Major spoilers. Disclaimer: FFX isn't mine. Follows the story, but kind of AU. It's an Aurikku. (You know I've been misspelling that?) This is about characters and the gradual building of a relationship. Still all -T- right now, or even less.
Soldier of Spira
Rikku's Diary:
Seymour—Zanarkand—marriage—Jyscal! And no practice tonight! Whatever else you can say about it, Guadosalam wasn't boring! While the others are all at the inn getting ready to leave tomorrow, I thought I might as well slip back to the city's entry chamber and see what might be lying around in those dark corners.
Only when I get to the chamber, the man is there. He gave us the night off, but I guess he didn't mean him. He's swinging that huge sword of his, whipping it around his head, slashing and stabbing, flashing from one position to the next, his coat whirling around him like red smoke.
I forget about treasure chests and just watch him, and whenever I think now he has to be about to stop, he starts to move just a tiny bit faster.
And then it changes, and it's like it's not a drill, it's a dance, and his sword isn't something for killing, it's a part of him, and close as I watch I can never guess how he's going to move next.
I know he knows I'm here, and I remember just about the last thing he said to me this evening.
He needs me.
Treasure
Rikku's Diary:
Okay, there are trees, and then there are TREES! And there are BIG trees, and then there are FREEKIN' GREAT BIG TREES! Well Guadosalam was bigger than that! It just kept growing and growing as we got nearer. I leaned back, and it seemed to go up forever. We all went down into a tunnel that led deep under its roots, me first, then the others, the man last. There was a big chamber, but it was empty. I wanted to poke around a little in the dark corners and see what careless people might have left behind, but the others were all, Never mind, Rikku, Let's get going, Rikku.
Well, fine! See if I vote to stop the next time they want to check out blitzballs or low cut dresses in the stores!
Auron:
We entered the Guado stronghold. It had never been my favorite place, and I didn't like it any better now that Seymour Guado called it home. We went down through the large central entrance chamber. I idly wondered if any of the others noticed the murder holes placed every few feet, to allow defenders to stab at invaders in safety, or the openings in the ceiling through which the boiling water was poured. Perhaps my brother-in-honor, the Ronso, did.
Through another tunnel, and the city proper came into view. There were openings that led off to all sides, and branches that formed living roads, carrying traffic and supporting homes and shops. Everything was well lit by light spheres. And very clean. The Guado are somewhat obsessive about neatness. Maybe some of it will rub off on Tidus.
The Guado are obsessive about many things.
The place was busy with Guado and others—tourists, come to visit the Farplane, Guadosalam's chief claim to prominence. An elderly Guado was waiting for us.
"We have been expecting you Lady Yuna. Welcome to Guadosalam. This way my lady. This way."
The Guado reached out to take her arm, but the blitzballer knocked it away.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
I begin to like him a little more. The Guado was named Tromell, and he worked for Seymour. He informed Yuna that Seymour wanted to see her at his home. Of course, Yuna agreed. Seymour lived in a large manor near the center of town. As we passed through the foyer, I quietly told Tidus to stay close to Yuna. I didn't know what Seymour was up to, and I didn't like it. I didn't like the smell.
"I wonder what smells so nice," the Al Bhed girl said, crossing to the large double-doors. Hm. Actually, it did smell...interesting. We passed into a large room elaborately decorated for a feast. The tables were almost hidden under the food. All right, Seymour. What's your game? I leaned up against the wall to wait for developments.
Rikku's Diary:
Guado sure know how to eat! The place is all laid out fancy, and food is just hanging off the tables. I wonder what all this is for? It's kind of exciting. Back on Bikanel we don't really do "fancy." We're more the grab a sandwich while you work type. The room's really elaborate, there's a pendulum swinging on one side and three great big globes are hanging overhead. I think I'm the only one eating. The others are just standing around looking nervous or impatient, except for Tidus, who's walking around talking to everyone. Jeez, guys, I'm nervous too—I'm an Al Bhed about to meet a maester—but you can't let it ruin your appetite!
Finally that Tromell guy comes back. Hey, if I ever have a servant, I wonder if he'll go around talking me up like this guy does Seymour. This guy loves Seymour, going on and on about what a great guy he is.
"That is enough, Trommel. Must I always endure such praise?" I guess that's him. Um...interesting hair.
"Welcome," he says, doing the Yevon prayer thingie, and I can't help wondering if Seymour is just another victim, just like all of us here, or is he something a lot nastier. Does he maybe help keep us trapped in this big, hopeless death loop we call Spira?
"You wanted to see me?" Yuna asked, kind of nervously. Hey, Yuna! You don't have to kowtow to this guy!
"Please, make yourself at home. There's no rush."
"Please keep this short," Auron said, not very politely, "Yuna must rush."
Gee, in a hurry much to see Yuna sacrifice herself? Take all the time you want, Yuna. I know, I know, I'm on both sides here. Or against both sides.
"Pardon me. It's been a long time since I've had guests." Seymour held his hand out to Yuna and led her to the center of the room. "Lady Yuna, this way."
Then the three big globes started to glow overhead. The lights seemed to go out. Everything went black, then there were lights all around us! What's going on?
Auron:
We stand on stars.
We fly through the heavens. Comets, ringed planets, and even whole galaxies race past us. The others exclaim and look about in wonder. The blitzballer and the Al Bhed girl put their arms in the air, turning.
Now the scene shifts. We are far above a city at night, one that I know well. We are looking down at the great illuminated towers and boulevards below, bursting with a light that hurts the eyes. It is built from the land and the sea and the sky all together, as much a labor of art as a place to live and to work. I recognize buildings and parks and streets, places I spent the last ten years, and where I fought secret, unknown wars.
Now we are at ground level.
"Zanarkand," Tidus breaths.
"Correct," Seymour answers, "Zanarkand...as it looked one thousand years ago."
It is Zanarkand. They stare in admiration and amazement, the black mage is silently taking it in, the Al Bhed girl is bouncing up and down. Tidus...says nothing. What can he be feeling? Crowds are passing through and around us. It is Zanarkand as I know it, my city, cultured and sophisticated, intoxicating and dangerous, never asleep, full of possibilities and pain. I half expect to see someone I know on the street, or one of those idiot Tidus bobbleheads in a shop window.
Rikku's Diary:
Is this really Zanarkand? The city I dreamed of, the city we tell stories about? It's bigger and more exciting than I could have imagined. Is this what we could be if it weren't for Yevon, and Sin? Could that be us on those streets? I look around wildly to see if there are any Al Bhed, Auron said there were Al Bhed! But the scene changes, and we're looking at some woman in a bikini.
"Lady Yunalesca!" Yuna says. Huh. Well look at that.
"She was the first to defeat Sin," Seymour says, "And save the world from its ravages. And you have inherited her name."
Hey! I don't have any reflection! That's so cool! I wave to myself. Nothing! Oops. Some guy in armor just came in right through Yunie, and now he and the bikini model are hugging. Hey! What's that? Seymour is whispering something to Yunie—no fair, I can't hear! Boy, does she look surprised.
Whoop, we're back again, back in Seymour's house in Guadosalam. Yunie kind of staggers over to a table, grabs something to drink, and gulps it down. She comes over and we all gather around her (except for guess who, who just keeps standing right where he is).
"Wow," I tell her, "Your face is beet red!"
"You okay?" Tidus asks.
"He...he asked me to marry him!"
Auron:
Marriage. What sort of stunt is this? I expected something serious, and I don't like not understanding what's going on. I face Seymour, telling myself to ignore the hair.
"You know what Yuna must do."
"Of course. Lady Yuna—no, all summoners—are charged with..." I tune him out as he blathers about summoners having to make the people happy. Hey everyone! Let's put on a show, a great big show for the people of Spira!
A tragedy.
"Spira is no playhouse," I answer him. "A moment's diversion may amuse the audience, but it changes nothing."
Yuna is standing almost between us now.
"Even so, the actors must play their parts." He says, and walks over to her. "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over."
"We will do so then," I said. Time to get Yuna out of here. "We leave"
"Lady Yuna, I await your favorable reply." As I'm walking toward the door, he speaks to me. "Why are you still here, sir?" He adds, "We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane."
Oh, Seymour. You know what I am. The sick thing is that you envy me.
The boy comes up and sniffs me. I know him. He felt the moment needed comic relief. I shove him away, and walk through the foyer and out of the home of Seymour Guado.
Rikku's Diary:
Wow! For a moment I thought those two were going to go at each other right there next to the appetizers. (I don't know Seymour, but I've seen our guy in action. I think the Church would've ended up short one maester.) So we got out of there and Yunie sat down right in the courtyard outside of Seymour's house. We all started giving her advice. Lulu seemed to be for the marriage. Wakka surprised me. He was against it. Tidus didn't surprise me at all. He was against it, too. I think he was jealous! Yuna...kinda seemed to be leaning towards it.
"If my getting married would help the people of Spira," she said, looking at her feet, "If I could make people happy..."
I crouched down in front of her. "You could always just quit your pilgrimage and get married," I said. I mean, Seymour wasn't the guy I'd have picked, but if it'll stop Yunie sacrificing herself...
Auron:
My mind was working at a feverish pace, churning through the potential ramifications—if Yuna gave up her quest in favor of getting married, if Yuna got married and did not give up her quest, if she rejected Seymour, if she couldn't make up her mind. What would Seymour do in all of those circumstances? What would the Church do? What would Tidus do? What would Jecht do?
Seymour, if your idiot scheme, whatever it is, interferes with The Plan, I'LL KILL YOU SIX TIMES.
Hm. Yuna wishes to go to the Farplane. Well, that was always going to happen.
Auron:
We leave the tunnel and climb the stairs to the entrance hanging above us. I stop on the second landing while the others go ahead. I won't go to the Farplane. The boy asks if I'm afraid. Few people tease me. Emma did. Willa did. One or two others. Tidus is one of the few. I should remind him not to cry, but I simply tell him to get going.
The Farplane holds no fear for me. In the fourth year that I lived in Zanarkand, the summoners of Zanarkand discovered what I was. In the fifth year that I lived in Zanarkand, they decided that I must be sent. Summoners of all the factions agreed, they did not want me to corrupt and tempt their young. In the sixth year that I lived in Zanarkand, my war with the summoners of Zanarkand ended.
----The last night of Auron's war with the summoners of Zanarkand----Boadicea----Enya----
It was drizzling in Zanarkand, the night I walked down the Street of the Fayth to the Hall of the Summoners, past the storefront churches and back-alley temples. I could feel the force of their efforts as I neared. It hurt. Cultists and heretics, holy prostitutes, and late-evening worshippers stared as I went by, pyreflies already leaking from my body. (But there are always more.)
My sword over my shoulder, I passed through the triple gate, and down the Long Corridor, to the Chamber of Silent Music. The pain grew. Pain is weakness leaving the body. I stood in the doorway of their place of power. In the stands they were gathered in their hundreds, dancing, chanting, waving their staffs, more than six hundred of them, sending. One hundred paces to cross the Chamber of Silent Music—I walked out under the dome, stained glass all in blue and green, like walking through light.
Sixty paces—they're sending, tearing off small pieces of me.
Forty paces—don't let them see weakness, Auron.
Twenty paces—the colors of circling pyreflies filled the air. How many can I have within me?
Ten paces—don't worry, Auron. Pain and pyreflies, there's always more.
Two paces—I lift my sword from my shoulder.
One pace, and I gently lay the tip of my blade on the collar of the Lord High Summoner, Drake. The edge touches his throat. "This ends now," I tell him, pyreflies escaping with every word.
He swallows, and nods, gestures to the stands. Almost all of the summoners fall motionless and silent.
And the fayth come.
The fayth of Zanarkand came to the Hall of the Summoners, and danced in the blue and the green beneath the dome. They flew, they dove, they raced from one corner to another and gathered the pyreflies. I turned and walked away, across the Chamber of Silent Music, down the Long Corridor, out into the street, and into the city. The fayth followed me, returning the pyreflies to my body, one by one. And my legend grew.
Auron:
Six hundred Zanarkand summoners could not send me against my will. The Farplane does not frighten me.
But...there's no way I could keep the others from seeing what I am. This isn't the right time for that. I will not go to the Farplane.
The Al Bhed girl is also staying behind. She keeps her memories inside, she says. A good policy. She has fit in well, so far. She has been useful. She will be even more useful in the future.
We sit in silence. She's perched on the rail, her leg swinging idly. I sit on the steps, my mind wandering the years, revisiting Ocean's Point, Starfall Village, and Klannathe. The past is the past, but I do not like this Guado city.
"Sir Auron?" the girl said.
"Yes."
"Can I ask you a question?"
She asks me more questions than the others put together.
"You can ask."
"And you'll tell the truth?" she asked, slyly.
I suppose she could be an irritating little girl at times.
"If I answer you at all it will be the truth."
"Do you promise?"
I idly reconsidered how much use she would be on our journey.
"Yes."
No harm. I doubted I would answer her anyway. She just sat there, swinging her leg, humming and smiling.
"Ask your question," I said.
"Oh no," she laughed. "I'm not going to ask it now. I'll wait 'til there's something I really want to know!"
Damn. Outsmarted by a twitchy little thief. She wilted a little under my eye before I turned back to the horizons. Neither of us said anything else, but I could hear her nervous little laugh, "Heh heh heh."
Rikku's Diary:
Ha! Got you, mister legendary clam! Now he owes me an answer, a truthful answer. Okay, okay, if he answers me at all. But still, don't try to tell me I didn't win that one!
Hey, the others are back. I guess Yuna's ready to give her answer to Seymour, when suddenly everybody starts gasping and pointing. I look around and something's trying to follow them out of the Farplane.
"Lord Jyscal!" some Guados yell. Huh, Seymour's father? He doesn't look so good.
"It does not belong here," Auron said, "Yuna, send him."
Good idea! We all follow Yuna up the steps. Yuna says, "Lord Jyscal..." Like she wants to tell him something, or ask him something. Lulu tells her to get on with it and send him. So Yuna does, and he turns into just another bunch of pyreflies. Really, guys. Pyrefly eradication program. Think about it. Hey, did he drop something? DID YUNA PICK IT UP! ISN'T SHE GOING TO SHARE?
No fair!
Everybody starts talking at once, but Auron's voice cuts through, "Talk later. We leave now."
We get back into the tunnel and head back into the city. Wakka wants to know if it was really Seymour's father.
Auron:
The blitzballer wants to know if that was really Jyscal. Yuna wants to know why he wasn't sent. The mage says he probably had something binding him to Spira, and wants to know what it was.
I want to know what Seymour knows.
Up until now, I have been treating Seymour as an irritation, like Mika, like Kinoc. I didn't underestimate him. I know he is a major player. But I didn't think he would become fully involved in my plans until a later date. This early, the only possible trouble I expected to have from the Church would be priest-assassins from the Grey Court. We have a rather tangled history, they and I. (Did I ever tell you how I first met Braska? Another time.) Now I am starting to feel that Seymour may become a part of this story much earlier. There is too much that I do not know about him, and that my Luca associates do not know.
For a moment I wonder if he played any part in the Guado/Church confrontation twenty years ago, but no. He is far too young.
Rikku's Diary:
So we get back to Seymour's house, and Yuna says she's going to go in a give him his answer.
"Yuna!" Auron says to her, "Jyscal is the Guado's problem, not yours."
She doesn't answer, just goes on inside. Everyone sort of breaks up and goes their own way. I decide to stick with the clam. Hey, if there are dead people wandering around who don't know enough to just lie down and let the rest of us get on with things, I don't want to be alone!
It's not like he ever tells me to go away, or Be quiet Rikku. He just doesn't say much, the clam.
"Don't," he said.
"I WASN'T!" I blurted, pulling my hand away from a Guado's pocket. Honestly! The Guado kind of turned and looked at me. I hurried around to Auron's other side.
"Uh...Sir Auron?"
"Hm?"
"Why don't you want me to tell Tidus about Yuna dying at Zanarkand? He's going to be really hurt when he finds out, you know."
He didn't say anything. We walked slowly around the courtyard, my hands behind my back, his arm slung out of one sleeve.
"I think...I think he's kind of falling in love with her," I whispered. "He should know...that it...might not be a good idea. To fall in love with Yuna.
"You should tell him," I said. "Don't you care at all about him!"
Now he stopped and looked at me. Ooh. It was like looking down a really deep well. "Tidus will suffer pain no matter what. I can't change that. We all have parts to play. I'm afraid Tidus' part is to be badly hurt. All I can do for now is try to make it mean something, to matter. For that, I need you not to tell him yet. Lulu, and Wakka, and even Yuna tell themselves that they keep silent because there is no good reason he has to know yet. They fool themselves. They're ashamed. They know that when he learns the truth, there will be horror in his eyes. They don't want to see that horror looking out at them."
Horror.
Here's horror—I need to warn Tidus that he shouldn't love Yuna, because in Spira, love is hazardous to your soul. But I can't, because Auron—the closest thing he has to a father—wants to use his pain. And I'm going to let him. We don't need fiends. This is what we do to ourselves.
"Uh..." I ask, "Do you want them to see the horror in his eyes?"
He turned without answering, and we slowly walked on.
"Oh! By the way," I said, perking up, "There's something that I wanted to show you. I kind of had to wait until Wakka wasn't around."
Rikku's Diary:
Seymour's gone! Tidus ran up and told all of us that Seymour had already left for Macalania Temple—he didn't even wait around to hear Yuna's answer. Most of them wanted to go after him right away, but Auron decided that it would be best to restfirst.
"It's been a long and eventful day. Yuna should rest at the inn for the night. We'll start out early in the morning. No practice this evening."
Boy, that last bit really seemed to lighten the mood. I was already happy. One more night before we reach the Thunder Plains! I don't know how I'll ever make it across, but I have to. It's either that or leave Yunie alone with a group of people that either want to escort her to her death, or don't have a clue what's going on, or—
Um, or...
Let's face it. I have no idea what he's really thinking.
Auron:
Various thoughts slipped through my mind as I performed my drills that evening. (I told the others that they didn't have to practice. That didn't mean that I wouldn't.)
I went through water forms, flowing from one attack to the next in continuous movement, never stopping. The new information that I received from Maechen at the inn was useful, but more important were the questions I had given him. I wanted all the information that my associates could gather on Seymour Guado, even the smallest things. I especially wanted to know his movements. Would he be waiting for us at Macalania Temple?
And still none of us knew Yuna's answer.
I switched to the fourth movement, swinging my weapon in long, wide arcs. Tidus told me about seeing his mother on the Farplane. What did it mean? How could a dream exist in that afterlife? I admit that being close to the Farplane affected me more than I thought it would. But... If I had gone in, who would I have seen? My mother. My father. My sister. Braska, of course. But, would Vedec be there? Did I send him to the Farplane when I executed him that night in Zanarkand? What a joke that would be. Would I see Willa or Emma? Did the Cage hold? Were they still alive?
Were they ever really somehow alive?
I changed to the pure power exercises of the fifth movement, blows designed to pierce and break. The Al Bhed girl was a mix-smith! This really was wonderful. It meant that she was skilled in the combination of materials to form new items with entirely new properties and special protections. This is an Al Bhed craft, one they've studied for hundreds of years. They know exactly what raw materials—many of them rare—to combine for different effects. Not even the craftsmen of ancient Zanarkand could match them in this endeavor. The girl could alter weapons, armor, items. This young Al Bhed truly was a treasure—linguist, skilled thief, mechanic, and now a mix-smith. She actually beamed when I told her so.
So often it takes so little to make the young happy. Appreciate their worth. Show them they have value. Let them know they are important to you.
I can sense her out there now, in the dark, her Al Bhed eyes watching me. I appreciate you. I value you more than you know. I treasure you, but I cannot yet tell you why.
When that day comes and Yuna stands in Zanarkand, when she learns the truth, and must choose between comfortable, familiar death and confused, frustrating life, between the certainty of the Calm and the uncertainty of true hope, who will be standing beside her? Two that she has known since childhood, who will expect her to follow in her father's footsteps. And now, two new friends, people she will love, who want most of all for her to live.
I need you with us because you love life.
Now I move in the sky forms, always my favorite—totally unscripted, reacting ever to the moment, forever altering and adapting, never quite the same.
The essence of art is knowing all the rules.
Then you can start to break them.
Next: I'm Scared All the Time
