In a single day, we conquered most of the Mi'ihen Highroad as well as the Djosé road, where we solved the Cloister of Trials quickly—with Jecht's full assistance, unlike in Macalania—and Braska obtained the aeon, a great horse of the element of thunder. I remembered him from my previous journey.

"So, where to next?" Jecht asked as we neared the Mi'ihen Travel Agency. It was nighttime, and around us, crickets were chirping. Above our heads, stars twinkled against a navy canvas.

"We rest for the night," Braska said.

"What, you two old ladies tired already?" Jecht said. "Come on, I could fight Sin tonight!"

Braska laughed. "While your energy is admirable, Jecht, it is rather late, and I had intended on getting a fairly early start tomorrow. Let us rest."

"Fine," he said.

"I'll bet he's asleep in less than two minutes," I whispered to Braska as I handed him the bag with the miniscule amount of money we had managed to pick up along the way.

Braska put a hand on my shoulder. "Auron, you seem distracted. Are you all right?"

"Sure," I answered. I gazed up at the Travel Agency, which looked no different than it had just six years ago, but my mind was warping my sight. Instead of seeing what was before me, I saw it as it had been on that tragic evening: piles of wood and rubble everywhere, over forty bodies laid out in front of me, and Paine… gone.

"Well, if you need to talk, let me know," he said, heading into the Travel Agency with Jecht behind him.

"Will do," I said. I continued to stand there and look around me, at the sign, the sleeping chocobos, and even the ruins beyond, out in the ocean. Nothing had changed, and yet… everything had changed.

I closed my eyes and ran my fingers again over the beads fastened to my belt and thought of Alex and Paine: their smiles, their warmth, their light, and how happy we were.

"I love you," I whispered, opening my eyes and following Jecht and Braska into the Travel Agency.

:::

We had just finished breakfast and were cleaning up when we heard a shout from outside.

"Oh, Yevon have mercy!"

"Hm?" Jecht asked. "What's going on?"

A young woman ran into the Agency. "Somebody, help! A fiend just snatched one of the chocobos!"

"Come on!" Jecht exclaimed, running out of the Agency. Braska and I exchanged a look, then followed. "Hey, where'd it go?"

"It's probably long gone by now," I said skeptically.

"Well, we'll find it!" Jecht exclaimed.

I wholeheartedly believed that the fiend was gone, but just in case, I decided to pull out the spherecam, figuring that Jecht would probably want this on record.

"A giant fiend that attacks chocobos…" Braska mused.

"Hmph. What's it waiting for?" Jecht said. "Hey! Come out and fight!"

"I told you this was a waste of time," I sighed.

"Hey, come on!" Jecht said, turning around and facing the camera. "It's the right thing to do. Everyone's depending on us! Besides, it's good practice."

I chuckled. "I guess you're right."

"Well, then…" Braska said, nodding.

Suddenly, I felt something nudge my arm, so forcefully that I dropped the spherecam. We all looked around, spotting a giant, hideous fiend, the likes of which I had never seen before.

"There it is!" Jecht called. "Auron! Let's get 'im!"

"Right," I called back.

Braska stopped for a moment to shut off the spherecam before joining Jecht and me in battle.

The beast was good size, with dull blue hide and two cone-shaped tongues. A chocobo feather was stuck between two of its massive teeth, and its colossal arms were wrapped in front of it, almost like a barrier.

"Let's do this!" Jecht yelled, hitting it with his sword.

"I'm with you, Jecht!" I said, taking a swing at it myself.

"Don't forget me," Braska smiled, casting Fira.

"Now, let's see what this thing's made of," Jecht growled.

The Chocobo Eater took aim at Braska, attempting to hit him with its hand, but he dodged it agilely.

"Let's finish this quickly," I said, pulling my sword back. Wind began to swirl around me, gathering more and more until I stepped forward, spinning in circles to encourage the cyclone. I aimed my sword at the Chocobo Eater and the wind followed my direction, intensifying tenfold into a full-on tornado. I detached my canteen from the necklace and tossed it into the twister, the entire thing combusting into a titanic swirl of fire.

After a moment, the flame burned so brightly that everything was engulfed in light. After it faded, the Chocobo Eater came crashing to the ground, lying on its back, unable to get up.

"I'll finish it," Jecht said, running at it and polishing it off with one final blow.

Its body dissipated into pyreflies, and Braska, Jecht, and I momentarily retired our weapons.

"Auron, that was astounding!" Braska said. "When did you learn that?"

"Something I picked up in the last few years," I replied. "Maybe if I'd had it before…" I shook my head. "Let's get going."

"I second that notion," Jecht agreed nodding.