Disclaimer: Square-Enix Incorporated owns all copyrighted material this fanfiction may include. All other materials, such as characters, events, dialogue, et cetera, all belong to Zeshin-kun.
Author's Note: Hehe, you thought that was the end of Dark Shuyin, didn't you? Well, now we've got a problem. Just what happened? At the end of the last chapter, I provided an Author's Note suggesting three outcomes, but was that really it? After all, Shuyin did mention that there might have been something else going on and all this was just a distraction. Was he right? Was he wrong? Or am I just a bastard for pulling all this out my arse? =p
No reviews again, though. =\ Well, thankfully, I had this story marching about inside my mind for a long while and I really feel a need to get it out of me, but some opinions and reflections would still be nice to have.
Spira: The Eternal Discord
Chapter 35: On a Wing and a Prayer
Tidus
I didn't really want to believe it. Actually, I knew I shouldn't. All throughout that time, Shuyin was worried about succumbing to his shadow. To be really honest here, all of us were much more likely to be possessed by the thing than he was. Something just didn't add up.
Yuna would make it even less likely to be the truth, "Shuyin was possessed? But he was the only one of us that wasn't affected by the despair."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, though I was thinking the same thing.
"The way the shadow possesses is by weakening the person's spirit through despair and regret. That way, he can't hold off the evil thoughts of the shadow anymore and has to obey." She explained.
"If that's the case, it really doesn't make sense. Shuyin was the one that wanted us not to think too much about the sad moments of his past. He was the one that didn't want us to be overcome by our sorrow and regret." I said.
"Maybe he was telling us all the truth. Maybe he really does believe he has the power again." Nooj suggested.
"You really think he could have reverted?" Paine and Yuna both asked.
Nooj walked over to the navigations grid, saying, "Regardless of whether he has or not, we can't let him reach Vegnagun. I must return to Bevelle and seek our Baralai. We'll make sure Shuyin doesn't reclaim that machina and start that mess again. I guess I have to leave the rest to you."
"Don't worry." Paine told him, helping him map a course to Bevelle before calling for a crewman to patch a line to the Praetor.
"With Vegnagun under constant surveillance, we'll have at least one eye out for the guy. If he goes after it, we'll be ready for him." I said, hoping to cheer up the rest of them.
"That's assuming old Baralai has what it takes to hold him off. We didn't exactly have the best countermeasures ready for him last time, even after all the chances we had then." Gippal noted, polishing his weapon.
"Well, if he's really possessed, the shadow will be going after the machina. It figures it wouldn't have changed after all this time. It'll still be caught in the same trends." Paine put in her word, "Even if Baralai's not ready, he can put up a fight long enough for us to get there. It's better than nothing."
"What did Baralai say?" Yuna asked her.
"I don't know. We contacted Bevelle, but I was only there for the priest. Bevelle's community is in chaos. Nobody can figure out why the tower was destroyed and what that fiend was that attacked. People had been hoping both times that there was an Eternal Calm waiting ahead, but now they are 'disillusioned'. Without Baralai there, they feel as if it's a clear sign of the end."
"Should we gather them together and explain the situation?" Yuna asked.
"That won't be necessary." Nooj replied, walking back to us.
"Nooj." Gippal said.
"We're almost at Bevelle. As Mevyn of the Youth League in conjunction with New Yevon, I think I may be the only viable solution. I'll go and calm the masses for the time being. Yaibal has informed me that Shelinda is willing to keep those old coots at bay for the time being. Baralai is waiting for me at Vegnagun's chamber. We'll come up with a good formation to hold back Shuyin in case he comes."
We were so busy deciding how to take him down since he was possessed and gone to the other side, but nobody was trying to come up with a plan in case he was strong enough to stay himself in there. Maybe when the shadow took him, there was still something left that was fighting it back and we needed to help that part of him win. If we were to hold out any more, then Shuyin might really be gone. After all, he had such a good opportunity to kill us all back in the Den of Woe, but he got us out. I really didn't believe it was Dark Shuyin doing that. I mean, we were all still back there when he left. Why didn't he just collapse the hole then?
"Do you all think that Shuyin's just gone?" Rikku finally spoke up, having been hiding the whole time, cowering in the back corner.
I was the first to turn, hoping that what she said would get through and we could start talking about a way to rescue the guy, not kill him. Before anybody could say anything, though, we reached Bevelle. While the airship landed and Nooj left with some of the men he had on board, the rest of us remained silent. Rikku didn't say anything else, sitting on the floor with her knees hugged to her chest. What happened at the Den of Woe was definitely hardest on her. If what we were saying was right, every bit of faith she had had in the guy was for nothing. He failed again and was taken by something he hated. But I didn't believe it either and I hoped the time we spent quiet was going to be enough to have everybody really think about it. Did we really want to believe that Shuyin was so weak?
"He didn't want us to feel so badly about his past." Yuna said.
"Yea, he didn't. He was trying to keep us from feeling the despair." I noted, walking to the center of the group.
"There's always the chance he was doing that because he was feeling it, too." Paine suggested, crossing her arms.
"He probably was, but that doesn't change the fact that he knew it was a weakness. He was ready for it. I think he knew exactly what the shadow was planning so he got himself ready. It was too much all at once, but he's still fighting it. Remember, he saved us from the collapsing cave."
"Okay, so what do we do?" Gippal wondered, walking forward.
Just then, an Al Bhed approached us, saying, "Gippal, sir, message from Djose."
"What is it?"
Led by the Al Bhed, we followed Gippal to the comsphere console and saw Rin. While I was about to greet the guy, Paine pulled me back, shaking her head with a scowl. They would end up explaining to me in a whisper that Rin was building defective machina and covering for them, hiding the evidence showing their malfunction as a way of promoting his financial investments in them and his pull on the rising number of entrepreneurs on Spira. He began telling Gippal that he wanted an audience with him to talk about future endeavors, extra resources to the excavations missions in Bikanel and funding to extend research and development. He was planning to extend an open invitation to archaeologists and historical analysts along with any available excavator or prospector to begin an initiative into recreating the machina of the past that made Spira so great. Gippal seemed bothered by all of the advertising, unsure of where he wanted to be. As the message was actually bounced from the Calm Lands, Paine assured Gippal that seeing to Rin's "initiative" would be best because the rest of us could take care of this situation, but the Machine Faction was the leading force Spira needed to handle Rin's big business plans and keep them under control.
"So, we'll make a quick pit stop in the Calm Lands before moving on." Paine told us, looking around before focusing our attention behind where Rikku was slowly making her way off the bridge, using the wall for support, "Something tells me the downtime will only do us some good."
After we landed, Gippal took off, bringing with him some of the crew who were also members of the Machine Faction. He also asked Cid to look after Rikku, but the guy said quiet was what she really needed since this was her daughter and all. Rikku was dealing with issues that overwhelmed her the way she normally did, but we never really saw it because we were so busy dealing with Yuna's Pilgrimage. Thinking back on it, Rikku was always this way, just that Shuyin let her show it more than the rest of us ever did. He only did to make up for not having done so with Kirin before her.
"Since we have the excuse, why not go over what's been goin' on?" Cid suggested, joining us when Gippal left.
"Well, something brought Seymour and Areth back from the dead and woke up Dark Shuyin from the Den of Woe. Shuyin thought him being back was linked to it, too, but we're not sure anymore. What we know is that Areth came back to guilt Shuyin back into being the unsent so he could kill the guy for good and that Dark Shuyin wanted that to happen, to begin with, probably because he wanted a physical body to go after Vegnagun." I told him, going over to the console to rest myself against it.
Yuna walked over and put a hand on my back before adding, "Shuyin knew what they wanted from him and thought the best way was to confront it. When we were in the Den of Woe, he looked like he was ready. The shadow replayed all the worst events in his life, but he kept pushing forward. Then, we defeated the shadow once and for all, but the pyreflies went into Shuyin. They might have been able to possess him."
"You sure this kid ain't just pull the wool over your eye?" Cid blurted out in his usual tactless fashion.
The rest of us took the suggestion to heart, having all been fighting that urge to say it was really just Shuyin being Shuyin. Manipulation wasn't exactly foreign to the guy, but I didn't believe it this time. I honestly wanted to trust my originator and say he was the victim in all this. Just looking back at everything that happened to the guy was enough for me to understand him and anything wrong he might have done after that.
"He's a warrior. Pride alone should've kept him from going back there. I believe in him." Paine said, breaking the silence that had fallen, "If he's fighting it, we have to be there for him and help push the shadow back into the corner."
"We'll fight shadow with light one more time." Yuna added.
"Agreed, so what's our next move?" I asked.
"Find him. What else? We'll need to figure out where he'd go." Paine suggested.
"And where would that be? I think we've already exhausted every location on Spira just hunting after the shadow." I enquired of her, location having been the thing I was stuck on anyway.
"Do you think he'd go back to Zanarkand?" Yuna asked.
"Doubtful. Given how many bad memories he had there that the shadow could use against him, it'd be too risky to rely on it to help him." Paine noted.
"He's going to Gagazet." Rikku's voice suddenly interrupted, having returned.
We all turned to her, her usually hyper behavior shut down from how upset she was. It was unsettling to see her like that what with her always being the upbeat and hopeful one. It reminded me of how she broke down at that mountain before, when we could see Zanarkand looming in the distance. Nobody ever paid those moments any mind. We just figured she was young and didn't understand or couldn't. Nobody ever took the time to think that she was just a couple of years younger than us and was what kept our spirits high when we were down. If it wasn't for Shuyin realizing what he did to Kirin in his time, Rikku still wouldn't have had anyone taking her seriously.
"How can you be sure he'll go there?" Paine asked her, Yuna going to her side.
"Because Kirin's there." She told us, "Because that's the only thing left of his family."
"That makes sense." Yuna said, "Kirin's death was one of the worst things we saw down there in the cave. Maybe he's gone to Gagazet to reminisce?"
"No, like I showed you before, Kirin's body is up there. Don't you remember?"
"Oh right! I think I was still more concerned with Shuyin being back at that point." Yuna admitted with a weak smile.
"So we're agreed. Gagazet it is." Paine decided, speaking for us.
"That's perfect then. We just dumped the pirate out over here in this here Calm Lands, we could get to Gagazet in no time!" Cid announced, turning to his crew, "Did ya hear that? Gagazet pronto! We'll have ya there in a jiffy!"
The short trip to the mountain was mostly quiet. Yuna and Paine needed to cheer Rikku up for a change and I was really busy thinking about what I would say to the guy. I was pretty sure it would fall onto me to get him back. I was the guy that brought him out of his "I hate myself" kick, after all. I played around with talking about myself as an example of what the people of Zanarkand thought Shuyin could be, but I was worried Shuyin would just go back to that "I hate myself" kick during the comparison. If I went with Kirin, he might look at Rikku and freak out. Whatever I did, I had to understand that the shadow was going to hear it, too, and use it against him as much as it could.
When the airship reached the summit, we all jumped ship and walked the rest of the way to where the Master Summon was. Shuyin was blatantly there, kneeling over the pool that used to be my home. He looked so sullen and lost, his eyes staring unblinking into the water at the girl underneath. Rikku stayed back, comforted by my Yuna, but Paine went off ahead of us to go to his side.
"Shuyin, are you still in there?" She asked him.
When he looked up at her, Rikku suddenly equipped her daggers, scared that the shadow might still have control. Shuyin's eyes didn't blink even as she stared at Paine, then us. Then, his eyes focused on me and he got back on his feet, Paine holding onto his arm as he did. Turning to her, I noticed a faint smile before the action took over. Using his pyreflies, he grabbed Paine and hurled her into the Master Summon's stone wall and pinned her there. Rikku pulled Yuna behind her and guarded against any oncoming attacks, but I quickly held her off, slowly walking up to Shuyin to see if I could defuse the situation.
"Shuyin, you're better than this. Think about it, Blitz Ace. You're the hope of Zanarkand, aren't you? Areth's still on the loose. Don't you want to stop him?" I said, hoping a few key terms might do the trick.
"Zanarkand…" He replied in a low voice, "Zanarkand was betrayed."
"That doesn't matter. Areth is here now. Do you want him to betray Spira?"
"Areth? Betray Spira?" Areth doesn't have what it takes to betray Spira." He retorted.
"But he is back regardless of what he can or can't do. Don't you want to rid Spira of him for good? Don't let the shadow stop you from…"
Before I could finish, Shuyin's expression suddenly changed, his mouth curling into a sneer, "Do you honestly think I could be so easily controlled?"
"What?" All of us said, except Rikku only tightened her stance.
Looking back over at Yuna and Rikku, I struggled with what to say until I thought, "Even if you say you aren't being controlled, tell me, what would Lenne say now?"
"Lenne?" He seemed to stammer when he said her name.
"Hmph, you think she can save you now?" The treacherous voice of Areth blew in, all of us turning to see him walking up the path behind Yuna.
"What's the meaning of this?" Yuna asked.
"Did you really think I wanted this Shuyin gone? Silly mortals. He and I are on common ground." He stated.
"It's you who antagonize our goals." Shuyin told us, sending Paine into me.
Catching the girl, I looked back at him and asked, "Shuyin, stop letting the shadow do this to you!"
He only shook his head, "You lot are so easily fooled, it's embarrassing."
"He's not Shuyin." Rikku growled.
"Oh, but I assure you he is." Areth confirmed.
"Then he doesn't intend on going back to the Farplane because Lenne would never forgive him."
"Hah, by the time we're done, there won't be a Farplane to return to."
"What does that mean?" I asked, turning my attention to him.
"It means the end. Vegnagun or not." Shuyin answered, "Areth, it's time to go. Let these fools truly comprehend their irrelevance to the grand design."
"How poetic of you."
"Not poetic. Honest." He replied, turning himself into pyreflies and soaring off into the distance.
Laughing, Areth winked at us before doing the same. True to his expectations, the four of us were left wondering just how it could be. We finally trusted in him only to be betrayed. This entire mission, was it all part of his sick game?
Author's Note: Areth/Shuyin abrupt team-up: Tee hee ^_^
So what possessed (hehe) Areth to side with the shadow/Shuyin? Or what possessed Shuyin to side with Areth? How are they going to cope with one of their greatest weapons now and once again an enemy?
What do you think they should do? =p Where do you lot think I'm taking this? For those who know, is this just more Zera being Zera? ^_^;; Leave a thought in review and find out if you're right, Next Time!