CHAPTER 3:

ABDUCTING YUNA

Three weeks later…

Seymour had to admit to being nervous. After all, here they were, back in Luca, where he could very well be recognised. But they needed to deal with an increasingly-pressing issue. Namely, Cid's plan to start intercepting the Summoners and prevent them from making their Pilgrimage. And his main target was his niece, and Rikku's cousin, Yuna.

In case he was recognised, Seymour was sitting, along with Tidus, in a lounge area of the Al Bhed ship, monitoring sphere transmissions. According to reports, Yuna and her Guardians were due to arrive from Killika Island before long. And at about the same time as Mika was too. Rikku was supervising the offloading of cargo. Tidus was to help the Al Bhed Psyches with their Blitzball match when it came about: in training, the teenager proved to be a natural, even pulling off a move that was apparently one of his father's.

The journey back to Home had been spent bringing Tidus up to speed on the details of the history of Spira, as well as the Al Bhed and Home. Tidus certainly seemed interested in listening to anything regarding Jecht and Auron, as much as he hated his father. In exchange, he had told Seymour and Rikku about his life in Zanarkand. It was certainly very detailed if it was a delusion, and filled with no contradictions, though he seemed to have no knowledge of Summoners, Yu Yevon, or Yunalesca. Seymour was amused to learn from Tidus that the gesture used as a benediction or a prayer to Yevon was, apparently, a cheering gesture from Blitzball. Spectators did it as a sign of good luck, or to celebrate a goal. Whatever Tidus was, and wherever he came from, however, he was here now.

Tidus also had this marvellous righteous indignation at the Summoners throwing their lives away on their Pilgrimages. He certainly didn't judge Seymour for faltering at the final stage, something Seymour was grateful for. He did admire the Fayth, though, for sacrificing their lives to create the Aeons, something Seymour did share to a degree. After all, his mother had done so too. Indeed, Seymour had brought Tidus to meet his mother, to show Tidus what becoming a Fayth entailed.

So, handy in a fight, with no prejudice against machina or the Al Bhed, and thoroughly opposed to Summoners throwing away their lives. Tidus was gaining a place amongst the Al Bhed, especially as he could identify more machina they normally couldn't. Which he did, when he was let loose in some of the storerooms under supervision. In fact, Seymour was amused to see that his adoptive sister and Tidus were becoming fast friends, much to the annoyance of Brother and the ambivalence of Cid. All of which led to this point.

They were on a broadcast of Mika's arrival when Seymour saw who he was looking for. He was able to freeze the live feed, and pointed. "There is Lady Yuna and her Guardians. We have a spy on Besaid Island who gave us images and descriptions. The one who looks like a rooster in yellow coveralls is Wakka, the Captain of the Besaid Aurochs. He's a fairly skilled Blitzball player by all accounts, though the same cannot be said about the rest of his team. The Ronso with the broken horn is Kimahri. I have met him once, at about the same time I met Sir Auron. Sir Auron charged him with looking after Yuna, and taking her from Bevelle to Besaid."

"He looks strong."

"All Ronso are. He would be considered weak and without honour by Ronso standards given his broken horn. He is short by their standards too. But make no mistake: he is neither weak or without honour, and he will probably tear you apart if he thinks you are a threat to Yuna. The young woman in the black dress that is in continual danger of exposing her breasts for all the world to see is Lulu. Lulu is a former Guardian to at least two Summoners. Lady Ginnem died in a remote cave near the Calm Lands, while Father Zuke faltered when he came to the Calm Lands. Lulu is not only an experienced Guardian, but a powerful Black Mage. She is also an older sister figure to Yuna."

"And that one," Tidus said, pointing to a brown-haired woman about his age, dressed in vaguely priestess-like clothing. "Is that Yuna?"

"Indeed." Seymour looked at the young woman. So naïve, and yet so determined to relieve the ills of Spira. So beautiful, and yet filled with a strength of spirit Seymour envied. For a moment, his gaze lingered on her face, before he unpaused the live feed, bringing it back to what was happening now. The camera was showing Grand Maester Yo Mika, a bent-over old man who nonetheless radiated gravitas and dignity. "This is Grand Maester Mika, and he has been Grand Maester for fifty years now."

"Shouldn't he be retired?"

Seymour chuckled. "Sadly, he seems resistant to that. Many of his policies are actually quite liberal. Well, save to the Al Bhed." He then scowled, his mood changing as if a switch had been flipped, as a familiar figure appeared. One with thick, almost arboreal strands of blue hair and a beard. "And there is Maester Jyscal Guado. My sperm donor."

Tidus chuckled slightly, until he saw the venom on Seymour's face. Not directed at the young Blitzball player, but Tidus all but recoiled all the same. "Sorry."

"The offence is all his," Seymour said coldly. "If your father is the same man who ended up in Spira, then at least he did not abandon you willingly. Whereas Jyscal Guado exiled my mother and I, and left us to rot. He may be a decent leader to his people, but as a father, he is somewhat less successful. I cannot tell you how gladdened I was when rumours spread some years ago of his death, only to have that good cheer quashed when he turned out to be alive." He sighed. "Rikku and Brother even baked me a cake, with the words 'CONGRATULATIONS: YOUR FATHER IS DEAD' on it. It was a good cake too. Brother's quite the talented cook, though you wouldn't know it to look at him."

"Wow. You must hate him."

"Tell me, Tidus, have you ever considered patricide? Killing your own father? And I mean more than hollow words filled with rage. I meant actually planning it in detail." Noticing Tidus shaking his head, Seymour said, "I have. I've never gone through with it, but if I ever had the opportunity to get away with it…"

"…You're pretty scary, you know that?" Tidus asked.

"I am a Summoner and a mage of considerable power. Fear is an appropriate response." Seymour shook his head. "However, I will not jeopardise the retrieval of Yuna." Syemour looked at a watch. "I think it's nearly time for you to head to the game, Tidus. You'll leave with the Al Bhed Psyches. Rikku and I shall depart when Yuna is brought on board."


About half an hour afterwards, Tidus having already departed for the game, Rikku led a semiconscious Yuna, muttering in Al Bhed, "Those idiots!"

"What's the matter, Rikku?" Seymour asked.

"After we snatched Yunie, the Psyches basically told the Aurochs and Yunie's Guardians that the Aurochs should throw the game in exchange for her safety!" Rikku scowled.

"Huh. Well, that's demonstrating rather poor sportsmanship, not to mention even poorer judgement," Seymour remarked. "What do we do?"

"I'm contacting Father," Rikku said, gently helping Yuna to a chair. "But her Guardians will be on their way. Keep an eye on Yunie, okay?"

As Rikku left, Yuna blinked away the daze, presumably from some drugged concoction she had been given. She was actually more beautiful in person than she was on a sphere screen, Seymour thought. Her light brown hair framed a heart-shaped face, and she had heterochromia, different eye colours, one the green of her Al Bhed heritage (minus the spiral pupil), the other blue. She focused on him, and frowned. "What's a Guado doing with the Al Bhed?"

"I consider myself a Guado no longer," Seymour said. "I consider myself kin and kindred to the Al Bhed, despite no ties of blood. Forgive me, Lady Yuna, but this is where your Pilgrimage will end. The Al Bhed will not idly stand by and allow the Summoners to throw their lives away on a futile suicide course."

"To relieve the suffering of the people of Spira is not futile!" Yuna retorted.

For a moment, Seymour was struck by the strength of the resolve in her eyes. They lent them a beautiful fire that had him pause briefly, before he continued. "It is if Sin never goes away. It is a lesson I learned early in my life. I too was a Summoner, and one who baulked at the final hurdle, at Zanarkand. Now, I have found a different calling."

"Kidnapping?" she asked wryly.

"No. Rather, I try to relieve the suffering of a people who are spat upon by the rest of Spira. You should know this better than anyone, for who amongst your friends on Besaid know of you having an Al Bhed mother?"

"…Lulu knows. So do a couple of others."

"Well, Cid sent us to fetch you. In any case, the Final Summoning is a sham." As she looked up sharply, he continued, "It is not only the life of a Summoner who is forfeit in the battle against Sin. Where do you think the Fayth of the Final Aeon comes from, hmm? They are born from a Guardian that the Summoner themselves chooses. Two futile suicides for the price of one."

As Yuna stared at him in understandable shock and the seeds of denial, Rikku came in. "Okay, I've just contacted Father. Given what the Psyches have done, we'll head off now. If the Guardians get on board and put up too much of a resistance, then we let Yunie go, try to get her at the Moonflow or something."

"What about me?" Seymour asked. "If the machina you have won't stop them, then I can incapacitate them myself."

"You sure?" Rikku asked. Upon seeing the resolution in his face, she sighed. "Okay, but don't go too overboard out there."


Sure enough, Kimahri and Lulu boarded the ship as it began moving off, and had managed to destroy the Oblitzerator, a machina weapon derived originally from an ancient Blitzball training device. Seymour took that as his cue to emerge. Yuna, who had figured out what he had intended, pled with him not to hurt her friends. Seymour knew that he would have to hurt them a little, try and ensure that they submitted swiftly. But he would not kill them.

He saw Lulu's eyes narrow. "Where is Yuna?" she demanded.

"Safe and sound," Seymour replied. "But her Pilgrimage will end now."

"No. You will hand her over, now."

Seymour chuckled softly. "How determined you are to escort her to her own suicide," he remarked, before flinging his hand to the sky. "COME TO ME, ANIMA!"

An anchor dropped from the sky, seeming to pull out of the deck of the ship the eldritch form of Anima. Lulu's eyes widened. "That is no Aeon I have ever seen!" she exclaimed.

"Of course. Anima is unique to me," Seymour said. "Anima, I need them alive and relatively intact. Kindly knock them out."

"As you wish, my son," Anima said, her voice warping and flanging strangely, before she unleashed a pair of magical attacks that left both Lulu and Kimahri sprawled on the deck of the ship, unconscious.


He soon, with Rikku's help (and that of another Al Bhed), dragged the two Guardians to their new accommodation. Yuna gasped when she saw them being brought in. "What did you do to them?!" she demanded.

"I merely rendered them unconscious, Lady Yuna," Seymour said. "People tend not to listen to reason when a kidnapping has occurred. They have come to little harm. I apologise for this, but it has become a necessity."

"Is it a necessity to deprive hope from the people of Spira?" Yuna demanded indignantly. And understandably so.

Seymour, however, patiently said, "When I have told you what I know about the Final Summoning, then you may reconsider your words. We do not intend to deprive the people of Spira of hope. Rather, we intend to give them what they truly desire: a world free from Sin. You will understand, Lady Yuna, very soon."

Even so, he saw the defiance and anger in her eyes. Understandably so. But he and the Al Bhed he called brethren would not be swayed from their tasks any more than she would be swayed from the Pilgrimage. But swayed she must be, lest things end in her death…

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

And there you have it. This time round, the abduction of Yuna succeeds, and Lulu and Kimahri have come along for the ride. In case you're wondering what happens to Wakka, well, he'll join up with Auron.

I'm glad to have gotten reviews for the first two chapters. And as for long-time reader and reviewer Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros, well, see above for Seymour's more drier snarks.

No numbered annotations this time.