"Lya!" bellowed the boy becoming very pale, very frightened, and suddenly very cold.
Tidus reached her enormous head, and glanced at the amber eyes. They were glossy, sparkling feverishly, and seemed very tired. The boy, on his way towards the head, tripped and collapsed onto the floor, his hands and knees sinking onto a thick, sticky fluid. Tidus paled as he saw the fluid was of a deep, dark crimson colour, and the characteristic, metallic scent reached his nostrils, making his stomach nauseated. It was blood, Lya's blood which was pouring and flooding through her mouth.
"Lya!" shouted Tidus once again, standing up and attempting to clean the blood on his torn, blitzball pants.
"Tidus?" quivered a loud, yet exhausted and weakened voice.
"Lya, what have you done? Why did you come?" the boy inquired sadly, glancing at the girl and engulfing the muzzle in a tight hug.
"I couldn't see you falling, I needed to help, after all I'm a Guardian!" Lya commented very softly, weakly, glancing at the boy with a dreamy glimmer in her eyes. She then coughed, spitting some blood over Tidus' small body.
"Don't speak, you wait here ok? I'm going to find Vaslek and then you'll get well, ok? You are going to get well!" Tidus whimpered, patting the black nose, which was unnaturally dry due to past fever, since Lya's body was mortally cold.
"Tidus… No!" Lya's flooded lungs were doing a terrible effort in breathing air now, "Tidus, you have…" she attempted, speaking in broken words and strangled voice, she seemed desperate to say something important.
"No, don't speak Lya, you must save your strength to…" Tidus had been gazing towards the ocean when he had interrupted Lya. Once he looked back to continue his talk he found the eyes staring fixedly into the distance, penetrating infinity, the chest was very still and there was not even a wince of a move in her body. She was gone.
Tidus collapsed against the muzzle, his hands caressing the velvet scales of the mouth, one arm resting over the sharp fang. He collapsed over the beast and released a whole mixture of emotions, fear, anger, despair, misery, love. Tears flowed like a river, sobs shook his body until he couldn't breath, noisy yells spoke of his terrible suffering, the pain of his shattered soul consuming him.
"I lost them… why, Lya! Laise!" Tidus cried, only realizing that he had lost the woman he loved as well as his child.
"Tidus, come!" a pair of strong, yet slender arms took a grip of his shoulders, a soothing, calm voice spoke.
"NO! Leave me Yethas, let me die with her!" has bellowed the boy, shaking his shoulders and gripping the dragon's whiskers tightly. Tidus would have very well reacted by attacking Sinh in revenge, but he was conscious that the monster had vanished when he destroyed the city.
"Don't be stupid Tidus, we will not help anyone that way!" the girl called angrily, glaring at the boy and taking another grip of his strong arms.
"And who is going to help her, Yethas? She's gone, my family, Lya… My daughter, they are both gone!" Tidus yelled angrily, yet his eyes were red and puffy, and his voice strangled due to sobbing.
"It was her choice Tidus! She was a guardian and was in her right of fighting if she wanted. She knew the risks, yet she fought! Don't cry her Tidus, worship her, she was an example of courage to all!" Yethas called in her anger, yelling at full lung until her broke ribs screeched in pain.
"Lya, the Valiant!" commented Tidus dreamily, remembering that one chat when they decided the girl's name.
"Come on!" Yethas gripped the boy's shoulders and dragged him along the silent streets.
The two walked through the once familiar avenues and alleys, now morphed into unrecognizable and terrible figures, similar to bones, broken and torn emerging from the earth. The boy's body convulsed with the sob that attacked him in continuous, calm intervals. There was a dust covering the whole town, released by fallen buildings and by the continuous attacks with fire weapons and igniting magic. In the distance Tidus saw the silhouette of various people, tall, short, slender or thick, these people were cut sinisterly against the luminous horizon and the pale veil of dust floating over the fallen town.
"Where are you taking me?" Tidus inquired fearfully for the first time, his body hiccupped once again, and his eyes opened very wide.
"You will see, Tidus." Yethas commented calmly, yet a hint of sadness floated with her voice.
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Tidus inhaled on very deep breath, transforming it into a loud gasp. The reptile raised his head, pale eyes very open, yet fear was present in them. His lungs inhaled rapid breaths to cover the oxygen needed for his galloping heart. The animal was visibly altered, a dim, orange light licked his fearful features. Immediately all that fear subsided to be replaced by the greatest and most terrible misery the boy had ever felt. His body convulsed and shook, and his eyes began to water lightly. Tidus whimpered like a hurt dog, and all his grief flooded into silent sobs and a stream of tears that fell upon his crossed paws.
"Bad dream?" inquired a hoarse voice, yet no eyes turned to check on the whimpering animal.
"I… I know what happened to Lya!" Tidus whimpered, yet inhaled several deep breaths to control himself.
"I see!" Kimahri said nothing else, for he didn't have any need of knowing details.
"I'm going tomorrow to Zanarkand, thank you for your hospitality Kimahri… But I need to go!" the boy commented valiantly, yet his figure still shook with the grief that ate him inside so cruelly.
"Then sleep some boy, it will be a tough journey considering that injured leg!" Kimahri commented shrugging, knowing it would be pointless to try and convince the boy against his determination. He was sure that, with leg or without it, Tidus would not come back from that fight.
"It's much better, thank you!" it wasn't a lie, it had stopped hurting and bleeding, which was a change.
Kimahri grunted at the response, a glass clutched in his hand. Tidus was still greatly affected by the dream, as if it had been Rikku herself in the body of that dragon. The reptile rested his head on his paws and cried himself to sleep. He hoped feverishly that the following dreams would not be as intense, hence deep inside he knew they wouldn't.
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The chocobo's clawed feet dug into the ground as he speeded across the woodlands. Rikku was elegantly and expertly seated onto the feathered back, reins tight on her hand, holding the head firmly. The animal leapt over logs with ease, fluttering from time to time his small, atrophied wings to gain balance and impulse. Night was fresh and sounds were heard, creatures lurking into the woods, shadows sneaking through the darkness, and threats patiently waiting their chance to pounce. A flutter, a strong gust of wind, and peace and calm reigned once again for the girl.
"Come on, faster, we must get to Zanarkand!" Rikku pressed onto the animal's sides with her feet, and she whipped him mercilessly to urge him forward.
The animal resigned to his destiny, and attempted hopelessly to gallop faster than he had ever done in his life. He was a docile and obedient creature, and as much as he would have loved to get rid of his desperate rider, it was not in his nature. Rikku was not thinking any bit about the poor animal, her desperation was such that she could only worry about reaching Zanarkand in time. In time for what, she didn't know, but in time.
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The figured penetrated the ruins of one of the buildings, and the two creatures followed them calmly. Tidus felt uneasy, still affected by the terrible loss. It hadn't been only his wife, but his child, his girl, or boy. They had never known for sure, but both hoped it would be a girl, some kind of intuition. The boy was absorbed into the shadows, following the younger and nervous Yethas. He looked at her inquiringly, willing to know why she was dragging him along the ruins of their home, pursuing some figures.
The light of a torch illuminated the stance, and Tidus took a close look at every figure. They were around five of them, five very untidy looking figures, with torn clothes, tired and very battered. There was a young elf girl, with wonderful platinum hair and eyes the colour of ice. A tall, black humanoid wolf incarnated the Werewolf people, glancing at the group through his amber eyes, clenching clawed fist and growling from time to time. A human knight who had lost everything stood before them, his shoulders down and his hands still clutching the reins of his horse. A thief grinned at them mischievously, joking smoothly in an attempt of lighting up the mood. A black mage was hidden into the shadows, feeling enormously angry with the failure his powerful magic had been against Sinh.
"This is the Council, Tidus. We have met here, in this ruins, and plan a way of defeating Sinh. I think that by uniting our forces, our magic, we might reach a solution." Yethas exclaimed cheerfully, animated at the prospect of defeating the terrible monster.
"How? That thing is immortal!" Tidus spat angrily, glaring at Yethas as if it was her fault, "We, our whole people united could do nothing to defeat him, how will us seven defeat him?" bellowed the boy, exploding to his fury.
"That's what we have come to plan!" motioned the thief, shaking the boy's hand and staring at it with a grimace of disgust. "Pleased to meet you, my name is Lane Quickfingers!" he pointed out calmly.
"Tidus. And that is my wife's and daughter's blood, thank you!" the boy commented with a threatening growl.
"We are sorry Tidus, but everyone here has lost someone!" commented the elf girl, "Elaniem Farastir!" the girl introduced herself in a melodious voice.
"I am Jake Ternal, Knight of the Seventh Division of Light Horses. Sub official of the Zanarkand Army." The man seemed absent minded, his hand caressed the reins tenderly, "You know? Saletta and I went through much, through much, it's a pity!" he finished shrugging miserably.
"Shadow of the Moon!" was the werewolf's sharp and concise comment.
"I am Feren Nersal, High Priest of the Tower of Stars! Necromancer and a powerful Dark Wizard!" the dark mage introduced himself, hence avoided appearing anywhere close to the light.
"Well, now that we all know each other, lets get to work!" Yethas commented cheerfully, a deep hollow sadness in her insides, being covered by that hope of defeating that monster once and forever.
The curious group of allies sat around a fire which had been started by Yethas. The necromancer was not too happy about this solution, hence admitted that, with his tower gone, making himself happy was futile. Tidus was deep into his thoughts, grief affecting him very deep inside, hence his ears and brain were paying a whole deal of attention to the people around him.
"First, lets point something out, what is Sinh?" Lane inquired shrugging, he was paying a greater amount of attention to the Jake's bridles.
"That's one easy question, Sinh is a God, an immortal being that has come to punish us for our sins, so then we will reach redemption." Elaniem pointed out very seriously, glancing at the group as if accusing them for their horrible luck.
"You are wrong elf!" the werewolf spoke in his deep, cavernous voice, "Sinh is not a God, he is one of the deadly spirits of the Wyrm which has come to destroy Gaia!" he pointed out with a growl.
"You are both wrong!" Feren, the Necromancer pointed out calmly, "I have studied this things for my whole life. Darkness, and magic concerning life and death is my area of knowledge. Sinh is a Spirit, an immortal spirit born out of the hatred, the jealousy, the rage, the fury. Sinh incarnates all that evil, as well as that evil is incarnated by every intelligent, living being." He explained calmly, shrugging when he considered he had said enough.
"How can we destroy that?" Yethas inquired frowning, not remembering having ever faced something similar.
"You can't!" Tidus exclaimed, suddenly very aware of the conversation.
Everyone focused their eyes on the youth. Feren nodded approvingly, staring at the boy with attention.
"You can't…" Tidus went on, "Because all of those things are inside our hearts. They are part of our nature, and we can't get rid of them. As long as this 'sins' exist, Sinh will exist!" the boy explained calmly, realizing the wind was the only sound accompanying his words.
"Then in a way he has come to punish us!" Elaniem insisted slightly altered.
"In a way, but that is not his intention. He feeds out of our chaos, out of the worse of us, and destroys only the necessary to cause more hatred, more grief, and more chaos. He always knows exactly where to attack to cause the greatest amount of suffering!" Jake pointed out, caressing the bridles once again and staring at Tidus very intently, as if he could read the boy's thoughts.
"So Sinh is never going to disappear, and he will never kill us all completely, all he wants to do is to cause chaos, to feed out of our terror!" Lane commented calmly, yet a note of terror floated in his voice.
"And how are we going to destroy him?" Yethas insisted, bored of the chatting and willing to get into action.
"There is no way. Whenever someone gathers the power to destroy Sinh, that person will become a new Sinh, possessed by the vengeance, by the lust of battle, by all of those terrible gifts." The Necromancer, Feren, commented coldly.
"How do you know all that?" Lane inquired pointing an accusative finger at the Necromancer.
"Because that is my wife. Her ambition for power grew so much that she thirsted more and more. She did horrible things until that darkness in her heart consumed her, transforming her into what she has become. I couldn't do anything to stop it." Feren pointed out shaking his head sadly, however stoic and firm.
"Wait, how long did it take your wife until she transformed?" Tidus inquired, suddenly perking his head up and smiling lightly.
"About ten years, fifteen maybe! Why?" the dark wizard inquired, observing the boy with curiosity.
"We could destroy Sinh and bring a calm, a period of ten, fifteen years. It's not much, but it's a hope, until we can find a way to destroy him forever." Tidus pointed out excitedly.
"You know that will not destroy Sinh completely, right?" Jake pointed out slightly annoyed by this idea.
"It's better than nothing at least!" Elaniem nodded with a smile at the boy.
"But how will we do that?" inquired the thief curiously, anxious to get into action.
"I know how. Dreaming!" the werewolf said all of a sudden.
"Dreaming?" inquired the rest of the group in unison, with exception of the dark mage, who grinned lightly as if conscious that this was the only solution.
"Yes, dreams can do wonderful things. All we have to do is create a spell my people have known for centuries. We will start dreaming, we have to dream a creature or creatures powerful enough to destroy Sinh!" the werewolf commented.
"You know that, to manage that spell you have to get rid of your soul, right?" Feren explained calmly, as if the whole situation was absolutely normal.
"What? And what will we do with them?" the rest of them protested while the werewolf lowered his furry head shamefully.
"Why not dream our home for them?" commented the knight with a smile, excited at the thought of recovering his faithful mare.
"Wonderful idea!" Yethas exclaimed, "Let's dream Zanarkand again!" she pointed out with a smile.
"I like it! After all, we can always recover our souls!" Elaniem pointed out with a smile, considering it was rather romantic the idea of living a dream.
"It's not that easy. The soul must remember itself that it had another life, one linked to a body, otherwise soul and body will never be united. Also it has to be near the body. It's not that easy!" Shadow of the Moon explained desperately, shaking his head.
"I think that this is the best we have got. Now, what will we name the creatures?" inquired Lane calmly, not too happy about giving away his soul, yet less happier about Sinh.
"Hum, Faiths?" Elaniem, the elf, pointed out romantically as all elves were.
"Not a very convincing name, we must make the people understand this creatures are older than time, that they lived eons ago!" Yethas pointed out frowning lightly.
"I've got it! Why don't we call them Aeons?" Jake exclaimed, smiling brightly.
The group murmured and nodded their agreement, everyone stating their opinions hence most liking the name.
"Now we have the creatures, but we can't let them on the loose, we need someone to control them, and someone to give away these creatures!" commented the mage darkly, his mind imagining a chaotic world were the titans bashed and destroyed whatever they encountered.
"You are right… hum, why don't we call ourselves Fayths? We will be the ones in charge of granting the Aeons to those elected people, those few who will be able of fighting against Sinh. We will make temples and such for the monsters." Explained Tidus with a smile, his eyes glittering with enthusiasm.
"We will not build anything, we will leave instructions so that people know what to do. The survivors will build the temples!" Feren explained in a hard voice, which granted him stares but also approving gazes.
"The Chosen Ones will be called Summoners, and they will have the power of summoning the Aeons." Yethas pointed out with a seriousness unnatural in her.
"The creatures by themselves will not be able to defeat Sinh, they are insubstantial!" Shadow commented with a shrug, "But they will have a terrific power that will be granted to the Summoner."
"I know, a Pilgrimage, here, to Zanarkand, where we will rest during our dreaming. The Summoner will have Guardians to protect her, one of them will be chosen by the Summoner to become the Final Aeon. That Aeon will be the one who will defeat Sinh, and unfortunately, become Sinh in exchange!" Elaniem explained calmly, her gaze dreamy, sparkling mystically.
"Wonderful idea, Elaniem! Now let's choose our Aeons, names and basic shapes." Feren roared enthusiastically.
"Valefor, like my last name, the blaze!" Yethas exclaimed extending her hands, "and I will be a dragon like bird."
"Shiva, is a venerated goddess between my people, the lady of ice!" Elaniem commented shrugging, smiling lightly.
"Yojimbo, and Summoners will have to pay me if they want me to attack." Lane Quickfingers licked his lips and rubbed his slender hands.
Everyone stared with disbelieving gazes.
"What? I must make a living!" he protested keeping his hands stuck one against the other.
"I will be Anima! The undead master of the depths!" Feren mustered with a powerful glimmer in his eyes.
"Ifrit, the wolf of fire!" explained Shadow of the Moon calmly, as if this was the least important process.
"Saletta was my lovely mare, I shall dream Ixion, the stallion of thunder and lightning!" gasped the knight breathlessly due to the excitement.
"I don't really mind. However, since Lya was the best Guardian of Bahamut I have ever met, I guess portraying that dragon we worship would not be such a terrible idea. Lya, it's for your!" Tidus whispered to the skies, smiling with nostalgia and allowing a tear sneak down his cheek silently.
"That makes it! A week will be more than sufficient!" Feren commented calmly, "Go to seven places, leave scripts, carvings on the walls, anything that speaks of this myth as if it had existed for eons. It's a secret, don't speak about it with anyone. We will meet here in seven days!" the man finished, standing up and retreating into the shadows once again.
"Lets welcome Yevon into the world… sadly it has to fall back into the lies or religion!" Feren whispered from the shadows, observing how the youths vanished into the hazy mist.
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To Be Continued…
AN: Well? Many things are coming clear now, right? Keep reading and the rest of it will be revealed in the next chapter, most probably. And also it is most probable that the next chapter is the last one. Please, read and review.