The group reached a part of Gagazet that they didn't really think existed. It wasn't as cold as the rest of the mountain, and there was actually a source of water near. Where they stood was around a blue and green area where the sky seemed to be all cloud, but the view was amazing. The ground they walked on looked and felt like it was made of marble, and along the path they were going to follow next was a giant wall with what looked like thousands of stone bodies merged right into it. It all seemed supernatural, and the group immediately realized they were all Fayth. Next to them was a crystal clear lake, and an unusual column of rising water was around the middle of it. Everyone seemed awestruck, especially Yuna.
"Oh, wow!" She said quietly with amazement. Wakka stepped out looking around every direction. He then turned his attention to the wall.
"Wh-what are those?"
"Those are Fayth." Yuna replied. She then gasped. "A summoning! Someone is drawing energy from all of these Fayth! Someone is using them!"
"This many?" Rikku asked, astonished.
"Who could have the ability to do a task that big?" Fang asked.
"Fang has a point. Who wields power on this scale, and what could they be calling?" Lulu asked.
Rikku had then glanced at Auron, who slowly rolled his eyes to look her direction in return. "Hey, you know something, don't you? Spill the beans!"
Auron then turned his whole head to her. "Look not to others for knowledge. This is your journey too." Remora looked up at Auron curiously. He has been sounding more wiser since the night they had in Macalania Forest. She then glanced at Rikku, who suddenly looked frantic.
"Yunie and Rem might die, you know?"
"No...Auron's right." Tidus said. Rikku looked at him in slight shock.
"What?"
"This is our...this is my story."
Remora watched as Tidus slowly walked up to touch the wall, relieved that he finally faced facts completely. The corner of her eyes saw a green glint of light and she turned to see what it was, but all she saw was a blank Auron. He looked at her back, seeing her slight confusion, but out of nowhere she began to feel a little faint. She thought it'd go away, but she eventually became dizzy. Fang was the first to realize that Remora took a small step back and her eyes were staring at nothing, giving her a big clue of what would be the outcome.
"Remora!" Fang yelled as she ran over to catch Remora before she fell to the ground. She had blacked out, and everyone gathered to look. Tidus turned around at the last minute, because once he glanced at Remora's unconscious body, something had pulled him right through the wall, as if a pair of hands had just reached out and tugged him forward.
"Whoa!" He cried out as he suddenly vanished through the wall. Everything went from determined to unnatural at this point. Fang was still holding Remora, feeling at her chest. She still had a steady heartbeat and her skin seemed warmer than usual, probably because of the exceeding cold back around the mountain trail, but she didn't seem to be in bad condition. The only remaining question was how she passed out.
Black was everywhere. Remora's eyes opened to see her surroundings, but she didn't feel capable of standing up immediately. It was the first time she felt warmth in a while, with what running through cold forests and mountain ranges; but wherever she was, she felt it was her normal climate temperature. Remora moved her hand to feel the ground, which felt like a road. A street. It was unusual, but there was only darkness around her. This was a moment that was opposite of how she felt in her arrival at Spira, to her fortune. She finally gave in to her curiosity and forced herself to sit up, despite how suddenly lazy she became. She pushed her hair back behind her shoulders to look around. For some reason whenever she said something, it would sound distant, as if she was sitting around a continuous field. Something told her there was more than just darkness around her, and it made her curiosity grow. She was then able to stand up, slightly stiff, to hear that the scraping sounds her foot made sounded too...flat. Then after taking two or three steps forward, all of her questions were answered. The black mist around her began to fade suddenly, and what looked like the middle of an avenue came into focus. She recognized the area, for it was the same place that her and her other friends used to play in when she was small. She was at home.
Or at least she thought she was. Once Siren City came into complete view, it was night time; But it was too empty. She was standing in the middle of the road, and there was no one in sight. The moon was a crescent in the sky as she asked questions in her head. Was she dreaming again, or was she at home for real? Everything around her seemed like reality.
"Remora..."
A voice called out behind her. It was the voice of a woman, and it sounded pitiful, worried, in disbelief, and yet relieved at the same time. The tone was very familiar though, and it made Remora's pupils shrink once she realized who's voice it was.
"...Mom...!?"
There was no reply, but the utter silence made Remora even more anxious. She turned around quickly, her expression hopeful yet scared, to see where the voice came from. It was a woman of course, her face was slightly pale and her eyes were a deep let glimmering purple as they stared right back at Remora. Her hair was a light blonde and was slightly wavy. She wore a chained necklace that had a luminescent 'V' charm hanging from the chain, and all of the similarities came together. Same blonde hair. Same eyes. Same face. V for Vera.
"Oh my G- Remora...!" Vera said, going into a fast walk at first but then ran up to Remora, who was doing the exact same thing. They had collided lovingly into each other as their embrace was tight and desperate. Remora didn't care if the entire area was real or an illusion; She immediately knew that her mother was with her in the flesh, about in as much shock as Remora was. Remora's head sunk into Vera's shoulders as her grip around her waist tightened a bit, and she felt a few tears crawl off of her face into Vera's top. The tear flow had then increased and Vera leaned her head on top of Remora's to comfort her. One of the reasons why Remora found herself crying was that she found a few bandages around Vera's neck, and she figured it had something to do with what Seymour said about her in their last encounter.
"You're hurt..."
"No, Rem. I'm fine now. I'm perfectly fine." Vera replied as she moved a few blonde hair strands away from Remora's face so they wouldn't get wet and sticky.
"But...what happened?" Remora asked frantically. Vera laid a finger on her lips to silence her, attempting to calm her down.
"It doesn't matter right now."
"Everything matters right now. I left you unexpectedly and I come back finding you patched everywhere."
"Well for one, you're not really back. This is just an illusion that we're in right now." She explained. Remora blinked, needing more elaboration. "We're simply intertwined into each others minds so we can contact each other. I never told you that I had this ability...to talk to other people mentally, but now you know."
Remora has figured that Vera hid things from her in the past, but she never knew an ability to talk to someone through their mind was one of them. She thought only Auron could do that. Vera's skin felt a little cold against her own, and Remora figured she was in bad condition, just like Seymour had hinted.
"What I called you hear for was a warning."
Remora pulled her head up from Vera's shoulder, a few of her bangs already slightly hardened from being wet from the touch of tears. "Warning?"
Vera shook her head. "Did you know that some people from Spira was able to get to us back here in Siren City?"
Remora only knew one person that could do that, and it was Jeckt; But she hasn't heard from him in a while now. "Jeckt...this guy named Jeckt."
"I know who he is. We were actually close for a while now, and he told me before you disappeared that he met you."
"You...knew him?" Remora repeated.
"Ten years." Vera answered. Remora felt a lump in her throat, knowing now that Jeckt's been around longer than she thought he'd been. She thought she heard Vera sigh after a moment. "But I've lost contact with him. He says he's Sin, and his other side is taking over."
So Remora then knew that there was no doubt that Auron was right about the whole 'Sin is Jeckt' thing. It was almost too obvious, but it also shocked her to know that Jeckt was actually Tidus's father, and it would slightly make her regret on what she would have to do in the future, despite that Tidus's didn't care.
"But two days before Jeckt vanished, I met Seymour for the first time." Remora's heart started to beat a little faster. "And he attacked me, or in his words, left me a warning."
"So he did hurt you. He said that if I helped him become Sin, you'd be relieved of the pain."
"That's what I want to talk to you about." Vera replied emotionlessly. "A few nights later we talked again, and he said if I sacrificed myself to him -to help him become Sin- he would guarantee your safety."
"No...that's not true. You don't really expect him to leave me alone after trying to convince you to kill yourself, do you?"
"I don't know, Remora, and that's why I came to you. I told Rouge about this whole thing too, and she told me something similar to your answer. But I'd do anything to keep you out of harm's way."
"But please don't kill yourself, mom. Even if you did, I'd still need you in the future to guide me. After all, it was you that convinced me for my love of Spira in the first place. There must be more in you that you can do for me."
This left Vera speechless, and the air felt a little cold despite the slight rise of tension in her.
"You do know that...whatever choice I do make, Seymour will most likely continue to be in pursuit of you...and your friends."
"I can handle it..." Remora replied quietly. She had felt a little bit of pain poke in the back of her head, so she leaned back on Vera's shoulder with another tight embrace. She knew that there would be a moment of silence next instead of a longing pause. She knew that both of them needed a moment of peace after explaining everything to each other. Remora felt like listening to the Hymn of The Fayth right about now. It would most likely calm her down at least a little bit, and it seemed like it could even change the way Earth feels if it were sung there as well.
"You'd better watch out." Vera said, her tone a little heavy. "Seymour said that if I didn't give him an answer to our deal, he'd make his own decision."
"As long as he doesn't get near you, I don't care. We'll finish him off."
After Remora said that, her head started to feel a little light, as if her mind was about to release something, and it made her feel faint. Her vision blurred a little as she noticed that Vera had smiled.
"I raised a child with confidence."
"I saw her eye twitch." Fang's voice said anxiously. Remora realized that she had blacked out again, and apparently she was back to where she originally was. Her eyelids slowly opened after a moment of complete stillness. Everyone was surrounding her with confused faces, but when they saw her come to her senses, they immediately filled with relief.
"Remora!" Rikku shouted. Remora blinked.
"How long was I out?"
"A while actually. Tidus woke up before you did."
"Tidus?" Remora questioned. She looked over to where Tidus was, seeing him smile while rubbing the back of his neck.
"I sort of fainted too."
"But what happened?" Fang asked Remora. At this point everyone gave her some space so that she could stand up.
"It was my mom." She said. "Vera called me in my thoughts."
"Your mom!?"
Remora nodded slowly. "Yep."
"What did she say to you? Did you get in trouble for leaving home?!"
"No, I didn't. But...Seymour's after her too."
"What!?" Nearly all of the group shouted at once.
"Which is why...we need to get to him before he can get any closer to her."
"But I thought we just finished off Seymour." Rikku moaned.
"Maybe. But from what my mom told me, he still could be roaming around in espionage."
"Then...we should probably keep going then." Auron answered. "Can you walk?"
"I'm fine." Remora said. She took one last glance at the wall filled with countless Fayth before they continued their quest.
Mount Gagazet had its own caverns as well that Ronso could on occasions roam around. Macalania Forest wasn't the only place apparently that had some crystal like structures around. The caverns also had lakes to possibly swim through and they most likely led to other hidden paths (or maybe there was a small lake to bathe in and realize your love for someone in). Tidus, Rikku, and Wakka already swam through most of them and none of them led to the group's desired destination, but it did lead to a few treasures or acquirements that the group may possibly need in the future. They actually did get lost a couple of times (to be honest with themselves), but after they retraced their steps, it wasn't so hard to find their way out of the caverns. As soon as they left the caverns, there was no more snow, and it was currently sunset from where they looked on.
"They'll be upon us soon. She has sent fiends to test our summoners' strength." Auron said. Remora and Yuna both looked at him with question.
"Who is 'she'?" Yuna asked.
"Yunaleska."
"Lady Yunaleska?"
"Wait...I remember her. She was that woman I saw back in Seymour's chapel when we watched that illusion." Remora realized.
"In Zanarkand, she awaits the arrival of the strongest."
"She...is still alive?" Yuna asked with surprise.
"As much as Mika and Seymour."
That answer slightly made Remora sigh, but not because Yunaleska was alive, but because then she knew without a doubt that Maester Mika and Seymour were still around.
"I see."
Auron had glanced at both of them, hearing Yuna's tone and seeing Remora's expression of disbelief, so when he spoke next it was as though he spoke to both of them at once.
"Lost your nerve?"
Remora slightly gasped when she realized she was being spoken to also.
"No. Nothing frightens me anymore." Yuna replied.
"You?" Auron asked Remora then.
"I'm fine. I'm confident to do anything now, even if I didn't have any guardians to...guard me."
Auron closed his eyes while smiling a little. "Braska would be proud of you." He said to Yuna, then he averted his attention to Remora again. "And Remora...Vera must be smiling at your confidence right now."
"She did when I last saw her. She said something similar to me when I was about to pass out again."
"What was that?"
"She said, 'I raised a child with confidence.'."
Auron chuckled a little. "She's right."
Remora felt a little warm inside from the conversation and could see from the corner of her eye that Yuna was smiling at her. Once they were a few yards away from the exit, a giant roar was heard, stopping everyone in their tracks. Auron had immediately drew his sword out defensively.
"It comes!"
It was a beast hard to defeat, yet defeated. From the view and test of it's strength, it was obviously sent by Yunaleska. It only made a few of the guardians tired, mainly Rikku.
"Can't we rest a little?"
"No need. We reach the summit soon." Auron replied, looking out at the sunset. Remora didn't feel tired either.
"I know. That's why I want to stop for a bit. Soon means that...there's not much time left."
"Rikku..." Yuna said, sounding full of pity.
"It'll be alright." Remora said then.
"Fine. I'll think on the way." Rikku answered, sounding a little aggravated. Everyone then continued to walk ahead, but Tidus was lagging behind once again, sighing to himself. Wakka slowed down until he was neck in neck with him.
"Hey, come on, lets go." He urged, trying to make Tidus walk faster.
"We're almost there, aren't we?" Tidus replied sullenly.
"We've come a long way." Wakka replied. They heard a soft chuckle on the other side of them. Turning, they saw it was Auron.
"What's so funny?" Tidus asked.
"You remind me of myself. Before, the closer I came to Zanarkand, the more I wondered...when we arrive, Braska will call the Final Aeon... He will fight Sin, then die. I thought my mind was made up long before. But when I stood here, my resolve wavered."
"Huh, never would've figured. Legendary guardians choke sometimes, too, ya?" Wakka replied.
Auron snorted. "Legendary guardian? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world, too. But I changed nothing. That is my story."
When you walked down the path that led away from Gagazet, the sunset seemed a lot more brighter and beautiful. This would be Remora's final destination, and she realized one thing that she forgot to tell her mother. She already knew that Vera knew that she was a summoner, but did she know the outcome? That was the one thing she forgot to talk to her about. Remora looked over and noticed that Fang looked...frightened, as if she was desperate to say something. Remora knew she'd be right, because a few moments while everyone walked down another trail, Fang had ran over to where she was in front of Remora, looking defensive.
"Remora, I don't approve of this one bit!" She shouted.
"Fang, you know what I have to do."
"But why? We don't even belong here. We can go back home whenever you feel like it; You just have to say the word. But don't save it till the last minute when it'll be too late to say anything!"
"But it's my decision to stay here, however, I don't want to dictate your life, Fang."
"What do you mean dictate?"
"I didn't force you to become a guardian. If you want to go home, feel free to. I don't want you to se anything that'll make you stress."
"No...Remora, if I go home without you, it'll be thinking about it that's going to stress me out, and that - to me - is worse than seeing it." She started, her voice sounding a little shaky. Remora sighed a little as she looked over at her side, looking at nothing important. "Your wish came true, but I didn't expect it to go this far!" At this point, Fang was walking slowly towards her, looking devious yet scared. "At first, I didn't care that you wanted this. Yeah, I thought this all had to do with just saving the unknown world, and then going home; But having to kill yourself over it, I'm not tolerating that!" Remora didn't know what to say at this point. She hated to see Fang hurt over this, but they've come so far, and it was too late to turn back. Rikku had then stood next to her, not looking as worried, yet concerned at an appropriate level.
"Remie, Fang has a point you know. And this goes for you too, Yunie!" She said, then glancing over at Yuna.
"Rikku, you know that-" Yuna started, but Rikku cut her off.
"Yuna, Remora, I say no! If you go down there, then..."
"Rikku, you're a true friend, and I thank you. But...I must...go down, to Zanarkand."
"I'm not saying we shouldn't go. But shouldn't we think about it some more? There's got to be some kind of way we can save you both!" Rikku said frantically. Remora realized that it was only the four of them that were speaking. The others watched like it was a horror film.
"In the end, it'll all be worth it." Remora said. Fang glanced at her in disbelief.
"Well, SURE. For Spira, it'll all be worth it. Two summoners will kill themselves just for a temporary rescue of their home, then all of the drama will start again. But back home, Remora, in the end, it WON'T be worth it. Because then my best friend that I've known since childhood, will be gone, and for the rest of my life, Siren City won't be the s-"
"Fang." Remora called out, a little sharpness in her tone. Her finger laid on Fang's lips to silence her; at that moment, she felt like her mom since she did the exact same thing to her. But Remora managed to get Fang's attention and moment of quiet, and she stared at her directly in the eye. "This may all seem unbelievable and stressing. Anyone's death would be, especially know it would happen before it'll happen, but we've all made sacrifices in the past for the better good. This may be my biggest one yet, and I think it'll be worth smiling over."
"Not me...if you're gone, I can't smile." Fang replied quietly.
"You're old enough to know that you'll have to prepare for these kinds of things in the future. Have you prepared."
Fang was shaking her head no, but Remora wasn't sure if it was to her question. Tears ran down her face as she tried to answer. "Yes, but...not enough..."
"Be strong." Remora replied. Fang only walked up to her for a tight embrace. Remora hugged back as the deja vu moment settled around them. There wouldn't be any turning back now. Zanarkand was just only a couple of footsteps away. "Make sure you keep my mom some company."
"I don't want you to say that. We'll be seeing each other again soon, you hear?" Fang replied. Remora sighed at her doubt and turned over to Auron, who was watching in quiet awe.
"Take me to Zanarkand." She said, smiling half-heartily. Auron nodded and then the group continued to walk. Fang however stayed in place, but noticed that Tidus was heading towards what looked like a blue object. She felt a little crowded walking with the others, so she walked over to Tidus as he picked up the object; It was a sphere.
"What is it?" She asked curiously.
"It fell out of Yuna's garment." He replied. His button then aimed for the switch to turn it on, and the visual was of Mi'ihen Highroad, around the agency. Fang wasn't around when the group arrived at the Highroad, so she was even more curious once she heard Yuna's voice.
"Sir Auron. Kimahri told me...when my father wanted me taken from Bevelle to Besaid... It was you who told Kimahri, right? I had always wanted to meet you someday. I am truly glad that I had that chance. Having you as a guardian was so great an honor I don't know how to thank you. Perhaps if I defeat Sin, that will be my thanks to you. That's what I'll do. Yes. I will challenge Sin. I will defeat Sin. If you are all there watching this, then I guess Sin is already gone. And so am I, I suppose. Anyway, I just wanted to say: Sir Auron, I thank you.
Kimahri...Do you remember the first day we met? I was only seven. My father had defeated Sin, and all Bevelle was celebrating. Everyone was saying what a hero my father was. I was so happy. But when night came, it occurred to me. My father had defeated Sin and now he was dead. Now, I was all alone. I couldn't sleep, so I wandered into the town, away from the celebrating crowds. I stood on the bridge in Bevelle where my father and I had parted. Standing there, alone, I could see the fields where he had fought Sin. Then, you appeared, Kimahri. You said you were looking for the daughter of Braska, remember? At first, I was so scared. Until I realized what a gentle person you are. You weren't used to talking to children. When I told you that I was Braska's daughter... you said you would take me as far from Bevelle as you could. That it was the wish of a man facing death. I think...I cried then. Because that...that was when I knew my father was dead...and I would never see him again. You just held me, without saying a word. I cried after we got to Besaid, too. When you tried to go after leaving me in the care of the temple...I held onto you, crying, "Don't go, don't go!" And you listened, Kimahri. You stayed. Kimahri, thank you. Thank you so much. And I've always liked your broken horn.
Wakka, Lulu: I'll never forget my days spent with you, growing up in Besaid. We always played together, us and Chappu. That's why I was always so happy, I think. And when you refused to let me become a summoner and I did it anyway... I'm sorry. I've always wanted to apologize. You know, when you tried to stop me then--really, I was happy. I could tell you really cared about me. You were like my big brother and sister. No...I think you really were my big brother and sister. What else... I love watching you play blitzball, Wakka. I even love it when you scold me, Lulu! Really!
I guess that leaves...the newest guardian. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes! You are... I am... Well, um... I'm glad...I'm glad that we met. We haven't even known each other that long, but... It's funny. So... So this is what it feels like. It's a much more wonderful feeling than anything I had ever imagined. Wonderful...but it hurts, sometimes. I wonder. I...I just want to say, thank you for everything. Maybe...maybe that's why it hurts. When I... When I think about us never being together again at all... I'm afraid. No, I shouldn't say that. I'll do that part over. Um...
Oh, and I also forgot. I was accompanied with a brand new summoner who's doing the pilgramage with me. Her name's Remora, and she's the sweetest girl you could ever meet. Did you know that she's not even from here? She's from another planet, called Earth. She says it's a little different over here than it is back at her home. Maybe one day, she can take me over to look at it, and see it's similarities and differences. For a girl outside of Spira, she seems pretty much like the people here, but just a little lost. But we're showing her the way. She said that it was Maester Seymour that helped her arrive safely to Luca and it was him that made her discover her role as a summoner. She must have been lucky to have him as a temporary guardian. There are a few strange things about her, such as her Yevon pendant. I noticed that on certain occasions, I guess depending on the situation, it glows certain colors, as if it's telling her something. Back when we were abducted on a ship, it glew green at one moment. She didn't even know what it meant. But I think it was meant for someone as special as her to wear. Her culture must be different, back at her home, than ours over here. But she told me it was one of her dreams to come here and learn about ours and much more, and it kind of makes me want to do the same with hers. I wish I could see how this Earth is. It must be very special for a girl like her to come by from.
...Remora?"
...
"Are you tired?"
The sphere then ended at that point. Neither Tidus or Fang knew what to say at this point. This all happened when Fang wasn't around, but she was awestruck by all of the things Yuna said at that time. Guessing by the ending, Remora was probably right next to her. Fang must have looked dazed, since Tidus was staring at her after a short while.
"You okay?"
Fang blinked at his voice, since she actually was lost in thought. "Oh? Yeah...I'm fine."
"We should probably catch up with the others."
Fang looked at him for a moment as if she was looking at Jesus coming down from the clouds, dazed yet amazed. She seemed tired all of the sudden, and she thought of another reason on why she agrees with Rikku to rest for a little before going to Zanarkand. "Yeah...okay." She said slowly. Tidus put the sphere into his pocket before the two of them continued to walk along the rocky path as the sun continued to set slowly.
Zanarkand is right next to me. After this, we will be able to go there and claim the final aeon. To be honest, I am a little nervous. After Sin is gone, I'll be gone too. And I had other goals in life besides coming here. I wish I could talk to my mom again, to tell her how I feel right now. Our last encounter was just a mere break to explain things, but I wanted to stay longer, let her know my experience in Spira was amazing, just as she explained it. I want to say goodbye to everyone at home. I want to say goodbye to my mother.
But I'd like to see her one last time
Before I'm gone.