Chapter 10: Power of Aeons
I woke up in my bed, position changed. I remembered falling asleep flat on my face, but here I was facing the ceiling. I guessed Lenne moved me. And here she lies, in my arms. She must have thought it to be too late to walk all the way home and chose to stay. She was snuggled next to my left side, head and hand on my chest. I stroked her hair gently while thinking on past events. It had been close to nine months and I still couldn't tell her my feelings, though I knew I was truly feeling those things. My theory remained that I would tell her when the moment was right.
A few minutes later, Lenne awoke. "Uh... Good morning, Shuyin." She said to me, her gaze at my gut... I think. "Morning." I replied, looking at the back of her head. Suddenly, she got up and rushed to the bathroom. I got up slowly and then proceeded to go after her. I waited outside and watched her brush her teeth like it was a fireworks display and I was a five-year-old kid. Lenne nearly choked when she saw me staring at her like that.
"I wanna see Kirin again. I told her that I'd go to Besaid with her today." Lenne informed me. "That's cool. I'll go hang out with Rothel, then." I responded, thinking how long it had been since I actually hung out with him. We kissed and exited my house. I locked it and we were off.
"Hi again, guys!" Kirin greeted as she opened the door, "Lenne, we set?" "Yep. We're all ready to go to Besaid." She answered. "Great!" My blonde friend exclaimed, jumping a little before grabbing Lenne's arm and running past me. "See ya later, Shuyin!" Kirin waved, still dragging Lenne away. I couldn't help but laugh a little. She was so perky.
I embarked on my journey to see Rothel. Thank goodness for today, the citizens weren't out and about. I had no idea why not, but it was good that I didn't have to sneak around. That can get annoying sometimes. I strolled carelessly, taking my sweet time to get to my friend's house.
"Hey man! Nice to see ya! Where's the girl... or, ah... girls?" Rothel said, giving me light punches in the gut. "Well, Lenne's off with Kirin and the summoner has her job, ya know?" I answered, not telling him the complete truth. "Whoa! Kirin's wit Lenne? Damn! That girl's gonna make Lenne a perky little songstress. That oughta put a nice smile on your face, eh?" Rothel laughed. "C'mon, Rothel. Ya know I'm not like that." I replied, trying to get him to back off. "Eh? Right, right, right. I forgot. You never had one o' them, ah nights." He chuckled. He's the best. You can always count on Rothel to put a smile on your face and sunshine in your day. "So, how's it goin' with your girl?" I asked. "What girl? You know I don't keep 'em. I mean, yeah, a week or two, maybe, but I don't keep." He explained. "Yea, sure. One of these days you'll change your mind about that." I said, thinking back on the wonderful time he had had with a certain Kume. "Anyway, me and that girl aren't together no more. She don't like a guy that can't commit, ya know?" He sighed. I felt a little upset at him. Couldn't commit? He could if he really wanted to, but he's so stubborn. "Rothel, you know as well as I do, you can't hide forever. Sooner or later a girl's gonna win your heart and you'll be head over heels ready to satisfy her." I said, thoughts of Lenne surging through my words. "So, you in love. I get that. Good for you Tidus. Ya deserve the best." He commented, patting my back.
We went to Mt. Gagazet that day. He wanted to chat with a Ronso friend of his and I just wanted to hang out with my buddy. "Hey there, Galte!" Rothel waved over to a large, white Ronso. "Galte happy to see Rothel." The lion-faced being replied, hugging his friend. "Hey! I want ya to meet someone." Rothel said, pointing at me. "Galte know him. Galte see him play blitz with Rothel. He is Tidus." The Ronso replied. "Yes, I am. Hi there, Galte!" I said, holding my hand out to shake his. Galte didn't take it. Instead, he grabbed me and hugged me, too. "A little friendly are we? C'mon, you're crushin' me!" I said, gasping a little for breath. It was bad enough that the air was thin, but to be compressed by a strong being such as he was just too much. "C'mon, you gonna kill 'im. He ain't as rough as us." Rothel said, prying Galte off me.
I spent most of the time there listening to them telling old stories about their friendship. "Then, he got canned, remember?" Rothel shouted about some Al Bhed they had embarrassed. "Galte remember. Funny Al Bhed! Puny Al Bhed!" He yelled, laughing up a storm. Did these guys really think it was THAT funny? They started talking about another time, in Bevelle, when they had embarrassed its leader by throwing beer at him and causing his wig to fall off. "That was hilarious! The guy fumed at us for so long and we had to run away from those dumb ass guards!" Rothel cackled, chugging the rest of his beer and asking the bartender for another. "Galte like times with Galte's friend!" The Ronso laughed. Meanwhile, I was thinking about the upcoming season of blitz. It would be my second season with Lenne at my side. I was thrown away from those thoughts as a big Ronso paw smacked my back, hard. "Uh! Galte! Ow, that hurt!" I complained, rubbing my back. The two of them just laughed that much harder and chugged more beer. Rothel looked at me like I had a fever or something and asked, "Why you not drinkin' wit us?" "I'm not much of a drinker, Rothel. You know that. I'd prefer a cola." I replied, still rubbing my back. "Hey! Bartender! Get this kid over here a Alchem-cola!" Rothel ordered. "Right away, bud!" The man behind the counter yelled, wiping a glass clean and pouring the orange-red carbonated drink into it. He slid it across the counter and I stopped it with my left, picking up the glass. "So, how ya think the Fangs 'ill do this season?" Rothel asked Galte. "Galte think Ronso do good this season. Galte know Fangs beat Abes this season." He responded, hitting his chest with his right fist in intimidation. "Oh, is that so? Tidus, tell 'em what you know's gonna happen." He said, snapping his fingers at me and pointing. "Uh, well, I think the Abes can win the championship again. I mean straight victories, right? I think we can keep it up." I answered. "Galte wish you luck. Fangs going to win. Galte know. But Rothel friend of Galte so Galte wish him and friend luck." Galte said, patting Rothel on the shoulder.
They departed with a hug. "Hope ya the best, Galte." Rothel said. "Goodbye, Rothel and Tidus." The Ronso said. He walked off as Rothel walked back over to me. "Hey, let's go." He said, pushing my shoulder to get me to start walking. We headed back for home.
"Ya know, talkin' with Galte got me thinkin'." Rothel started. "Thinkin' of what?" I asked. "I don't really have too many memories wit you. Maybe we should make some. How bout it?" He replied. "Well, what do you have in mind?" I said, wondering what he was up to. "Let's go to Bevelle and really pull a prank." He suggested, enthusiasm coursing through his veins. "Um, I don't know about that. It doesn't seem like such a good idea." I returned, concerned that this might have hurt my friend. "Nah, we be fine. In fact, you can take the easy job. I'll get some poor shlub to come to the prank point, then you just have to make sure the trap is set, k?" He responded, eager to have me go with this plan of his. "Fine... If you really want to." I gave in. "Great. We gotta think up a helluva plan." He howled, extremely enthusiastic about this prank of his.
We arrived in Bevelle within a half an hour. It took so long due to the fact that Rothel had a little prankster's block, stalling his ideas. However, he had managed to think up a really 'good' one and I had to set up the trap. We entered Bevelle and, again, I noticed those weird looks. I didn't want to be there. Something just told me that Bevelle and Zanarkand were feeling some turbulence and this visit wasn't helping. The prank we'd pull wouldn't be helpful, either.
I got into position and started to build the trap. The basic idea was to have a greased up floor, a sticky wall, and a nice little sign with a punch line on it. This sign had 'Bevelle's Brightest' written on it. I guess he was gonna find some brainiac and get him to slip on the greased floor, hit the sticky wall, and look like an idiot while the sign was displayed above him.
My guess was correct. As I finished the trap, Rothel ran to me yelling behind him about someone's mother. "Get down." He whispered, commanding me to hide. He lunged at me, tackling me to the ground. We watched as the man chasing him, a guard of Bevelle, ran into the grease, slid, screamed, and smacked into the wall, getting himself completely stuck. Rothel laughed like a lunatic as he walked out into the open. He pointed and cackled at the guard who was steaming with rage with each passing second of humiliation. "Oh my goodness, he's gonna kill Rothel one day." I muttered, still hiding. Rothel walked back over to me and we ran towards the exit of Bevelle.
"Just where do you two think you're going?" Another guard asked, eyeing us suspiciously underneath his visor. "We were just gonna go home." I said. "Yea, we jus plastered one of your boys to a wall. You probably hear his shrieks soon." Rothel laughed. The guard didn't find any of this funny as he called for a few other guards to come and apprehend us. "Hey man, just a joke. Don't take life so seriously man. Take it easy." Rothel said, trying to get us out of the mess. "Arrest them!" The initial guard commanded. The other guards surrounded us, closing in while pointing their guns. Unfortunately, they got a little too close.
I took out my sword quickly and knocked the ones nearest me to the ground with a leg swipe. Rothel ducked and I lifted myself, making a higher swing, this time batting the other guards in the head with the flat side one my blade. "Let's get the hell out of here!" I yelled. Rothel nodded, and we ran as fast as we could back for Zanarkand. As we left the gates, a bullet hit the ground near my foot. However, seeing as it didn't hit me, the two of us just kept running.
We got back to Zanarkand rather quickly. Stopping right after the gates, we both gasped for breath. "You... are... an... idiot!" I choked out, glaring at Rothel. "Hey... take... easy... man..." He breathed, trying to calm me down. "We could've died back there!" I exclaimed, my second wind kicking in, giving me enough oxygen to speak normally. "Nah... Never happen." Rothel said, waving a hand at me as if to push away that kind of thought.
That stunt was incredibly stupid. What if that shot had hit my foot? What if it did worse? What if that bullet hit me in the head? I'd never do anything that stupid again.
We walked back to Rothel's house and I collapsed on his couch and put my hand on my face, trying to calm myself down after that horrendous act. "Tidus, I'm sorry, k?" Rothel said seriously for a change. "Yea, I know." I mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, "but don't ever ask me to do anything like that again." "But ya gotta admit, it was funny." He said, laughing again. I shook my head. That kind of funny wasn't for me. "I'm a little tired. You got anywhere to go?" Rothel asked. "Yea, I'll probably just go find Lenne." I answered, getting up from my seat. "You ain't mad at me, right?" He asked, concerned for our friendship, "Nah, just take care, okay?" I replied, exiting his house.
I walked about aimlessly for a while. I reached Lenne's house and saw that the lights were on. I decided to knock on the door.
"Hey there!" Lenne said when she opened the door. "Hiya, Shuyin!" Kirin yelled from behind her, waving playfully. She was hiding because she wasn't dressed... again. "Keep your clothes on!" I yelled, covering my eyes. "Sorry, bad habit." She offered, running back to the living room where she'd left her skirt and bikini top. Lenne uncovered my eyes by grabbing my hand. She dragged me into her house and Kirin patted me on my chest. "So, is this better?" She said, presenting herself to me. "Yes, much." I replied, nodding. "We were thinking about dancing outside before you came, so wanna join us?" Lenne asked. "Sure!" I answered, having nothing better to do. Besides, dancing was relaxing and, with Lenne, it was more relaxing. We left her house.
"I knew I'd find you here!" A female voice shouted. I looked and saw it was that other summoner, Trista. "What do you want?" Kirin sneered, looking at the summoner with much distaste. Lenne must have told her about that incident. "I'm not talking to you, troll." Trista hissed, turning her gaze back to me, "We've got unfinished business." "What are you talking about?" I asked, showing my disdain with my words. "Oh you know." She sneered, glaring at me. "What, you didn't have enough of me when I was choking you?" I jeered back, grinning at the thought of snapping her neck. "Enough!" She barked, "I want my revenge!"
She took out her staff and smirked at me. "You versus me. Let's see who'd win." I growled, unsheathing my sword. "You'll regret those words." She hissed. I realized my miscalculation as I watched her starting to summon an Aeon. "Oh crap." I mumbled. "Stop this, Trista!" Lenne yelled, trying to keep the girl from summoning something that could tear me to pieces. "Sorry, Lenne. He brought it on himself!" She snarled, finishing the summoning of Valefor. The winged-beast appeared behind her and gave a battle cry. "Fine! I'll take on all your Aeons! I'll take them down one by one!" I roared, losing my fear and gaining my rage. My eyes became angry eyes again. Once again, the light blue of the pond transformed into the dark blue of a hurricane waiting to happen.
The bird attacked me with its beak. I dodged left and it flew past me, its wing smacking me in the back of the head. I growled and lunged at it. I missed it as it flew upwards and made a dive at me. I stood my ground. As it came in, I leaped, grabbing onto it as it struggled to lose its new passenger. "Gotcha!" I screamed, stabbing the beast in the back of the head. It faltered, losing altitude little by little. I jumped off of it as it hit the ground and slashed it one last time for good measure, watching as it dispersed into pyreflies with a cry.
"I'll teach you to kill my Valefor!" Trista yelled, beginning a new summon. I tried to stop her, but she managed to get the Aeon out before I reached. It was Ifrit. "Ifrit! Fira!" The summoner commanded. The Aeon obeyed and blasted me with flames. I dodged just in time and kept myself moving to avoid getting locked on by the beast. Closing in, I kicked off of its arm, slashed its neck, and landed in front of it. Quickly, I stabbed Ifrit behind me and heard the anguished scream of the beast as it, too, disappeared.
"I'll get you yet!" Trista fumed, summoning yet another Aeon. "Ixion! Thundara!" She ordered, as I watched the summoned beast form electricity with its arms, aiming for me. The bolts rained outward, racing towards me. I dashed right, but one of the bolts hit my sword, shocking me as well. "AhHhhH!" I screamed, the pain coursing through my body. The beast started walking towards me and I tried my best to move, but was paralyzed. "Stupid horse!" I yelled, regaining my ability to move my arm. It formed disks of energy and sent them my way, but I blocked it somehow with my sword. I followed through, cutting the creature in both legs and arms. It began to sway and finally kneeled onto the floor due to its injuries. "Ixion! Use Thor's Hammer!" Trista yelled. The Aeon got back up and waved its arms around, creating a storming vortex around me. "Shit!" I exclaimed, running toward the beast. I jumped onto one of its arms, spun, and lopped of its head, landing in a neat stance next to the fallen creature. It vanished, as well.
"Is that all you got?" I snarled at the stupid prissy bitch that was causing me so much grief. "Oh, that's far from it. I'll give you something to worry about. Like Shiva!" She cried, summoning the maiden of ice. I ran towards her, sword held out, ready to cut her down. "Blizzara!" Trista commanded. Shiva waved her arms and shot a strong beam of frost at me. She managed to hit my leg and I crashed to the floor. My leg was frozen solid and it hurt a lot. The maiden floated over to me and lifted me up, looking at me with icy blue eyes. "I can't lose. I won't!" I struggled, trying to get out of her grip. She moved her face closer to me, closing her eyes. My guess was that she was trying to kiss me, a kiss of cold death. "No!" I growled, shaking as her lips came closer. At the last possible second, my leg felt warm again and I also struggled out of my shirt that Shiva was gripping. When I landed on the floor, I quickly got up and kneed her in the gut, causing her to fold over. Then, I took the opportunity to get my sword in position. As she rose, I stabbed her in the gut. Her body fell on me and with a cold tear, Shiva another of my victims.
"Fine! So what if you beat those wimps. You won't beat my next Aeon!" Trista hissed, beginning to summon yet another Aeon. "Now, witness my power! I summon Bahamut!" She roared, summoning the most powerful Aeon I'd ever seen. "Bahamut! Destroy!" She yelled at her dragon. The beast roared, a sound that penetrated my mind, body, and soul. Fear grasped me. What was I to do now? I couldn't fight Bahamut.
It charged at me with unequivocal speed. I tried to dodge, but its claw caught me and tore into my chest. The shear force of that impact sent my body flying backwards. When I landed, I had three blood-spewing tears etched to my chest and I was coughing up the same substance. Bahamut came back around, ready for a second strike. I stumbled back onto my feet and fearfully awaited its next and, given the current statistics, most likely its final assault. It came at me.
The grin on Trista's face showed me that I had lost. "Shuyin!" Lenne cried, tears streaming down her face as she watched on, powerless. It was true that she had the spells Cure, Cura, and Curaga. However, they worked only on knock out damage. This damage I had received was fatal damage. Lenne wouldn't be able to save me if I should get hit again.
And it did come at me again. I waited, acting even more injured that I truly was, though I was hurt horribly. The beast lunged at me, its claw out in front, as if to reach out and rip my still-beating heart straight out of my red-covered chest. At the last possible moment, however, I jumped and flew into the air above the beast. I pointed my sword downward and, as Bahamut's body passed me by, the entire spine had a deep gash apparent upon it. The creature roared in pain, crashing into a nearby light-post. "Get up!" I heard Trista scream, furious at my survival. The Aeon, too, seemed peeved, growling at the sight of my living form. It flew at me yet again. This time I chose to latch onto it. I waited for it to get close enough to me and then I grabbed onto the large golden ring at the shoulders of the beast. I hung on tightly despite my loss of blood and energy. With my sword in hand, I impaled the dragon with it, the blade passing from the back of the skull straight through the mouth. I tore my weapon out from the left side of Bahamut's face, ripping apart the jaw. I leapt off of the creature and it landed in a heap, dying. With one final attempt, the beast surged back to life and planted itself on the ground. Energy swirled around its mouth and grew. "Yay! MegaFlare now!" Trista commanded, the tone of her voice alarming me to the magnitude of this attack. I had to act quickly. I had to make sure to stop this beast before he could fire that energy and fry me to a crisp. My body chose to use its own ultimate blast. I watched on as my body swung my sword back, jumping into the air while also gathering energy into the blade. Bahamut finished and sent the blast towards my direction. Meanwhile, I had collected enough energy, as well, and sent forth my blast. "Force Rain!" I heard myself scream as the energy flew towards the MegaFlare. Both concentrations of energy collided and destroyed the other as the winds swirled fiercely from it. Bahamut cried its final cry and collapsed to the ground, dead. The pyreflies flew back to Trista as her face became pale, but vengeful.
"Okay! Enough with the nice girl act!" She shrieked. Again, she started a summoning. This Aeon was one I'd never seen. It looked like an obese man with a large hat. "I'll bet you've never come across this little baby. I picked him up at this cave that you're never going to find. I was just lucky." She gloated. This Aeon was strange, though. It didn't immediately attack. Instead, it seemed to be waiting for something. After a while, I found out what that was. Trista strolled over to the Aeon and said, "Here Yojimbo. Your payment for killing this little dweeb." Trista dropped a large sack into the open palm of the Aeon. It nodded and took out a sword. The sword didn't really look that impressive, though. I heard Trista fume at Yojimbo for that. "That's not Zanmato! Don't use Daigoro! Use Zanmato!" She barked but the Aeon didn't pay attention. It seemed like this Aeon was nothing more than a mercenary. Yojimbo approached slowly but menacingly nonetheless. It pulled the sword up to the sky and I charged it. I went to swipe at its midsection, but it brought down the sword to block. The sword shattered, much to my amazement. "What the?" I stammered, utterly baffled by the horrible craftsmanship of the blade. "Use ZANMATO!!!" Trista screamed. Next, the Aeon pulled out yet another blade. This one was abnormally short and I thought Yojimbo was spiting its master. "Use Zanmato! Don't use Wakizashi!" Said the pompous summoner of whom I spoke. I couldn't help but laugh. It was humorous watching her Aeon disobey ever one of her commands to use whatever Zanmato was. Suddenly Yojimbo lunged at me, trying to impale me on the end of its short blade. I parried and struck the assailant's wrist, severing it. Yojimbo howled in pain and Trista smiled. She wasn't smiling at the Aeon's wound, however, she was smiling at the fact that I had just pissed it off. It was going to use Zanmato because of that. The sword it pulled out of thin air this time actually felt like raw power. I braced myself. Yojimbo sped to me and made a downward strike, trying to cut me in half. I somersaulted away and put my sword out to my rear. I charged towards the creature and slashed at it countless times in various places. First a horizontal slash, then a diagonally upward one, followed by a vertical upward, and so on. I continued this for at least two minutes straight and Yojimbo was powerless to stop me. "I call it, the Hit and Run." I said, finishing the attack. Yojimbo limped forward to me just a little, but as he tried to grab my neck, he fell forward and died.
"Grr... Stupid useless Aeons! I can't believe they were beaten by a stupid boy!" Trista shrieked. "So get lost already!" Kirin said, motioning her hands to shoo the summoner away. I didn't want that. She had gone too far with this fight. She was going to let Bahamut kill me. I ran to her and no one suspected my actions. I grabbed her by her flimsy neck and lifted her struggling form off the ground. "You go too far m'lady summoner." I snarled, tightening my grasp. She couldn't speak. All she could do was choke, and choke she did. I wasn't about to let her go. She'd pay for her failed attempt. "Shuyin! Stop!" Lenne cried, pulling at my free arm. I didn't pay attention. My eyes never left Trista's for a moment. Cold, dead blue eyes stared at her like a tiger stares at a doe before tearing out its throat. "Time to visit the Farplane." I growled, tightening my grip more. I started to hear the cracking of her vertebrae when I was thrown back by an invisible force.
"ENOUGH!" I heard in the distance. From a distance, the woman I'd seen before, the daughter of Yu Yevon, Yunalesca arrived...
I woke up in my bed, position changed. I remembered falling asleep flat on my face, but here I was facing the ceiling. I guessed Lenne moved me. And here she lies, in my arms. She must have thought it to be too late to walk all the way home and chose to stay. She was snuggled next to my left side, head and hand on my chest. I stroked her hair gently while thinking on past events. It had been close to nine months and I still couldn't tell her my feelings, though I knew I was truly feeling those things. My theory remained that I would tell her when the moment was right.
A few minutes later, Lenne awoke. "Uh... Good morning, Shuyin." She said to me, her gaze at my gut... I think. "Morning." I replied, looking at the back of her head. Suddenly, she got up and rushed to the bathroom. I got up slowly and then proceeded to go after her. I waited outside and watched her brush her teeth like it was a fireworks display and I was a five-year-old kid. Lenne nearly choked when she saw me staring at her like that.
"I wanna see Kirin again. I told her that I'd go to Besaid with her today." Lenne informed me. "That's cool. I'll go hang out with Rothel, then." I responded, thinking how long it had been since I actually hung out with him. We kissed and exited my house. I locked it and we were off.
"Hi again, guys!" Kirin greeted as she opened the door, "Lenne, we set?" "Yep. We're all ready to go to Besaid." She answered. "Great!" My blonde friend exclaimed, jumping a little before grabbing Lenne's arm and running past me. "See ya later, Shuyin!" Kirin waved, still dragging Lenne away. I couldn't help but laugh a little. She was so perky.
I embarked on my journey to see Rothel. Thank goodness for today, the citizens weren't out and about. I had no idea why not, but it was good that I didn't have to sneak around. That can get annoying sometimes. I strolled carelessly, taking my sweet time to get to my friend's house.
"Hey man! Nice to see ya! Where's the girl... or, ah... girls?" Rothel said, giving me light punches in the gut. "Well, Lenne's off with Kirin and the summoner has her job, ya know?" I answered, not telling him the complete truth. "Whoa! Kirin's wit Lenne? Damn! That girl's gonna make Lenne a perky little songstress. That oughta put a nice smile on your face, eh?" Rothel laughed. "C'mon, Rothel. Ya know I'm not like that." I replied, trying to get him to back off. "Eh? Right, right, right. I forgot. You never had one o' them, ah nights." He chuckled. He's the best. You can always count on Rothel to put a smile on your face and sunshine in your day. "So, how's it goin' with your girl?" I asked. "What girl? You know I don't keep 'em. I mean, yeah, a week or two, maybe, but I don't keep." He explained. "Yea, sure. One of these days you'll change your mind about that." I said, thinking back on the wonderful time he had had with a certain Kume. "Anyway, me and that girl aren't together no more. She don't like a guy that can't commit, ya know?" He sighed. I felt a little upset at him. Couldn't commit? He could if he really wanted to, but he's so stubborn. "Rothel, you know as well as I do, you can't hide forever. Sooner or later a girl's gonna win your heart and you'll be head over heels ready to satisfy her." I said, thoughts of Lenne surging through my words. "So, you in love. I get that. Good for you Tidus. Ya deserve the best." He commented, patting my back.
We went to Mt. Gagazet that day. He wanted to chat with a Ronso friend of his and I just wanted to hang out with my buddy. "Hey there, Galte!" Rothel waved over to a large, white Ronso. "Galte happy to see Rothel." The lion-faced being replied, hugging his friend. "Hey! I want ya to meet someone." Rothel said, pointing at me. "Galte know him. Galte see him play blitz with Rothel. He is Tidus." The Ronso replied. "Yes, I am. Hi there, Galte!" I said, holding my hand out to shake his. Galte didn't take it. Instead, he grabbed me and hugged me, too. "A little friendly are we? C'mon, you're crushin' me!" I said, gasping a little for breath. It was bad enough that the air was thin, but to be compressed by a strong being such as he was just too much. "C'mon, you gonna kill 'im. He ain't as rough as us." Rothel said, prying Galte off me.
I spent most of the time there listening to them telling old stories about their friendship. "Then, he got canned, remember?" Rothel shouted about some Al Bhed they had embarrassed. "Galte remember. Funny Al Bhed! Puny Al Bhed!" He yelled, laughing up a storm. Did these guys really think it was THAT funny? They started talking about another time, in Bevelle, when they had embarrassed its leader by throwing beer at him and causing his wig to fall off. "That was hilarious! The guy fumed at us for so long and we had to run away from those dumb ass guards!" Rothel cackled, chugging the rest of his beer and asking the bartender for another. "Galte like times with Galte's friend!" The Ronso laughed. Meanwhile, I was thinking about the upcoming season of blitz. It would be my second season with Lenne at my side. I was thrown away from those thoughts as a big Ronso paw smacked my back, hard. "Uh! Galte! Ow, that hurt!" I complained, rubbing my back. The two of them just laughed that much harder and chugged more beer. Rothel looked at me like I had a fever or something and asked, "Why you not drinkin' wit us?" "I'm not much of a drinker, Rothel. You know that. I'd prefer a cola." I replied, still rubbing my back. "Hey! Bartender! Get this kid over here a Alchem-cola!" Rothel ordered. "Right away, bud!" The man behind the counter yelled, wiping a glass clean and pouring the orange-red carbonated drink into it. He slid it across the counter and I stopped it with my left, picking up the glass. "So, how ya think the Fangs 'ill do this season?" Rothel asked Galte. "Galte think Ronso do good this season. Galte know Fangs beat Abes this season." He responded, hitting his chest with his right fist in intimidation. "Oh, is that so? Tidus, tell 'em what you know's gonna happen." He said, snapping his fingers at me and pointing. "Uh, well, I think the Abes can win the championship again. I mean straight victories, right? I think we can keep it up." I answered. "Galte wish you luck. Fangs going to win. Galte know. But Rothel friend of Galte so Galte wish him and friend luck." Galte said, patting Rothel on the shoulder.
They departed with a hug. "Hope ya the best, Galte." Rothel said. "Goodbye, Rothel and Tidus." The Ronso said. He walked off as Rothel walked back over to me. "Hey, let's go." He said, pushing my shoulder to get me to start walking. We headed back for home.
"Ya know, talkin' with Galte got me thinkin'." Rothel started. "Thinkin' of what?" I asked. "I don't really have too many memories wit you. Maybe we should make some. How bout it?" He replied. "Well, what do you have in mind?" I said, wondering what he was up to. "Let's go to Bevelle and really pull a prank." He suggested, enthusiasm coursing through his veins. "Um, I don't know about that. It doesn't seem like such a good idea." I returned, concerned that this might have hurt my friend. "Nah, we be fine. In fact, you can take the easy job. I'll get some poor shlub to come to the prank point, then you just have to make sure the trap is set, k?" He responded, eager to have me go with this plan of his. "Fine... If you really want to." I gave in. "Great. We gotta think up a helluva plan." He howled, extremely enthusiastic about this prank of his.
We arrived in Bevelle within a half an hour. It took so long due to the fact that Rothel had a little prankster's block, stalling his ideas. However, he had managed to think up a really 'good' one and I had to set up the trap. We entered Bevelle and, again, I noticed those weird looks. I didn't want to be there. Something just told me that Bevelle and Zanarkand were feeling some turbulence and this visit wasn't helping. The prank we'd pull wouldn't be helpful, either.
I got into position and started to build the trap. The basic idea was to have a greased up floor, a sticky wall, and a nice little sign with a punch line on it. This sign had 'Bevelle's Brightest' written on it. I guess he was gonna find some brainiac and get him to slip on the greased floor, hit the sticky wall, and look like an idiot while the sign was displayed above him.
My guess was correct. As I finished the trap, Rothel ran to me yelling behind him about someone's mother. "Get down." He whispered, commanding me to hide. He lunged at me, tackling me to the ground. We watched as the man chasing him, a guard of Bevelle, ran into the grease, slid, screamed, and smacked into the wall, getting himself completely stuck. Rothel laughed like a lunatic as he walked out into the open. He pointed and cackled at the guard who was steaming with rage with each passing second of humiliation. "Oh my goodness, he's gonna kill Rothel one day." I muttered, still hiding. Rothel walked back over to me and we ran towards the exit of Bevelle.
"Just where do you two think you're going?" Another guard asked, eyeing us suspiciously underneath his visor. "We were just gonna go home." I said. "Yea, we jus plastered one of your boys to a wall. You probably hear his shrieks soon." Rothel laughed. The guard didn't find any of this funny as he called for a few other guards to come and apprehend us. "Hey man, just a joke. Don't take life so seriously man. Take it easy." Rothel said, trying to get us out of the mess. "Arrest them!" The initial guard commanded. The other guards surrounded us, closing in while pointing their guns. Unfortunately, they got a little too close.
I took out my sword quickly and knocked the ones nearest me to the ground with a leg swipe. Rothel ducked and I lifted myself, making a higher swing, this time batting the other guards in the head with the flat side one my blade. "Let's get the hell out of here!" I yelled. Rothel nodded, and we ran as fast as we could back for Zanarkand. As we left the gates, a bullet hit the ground near my foot. However, seeing as it didn't hit me, the two of us just kept running.
We got back to Zanarkand rather quickly. Stopping right after the gates, we both gasped for breath. "You... are... an... idiot!" I choked out, glaring at Rothel. "Hey... take... easy... man..." He breathed, trying to calm me down. "We could've died back there!" I exclaimed, my second wind kicking in, giving me enough oxygen to speak normally. "Nah... Never happen." Rothel said, waving a hand at me as if to push away that kind of thought.
That stunt was incredibly stupid. What if that shot had hit my foot? What if it did worse? What if that bullet hit me in the head? I'd never do anything that stupid again.
We walked back to Rothel's house and I collapsed on his couch and put my hand on my face, trying to calm myself down after that horrendous act. "Tidus, I'm sorry, k?" Rothel said seriously for a change. "Yea, I know." I mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, "but don't ever ask me to do anything like that again." "But ya gotta admit, it was funny." He said, laughing again. I shook my head. That kind of funny wasn't for me. "I'm a little tired. You got anywhere to go?" Rothel asked. "Yea, I'll probably just go find Lenne." I answered, getting up from my seat. "You ain't mad at me, right?" He asked, concerned for our friendship, "Nah, just take care, okay?" I replied, exiting his house.
I walked about aimlessly for a while. I reached Lenne's house and saw that the lights were on. I decided to knock on the door.
"Hey there!" Lenne said when she opened the door. "Hiya, Shuyin!" Kirin yelled from behind her, waving playfully. She was hiding because she wasn't dressed... again. "Keep your clothes on!" I yelled, covering my eyes. "Sorry, bad habit." She offered, running back to the living room where she'd left her skirt and bikini top. Lenne uncovered my eyes by grabbing my hand. She dragged me into her house and Kirin patted me on my chest. "So, is this better?" She said, presenting herself to me. "Yes, much." I replied, nodding. "We were thinking about dancing outside before you came, so wanna join us?" Lenne asked. "Sure!" I answered, having nothing better to do. Besides, dancing was relaxing and, with Lenne, it was more relaxing. We left her house.
"I knew I'd find you here!" A female voice shouted. I looked and saw it was that other summoner, Trista. "What do you want?" Kirin sneered, looking at the summoner with much distaste. Lenne must have told her about that incident. "I'm not talking to you, troll." Trista hissed, turning her gaze back to me, "We've got unfinished business." "What are you talking about?" I asked, showing my disdain with my words. "Oh you know." She sneered, glaring at me. "What, you didn't have enough of me when I was choking you?" I jeered back, grinning at the thought of snapping her neck. "Enough!" She barked, "I want my revenge!"
She took out her staff and smirked at me. "You versus me. Let's see who'd win." I growled, unsheathing my sword. "You'll regret those words." She hissed. I realized my miscalculation as I watched her starting to summon an Aeon. "Oh crap." I mumbled. "Stop this, Trista!" Lenne yelled, trying to keep the girl from summoning something that could tear me to pieces. "Sorry, Lenne. He brought it on himself!" She snarled, finishing the summoning of Valefor. The winged-beast appeared behind her and gave a battle cry. "Fine! I'll take on all your Aeons! I'll take them down one by one!" I roared, losing my fear and gaining my rage. My eyes became angry eyes again. Once again, the light blue of the pond transformed into the dark blue of a hurricane waiting to happen.
The bird attacked me with its beak. I dodged left and it flew past me, its wing smacking me in the back of the head. I growled and lunged at it. I missed it as it flew upwards and made a dive at me. I stood my ground. As it came in, I leaped, grabbing onto it as it struggled to lose its new passenger. "Gotcha!" I screamed, stabbing the beast in the back of the head. It faltered, losing altitude little by little. I jumped off of it as it hit the ground and slashed it one last time for good measure, watching as it dispersed into pyreflies with a cry.
"I'll teach you to kill my Valefor!" Trista yelled, beginning a new summon. I tried to stop her, but she managed to get the Aeon out before I reached. It was Ifrit. "Ifrit! Fira!" The summoner commanded. The Aeon obeyed and blasted me with flames. I dodged just in time and kept myself moving to avoid getting locked on by the beast. Closing in, I kicked off of its arm, slashed its neck, and landed in front of it. Quickly, I stabbed Ifrit behind me and heard the anguished scream of the beast as it, too, disappeared.
"I'll get you yet!" Trista fumed, summoning yet another Aeon. "Ixion! Thundara!" She ordered, as I watched the summoned beast form electricity with its arms, aiming for me. The bolts rained outward, racing towards me. I dashed right, but one of the bolts hit my sword, shocking me as well. "AhHhhH!" I screamed, the pain coursing through my body. The beast started walking towards me and I tried my best to move, but was paralyzed. "Stupid horse!" I yelled, regaining my ability to move my arm. It formed disks of energy and sent them my way, but I blocked it somehow with my sword. I followed through, cutting the creature in both legs and arms. It began to sway and finally kneeled onto the floor due to its injuries. "Ixion! Use Thor's Hammer!" Trista yelled. The Aeon got back up and waved its arms around, creating a storming vortex around me. "Shit!" I exclaimed, running toward the beast. I jumped onto one of its arms, spun, and lopped of its head, landing in a neat stance next to the fallen creature. It vanished, as well.
"Is that all you got?" I snarled at the stupid prissy bitch that was causing me so much grief. "Oh, that's far from it. I'll give you something to worry about. Like Shiva!" She cried, summoning the maiden of ice. I ran towards her, sword held out, ready to cut her down. "Blizzara!" Trista commanded. Shiva waved her arms and shot a strong beam of frost at me. She managed to hit my leg and I crashed to the floor. My leg was frozen solid and it hurt a lot. The maiden floated over to me and lifted me up, looking at me with icy blue eyes. "I can't lose. I won't!" I struggled, trying to get out of her grip. She moved her face closer to me, closing her eyes. My guess was that she was trying to kiss me, a kiss of cold death. "No!" I growled, shaking as her lips came closer. At the last possible second, my leg felt warm again and I also struggled out of my shirt that Shiva was gripping. When I landed on the floor, I quickly got up and kneed her in the gut, causing her to fold over. Then, I took the opportunity to get my sword in position. As she rose, I stabbed her in the gut. Her body fell on me and with a cold tear, Shiva another of my victims.
"Fine! So what if you beat those wimps. You won't beat my next Aeon!" Trista hissed, beginning to summon yet another Aeon. "Now, witness my power! I summon Bahamut!" She roared, summoning the most powerful Aeon I'd ever seen. "Bahamut! Destroy!" She yelled at her dragon. The beast roared, a sound that penetrated my mind, body, and soul. Fear grasped me. What was I to do now? I couldn't fight Bahamut.
It charged at me with unequivocal speed. I tried to dodge, but its claw caught me and tore into my chest. The shear force of that impact sent my body flying backwards. When I landed, I had three blood-spewing tears etched to my chest and I was coughing up the same substance. Bahamut came back around, ready for a second strike. I stumbled back onto my feet and fearfully awaited its next and, given the current statistics, most likely its final assault. It came at me.
The grin on Trista's face showed me that I had lost. "Shuyin!" Lenne cried, tears streaming down her face as she watched on, powerless. It was true that she had the spells Cure, Cura, and Curaga. However, they worked only on knock out damage. This damage I had received was fatal damage. Lenne wouldn't be able to save me if I should get hit again.
And it did come at me again. I waited, acting even more injured that I truly was, though I was hurt horribly. The beast lunged at me, its claw out in front, as if to reach out and rip my still-beating heart straight out of my red-covered chest. At the last possible moment, however, I jumped and flew into the air above the beast. I pointed my sword downward and, as Bahamut's body passed me by, the entire spine had a deep gash apparent upon it. The creature roared in pain, crashing into a nearby light-post. "Get up!" I heard Trista scream, furious at my survival. The Aeon, too, seemed peeved, growling at the sight of my living form. It flew at me yet again. This time I chose to latch onto it. I waited for it to get close enough to me and then I grabbed onto the large golden ring at the shoulders of the beast. I hung on tightly despite my loss of blood and energy. With my sword in hand, I impaled the dragon with it, the blade passing from the back of the skull straight through the mouth. I tore my weapon out from the left side of Bahamut's face, ripping apart the jaw. I leapt off of the creature and it landed in a heap, dying. With one final attempt, the beast surged back to life and planted itself on the ground. Energy swirled around its mouth and grew. "Yay! MegaFlare now!" Trista commanded, the tone of her voice alarming me to the magnitude of this attack. I had to act quickly. I had to make sure to stop this beast before he could fire that energy and fry me to a crisp. My body chose to use its own ultimate blast. I watched on as my body swung my sword back, jumping into the air while also gathering energy into the blade. Bahamut finished and sent the blast towards my direction. Meanwhile, I had collected enough energy, as well, and sent forth my blast. "Force Rain!" I heard myself scream as the energy flew towards the MegaFlare. Both concentrations of energy collided and destroyed the other as the winds swirled fiercely from it. Bahamut cried its final cry and collapsed to the ground, dead. The pyreflies flew back to Trista as her face became pale, but vengeful.
"Okay! Enough with the nice girl act!" She shrieked. Again, she started a summoning. This Aeon was one I'd never seen. It looked like an obese man with a large hat. "I'll bet you've never come across this little baby. I picked him up at this cave that you're never going to find. I was just lucky." She gloated. This Aeon was strange, though. It didn't immediately attack. Instead, it seemed to be waiting for something. After a while, I found out what that was. Trista strolled over to the Aeon and said, "Here Yojimbo. Your payment for killing this little dweeb." Trista dropped a large sack into the open palm of the Aeon. It nodded and took out a sword. The sword didn't really look that impressive, though. I heard Trista fume at Yojimbo for that. "That's not Zanmato! Don't use Daigoro! Use Zanmato!" She barked but the Aeon didn't pay attention. It seemed like this Aeon was nothing more than a mercenary. Yojimbo approached slowly but menacingly nonetheless. It pulled the sword up to the sky and I charged it. I went to swipe at its midsection, but it brought down the sword to block. The sword shattered, much to my amazement. "What the?" I stammered, utterly baffled by the horrible craftsmanship of the blade. "Use ZANMATO!!!" Trista screamed. Next, the Aeon pulled out yet another blade. This one was abnormally short and I thought Yojimbo was spiting its master. "Use Zanmato! Don't use Wakizashi!" Said the pompous summoner of whom I spoke. I couldn't help but laugh. It was humorous watching her Aeon disobey ever one of her commands to use whatever Zanmato was. Suddenly Yojimbo lunged at me, trying to impale me on the end of its short blade. I parried and struck the assailant's wrist, severing it. Yojimbo howled in pain and Trista smiled. She wasn't smiling at the Aeon's wound, however, she was smiling at the fact that I had just pissed it off. It was going to use Zanmato because of that. The sword it pulled out of thin air this time actually felt like raw power. I braced myself. Yojimbo sped to me and made a downward strike, trying to cut me in half. I somersaulted away and put my sword out to my rear. I charged towards the creature and slashed at it countless times in various places. First a horizontal slash, then a diagonally upward one, followed by a vertical upward, and so on. I continued this for at least two minutes straight and Yojimbo was powerless to stop me. "I call it, the Hit and Run." I said, finishing the attack. Yojimbo limped forward to me just a little, but as he tried to grab my neck, he fell forward and died.
"Grr... Stupid useless Aeons! I can't believe they were beaten by a stupid boy!" Trista shrieked. "So get lost already!" Kirin said, motioning her hands to shoo the summoner away. I didn't want that. She had gone too far with this fight. She was going to let Bahamut kill me. I ran to her and no one suspected my actions. I grabbed her by her flimsy neck and lifted her struggling form off the ground. "You go too far m'lady summoner." I snarled, tightening my grasp. She couldn't speak. All she could do was choke, and choke she did. I wasn't about to let her go. She'd pay for her failed attempt. "Shuyin! Stop!" Lenne cried, pulling at my free arm. I didn't pay attention. My eyes never left Trista's for a moment. Cold, dead blue eyes stared at her like a tiger stares at a doe before tearing out its throat. "Time to visit the Farplane." I growled, tightening my grip more. I started to hear the cracking of her vertebrae when I was thrown back by an invisible force.
"ENOUGH!" I heard in the distance. From a distance, the woman I'd seen before, the daughter of Yu Yevon, Yunalesca arrived...