p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanTidus kicked at the ground in frustration before turning to his 'companion.'span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"What's your problem?" he asked, finally noticing Seymour's expression./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSeymour had backed away, staring at the black style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHis expression wasn't one of disgust or hatred, and not quite one of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIt was simply a feeling of being averse to the thing, as if they were two magnets repelling each other./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's the farplane," Seymour explained, holding up his mechanical hand to it, using the dead to reach toward the dead, but still too afraid to make style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"This is the barrier of the farplane."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe spoke with the same sense of awe the most primitive of people must have spoken of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"It's always been forbidden to touch it, let alone wander past."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Pssh, like I've ever cared about rules," Tidus said before shoving Seymour past the edge of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Get in there; I don't care what you smell."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe two were surrounded by darkness once they entered. While there was not even a tiny pool of light around them they could see themselves, and the ship behind style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEverything else was a black darker than the bleakest ink./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour was even more unnerved, now confused as style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTidus couldn't fathom what was worrying him so much, but confusion he could style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhile they both had had their own unique experiences in the farplane, neither had just walked straight in style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYuna style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanFrom what she had told Tidus, but from her stories, problems tended to come to her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Seymour's eyes darted back and forth, noticing slight noises from all directions. hearing whispers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You can't tell me you're afraid of the dark," Tidus teased, ignoring the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Come on, Lord Dumbass, pick a direction."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour could only try not to wince at the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNone of them were familiar, but the sentiments style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"'Freak'.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'Useless.' 'What do we do with it?/em'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Then something else spoke style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanA lilting, delicate voice, different from all the others, trying to drown them out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Sweet child, do not fear the darkness/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Remember my smile as you sleep,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"I will carry you every step,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Remember my love runs deep/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""What's that?" Tidus asked, noticing the song had piqued Seymour's style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Great, let's go," Tidus said, grabbing Seymour's good hand and dragging him the direction of the singing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Blood of my blood/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"And flesh of my flesh,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Sweet child of mine/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Beautiful child, though your heart my know grief,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Pain may be the wind, and you'll always be the leaf,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"But I'll always hold you, as you share my belief/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Always know that there is always hope down beneath/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Alright, what are you up to?" Tidus asked, tightening his grip and ignoring the song./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour shrugged, his characteristic smile style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Eh, whatever comes my way. I'm an opportunist."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""That doesn't answer style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou're hiding something, and I want to know what it is!"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTidus kept walking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You may be a bit more perceptive than you were before," Seymour commented. He hoped whoever he was talking to didn't notice he failed to mention their style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe had intended to learn them, but his plans had… hit a style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe had asked Yuna while they were alone in Macalania, but he couldn't keep them straight just from stories and style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWas this blonde her cousin or the athlete she seemed to like?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOr were they the same person?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"But you've yet to learn that while a few secrets may slip between my fingers, you should be grateful I keep them to myself." He gestured with his mechanical hand, which he'd let swing dormant until style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHow best, though, to articulate a threat than with something cold, lifeless, and disgusting?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Grateful?" Tidus yelled, gripping Seymour's hand tighter and pulling him style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Everyone hates you!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou're lucky Yuna didn't leave you to die on Baaj!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Those are hardly new opinions about me," Seymour style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Nothing I'm not used to and nothing I can't handle."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You blew up the Al Behd homeland!" Tidus shot back. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""I wasn't the first person to dislike them and I wasn't the first to suggest it," Seymour said style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'm just the only one who had the stones to follow it through."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You attacked Mount Gagazet!" Tidus style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSomething had to stick/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""I eliminated an obstacle in the way of pilgrimages," Seymour style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"They're much easier to undertake now." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Tidus was quick enough not to let on that something seemed amiss about that last style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYelling things always got him further than style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"You destroyed Besaid!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""It's a small island, no one will miss it," Seymour replied dismissively./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You have no idea what you did, do you?" Tidus asked, his anger replaced by confusion./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Not in the slightest," Seymour admitted, his smirk gone, his smugness vanished into the dark, leaving only the other voices to haunt them both. "Unless the Fayth intervene, no one remembers what their body does as a fiend."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe wasn't going to apologize for something he wasn't responsible style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe had given himself enough to be hated for while he was style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe doubted he deserved most hatred for most of it, though./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""How would you know?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour was silent as the song took over for him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Flower of my flower/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Dream of my dream/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Sweet child of mine/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Eyes with sapphire glow/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Skin of pearl and pure as snow,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Hair darker than night and deep as the moonflow,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"With a garland of lace, a gentle daughter I'll soon know/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Love of my love/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Hope of my hope/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"You'll wear this jeweled gift with pride/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Let its wings set you free as you walk in stride/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Down an aisle of jewels and lace as your mother cried/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"To watch in awe as her child became a graceful bride/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour sneered at the melody, despite it drowning out the other style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Because I've seen it happen," he style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"People found me useful, being able to sense the dead—people who died in avalanches or from the cold, or in attacks by wolves or style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI found a family that was headed to the temple; the man was dead and had had killed their young child after his own death. After the wife had recovered and the sending was finished, she wanted me to ask her husband why he went after the infant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""I wasn't able to get near the farplane until years style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhen I asked him, he couldn't recall what he did and he was shocked that it had style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe left after I asked why he had a child in the first place if he held such feelings towards him."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""My dad would know the answer," Tidus said, loosening his grip, but not letting style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe wondered why Seymour was talking so… style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHis words seemed lifeless, like a blade too dulled to cut through a cloud. "Come on, Fruitcake, I think we're almost there." If only he knew what he was looking for./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSeymour had backed away, staring at the black style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHis expression wasn't one of disgust or hatred, and not quite one of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIt was simply a feeling of being averse to the thing, as if they were two magnets repelling each other./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's the farplane," Seymour explained, holding up his mechanical hand to it, using the dead to reach toward the dead, but still too afraid to make style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"This is the barrier of the farplane."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe spoke with the same sense of awe the most primitive of people must have spoken of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"It's always been forbidden to touch it, let alone wander past."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Pssh, like I've ever cared about rules," Tidus said before shoving Seymour past the edge of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Get in there; I don't care what you smell."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe two were surrounded by darkness once they entered. While there was not even a tiny pool of light around them they could see themselves, and the ship behind style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEverything else was a black darker than the bleakest ink./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour was even more unnerved, now confused as style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTidus couldn't fathom what was worrying him so much, but confusion he could style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhile they both had had their own unique experiences in the farplane, neither had just walked straight in style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYuna style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanFrom what she had told Tidus, but from her stories, problems tended to come to her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Seymour's eyes darted back and forth, noticing slight noises from all directions. hearing whispers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You can't tell me you're afraid of the dark," Tidus teased, ignoring the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Come on, Lord Dumbass, pick a direction."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour could only try not to wince at the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNone of them were familiar, but the sentiments style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"'Freak'.span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'Useless.' 'What do we do with it?/em'/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Then something else spoke style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanA lilting, delicate voice, different from all the others, trying to drown them out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Sweet child, do not fear the darkness/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Remember my smile as you sleep,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"I will carry you every step,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Remember my love runs deep/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""What's that?" Tidus asked, noticing the song had piqued Seymour's style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Great, let's go," Tidus said, grabbing Seymour's good hand and dragging him the direction of the singing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Blood of my blood/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"And flesh of my flesh,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Sweet child of mine/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Beautiful child, though your heart my know grief,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Pain may be the wind, and you'll always be the leaf,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"But I'll always hold you, as you share my belief/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Always know that there is always hope down beneath/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Alright, what are you up to?" Tidus asked, tightening his grip and ignoring the song./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour shrugged, his characteristic smile style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Eh, whatever comes my way. I'm an opportunist."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""That doesn't answer style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou're hiding something, and I want to know what it is!"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTidus kept walking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You may be a bit more perceptive than you were before," Seymour commented. He hoped whoever he was talking to didn't notice he failed to mention their style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe had intended to learn them, but his plans had… hit a style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe had asked Yuna while they were alone in Macalania, but he couldn't keep them straight just from stories and style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWas this blonde her cousin or the athlete she seemed to like?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOr were they the same person?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"But you've yet to learn that while a few secrets may slip between my fingers, you should be grateful I keep them to myself." He gestured with his mechanical hand, which he'd let swing dormant until style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHow best, though, to articulate a threat than with something cold, lifeless, and disgusting?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Grateful?" Tidus yelled, gripping Seymour's hand tighter and pulling him style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Everyone hates you!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou're lucky Yuna didn't leave you to die on Baaj!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Those are hardly new opinions about me," Seymour style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Nothing I'm not used to and nothing I can't handle."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You blew up the Al Behd homeland!" Tidus shot back. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""I wasn't the first person to dislike them and I wasn't the first to suggest it," Seymour said style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I'm just the only one who had the stones to follow it through."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You attacked Mount Gagazet!" Tidus style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSomething had to stick/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""I eliminated an obstacle in the way of pilgrimages," Seymour style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"They're much easier to undertake now." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Tidus was quick enough not to let on that something seemed amiss about that last style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYelling things always got him further than style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"You destroyed Besaid!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""It's a small island, no one will miss it," Seymour replied dismissively./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""You have no idea what you did, do you?" Tidus asked, his anger replaced by confusion./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""Not in the slightest," Seymour admitted, his smirk gone, his smugness vanished into the dark, leaving only the other voices to haunt them both. "Unless the Fayth intervene, no one remembers what their body does as a fiend."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe wasn't going to apologize for something he wasn't responsible style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe had given himself enough to be hated for while he was style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe doubted he deserved most hatred for most of it, though./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""How would you know?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour was silent as the song took over for him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Flower of my flower/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Dream of my dream/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Sweet child of mine/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Eyes with sapphire glow/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Skin of pearl and pure as snow,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Hair darker than night and deep as the moonflow,/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"With a garland of lace, a gentle daughter I'll soon know/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Love of my love/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Hope of my hope/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"You'll wear this jeweled gift with pride/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Let its wings set you free as you walk in stride/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Down an aisle of jewels and lace as your mother cried/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"To watch in awe as her child became a graceful bride/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"Seymour sneered at the melody, despite it drowning out the other style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Because I've seen it happen," he style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"People found me useful, being able to sense the dead—people who died in avalanches or from the cold, or in attacks by wolves or style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI found a family that was headed to the temple; the man was dead and had had killed their young child after his own death. After the wife had recovered and the sending was finished, she wanted me to ask her husband why he went after the infant./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""I wasn't able to get near the farplane until years style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhen I asked him, he couldn't recall what he did and he was shocked that it had style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe left after I asked why he had a child in the first place if he held such feelings towards him."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;""My dad would know the answer," Tidus said, loosening his grip, but not letting style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe wondered why Seymour was talking so… style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHis words seemed lifeless, like a blade too dulled to cut through a cloud. "Come on, Fruitcake, I think we're almost there." If only he knew what he was looking for./span/p