I see you lurkers lurking. Would be awesome if you left a short and sweet comment ;D

::Persona Versus Anima::

We arrived in the antechamber just as Yuna emerged from the chamber of the Fayth. The shock and surprise was plain on her face, while the Guados' expressions were far more stoic as they turned toward us.

"What are you doing here?" Seymour stated calmly, though there was a definite curtness to his tone and a stiffness to his posture. I didn't know if it was apprehension or him just acting regal.

"We found the sphere." Tidus words obviously confused Seymour, but Yuna's two-tone eyes hardened as she clutched her staff tighter and stepped cautiously past the Maester.

"Sphere? Lady Yuna?"

Yuna paused halfway between parties hesitating for a moment before turning to face him. "He means the sphere your father left...shortly after he escaped the Farplane."

There was no hint of shock, fear, or anything rational. Instead Seymour smiled and tilted his head slightly. "You knew, and yet you still agreed to marry me?"

"I came to talk to you," she stated, carefully weighing her words. "If it is true about Lord Jyscal… please Maester Seymour, you need to confess to the Maesters and to Yevon."

Instead of being angry, his smile only widened. But there was no happiness or relief in it, instead it was reminiscent of a sleek fiend ready to devour its prey. "What bravery you possess, Lady Yuna. Befitting for the next High Summoner, and for my bride."

Though I'm sure Yuna tried her best to stay neutral, there was no denying her small flinch at his words, and that was all we needed. In an instant Tidus was next to her while the rest of us stepped between her and the Maester. Kimahri took point, his spear steady as a deep snarl resonated through the chamber.

"You refuse to submit yourself for judgement?" Auron all but dared, shrugging his arm out of his coat and adjusting his grip on his dark katana.

"I see no need," the psychopath answered nonchalantly as he lazily turned attention towards Auron, that predatory look still sharp despite his calm appearance. "My father died for the betterment of Spira, as many have done."

"Maester Seymour, with all do respect, surely you don't mean…." Wakka trailed off, looking hopelessly lost as his blitzball stayed pinned between his arm and his hip. He was the only one of us that didn't have a tight grip on his weapon, ready to act.

Seymour's cold eyes didn't even glance towards him, but returned to Yuna. "My father disagreed with my vision for Spira. But surely, Lady Yuna, you agree that all must be given in order to free Spira of suffering? You have seen the pain of this world. How wonderful it would be to end it. Forever."

There was something decidedly wrong in his words, though I couldn't quite decide what. Maybe it was just because my mind was still trying to comprehend this guy killed his own father, but I swore there was a threat beneath his sugar-coated words.

"While I want nothing more than to free Spira of Sin," Yuna answered carefully as she tightened the grip on her rod, "I refuse to believe that killing Lord Jyscal, or anyone, can lead to happiness."

Seymour's twisted little smile finally fell, his face now echoing the coldness in his eyes. "Pity."

With one short and swift motion, a wave of fire erupted from Seymour's staff too fast for us to do anything but grit our teeth as the flames scorched any exposed skin. The rather impressive display in power only tightened the knot in my stomach in fear. Sure, there were more of us, but that was not always what it took to win. Especially as the Guado Guardian cast high-leveled protective magic on themselves and Seymour.

"Lulu and Terra, you focus on that one." Tidus took control of the situation, not allowing any sign of fear or anxiety to show on his face as he pointed at the Guardian now christened as Thing One. "Auron, Wakka, take the other. Kimahri and Rikku, focus on Seymour!"

I didn't ask any questions as I found my place by the mage shortly before Yuna's weak but still helpful protective magic settled over us. Thing One seemed devoid of expression as Lulu's Thundra spell struck at his shield; the magic reduced to a pretty light show with a bark worse than its bite. Penny fared little better as the white magic degraded the bullets to little more than wimpy pokes. Still, I fired round after round, hoping that maybe if I shot at it enough I could break the magic.

I was pretty sure it didn't work like that but I was going to give it a shot anyways. Pun mildly intended.

Lulu took a far more conservative and possibly a more rational approach, letting her magic build before unleashing it. Still, even her biggest bolts or largest shards of ice did little to the stoic Guardian.

Disturbingly, he didn't show any sort of concern at the salvo of bullets and black magic. He stood impossibly still, his apathy disheartening. Was this guy even alive? The way he acted, it was as if he was a shell, and nothing more.

But when Thing One actually snapped his attention on us, I wished he was back to being a soulless statue. There was something almost evil in his look as he raised his oversized hand. Yuna's magic was near useless as biting cold overtook the warm chamber before a flick of his hand changed the ice into flames. There was no way to stop my cry of pain as fire engulfed us, the sudden change knocking me down to my knees and gasping for breath as the magic died away.

"Terra, get up." Lulu commanded as I lingered on the stone floor. The black mage didn't wait for me to move, but grabbed my arm and forced me up. I was about to object before I saw why. Yuna's staff swirled with magic as she summoned Levithan.

Thing One and Two actually looked scared as the Aeon materialized from the water and rose above them, while Seymour only seemed entranced. "What beauty and power…" He spoke before focusing on Yuna. "I must make it mine."

"You will not," the soft-spoken Summoner had a steely glint in her eye as she wordlessly directed Levithan to attack. The Aeon screeched his battle cry before swimming through the air at the psychotic maester, posed to rip through him with its scales.

The panic in the Guado Guardian's eyes were clear as both Thing One and Two moved to defend their Summoner. Lulu and I shared a look, my same thoughts echoed on the expression on her face. She raised her hands to cast while I aimed Penny at Thing One's back. The ice struck just as Penny slipped through the open back of the protection spell. A hard grin settled on my lips as the Guado howled in pain and stumbled.

Ha! Not so strong after all. Leviathan's tail whipped at Thing One to add insult to injury before he rammed into Thing Two with all his might. The protection spell held, but enough force still transferred through to force Thing Two to crash back into Seymour, ending in a disgraceful heap on the floor.

"I will allow you one last chance, Lady Yuna," Seymour stated, almost a growl but not quite as he climbed to his feet, trying to regain his composure. But, after seeing him tumble, he didn't seem as imposing as before. "Surrender now, and I will allow you and your Guardians to live."

"You're the one that needs to surrender, Seymour!" Tidus called back, a slight smirk on his face amidst the sweat that had formed. "I never liked my old man either, but I would never actually kill him!"

Seymour scowled, either because of Tidus's words or the way he was standing at Yuna's side. Probably both, come to think about it. "What do you know of hate? Or of injustice?" he spat. "Why don't I show you what my father caused."

A dark feeling swamped the chamber, and a familiar chain appeared out of the darkened ceiling and slammed through the floor of the chamber before dragging Anima up from the pit. The same wrongness from Luca permeated the chamber with the so-called Aeon's appearance. My stomach twisted in disgust, both from her gruesome appearance and the inexplicable atmosphere she brought with her.

I don't know where she came from, but I knew she wasn't a proper Aeon.

"How the heck could Jyscal cause that?" I whispered as the two Aeons were pitted against each other. Despairingly, Anima was proving to be stronger: after every couple of her attacks, Levithan had to cast Wateraga on himself, or use his Tidal Wave attack to heal himself and flood Anima.

"You're the one who claimed it wasn't an Aeon," Lulu reminded me.

"Tch, looks like an Aeon to me," Wakka butted in, giving me a dark look.

I shook my head, "I've studied Aeons since I was a little girl. I can nearly recite every text on Aeons, including Diablos and Gilgamesh! Not once was Anima ever mentioned. It doesn't even feel like an Aeon."

"What does it feel like?" Auron asked as he appeared beside me, earning a look from Wakka.

"What? Surely you don't believe her, Sir Auron!"

Auron stayed quiet, so I ignored Wakka's outburst and thought. But before I could answer, Rikku beat me to it. "It reminds me of where Angra Mainyu's supposedly sealed…." At seeing the blank looks she garnered, she continued: "It's a legendary fiend, back in Sanubia. We found a bunch of ruins that talk about how strong it was, and the sacrifices it took to seal it away. The whole place is really spooky, so no one really goes there anymore."

"A really powerful fiend…" Lulu nodded her head in agreement. "Full of anger, hate, and despair."

"Sin." The word just popped out of my mouth before I could think, and earned a strange look from nearly everyone. "Well, it does!" I defended. Lulu's words had reminded me of what Sin made me feel; so angry I had lost myself in a rage. This wasn't anything near to that point, but Anima caused those feelings to twist inside me, and teased my mind with something I wanted to ignore.

Why? Why did they cause me to want to fall into a rage? Clearly it didn't affect anyone else the same way. So why me?

Levithan's roar provided a distraction from those thoughts. The serpentine Aeon look really worse for wear as his scales lost most of their shimmer and his movements were slower and less graceful; on the upside, Anima bore the same appearance, her already grotesque appearance marred with dark blood and deep gashes. Instead of healing himself, Leviathan shifted higher as he gathered his power in one last attack. With a terrible roar he quickly rose up, water appearing from his scales as the Tsunami towered Anima for a brief moment before crashing down like thunder.

When the rush of water cleared, all that was left of the not-Aeon was a cloud of Pyreflies.

The look on Seymour's face was priceless. His wide eyes followed the Pyreflies as they dispersed, his mouth actually gaping for a moment before he closed it with a snap and focused back on Levithan. The cold haughty look from before had been replaced with absolute rage when his eyes snapped to Yuna. Thing One and Two leapt into action as soon as Seymour stretched out his arm. We fell back into our groups, but this time with more vigor. He wasn't invincible. We beat his almighty 'Aeon', and we could beat its psychopathic Summoner.

Before one spell could be cast or one hit could fall, a thunderous blast suddenly rocked the chamber, clouding the room in pitch-black smoke and blocked out all light. "What in the world was that, Rikku?!" Tidus shouted through the smoke with a cough.

"Ehehehe, something I just mixed up! That was...a lot bigger than I expected."

"Mixed up out of what?" Lulu swore quietly beside me with a faint cough. When the smoke did finally begin to clear, the real damage of the explosive could be seen Thing One and Two laid broken on the ground, while their master still stood, though mostly out of sheer will and spite.

The Guado snarled and raised his hand to cast a spell. The air shifted with the familiar sensation of magic being gathered for a powerful black-magic spell. Another roar echoed through the chamber, this time accompanied with a rush of blue. The draw of magic suddenly snapped when Kimahri reached Seymour and died without so much of a putter.

Seymour slumped to the floor, Kimahri's spear impaled in his chest while the Rono towered over his broken frame, heaving for breath.

Heavy silence suddenly descended over the room. The rush of battle fading as I realized what we had just done. I shook my head and forced the thought out. No, it wasn't our fault. We were defending ourselves.

Still, three people were dead because of us. We had killed them.

Yuna was the first to move, the tap of her boots against the stone floor deafening as she walked towards the fallen forms of the the Guado. Visiting Thing One, and then Thing Two (which now were horrible posthumous nicknames) kneeling beside each of their forms to close their eyes and offer what looked like a prayer. While she hesitated before stepping towards Seymour, I took several steps back. My stomach twisted as tears sprang to my eyes. Fiends were one thing…but killing people? Even the thieves encountered on the road were usually just knocked out, or fought to the point they dropped our belongings they fled.

But it was kill or be killed. It was needed.

An image of a battlefield flashed in my mind; hundreds broken and bloodied bodies scattered below droves of Pyreflies. The smell of smoke and blood choking my throat.

Alexander, please no. Not again. This isn't why I….

The doors suddenly opened with a bang before Tromell rushed into the chamber, followed by at least a dozen more Guado dressed as guards. "Lord Seymour!" he cried before he rushed to where Seymour's body laid and fell to his knees. The pain in my chest tightened even further as he choked back a sob before he turned to Yuna. "What...what happened?"

"I'm sorry. I-we..." Yuna's words were faint as she stumbled over her words whereas she was usually the most eloquent among us. Her face was pale as her hands clutched each other.

"Hey, no!" Tidus interrupted her mumbled words, no guilt or shame on his face as he stood protectively near Yuna. "He attacked us first!"

Even from across the room, I could see the sudden hate and rage on Tromell's face as the elderly Guado stood, his body shaking along with his voice. "You-you did this!"

"It doesn't matter," Auron spoke before anyone could defend our actions, and ignored the shocked Guados as he turned to our Summoner. "Yuna, send them."

Before Yuna could take one step, the Guado quickly forced their way between her and the dead. Tromell's eyes flashed with rage as he snarled, no longer appearing like calm elderly man. "No! Stay back! I will not allow a traitorous heathen to perform a holy rite to my lord!" The Guado guards reverently picked up Seymour body along with his Guardians. Yuna, meanwhile, looked even more stricken at Trommel's words. "You will pay for what you have done! Even the High Summoner's daughter cannot escape justice due to the Guado people!"

The elder was the last to leave the anteroom, adding an even heavier feeling to the room as the doors slammed behind him. "Traitors?" Wakka whispered, thankfully breaking the silence as he gripped his hair and shook his head. "Oh no. No no no! What have we done?"

"We were defending ourselves," Tidus reminded him, reminding all of us as he looked at each one of us with only a faint hint of grim remorse on his face. "He was trying to kill us, remember? We had no choice…."

"Can we just stop talking about killing people?" I interrupted, feeling like I was about five seconds before losing the contents of my stomach. "Just-just stop it. No more, okay? Let's just focus on getting out of here before they come back."

Tidus hesitated, but nodded his head. While everyone followed him, I remained despite wanting no more than to run far, far away. Instead I was glued to the spot, eyes glaring at the stained spots on the dark crystalline floor. Why? How? Just as easy as that we had ended three lives.

What had we done?

"Terra?"

I was pulled out of my thoughts, thankful and a bit disoriented as I found Auron lingering at the doorway. Right. Leaving. That had been my idea after all. I quickly ran towards him, any anger forgotten as I was just emphatically thankful for him. For Tidus. For Yuna, Lulu, Rikku, Kimahri, and even Wakka. I wasn't alone. I had friends. And we would face this together.

Which may come sooner than expected. The ice bridge that had spanned the winter wonderland of Shiva's trials had disappeared. Yuna and Tidus had just reached the bottom of the stairs descending into the cloister; this time the young Summoner leading the blonde blitz star, having already done the trials with Seymour no doubt. The rest of us waited, knowing the more people trying to figure out the trials actually took longer. The whole proverb of 'too many cooks spoil the roast' or whatever proved true when it came to the cloisters...though I'm sure whatever ancient society conceived of them, they probably never thought a Summoner would have over half a dozen Guardians. Two or three had been the norm, with four being rare but not unheard of.

"Well, at least Yunie's not being forced to marry," Rikku suddenly commented with a tone of forced cheeriness as the silence dragged on. "I mean, it was her choice and all, but...she wasn't really doing it because she wanted to. Besides, Seymour's always seemed a little shady to me."

Wakka shook his head, his tan face paler than usual as he spoke more to himself than anything. "I can't believe we killed him. A Maester. An actual Maester! And we...killed him."

"Maybe her and Tidus can hook up," I added in, pointedly ignoring Wakka and trying to continue Rikku's cheerier conversation. I would happily take the distraction from the thoughts all jumbled in my head. "You know, they make a pretty cute couple." Nevermind that they still reminded me so much of Shuyin and Lenne it hurt sometimes. Yuna was more soft spoken, and Tidus friendlier by far than his counterpart, but at their core they were nearly identical.

"That would be one of the worst things that could happen," Lulu commented, shocking me and causing Rikku to frown as well. The mage sighed as she shook her head before explaining: "I doubt the Guado, or even the Maesters, will forgive us regardless if we were justified in our actions. Right now, Yuna finishing her pilgrimage may be the only thing that will save us."

"What if she can't?" There was something akin to both desperation and hope in Rikku's voice as she tried to argue. "I mean, I bet it's going to be pretty hard to pray at the temples when we have the Guado and like, all of Yevon after us. Would giving up her pilgrimage be that bad?"

There was a look shared by Lulu and Wakka that I couldn't decipher, but looked...odd. And even though Kimahri didn't seem interested in the conversation, I didn't miss the sudden and harsh movements of his tail.

None of that was shared by Auron. "Yuna has made it clear that she is determined to complete her pilgrimage, no matter what. It's foolish to think otherwise."

Rikku scrunched her face and blew a faint raspberry. "Whatever, you big meanie. It may be futile, but it's a lot better than thinking of the alternative."

I stayed quiet as Auron gave Rikku a faint shake of his head, silently wondering to myself why the two couldn't marry and Yuna continue her pilgrimage. I mean, that would be a little odd for all of us, but Yuna had already planned on doing the same with Seymour. However, before I could ask the question, the bridge snapped into existence, followed by two excited shouts from the cloister below.

A shadow of a smile crossed Wakka's lips as we could see the two below congratulating one another excitedly. "Whatever she decides to do, we're in it together, ya?"

That was actually rather surprising and thoughtful coming from him, and I found myself chiming in agreement with the others. After the crazy events of the last few hours, thoughts of finding my way back to Remiem were buried in the pit of my mind. The suppressed worries that had whispered in the back of my mind regarding Belgemine's disappearance were silent.

Right now, she was probably better off than I was.

It was adorable the way Tidus and Yuna's faces were flushed when they finally reached the top of the ramp, their hands tightly clasped together. I'm sure it wasn't just the cold judging from the small smile on Yuna's face. "Ready everyone?"

"There's going to be an angry mob waiting for us, isn't there?" I asked no one in particular. The smile on her face was replaced with a saddened but resolute look, which was echoed by the rest. I faked a grin as I readied Penny. "Awesome."

Yeah, it was actually the exact opposite of awesome. A dozen of Guado stood as a barrier between us and the temple doors, their features contorted in anger and hate. Tromell paused his surely grand tirade to the Guado and turned to face us instead. There was no mistaking the fact that a) they hated us and b) they probably wanted to spill our guts in some ancient ritual to Shiva.

Wait, that was Diablos that they had once sacrificed to.

Despite that, Yuna tried to be the peacekeeper as she stepped before us, shoulder thrown back yet hands clasped together meekly. "Please, let us explain," she started, and was cut of by a sharp gesture from the Guado elder.

"No. We will not stand for your slander against Lord Seymour. We shall tell the Maesters of Yevon that you profaned the sacred role of summoner and conspired with your Al Bhed kin and blasphemous Guardians to kill Maester Seymour."

That was the wrong thing to say. Even though she was shaking from the cold and her lips tinged blue, there was no holding Rikku back as she pushed her way to Yuna's side.

"It wasn't like that!" Rikku objected as she glared obstinately up at the elderly Guado. "Watch Jyscal's sphere, it'll explain everything!"

Tromell held up the sphere in question. "You mean this?" Without hesitation he clenched his scary looking hands and crushed the sphere into a thousand useless pieces. His voice and glare could freeze even Ifrit in his place as he continued: "Lord Seymour was a leader of the Guado long before he was a Maester of Yevon. And the Guado take care of Guado affairs. It matters not why you killed him, only that you did."

"Are you serious?!" I shouted without thinking, and earned the dark attention of the room. I could feel the Glare of Death coming not only from the Guado, but from Auron, Lulu, and more than likely Wakka behind me. I took the fact I wasn't dead as a sign to plow ahead. "He killed his dad, and he was going to kill us! You can't blame us for defending ourselves from the psychopath!"

From the look on Tromell's face, that was exactly the worst thing I could have said. "How...how dare you insult Lord Seymour!"

"Terra!" Wakka swore as the remaining Guado took offense and readied their sharp claws to strike. Thankfully, compared to the two that had guarded the late Maester the dozen were woefully unprepared. With a few knocks in the head by Wakka's ball and Kimahri sweeping them off their feet with his lance, half of the group was knocked out and the other half was seriously reconsidering their strategy.

"Run." Auron commanded, and no one tried to argue with him. The Guado were too stunned to try to stop us from running out the door, but as we dashed along the ice road we could hear voices shouting commands behind us.

I glanced back and saw far more than a dozen, maybe even half a hundred, spilling forth from the temple. "They're chasing us!"

"Well maybe if some idiot didn't call the Maester a psychopath!"

"I was just stating the truth!"

"Less talking and more running!" Tidus barked, ending our argument as we reached the entrance of the ice cave. The Yevonite guard was startled to see us, which turned quickly into a grim glare as he grudgingly let us through.

"Your sacrilege machina have been destroyed, and I assure you Maester Seymour…"

"That's nice, bye!" Rikku paused as she passed before quickly backpedaling and slammed her fist into the man's stomach, "And that's for not believing I could be Yunies guardian!"

"Oh for Yevon's sake!" Wakka bemoaned as he watched the guard fall to his knees. "Did you have to do that?"

"Yep!"

There had always been rumors about the Guado's connection to the Farplane. Mainly because of their worship of Diablos and the ability to talk to the dead. Some of those rumors whispered that they could even predict when someone was going to die.

No one, not even once, said anything about being able to call fiends out of thin air.

"Was there an entire town living here?!" Tidus crabbed as another Evil Eye shot one of it's true death-glares, trying to mess with our minds. Thankfully, it was quickly taken out by Wakka while Auron dealt harshly with the Guado that had called it. I fired a round at the snow wolf that Tidus had missed, causing the thing to erupt into pyreflies

"We're almost to the Travel Agency!" Rikku tried to stay positive as we once more took off in a mad dash before anymore Guado could seemingly appear out of nowhere and wreak havoc.

Except the hope of sanctuary was dashed to pieces as we reached the mouth of the crevasse, guarded by two Guado and a fuzzy blue mountain. A Wendigo, if I remembered right. Native to Mount Gagazet, and were a terror to be caught by. Rumor said they gnawed on human bones for toothpicks.

"Seriously?!"

Kimahri met the fiend head on with a tremendous roar, dodging it's ridiculously muscled arm as he struck with his weapon. Since we were well acquainted with the Guado's habit of calling in backup and casting protective spells over said backup, Lulu and I focused on Guado, her magic clashing with theirs as I took aim and fired.

I had more target practice than I cared for, and my accuracy proved it. Guado number twenty-something fell within only a few minutes, and number twenty-something-plus-one fell just shortly thereafter thanks to Tidus and Wakka. But the Wendigo was proving much more difficult. Strong and fast, the fiend seemed to weather our attacks far better than we did when it's fists came flying in our direction.

"Hey dummy, over here!" I called out as I shot at its face, grinning as it tried in vain to bat away my bullets. The only good it did was anger the fiend and keep its attention on me, but at least that allowed the others a fair chance of landing hits that would actually do some damage.

It was all fun and games with me shooting and running as it chased after before one of the others took a swing and grabbed its attention briefly before I shot again to start the game back at square one. And like all fun and games, it was only fun until someone got hurt. And that would be when one its huge fists landed squarely in my back during my attempt to run. I was airborne for what seemed like several minutes until I landed face-first into the ice, feeling like I broke not only my nose but my entire body.

There was only pain after that until Yuna's soft white magic broke through the agony, and I became somewhat conscious I was no longer face down in the snow but looking up at the same grey-white colored sky. "Okay, maybe not a good idea." I muttered as the last of Yuna's magic took the pain away. Or at least the edge off it. My whole body ached as I moved to sat up.

"I should Summon," Yuna spoke mostly to herself; her eyes set on the others as they tried not to get pummeled as well. Weakened already from praying to Shiva, never mind the battle with Seymour and the insane marathon afterwards, she looked like she needed a Cure spell or half a dozen potions herself. The last thing we needed was her collapsing from exhaustion.

I pushed myself onto my feet despite the ache in my bones and gave her a smile as best as I could. "We got this, okay? Don't worry about the fuzzy blue mountain, ten-gil says Kimahri's just playing with him anyways."

Yuna's doubtful expression spoke volumes, but before any of the could be voiced there was a low rumble of thunder. Except when a sharp crack followed, it wasn't from the stormy skies above. We both watched in silenced horror as the frozen lake started to fracture, all stemming from the Wendigo.

"Watch out, the ice!" Someone, maybe Wakka, shouted. But even with the warning, there was nothing that could be done. The Wendigo had noticed as well, and was apparently suicidal as it crouched and coiled its muscles before jumping. The ice gave another deafening crack when he landed.

The ground buckled and fractured into a hundred pieces, yet for a moment it seemed like the ice would hold. But another rumble shuddered across the lake as it opened its gaping maw. Everything became a blur of screams, blackness, and freezing cold. I almost thankful when consciousness was ripped from me as I crashed into something hard and unforgiving.

There was something very deja-vu about hearing the Summoner's Prayer sung while lying mostly still passed out on something that was freezing cold and hard as a rock.

Oh, right. That's how all of this started. Maybe it was a really trippy insane dream. Maybe I was passed out from a sugar-coma in the sorority house, and for some reason one of the girls were signing. Probably Lenne, she was famous for her talent after all.

Except it was way too wet. When I opened my eyes, I could see a huge hole in the thick ice sheet hundreds of feet above and dark grey clouds turning above that. I grumbled to myself as I sat up and surveyed our prison with its sheer walls of ice. Rubble both big and small served as little islands in the otherwise foot-deep freezing water. Above, the bottom of the temple could be seen suspended in the ice, the Fayth of Shiva providing the eerie melody.

Did all the Fayth sing the Summoner's Prayer? Was that new, or did they always do that? Sure I helped Lenore through the Zanarkand and Mount Gagazet trials, but I couldn't remember the song while I waited for my sister to finish her prayer.

Still, as eerie and foreboding as it was, it was paradoxically comforting as well. I found myself humming along in my head as I picked out everybody else. Kimahri stood out with his tall stature and blue fur, standing guard over where Yuna laid apparently sleeping, with her cousin sitting by her side while fiddling with something that looked rather like an explosive. A few yards away, Wakka and Lulu were talking while sitting closely together, though the conversations looked rather strained by the expressions on their faces.

But where were Auron and Tidus? I looked behind me and saw they were actually only a few feet away. I jumped off the rock and into the water, and instantly regretted the act. "Brr!" I whined as I hurried sloshed through the cold water before hopping up on the nearest piece of stone that was higher than the water. Now that I was closer, I could hear that Tidus was humming the Prayer as well while he stared off in the distance, distracted by some inner thought.

"So, how the heck did we get here?" My question snapped him out of his thoughts, and caused confusion to settle on his face while Auron merely shifted his weight.

"We fell through the ice, remember?" Tidus said slowly. "You...didn't hit your head, did you?"

I dropped my foot into the water, glad for the boots as I kicked the water towards the Blitzball player. "Not what I meant! I mean here." I gestured oddly in the air, trying to figure out how I could make myself clear. "One thousand or so years in the dystopian future."

The confusion only grew on Tidus' face. "Wait, we? You mean, you're from Zanarkand too? I thought you were from Baaj!"

Oh, right. Tidus didn't know. I had just confronted him moments before Tromell arrived. "Er, right. That was Bel's idea. I'm really from Zanarkand; C-District, enrolled at the Summoner's University."

"What?! Really?" He gaped at me dumbfoundedly before his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Wait, Zanarkand had a Summoner University? I didn't think there were Summoners back home."

"You're kidding, right?" I knew Blitzball players were thick, but seriously? Oh, Lenore would be sooo embarrassed. She had always been gushing that the jocks were smarter than I accused. But still, surely even he couldn't be that thick. "Alexander was the pride of Zanarkand! We were the Summoner city!"

"Huh, I didn't know that." He rubbed his neck and I slapped my forehead. Maybe he really could be that thick.

"You really think we're a thousand years in the future?" Tidus hazard after a moment of silence as I tried to process the newfound flaw in our assumed leader. Alexander, if he was that dense, why was everyone following him unquestioningly?

"As much as I can tell," I admitted with a shrug of my shoulders. "Plus that's what Bel told me." I turned to Auron, curious. "Well, Mr. Know-it-all? What are your thoughts?"

"It's complicated," was his answer, which didn't surprise me.

"I blame Sin," Tidus interjected before I could nag at Auron again. He was no longer uncertain, the hesitancy replaced with that determination I was more familiar with. "I mean, it's the only connection between now and then."

"A time travelling fiend?" It was out of a sci-fi movie, and a bad one at that. But then again, my life was far more stranger than any movie or book that I had heard of.

"Sin is the link," Auron acknowledged after a moment. "And I'm certain both of you were brought here for a reason. How isn't really a concern."

I wanted to argue that yes, it was, because I wanted to go home. We could just work backwards and maybe I could see my home again. My friends. My sister. Erase all of those half-memories that I tried not think of. Or that darkness that kept growing in the corner of my mind that I knew hid things I wanted to stay oblivious too. Things I didn't want to remember.

But Tidus beat me to the punch once more. "Wait, you knew Terra was from Zanarkand? Why didn't you tell me?"

"He didn't tell me either!" I exclaimed, happily taking that alternate train of thought as I waved my arms towards him "I went all this time thinking he was a reincarnation or something!"

Tidus turned his sky-blue eyes towards me in shock. "You knew each other?"

"Uh…." Okay. That was a fair point. Who in their right mind think that Auron and I would know each other, let alone be almost-friends.

"It's complicated," Auron answered darkly, making me screech.

"Is that your answer for everything?"

Before he could answer, if he was even going to, something...happened. It was confusing at first as to why it suddenly felt so stifling and foreboding, and then I realized why. It was silent. The Fayth had stopped her song.

"Uh...that's not good, is it?" My question went unanswered verbally. Tidus jumped to his feet, looking as uneasy as I felt. I clutched Penny tightly as I climbed to my feet.

"Stay close," Auron cautioned. Tidus ignored him and rushed towards Yuna and the others.

I, on the other hand, was too happy to comply, feeling a bit safer in the presence of his large katana. "Any idea what's going on?"

"A few," was his concise reply. "Whatever it is, we protect Yuna."

Part of me grumbled at the reminder, but I kept my tongue. We were Guardians, and she was a Summoner. Our role had to be played. Even though technically I wasn't even her Guardian.

A familiar rumble of ice slowly filled the silence, but was unmistakable. The ice was cracking and shifting. Again. My eyes shot skyward, expecting the ice overhead to come raining down. But it was the earth below that began to quake.

"Sin!"

End Note: So this is actually the end of what I consider Part One of the series. Not that I'm going to start a second 'story' but more like Arc One is complete. Terra is fully embedded in Present-day Spira as well as Yuna's band of Guardians. Some secrets have come to light and others are beginning to raise their heads. Arc two, 'Phoenix Feathers' begin next chapter. Where we discover how twisted Yevon is, Auron and Terra fall back into the 'friends' catagory and not just 'coworkers' for lack of a better term, and more things...develop. Plot wise, I mean... or do I?

I know there are a few reading this. While I wrote most of this for my own enjoyment, knowing others are enjoying it really brighten my day. You can also find this story (with more chapters!) at Archive of Our Own under 4ever_rewritten

BUT I JUST DISCOVERED I SKIPPED AN IMPORTANT PLOT POINT IN ARC TWO AND I HAVE TO FREAKING REWRITE SOME OF IT. FML. SO DON'T EXPECT IT TO GO UNCHANGED.