex was only one of the summons I was after. And he or rather she was the one I had the most probability of finding. I decided to head for the old temple at Baaj. It was the home of another summon I did not expect to find. Being flooded with water it would be the home of what was, until Sin arrived, the King of the Seas. But I expected this one to be deceased.

There was only one way to get to Baaj. This was by ship. Since there was no Aeon there, no one would go there. But an Al Bhed ship was on surveying duties. I decided to take it. I might be able to find a fayth for my new summon.

"Hi I'm Rikku." say this extremely pretty girl. Before the dark times she would have been considered jailbait. But now she is past the age of adulthood, even in such a backward society as the Al Bhed. I remind myself of my vows. Then this Al Bhed comes out. He is wearing goggles even now. This is suspicious since it is dark, and most Al Bhed can see better in the dark than the light because of their spiral eyes. Then I notice the different colour of his goggles and a little red light. Forbidden machina of some sort. What did the Testament of Omega say they were? Oh yeah some kind of night vision goggles. He isn't Al Bhed- not by blood, anyway.

"Not by blood but by belief. And you look more Al Bhed than me. But you seem to be Yevonite, yet you use machina. Must be one of Omega's followers. I thought they were all dead."

"His death converted some. I was one of them. I have my own plans."

"Nat Ymand! Nat Ymand"

My Al Bhed isn't that good but even I can tell that means Red Alert. A maester ship. This means Yevon monks. Their is a panic and yells in Al Bhed. I can only make out one word - Summoner. I have no choice if I want to complete this mission. I draw my breath in and chant: -

"I call you forbidden summon,
Holy Aeon from heaven sent,
Defender of Men, Machina God,
Execute your divine judgement"

The power seems to flow in front of me. Alex is using me as the channel. The dead bodies act as traps for Guardian forces, but this is a willing joining. Alex's insubstantial body is somehow protecting me. She soon arrives and lets loose her Holy magic. I pray this worked.

"Oui'na y summoner?"

"Not really. This is not an Aeon but a guardian. She is her own person. Our agenda's both mesh at this moment. But I had to make her look like an Aeon for people watching."


Maester Kilah cursed. The Al Bhed had a summoner. Untrained, but powerful. No summoner had ever managed to control the cursed machina Aeon before. Fleeting though the attack was it had put their summoner out of action. Little did he realise it was a partnership rather than a master-slave relation." The forbidden summon. Trying to join with Sin. And may succeed."

No one had been able to control that Aeon, which suggested that this Aeon had been in charge. This was terrible. The false Aeon, which claimed to be Holy, had escaped its prison. He had better deal with their summoner. Still at least the Aeon had not yet gained its full power. If it had they would not be alive. No, not Sin yet. Perhaps pick up the other uncontrollable Aeon, if it still existed. So they would head to the forbidden temple of Baaj. Worse still there were rumours of powerful machina drowned nearby. This was the worst alliance of heretics. The Al Bhed and a Priest of Omega.

"Strictly speaking the Al Bhed aren't heretics they're heathens. You had to have believed in the main doctrine to be a heretic. And Al Bhed have never believed in our main doctrine." Maechen pointed out, walking encyclopaedia that he was. Though he was extremely annoying he was also terribly useful. "Now since the Priest of Omega rebelled from our doctrine, they are indeed heretics by the laws of Yevon. But not by the Al Bhed laws."

"This is just the time to give a lecture on Al Bhed Laws," Kilah snapped sarcastically, and then cursed when he realised how often Maechen missed sarcasm. He'd be trapped here for years, and end up unsent. Fortunately he was saved by their summoner waking up.

"I dreamt that the forbidden Aeon was on the move and used holy on me." Gandof moaned. "Wait it wasn't a dream was it. It has escaped from its prison. And is to join up with Sin."

"Not yet. It's dropping into the forbidden temple at Baaj. To wake up the serpent king." Maechen said. All Maechen cared about was preserving the knowledge. The Al Bhed had started transmitting that blasted tune again. Gandof listened to his fayth. And they seemed happy enough with the tune but hidden behind it there was something else. "With Alex on the move He might have a..." Not the fayths but something behind them. "The old plan may have a chance."

"Leviathan is dead. If he was not Sin would never be around so long."

"Phoenix is imprisoned within. As the Final Aeon."

So he had heard them. He had rejected his Al Bhed heritage, but perhaps the truth was in between them as his Ronso companion had said. It would be hard to find a quiet spot on ship, since there were so many Yevon Priests. And suddenly he got why they were called Al Bhed. It was a contraction of where they lived: Alex's Bridgehead. A summon forgotten by all. Karaki knew, which is why he had encouraged him along this path.

"Knew no, Suspected yes. But I thought that Aeon had been sent."


Rikku woke up with a terrified scream. The dreams had come back. And in more detail than ever. And for once Tidus had featured. Dammit why was she so obsessed with her cousin's dead boyfriend? Brother came in. He was named before Cid had learnt Yevon, and to her it was particularly funny that his name meant male sibling in that language.

"Rikku, problem?"

"They're back."

Brother looked at Rikku. The strange dreams she had were back again. All Al Bhed had them, but Rikku had them both more intensely and more often than other Al Bhed. He looked at Rikku and decided to help. She was the Al Bhed heir. Her Rank ribbons were on her back. She hated how young they made her look, but she was proud of it. After his debacle at Macalania, he understood that Cid had made the right decision. He was still paying compensation for the military tank. At least Rikku had only stolen a kidnapping machina.

"Those dreams? Why so worried you've always had them."

"Tidus was in this one. Blond hair and wearing goggles"

"All Al Bhed have blond hair and wear goggles."

"No half have blonde hair and half wear respirators"
Authors note: The joke loses something in the translation.

"But Night Vision?"

"Now that is odd. And half Al Bhed's tend to look like Yuna. Dark hair and sharp contrast in their eyes. Unusual for Yevonites, but passable. He could have died his hair. That is legal under Yevon beliefs. See Lulu."

"Ah but blond is heresy!"


Brother strode out. For once he was happy that the dreams had come back. The seemed to be going deeper into the causes. Not the single recurring nightmare she normally had. Little did he know someone else was getting the ending, that until now the lies of Yevon had clouded her mind. Now she would receive the Dark Dream of the Al Bhed. Most saw it outside. Yuna was going to have the worst nightmare she had ever. She would be certain to see it from the angle of the Maesters. Because even before Rikku had been born and he had met Tidus the dreams had taken their forms.


Sin roared in pain. His entire body fell apart, from the powerful Holy counter-attack the machina summon had used in its death throes. However Sin retreated and before the Al Bhed summoner could follow. Yuna heard herself speaking some words. They ancient Yevon imprisonment rituals. The three intact Aeons Yojimbo, Leviathan, and Typhon seemed to follow the machina and enter bodies. Yojimbo looked like he did in the cave. The other three are familiar but the should not be. The machina summon enters Rikku, the water Tidus, and the wind Jecht.

"Living fayth? How the hell did you do that Lord?" She says talking to an Al Bhed.

"I did not, Maester. But I defeated Sin and lived. Let me go to finish the job."

She knew what she was thinking. And heard her speak. "Kill them all. Make sure none live to tell this tale. Including him," she says pointing to Maechen. "He's fails to see what is in the best interests of Spira and he would tell this tale to all who listen. Without the summon no-one will believe it."

Yuna feels glee as she stabs Rikku and Tidus through the heart. And then she wakes up screaming. She wondered what Rikku had meant when she warned her about accepting her Al Bhed heritage. Now she understood that the Dark Dream wasn't something Yevon had made up but it was completely different to what she had thought.

Lulu entered and looked at her. "I see you've finally accepted your heritage."

"I always did."

"No, you admitted being half Al Bhed, but you never really accepted it. Now you have and so the dream has come. I was surprised at Tidus having it and Rikku I was more surprised at where she was. Al Bhed are usually mere spectators."

"I was the Maester that ordered them killed because they were fayth."

"You can't kill a fayth."

"They were alive, Lulu. That's right living fayths. And I killed them because with living Aeons especially a machina Aeon..."

Lulu yells, "Machina cannot be Aeons. It's in the teachings."

Yuna looks up. "You sound like Wakka was when he found out Rikku was Al Bhed. You know the teachings have been manipulated by the Maesters. Do you really think they would not do something like that, if their power was threatened?"

Lulu blinked. Of course the Maesters would do something like that. Because Yuna had threatened their power, they had declared her traitor. They could not let the truth about Seymour out, even though they knew he was obsessed with destroying Spira. Only when they thought Seymour could succeed did they welcome her back.

"So who was the summoner?"

"The executions happened at the calm lands. I did not see the summoner though," Yuna lied.

"A summoner defied Yevon? There is nothing about that in the books. He used machina to defeat Sin?"

"If the Dark Dream has not been manipulated yes."


"E lymm oui vunpettah summon,
Rumo Aeon vnus rayjah cahd,
Tavahtan uv Sah, Machina Kut,
Aqalida ouin tejeha zitkasahd"

Cid sang to himself while building a new cannon. The old chant passed down his family. He knew what it was supposed to do but he doubted it would have any effect. He failed to realise that it had. He always sang it when making certain weapons, and they gained Alexander's blessing. That was why his cannons were able to harm Sin, if they didn't break down. For they had been blessed with holy power.

"Dad! I'll kill you!" yelled Brother. Cid gulped, he hadn't realised that Brothers lessons had come this far. Hmmph, at least his name was a traditional Al Bhed one. Better than being called Cid, especially if you ruled the Al Bhed when your title was also Cid. He got fed of being call Cid Cid in the first day. It took an entire month to remove it from official documents.

"Why the hell did you christen me male sibling?"

"It's a traditional Al Bhed name meaning Holy Man. Besides at the time I couldn't speak Yevon. What about me, though? My silly social climbers of parents named me Cid. And when I became the leader..."

"Don't tell me they didn't know how annoying that was."

"They did. But though we're not as bad as Yevonites, don't underestimate our ability for thoughtless tradition."

"Oh by the way, Rikku's dreams are back."

"The Dark Dream, again? It's usually a one-shot thing though. Does she need assistance?"

"No, I think it's best to let it play through this time. I reckon once it does, the dark dream will disappear." then Brother drifts off. "The dream given form returns, because of her desire. The church of deceit rises with the Phoenix. Only the Aeons can save us and they are lost to us."

Cid cursed this was different to the prophecy of two days ago. This meant a split in the fates. His mother had insisted on a holy name. And of course he just had to choose the one that meant Holy man or male sibling in Yevon. Still he knew what he had to do. Yuna was on her retreat as ordered by Yevon so he set course once again.

"To Besaid! AT FULL SPEED!"