Chapter 2: Plans and Apparitions

I've never run so fast in my entire life. When I reached Wakka and Lulu's tent in the village, I was completely out of breath and sweaty, and barged in without knocking like I usually did.

Yuna is gone. She is not in Besaid.

I tried to calm down, because I didn't want to upset the other villagers or baby Vidina, who was sleeping peacefully in his crib. Lulu on the other hand, looked anything but peaceful.

"Excuse you?" she said with her deep, sarcastic voice. "Have you lost your memory again? Your tent –"

"Lulu, please," I interrupted her. "I need to talk to you and Wakka. It's – it's urgent."

One of the things I loved most about the people in Spira is that they can see straight through a person; no need to ask questions, you can simply tell whether or not a person is being sincere. Upon seeing my face – and indubitably the panic in my eyes – Lulu strolled out of the tent, came back two minutes later with a bewildered Wakka, sat down, and watched me anxiously.

"Start from the beginning, Tidus," she urged me. As I recollected the entire morning for her, Rikku and Paine entered, closing the tent entrance behind them. When I was finished, Wakka had clenched fists and Paine was pacing back and forth, punching a tent pole every now and then.

"I need to find her. But I don't even know where to begin…"

I was starting to despair. It was so unusual for Yuna to just leave, and for nobody to know where she went. It all seemed wrong. Lulu got up and started grabbing random ingredients and bowls from her cabinets. I felt another surge of anger.

"I don't think cooking breakfast is going to help find her!"

Lulu didn't even look up. "I'm not cooking anything. And please keep your voice down while Vidina is in here. Rikku, I need you to grab some nightshade from your alchemy stash in your tent and bring it to me, quickly. Wakka, dear, can you please bring the baby to Keepa's wife? He shouldn't be here when I do this…"

"Do what?" I tapped my foot impatiently. Paine had stopped pacing around the tent and was watching Lulu work intently.

"There is more to black magic than fire and water spells. I was trained under the greatest of wizards in Spira, and one of my instructors was a voodoo priestess who specialized in the afterlife. It's a branch of magic that few dare touch, and though I'd rather not meddle in the affairs of the dead, I need to speak to someone who can see beyond the limits of this realm."

We all watched speechless as she prepared her ritual. Rikku brought her the nightshade, which turned her concoction into a fiery smoke-substance. She beckoned us to sit in a circle, and even though it was only noon, inside the tent it was dark as night. Slowly, Lulu began to move her hands over the fire, directing the smoke in spirals. She uttered an incantation in a language I'd never heard in my life, but it sounded incredibly beautiful:

Garsh daneem anakdec

Garsh litvaya

Nuvadem gaia acerbur

Zokem animae mortis

Garsh litvaya

As soon as she finished, the flames lit up and the red smoke formed a figure in the middle of our circle. At first I couldn't see any distinct features, and the figure frightened me. But slowly I started seeing a face amidst the flames, and a familiar voice echoed through the tent.

"It's been a while since I've seen your face, Tidus. I thought you'd join me here, in the Farplane."

"Maechen!" smiled Rikku. "Is that really you?"

The figure of Maechen twirled in a circle, taking in all of our faces and smiling sadly.

"Why it is, yes. I do seem to be there. I'm missing my favorite summoner though. Where is the lady Yuna?"

"Master Maechen," Lulu spoke softly. "I deeply apologize for calling you from Beyond. I have a favor to ask of you, as it seems that Yuna has disappeared without a trace."

Maechen was quiet for a minute, and none of us dared speak. At last, he looked up and spoke to us again, this time without the usual gentleness in his voice. "I'm sensing a great disturbance in our world. Mind you, I can confirm that Yuna is very much alive and certainly not here, but a darkness is definitely stirring. I will have to investigate further, since at this moment I do not have the strength to stay with you for much longer. I will roam the Farplane and speak to those that ought to know more; when I find more information, I will make sure they contact you directly. For now, you must get ready for a long journey, for I feel that great evil has returned, and that evil must be defeated."

Soon after he finished uttering these words, Maechen dissolved in red smoke again. We all sat quietly, staring at where his figure had been, hoping for more news about Yuna.

She's alive. Yuna is alive. I just have to find her and get her back safe and sound.

"What did he mean, 'great evil has returned,'" Wakka said. "We defeated Sin. We killed Yu Yevon. Yuna lived! What can possibly –"

"Be quiet!" Lulu shouted.

The red smoke had started to move around again, faster this time. A feeling of dread and pain filled my chest, and I clutched my shoulder. I noticed that others were bending over in sudden anguish also, as if we were all inflicted with the same poisonous emotion.

"You. Unworthy. It is with great frustration yet even greater hurt that I come before you." A dark voice bellowed through the tent, and slowly the smoke formed into a being. Her hair was long and silver, her figure slim.

"Lady Yunalesca!" I uttered.

She swiftly turned her head and raised her arms. "Silence, my foes! I have not forgiven you for the wounds inflicted upon me, both physically and mentally! I was unbeaten, merciless; a Goddess of the Calm. But you took that away from me: my peace, my strength, until I had nothing left. Do not speak to me, you undeserving fools." She lowered her hands again and faced Lulu, suddenly crest-fallen. "My anger is what drives me still, but it is not why I am here. There was one amongst you whom I loved, like a sister. I recognized myself in her spirit. But she is not her with you today."

Tears welled up in her eyes and her hands formed into fists. "And that is my fault. I should have protected her like my own, even after my demise. My father, Yu Yevon… Though you all fought valiantly, he was not beaten. Part of him remains in this world and he roams among us in an unsent form, causing souls to rebel across Spira. I tried… but I couldn't stop him from where I am now." She turned to me, bending over so her face was close to mine. "But you can."

"Yu Yevon has captured Yuna's spirit and trapped it in the form of a pyrefly, sending her into an eternal dream state from which she cannot wake. He keeps her close to his side, wherever he goes. When I realized what he had done, I tried to reason with him, to get him to give up and leave this world. But his evil is far greater than even I expected; his corruption through and through. Although I do not care for your Spira any longer, I care even less for my father in his current form. I bid you to stop him!"

We listened quietly, taking in each word. Yuna… Yu Yevon… I thought I had put that past behind me…

"But Lady Yunalesca," Rikku whispered softly, keeping her head down, "without Yuna, and the aeons… How can we stop Yu Yevon again? We barely had to means to make it last time!"

Yunalesca remained quiet and merely folded her hands together, smiling coldly. "That is the one thing I can help you with. As a final act against my father, I shall give you the tools to overcome him."

Suddenly she flicked her fingers and a tiny bright light erupted from her palm; it swished across the tent and then flew towards me. When it hit my chest, I felt a cold shudder going through me – but I felt victorious at the same time, warm with a new power I had never felt before. I looked down, but the light was gone.

"Woah! What was that?" Wakka shouted.

"I have honored you with the power to absorb souls, or dreams of the Fayth," Yunalesca said triumphantly. "Yu Yevon has awoken the Fayth so that they lend him their powers. You must complete the same pilgrimage as before, putting the souls of the Fayth to rest, and gaining their power instead. This is the only way you will be able to defeat Yu Yevon, who resides in Zanarkand. Collect the pyreflies containing the Fayths' powers, and defeat him. Send Yu Yevon back to the depths of hell where he belongs, and liberate your beloved Yuna."

"Wait," I shouted. "Yu Yevon is in Zanarkand? And the Fayth… they are back? And I can absorb their power? I don't understand! We need your help!"

"I have done my part. Now you must do yours." And with those words Yunalesca erupted in hundreds of small pyreflies, of all colors, and they shot upwards through the tent's ceiling. Within seconds, it was light again; a soft breeze blew open the tent entrance and caused the fire to die out.

None of us moved.

And so it starts again.