Beyond Reality
Chapter 2: Unfortunate Creature
She felt alone.
That was what she first noticed upon regaining feeling in her limbs. She'd never felt such loneliness in all her life. As if she'd always been alone and never had the luxury of another's company. Yet as she blinked her eyes open, the sensation soon faded, as if it were but a mere side effect, and she was able to regain a sense of warmth.
Finding the sensations in her hands, she slowly located the solid ground on which she laid before pushing. Sitting up fully, she blinked and allowed her eyes, which felt new and foreign for a few seconds, to adjust.
It was then that she realized she was submerged in a snow bank.
Eyes wide, she tried to stand, but found the effort futile. Her legs needed just as much time to adjust and as she waited for feeling to return to them, she found her thoughts zipping back and forth from one question to another. The only real conclusion she could come to, however, was that she now understood why it'd gotten colder the closer to the Farplane they'd walked. On the other side was a bank of snow.
Finally finding her feet, she slowly stood and, looking around, tried to locate her friends. They were nowhere to be found and, feeling a sort of panic overcome her, she jogged forward, up the bank, trying to get a better look at her surroundings.
What she found, however, was enough to silence even her thoughts.
Just as he'd described, there it was.
Zanarkand.
She couldn't see for how long it stretched, but she was on just the edge of one side, the buildings too numerous to be counted or even measured. They stretched up into the clouds beyond her line of sight, things she couldn't comprehend whipping in and out between the structures and bridges. She finally deduced that they looked like miniature airships. The extravagance, the luxury—waterfalls, skylights, already she could see a blitzball arena—it was all just unimaginable.
"Oh my yevon…" She made out Wakka's voice and, turning to see her friends hiking up the hill behind her, she was relieved at their appearance and good health, but too distracted by the city to think on it long. Instead, her eyes fell back on the metropolis, which appeared even more massive and incredible than when Seymour had taken them through that memory sphere.
"Wow…" Rikku was shaking her head, all of them speechless. For some moments, all they could do was stare, astounded. It was probably ten times the size of Bevelle, maybe more, and went on beyond what their eyes could see. It was just… remarkable.
"You were right," Lulu finally found her voice as she came up beside Yuna. "It is Zanarkand."
"But look," Rikku pointed to the base of the city. "What's that?" None of them had failed to notice the giant forcefield that shot up and into the clouds, surrounding and most likely doming the city. Like a shield. And at the base, around the perimeter of the city, were tall, forbidding walls, though Yuna couldn't tell from what it was made. It looked like a kind of glass that graduated up and faded into the forcefield. It was like nothing she'd ever seen in Spira. Aside from the city, however, outside the shield, there was nothing. Just snow. And as Yuna allowed her eyes to travel back behind them, she saw that the snow eventually faded away and became, oddly enough, a field of flowers. And from there, she saw the huge waterfalls that had originally bordered the Farplane.
So yes, they were, in fact, inside the Farplane.
"So strange…" she shook her head before focusing back on the city.
"Yeah…" Rikku agreed, though there was a liveliness that, even for Rikku, was alarming. "Let's go."
"To Zanarkand?" Lulu questioned.
"Where else?!" Rikku grinned.
"I don't think we have much choice," Yuna decided. It was either Zanarkand or the edges of the farplane. And as far as getting back, well, that hardly seemed plausible at the moment.
Glancing to each other only for affirmation, the four made sure they were all adequately armed before heading down the other side of the bank toward the city. There was only some hundred yards between them and, ignoring how the snow froze their light clothes and skin, they soon found themselves up against the barrier.
A barrier that wouldn't let them through.
"It's like metal or something," Rikku commented as she tapped it carelessly. It looked almost like a liquid, but when touched acted like a solid. It was strange, but did them no harm. It just didn't allow them to pass through.
"Well, maybe there's a door somewhere, ya?" Wakka suggested. They feared, however, that they'd freeze before they could find such a thing, if it existed.
However, as it would turn out, that was the least of their worries.
"Freeze, don't move!" The voice took them all aback and, turning to the right, they watched as a single solider approached. He wasn't like any soldier they'd ever seen, sporting heavy armor in gold with dark blue undertones. His weapon, too, was foreign, though it appeared to be some kind of gun. The odd thing, though, was that he was on the other side of the barrier, just visible through the slight transparency. "Come any closer and you're done for." His voice was slightly muffled.
Yuna, glancing back at her companions, tried to come up with something to say, but was beat to it by Lulu.
"We don't mean to harm you," the older of the three women assured. "So please, don't shoot." Could a bullet even get through the barrier to begin with?
"I'm not going to shoot you," he stated, now standing directly in front of them. He sounded uncertain, and young. "You… you touch the shell and you'll be zapped into nothing so just… go back to where you came from, fiends!"
They all looked at each other.
"Uh, what do you mean?" Rikku asked with a cocked eyebrow, the soldier turning his gun on her despite how he'd already decided not to shoot them. "Nothing happened when I touch it." Reaching out, she tapped the barrier again, rewarded with a sound similar to steel.
The solider with the gun gaped.
"H-h-how are you doing that?" he asked, his voice rising an octave. "Fiends! What trickery is this?!" He was waving his gun around rather erratically.
"We're not fiends, ya," Wakka tried to assure. "We're still alive."
The solider narrowed his eyes.
"That's impossible," he deduced after a moment of thought. "Only fiends approach the shell from the outside. Your disguise as humans doesn't fool me!" He seemed to be determined not to believe them and Lulu sighed.
"Listen," Yuna tried. "We're not…" She was trying to put the pieces together. "This shield," she started. "It's up to keep fiends out?" The solider nodded quickly and Yuna deduced that he was must be very, very young to give out such information. "Because your… city, it's been being attacked?"
"Yes," he verified. "Fiends in the shape of people. They tried to overrun us." It was beginning to make sense. Glancing at one another, the summoner and her guardians contemplated what this meant.
"So the people in this Zanarkand aren't dead?" Rikku questioned.
"Well… Tidus wasn't so…" Wakka rubbed his temples.
"So these people," Lulu started. "Their whole city was somehow… sent to the Farplane, but they're not… properly dead…"
"And now the dead here in the Farplane are waging war on them," Yuna finished.
"They're surrounded…" Rikku's eyes bugged. "And we're stuck out here…" They tried not to focus on that.
"Listen," Yuna turned back to the guard, who was looking more and more uneasy by the moment. "We're not fiends. We're from… from Spira." He narrowed his eyes, most likely not understanding what she was saying. After all, Tidus hadn't known what Spira was. "Your city, before now, what were the borders like?"
"It was… well… I don't know," he decided. "I never… never thought to look." He resituated his gun more comfortably to shoot at them.
"So… Zanarkand was your whole world?" Yuna asked and, though he didn't quite understand what she meant, he nodded in affirmation. "Well, we… we're from a different part of your world." A lie, she thought, but it might be more likely to convince this kid. "About a year ago, that's when your city was attacked, right? That was when… this," she gestured around her, "showed up at your borders?"
"Yes…" he seemed to be getting more and more suspicious of them. "How do you know that, fiends?!"
Rikku rolled her eyes.
"Your city, it's been separated from the rest of the world." Again, not true, but the ideas were coming faster into Yuna's head than she could comprehend. "We're from another part of that world. From an island called Besaid. We're here to… to help you." Hopefully, if there was anything they could do. Because this was certainly a predicament to be in, stuck in the Farplane waging war with the dead. It was a battle they could never win.
"I've never heard of it," the solider defended, though he sounded far less stubborn and much more uncertain.
"I know that," Yuna replied. "But you have to trust me." Reaching out, she laid her hands on the shell. "We're not fiends."
The solider fidgeted, seeming uneasy.
"Can you… let us in?" Could they even do that? Yuna didn't know.
"I… I have to talk to my superior," he finally decided. "I have to…" Backing away, he started to retreat, Yuna wanting to object. But before she could, he was gone, the five of them left to the cold and wrath of the dead, should they choose to show their faces.
"Great," Rikku huffed. "What if his 'superior' doesn't believe us? What if they gun us down where we stand?" She was more irritated than anything, and they shivered, which wasn't improving any of their moods.
"I wonder how they made this though, ya?" Wakka asked, staring contemplatively up at the shield. "Some kind of machina?"
"Not any machina I've ever seen," Rikku decided.
"It's like armor," Lulu observed.
"Yes, protecting the city," Yuna muttered quietly. "The fayth, in Gagazet. Yu Yevon, he'd been calling to them, summoning them to create Zanarkand…" She narrowed her eyes. "What if… what if this shield is…?"
"Something else the fayth are being summoned to create?" Lulu caught onto her train of thought.
Yes…" Struck with the idea, Yuna fell down on her knees before the shield. Ignoring how the snow chilled her, she allowed her arms to form the familiar motions of a prayer and, eyes closed, calmed her nerves and searched.
Searched, as she had so many times before, for the voice that would call her to the fayth's side. Because that was how a summoner got in contact with the aeons. They searched for that voice both in the cloisters and, after earning their rights to call, inside themselves. If she could locate a voice, then perhaps she could speak with the fayth.
The spirits of them were so close however, and so numerous, that she was quickly filled with the sensations of their words, as strongly as she'd felt it in Gagazet during her pilgrimage. It was a feeling she'd never forget and, more desperate for the companionship of an aeon than she'd realized, she opened up herself to the souls as soon as they sensed her presence.
Lady Yuna… They seemed to coo and she felt a smile trace her lips.
Opening her eyes, she was rewarded with the sight of a young man, dressed in purple, his eyes hidden from her. The pyreflies plagued him, as they always did fayth, and Yuna recognized him immediately.
"Bahamut," she murmured.
"High Summoner Yuna," he greeted and prayed to her in return. A sign of respect the fayth had never so willingly bestowed upon her before. "You heard our call…"
"I…" She hadn't. "You were calling for me?" There was no point in hiding it. She hadn't had any connection to the fayth, so why should she have heard them? The thought, though honest, pained her. How long had they been wanting her attention?
Behind, her friends listened and watched with rapt attentiveness.
"Yes," he nodded. "Things have not… gone as we'd hoped they would." He shook his head, a great depression seeming to weigh on his shoulders. "The dream… We tried to dissolve it, but there's nowhere for it to go…" He sighed. "The Farplane is not… big enough for so many souls. And we fear that Spira would be in danger if we…"
"Is there anything to be done?" Yuna asked, her own heart dropping at what he said.
"If there is a solution, then we don't know it," he verified. "And we cannot allow the dream that we created," the people, "to be ravaged by the dead. I sense so much fear from them since Sin vanished. There's nothing to protect them… anymore…"
"Why, then…" Yuna took a deep breath. "If you don't know what to do, then why did you call to me? What can I do?" He looked at her then, a kind of desperation swimming in his deep, wizened, yet still childish features.
"You found a different way once before," he stated hopefully. "Perhaps… perhaps…" His voice died, his eyes falling to the ground, and Yuna knew exactly what he was saying. He hadn't called to her because they knew what she had to do, but because they themselves had no idea. She and her guardians had proven capable of almost freeing them. Perhaps, if they set their minds to it, they might yet succeed.
She, her friends, they were the fayth's only hope…
"Is there a way you can let us in?" Yuna asked after some few more moments of silence. "Into the city?"
"Yes," he nodded adamantly, no doubt taking her question as verification that they were going to try. "I can open a path for you." Nodding, Yuna stood to her feet, abruptly aware of how cold she really was. Turning away from her, Bahamut reached out and, hand coming in contact with the shell, used whatever power he possessed to disintegrate a hole in the barrier just large enough for a person to walk through. Glancing back at them, he nodded and, thankful to get out of the snow, they all hastily stepped through.
"I cannot stay with you much longer," he explained as he closed the barrier once more. "I must return to my duty. I must protect the city." He seemed to be fading, pulled away perhaps, and Yuna felt her heart continue to drop at the plight of the fayth. "Do not fear," he tried to get out one last message. "There are those that can help you…" His words faded as well and soon he was gone.
But, at least, they were now on the other side of the barrier.
Turning back to the city, they all set their sights on admiring it, on figuring out their next move, but were soon interrupted.
"How did you get inside the shell?!" It was the same solider from before, only this time he was flanked by four others, all of them with their guns raised and ready to fire.
"Ah…" Rikku, like the rest of them, tried to come up with something quick to say before they were attacked. "Well, Yuna's a summoner," Rikku continued to babble. "She pulled the shield down with her… summoning powers."
"A summoner?" one of the other soldiers stated, his reaction revealing nothing of his knowledge to the intruders, who were careful to keep their hands off their weapons. Though, they supposed, if they were careful, they could probably take on these soldiers. They'd fought off plenty worse. It was probably better, however, not to cause trouble.
"Not even summoners can lower the shield," another soldier decided.
"Well, I didn't exactly do it myself," Yuna tried to be honest. "I asked the fayth to let us in."
"Fayth? What are you talking about? What rubbish is this?"
"You… don't know what a fayth is?" Lulu asked, the silence that followed seeming answer enough. "How do you people think this shield got here in the first place?" Still nothing. "You have no idea, do you…?"
"Enough talk!" one of them barked. "You… you're under arrest! So don't… don't move!"
"So, how long have you guys been soldiers anyway?" Rikku asked, ignoring their attempts at being threatening.
"A few mon-"
"Don't answer them!"
"Sorry…"
Yuna, as well as everyone else in her party, tried to hide their skepticism.
"Like I said, you're all under arrest so… come with me! We're taking you to the general!" Slowly approaching, the soldiers surrounded them and, with the good graces of having prisoners who weren't intent on causing a commotion, began to escort them into the city still fully armed.
And seeing as they had absolutely no idea where they were headed or even what to do or what to look for, they all went along willingly, unbeknownst to the soldiers escorting them. They were still, as far as the main part of the city, on the outskirts, and were being escorted into what looked like a military camp littered with fancy, mechanical tents and other machina Yuna couldn't even begin to comprehend.
They eventually came to what looked like a broad platform and, after being encouraged by the soldiers, stepped up on top of it.
"Headquarters," one of the men said and, beginning to softly buzz, the platform rose a few inches before slowly beginning to move. Gaining speed, it started to zoom them off down a path circling the outside of the city. Transportation like nothing any of the intruders had ever seen.
"Whoa…" was all that was heard from Wakka, the rest of them silent and gawking as they were given a plain view of the outskirts of the city. A city that was so vast and huge that they still had no idea what to make of it. Or how to even digest its presence before them. Yuna, rather, was feeling quite dizzy with it all, as she'd always predicted she would if she ever saw it.
Soon enough, the lift was slowing, the five turning around and away from the city to see where they'd stopped. There, suspended by forces they couldn't understand, was a floating, machina tent, only this one was much larger than the others around it. It was marked with symbols none of them understood, though were reminiscent of their own written texts.
"That's the general's tent," one of the soldiers explained as they approached. "You all… wait out here. I'll go get him." The head soldier, or at least the one in charge of the others, went into the tent, vanishing behind a kind of shimmering cloth that vanished when he approached and reappeared once he was through.
The group glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. Mostly, they were hoping they didn't get thrown in jail. Though, if they were suspected of being fiends, they'd probably be killed on the spot. And if they weren't, well, what had they done wrong? Other than end up outside the shell. A phenomenon that, apparently, common soldiers didn't understand if their lack of knowledge on the fayth said anything.
If worst came to worst, they'd gotten out of much stiffer circumstances.
A few moments later, the soldier reemerged. And following him, far more dressed down in a mere black pants, boots, and a red sweater, wasn't who they'd assumed was the general, but a man they recognized nonetheless.
A man that should have been dead. And definitely not looking ten years younger than the last time they'd seen him.
"Auron!" they all gasped at the same time.
Blinking, his two good eyes widened at seeing them. He was just as shocked to find them there as they were to find him.
"Yuna," his gravelly voice addressed. "Wakka, Lulu. Rikku." He shook his head. "How did you get here?"
"How did you get here?" Rikku asked rather harshly. "And why are you so young? You're supposed to be d-"
"Well I'm not," Auron quickly cut in, silencing her and then casting her as much of a warning look as he could muster. Rikku seemed to take the hint, but remained sulky about it.
They all quickly remembered that the soldiers were listening in however and, lips pursing, Auron cleared his throat.
"I'm taking the prisoners in with me," he decided. "The rest of you get back to your posts." Obviously let down about not getting details about the mysterious intruders, the soldiers slowly did as told, lacking in all good discipline and emotional restraint that was normally needed in a seasoned fighter.
"Come inside," was all Auron said before turning and heading back into the tent. Wasting no time, the others followed, only mystified for a moment by the strange vanishing door.
Inside, it was bright and vibrant, much the opposite of how they would have expected a place where Auron was staying to be. But, he was also a general (apparently) and had dozens of screens lining the interior walls, digital maps, floating tables, and, well, they all gave off a kind of glowing blue light of their own, so perhaps there was no getting away from it.
"Ohmygosh I can't believe you're alive!" Rikku was on him within moments, much to the older (younger?) man's obvious surprise. She tackled him quite sufficiently and had he been a smaller man, he might have toppled at the contact. Instead he stumbled a bit, unsure what to make of the young woman wrapping her arms around his middle and attempting to suffocate him.
"I'm not sure if that's the correct way to view things," he stated coldly, but Rikku hardly seemed to care. She was too busy being far too happy to see him considering how little they'd gotten along when he'd been alive. Rikku wasn't alone in being glad to see him, however. Both Wakka and Yuna were smiling despite themselves, even Lulu grinning slightly.
"I don't understand how this is possible." Lulu shook her head. "You weren't a dream of the fayth." Thus, he should, by all logic, be one of the "fiends" the locals wanted to keep out.
"No, certainly not," Auron agreed while at the same time prying Rikku off of him, who jumped up and down excitedly and refused to leave his side despite how he eyed her uncomfortably. "However, when things… went off course, the fayth made a few recruitments in an effort to try and find a solution."
"So they… brought you back to life?" Yuna furrowed her eyebrows. "Back to life… younger?"
"Not exactly," Auron huffed. "It's more like they dreamed me back into existence. And this is what I looked like when I died, so…" Perhaps he didn't quite understand it either, though his young skin and bright eyes, and the not-graying hair, did throw them all for a bit of a loop.
"So… you are a dream then?" It was such an odd concept and Rikku frowned as she questioned it.
"I, honestly, don't know what I am." He sighed, sounding far older than he probably should, but perhaps he'd always been that way. Scruffy and worn, aged beyond what he ought even in youthful appearance. "I'm here now, however, so."
Silence fell on the group for a moment, as if they were taking it all in—the incredible things that had happened in so short an amount of time. It was continually difficult though, and none of them could really wrap their heads around it.
Yuna gave in first, deciding there wasn't much she could do in the way of understanding. But still she felt a welling kind of pleasure. "Sir Auron," she drew his attention. "I'm so glad to see you."
Auron's expression softened slightly. "I'm glad to see you as well, Yuna." He nodded to the other three, though blatantly ignored Rikku, who "heyed" in protest, but was still bypassed. "I still don't understand how you all got here." He narrowed his eyes. "You're not… dead… are you?"
"No," Lulu assured civilly. "We actually came here… somewhat by accident. Because of whatever is going on here, the Farplane has become unstable. We were asked to come look at it and, well, we went through and this is where we ended up." The short version of the story.
"I see," Auron sounded moderately displeased. "I'd wondered if this whole ordeal was affecting Spira. I had hoped not…"
"It's not done anything detrimental yet," Yuna assured. "But… that could change I suppose…" If things, this battle Zanarkand was caught up in, got out of control.
"How'd you become a general, ya?"
Auron scoffed, almost laughed, and shook his head. "When Sin was defeated, Zanarkand was thrown into turmoil. Buildings disappearing and reappearing, people fading in and out. Everyone was in a panic until, finally, things seemed to settle here, in the Farplane. Only a select few of us understood, sort of, what was going on. We tried to explain, but Zanarkand's leaders feared the truth might be too much for the people—they hardly believe it themselves—so instead of explaining it, they put about getting military action and asked those of us in the know to be in charge. Everything is still in disarray in the city. People are terrified of what happened, of being attacked. It's a fear this Zanarkand has never had to even consider before."
"Which is why all your soldiers are so inexperienced," Rikku deduced.
"I'm working on it." Auron didn't even look at her.
"Who… who is… 'we?'" Yuna asked hesitantly.
"Ah," Auron pursed his lips. "That is, Jecht and I…" He looked as though he wanted to say more, but refrained.
"Then… Tidus… He's not here?" Yuna's voice had quieted considerably.
"Tidus?" Auron sighed and shook his head. "If he is, I haven't run into him. Neither has Jecht. I suppose he must be—we waited for him when Yu Yevon was sent, but after… everything… I don't know where he ended up." He paused. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Yuna smiled softly. "I wasn't expecting anything." How could she? This whole… ordeal was so far beyond her.
"Jecht's been looking for him too, as have I…" Auron added, sounding somewhat sad himself. "I'm sure he'll turn up eventually." Yuna didn't reply, simply nodded and allowed her eyes to fall to the ground. She didn't want to think about him anymore. She willed herself to still be angry with him, but the feeling… it faded more and more every day until all she could do was…
Miss him.
"So you all were able to walk through the Farplane to get here?" Auron asked, probably trying to change the subject.
"I suppose you could say that," Lulu replied. "It wasn't exactly that simple. Rather, it was… quite uncomfortable."
"Like being sucked through a tunnel at unimaginable speeds?" Auron asked.
"Something like that," she affirmed with a small smile, a response to his knowing look.
"It's kinda weird, ya know?" Wakka started soon after. "To actually… be here. I mean, I guess I kinda assumed it was all real, somehow, after a while… but…"
"Yes, Zanarkand was quite a shock for me initially as well." Auron's eyes fell to the side, his expression taking on something akin to thoughtful recollection. "You get used to it, however. The people and society. And I won't lie, it was nice not having to worry about Sin or fiends all the time." Obviously, some of that has changed as of late.
"That's right, you and Tidus knew each other before," Lulu observed.
"Yes," Auron nodded. "I lived in Zanarkand for ten years. For three of those years, I knew Tidus' mother, and after she died, I looked after him." He glanced back at the group, though his lips had tightened. It would appear that, despite his lack of admittance, he was just as concerned about Tidus' whereabouts as any of them.
"So, you were kind of like a father to him," Rikku observed and Auron scoffed a chuckle in his typical way.
"I doubt that," he admitted. "Tidus' views on fathers aren't exactly what most would consider positive. I'd rather not he affiliate me with the idea." His words were guarded, but upon considering Tidus' hard feelings toward Jecht, it was probably safe to assume that Auron was attempting to say that he liked to think Tidus preferred him to his father. He had, after all, raised the boy for longer than Jecht had, to much greater effect, if Tidus' say on how Jecht had previously acted held any weight.
Yuna wondered if the point was a sore spot between Sir Auron and Sir Jecht, or if perhaps they'd reconciled to the fact of the matter. She supposed it wasn't her place to question.
Rather, she'd prefer the subject of Tidus be dropped. If he was there, in that… realm, he was keeping his distance from his family, which meant she was unlikely to see him. And even if she were, what would be the point? Much like he hadn't belonged in Spira, she didn't belong in Zanarkand. Perhaps it was better to just assume they'd never be together.
It was easier that way, wasn't it?
"So you and Sir Jecht are leadin' this, uh, military operation then?" Wakka asked, arms crossing over his chest.
"Yes, though I'm sure Jecht is back home by now," Auron observed with a sigh. "He's not exactly one for working late hours." If he was irritated at the thought, it didn't show. Whatever Jecht's faults, Auron was no doubt accustomed to them at this point.
"Home?" Rikku asked curiously, Auron finally glancing down at her.
"Yes," he nodded once. "You think I'd live in this city for ten years and not have a place of my own? And as far as Jecht," he looked to the rest of the group, "he's the type that lounges around in other people's places, so he's probably eating my food and wracking up my electric bill as we speak."
"Electric… bill?" Yuna cocked her head to the side and Auron didn't satisfy her with a response.
"So…" Rikku pulled her hands behind her back and smiled as wide as she could up at Auron, who sighed in response to such an expression. "If you've got a place to stay, then…"
"Then you all have a place to stay as well," he determined, though he didn't sound that incredibly happy about it. "In fact, I'd assume you're all ready to retire by now." He didn't have to get an answer to see it. Though they had all been pumped through with adrenaline upon arriving, he could see their energy waning as a result of the trip between there and Spira. "It's about time for me to leave anyway," he added.
"We wouldn't want to impose on your home," Lulu started the expected pleasantries, Yuna shaking her head in ironic agreement with her. "If you just directed us toward an inn, then-"
"Lulu," Auron cocked a single eyebrow. "I may not be a sentimental man, but I've got enough sense to know that we're family. You're all welcome in my home." That seemed to silence the subject and, going around the tent and gathering up a few things, Auron soon seemed to shut down his post and head for the door. The others followed, waiting while Auron alerted those below his status about his departure. Soon they were headed across the camp, the newcomers finding their eyes continually drawn to the city and its towering, seemingly impossible architecture.
"How far up does it go, ya?" Wakka asked quietly, probably more to himself than anything, but Auron felt obliged to answer anyway.
"Zanarkand stretches, at length, some fifteen jils in both directions, at its most urban center, and it's divided into three sections vertically. The bottom level is the entertainment district, home to restaurants, inns, concerts, parks, museums. The second level is the business district. The higher you are, generally the more 'successful.' This is known as skyspace. Skyspace is considered a rather important commodity and determines a kind of social status that's… significant." He sounded as if the idea was quite beyond him, or below him, perhaps. "The third level, and highest most point, is where the rich residential live, in apartments or skyhouses. Those of the working class generally live in their buildings or on the same level as their work. Much of the third level is reserved for celebrities, athletes, politicians, those with money to spare."
"Where are we headed?" Rikku asked from her position bouncing beside Auron.
"The third tier," he replied easily.
"Ohhhh," she cooed. "So you have a fancy skyhouse then?"
"I do, though I didn't get it of my own accord. Rather… Tidus bought it for me some three years ago." This information came across as rather surprising to some. Tidus, upon coming to Spira, had been ignorant, sure, and inexperienced, but he'd never displayed any kind of attitude, proud or pompous, that would allude to him having money.
"How'd he afford that?" Wakka asked curiously.
"In Zanarkand," Auron continued, "those providing entertainment value are very… highly paid. Tidus shot to stardom as a blitzball player at sixteen and was making some one million gil a game by the end of his first season." Jaws dropped all around him. "It's not uncommon for musicians, athletes, actors, to be paid as much."
"But… we barely got paid anything to play blitz…" Wakka stuttered as they continued on through the camp.
"Yes, well, Spira played blitzball out of a desperation for something to… erase the sorrow," Auron went on, clearing his throat as if unaccustomed to talking so. "It was more of an honor and obligation. Here, blitzball is a talent, one that people pay lots of money to see, to bet on. It creates a small economy all its own. In Zanarkand alone there are eight professional teams, and dozens of amateur teams hoping to make it into the higher league. It's a… very different game than you're used to."
"So does Tidus have a… house in the sky too?" Rikku asked curiously, Yuna once again frustrated by the subject.
"Oddly enough, no," Auron replied. "Tidus lives on the edge of the city in a small boathouse that had once belonged to Jecht. Or at least he used to. He wasn't exactly the type to spend needlessly."
"He never did complain about what little means we had during the pilgrimage," Lulu observed.
"Growing up into an orphan that's left nothing will do that," Auron replied. "Jecht, though wealthy himself at one point, wasn't very good with his money, nor was Tidus' mother. They left him nothing." Did he sound bitter on the fact? Yuna couldn't tell…
"Why'd he buy you a house then?" Rikku badgered.
"I think he was under the impression that he was doing a good deed," Auron chuckled. "He thought of me as a hopeless foreigner, what with my constant amazement at Zanarkand, and gave it to me as a gift. Besides that, Tidus is always the type more apt to give than to take." Demanding, a bit of a crybaby, and ignorant he very well might be, but greedy he most certainly wasn't. At least, not for material things.
"You seem a lot more relaxed, you know?" Rikku observed, never leaving Auron's side. "You're talking more now than you ever did during the pilgrimage." She frowned, as if the change in him should be some kind of personal affront.
"I had a lot more on my mind then," he replied shortly.
"And you don't now?" Rikku countered, referring to the displacement issue of the whole city.
"It's different," he defended. "Zanarkand is… easy. In a lot of respects that Spira is not. Everything in Spira is… hard, and bare. Despite everything that's happening, it's hard to find anything here remotely… stressful when compared to life in Spira."
"You sound as if you prefer it here," Yuna commented.
"Hmph." He shrugged, adding no more.
The conversation came to a subject change then, Auron pausing before a single, strange machina sitting amongst hundreds of others, all of them stacked across the area evenly and kept within the boundaries of blue lines on either side. He then pulled some kind of remote from his pocket, clicked it, and one of the machina, one very close to the edge of the lot, seemed to light into life.
"What is it?" Wakka asked dumbly.
"A car," Auron stated simply, explaining no more as he approached the thing. The others followed, Rikku more excited than the others.
"These are the mini airships we can see flying around up there," she commented, gesturing to the city above them where similar machines flew back and forth.
"That's one way to look at them," Auron agreed. "It'd going to be a tight fit," he added as he went alongside the "car." Pulling open the back door, he nodded to them, the others approaching slowly before peering in. "Two in the back, two in the middle," he issued, no one invited into the passenger. Climbing in, Rikku and Yuna took the back, and Wakka and Lulu the middle.
Going around to the driver's side, Auron let himself in before tapping into the machina at the front of the car. A screen lit up and after a few different tapped combinations, something wholly unexpected happened. The top of the car vanished.
"Whoa…" Wakka again.
"You're going to be automatically buckled in," Auron warned as he took the remote he'd had previously and placed it inside a small pocket at the front of the car. Upon doing so, they felt the machine lift up into the air slightly, all of them tensing at the loss of solid ground. At the same moment, shining silver belts shot out across their chests, locking them in place.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Rikku shouted up to Auron, her nervousness clearly apparent.
"I have a license that says I do," he replied smartly before, somehow beyond all their knowledge, commanding the car into action. Resulting in gasps and yelps coming from everyone besides himself, Auron shot the machine straight up vertically, the ground zooming away below them.
"Oh Yevon," Rikku moaned in the backseat. "I like the airship a lot better." The others all quite agreed. This "car" was so small and… exposed. It couldn't possibly be safe.
"You'll get used to it," Auron commented, the vertical assentation slowing until they were left floating in midair. They weren't as high as they could go, but Auron was then pushing the thing into the city, the car accelerating into forward momentum. Without a hitch, it was merged into the back and forth traffic of the others of its kind, Auron able to command it into rules and regulations that apparently everyone else in Zanarkand were following, but that the newcomers couldn't even begin to comprehend.
They continually picked up speed, quite caught up in the shadows of the looming city as they busied around one building or another. The group was silent, all glancing around and gawking in shock as they peered at level upon level of incredible urbanization. As well as the sight, they were assaulted by lights, signs, sounds, music—it was dizzying. A city built on speed.
"Lu…" Wakka shook his head. "Is this what all the cities in Spira used to look like?"
She couldn't find him an answer.
They were soon, after following and passing other cars, coming up on a strange, open space. There, as they watched, people sat in their cars and, after getting some signal that none of them could decipher, shot vertically up into the air much like Auron had before. Waiting in line until it was their turn to do something similar, they all waited with baited breath for their car to shoot upward.
Many of them had their hands clenched tightly to their seats.
Auron got the signal and, without so much as a warning to his passengers, he shot the car up again, the machine flying on and through the air without any attempt at effort. Soon, though, they were heading forward again, a level higher in the Zanarkand skyway.
"I think I'm going to be sick…" Lulu muttered.
"Look down at the floor," Auron offered. "It can be a little hard to take the first few times." He himself had gotten violently sick in a taxi his first few weeks in Zanarkand, but they didn't need to know that.
"What tier are we in?!" Rikku shouted up to the front of the car.
"Top level of Tier One," Auron replied coldly. There was still so much of the city above their heads that they couldn't even see the sky anymore, so enveloped were they by the buildings. They kept going, flying for some thirty minutes with Auron occasionally coming upon the strange open spaces where cars were allowed to shoot up. They passed similar areas where cars were falling back down, the idea of having to do that making nearly all of them sick to their stomachs.
They soon got so high that clouds were drifting in-between the buildings. Though, somehow, by some kind of invisible forcefield, the fog was kept from the paths where the cars traveled, thus no vision was impaired. In Zanarkand, they apparently thought of everything.
"Are we almost there?" Rikku asked as they finished one more shooting rise in elevation.
"It's just around this corner," Auron verified and, within the moment, the car was coming to a slow halt, pulling off the skyway where others traveled and onto a transparent, glass-like landing protruding from a lightened structure stretching some three stories up ahead of them. It's base, though empty of windows, was attached to the top of the building below. They soon came to realize that this was how houses were built in the top tier, stacked and connected to those around. Above their own area were more, though they could now make out chunks of sky.
Slowly filing out of the car, they recovered their stomachs as they followed Auron across the transparent landing. There was another car parked there as well, but they didn't ask, too distracted by the house and city to care much about anything else.
"What if… what if you fell…?" Yuna asked, her body chilling at the thought.
Auron chuckled. "There are invisible forcefields all around. Were anyone to fall, they'd be quickly caught and able to be retrieved. Though you cannot see it, Zanarkand is crisscrossed with these sorts of defenses." He paused. "You're all quite safe," was his last assurance as they headed down a narrow, borderless pathway that led up to a similarly transparent, glass-like balcony lining the bottom level of the house.
Auron went straight to the door, letting himself in without a problem and beckoning the others in after him. Eyes ever curious, they all took in as much as possible. The circular shape to the building, the glass-like stairs spiraling gracefully up the middle. The floors were flat white, the walls the same aside from the gracious windows lining all the way around. There were delicately decorated rugs, red, curving furniture. Stainless steel tables and appliances. Everything was clean and well kept—stylized to the last coaster.
It was, needless to say, a very nice place.
Laying the things he'd brought with him down on a table they passed by, a dining table perhaps, Auron gestured that they were welcome to the house in all its forms, perhaps about ready to explain and provide a tour. Whether it be fortunate or not, however, they were interrupted before such a display could take place.
"'Bout time you got home," the gruff, deep voice echoed from the second floor, Yuna's ears ringing with its familiar tone. "Got here two hours ago," he kept saying, his voice drifting closer, "and you don't have any beer, by the way, so I'm assuming you picked some up on your way." His footsteps echoed above them until they hit the stairs, his scarred, tanned legs soon making an appearance as he descended to the first floor.
Auron sighed.
"If I had any beer, it was because you brought it," he reasoned. "And then drank it all yourself. In any case, I have guests, so I'd appreciate it if you were on your best behavior." By this time, the man they all realized was Sir Jecht had reached the bottom of the stairs. He was staring at them from behind tanned, leather skin, his long gray hair pulled back in a thick ponytail. His red eyes were narrowed, his chest shirtless and his bottom half sporting only a pair of ratty jeans.
He really did look nothing like his son.
He was quiet for a moment, surveying them, and most of the newcomers shrank under his piercing stare. He was, after all, a man they'd all fought to destroy as well as a legendary guardian. As these thoughts filtered through their heads, Jecht seemed to come upon the realization as well, his eye abruptly wide as his mouth fell open.
"Yuna…?" was all he managed to sputter out, seeing as he didn't know the names of any of the rest of them, at least not in accordance with their faces. Sure, Auron had talked about them some, but never in great amounts of detail. And Jecht had never had much interest in knowing any more.
He had his own issues to deal with…
"Hello Sir Jecht," Yuna replied respectfully, bowing once. "It's good to see you again."
"Uh, yeah…" He seemed rather shocked, Yuna supposing she'd have to take over the exchange.
"I'm not sure if you remember," she continued, "but these are my friends and were once my guardians." She turned to her companions before introducing them all accordingly, each of them bowing in turn.
"Yeah, I remember," Jecht eventually managed to say, blinking away his shock. "But… what are you doing here?"
And so, with Lulu leading the charge, their appearance in Zanarkand was explained once more, Auron standing by idly all the while and offering no assistance to either Jecht or the others. Not that any of them were surprised. Sure, he could talk when he wanted to, but when he didn't, it wasn't worth trying to coax it out of him.
"So…" Jecht rubbed his temples, "what's happening here is affecting Spira?"
"Unfortunately," Lulu verified. "We were only investigating, but…" She glanced around the house, as if to accentuate their presence there.
"Well," Jecht crossed his arms over his chest, "I never would have imagined." His gaze fell back to Yuna, his expression softening greatly. "I couldn't really see you clearly the last time we met, but you've grown up beautifully, Yuna." She smiled, but said nothing on the compliment. She was, quite honestly, too taken with the absurdity of what they were doing to add to casual conversation. There they were, among those who had once been dead, as if it were normal. She and all of her friends were rather beyond knowing what to think.
"What's going on down there?" a high-pitched, female voice echoed from the level Jecht had appeared from, all of them glancing up. Aside from Jecht that was, whose shoulders tensed and mouth tightened. "Who are you talking to?"
She was a very pretty woman, they all noted, as she came down the stairs to join them. Her figure was pleasing and tacked with yellow capris and an orange tank top. She had big blue eyes and golden hair that fell down past her shoulders. Despite the illogic of it, they all knew who this woman was despite not being told. Not only had Yuna seen her once in the Farplane, but her features spoke for themselves.
Tidus didn't look anything like his father because he was a carbon copy of his mother.
"Who are these people?" she asked quite blatantly as she glanced up at Jecht. With them standing side by side, it became apparent that there was a considerable age difference between them, Jecht seeming uncomfortable as he glanced down at her. He was a fair bit older than Auron even, being in his fifties, but this woman was probably only in her late thirties, a few years older than Auron perhaps.
Though, considering when all these people had died (and how young Auron looked), perhaps age was no longer of any consequence.
"These are…" Jecht tried to explain. "Auron's friends from… Spira…"
"Spira?" She said the word as if it were disgusting, her arms crossing over her chest as she cocked a single brow at them. She was, above all, looking quite displeased. "I thought you were all done with that place." She glanced then to Auron before focusing back on Jecht. "It sounded terrible."
Yuna blinked, but didn't say anything.
"Ah, well," Jecht tried to laugh it all off, "they're just… visiting…" She was glaring at the newcomers by then, the room falling silent as she did. A few moments later, she "hmphed" and turned away, sauntering back up the stairs without so much as a polite word to any of them.
"Well she was fun," Rikku commented sourly.
"Er, well," Jecht sighed, staring after her before turning back to them. "She… When she heard that it was Spira I went to when I disappeared originally…" In other words, she was hostile because she viewed them as being part of whatever it'd been that had stolen her husband away from her.
"She's your wife, correct?" Lulu asked and Jecht nodded. "And… Tidus' mother?" Upon his name being brought up, a great weight fell across the room, Jecht's expression becoming cold and distant.
"Yes, she is," he verified, apparently intent on keeping things simple.
"So… why is she here?" Yuna, sensing it'd be easy to change the subject after so huge a shift in mood in the room, tried to turn things away from a certain young man. Perhaps more so for her own benefit.
"You mean, why is she… alive?" Jecht asked, though it was questionable if that was really what they were. "I think the fayth thought they were doing me a favor in bringing her back too. Maybe makin' up for what they dragged me into." He crossed his arms over his chest, Yuna observing that perhaps he hadn't appreciated the decision. She'd never learned a whole lot about Tidus' family life, but she did then find herself wondering if there was more to it than she'd imagined.
"She seemed… nice…" Wakka tried to offer and Jecht rolled his eyes, just as aware of how unpleasant she'd been as the rest of them. "Looks a lot like, uh…" Was it okay for them to talk about Tidus or not?
"Yes, she does," Jecht almost snapped, turning on his heel and walking across the room. There, scarred and beaten back facing them, he grabbed a glass and filled it from a bottle that had been sitting on the counter. A fine, copper colored liquid slipped out.
Yuna looked away.
"I don't have enough guest rooms for everyone," Auron started a few seconds later, as if to, perhaps, change the subject. "But I can pick up some extra mattresses so you might share, if that's appropriate to everyone." He knew it would be, seeing as they'd shared far less extra space in the past, but pleasantries were important he supposed, despite how he despised such practices.
From there, things commenced it a rather ordinary fashion. They were given a tour of the house, none of them missing the harsh look Jecht's wife (they'd learned her name was Chere) had cast them when they'd reached the second level. Auron designated their sleeping quarters, the group splitting up between two rooms accordingly. By the time this was done, there was food downstairs, Jecht having "ordered out" for everyone. They were treated to interesting, exotic foods, things only Zanarkand could provide, as well as an array of deserts.
Jecht, who'd joined them despite how his wife had refused too, was far more animated than he had been upon first being introduced. There was a rosiness to his cheeks, however, that Yuna suspected stemmed from drink, though the subject was never broached. And afterward, much to Wakka's thrilled excitement, the retired blitz star took him over to the "television" where they watched highlights of the Abes last season.
Tidus hadn't been present on the team.
Lulu joined them soon after, Rikku volunteering to help Auron in the kitchen. Chere never came downstairs.
Yuna, uncertain whether she was truly tired or just overwhelmed, eventually retreated to the balcony at the back of the house. There, she gazed out across the city, at the layers and layers of skyhouses and the winding streets between. It was oddly distracting, the scene, and for a moment she allowed her eyes to daze, her thoughts numb to everything. Sometimes, it was just easier that way…
How long she stood out there, beneath the night sky, she couldn't say. It was inevitable, however, that she be interrupted.
"You must be thinking hard over something," Auron observed as he joined her. "That's the only time you ever retreated like this." He said it almost questioningly, as he joined her at the balcony. As if to investigate whether her practices were still the same as a year before.
Yuna tried not to sigh.
"Not really," she admitted.
"I wondered about that too," he commented gruffly. "I find that it's easier sometimes to think of nothing at all." He didn't look at her, but she knew he was asking her to elaborate. Perhaps so he might offer some of his irreplaceable wisdom.
"It is easier, yes," was all Yuna gave him however, falling silent once more.
Auron didn't hide his sigh. "You know," he started slowly, "I am an old man. Perhaps not by looks or Zanarkand standards, where everyone lives to be nearly one hundred before… before they fade away, but age is no consequence when expectations predict your future.
"I understand how you're feeling," he continued. "I never expected to live this long, or be forced to, in any case. It's as if I've died twice now. Once, I came back to fulfill promises I willingly made. But this time… this time I thought I was finally going to be able to rest. Instead, like Jecht, the fayth insisted on bringing me back." He was bitter she realized, Yuna's chest dropping at the thought.
"I'm glad… to be able to see you again," she tried.
"And I you," he nodded, "but we both know neither of us had any intention of being here anymore." He glanced down at her, looking almost amused. "I'm not saying I wish I were dead, but it would be nice if, were I to come back, it wasn't because wars were to be fought.
"But you Yuna, you don't have to be here." He turned to her fully. "You're not prisoner to the fayth's whims as we dead men are. Don't bring this on yourself."
"What am I to do then?" she asked, smiling up at him softly. "My dream of having Sin vanquished from Spira is fulfilled…" And she was still there.
"You find a new dream," he issued, turning back to the city.
"Maybe I don't want to…" She laughed then, allowing her hands to rub at her temples in frustration. "Or maybe I do. I don't know."
Auron, lips tightening, didn't reply at first, trying to choose his words carefully.
"Even if we happened to find him," he eventually started, "there's no guarantee that he could exist on Spira, which is where you do belong." He narrowed his eyes out at the city. "This is a ghost city, Yuna. None of these people… none of them know suffering, or loss. They understand a little bit of what fear is now, but still they are shells of what humanity is. You don't want to be a part of this. Not even I or… Jecht want to be. The difference is that we have no choice. It's easier to be here, yes, in Zanarkand, and I think both him and I fall victim to the luxury. But when the past shows it's face, the memories make everything seem… trivial."
Yuna focused down on her hands on the banister. "Does Sir Jecht always drink that much, even now?" Even after he'd supposedly given it up during her father's pilgrimage.
"Jecht, he," Auron took a deep breath. "He drinks to drown his own sorrow. How… how being Sin affected him, I'll never understand. What he saw, what he did, how responsible he feels for it. These are things no one can grasp but him. And then, of course, there's… Tidus."
Yuna flicked her eyes up at him.
"He feels responsible for dragging him to Spira, though I can't tell if he views that as good or bad. I think he knows that… that it was the fayth that planned this all out. That took him originally to Spira to begin the domino race that would lead them to freedom. It's an odd feeling, being used so by something you know you can't hold a grudge against. Still though, he worries. We all do.
"A whole year and none of us have seen him."
Yuna, jaw tightening, returned her focus to the city.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned myself," his tone dropped some. "Going to Spira and then being here… It makes a person feel displaced. As if they don't belong after seeing so much death and destruction. It's enough to drive a person crazy sometimes, the ignorance of the people here."
"You think he's… gone?" Yuna asked, not entirely sure what she was actually inquiring about.
"Maybe," Auron sighed again. "Though I find that hard to believe. If the fayth brought Jecht and I back to be used, then I have no doubt they're making the most of him as well." He didn't say it resentfully. No, but he was obviously tired. Very, very tired.
"They said they'd been calling to me," Yuna admitted then, eyebrows furrowing. "Though I can't say I know of any way I can help them." She didn't know anything and had allowed herself to be led around blindly by those she'd thought she could trust, Tidus among them. What good could she possibly be? "Sometimes I feel as though I can't help anyone…"
"You don't give yourself enough credit," Auron commented roughly. "It was your determination that started our journey after all."
"I made so many poor choices…"
"That's all part of growing up. Regret serves no one, least of all the one doing the regretting." He caught her eye once more. "You have very little you should regret Yuna, know that well. You carry a heavy burden. One of hope—one not even the fayth can ignore. It's a load that's hard to bear, but do not regret. For those who regret are already dead. This place is full of petty regrets and people who refuse to live their lives. But you've done everything right, Yuna. Even if sometimes you feel lost in it all."
She smiled at his speech, supposing she should thank him for it even if she couldn't totally understand what he meant. But that was how it always was with Auron. Never a straight answer. Always cryptic.
"How old are you, Sir Auron?" The question popped from her lips before she could stop it, the man beside her chuckling lightly.
"I suppose I probably turned thirty-six this year," he replied shortly.
"Six years younger than my father," she observed. "Do you think he had regrets too?"
"I know he does," Auron replied. "Just as you did the day you decided to become a summoner." He paused then, Yuna noticing how his chest heaved, as if he had a great many things to say. "That's actually one of the reasons why I came out to talk to you. Not about regrets," he waved off the subject, "but about your father."
"My father?" she furrowed her brows, her curiosity spiking. Her father was one subject she was never shy to talk about. To be honest, she didn't remember much about him. Most of her memories from back then consisted of missing him. There were a few flashes of them together in the back of her mind, but they faded more and more every day. Just like all her memories, as if the new ones had to force out the old to make way.
"You need to realize, Yuna, that when I say everyone in this city is dead, I'm not speaking figuratively," he stated firmly. "Perhaps when a summoner sends, the dreams don't fade away, but that doesn't change the fact. Dreams have to end." Still curious, Yuna cocked her head as she listened, not entirely sure where he was going with this. "The fayth… they've been on this world a long time, tormented by their imprisonment, and will do just about anything at this point to be free of it. For whatever reason, they've got it in their heads that you and us," her friends and Auron and Jecht, "are the only ones capable of doing it. Braska's pilgrimage was, after all, where it all started. They brought Jecht to Spira to fight against Sin, so that when Tidus came, he'd have something to fight for. Or maybe Jecht was their first attempt that ended in failure. I don't know. But it all started eleven years ago, with the three of us.
"So I suppose that's why they think the three of us are important to ending it."
Yuna wasn't slow; she could gather what he was saying.
"My father's here too…" she muttered, turning back to look out at the city. The idea didn't quite sit with her. It didn't seem believable and she had a hard time, despite how she'd said it, fathoming such a thing to be real. She didn't know what to think, or how to feel. Mostly she felt an odd sort of emptiness—unable to comprehend.
"Your mother too," Auron added, Yuna blinking but unable to offer any sort of response. "But you need to understand that this place is no different than the Farplane. Perhaps they are here, and you may see them, but they're dead Yuna. As dead as they were the first time you beckoned them in the Farplane.
"I'm trying to warn you." His tone softened. "Do not… get attached to this place. It will only bring you more sorrow. I know that, Jecht knows that, and so does your father. He won't be… pleased to know you're here." Because he was just as unhappy at having been brought back as the rest of them.
Yuna didn't respond, her eyes trained on the sky as she glanced up. Her thoughts were stalled, as if her brain were shielded and his words couldn't reach inside. How was she supposed to feel? To know that she might see her parents again, talk to them, but that really they're not there? It must be some kind of torture, she decided, which was why her mind was refusing to digest it. A cruel, disgusting, teasing truth.
Much like Tidus, she found she didn't want to see her father. Or her mother. None of them. It wasn't worth the pain, speaking to them only to see them vanish again. She'd already lived through it once, so it couldn't be any better now.
Abruptly, she wished she'd never gone through the Farplane. That she'd taken a step back and not let her hopes persuade her. What had she gotten herself into?
Part of her wanted to be sick.
"Look, look, there it is!" The voice wasn't one she recognized and, snapped out of her thoughts, Yuna's gaze darted to the house beside Auron's. He too had glanced over, the two of them seeing that a couple had jogged out onto their balcony and were staring up at the sky, pointing. Yuna and Auron, following the gestures, allowed their gazes to turn upward.
Yuna's brows furrowed at what she saw. "What is that?"
"The guardian," Auron replied easily, watching as well. "It's been given the name Leviathan." It was a huge beast, swirling and dancing outside the shield far, far above their heads. It twirled on inside itself, flying without wings. It was incredibly graceful, like a swimmer in the sky—like water in a river. It was too far for Yuna to see details, but it sparkled in the moonlight like a silver fish, splashing in and out of the clouds and between stars. Everyone had left their homes to watch it, or were peering out through windows. Children pointed and laughed, their parents smiling. Like a fleeting hope, it sifted over the shield and vanished as quickly as it'd come.
"I'm not really sure what it is myself," Auron continued after it'd vanished. "It wasn't around before Sin was gone, so it's a new addition to Zanarkand's defenses." Yuna, returning her attention to him, listened patiently, pretending his explanation was enough to distract her from everything else he'd said that night. "It lives outside the shell and never fails to appear when the city is attacked. I've seen it just outside the shell before and it's huge. Much larger than any fiend we ever fought or aeon you summoned. It's a great, shimmering serpent, which is the most I've been able to make out of it. It's always so… twisted and moving so swiftly that it's hard to make out any details."
"And it defends the city?" Yuna asked, glancing back up at the sky. "Like Sin did, before…" Because that's all Sin had been. A soul so warped by time that all it could consider was defending its dream of a city, killing innocents along the way.
"I've considered that perhaps it's something similar," Auron shook his head. "That, despite what happened last time," with Sin, "the fayth called on something similar to defend them, desperate against the Farplane."
"An aeon, then."
"Perhaps, though I pity the soul that became that fayth. Jecht told me that… that being summoned constantly, being pulled on, it destroys a person, drives them insane. He said that's the reason Yu Yevon went insane and couldn't stop. Why he sometimes feels out of control himself just remembering being connected to such a being."
"Then… the fayth forced this… person to become this?" she glanced back over at him.
"No, I don't think so," Auron replied. "It requires a very strong soul to become a fayth, someone determined to be so." Which was why a strong bond between summoner and guardian was required for the Final Summoning. Someone just as vindicated as their summoner in their actions. "Whoever became that… creature… had to have volunteered, otherwise it wouldn't be strong enough to withstand the abuse it gets."
Yuna didn't have to ask in order for him to elaborate.
"It throws itself into battle without qualm. No matter the numbers or the threat, it's always there. Without it, Zanarkand would have been overrun months ago. It has yet to fall and brings the people a sort of hope that perhaps this… war will yet be won."
"Unfortunate creature…" Yuna murmured.
"Yes, truly," Auron agreed with a nod.
All around them, the people of Zanarkand continued to cheer.