Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy X or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

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Ch.37 Escape

I looked at Seymour's fallen body, feeling the last remnants of my power fade from Selini. Seymour's mother had given me her power, and with my new Overdrive: Murderous Blow. "How fitting," I muttered to myself, seeing Yuna kneel next to him. She closed his eyelids and it almost seemed like he was sleeping, when suddenly the doors that led back to the Cloister of Trials burst open. I whipped around, seeing Seymour's servant Tromell along with two assistants. "Lord Seymour!" he called in horror. "What happened here?" he asked. "What… what have I done?" Wakka asked.

"Wait a minute! It's not our fault! Seymour struck first! He's the bad guy!" Tidus protested. Tromell stared at us, his horror growing. "You did this?" he asked. Deiru sighed, and Auron said "Yuna, send him." She nodded, but before she could Tromell yelled "No, stop! Stay away from him, traitors!" The two assistants picked up his body and carried him out, Tromell following behind. Once they were gone Yuna fell to her knees, and I was immediately by her side. "Traitors?" she repeated. "We're finished," Wakka said. Tidus stepped forward. "Now just hold on a minute! Seymour's the bad guy, right? We'll just explain to everyone what happened!" he said.

I shook my head. "Things are never as simple as that, Tidus," I said. "She's right; it won't be that easy," Auron said. "My guess is that once the rest of the Guado civilization hears about this they won't be looking to send us flowers. So before things get ugly, let's get out of here," Deiru said, and we all agreed. Once we left the antechamber the walkway disappeared, forcing us to complete the Cloister of Trials to get out. After we did we entered the entrance of the temple, which was filled with Guado and guards blocking the exit. "Please…" Yuna said. "Give us a chance to explain," Auron said.

"No need. I already know what I'll tell the other maesters," he told us, and I frowned. The tone of his voice sounded bad. "Meaning?" Deiru asked. "Lord Seymour was the leader of the Guado before becoming a maester," Tromell said, and the penny dropped. "You're not letting us go," Tidus said, both him and I drawing our swords. "Let you go? Lord Seymour would never forgive us if we did," he replied. "Wait, wait! Jyscal's sphere! We can show it to them!" Rikku called.

I agreed with her, and was about to say so when he held up his hand. "You mean this?" he asked, and my eyes widened. Jyscal's sphere! Tromell crushed it in his hand, and said "The Guado deal with Guado affairs." The guards and Guado moved forward, and Kimahri jumped forward, shoving them back and yelling "Away!" "Run!" Auron called, and we nodded. Taking Yuna by the hand, we ran out of the temple with the Guado guards hot on our tail. One of them caught up to us and used Summon, causing the pyreflies to form an Ice Flan that blocked our bath. "Move!" I called, melting it with Fira.

The guardian blinked but kept going, another catching up and the two of them casting a pair of Evil Eyes. That both screeched and shot beams at us, forcing us to stop and let them catch up. Wakka threw his ball and took out one of the Evil Eyes, but before he could kill the other one of the Guado hit him with a Shremedy. Instead of throwing at the fiend, he turned and threw at Lulu, who shouted before stopping back. "Wakka, stop this! Control yourself!" she called, but he didn't hear her. He threw again and again she dodged, hitting him with Blizzard spell to keep him in place.

Now that the confused Wakka was subdued Tidus slashed at on of the Guado, cutting him straight across the chest. He fell like a puppet without strings, and when I stabbed the other Guado he did the same. Lulu killed the Evil Eye with Fira, and once we had healed and unfrozen Wakka we kept going. More and more Guado came after us, but the exit was almost in sight. Just we reached it the guard jumped in front of us, and Kimahri yelled "Step aside!" and picked him up before throwing him back the way he came. With him gone we left the area around the temple, to the icy road that we had ridden the snowmobiles on. "Hold on. Lulu, help me freeze this exit!" I called.

She nodded and we both cast while I cast Watera she use Blizzara, creating a wall of water that she froze, keeping any more Guado from getting through. "That won't hold them forever. We need to move!" Deiru said, and we did. We had made it halfway down the road when there was the sound of shattering glass, and we turned to see two last Guado coming after us. "They won't give up!" Tidus called. Once we arrived at the lake the Guado caught up, and one of them said "Nowhere to run, traitors!" I stopped and looked back at him, drawing my sword. "Yeah, so there's only one thing we can do. Attack!" I replied.

His expression faltered, but then there was a feral roar and a huge fiend landed in front of us. A Wendigo. He smiled, and said "Go ahead." He waved his hand, and suddenly the Wendigo turned and bared its teeth at us. I grunted, but seeing no way to escape I moved into a battle position. The others did the same, and the Guado moved to either side of the Wendigo. I charged forward and swung at one of them, but he dodged and cast Berserk on the fiend. It growled and punched me, the blow hard enough to break the lower half of my ribcage and send me flying.

I landed on the ground next to the others and Tidus, and while Yuna tried to heal me Lulu threw a remedy at the fiend, healing it before she blasted one of the Guado with Thundara. He grunted and fell to one knee, while the other cast Berserk again to strengthen the fiend. It ran forward and punched Rikku, causing her to yell in pain before falling forward, out cold. "Rikku!" Yuna called, running from me to help her. I groaned and stood, watching Wakka knock one of the Guado guards down and just barely dodging a hit from the Wendigo. Before it fell the Guado cast Shell on the Wendigo, protecting it from spells before he fell over dead.

Said beast charged forward and swung at Auron, and although he blocked the blow with his sword he was sent a few feet back across the ground. He frowned and ran forward, calling "Take this!" and using shooting Star. The force of the blow sent the Wendigo several steps back, but didn't eject it. The beast punched him and he took a step back, clutching his arm. It roared and pulled its arm back to punch him again, but Deiru cast Thundaga and stopped him. Because of the spell status the move did little damage, but it did distract enough for Auron to move back and quaff a Potion.

Deiru didn't let up either, and attacked with blow after blow of his sword. The Wendigo tried to counter but had no room, and Deiru jumped into the air. "Try this on for size!" he called, his sword pulsing with red and blue lightning. He pointed it up towards the sky and the clouds rumbled, a bolt shooting down to strike the blade. Deiru smiled and pointed it at the Wendigo, calling "Dragon Lightning!" The energy from the bolt fired in a red and blue stream of electricity, hitting the fiend and exploding. Deiru landed back on the ground and stepped back, watching the smoke clear.

When it did the Wendigo was severely burnt, his mane sizzling and skin blackened in places. The beast roared and ran towards him, but Wakka threw his ball the same time Tidus used Slice and Dice, knocking him back. The fiend growled and raised it dukes, gesturing for us to attack. Beside him the other Guado guard was about to cast Berserk when I shot a bolt of Thundara at him, killing him instantly. Before he went though he cast Protect on the Wendigo, shielding it from physical attacks too.

I grunted. "This thing's tough, and with those protective stats things are gonna go downhill fast. What do we do?" Yuna shook her head. "I had almost learned Dispel, but I haven't mastered the spell yet enough for it to work." "Well, do any of your aeons have that spell?" Tidus asked. Auron nodded. "Ixion does," he said. Yuna nodded, and the rest of us made room as she summoned the aeon. Once it had appeared the Wendigo charged forward, landing a double-punch that sent the aeon to its knees. Hastily Yuna had Ixion cast Haste, and once he did he had enough time to heal himself with Thundara before using Aerospark. The move canceled all the beast defenses, and Yuna thanked the aeon before dismissing it.

But even without them the Wendigo was still fighting, running forward and slamming his fist into Wakka. He fell to one knee breathing heavily, and Yuna cast Cura on him before I smiled. "I got an idea. Cover me!" I called, running forward. Auron and Tidus did, and as the Wendigo tried to slam its fist into my sides they blocked the blows. Once I was close enough I held up my sword, and the blade burst into black flames. There was only a one-in-ten chance it would work, but I had to try. "Murderous Blow!" I called, slamming my sword into its chest.

The resulting explosion sent us both back but not fling, when to my joy the same dark shape as before thrust its hand into the Wendigo's chest, pulling out its heart and crushing it. The beast made a weak growl, before suddenly it slammed its fists onto the ground and leaped into the air. As it crashed down it punched the ice with all it's might, and a web of cracks appeared. As it fell on its side and faded away the cracks spread, too fast for us to run from and shattering the ice, all of us falling down.

xxx

My eyesight faded in and out, until I heard a woman singing. The voice was feminine and ethereal, sounding through the air as it sang. Eventually I realized it was the Hymn of the Fayth, and it was about then that my eyes opened. What greeted me was a strange sight. The air was thick and misty, pyreflies traveling through the air and the temple was overhead. "Where are we?" I wondered aloud and Lulu, who had been standing next to me, said "We've fallen under the lake ice. The others are fine, as for Yuna..."

At that my eyes snapped open, and I sat bolt upright. "What happened to her? Is she hurt? Tell me!" I said, my voice rising with each sentence. "Calm down. She hit her head on a slab of stone and fell unconscious, but she awake shortly. We've been down here for a while," she said, trying to calm me. It worked slightly, but I still stood up. The others were scattered amongst the ruins, and Yuna was lying on a piece of rubble, sleeping while Kimahri stood over her. They were all physically okay. Physically. "We're in some deep shit now, huh?" I asked, putting my head in my hands. We had just killed a maester, the reason why was gone, and the entire Guado population was angered at us, along with Tromell probably feeding some bull-wad story to the other maesters.

We were fine for now, but what came next was anyone's guess.

xxx

And that as they say, is that. How will Sofia react to Yuna finally admitting the truth? Will other secrets be divulged? Find out soon!

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