Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X, Spira, and all related characters and locations are owned by Squaresoft. This is a work of fanfiction, meaning that it is both created by a fan for no purpose other than entertainment, and it is fiction, meaning that all characters and events are purely fictonal and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
This story was written following the guidelines of the classic A-Z challenge: write a self-contained fic in twenty-six sentences, starting each one with the next letter of the alphabet. This one takes place at the same point as the game's intro, when the party has arrived at Zanarkand and camped for the night.
The City of the Damned
by flame mage
**********
Auron's good eye narrowed as it adjusted to the growing darkness of a Zanarkand nightfall, the first he'd seen in a decade. Being back here brought back so many bitter memories he would rather have forgotten. Could he never escape from them? Did fate call him back here?
"Enough," he snapped gruffly at himself. Fate didn't exist, couldn't exist, and standing here in the half-darkness indulging in the idle fantasies of an old man wasn't going to do him any good.
"Geez, geezer," Tidus called from the campfire. "How 'bout coming over and hanging out with the cool kids for once? It might be our last time."
"Just give him a moment," the swordsman heard Yuna murmur. Keeping the peace was still her forte, even after everything she'd been through. Lady Yuna seemed to have remained unchanged during her journey; even tonight, knowing that this time tomorrow she might be dead, she appeared completely calm. Momentarily, Auron allowed himself to wonder if what Tidus believed might be true, and there might be a way to save her. "No," he told himself after a moment, exhaling heavily. Opening his mind to that possibility would cast false hope into a hopeless situation, and he had had a long time to deal with the cold reality of it all.
Perhaps she would choose the young man as her aeon, he thought--he had noticed something of a shift in the nature of their relationship since Macalania, and Tidus might well be willing to die alongside her, especially since it didn't look as if he would ever see *his* Zanarkand again.
Quietly, the strains of the Hymn of the Fayth began to rise from the direction of the campfire. Realization dawned on him--she was singing. Still trying to keep everyone's spirits up on her last night. To let this bright, vibrant young woman die for a few fleeting moments of calm was the real sin, he thought with disgust.
Unconsciously, he'd already made his decision. Vying for martyrdom would only complicate matters, and of all the guardians, he had the least to lose. Whatever happened next, Yunalesca would have to accept his sacrifice, and at least perhaps Tidus and the others could be saved.
Xiphancti were glowing now amongst the ruins in the valley; he'd forgotten the way the fiends swarmed at night here. Yuna's face stood out in his eye when he turned back toward the fire--she was still smiling, just the way her father had on his last night ten years before her.
"Zanarkand," he thought bitterly as he started back towards her, forcing a smile onto his face, "the city of the damned."
This story was written following the guidelines of the classic A-Z challenge: write a self-contained fic in twenty-six sentences, starting each one with the next letter of the alphabet. This one takes place at the same point as the game's intro, when the party has arrived at Zanarkand and camped for the night.
The City of the Damned
by flame mage
**********
Auron's good eye narrowed as it adjusted to the growing darkness of a Zanarkand nightfall, the first he'd seen in a decade. Being back here brought back so many bitter memories he would rather have forgotten. Could he never escape from them? Did fate call him back here?
"Enough," he snapped gruffly at himself. Fate didn't exist, couldn't exist, and standing here in the half-darkness indulging in the idle fantasies of an old man wasn't going to do him any good.
"Geez, geezer," Tidus called from the campfire. "How 'bout coming over and hanging out with the cool kids for once? It might be our last time."
"Just give him a moment," the swordsman heard Yuna murmur. Keeping the peace was still her forte, even after everything she'd been through. Lady Yuna seemed to have remained unchanged during her journey; even tonight, knowing that this time tomorrow she might be dead, she appeared completely calm. Momentarily, Auron allowed himself to wonder if what Tidus believed might be true, and there might be a way to save her. "No," he told himself after a moment, exhaling heavily. Opening his mind to that possibility would cast false hope into a hopeless situation, and he had had a long time to deal with the cold reality of it all.
Perhaps she would choose the young man as her aeon, he thought--he had noticed something of a shift in the nature of their relationship since Macalania, and Tidus might well be willing to die alongside her, especially since it didn't look as if he would ever see *his* Zanarkand again.
Quietly, the strains of the Hymn of the Fayth began to rise from the direction of the campfire. Realization dawned on him--she was singing. Still trying to keep everyone's spirits up on her last night. To let this bright, vibrant young woman die for a few fleeting moments of calm was the real sin, he thought with disgust.
Unconsciously, he'd already made his decision. Vying for martyrdom would only complicate matters, and of all the guardians, he had the least to lose. Whatever happened next, Yunalesca would have to accept his sacrifice, and at least perhaps Tidus and the others could be saved.
Xiphancti were glowing now amongst the ruins in the valley; he'd forgotten the way the fiends swarmed at night here. Yuna's face stood out in his eye when he turned back toward the fire--she was still smiling, just the way her father had on his last night ten years before her.
"Zanarkand," he thought bitterly as he started back towards her, forcing a smile onto his face, "the city of the damned."