Chapter Ten
Calm Lands Gorge
Two days later and the group enter a quiet area with two bridges. They cross the first bridge only to be waylaid by the two Guado who are always behind Seymour. "You will follow us back to Bevelle so that Lord Seymour can be married to Lady Yuna." At this command Measter Kelk Ronso steps forward and demands, "The Lady Yuna has already turned him down so step aside so that the Lady Yuna and Lord Jaidon may continue their pilgrimage." The two Guado ignore the Ronso and signal something under the second bridge. "Lord Seymour said to use force if words did not make you turn back." With that said the two have their machine based fiend attack the group. Tidus about to go dragon on its ass gets stopped by Jaidon who steps forth and summons the River Stallions.
Jaidon lifts his staff up into the sky and a jet of water shoots out into the sky creating a massive sphere. Once the sphere is complete three shadows appear and one by one a ramp of water shoot out of the sphere allowing three horse-like aeons to gallop out and surround the group. Once the three touch the ground the sphere stretches and becomes a platform which the three then leap up onto. The three neigh and pound the watery platform and Jaidon calls up to them, "I give you free reign Mizu, Koori, and Kiri." Like Jaidon Yuna also steps up to summon her newest friends the Magus Sisters. After waving her staff over three patches of flowers the three sisters pop up in the form of a praying mantis, a lady bug, and a bumble bee. "Please help the River Stallions defeat the enemy. I give you free reign." Once finished speaking Yuna steps back and stands beside Jaidon.
The Magus Sisters and the River Stallions take turns attacking the fiend before they believe the guardians of the summoners can finish it off easily so they dismiss themselves with neighs and waves. Once the six aeons are gone Jaidon signals his guardians to attack with Yuna doing the same for her. After two attacks from each guardian the machine based fiend falls apart as pyreflies leave its metal body. Once the battle is done the group looks around and notices the two Guado gone. "Bah, why can't Seymour leave Yuna alone?" Wakka complains before Lulu places a calming hand on his shoulder. "Well I guess all we can do now is head on to Mt. Gagazet." Rikku says before Jaidon snorts out, "No offense Measter but I am not stepping foot on Gagazet until we have Yojimbo." Yuna looks back at him and asks, "Another Aeon?" The silver haired summoner nods to confirm her question before taking the path under the second bridge where the fiend had came from.
The others follow Jaidon until they come to a cave leading into the mountain. "I suppose we have no other choice but to go in, do we?" Rikku asks with slight fear in her voice. Jaidon grabs her hand and squeezes it in comfort saying, "Yojimbo is needed in order to destroy Sin for good. In fact all the Aeons on Spira are needed with out them this endless cycle will never end." Yuna gasps as she understands Jaidon's words before sadly saying, "So to make sure Sin never returns we must let the Aeons be possessed and defeated." Jaidon nods sadly as well before the group sighs and enters the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth.
After defeating the Summoner Lulu had once guarded Yuna enters the area with the Fayth only to come back out a second later with a very shocked expression. "He won't join unless I pay him three hundred thousand gil." Jaidon sighs before taking Tidus into the area motioning Yuna to come with them. Once inside Yojimbo's Fayth appears again but before he can say a word Jaidon looks him dead in the eye and says, "I never thought I'd ever see the day that my great uncle times four would sell his services to anyone. I was always taught that honor was the most important thing a blade master had and now I am hearing that one of my family members is charging for their aide. Where has your honor gone Uncle Sylis?" The Fayth blinks in shock before he gapes at Jaidon openly, "Jaidon as in the little brat that used to come and talk to me with his father Ritsu?" Jaidon snickers before waving his fingers in the exact same way his father did when being a smart ass. The Fayth blinks again before plopping down onto his crystal in wonder. "Now Uncle Sylis Yuna here needs you to let her summon Yojimbo or we can't kill Sin for good." The Fayth sighs before looking up at Yuna and smiling gently, "Sorry, I thought you'd be like all the other summoners and only use my aeon to get to Zanarkand only to use the Final Summoning."
Yuna smiles softly and shakes her head saying, "I am not going to use something that only brings a small amount of peace. Jaidon and I know the keys to defeating Sin forever so that an everlasting Calm can happen." Sylis nods his understanding and fades until Yuna feels the aeon settle with the others she has before becoming more solid again to tell Jaidon, "Nephew, I am proud of you. You made Ritsu's dream a reality you found the Stallions but there is one more Aeon you must get and I am not speaking of Anima. You will find him in the Ruins of Zanarkand. Yunalesca keeps his crystal trapped beneath the blitzball stadium once you have sent her to the Farplane go down the stairs at the back of the room three times on the third time you will be transported to his crystal." Jaidon nods his understanding before he smiles at his ancestor.
Once the group is back outside in the sunshine Yuna asks Jaidon, "What did he mean by that?" The others look at the male summoner in confusion except for Tidus who figured it out the moment they exited the cave. The blonde blitzer answers for his husband, "Yojimbo's Fayth meant that once we've dealt with Yunalesca that Jaidon and I had to go down the stairs three times to be transported to an unknown area where the Fayth of the oldest Aeon ever is kept. This Aeon is even more powerful than the others and will only allow the summoner that has a dragonite to call it." Jaidon smiles up at Tidus and he nods to confirm what the blonde blitzer said to the others.
Rikku blinks in shock before asking, "There's an Aeon even stronger than the Magus Sisters and River Stallions?" Tidus and Jaidon both nod their heads to confirm the blonde girl's question. "Gee, I wonder what it is." Wakka ponders out loud beside Lulu who is looking up into the sky. Measter Kelk clears his throat gaining everyone's attentions before he says calmly, "I believe that when we arrive at the Ronso village you all should rest up for a few days before heading over the mountain. It will also give Biran time to get to know his grandson and for the others to see with their own eyes that Spira has been blessed with a Dragonite once more." Tidus and Jaidon smile at Kelk and nod in agreement before the group walks back up the path to cross the bridge that will allow them to enter Mt. Gagazet's beautiful terrain.
Mt. Gagazet
The group enters the village of the Ronso a half hour later. The Measter walks to his lodge and enters only to come back out with a spear and claw. Both crafted from the same metal which is a pale blue in color. The spear's blade resembles a trident only the middle prong is shorter than the other two and shaped like an icicle. The claw resembles the spear's blade somewhat but the three prongs are different in shape. One prong is shaped like a lightning bolt. The second is shaped like the spear's middle prong. The last is shaped like a flame. He then hands the claw to Rikku and the spear to Kimahri saying, "These weapons are made from the hardest metal on Spira and will never break unless they are hit by acid. They are imbued with the fires of Mt. Gagazet and will absorb any type of fire damage so you do not have to worry about fire breaking them. Rikku I give you that claw for three reasons. The first is that it can easily dismantle any enemy machina that crosses your path. The second reason is this claw will automatically steal the most powerful and rare item or equipment a fiend has on it. The last reason is that I would like for you to use this claw on a particular fiend high up in the mountain and obtain a precious weapon that it stole from someone very dear to me. In fact Jaidon you have her aeon with you." Jaidon blinks in surprise before he smiles. "So Saorta was your mate before she became a Fayth." Kelk nods his head in confirmation before he turns to Kimahri, "Kimahri, that spear belonged to your father and when he died asked me to keep it in good shape for when you were ready to use it. I believe now you are capable of using the spear and mastering its unique ability. You will learn of this ability during your next battle." Kimahri caresses the spear with awe before he nods his thanks to the elder Ronso.
"Feel free to explore the village before you turn in for the night." Kelk says to the group before going back into his lodge. Jaidon and Tidus look around before spotting Biran and Yenke sparring in a clearing just before the path goes up into the mountain. "Jaidon, do you want to talk to him now or tomorrow?" Tidus asks his husband while linking their fingers. Jaidon sighs with content and leans his head against Tidus' shoulder for a moment before tugging the blonde blitzer over to the two sparring Ronso. The two watch the sparring partners until Yenke notices they have an audience and moves in away for Biran to see them as well. The two Ronso stop their sparring and wave to the two watching before walking up to the two. "Summoner Jaidon an honor." Yenke says as he sets his weapon against his lodge which happens to be right next to the clearing. Jaidon smiles up at the two Ronso before asking, "Do you have a few minutes to talk?" The two Ronso look to each other before nodding and motioning for the two humans inside Yenke's lodge.
Yenke sits down on a furred platform beside a fire pit as Biran sits down on a bench like couch with many furs to cushion the rock. Tidus sits down on the rug and Jaidon plops down on the blonde's lap and wiggles a bit to get comfy causing Tidus to growl out softly. Jaidon smiles up at Tidus before he turns to Biran and says, "I came across some information that I know will make you feel so happy Biran." The dark Ronso tilts his head in curiosity and motions for Jaidon to speak. The silver haired summoner takes a breath and says, "A week ago I asked Kimahri if he would know my grandfather as I am part Ronso and he said he knew and that I had met him on the way to the Moonflow." Yenke straightens up and asks, "Do you have the mark?" Jaidon stands and reveals the mark he and his mother share and Biran looks at the mark for a minute tops before he rushes over and hugs Jaidon tightly. "I have searched many day and nights for you." The Ronso says softly in the summoner's ear before pulling away to arms length. "Now that I look closely at you I can see that you have your grandmother's eyes. She had lavender eyes as well and her beauty outshined even Gagazet's." Yenke smiles at the sight of his best friend's happiness and he comments, "Now that you know he lives we can celebrate and you can tell mountain of your happiness Biran."
Jaidon decides to go visit Saorta so the group head up the mountain two days later Biran and Yenke travel with them so Biran can learn more about his grandson and how strong he has become over the years. Half way up the mountain they come across Seymour once more and this time the unsent gives them all the Zombie status effect before casting Full-Life on Wakka killing him instantly. Jaidon instantly casts an Esunja on the whole group curing them of the Zombie effect Yuna follows this up with a Life spell on Wakka and uses Curaga to heal him. After that Jaidon casts Status Guard and Invincibility on the group before casting Whither and Bleed on Seymour to make the battle easier. An hour passes before Seymour uses an attack that knocks Jaidon back into the rock wall which angers Tidus. The other guardians and Yuna back away from Tidus knowing what's going to happen now but Biran and Yenke are confused at their actions.
Auron grabs the two Ronso as he passes and drags them clear as well saying, "Seymour's in for it now." The two Ronso blink in confusion before they follow Auron's gaze to see Tidus glowing blue before hearing the blonde blitzer shout, "SEYMOUR, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE FOR GOOD THIS TIME!" With that Tidus shifts to his dragon form and rushes the unsent Guado unleashing a whole new overdrive. The dragon surges forward and drills through the metallic armor surrounding the Guado before vanishing from sight until a massive pillar of ice appears below the unsent and pushes him up into the sky where the dragon lets loose a roar before beating his wings creating two small water twisters that crash into the ice pillar creating one giant glacial cyclone that the dragon then freezes solid with a breath before slamming the frozen unsent into the ground with a mighty swing of his tail. The dragon follows this up with a spiral dive drilling through the ice until the unsent is close enough to harm. He then drags the still semi frozen unsent from the ice by his right claw before letting his shimmering left claw plunge into the unsent's chest ripping out a glowing ball of energy. As the Guado falls to the ground Jaidon staggers to his feet and upon seeing Tidus in his dragon form hurries to his side and hugs his side. "Tidus, I'm fine please shift back." The dragon looks down at the silver haired summoner and Tidus feels his fury fade away and he shifts to his human form and hugs Jaidon tightly to him.
Tidus steps back after a few moments to look down at the orb in his hand and nearly drops the thing at seeing how black it is. "What the heck?" Jaidon looks as well and blinks in shock, "Tidus, why are you holding a soul?" The blonde blitzer blinks owlishly before looking at Jaidon replying, "I did an overdrive in dragon form and this was inside Seymour." Jaidon sighs before placing a hand on Tidus' wrist no near the soul in the blonde's hand and pushes it up into the sky saying gently, "Let it go." Tidus does as told and releases his hold on the soul and everyone watches it float up into the sky for a bit before a dark being appears and grabs the soul. It looks down at the group and in a low silky voice asks, "Who managed to rip this soul from its body?" Everyone but Jaidon and the two Ronso point to Tidus and the being looks down at the blonde blitzer and laughs for a few minutes. "You have done the Gods a great service young one. My brother was very angry when this particular Guado had his favorite white mage murdered along with her husband." Jaidon gasps and asks, "Seymour was the one that had my parents killed?" The dark being floats down closer to the ground to get a better look at the boy and blinks in shock, "You're Amala's son?" Jaidon nods and the being chuckles a bit before he comments; "Only one of my brother's favorites could be granted a gift like the one you now possess. A word of advice from a God when you face the unsent in Zanarkand be prepared for a three stage battle with a lot of Zombie effect to cure as well as a multi death spell to survive." The group thanks the being for his advice and he vanishes but not before saying one last thing, "Do not cry for the aeons when you fight them instead smile because they will be able to move on and be reborn as living beings in the future."
A few hours later the group walks into a cave they find above the Fayth Scar and see a crystal imbedded into the back of the cave. "Sao?" At Jaidon's voice the female Ronso appears and smiles down at the boy with love in her eyes. "What brings you back into my cave, pup?" Jaidon smiles and sits down in front of her and replies, "I wanted to tell you that I found my grandfather." Biran steps up next to Jaidon and nods at the female Ronso and she smiles. "It is good to see that you are happy pup and I will continue to pray that you stay happy even after Sin is gone." Jaidon smiles and says, "Measter Kelk sends his love by the way and says that in the next life he will find you again so you can have the life you never got this time." Saorta chuckles commenting, "Kelk would say something like that. He always did try to keep me happy even before we were old enough to mate." Tidus walks up and sits down beside Jaidon and links their fingers as Jaidon asks, "Do you ever miss being with him?" The female Ronso smiles at their happiness but shakes her head, "I know that I will be reborn one day and that in the next life Kelk will indeed find me again so I do not miss being alive but there are time that I do miss sitting in silence with him as we stargazed."
A few hours later the group come across the Fayth Scar and at seeing so many Fayth they all take a moment of silence in respect of the people. After that the group move on and enter another cave to be attacked by a vicious fiend and Kimahri says, "Rikku use claw. This is fiend that stole Saorta's weapon." The blonde girl swiftly moves forward and slashes the fiend with the claw instantly a unique weapon drops onto her back and she leaps back and examines the weapon as the others fight the fiend and she realizes that it's a claw as well but it's made for a tail. "Kyota, come here for a moment please." The coeurl stops attacking and comes over to Rikku who promptly attaches the claw to the coeurl's tail saying, "This is a tail claw and it will give you an even better chance at keeping Jaidon and Yunie safe." The coeurl nuzzles Rikku's side before returning to fight the fiend and uses her new tail claw to its full advantage which allows Kyota to use Deathstrike once a fiend is close to death.
Once the battle is over the group move farther into the cave only for a pool of water to stop their progress, "Alright, Wakka and Rikku lets check it out to see if there's anything like a puzzle that needs to be done." The two mentioned joins Tidus in the water and the three swim through the pool and find a puzzle at the end of a tunnel. Tidus points to the colors and the three move apart and swim into a color that matches their size: Green=Rikku, Red=Wakka, Blue=Tidus. A few minutes later and the three rejoin the group and they move onward until another pool of water has the three swimming again this time ending with Wakka having to throw his blitzball into a moving hole. When that's done the three guardians return to the group and they head onwards for them to stop yet again due to a water pool. Tidus sighs before walking into the water this time shifting to dragon form and just doing the puzzle solo to give Wakka and Rikku a break. Once the puzzle is solved he returns to the group and they head up the newly formed staircase to the upper part of the cave. At the top they come across another vicious fiend but Yuna's Bahamut and Jaidon's Shiva easily defeat it and they move onwards. Just before exiting the cave Jaidon makes everyone set up camp.
"It would be best to move on when we are all at our strongest. Yunalesca always sends a fiend to test a summoner's skill when he or she exits the cave. Dad told me this after the third summoner he guarded died fighting the fiend." Everyone nods their understanding and Biran and Yenke volunteer to take watch for half the night. "I'll finish up the watch when you two get tired." Auron says as he lays down on his bedroll and goes to sleep. Tidus rolls his eyes at his adopted dad before asking, "Biran, will you tell us about how you met Jaidon's grandmother?" The dark Ronso looks over at the blitzer and smiles sadly, "I met Reiha during a blitzball tournament. I had just mastered my skills and wanted to test myself with a journey from Gagazet to Luca. I entered the city to a sight I had never before imagined would ever happen. Reiha was standing over a fully groan Ronso male with a look of fury on her face and she was screaming at him about treating people with respect. She was always telling people to show respect when it is due or the Gods would make them regret their stupidity." He pauses as he gets a far away look in his eyes continuing, "Reiha was the most beautiful female I had ever seen and from that day forth I wanted to know more about her. I even decided to turn my back on my tribe just to be with her but it was never to be."
Biran comes out of his memories as sadness creeps into his expression, "Reiha became pregnant with my child nine mother after we decided to get married but the birth was too hard on her and she died giving life to my little pup. I never got to meet my pup because Reiha's family told me that my heart died giving birth to my daughter and they would not let me be with her because they blamed me for Reiha's death." Jaidon hugs his grandfather tightly saying, "Mother never blamed you for grandmother's death. She tried finding you the day Saorta found her wandering the mountain. Mother wanted to meet you so much that she ran away from Kilika Island just to see if you would take her in but Fate decided to step in and she never got to figure out that you were her father. My mother's name was Amala." Biran sighs with sadness before hugging his grandson to him before the silver haired summoner walks over to Tidus and the two lay down and go to sleep.
The next morning the group exit the cave and instantly get attacked by a massive fiend known as Sacred Beast and Wakka, Rikku, and Lulu get knocked out of the fight for a few minutes until Jaidon and Yuna cast Full-Life on the three. The battle goes on for an hour before Jaidon decides they need to summon and steps up and lifts his staff up into the sky and a jet of water shoots out into the sky creating a massive sphere. Once the sphere is complete three shadows appear and one by one a ramp of water shoot out of the sphere allowing the three horse-like aeons to gallop out and surround the group. Jaidon calls out, "Mizu, Kiri, and Koori finish this battle quickly we all are getting too tired to fight." The three Stallions neigh and pound the rock with their front hooves creating a large pool of water that causes the large fiend to sink beneath the surface. The three aeons then pound the ground again causing the pool of water to freeze over and lift up out of the ground and the group sees the Sacred Beast clearly trapped within the ice. As the ice ascends into the sky the three aeons trot up to be beneath the massive ball of ice and look up at it with glowing eyes. Then all of a sudden the ball of ice shatters and the three aeons leap into the air and gallop straight at the suspended fiend with a massive tidal wave following them. As the wave follows them two massive ice bergs materializes above and below the fiend as a fog surrounds the Sacred Beast making a ring around it. All at once the ice bergs and wave slam into the Sacred Beast as the fog thickens to form a solid barrier around the fiend. The three Stallions stop at different spots around the fiend and neigh as they each let loose a different form of water to completely demolish the barrier rendering the Sacred Beast to pyreflies. The three aeons trot back down to the ground and nuzzle Jaidon and Tidus before turning into water and melting back into the sphere of water before that turns into a light mist and evaporates.
"That would be the River Stallions' overdrive Triple Judgment due to the fact all three forms water creates is used in the attack." Jaidon says with a smug grin as Tidus just snickers at Yenke's and Biran's stupefied expressions. "Jaidon, my love, I believe you've rendered your grandfather speechless." The silver haired summoner blinks before looking over to Biran and bursts out laughing at the Ronso's current facial features. "If you think that overdrive was awesome then Midnight Canis' will definitely have you stunned because she can cause instant Death to anyone or anything with Shadow Reaper." Jaidon says to drag the two Ronso out of their shock before Auron chuckles and the others sigh with amusement. Yuna clears her throat and says, "Perhaps we should continue onward and rest at the base of the mountain." The others all nod their agreement and the group moves onwards to the ruins of Zanarkand.