Chapter 21: The Emperor, The Devil, and The Heir

Everyone was on Cid's Airship in a matter of minutes. It had taken no more than a few seconds of discussion to decide that even the remote possibility that the Emperor was Corlan was enough to increase the importance of the matter.

Rikku paced back and forth in the cockpit of the Airship, endless questions buzzing around in her mind.

Could it be Corlan? How many people must there be named Corlan? Could it be anyone else? Why would Corlan do such a thing anyway? Why?

She quickly put an end to the questions as they landed in Bevelle. They would be answered soon enough.

They all disembarked and quickly made their way to the Temple, where they assumed this 'Emperor' would have put his throne. As they walked down the Highbridge, the aftermath of a battle was clearly evident. The sturdy stone walls that lined the walk were now cracked, and in some places, the wall had given way completely, leaving only a pile of rubble and a gaping hole that revealed more of the damaged city. Even the ground that they walked on was cracked and uneven. Not only that, but now beggars lined the Highbridge, men and women who had been stripped of everything because of the battle. The beggars had congregated here, hoping to get some gold from generous foreigners, but a line of Bevelle guards held them away from the walkway.

The sight made new questions bubble up in Rikku's mind. How can one man have the power to do all this? How can that man be Corlan? She quickly quashed the thoughts.

The sight of the damage done should have appalled her; nothing like this had happened to anyone since Sin had been defeated a year ago, not on this scale. But it didn't. There were more important matters at hand. These people and their city would have to wait. But she still couldn't help the feeling that worse would happen if they didn't deal with this 'Emperor', or with Death and Evil. She shuddered.

Soon, they reached the entrance to the Temple. Two guards stood to either side of the door, each holding a large machina weapon. Thankfully, neither of them made a move to block their way as they entered the Temple. They had had a plan for getting into the Temple if someone had tried to stop them, but it would have caused a lot more trouble.

Quickly, they made their way to the centre of the Temple, where they believed the throne room would be. After searching for hours, going up and down elevators and criss-crossing the many halls of the Temple, they finally reached the outside of the throne room. Again, two men guarded the door with large machina weapons. As they made to enter the door, the two men stopped them.

"Nobody enters here without an appointment with the Emperor." One of them said. Rikku was not sure which one had spoken; maybe they both had.

"But it is very important! We must –"

"Nobody enters here without an appointment with the Emperor." One of them said again, cutting Yuna off.

"Not even the High Summoner Yuna?" Said Lulu, angrily.

"Nobody enters. Those are our orders."

Rikku saw Kimahri and Wakka share a look above the heads of the others. The plan was about to come into action. At least these two were the only guards in sight. In a flash of movement, both guards were down on the floor, unconscious. Wakka painfully rubbed a fist, while Kimahri stood over the body of his victim calmly.

"Oh, stop whining." Lulu said to Wakka as she opened the door to the throne room.

Rikku's worst fears came to life. It was one thing to believe that Corlan was the Emperor, but it was another thing entirely to see it with her own eyes. He lounged in a massive chair, a throne, with one arm lazily draped over the one of the throne's arms. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his normal blue-and-white clothes were gone. In their place was a blue coat, trimmed in gold, with red swirls on the collar. He also had a red cape attached to his shoulders, which was barely visible in his sitting position. His pants were long and brown, and looked comfortable yet expensive. And in his hand, the one draped over the throne arm, he held a sword that glittered in the light, seemingly made of glass. He was the very picture of an 'Emperor'. Rikku was just surprised that he wore no crown.

Kneeling before the throne was a haggard looking man, pleading with Corlan. Neither of them seemed to notice their entrance.

"Please, Highness. The beggars need food and money, or they will die! They are your people, Highness. Please spare a thought for your people, Highness." The kneeling man was saying. His voice sounded desperate, and it sounded as if this wasn't the first time he had asked this of Corlan.

"We will see." Was Corlan's cold reply.

"Thank you, Highness, than-" But the man never got to finish his thanks. Abruptly, the man burst into flames. Rikku was shocked to stillness, and before any of them had time to react, the man had been reduced to a pile of ash. His brief screams still echoed in Rikku's mind.

"Why, Corlan? Why would you do something like this?" Yuna's voice was full of anguish.

Corlan lifted his gaze from the pile of ashes, and a smirk spread across his face. "Like what?" He said coolly.

"This!" Yuna's wild hand gesture took in the pile of ashes, the throne, and the room itself.

"Do you want to know? Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes!" Yuna was beginning to sound hysterical. Rikku wasn't sure she didn't feel the same way. Why would Corlan have done this? How?

"Have you never felt that your existence on Spira was not meaningless, not some infinitesimal speck on the face of this world, but that somehow, you may just be important to Spira's destiny, Spira's story? Have you never felt that your story would be retold, again and again, echoing throughout Spira's future? I know that that is a reality for you, Yuna, but somehow, deep down inside of me, I knew that it would be a reality for me too. Somewhere in the pits of my mind I knew that people a long time from now would hear the name Corlan, and remember something amazing, something great. But how can that be when I am not even the main character in my own story? I was a follower, blindly listening to whatever was told to me, following at your heels like a brainless lapdog. How could I be remembered as a part of Spira's story, if I couldn't even be remembered as a part of my own? So you see, that is why I am sitting here on this throne, so that I will be remembered, so that I will be a part of Spira's story. Here, sitting on this throne, I can do great things. I can do anything. With Callandor in my hand, and this throne beneath me, I can right wrongs, I can overcome barriers nobody has ever dreamed of breaking, and I can bring wonder to Spira! Do not tell me that that is not worth the lives of these people, the people that would stand in the way of the rise of Spira! Any amount of deaths would be justified by the wonder I can bring to this world!"

"No!" Yuna was hysterical know, or close to it. "That man did nothing! He stood in no one's way! How can you say that, Corlan!"

Almost on top of Yuna, Lulu was yelling angrily, "What kind of fool reasons are those! For remembrance! Do you really think that's worth all of this?"

Wakka was saying something too, but his words were drowned out by Lulu and Yuna's words. Rikku was still too stunned to think far beyond the fact that Corlan had killed that innocent man so quickly and cruelly. And throughout the yelling, Corlan still wore that smirk on his face.

"Who has done this to you?" Yuna was yelling. "Who? I can't believe that this is all your doing! You were a good man! Who is controlling you!"

"You always were a sharp one, Yuna" The soft voice sliced through the yelling, cut it off. A man had emerged from a door behind the throne, and nobody had noticed him over the sound of yelling.

"Seymour! You were dead! You died with Sin!" Yuna yelled. It sounded as if she were trying to convince herself that the man in front of her was a figment of her imagination. Rikku wished she could do the same, but somehow she knew that he was entirely real.

Seymour. She shivered, remembering all of the destruction he had caused. At least Corlan was not responsible. Not entirely…

"You really think something like Sin can truly die? He is tied too strongly to Spira's story. In it's own way, Spira needs Sin to survive. After all, there is no such thing as a story with no villain." Seymour started laughing in that soft way of his, and it chilled them all to the bone as it had so many times before.

"Why Corlan then? Why him? Why not someone else?"

"You will be surprised how easy it is to identify someone who is tied to Spira's story. Everyone here in this room is. Very strongly. Yes, even Corlan. He was the only choice, really. He was the youngest, the most sheltered, and the most malleable. And he was surprisingly easy to overwhelm. There is more evil in his heart than you believe. A lot more. A 'good man' indeed." Seymour put a heavy emphasis on the word 'good'. "But… he grows weak. His mind and body were strong, before, but they have become weak, even with that sword in his hands. And it seems he has outlived his use."

Suddenly, Corlan fell forward, out of the throne. Rikku wanted to rush to his side, but she knew it was foolish, with him lying right at Seymour's feet.

"Why are you telling us this?" Yuna sounded sceptical.

"The way I see it, you're all dead anyway. Spread the word if you wish, there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

"Well, as long as you're answering questions, what was the purpose of all this?" Yuna asked.

"Now that's a good question! I don't think you'll even begin to understand the reasons but… the sword was one," He gestured to the glittering glass sword that had skittered across the floor. "And the other… Ah, here he is. What impeccable timing."

They all turned to the door through which they had entered. To Rikku's surprise, it was Barthello who had entered. But he was barely recognisable. He had a mad glint in his eye, and he was frothing at the mouth. His whole body, his hands especially, were smeared with blood. Some of it seemed long dry, but most of it appeared fresh.

He made towards them, eyes glinting red, teeth gnashing in expectation. Involuntarily, Rikku took a step back, before she realised that Barthello had stopped. His eyes were fixed on Seymour. He suddenly let out a roar, and a spirit streaked above their heads. From the brief glimpse that Rikku had managed to get, the spirit looked like… Sin. The spirit flew into Seymour.

Seymour began yelling, "The power, oh the power! I won't even need Callandor with this much power!"

At the same moment Barthello fell to his knees, wailing, "It's my fault! Dona's dead! No… It's your fault. Die!"

"Farewell." Seymour was saying. "I'll leave you with a parting gift." And with that, he was gone, and in his place were more fiends than Rikku had ever seen in one place.

Rikku and her companions instantly shot into battle. Rikku's primary concern was Corlan; right now he was unable to defend himself, and she couldn't have forgiven herself if anything had happened to him. In moments, it seemed, the battle was over. It must have been longer, but she couldn't figure out where the time had gone. Too much was flying through her head for that. Corlan. Seymour. Sin. Death. Evil. Too much. With everything flying around her head, two thoughts seemed to crash into each other, and suddenly, something that the Fayth had said made perfect sense. She laughed at the simplicity of it.

All heads turned to her questioningly. She tried to explain, "Well Death's Sin, but we never figured out what Evil was. And then I remembered something I had said before. 'Seymour was so frightening. He was so evil.' Do you see? Seymour is Evil. And what do you get when you put the words 'Death' and 'Evil' together? 'Devil'. Remember what the Fayth said? 'When Evil and Death share bodies, the Devil that results cannot be destroyed.' That's what it means."

There was a moment of silence while everyone contemplated the meaning of the revelations. Most of what Rikku had told them they had already figured out, but the significance of the combination of the words 'Death' and 'Evil' seemed to give the Fayth's words deeper meaning. The silence was broken by sobs. They all turned around. It was Barthello, obviously weeping over his loss of Dona. And in his hand…

"Barthello, how is it possible that you are able to hold Masamune?"