Legal Disclaimer:
The majority of the characters portrayed in this fanfic are copyright of Squaresoft,
now until forever. Unless they sell out somewhere along the lines. Don't sue me
please, I'm poor. Really. My contact information is somewhere below this.
This fic is a sort of 'What if?' fic. There are some spoilers to the game in this
fic, so it is not suggested to read this fic if you have not played Final Fantasy X
till the very end.
By the way, this piece of work is Copyrighted by
Rocky Valkyrie 2002, all rights reserved etc. etc. Rockythehercules@yahoo.com
AUTOR'S NOTE:
This fanfic is not very good. I can tell you that in advance. Any and all
convulsions, regurgitations, vomiting, swearing and etc. cannot be attributed
to me or my Fic. Legally. Please? ;;^_~ Enjoy the fic, if and only if you can.
Also, I aplogize for my last fics, which was really REALLY bad. Smoking is
hazardous both to your health and to your sanity. Especially weed.
The Final Aeon- The end...?
Based very loosesly on Final Fantasy X by Squaresoft.
By Rocky Valkyrie
The whole group of guardians had reached the temple of the final fayth at
last. All that the bunch of them had done... it all came together in this; this was
the culmination of their efforts. All of them; Rikku, Yuna, Lulu, Auron, Tidus,
Khimari and Wakka, they all dreaded this moment as much as they anticipated it.
They were all feeling awkward and axious; their journey was at its end, but at the
same time, they were going to lose something that was really too important for them
to lose. But... they really did need to sacrifice someone for the greater good; there
was no other way. This would bring hope back to Spira, so... it should've been
something that they would deal with, with no problem.
Yuna; the pawn in Yevon's game, to once again defeat Sin and restore hope
to Spira, to prolong the meaningless existence of the inhabitants of Spira. To
temporarily rid Spira of its fear. But that was all it was: a temporary solution.
Sin would rise again to decimate and terrorize the progeny of Spira. What would
Yuna's sacrifice solve, what would it show, what good would it do?
Sin. The 'punishment' inflicted upon the people of Spira for using the
forbidden machina. Maybe because of the machina used by people like the Al bhed, Sin
would rise again to punish Spira for their machina use. It could be the hypocrites
like the Yevonites that caused Sin to reappear, but they did not know. All they knew
was that there was no way around sacrificing someone to defeat Sin. That's all they
knew for sure.
So they braced themselves, swallowed their fear and stepped into the large
stone monument that had once been a landmark of the city of Zanarkand. They walked
in, treading along the ruins of the building. Scattered rocks, pieces of broken walls,
crumbled pieces of the past scattered along the floor paved their way into a large
room with some sort screen and strange tiling.
After solving that and another puzzle in another room, a path was opened;
a floating floorpiece that went down to another room popped up in a hole in the middle
of the second room. But before the party could make their way to the final fayth,
they were greeted by a fiend. The Sanctuary Keeper!
The Sanctuary Keeper was a huge demonic figure with large black horns which
spun around in a spiral. It had a semi-humanoid upper body, although putrescent,
rotting in its magnificent gore and long limbs with big claws which hung down for
miles. The bottom half of it was a sort of... thing that looked like infested roots
which in a twisted way resembled a bee's stinger. It also had ripped, rotting bat-
like wings, which were black and puss dripping yellow and green, slightly.
They all faced it. It was a fiend with plenty of demonic force. It flew at
Khimari instantly and stung him, turning him shades of red and causing him to attack
it angrily and wildly. Khimari's attacks didn't seem to be doing too much damage,
and every time he attacked, it counterattacked, much stronger than it had at first
been hit. Then Yuna casted Esuna on Khimari, curing him of the poisons of anger.
Khimari and Wakka jump behind the Keeper in one almost rehearsed motion. Jumping out
of the way, Yuna hid behind Auron, who pushes Yuna and Rikku out of the way, then
jumps up and slashes the entirety of the back side of the Keeper. The beast attacks
wildly, but hits nothing. Wakka and Khimari attack on cue and in unison. The beast
repeats its wild, almost childlike reaction. Then, stupidly, Tidus jumps in front
of the fiend and attacks him head on, at which point he gets his butt whooped and
slammed into a nearby wall.
Then Lulu jumps behind Khimari and casts Flare. The explosion happened
somewhere around the fiend's head. As the smoke cleared, Auron appeared behind the
enormous head and shot forward at it, his sword thrust forward to stab the Keeper.
It turned around, though, and swatted the sword off, then proceeded to attack the
party, knocking them back a few steps. Auron lands, and leans on his sword, as
he does this, he winces his one good eye and bends down on one knee. Then he sees
something on the floor and jumps up and back. The ground beneath him explodes just
seconds after he lifts off. Wakka sees the same thing beneath his own feet, but he
is too late; the glyph mines take their first victim, and Wakka is launched high
into the air, now unconscious.
"Yuna!!!" Auron commanded, in his usual coarse voice, "Now is the time..."
Yuna looks at Auron and nods, then looks back at the Keeper, who is faced
away from her. Yuna starts chanting, summoning one of her aeons... Shiva. But
after causing confusion and commotion on the side of Auron and Wakka, the Sanctuary
Keeper turned around and attacked Yuna with its stinger. Yuna did not flinch, and
Rikku jumped in front of her. The punched the stinger out of the way, and as the
beast was turned sideways, Rikku cast Flare on it. The middle part of the monstrosity
exploded and the beast folded sideways. Then... Yuna finished her summoning.
Ice fell out of the sky, and a spirit-like thing came down and entered it,
shattering the large pieces of ice as it came down. Then it tossed off its cloth
and Yuna caught it. It then made several pieces of ice fall on the sactuary keeper;
this was its heavenly strike. The Keeper did a backflip, smacking Shiva in the
forehead with its stinger. At this time, Shiva used its overdrive; Diamond Dust.
Ice flies everywhere, while Shiva holds out her hand and blows it, turning the
whole area to ice. But by the time the ice shatters, a glyph mine is planted right
under the unassuming Shiva. The ground explodes right from under Shiva. She is
defeated and dismissed.
"Shiva..." Yuna screamed, stroking the neck of the slowly disappearing
aeon.
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted, pushing on his knee, trying to get up, "watch out!"
The Keeper was after her again, it was lunging at her. Yuna put her arms
in front of her face, as if it would've helped against the Keeper. But luckily,
Khimari jumps at her and pulls her away from the line of fire. The Keeper crashes
into the floor, and is temporarily stunned. Tidus then quickly casts haste on Yuna,
who summons Bahamut quickly.
Bahamut comes out in all its glory; its black-gold scaled body came down
like the Apocalypse. The air pressure from its landing shook the ground and pushed
the whole party back. Bahamut used its impluse on the Keeper, holding it in one
place long enough for Bahamut to use its Mega Flare. This caused the demonic entity
to disinegrate into oblivion. The Sanctuary Keeper was no more. At this point,
Bahamut was dismissed and the path was cleared.
Auron lets out a sigh. "Quick thinking, kid," Auron said, almost sounding
sincere, to Tidus.
"Yeah, yeah... I didn't see you do any better, Auron," whined Tidus, sounding
more childish than usual.
"Sir Auron..." Yuna gasped, "that's not very nice," Yuna said, putting on her
pouty look.
Auron chuckles and slings his sword around and on his shoulder, "Come, children,"
he says, managing to sound even more mean, "let's finish this thing," he ends, suddenly
with a firm, controlling tone.
Auron turns to the little elevator gadget in the middle of the hole, and Khimari
steps forward and grabs his shoulder. "Khimari not like. Auron not say bad thing." he says,
almost with no point.
"Be quiet, Ronso," Auron scoffs, angrily, in his hoarse voice.
Khimari growls, but just turns away, realizing his inferiority. Auron steps forward
again towards the elevator, but for the second time, he is interrupted. This time it is
Rikku, with her arms stretched out both sides.
"Can't go yet..." Rikku says, her voice trailing.
"And why not?" Auron questions, using his free hand to pull his collar down a bit.
"Well..." Rikku says, trying desperately to think of some excuse; really she didn't
want Auron to rush into anything becuase she had not thought of a way to bail Yuna out of
sacrificing herself to save Spira. So she put one hand out front and pushed him away from
the hole.
Auron conforms to her pushing. He had taken a liking to her; she brought back fond
memories of his younger years. He clears his throat, and then says, "And what do you think
you're doing, kid?" managing to sound like a bully.
"I... we can't go down there." she says, her voice cracking. Her eyes were watering,
but she was discreet about it; she was the one who dreaded the closely following moment the
most.
"And why not?" Auron replies in question form.
"Yunie... I can't... we shouldn't just sit around..." she says, sinking deeper into
her depression, "we can't just watch her, you know, die."
At once the group fell more silent than they were a few moments before, when no one
was speaking. They were all aware of what was to happen, but they all would have rathered
it if no one said anything.
"Hmph. What? You think we can change anything?" he pauses, clears his throat, then
continues, "Now? I tried that. It does not and will not work. It was a lifetime ago. We all
knew... even Yuna... all of us knew, going into this, what was going to happen to her. But
we have to go on. If you really love Yuna, then you will let her do what she has to do."
This all struck Rikku very harshly. She had never been talked to like that. She ran
at him, and, crying, started hitting him, crying, flailing her arms as if those actions would
save Yuna; like they would make a difference. She then says, "But... but... Yunie... she'll...
Yunie'll..."
In some out-of-character compassion, taken over by some demons, Auron takes Rikku in
his arms, hugging her, and probably subconsciously, lets go of his sword. Rikku returns the
compassion, hugging Auron back, and crying into his chest. Suddenly, Rikku feela another hand
on her back, a cold hand, stroking, caressing her around her shoulder blades. Rikku looks back
and sees Yuna, tears in her eyes, shaking her head slowly at Rikku, whispering in no voice
at all, "It'll be okay."
She let go of Auron, and Auron returned the favor. Auron picked up his sword and sort
of stepped forward, insisting he get on first. The rest of the party was just compelled to
let him. They all got on board the tiny elevator, and were face to face with a door. Somehow
they knew that the next room would hold the secrets to life and death. Auron, as always, steps
forward, to try to keep everything cool, to seem like he's in command of everything, but he
feels a pull on his shirt as he advances. He turns his gaze backwards and looks at Rikku, who
is looking down, not at him, and is tugging on his shirt. He then eyes Yuna, who nods at him,
melancholy, and signals for him to move on. He tugs back at his shirt and then steps forward.
But then he turns back round.
No one expected it; all they saw was that he approached Rikku, who flinched when Auron
stepped towards her. He hugged her and gave her a passionate kiss. A long, beautiful kiss like
they had never before. He then took off his shades and looked her square in the eyes. She then
understood everything he could not tell her any other way; everything that he felt, but could
not manage to articulate, what words couldn't manage to express. She felt him, for who he was,
and for the first time in their journey, she understood.
Auron turned and stepped towards the door again. He was not stopped again. Not till the
end. The whole party fell silent, but they continued on as if they had never experienced the
silent man's burst of passion, of emotion. Rikku was the only one who acknowledged it, in fact.
They came to a room with a large glass display. It looked like the fayth from Bevelle
to Tidus, but the hymn of the fayth could not be heard.
"Hey... what's up with this?" asked Tidus, "where's that song?"
"Hmm... I cannot feel the presence of the fayth here," Yuna says, almost to herself.
"Hmph. I don't like history lessons." Auron groaned, "But I'll tell you this one...
the fayth of the final summoning," he paused, then came, "is dead."
"What?" Wakka blurted, "Dead? How can that be?"
"It expired its power when it became the final summon," Auron explained.
"But then... how... the final aeon, how is that going to..." Wakka muttered, confused.
"Yunalesca. She'll award the success of your pilgrimage by giving you..." he said,
almost seeming sad, "...a new final aeon. Its closeness to you, Yuna, is the only thing that
can defeat Sin." And this he said with greif.
The greif-striken party moved on to the next room. Tidus and Auron trailed behind,
though.
"You knew this all along, didn't you, Auron?" Tidus shouts, angrily.
"Yes." he said, his head slinking down a bit.
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Tidus says, more frustrated than ever.
"To let you see the truth. To more than tell you the truth, to show you; to let you
experience for yourself... the greif that comes with truth." Auron stated, with finality,
turning around and moving forward again.
Khimari comes back and adresses them both, "Come. Not be scared, Khimari lead way."
Khimari says.
They all stop in some grand hall. The hall is empty, and yet full at the same time.
There is something ominous, something that couldn't be explained, that took over the whole
place. Something stepped out of the shadows. It was the figure of a woman... someone
otherwordly, indescribably so. It was Lady Yunalesca, Yuna's namesake.
"Yunalesca..." Yuna says, her voice trailing.
Lady Yunalesca greets the party punctually, "Welcome, my children, welcome to..."
she pauses and tusseling her hair, says, "...Zanarkand. Your terrible journey is done with.
I will now grant you my aid; I will bestow upon you the final aeon. My secret. Now... you
must choose."
"Choose what, milady?" Yuna asks, eyeing the stoic Auron.
"She needs another sacrifice." Auron says gruffly, "For the final aeon."
"What?" Yuna asks, still puzzled.
"Yes. Your final aeon; your ultimate weapon will be one whom you trust. Your bond
will be the power that shall defeat Sin. I shall transform him or her into your foundation
with my power. That person will be your fayth... your final," Yunalesca says, managing a
melancholy tone, "aeon. Just like my husband so long ago."
"You knew this all along, didn't you, Auron? Why did you tell us?" Rikku demands,
not in Auron's plane of sight.
"Your father, Braska, chose this path, Yuna," Auron says, perhaps ignoring Rikku,
"with the hope that this time there might be a change. But he was wrong. We just helped
continue the cycle of destruction."
"There's gotta be another way!!!" Tidus blurts out, "We... we can beat Sin! With
or without the final aeon."
"Hmmm... it seems you do not understand. Not one life, but two, will be lost to
defeat Sin. But is this not better than losing thousands of lives doing nothing, dying
in vain, in fear of Sin?" Yunalesca poses this question.
"Yeah... but what good is it? It's nothing but an elaborate cover up, just false
hope," Tidus says, angrily.
"And would you rather the world live without hope?" Yunalesca says, nonchalantly.
"But... but..." Tidus had lost this argument.
"The term false hope is misused. If one's hope is fulfilled, the hope becomes
true hope, and if it does not, then does it become false hope?" Yunalesca asks, smartly.
"The world is always better with hope..." Yuna says, looking to the ground.
"We are wasting time. Sin could be wreaking havoc at this very moment. Who is
your choice...?" Yunalesca asks, turning the room completely silent.
"I shall go," Auron proposes.
"A dead man can not help," Yunalesca says.
"Do it, whench! I don't care what games you're playing..." Auron demands.
"You dare threaten me?" Yunalesca asks, putting her hand to her chest.
"Do it! These kids don't need to be sacrificed... not for Jecht, not for Sin."
Auron shouts, putting one arm in front of him threateningly, and with the sword stretched
back, right about to strike.
Yunalesca thrusts her hands in front of her, starts chanting, and then casts some
sort of spell, and Auron slowly fades to pyreflies. Realizing it himself, Auron looks at
his hand, then plops down on one of his knees, leaning on his sword. Rikku runs to him,
crying. Auron was being sent.
"No... you can't..." Rikku was breaking right before the party, "...you can't go...
...yet."
"I'll go, ya?" Wakka said, hardly ready, but already set.
"No, Wakka, I'll go..." Lulu said.
Disappearing, Auron could say one thing, and only had time to say one thing, "No...
you'll... turn... into... argh... you'll... become Sin." After saying this, Auron disappears.
All that is left of Auron is Rikku; the petite, almost vulnerable looking young woman who
is crying, almost despairing on the floor. For one she knew for such a short time, she had
shared so much with... her one, her only, Auron.
"What? What did he mean, Yunalesca?" Tidus demanded, now angrier than ever before.
"It's true. That is how Jecht became Sin. Sin is so powerful that it can only be
defeated by another Sin. But that power takes over everything, it's overwhelming; it turns
the aeon, and the fayth with it, into another Sin." Yunalesca confesses.
"Then we'll change it. We don't need," Tidus says, then glances at Rikku, "we don't
need to lose another one. We don't need to lose another person."
"That is selfish and immature," Lulu says, losing all eye contact.
"I don't care if it's immature. If we keep doing this, what'll we have changed?
Yuna's dad thought that that time would've been different. He wanted to change things, too,
but we're different; we can do something about it." Tidus says.
"That is all fine. Believe in what you will. You still are innocent; naïve. Join
me in the back room when you have come to your senses and come to terms with reality."
Yunalesca says, plainly, then she walks into another room.
"So... what'll we do?" Wakka asks.
"I don't know yet... but this is my story. Whatever happens, we have control over
it. Let's do it right!" Tidus says, rallying the troops.
"Wait a minute," Yuna asys, pouting, "This is my story, too... it's all of our
stories... you're not alone, and for once in my life, neither am I. And I know it now.
I... I'll decide. It's time for me to do something that's not pre-ordained. We'll change
history."
The party walks into the next room with high hopes. The party walks into the
place where Yunalesca would perform the ceremony to summon the final aeon. Something
felt different, something felt... wrong. Like something terrible was about to happen that
was not supposed to happen. Had the fate of the world really changed?
"Have you decide who will be your final fayth?" the mysterious woman asks.
"The ressurection of Sin... it will end sometime, will it not?" Yuna asks,
idealistically.
"Sin is eternal. Spira shall forever be burdened with Sin." Yunalesca answers.
"But... forever? Won't Sin stop coming back if we atone for our mistakes?" Wakka
asks.
"Will humanity ever be that pure? Humanity can not elude its sins." Yunalesca says.
"All you have is hope. Hope is comfort, nothing more. A child's toy to shield him from
reality. Wake up, children, there..." she hesistes at this, "...there is no other way.
Accept what has been accepted for generations. There is no other way."
That phrase, 'There is no other way' kept ringing in their heads. It echoed for what
seemed like an eternity. The sound of silence.
"So..." Tidus says, tears in his eyes, "...Jecht threw his life away for nothing?"
Yunalesca turns her glance to Tidus, saying, "They died of their own free will.
They did it to save... all of you. You are all alive because of their sacrifice. Realize
this."
"Then take me..." Tidus says, "...I'm the only one who could do this."
"You crazy, kid?" Wakka demmands, "You know what you're saying? Just take me,
Lady Yunalesca."
Khimari grabs Wakka by the shoulder, "Little man has decided. No way to stop. Anymore."
They all understood, but that mattered little. They all wanted to stop it. Everyone who
was left; Lulu, Wakka and Khimari, they all watched as Yunalesca led Yuna and Tidus away. To
be sacrificed to perform the final summoning. It was the end of their journey, but was it
really the end...?
To be continued...
The majority of the characters portrayed in this fanfic are copyright of Squaresoft,
now until forever. Unless they sell out somewhere along the lines. Don't sue me
please, I'm poor. Really. My contact information is somewhere below this.
This fic is a sort of 'What if?' fic. There are some spoilers to the game in this
fic, so it is not suggested to read this fic if you have not played Final Fantasy X
till the very end.
By the way, this piece of work is Copyrighted by
Rocky Valkyrie 2002, all rights reserved etc. etc. Rockythehercules@yahoo.com
AUTOR'S NOTE:
This fanfic is not very good. I can tell you that in advance. Any and all
convulsions, regurgitations, vomiting, swearing and etc. cannot be attributed
to me or my Fic. Legally. Please? ;;^_~ Enjoy the fic, if and only if you can.
Also, I aplogize for my last fics, which was really REALLY bad. Smoking is
hazardous both to your health and to your sanity. Especially weed.
The Final Aeon- The end...?
Based very loosesly on Final Fantasy X by Squaresoft.
By Rocky Valkyrie
The whole group of guardians had reached the temple of the final fayth at
last. All that the bunch of them had done... it all came together in this; this was
the culmination of their efforts. All of them; Rikku, Yuna, Lulu, Auron, Tidus,
Khimari and Wakka, they all dreaded this moment as much as they anticipated it.
They were all feeling awkward and axious; their journey was at its end, but at the
same time, they were going to lose something that was really too important for them
to lose. But... they really did need to sacrifice someone for the greater good; there
was no other way. This would bring hope back to Spira, so... it should've been
something that they would deal with, with no problem.
Yuna; the pawn in Yevon's game, to once again defeat Sin and restore hope
to Spira, to prolong the meaningless existence of the inhabitants of Spira. To
temporarily rid Spira of its fear. But that was all it was: a temporary solution.
Sin would rise again to decimate and terrorize the progeny of Spira. What would
Yuna's sacrifice solve, what would it show, what good would it do?
Sin. The 'punishment' inflicted upon the people of Spira for using the
forbidden machina. Maybe because of the machina used by people like the Al bhed, Sin
would rise again to punish Spira for their machina use. It could be the hypocrites
like the Yevonites that caused Sin to reappear, but they did not know. All they knew
was that there was no way around sacrificing someone to defeat Sin. That's all they
knew for sure.
So they braced themselves, swallowed their fear and stepped into the large
stone monument that had once been a landmark of the city of Zanarkand. They walked
in, treading along the ruins of the building. Scattered rocks, pieces of broken walls,
crumbled pieces of the past scattered along the floor paved their way into a large
room with some sort screen and strange tiling.
After solving that and another puzzle in another room, a path was opened;
a floating floorpiece that went down to another room popped up in a hole in the middle
of the second room. But before the party could make their way to the final fayth,
they were greeted by a fiend. The Sanctuary Keeper!
The Sanctuary Keeper was a huge demonic figure with large black horns which
spun around in a spiral. It had a semi-humanoid upper body, although putrescent,
rotting in its magnificent gore and long limbs with big claws which hung down for
miles. The bottom half of it was a sort of... thing that looked like infested roots
which in a twisted way resembled a bee's stinger. It also had ripped, rotting bat-
like wings, which were black and puss dripping yellow and green, slightly.
They all faced it. It was a fiend with plenty of demonic force. It flew at
Khimari instantly and stung him, turning him shades of red and causing him to attack
it angrily and wildly. Khimari's attacks didn't seem to be doing too much damage,
and every time he attacked, it counterattacked, much stronger than it had at first
been hit. Then Yuna casted Esuna on Khimari, curing him of the poisons of anger.
Khimari and Wakka jump behind the Keeper in one almost rehearsed motion. Jumping out
of the way, Yuna hid behind Auron, who pushes Yuna and Rikku out of the way, then
jumps up and slashes the entirety of the back side of the Keeper. The beast attacks
wildly, but hits nothing. Wakka and Khimari attack on cue and in unison. The beast
repeats its wild, almost childlike reaction. Then, stupidly, Tidus jumps in front
of the fiend and attacks him head on, at which point he gets his butt whooped and
slammed into a nearby wall.
Then Lulu jumps behind Khimari and casts Flare. The explosion happened
somewhere around the fiend's head. As the smoke cleared, Auron appeared behind the
enormous head and shot forward at it, his sword thrust forward to stab the Keeper.
It turned around, though, and swatted the sword off, then proceeded to attack the
party, knocking them back a few steps. Auron lands, and leans on his sword, as
he does this, he winces his one good eye and bends down on one knee. Then he sees
something on the floor and jumps up and back. The ground beneath him explodes just
seconds after he lifts off. Wakka sees the same thing beneath his own feet, but he
is too late; the glyph mines take their first victim, and Wakka is launched high
into the air, now unconscious.
"Yuna!!!" Auron commanded, in his usual coarse voice, "Now is the time..."
Yuna looks at Auron and nods, then looks back at the Keeper, who is faced
away from her. Yuna starts chanting, summoning one of her aeons... Shiva. But
after causing confusion and commotion on the side of Auron and Wakka, the Sanctuary
Keeper turned around and attacked Yuna with its stinger. Yuna did not flinch, and
Rikku jumped in front of her. The punched the stinger out of the way, and as the
beast was turned sideways, Rikku cast Flare on it. The middle part of the monstrosity
exploded and the beast folded sideways. Then... Yuna finished her summoning.
Ice fell out of the sky, and a spirit-like thing came down and entered it,
shattering the large pieces of ice as it came down. Then it tossed off its cloth
and Yuna caught it. It then made several pieces of ice fall on the sactuary keeper;
this was its heavenly strike. The Keeper did a backflip, smacking Shiva in the
forehead with its stinger. At this time, Shiva used its overdrive; Diamond Dust.
Ice flies everywhere, while Shiva holds out her hand and blows it, turning the
whole area to ice. But by the time the ice shatters, a glyph mine is planted right
under the unassuming Shiva. The ground explodes right from under Shiva. She is
defeated and dismissed.
"Shiva..." Yuna screamed, stroking the neck of the slowly disappearing
aeon.
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted, pushing on his knee, trying to get up, "watch out!"
The Keeper was after her again, it was lunging at her. Yuna put her arms
in front of her face, as if it would've helped against the Keeper. But luckily,
Khimari jumps at her and pulls her away from the line of fire. The Keeper crashes
into the floor, and is temporarily stunned. Tidus then quickly casts haste on Yuna,
who summons Bahamut quickly.
Bahamut comes out in all its glory; its black-gold scaled body came down
like the Apocalypse. The air pressure from its landing shook the ground and pushed
the whole party back. Bahamut used its impluse on the Keeper, holding it in one
place long enough for Bahamut to use its Mega Flare. This caused the demonic entity
to disinegrate into oblivion. The Sanctuary Keeper was no more. At this point,
Bahamut was dismissed and the path was cleared.
Auron lets out a sigh. "Quick thinking, kid," Auron said, almost sounding
sincere, to Tidus.
"Yeah, yeah... I didn't see you do any better, Auron," whined Tidus, sounding
more childish than usual.
"Sir Auron..." Yuna gasped, "that's not very nice," Yuna said, putting on her
pouty look.
Auron chuckles and slings his sword around and on his shoulder, "Come, children,"
he says, managing to sound even more mean, "let's finish this thing," he ends, suddenly
with a firm, controlling tone.
Auron turns to the little elevator gadget in the middle of the hole, and Khimari
steps forward and grabs his shoulder. "Khimari not like. Auron not say bad thing." he says,
almost with no point.
"Be quiet, Ronso," Auron scoffs, angrily, in his hoarse voice.
Khimari growls, but just turns away, realizing his inferiority. Auron steps forward
again towards the elevator, but for the second time, he is interrupted. This time it is
Rikku, with her arms stretched out both sides.
"Can't go yet..." Rikku says, her voice trailing.
"And why not?" Auron questions, using his free hand to pull his collar down a bit.
"Well..." Rikku says, trying desperately to think of some excuse; really she didn't
want Auron to rush into anything becuase she had not thought of a way to bail Yuna out of
sacrificing herself to save Spira. So she put one hand out front and pushed him away from
the hole.
Auron conforms to her pushing. He had taken a liking to her; she brought back fond
memories of his younger years. He clears his throat, and then says, "And what do you think
you're doing, kid?" managing to sound like a bully.
"I... we can't go down there." she says, her voice cracking. Her eyes were watering,
but she was discreet about it; she was the one who dreaded the closely following moment the
most.
"And why not?" Auron replies in question form.
"Yunie... I can't... we shouldn't just sit around..." she says, sinking deeper into
her depression, "we can't just watch her, you know, die."
At once the group fell more silent than they were a few moments before, when no one
was speaking. They were all aware of what was to happen, but they all would have rathered
it if no one said anything.
"Hmph. What? You think we can change anything?" he pauses, clears his throat, then
continues, "Now? I tried that. It does not and will not work. It was a lifetime ago. We all
knew... even Yuna... all of us knew, going into this, what was going to happen to her. But
we have to go on. If you really love Yuna, then you will let her do what she has to do."
This all struck Rikku very harshly. She had never been talked to like that. She ran
at him, and, crying, started hitting him, crying, flailing her arms as if those actions would
save Yuna; like they would make a difference. She then says, "But... but... Yunie... she'll...
Yunie'll..."
In some out-of-character compassion, taken over by some demons, Auron takes Rikku in
his arms, hugging her, and probably subconsciously, lets go of his sword. Rikku returns the
compassion, hugging Auron back, and crying into his chest. Suddenly, Rikku feela another hand
on her back, a cold hand, stroking, caressing her around her shoulder blades. Rikku looks back
and sees Yuna, tears in her eyes, shaking her head slowly at Rikku, whispering in no voice
at all, "It'll be okay."
She let go of Auron, and Auron returned the favor. Auron picked up his sword and sort
of stepped forward, insisting he get on first. The rest of the party was just compelled to
let him. They all got on board the tiny elevator, and were face to face with a door. Somehow
they knew that the next room would hold the secrets to life and death. Auron, as always, steps
forward, to try to keep everything cool, to seem like he's in command of everything, but he
feels a pull on his shirt as he advances. He turns his gaze backwards and looks at Rikku, who
is looking down, not at him, and is tugging on his shirt. He then eyes Yuna, who nods at him,
melancholy, and signals for him to move on. He tugs back at his shirt and then steps forward.
But then he turns back round.
No one expected it; all they saw was that he approached Rikku, who flinched when Auron
stepped towards her. He hugged her and gave her a passionate kiss. A long, beautiful kiss like
they had never before. He then took off his shades and looked her square in the eyes. She then
understood everything he could not tell her any other way; everything that he felt, but could
not manage to articulate, what words couldn't manage to express. She felt him, for who he was,
and for the first time in their journey, she understood.
Auron turned and stepped towards the door again. He was not stopped again. Not till the
end. The whole party fell silent, but they continued on as if they had never experienced the
silent man's burst of passion, of emotion. Rikku was the only one who acknowledged it, in fact.
They came to a room with a large glass display. It looked like the fayth from Bevelle
to Tidus, but the hymn of the fayth could not be heard.
"Hey... what's up with this?" asked Tidus, "where's that song?"
"Hmm... I cannot feel the presence of the fayth here," Yuna says, almost to herself.
"Hmph. I don't like history lessons." Auron groaned, "But I'll tell you this one...
the fayth of the final summoning," he paused, then came, "is dead."
"What?" Wakka blurted, "Dead? How can that be?"
"It expired its power when it became the final summon," Auron explained.
"But then... how... the final aeon, how is that going to..." Wakka muttered, confused.
"Yunalesca. She'll award the success of your pilgrimage by giving you..." he said,
almost seeming sad, "...a new final aeon. Its closeness to you, Yuna, is the only thing that
can defeat Sin." And this he said with greif.
The greif-striken party moved on to the next room. Tidus and Auron trailed behind,
though.
"You knew this all along, didn't you, Auron?" Tidus shouts, angrily.
"Yes." he said, his head slinking down a bit.
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Tidus says, more frustrated than ever.
"To let you see the truth. To more than tell you the truth, to show you; to let you
experience for yourself... the greif that comes with truth." Auron stated, with finality,
turning around and moving forward again.
Khimari comes back and adresses them both, "Come. Not be scared, Khimari lead way."
Khimari says.
They all stop in some grand hall. The hall is empty, and yet full at the same time.
There is something ominous, something that couldn't be explained, that took over the whole
place. Something stepped out of the shadows. It was the figure of a woman... someone
otherwordly, indescribably so. It was Lady Yunalesca, Yuna's namesake.
"Yunalesca..." Yuna says, her voice trailing.
Lady Yunalesca greets the party punctually, "Welcome, my children, welcome to..."
she pauses and tusseling her hair, says, "...Zanarkand. Your terrible journey is done with.
I will now grant you my aid; I will bestow upon you the final aeon. My secret. Now... you
must choose."
"Choose what, milady?" Yuna asks, eyeing the stoic Auron.
"She needs another sacrifice." Auron says gruffly, "For the final aeon."
"What?" Yuna asks, still puzzled.
"Yes. Your final aeon; your ultimate weapon will be one whom you trust. Your bond
will be the power that shall defeat Sin. I shall transform him or her into your foundation
with my power. That person will be your fayth... your final," Yunalesca says, managing a
melancholy tone, "aeon. Just like my husband so long ago."
"You knew this all along, didn't you, Auron? Why did you tell us?" Rikku demands,
not in Auron's plane of sight.
"Your father, Braska, chose this path, Yuna," Auron says, perhaps ignoring Rikku,
"with the hope that this time there might be a change. But he was wrong. We just helped
continue the cycle of destruction."
"There's gotta be another way!!!" Tidus blurts out, "We... we can beat Sin! With
or without the final aeon."
"Hmmm... it seems you do not understand. Not one life, but two, will be lost to
defeat Sin. But is this not better than losing thousands of lives doing nothing, dying
in vain, in fear of Sin?" Yunalesca poses this question.
"Yeah... but what good is it? It's nothing but an elaborate cover up, just false
hope," Tidus says, angrily.
"And would you rather the world live without hope?" Yunalesca says, nonchalantly.
"But... but..." Tidus had lost this argument.
"The term false hope is misused. If one's hope is fulfilled, the hope becomes
true hope, and if it does not, then does it become false hope?" Yunalesca asks, smartly.
"The world is always better with hope..." Yuna says, looking to the ground.
"We are wasting time. Sin could be wreaking havoc at this very moment. Who is
your choice...?" Yunalesca asks, turning the room completely silent.
"I shall go," Auron proposes.
"A dead man can not help," Yunalesca says.
"Do it, whench! I don't care what games you're playing..." Auron demands.
"You dare threaten me?" Yunalesca asks, putting her hand to her chest.
"Do it! These kids don't need to be sacrificed... not for Jecht, not for Sin."
Auron shouts, putting one arm in front of him threateningly, and with the sword stretched
back, right about to strike.
Yunalesca thrusts her hands in front of her, starts chanting, and then casts some
sort of spell, and Auron slowly fades to pyreflies. Realizing it himself, Auron looks at
his hand, then plops down on one of his knees, leaning on his sword. Rikku runs to him,
crying. Auron was being sent.
"No... you can't..." Rikku was breaking right before the party, "...you can't go...
...yet."
"I'll go, ya?" Wakka said, hardly ready, but already set.
"No, Wakka, I'll go..." Lulu said.
Disappearing, Auron could say one thing, and only had time to say one thing, "No...
you'll... turn... into... argh... you'll... become Sin." After saying this, Auron disappears.
All that is left of Auron is Rikku; the petite, almost vulnerable looking young woman who
is crying, almost despairing on the floor. For one she knew for such a short time, she had
shared so much with... her one, her only, Auron.
"What? What did he mean, Yunalesca?" Tidus demanded, now angrier than ever before.
"It's true. That is how Jecht became Sin. Sin is so powerful that it can only be
defeated by another Sin. But that power takes over everything, it's overwhelming; it turns
the aeon, and the fayth with it, into another Sin." Yunalesca confesses.
"Then we'll change it. We don't need," Tidus says, then glances at Rikku, "we don't
need to lose another one. We don't need to lose another person."
"That is selfish and immature," Lulu says, losing all eye contact.
"I don't care if it's immature. If we keep doing this, what'll we have changed?
Yuna's dad thought that that time would've been different. He wanted to change things, too,
but we're different; we can do something about it." Tidus says.
"That is all fine. Believe in what you will. You still are innocent; naïve. Join
me in the back room when you have come to your senses and come to terms with reality."
Yunalesca says, plainly, then she walks into another room.
"So... what'll we do?" Wakka asks.
"I don't know yet... but this is my story. Whatever happens, we have control over
it. Let's do it right!" Tidus says, rallying the troops.
"Wait a minute," Yuna asys, pouting, "This is my story, too... it's all of our
stories... you're not alone, and for once in my life, neither am I. And I know it now.
I... I'll decide. It's time for me to do something that's not pre-ordained. We'll change
history."
The party walks into the next room with high hopes. The party walks into the
place where Yunalesca would perform the ceremony to summon the final aeon. Something
felt different, something felt... wrong. Like something terrible was about to happen that
was not supposed to happen. Had the fate of the world really changed?
"Have you decide who will be your final fayth?" the mysterious woman asks.
"The ressurection of Sin... it will end sometime, will it not?" Yuna asks,
idealistically.
"Sin is eternal. Spira shall forever be burdened with Sin." Yunalesca answers.
"But... forever? Won't Sin stop coming back if we atone for our mistakes?" Wakka
asks.
"Will humanity ever be that pure? Humanity can not elude its sins." Yunalesca says.
"All you have is hope. Hope is comfort, nothing more. A child's toy to shield him from
reality. Wake up, children, there..." she hesistes at this, "...there is no other way.
Accept what has been accepted for generations. There is no other way."
That phrase, 'There is no other way' kept ringing in their heads. It echoed for what
seemed like an eternity. The sound of silence.
"So..." Tidus says, tears in his eyes, "...Jecht threw his life away for nothing?"
Yunalesca turns her glance to Tidus, saying, "They died of their own free will.
They did it to save... all of you. You are all alive because of their sacrifice. Realize
this."
"Then take me..." Tidus says, "...I'm the only one who could do this."
"You crazy, kid?" Wakka demmands, "You know what you're saying? Just take me,
Lady Yunalesca."
Khimari grabs Wakka by the shoulder, "Little man has decided. No way to stop. Anymore."
They all understood, but that mattered little. They all wanted to stop it. Everyone who
was left; Lulu, Wakka and Khimari, they all watched as Yunalesca led Yuna and Tidus away. To
be sacrificed to perform the final summoning. It was the end of their journey, but was it
really the end...?
To be continued...