Tidus wandered through the streets of Bevelle, hoping to clear his mind with the fresh air flowing in from the ocean.
The ghosts from the Moonflow kept popping up, leaving the place never quite empty. They tried time and again to Send them back but with no luck. Then there was the attack on the palace a few days back by unidentified people. He still smelled smoke when he got close.
He avoided acknowledging the wreck. It remained useable, and mostly intact except for the outer shell of the palace that laid in pieces. Yuna tensed when the budget got slashed in favor of repairing this hunk of metal. And Luca. Chatter in the palace placed the blame on the Moonflow ghosts, while the streets placed it on the palace. A lot of people assumed something secret happening inside. He even heard one person float that it was the same thing that took Baralai.
Snow was one thing, but couldn't Baralai, Paine, Rikku, or Shinra have said something?
The breeze ruffled his hair. Even down here the air tasted stale and he couldn't find the ocean in it. He told himself it was just his imagination as he gave up and started his way back to—
"Tidus?" Kurgum joined him. He forsook his bandages and found a simple headdress to strategically conceal the worst of the damage. With the priest-robes, his limp wasn't obvious either. He used his staff on his bad side and when it hit a stone, he readjusted.
"Hey, Kurgum."
"I haven't seen you during my other walks and the air feels different today. Is this a sign?"
Tidus hated living in Bevelle. Always so boxed in by priests who didn't know how to talk to humans. "Sign of what?"
"That I should avoid the streets."
Tidus felt a smirk. "If you do, then I'll chase you somewhere else."
"Yuna never warned me you were such a creeper."
"Who said creeper? I'm bolder than that. I run after people like the proper madman that I am. Hold on, isn't the council in session right now?"
"Not today, no. Did Lady Yuna say otherwise?"
"I dunno man, I can't keep track." Heat prickled his skin and Tidus found himself wondering how Kurgum survived those thick robes out here. Then again, those combined with the staff gave Kurgum a berth that even Tidus rarely got out here.
"The budget issue isn't clearing up," Tidus said. "The palace turned into a worse money sink than it was."
"It isn't just the palace. Parts of Bevelle as well as the city of Luca took damage."
Tidus twisted out of the way of a child running through the streets with a toy above her head. "Can't see why they'd choose this place now that Sin's gone. Why don't you all go back to the islands where it's quieter?"
"I assumed, as you are from a great city yourself, that you would know why?"
"Zanarkand was different."
"How was Zanarkand different?"
"It wasn't safe to wander about like these people do."
"Zanarkand was a dangerous place?"
"Well, no. But you played it safe anyway. Hey, aren't you pretty high in the religious sect? Yuna talks about you like you lead the thing."
"Unofficially, I have taken role of Praetor as Lady Yuna has taken Chancellor. Once Baralai returns, we plan to revert to the way it was."
They walked on and Tidus caught pyreflies. They must have miscounted the mortalities if something stirred under Bevelle's shattered palace.
"Have you ever gone back?" Tidus asked.
"Where?"
"To the Moonflow. Where everything went wrong with the spirits."
"Not yet. I've considered taking another try at it, but the spirits haven't been harassing people enough to motivate me."
"It's those people that are whining."
"Yes. But Gippal keeps good management around there, so the unrest remains minimal."
"So, we'll just let the spirits keep wandering about like they won't become fiends?"
"We're training more senders to keep the fiends manageable. So long as we Send the spirits before they expire, we keep fiends from multiplying."
"It'll get worse."
"Perhaps. But we're doing what we can while we can. I pray it won't worsen from here as we're on top for now."
"For now," Tidus muttered.
Kurgum changed the topic to Zanarkand again, only he talked about the dust there and how he needed to refresh his reagents with it. He wanted to take a trip and bring Tidus, but Tidus meant to turn him down until he realized that he hadn't visited Zanarkand since they blew up the Farplane.
… And maybe the broken Farplane had something to do with the rest of the nonsense happening here to Besaid.
"Let's do it," he told Kurgum like it was about boring dust and rocks.
Locke played with his daggers, but his bad arm couldn't keep up with his good one. Edgar, Sabin, Gau, Cyan, Strago, Relm, Celes, and Terra talked about the end of the world like they spoke over a dead beast about dividing it among the villagers. They said Setzer was around here somewhere, too.
"Speakers of the dead?" Edgar asked.
Gau nodded. "Shadow says."
"Our world is in a unique position," Terra said, still shaken from the news of Kefka's visit. "The loss we suffered in the span of minutes ripped a hole in the barrier between living and dead, so it's harder for them to hide themselves from us."
"So, they can't hide," Edgar said. "Why does that encourage them to speak with us instead of avoiding a place where they can't make the rules?"
"I'm not sure. I don't understand spirits, I'm afraid."
Strago leaned forward in his chair. "We've seen these things can be malicious. How should we trust them?"
"Maybe this is a show of trust," Relm said. "Them working with us on our terms. Maybe we can—"
"You're not going anywhere," Celes said. Relm wouldn't stop talking about the light that accompanied Terra and the others' arrival. She insisted on leaving herself and finding another world. Celes insisted she recover.
Terra clasped her hands together. "The Council of the Dead has communicated with as many planets as I've been to. They've grown more insistent as the fight's worn on and I think they've grown as tired of it as we have. They're quicker to work deals rather than wait for perfect timing."
"Really?" Sabin muttered into his fist. "But we haven't heard from them since the Phantom Forest. Who's to say they're not taking advantage of us because we're easy?"
"What about Shadow?" Relm asked. "He won't take advantage."
"Perchance Shadow may not come from thine council," Cyan said.
Gau scowled. "Shadow say he council."
Locke almost dropped a dagger after tossing it towards his bad hand. "What does it mean that we're closer to the dead than these other worlds? How is that a good thing?"
Terra hesitated. "It should make it easier to defend our home."
"In what way?" Celes asked.
"The God of Light took his first world," Terra said. "And I'm sure he'll move to his next target soon. Ruin may not be a high priority, but we need to set up defenses for when it becomes that."
Locke couldn't help the feeling that they missed something. But he wasn't the one hopping worlds and talking to strangers.
Edgar folded his arms. "As far as I can tell, this fight hasn't come to us yet. Defenses are good, but do we have a concrete reason to believe that this war will reach us? Sabin is right that they've left us alone since the Train."
"It already has, hasn't it?" Terra said. "You said Kefka returned and tormented people. That was due to an oversight impossible without divine interference. Our own soldiers have come and gone. And I believe that what happened to the Phantom Train was a direct attack, unrecent through it may be."
"They seek our death, then?" Celes asked.
"They seek controlled disorder and manipulated chaos, meant to lead us into accepting his rule. When that doesn't work, our deaths will suffice. If those fighting do not win, then it will come here. Bhunivelze will not stop until he is satisfied, and it's made clear that he is unsatisfiable."
"Such rings a familiar tale," Cyan muttered.
Locke dropped his dagger and cursed. "So, what are we supposed to do?"
Gau said, "Shadow say learn to speak to dead good. Careful and fix broken heads."
"Training is what I would advise," Terra said. "Take control of what options you have and that's the best you can do."
"You say 'you' like you aren't one of us," Relm said.
"You're leaving again?" Celes asked.
Terra looked between them. "My initial mission is not finished. I should find the Espers. And there's a lot more that I can do out there than I can do, here."
Sabin leaned back against the wall. "When?"
"Tonight, perhaps."
"That is soon." Strago shared a glance with Relm. "Won't you stay at least for a meal? Better to travel with food in your stomach."
"It depends on Setzer's and Faris's plans. But… how is Ruin?"
"Better." Celes took on a wistful tone. "As ever, there are obstacles, but it looks good for our continued survival."
Locke said, "Crops are growing. We'll have vaddicap again in a few months."
Terra's eyes sparkled. "We haven't lost everything then!"
"To the point that we're setting up new settlements," Edgar said. "We don't have to rely on each other as much as we used to."
Relm said, "And we're breeding livestock again."
"Rabbits," Gau said. "Not eat much. Many come, grow fast."
Edgar winced. "We would have started with larger beasts but…"
Locke sheathed his blade. "It's been working for the few months we've done it."
"We've been managing about as well as one might expect," Celes said. "Certainly, we've had our share of pitfalls, but we've not let them end us."
"Ruin's made it clear it's not going down anytime soon." Locke steadied himself against the wall. "Whether some ghosts are gonna come harass us or not, we have a planet to protect. Let's set it up accordingly."
Celes looked at him with something soft in her expression. "Let's work with the villagers and track any reports of visiting spirits. By coordinating, we can manage otherworld communication while we rebuild."
"It's our land after all," Edgar said. "The effort we've expended in saving it should not reap rewards for some foreign deity."
"Agreed," Sabin said.
Locke watched everyone chime in and get excited. Terra didn't relax, but he got used to seeing her like that. Hopefully when all this was finished, she'd finally take time on their renewed planet to relish the feeling of being home. He wanted to do the same. But despite his words, it would be hard to do that with the looming threat of destruction.
"The loss of Gaia VII has given us an opening," King said to the entirety of Class Zero across their worlds. "Bhunivelze has disconnected from the Void's contract, but that might not last. We can take advantage."
Jack was the first to respond. "How?"
"There are innumerable options to deal with such." Trey's voice was still strained but he recovered his tongue. "Yet few are likely useful in this situation."
"Spit it out, King," Sice said.
Queen said, "He's talking about Gaia V, the Merged World."
Cinque squealed over the link, "I know that place!"
"We know, Cinque," Seven said.
"I see." At Trey's voice, the rest of the class tuned out. "V has a unique connection to the Void. Likely, that is where the contract was made, as we do not know why Bhunivelze was there."
"We retrace his steps," King said. "It should lead us to wherever the Void is strongest. If we disrupt it there, we buy ourselves time."
"How much time?" Eight asked.
Queen rubbed at her temples. "Enough, if we're lucky."
"Sounds like another chore, yo." Nine's voice came with more static due to his inattention.
"It's worth a shot." Likewise, Ace still sounded off due to his lack of focus. "What's the attack plan?"
King said, "Dajh's power over Life is the way we can hit it. Weaponized, he can bomb the connection and put the Void out of commission."
"Who's going with him?" Deuce asked.
Cater huffed. "Some of us are pretty busy out here."
"This is a stealth op," Seven said. "I'm betting the Void has defenses it could engage if it sees us."
Cinque cheered. "I'll go! It's my world, after all!"
"This is a great plan," Sice grumbled. "Nothing could possibly go wrong sending off Dajh and a toddler to take out the Void."
"Rude," Cinque said.
"King? This was your idea, is there more to it?" Seven asked.
"It's open for discussion."
The link went quiet and King shared a glance with Queen at the rarity.
Ace broke the silence. "If you're sending Dajh, Sazh will want to come."
"They're both on Spira," Eight said.
King took a deep breath. "We'll check with him."
"We should consider Serah," Trey said. "Her sight over time is key. Using it correctly, she can stretch out what window they'll have."
Cater whistled. "So, no more of us?"
"Tuning the rest of this convo out," Nine said.
"What about Mog?" Jack asked. "Gaia V was where we found him, right?"
"He'll stay with Serah, anyway," King said.
Deuce asked, "Is that enough?"
Queen leaned forward. "Dajh, Serah, Mog, and Cinque will go to Gaia V and deal with the Void. Everyone else, continue as you are."
"Something's come up," Trey said. "I'm tuning out."
Cinque hummed. "I'll tell Mog and Serah."
Both faded from the mental link, immediately followed by Sice.
"Any other news from Gaia VII?" Deuce asked. "What happened?"
Queen took that one. "Bhunivelze abandoned his vessel in favor of storing his soul in a planet. We're in the dark for what that means right now. Serah's scanning for Hope."
Jack asked, "Will sending her to Gaia V get in the way?"
"Unlikely," Queen said.
King refocused. "We can't kill Bhunivelze if he's not in physical form, and we do need to kill him before the Void returns."
"Unless we get it to a point where he won't have anything to gain from accepting the Void," Queen said.
"We can think on that, but we won't need an answer," Ace said. "Not if we catch him."
Eight strengthened in presence. "Herd him into a physical body."
"Ooh, I like this plan," Cater said. "Won't that mean we have to kill someone to get rid of him for good?"
Queen stiffened. "Probably."
"We'll see about that," Seven said. "Someone might be willing, or maybe—"
"Cannibalization," King said.
Seven paused at the interruption. "Hm?'
"The Cie have been taking pieces of Bhunivelze's power, shard by shard. Eventually, he won't regenerate it."
Queen sucked in a sharp breath. "That's… elegant."
King continued. "If we can trap Bhunivelze within one of their bodies, they should devour the rest of his power."
"It could work," Deuce said, "but how would we get him to possess one of them?"
"He just gave up on physical bodies," Jack said.
Seven betrayed excitement. "We'll build a trap."
"Any idea how to do that?" Ace asked.
Deuce hesitated. "… Nothing comes to mind."
They discussed ways around it, but King only cared that they found a new way forward. That renewed morale sent the rest of the class their separate ways again to leave King and Queen in the quiet of their pseudo office.
"You should rest," King told Queen. "You've not had a moment to yourself since we first laid eyes on this place."
"Could that be the answer? Time?"
"Given what happened to our world, I'd rather not entertain a thought like that."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Worked at what, though? Killing billions of people across billions of years?"
"It forced those involved into a stalemate. We could pause and allow ourselves more time if we do it right."
"It'd be hard to give us more time and not Bhunivelze."
Queen scowled and returned to her thoughts. King gave her another moment before he asked, "Didn't Mother have two more that opted out?"
"Tiz and Joker?"
"Can't we get them on the line?"
"It'll be hard." Queen moved to the window. "They cut themselves off early."
"Let's consider it. If they have anything to offer, we could use it."
Queen gave a reluctant nod.
