CHAPTER 9:

THUNDERBOLTS AND LIGHTNING, VERY VERY FRIGHTENING ME!

Harry was grateful for the Morpheus Charm and for the Levicorpus Charm. Without them, they probably would have had to deal with Rikku freaking out as they crossed the barren Thunder Plains. Even so, he asked whether they could rest briefly inside the Travel Agency at the halfway point. Auron reluctantly agreed, though Yuna seemed to want to deal with something as well. She got her own room, presumably to contemplate wedding Seymour. Then again, he remembered Yuna picking something up that looked like a recording sphere.

Harry used Finite Incantatem to remove the spells' effects from Rikku once they were inside. "Are we there yet?" she groaned.

"Halfway," Harry said, gently clutching her hand. "Don't worry, we'll soon be in Macalania Forest."

"We need to get there sooner," Rikku groaned. "Those spells are pretty handy. Though that sleeping spell seems like it could be abused."

"I wouldn't dare," Harry said.

"I know," Rikku said, smiling shakily, only to wail in fright when a massive crack of thunder roared overhead.

Harry sighed as he got to his feet. After the brouhaha with Jyscal being re-Sent, Yuna went to Seymour's mansion, and Tidus and himself headed to the exit of Guadosalaam (if only to see the Thunder Plains before they cross them), only to find an acolyte of Yevon known as Shelinda (who had met Yuna and the others before). She asked after Yuna, and told them Seymour had left for Macalania Temple, the temple he was high priest of, some time ago. Rikku consented to being knocked out for the duration of the crossing of the Thunder Plains. And Harry was on official carrying duty.

Now at the Travel Agency, as Rikku freaked out, Lulu came over, concerned, along with Tidus. "Why does it bother you so much, Rikku?"

"She got attacked by a marine Fiend while swimming," Harry said. "Her brother tried to hit it with a Thunder spell, and unfortunately, he missed."

"Oh. Oh dear," Lulu said, actually quite sympathetic.

"Ouch," Tidus muttered, even more overtly sympathetic.

"Even so, Thunder spells are effective against marine Fiends," Lulu said.

"That's what Brother said," Rikku murmured, slightly delirious with fear, and another clap of thunder making her shriek.

Soon, the familiar figure of Rin came through. Harry had met the man only a couple of times before, meeting him at Luca during the preparation for Yuna's abduction. The Al Bhed entrepreneur greeted them politely (despite a vicious glare from Wakka), only to frown when he saw Harry and Rikku. Harry shook his head slightly and tapped his lips.

Paine came forward, looking at Rin. "I have you to thank for helping my friends, am I right? Gippal and Baralai?"

"But of course, Miss…?"

"Paine. I am not a 'Miss'," she said, sternly.

"Indeed. Baralai, I sent on a fast chocobo to Guadosalaam, and Gippal I sent back to Home," Rin said.

"I met Baralai at Guadosalaam," Paine said. "And Gippal's all right? Thank you, Rin. What of Nooj?"

"The Deathseeker fled after shooting your friends," Rin said. "Most out of character for him. He is not one to betray friends, or be a coward."

"There are stranger and darker things in this world than the betrayal of a comrade," Auron remarked. "What did you see, Paine?"

"I don't know, but if it did possess Nooj, he wasn't its only victim," Paine said.

"What do you mean?" Wakka asked.

"I wasn't with Operation Mi'ihen," Paine said to Wakka. "Kinoc sent me in with others to investigate the Den of Woe. We were meant to be his private little army, the Crimson Squad. I see that little sceptical look in your eyes, Wakka. Kinoc tried to have me and my comrades killed too, and for all your hate for the Al Bhed and the Crusaders, you cannot say that we deserved that."

"Of course not! Kinoc's a bad apple, ya? Okay, I can accept that! But not all of Yevon is like that!" Wakka protested. "Anyway, what did you see?"

"My comrades becoming possessed by…something," Paine said. Her eyes flickered over to Tidus, and something flickered behind them. "It…wasn't unlike you, Tidus, now that I come to think of it. It was like you, only consumed by anger and hatred."

"Hey, hang a moment, are you saying I caused all that?!" Tidus snapped indignantly.

"Of course not, or I wouldn't have trusted you when you came up to us on the Moonflow," Paine retorted. "I said it was like you, not that it was you. I can tell the difference."

"I think I know a reason," Auron said. "What you sensed wasn't Tidus, but an echo of someone similar. Tidus doesn't have such feelings in such overwhelming quantities. Some sort of Unsent, I would venture, but capable of possessing others' bodies. It is rarer than a corporeal Unsent, but not unheard of. Do you remember anything else?"

Paine shook her head. "I should have asked Baralai."

"It wouldn't have been wise, in front of Seymour," Auron said. "Maesters tend to put their own agenda before that of the people they govern. And Wakka, I know this having been a Warrior Monk. Do you know why I ended up with Braska? He was the only one to treat with me after I refused the hand of a daughter of a prominent priest. I was persona non grata at Bevelle because I refused a political marriage on principle, because I wanted to do my duty for the people of Spira. And because I saw what such a marriage did to my sister," he concluded, looking at Paine.

Harry looked at Lulu. "Speaking of political marriages, do you reckon Yuna will go through with it?"

"I don't know," Lulu said. "I would prefer she did so out of love. But given that she is a Summoner, with all that entails…"

"Yeah, with it being a suicide mission and all," Harry snarked. "That thing Jyscal dropped, though, I think it was a recording sphere. What'd be on it?"

"His last will and testament?" Wakka remarked with a shrug. "That was a pretty freaky thing to happen, ya?"

"In any case, I need to talk to Rikku and Harry in private," Auron said. "Rin, may I have a private room as well?"

"Of course, Sir Auron," Rin said with a bow.

As they were led in, and Auron shut the door, Harry erected a basic privacy ward, one he had learned from Sirius not long before. He then turned to Auron. "Why just us two?"

"Because you two know that I am an Unsent," Auron said. "You kept quiet about it earlier. And while Tidus does deserve to know, he's less than discreet, whereas you two…"

Rikku nodded. "Plus, you know I'm an Al Bhed."

"I do not hold that against you, or over you," Auron said. "Wakka is the only one in this group who doesn't know of your status, and he is, as you know, unkindly disposed towards the Al Bhed. The main question is, how can you trust me? The answer is, you don't know. However, I am willing to tell you some of the truth now, providing that it goes no further than Sirius or Paine. I am only telling you two for the moment because you saw what I've become. And I need you to keep it secret until we reach Zanarkand."

"Okay, so, what's the big secret?" Harry asked.

"You were right about the Final Aeon being a sham," Auron said. "It is merely a means of perpetuating Sin, and maintaining the spiral of death that is Spira. Yunalesca yet lives on in the ruins of Zanarkand, an Unsent herself. I know because I have met her. She was the one who killed me. I didn't die straight away. I made it back to the Calm Lands. I met Kimahri on Mount Gagazet on the way, and bade him to protect Yuna. I perished in the Calm Lands…but I survived as an Unsent. And for the past ten years, I have travelled to and fro from Spira to Zanarkand…Tidus' Zanarkand."

"What do you mean, Tidus' Zanarkand?" Rikku asked. "He came from a thousand years in the past, didn't he?"

"No. Zanarkand is both in ruins, and intact and thriving. To tell you why, I should tell you of how Zanarkand's greatest Summoner, Yu Yevon, created Sin."

Auron told them of how Yu Yevon, in his desperation to save Zanarkand from Bevelle and its machina weapons, turned the entire population of the city into Fayth, effectively turning him into a massive Summon known as Sin. Whether Yu Yevon intended for Sin to wreak havoc across Spira for centuries of vengeance for his people's suffering, or else got his humanity subsumed after a well-intentioned attempt at ensuring his city's immortality, Auron didn't know.

Yunalesca, however, began the Cycle of Sin, and helped found the Yevon religion, to keep up the hope of the people, despite Sin being everlasting. And with her husband transformed into the Final Aeon, she defeated Sin for the first time, albeit dying in the process. But she came back as an Unsent. And Zaon became the new Sin, possessed by the warped spirit of Yu Yevon, and his Aeon transformed into Yu Yevon's armour.

Zanarkand, however, remained in the dreams of the Fayth of Zanarkand. A perpetual dream, where people were born and would die in a perpetual golden age of the city. Jecht came from that dream, and so too did Tidus. Jecht came through into Spira apparently by accident, but through Jecht (who had become Braska's Final Aeon and thus the next Sin) and Auron, Tidus was brought here on purpose.

"So, what you're saying is that Tidus is a sort of solid, living dream?" Harry asked. "He didn't come from the past, but a dream of Zanarkand's past."

Auron nodded. "And I will remain in this world until I stop the Cycle of Sin. In a way, I am glad for your intervention, and that of your godfather's, Harry. You have even more of an outsider's perspective on Spira and its troubles than Tidus. Your friendship with the Al Bhed only confirms it."

"But why not stop the Pilgrimage now?" Rikku demanded. "Why not tell them now?"

"Tidus is impulsive and lacks discretion. And Yuna is the sort of person who wants to see the truth for herself," Auron said. "Wakka needs to have the truth thrown right into his face like a Blitzball, and Lulu would need some proof before she believes wholeheartedly. Kimahri would believe, but he is too reserved and too loyal to Yuna to do anything other than what she wishes. Your attempts to abduct her, while admirable, will only serve to strengthen her resolve. Few true Summoners would acquiesce to what the Al Bhed want, despite your good intentions. In any case, I think you did the right thing, telling Yuna to tell Tidus what awaits her at journey's end. Tidus was melancholy for a time, which is unlike him, but it made him ever more determined to protect Yuna."

"Even so, I don't like this deceit and manipulation," Harry said. "It's like something my old mentor would do."

"True. I don't like it any more than you do, and I intend to make sure you all stay alive," Auron said, standing. "But they will know the truth." After a moment, he said, "That sphere Jyscal left behind…I think he recorded it before he died, but took it with him when he was Sent. I think he may very well have been murdered…by his own son."

Harry blinked. "Wait, what? Okay, he's a creepy guy, but…you really think he's a patricide?"

"I've heard rumours about his attitude towards life in Spira behind closed doors," Auron said. "He has become nihilistic, believing life to be meaningless and full of suffering. This is merely hearsay, and I don't know whether he is a patricide…but with the exception of Kelk Ronso, the Maesters have put their politics first and their people second. Even Jyscal Guado banished his son and wife to Baaj Temple in order to appease the Guado. Seymour may not be a patricide…or he may even be worse."

"What do you mean worse?"

"I don't know…but I suspect. If I am lucky, and wrong, then he may prove to be a valuable ally against Sin and Yunalesca. But if I am wrong…he may be one of our worst enemies."

"What about what Paine said? You know, about Tidus being like that thing she felt in the Den of Woe?" Rikku asked.

Auron shrugged. "I am only speculating…but Tidus comes from the Zanarkand of the Fayth's dreams. This other presence may be an Unsent from Zanarkand before its destruction, who may have been the model for Tidus in the dream Zanarkand…or even an ancestor. I certainly hear rumours about Bevelle's underbelly, and its darkest secrets. But I don't know anything concrete."

They had left (Tidus had apparently been caught by Wakka eavesdropping on Yuna and the sphere), with Harry once more carrying a sleeping Rikku. At the edge of Macalania Forest, Yuna had them stop, and wanted Harry to revive Rikku, as she had an important announcement. Once Rikku was awake, Yuna dropped the bombshell she was waiting to drop.

"I've decided to marry Seymour. For Spira's future, and Yevon's unity. I thought it would be the best thing to do."

This provoked pandemonium, with Wakka astonished that she had changed her mind, and Lulu and Tidus correctly guessing it had something to do with the sphere recording Jyscal left behind. Yuna refused to show them, citing a personal matter. However, she told them that she wasn't quitting the Pilgrimage.

Harry, however, noted something. He gestured for her to come over, and then whispered into her ear, "You have a crap poker face, you know that?"

"What's poker?" she asked.

"I mean you're a bad liar. And the others can see it too. Don't get in over your head. We're here to protect you, remember?"

Yuna peered at him, before nodding. Even so, Harry wondered, was Auron right? Was Seymour a patricide? And if so, what was Yuna thinking? All in all, things were looking dicey now…

CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:

Auron confessing his secrets to Harry and Rikku, with both of them learning the true nature of Sin and Spira. Hope you like. Oh, and Paine beginning to think there's a connection between Shuyin and Tidus.

No numbered annotations this time.