Chapter 36: Detour

Once the group left Bevelle, they boarded the airship and headed to the bridge to plan their next move. "I would like to head back to Besaid and speak with Valefor, first," Yuna told everyone. "She is my first aeon, after all."

"That's fine with me," Charlene replied, nodding along with everyone as they agreed with Yuna's request. "I've got a question, though."

"Yes?" Yuna asked, cocking her head slightly.

"You want to get the rest of the aeons, right? I know there's one in Remiem Temple, but what about others, like that Anima one Seymour had. Does anyone know where it is?"

Silence ensued, and for a long moment, Charlie feared that no one knew anything about where the aeon was located. Finally, Auron opened his mouth and said, "Baaj Island."

"How in Spira do you know that?" Lulu asked, as everyone, except Kimahri, turned to look at Auron as if he had suddenly sprouted an extra head.

"Because that's where she was when Braska met her," the swordsman calmly replied.

"Yeah and how did he find her?" Charlene demanded. Auron gave her a rather piercing glare, and she quickly added, "I only ask because I seriously doubt you or Braska just randomly decided to go to this Baaj place."

Auron continued to glower a moment longer, and then answered, "We met Belgemine in Luca, after traveling to Kilika and Besaid, and she said that the fayth had been sent there. At the time, I did not think it was a good idea to go, but Jecht wanted to go and Braska agreed." He paused and shook his head in remembered exasperation. "Fortunately, we were able to find a way into the temple without fighting the large fiend that swam near there."

"We'll probably have to fight it now," Rikku said, a serious expression replacing her normally cheerful one. "The island's been sinking ever since Sin wrecked it, so most of the entrances are underwater now."

"Underwater?" Charlie thought about it for a moment, and then felt her jaw drop. "Wait…are you saying that Anima is in that wreck you found me in when I first came to Spira?"

"Yep."

Charlie slapped her hand against her forehead and groaned. "Wonderful!"

"What is it?" Yuna inquired, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I actually met that large fiend Auron was talking about. It looked like a giant gorilla-fish-squid, and it almost swallowed me whole!"

Wakka clapped Charlie on the shoulder and said, "Don't get so down. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and won't have to fight that thing."

She sighed as Cid set the coordinates, and replied, "I hope you're right, Wakka."

…

Baaj Island was just as Charlie remembered it: dark, dreary, and stormy. As the rest of the party explored the ruins, she could not help but look down at the water beneath them, a nervous expression clear for anyone to see. "Don't worry," Rikku told her calmly. "We're all a lot stronger now, so I'm sure that we can handle that fish-monster you saw."

Before the older girl could reply, Lulu loudly announced, "It looks like the only entrance remaining is under the water, just as Rikku said. Yuna and I can make it so everyone else can breathe underwater temporarily, but I think it'd be best if Wakka, Rikku, and Charlie go first to take out any fiends, since they're the best at underwater fighting."

"Oh, joy!" Charlie groaned, smacking her palm against her forehead.

"Is that a problem?" Lulu demanded, glowering dangerously at the younger woman.

"No, no…there's no problem at all."

Without another word, Charlene dove into the water, quickly followed by Wakka and Rikku, and the three of them slowly made their way across the sunken plaza. They were almost at the entrance, when a loud, gurgling roar rang out behind them, and they managed to scatter just as a massive armored fin lashed out into the space they had previously occupied. "Oh great!" Charlie mentally groaned, recognizing the fin and the monster that owned it. "I guess it was too much to hope that Fishzilla had died since I was here last."

After evading the monster's initial attack, Wakka launched his blitzball at it, stunning it long enough for Rikku to dart in and slash at it with her claw. Unfortunately, the fiend's armor plating negated most of the damage, leaving only the faintest of scratches where the weapon struck it. Charlie quickly joined in the fight, and she, Wakka, and Rikku quickly got into a pattern of darting around the much slower fiend and attacking or distracting it, as needed. Though they managed to injure the creature severely, they also managed to enrage it, and it let out another roar, before turning on Wakka and swallowing him whole. "Oh God! Wakka, no!" Charlie thought, fighting down the urge to shriek and accidentally drown herself.

Rikku quickly swam over to Charlie and pointed back at "Fishzilla", who had turned toward the two of them and started lashing out with its fins again. In between strikes, however, both girls noticed that Wakka was clearly visible inside the large, bony cage that made up the creature's stomach, and he did not look happy. "We have to get him out of there before he runs out of air, or gets digested, but how the hell are we supposed to do that?"

Before Charlene could ponder the problem too long, Wakka began working on his own method of escape by thrashing wildly and kicking at fiend's innards. "Fishzilla" obviously did not care for that, as it started flailing its luminescent tentacles, and then shuddered mightily, before violently vomiting Wakka back into the sea. The force of the ejection was so strong, however, that it sent the blitzball captain crashing into a nearby pillar, where he slowly sank toward the bottom after impact. Charlie and Rikku both wanted to rush to Wakka's aid, but the aquatic fiend furiously resumed its attack, leaving them no time to do anything other than dodge and try to retaliate. Unfortunately, the monster managed to deal a couple of heavy blows in quick succession, knocking the two remaining guardians into the seafloor and kicking up a huge cloud of silt.

When Charlie hit the bottom, pain screamed through her body, but she managed to hang onto consciousness, as well as her sword. She opened her eyes and looked around, mostly blinded by the silt clouding up the water, but managed to catch sight of the aquatic beast as it barreled toward her. Unable to get out of the way, all Charlie could do was raise her sword and slash at "Fishzilla" as it snapped at her with its huge jaws. Fortunately, her blade managed slice open the tender flesh toward the back of the monster's mouth, and it quickly backed away, shrieking wildly as its inky blood poured into the water. Charlene used the distraction to swim away quickly, heading to the surface for air, and hoping that Rikku and Wakka were still alive.

Unfortunately, "Fishzilla" did not stay distracted for long, and began chasing Charlie again. She did not realize this, however, as she reached the surface and began gasping for air. The young guardian looked up and saw Auron, Kimahri, Yuna, and Lulu staring down at her. Before anyone could say or do anything, however, the water around Charlene started churning violently, and "Fishzilla" burst out of the murky depths and swallowed the young guardian whole. The fiend's moment kept it moving upward, and it actually managed to leap out of the water for an instant, allowing everyone to see Charlie thrashing around inside its ribcage before it crashed back into the sea. "Charlie, no!" Yuna cried, her eyes wide with horror.

As the creature dove underwater again, Charlene fought the urge to scream and tightened her grip on her sword. "What do I do? What do I do?" she thought, as her panicked mind ran around in circles. "Oh my god, I'm gonna die!"

::Charlie, calm down,:: a strange voice said, as time suddenly slowed, then stopped.

"Who the hell is this?" she demanded, surprised by the sudden intrusion, along with the fact that her "passenger" was not throwing a fit as it usually did. "You're not Bahamut."

::No, I'm Ifrit. I thought you'd remember me from our little talk in Kilika Temple, but I guess it's been a while.::

"Yeah, and now's not really the time for chit-chat," she griped.

::I know, that's why I'm here to help you,:: the fayth quickly explained. ::You remember what happened at Macalania Temple, right?::

"Do you really need to throw that back in my face now?" Charlene snarled inwardly. "I know I messed up and butchered all those Guado, and I'm sorry it happened, but I don't need some dead guy rubbing it in!"

::It was my fault!:: Ifrit blurted, stunning Charlie into silence. ::All of us fayth…we gave you different gifts to help you survive in Spira. Mine was supposed to be an overdrive, an attack you could use when your life, or the lives of your comrades were in jeopardy, but I overdid it, and you went berserk instead. I…I'm sorry, Charlie.::

Charlene couldn't see the fayth, but she got the feeling he was hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry, too," she finally replied.

::For what?::

"For being such a crappy replacement for Tidus that you all felt the need to give me stuff just to keep me alive."

::That isn't your fault. You never had to fight like this in your world. Why would you ever need to?::

Another awkward pause ensued, and then Charlie asked, "You said you were here to help?"

A third silence came, along with the sensation that Ifrit had temporarily forgotten why he had stopped time in the first place. ::Right! I came to help you finally gain control over my gift. You almost had it during the battle with Yunalesca, but it still wasn't complete. I believe you can do it this time.::

"I hope so, since I'm fish-food if I don't manage it. So, what do I do?"

::Do you remember the rage you felt when the Guado attacked you, or when Yunalesca tried to kill Yuna?:: Charlie nodded and Ifrit continued to speak. ::I want you to reach for it. Don't worry about going berserk this time; I'll keep it from taking over.::

Charlene nodded again, and reached into her memories for all the times she was angry and scared, and shuddered as the familiar mad fury rushed up to swallow her, only to stop at the last instant. "Okay, so what now?" she demanded, gritting her teeth as the rage poured through her.

::I want you to reach for you magic.::

"What? You mean the 'can barely light a campfire' magic?"

::Yes. I want you to focus on pouring it, and your rage into your sword.::

Charlie wanted to argue, but something in the fayth's tone changed her mind. She concentrated on Brotherhood's blade as hard as she could, fighting to push her anger and her magic into it. Finally, something inside her slipped, and both emotion and magic flowed into the sword, causing the blade to erupt into small grey-violet flames. "Uh…are those supposed to be that color?"

::No,:: Ifrit slowly replied, a note of unease coloring his voice. ::It may have something to do with your "guest", who is being unusually quiet.::

::Don't think it is because I fear you, fool…:: the shadow snarled. ::I only tolerate you now because I have no desire to die with my host… Hurry up and restore time to normal so she can kill this worthless beast…::

Ifrit ignored the demon, and turned his attention back to Charlie. ::I'm about to release my hold on time. When I do, strike out with your blade. The fiend is nearly dead, so your attack should be more than enough to free you.::

As soon as the fayth finished speaking, time started flowing again, and without even thinking about it, Charlene stabbed "Fishzilla's" guts with her still-burning blade. The fiend thrashed wildly as the strangely colored flames rolled across its body, apparently oblivious to the fact that fire does not normally burn underwater. As the flames started to subside, the young guardian wrenched her still-burning blade free, and then thrust it forward again, causing more purple flames to erupt around her. "Fishzilla" roared in agony, nearly deafening its would-be meal, but she refused to stop, even though the attacks were draining her strength. "Gotta kill it…gotta kill it…" Charlie thought, even as her consciousness slipped away in a swirling blaze of dusty lavender light.

…

When Charlene awoke to find herself staring up at a gloomy grey sky, she could not help but wonder, for a brief moment, where she was. Then the memories of the battle flooded to the forefront of her mind, and she bolted upward, nearly head-butting Yuna as she did so. "Easy, Charlie," the summoner told her soothingly. "The fiend is gone."

"Rikku! Wakka!" the older girl cried, looking around in a panic. "They're still down there!"

"We're still alive, ya?" a rather battered-looking Wakka said, stepping into view.

"We're the ones who brought you back up here after you blacked out," Rikku chimed in, looking equally beat-up.

"Really?" Charlie replied in bewilderment. "Last thing I remember was stabbing that overgrown piece of bait, and purple flames everywhere." "Ifrit didn't say it would nearly kill me, though."

"Those flames were the result of an overdrive," Auron explained, looking down at her with an unreadable expression. Charlene stared blankly up at him, and he said, "Basically, a strong desire, usually the desire to live, breaks through your physical limits, giving you the power to fight back in a desperate situation. It is dangerous to use on a regular basis, but can save your life."

"I'm rather surprised you hadn't discovered it already," Lulu added, giving Charlie a speculative look.

"It's not my fault Ifrit had to tinker with it to get it right!" the swordswoman wanted to snap, though she refrained from doing so. "I guess being swallowed whole by a giant squid-fish-thing counts as a desperate situation," she shrugged, then winced as her body protested the movement. "Why is it so dangerous, though?"

"It drains your life-energy," Yuna quietly replied. "Not enough to make a difference if you only use it occasionally, but if you use it too much…"

"You die, right?" Charlie concluded, feeling rather unnerved. "It would have been nice if Ifrit would've warned me about that part, instead of hoping they'd tell me!" "So I take it that's why I'm feeling so tired now?"

Yuna nodded, and then said, "Don't worry, the energy comes back. You just need to rest for a while."

Charlene slowly climbed to her feet and sighed gustily. "I can rest back on the airship, after we've finished here. I really don't want to stay here longer than necessary."

…

A while later, the seven of them finally found the sunken passage leading into the ruins, and surfaced in a dark, damp corridor filled with low, keening moans as the wind whistled through cracks in the walls. "Whoa," Rikku said, shivering as she looked around. "Is it me, or has this place gotten even creepier?"

"It feels creepier to me," Charlie replied, shuddering at the eerie whining of the wind.

No one else said anything, instead choosing to head down the corridor as quickly as possible and leaving Rikku and Charlie behind. Both girls hurried after the rest of the party, but Charlene tripped over something in the dark, and let out a loud shriek as she toppled to the floor. Everyone whipped around to stare at her, and she slowly got up and muttered, "Don't worry, I'm fine. I just tripped over a…box?"

Bewildered, Charlie stretched out a leg and nudged the rather dilapidated wooden chest experimentally with her toe. It made a hollow thudding sound, and then the top popped open, allowing her to see the contents as she cautiously edged toward it. Inside laid a doll, one around the same size as Lulu's Moogle, and it was dressed in red and yellow armor, a yellow cape, and an orange helmet that looked vaguely like a jack-o-lantern. In its hands were a sword and shield, and, when Charlie carefully lifted the doll out of the box, she noticed some faint writing on the blade, while a small, cartoonish knight adorned the shield's face. "Onion Knight…is that its name?" the swordswoman murmured, reading the inscription aloud. Then she turned to the rest of the party and held out the doll for their inspection. "It's cute, right?"

"Charlie, let me see that," Lulu said, eyeing the toy warily. The younger woman shrugged and handed the Onion Knight over, and the mage fell silent as she stared down at the doll with a look of intense concentration, eyes glowing slightly. After a tense few seconds, Lulu flinched, and everyone else gasped as a pair of emblems, one of a silver-blue star, and a purple circle with a cross on the bottom appeared in the air above the doll, where they floated above its head. "This is definitely a mage-doll, but something is sealing its power, and I can't awaken it," the mage sighed as the glyphs faded from sight.

"Venus?" Charlie blurted, confused by the symbols' sudden appearance.

"What did you say?" Lulu demanded, her voice suddenly sharp.

"That purple symbol…it looked like the symbol for Venus," Charlene replied, taken aback by the sorceress' sudden waspishness. "And I think it might have something to do with the map and the mirror from Remiem. You know, the ones you didn't want to hear about before?" When Lulu glared at her, clearly ready to lob a spell at her head if she didn't hurry up, the younger woman hastily added, "I still can't read it, but it is a map of Spira, and there are several symbols on it that I recognize from my own world, ones that represent different planets, the sun, and the moon."

She rummaged around in her pouches and pulled out the completed Sun disc, showing it to everyone. "I've been finding things like this all over the place since I got here. I haven't found all the pieces yet, except for the ones for the Sun and Mercury, but I think they have something to do with those Celestial Weapons that guy at the arena told us about. Hell, he gave that staff to Yuna, after all."

"Sounds like a bunch of fairy tales or something," Wakka said, looking a little hesitant.

Charlie shrugged again. "Maybe, maybe not. It's worth looking into, anyway, since we're going to revisit the fayth and all. When we get back to the ship where there's some decent lighting, I'll show you the map and Yuna can decide whether we look for them or not."

…

After Lulu decided to keep the doll, even though she could not use it in its current state, the group continued making their way through the temple, until they came to what appeared to be the outer room of the Chamber of the Fayth. Unlike the Chambers in the other temples, however, this one had a giant glowing glyph blocking the door, and six statues standing in it, each with softly glowing spheres in their hands. All of the orbs, save one, were identical to the spheres in the other temples, but the last one glowed a faint, sulfurous yellow that sent chills down Charlie's spine. "That one…I don't know what's wrong with it, but it gives me the willies."

As the guardian warily approached the statue, however, the sphere's light began to flicker dangerously, and she quickly backed away. Even as she backed off, however, the sphere continued to flicker, as if it suddenly had trouble maintaining its light. "Hey, guys? Is this one supposed to be acting like a broken firefly?"

Yuna came over and peered curiously at the flashing orb, and replied, "No, it isn't. This sphere is losing power. Whatever was powering it must have been recently destroyed."

"Isn't it obvious?" Auron asked, popping up behind the two girls and startling them. "This sphere was tied to Yunalesca, and now that she's gone, it is fading away."

As if to prove his point, the sphere went dark, and then crumbled, leaving behind chunks of dull black rock. Charlie stared down at the remnants of the sphere, and then looked back at Auron. "So…since you've been here before, why don't you tell us how we get into the inner chamber?"

"It is quite easy, actually," the swordsman impassively replied. "Anima is a dangerously powerful aeon, so to earn the right to use her; the summoner must first pass the trials of the other temples. To pass, Yuna must simply touch the rest of the spheres, and the barrier will disappear."

Without wasting any more time, Yuna quickly walked around the room and touched all the spheres, and once she was through, the giant glyph blocking the door vanished, allowing the group to pass. They entered the inner chamber, where they spotted the fayth statue embedded in the floor. The statue resembled a pair of monsters joined at the waist, with a pair of purplish-green fins covering them. Nestled between the fins was a dark-haired woman in a blue and white dress. "I don't know why, but that woman in the statue looks kinda familiar," Charlie noted, as Yuna began her prayer.

The summoner did not have to wait long for a response, as a sorrowful alto voice began to sing the Hymn of the Fayth, and an almost crushing despair bled into the atmosphere. Just as the bleakness of the song reached its crescendo, a woman-the one from the statue appeared, her sad grey eyes focused on Yuna. The summoner met the fayth's gaze unflinchingly, and calmly said, "You are Maester Seymour's mother."

Charlie fought down the urge to yelp with astonishment. "His mom? Oh, that's right! We saw an image of her back in Zanarkand."

Anima continued looking at Yuna. "So you know, yet still you seek my aid?" she somberly asked. "My son…do you not hate him?"

No one answered that question aloud, and while Charlene didn't know what anyone else was thinking, she knew how she felt. "He tried to kill us all, tried to use Yuna, and cursed me with this stupid demon! I hate that miserable bastard! How couldn't I?"

::Go ahead and hate him…:: the presence within her cackled. ::It changes nothing… You will serve him in the end, whether you hate him or not…::

Charlie angrily shook her head, and then looked back at Anima, only to find the fayth watching her with a sad, knowing look in her eyes. "It is all right," she quietly replied. "He is the one who sowed the seeds of hatred. He is to blame."

Suddenly, the room transformed into what looked like a lavishly appointed sitting room, and within it stood a ghostly image of Seymour as a child, bitterly weeping as if his heart was broken. The fayth stared sorrowfully at the image for a moment, and then spoke again. "But I am at fault for letting him become what he was. He was always alone-half Guado, half man. I wanted to give him the strength to live by himself, and so I became a fayth." The image faded, and Anima's expression became even sadder. "But…because I let him taste power, he began to thirst for more. He was not satisfied with my aeon. He wanted more…more power."

"And he thinks that Sin will give him that power," Charlie flatly replied.

"Yes," she answered, before turning her attention back to Yuna. "Come, summoner, I will bestow you with my power: the Dark Aeon, Anima." As the fayth stepped forward, a ghostly image of the aeon appeared behind her, roaring silently and weeping blood. "Destroy Sin, and my son's obsession with it…though it is small recompense for what I did to him."

She reached out and embraced Yuna, and then vanished in wisps of dark mist as they joined. Yuna staggered a bit, slightly overwhelmed by the power of her new aeon, but managed to recover without falling. She looked down at Anima's statue in silence, tears filling her blue and green eyes, but said nothing. "Yuna, are you all right?" Lulu gently asked, placing a hand on the summoner's shoulder.

Yuna turned and looked at the mage, wiping her eyes as she did so, and then nodded. "Yes, I'm okay. I'll be fine, really." Then she looked around at everyone else, and said, "Everyone, let's go."

Without another word, the seven of them turned and filed out of the inner chamber, Charlie choosing to remain at the end of the line. As she finally turned to leave, however, Anima's voice rang out in her mind. ::Charlie, I would speak with you.::

"Is this about the bastard in the back of my mind?" the guardian sighed, rolling her eyes. "Because if it is, I don't want to hear about it. Bahamut and the others are already doing a fine job of harassing me about it."

Anima fell silent for a moment, seeming to process that, and then said, ::No, it is not about the dark one within you. I just wanted to apologize for my son's actions.::

"It's not all your fault," Charlie replied, shaking her head. "You and Jyscal weren't exactly 'Parent of the Year' material, but his actions are his own. He's a big boy now, you know."

A wave of sardonic amusement filled Charlene's mind, giving her the feeling that Anima might be laughing. ::Indeed. Well then, Guardian…I bid you good fortune on the rest of your journey.::

Charlie nodded, and, deciding to speak aloud, said, "Thanks. I need all the good luck I can get."