Memories of Zanarkand
III
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Disclaimer: Final Fantasy X is a great game. You should go out and buy it. Right now. Unfortunately I don't own it. Nor am I in any way affiliated with Squaresoft or any other games Squaresoft had released.
Author(s) Note:
[Koyoko] Last chapter. As in 'The End'. Expect no Epilogue. Expect no Sequel. This… is… the… end. Toodles.
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~ * ~
"Where's Yuna?" Lulu asked Wakka. "She wasn't in her room!"
"Tidus isn't here either." Auron said, emotionless. "They're probably together, wherever they are. I wouldn't worry too much."
_|_
Tidus ran his fingers through Yuna's hair. He felt her stir against his chest. She woke up slowly, kissing his cheek.
"We should be getting back... they will worry about me." She said.
~ * ~
"Yuna!" Lulu exclaimed. "We were worried."
"Were ready to go." Wakka told Yuna. "When you are, I mean."
Yuna looked back at Tidus, who gave a solemn nod.
"I'm ready." She said.
~
They started down the mountain, all of them quiet. Tidus lagged behind a little, Yuna right beside him.
Tidus stopped suddenly when he heard footsteps behind him.
"What is it?" Yuna asked. She turned around when she heard the noise, and let out a gasp. Tidus whirled around to face Seymour, who stood a few yards away from them.
"Yuna, go and get the others." Tidus said, glaring at the maester.
"This is my fight, too." Yuna stood next to him.
"Please, Yuna..." She could feel the emotion in his voice that he tried to hide. "Please, go and get the others."
Yuna ran, hoping to find her guardians before it was too late for Tidus.
_|_
"Why do you do this?" Tidus asked, tightening his grip on his sword's hilt.
"Because I must destroy Spira... to heal it's pain. To do this, I will become Sin. I was hoping for the help of Lady Yuna..." He made a gesture to the footprints Yuna had left behind. "If I become Sin, I will be able to ease the pain of your father, Sir Jecht."
Tidus's eyes opened wide in surprise.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" He snapped.
"Oh, Sir Auron neglected to tell you?" Seymour tilted his head to one side. "Sir Auron never told you? Sin is Jecht, you father is Sin."
"Shut up!" Tidus shouted, lunging at him with his sword. He made a deep cut across the guado's chest, red blood fell on the snow.
Again and again, Tidus struck him with the blade. Everywhere, there was blood. He was drenched in it, Seymour was covered, in the snow, there was a small pool.
Seymour raised his hand up in the air, and called the thunder down from the skies. Tidus was struck and catapulted backwards.
He was hurtled at the stone wall, rocks fell from high above, pelting him. His own blood was spilled on the snow.
~
"Tidus!" Yuna called out. She had gotten her Guardians, just like she said she would. Everywhere, blood had been spilled. Seymour Guado was bleeding heavily from his many wounds. He saw them, Yuna and her Guardians, he smirked, and then in a flurry of pyreflies, disappeared.
"Tidus!" Yuna knelt beside him. Tidus was lying on his stomach, choking. He tried to get up, but collapsed. He began to cough violently until he coughed up more blood.
Cure. Yuna concentrated. She extended her arm. There was a small flash of white light, and Tidus had been healed.
He sat up, and turned to look at Yuna.
"Are you okay?" She asked. Tidus nodded in response.
"Yuna. Send him." Auron said.
"Right." Yuna nodded. Tidus got up, and walked calmly over to Auron.
He grabbed the guardian and slammed him against the rock wall.
"Fryd dra ramm rybbahat, yht fryd dra vilg tet oui ryja du tu fedr ed!" He hissed. Auron's boots were barely touching the snow. Tidus's face contorted with anger. Auron smirked. Everyone else gasped.
"What the hell happened and what the fuck did you have to do with it!" Tidus shouted. He had Auron jacked up the wall, his boots no longer touching the ground.
"What are you talking about?"
"Jecht!" Tidus shouted. "Tell me what happened to my father!"
"Hey -" Wakka interrupted. "How is Jecht you father if you're an Al -"
"SHUT UP!" Tidus snapped. He turned his head briefly to regard Wakka, then turned back to Auron.
"You'll find out... eventually." Auron said.
"NOW! You tell me NOW!" Tidus's grip tightened on Auron's cape.
"Jecht... became the final Aeon." He said.
"Fryd dra vilg yna oui dymgehk ypuid." Tidus hissed. When Auron said nothing, Tidus repeated, loudly, in their language: "What the fuck are you talking about!"
"There is no final Aeon."
"What the hell do you mean 'There's no final Aeon'!?"
"The summoner must choose a guardian to become the final Aeon. Jecht became Braska's final Aeon. Yunalesca makes the guardians a fayth."
"Yunalesca?" Yuna asked in a small voice. "What do you mean 'Yunalesca'?"
"Lady Yunalesca." Auron said.
"Unsent." Tidus looked down. He let go of Auron, who sank to his knees, then quickly got up. Tidus took a step backwards. "Will you still go to Zanarkand, then?" He looked at Yuna.
She turned her head away from him.
"I need to go to Zanarkand... to see for myself... If it is really true..." Her voice was breaking up, but she refused to shed tears.
"Lady Yunalesca, and her father, Yu Yevon, created sin. Yu Yevon wanted to become Immortal." Auron offered this last piece of information.
"I don't understand, ya? How can Sir Jecht be your father if you're an Al Bhed." Wakka asked, scratching his head. Tidus refused to look at him.
"Tidus isn't an Al Bhed." Yuna turned to face the rest of her guardians. "They found him in the Baaj temple ruins two years ago."
"So what, they like took you in or something?"
"Yes. They took me in." Tidus was grinding his teeth. He continued walking. Yuna gasped.
~
"F- fayth!" Yuna stuttered. "Someone is using these fayth." She looked at the fayth, frozen, trapped in ice.
Tidus was there, staring at them. She didn't know what compelled him to reach out and touch the frozen statues. There was a little flash of light, and Then he fell.
"Tidus!" Yuna called out. Too late. She ran to him. Wakka and Lulu gasped. Auron shook his head knowingly. Kimiharri said nothing. Yuna touched Tidus's forehead. He was somewhere else.
_|_
"Where am I?" Tidus asked out loud. He opened his eyes. He heard Yuna call out for him, but he did not see her. Tidus looked around him. He knew this place... it was familiar... too familiar. "Zanarkand..." He whispered.
Tidus heard the sound of a child giggling. He turned to the direction of the sound. A boy, he recognized this boy as Bahamut.
Bahamut ran. Tidus followed him into a small apartment that he immediately recognized as his own.
"Welcome home." Bahamut said, but Tidus wasn't listening to him.
"Rusa." He whispered.
"I've known about you for a long time." Bahamut continued. Tidus was walking back and forth, transfixed by everything in this room. He came to a framed photograph of his mother. He picked it up, careful not to damage it. "We've been dreaming for so long... and we're tired. And if we stop dreaming..." The world around them spun. Tidus turned to look at Bahamut, then back to the photograph of his mother, but it was no longer there. "Won't you and your father let us rest? We are tired..." Bahamut repeated. "A long time ago, there was a great war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. But the summoners of Zanarkand were no match for the machina of Bevelle, And Zanarkand was destroyed. But you... You are a dream of the Fayth. Zanarkand is a dream. If we stop dreaming... Please let us rest. We are tired. We will help you."
And Tidus just stared at him. He was asking a lot, but that thought didn't occur to him. These words weighed heavy on his mind. You are a dream of the Fayth. Zanarkand is a dream. How could Zanarkand be a dream? How could any of this be a dream?
"Please! Wake up!" A voice called. The world spun once more, and Tidus felt like he was falling.
_|_
Tidus opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Yuna. She breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled a little.
"Are you all right?" Yuna asked.
"I'm fine." Tidus sat up. He wiped his eyes that were brimming with tears.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah... I'm okay. I was just dreaming." He got up, and they continued on.
~
Zanarkand. Yuna looked down on the ruins from the cliff. Tidus stepped next to her, filling his eyes with the sight of the ruins. This is not the Zanarkand he knew. Yuna thought. It is hard for him... But before she could reach out for him, He had turned away.
They went down the path, to Zanarkand.
_|_
Blood. Tidus thought to himself. Blood was everywhere. It stained his clothes. Everyone else was sleeping now, he had waited long enough. He took his knife, running the tip gently over his arm. He applied more pressure to the knife, and the blade sank deeper into his flesh. Pain... He twisted the knife. Is it real? Zanarkand... was real once.
Tidus heard footsteps. He ignored them. What is real? A little blood from his arm splattered on his face. Dreams aren't real. They fade away in the morning. He heard a gasp. He looked up. The knife fell from his hands.
~
"You're bleeding!" Yuna said, kneeling next to him.
"Am I?" He asked, looking down. And there was the blood. "You don't know." But Yuna didn't hear him. She was tending to his wounds. "One of the Fayth came, and spoke to me." This got Yuna's attention. "When I touched the frozen fayth, I blanked out. When I opened my eyes, I was in Zanarkand." Yuna was looking up at him, gaping slightly. "The Fayth told me... that he was tired of dreaming." Tidus took a deep breath before continuing. "He told me that my Zanarkand was a dream, existing only in the minds of the Fayth. He told me that I am a dream. That I do not exist. They want to wake up, Yuna. They are tired. How could Zanarkand not exist? You see blood, my blood, but It isn't real."
Yuna was silent, pressing her face against his chest. She could hear his heart beating. She wanted to cry, but wouldn't let herself.
"What is real?" She whispered. Tidus was silent, also, putting his arms around her.
_|_
Early the next morning, before the sun had risen, they started off for the Zanarkand dome. Everywhere, there were memories. Summoners and guardians. Seymour Guado, and his mother. Braska, Auron and Jecht.
They reached the temple of Zanarkand, and fought the guardian there. They when down a set of steps, to see the fayth that would not give them the final Aeon.
"No." Yuna shook her head, disbelieving. She did not want to believe what Auron had told them. "It's just an empty statue."
"The final Aeon can still be obtained! come, Lady Yunalesca will show you!" The pyreflies swirled together to form the image of a man, probably an old maester, and then dissipated. There, a doorway opened.
"Kimiharri go first. Yuna be safe." The Rhonso said, stepping forward.
~
This couldn't be true, but it was. Yunalesca appeared before them.
"I congratulate you, Summoner, on completing your pilgrimage. Now, choose."
"What are you saying!" Yuna was on the verge of tears.
"Many years ago, I chose my husband, Zaon, as my fayth. The bond between the Summoner and the fayth must be great, It can be the bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends." Yuna was not listening to this speech. Her eyes were welling up with tears.
How can this be! Her mind screamed. Tidus! She looked at him. I - I can't do it! Yuna buried her face against Tidus' chest. Hot tears burned through his shirt.
"Why do all of the Fayth lie face down? Why do they look like they were in so much pain?" Tidus spoke, putting his arms around Yuna. "Lyh oui damm sa fro!" He shouted at Yunalesca, taken aback, hearing the language of the heathen Al Bhed.
_|_
Tidus was angry, now. He was not from this world, but he could not go home. He owed his meager existence to a man fool enough to want to live forever.
"Why did you choose Zaon to be your fayth? Why the fuck did you help your father who was stupid and selfish enough to want immortality? What kind of bitch would murder her husband to give her father immortality?"
"I loved my husband. Zaon was willing." Yunalesca was loosing her patience.
"Willing to do what? You didn't tell him, did you?" This wasn't a question. It was a statement. "Would Zaon be so willing if he knew what his death would bring?"
Yunalesca had lost her patience, she raised her arms to the sky.
"I will end your suffering now!" She shouted.
~
The battle was over quickly, Yunalesca did not fight well when her mind was so filled with anger she could not think clearly.
The only way of defeating Sin, even if only for a little while, was forever gone. They left the Zanarkand dome, where Sin was waiting. Tidus stood calm, facing the monster.
"Look!" Wakka pointed to the sky. The Airship! Sin appeared to be leaving, as the airship came closer, picking them up.
_|_
"We're going after that thing!" Cid shouted from the cockpit. "I need you all out the deck! Rikku! Help them."
There was no time to stop and think, it was time to fight again. Tidus followed the others as they ran out to the deck. Rikku was waiting for them.
"Ready, Yunie?" She asked, but Rikku looked sad. Yuna looked down.
"Yuna did not obtain the final aeon." Auron said.
"What? Then that means..."
"Hu. Fa ghuf yhudran fyo." [No. We know another way.] Tidus said.
"E thu'd ihtancdyht." [I don't understand.] Rikku shook her head.
" Dra Fayth femm ramb." [The Fayth will help.] Was all Tidus said, slamming his fist on the panel that opened the door leading out onto the deck.
"Yhd drah fryd? Fryd femm rybbah du Yuna?" [And then what? What will happen to Yuna?] Rikku asked. Wakka tolerated this conversation with a look of annoyance on his face.
"Hudrehk." [Nothing.] He looked back at Yuna. "Hudrehk femm rybbah du Yuna." [Nothing will happen to Yuna.]
_|_
They ran out onto the deck, prepared to fight sin.
"Tu oui ryja y bmyh?" [Do you have a plan?] Rikku shouted over the noise of the airship's engine.
"Ev fa lyh'd kad eh drnuikr dra suidr, fa'mm neb ubah y haf uha!" [If we can't get in through the mouth, we'll rip open a new one!] Tidus shouted back.
Cid fired off the guns on the ship from the cockpit. He managed to fire two more rounds before the rattling sound the guns made stopped.
"Tidus!" Brother's voice came on over the speaker. "Kad ouin ycc tufh rana dra veq dra vilgehk kihc!" [Get your ass down here and fix the fucking guns!]
"Vilg oui!" [Fuck you!] Tidus shouted loudly. Rikku gasped.
"Huf tebcred! Tu oui fyhd di tei?" [Now, dipshit! Do you want to die?"
"Veq dras ouicamv! E ryja du cdyo fedr Myto Yuna!" [Fix them yourself! I have to stay with Lady Yuna!]
"Tidus! Bmyca!" [Tidus! Please!] Rikku shouted to him over the noise as the ship lurched.
"HUF OUI BEALA UV CRED!" [NOW YOU PIECE OF SHIT!] Brother's voice came over the intercom again. There was a sound like something popping, and soon the entire ship was crawling with sinspawn.
"Vilg oui credrayt. E's kuehg." [Fuck you shithead. I'm going.] Tidus grumbled.
"Thu'd ica myhkiyka mega dryd ynuiht so cecdan yccruma." [Don't use language like that around my sister, asshole.] Brother said over the intercom as Tidus left the ship's deck.
As soon as Tidus had gotten off the main deck, he ran down into the hull. Tidus pressed a few buttons on the maintenance lift, and there was a clicking sound. A small motorized door opened, and the lift moved outside. He found the problem, one of the cannons was smoking, badly damaged. He moved the lift over to the large gun and started working.
Sin rammed into the ship, and Tidus was thrown against the side of the ship, hitting his head. Dazed, he continued working. With a click, the gun moved, targeting Sin. Tidus moved the lift back onto the ship, and started running to get back up onto the deck. There was a loud explosion.
A fiend barred his way. Tidus had a gun, he fired it nonstop at the monster. A small click told him that the gun was empty.
"Vilg." Tidus hissed, pulling the trigger a few more times just to make sure. He charged at the fiend and jumped on its back, hitting it repeatedly with the butt of the gun until it dissipated in a flurry of pyreflies. He ran back onto the deck, where everyone was waiting. They had blown a hole in Sin's mouth, and the ship was moving in.
"Are you all right?" He asked Yuna. She nodded.
"We're all okay." Rikku confirmed. The airship entered through the mouth, and landed. Yuna followed Tidus off the ship, along with Rikku, Lulu, Wakka, Auron and Kimiharri.
"The sea of Sorrow." Yuna looked down.
"Yuna." Lulu said.
"I know." Yuna began moving forward. They passed through the gate. Tidus was hoping and dreading meeting his father again for the last time.
Inside Sin was a city. A city that reminded Tidus of Zanarkand. And then he saw him. Jecht, his father. Braska's final Aeon. Sin.
"You're late, Auron." Jecht said.
"I know." Auron said in response.
"Hey." He said to Tidus, who met his eyes with a steady glare.
"Hello." Tidus said coldly.
"Well… you know…let's end this."
"I hate you." Tidus spoke.
"I know. You know what you have to do. I can't hear the hymn so well anymore. Pretty soon, I'm going to be Sin. Completely. I'm glad you're here, now. But… when it starts, I won't be able to hold myself back. I'm sorry."
"Enough. Let's end this." Tidus clenched his fist. Yuna could see he had already started to grind his teeth.
Jecht stepped forward, into the center of the circle floor. He had begun to glow, slightly. He took a step backwards, dangerously close to the edge of the circle. Tidus watched him fall over the edge into the fiery pit below.
"I will not lose." Tidus drew his sword as High Summoner Braska's final Aeon towered above them. "This isn't just your fight." Auron stepped forward.
"It is my battle, too." Yuna said, standing beside Tidus.
Tidus let out a battle cry, and ran forward to attack the final aeon.
~
It was over quickly, Jecht reappeared in the center circle, and he fell. Tidus rushed quickly to his father who lay dying.
"Hey." Jecht said to him, weakly. Something inside Tidus snapped. Tears rolled down his cheeks, but he didn't make a sound. His mouth was tightly closed. He had stayed too long in this strange world.
"I… still hate you." He said.
"Heh."
"Sir Jecht… I should…" Yuna cut in.
"No, Yuna, there's no time!"
Yu Yevon.
"Stay back!" Tidus stood up.
"Yuna… the Aeons…" Jecht said.
"Call us!" The voice of the fayth echoed. Jecht's form dissipated. Tidus tightened the grip on his sword.
"Here it comes." Lulu said.
"Yuna." Tidus called out. Yuna nodded.
One by one, Yuna summoned her Aeons, and one by one, Yu Yevon took them, and they struck them down. When there were no more Aeons, nowhere else to hide, Yu Yevon was forced to show himself.
"Yuna." Tidus turned to her. "This is the last time… I will fight with you."
"What!?" Wakka exclaimed, sounding puzzled.
"After this fight, I will disappear."
"What are you saying!?" Lulu sounded confused.
"I am saying goodbye." Tidus approached Yu Yevon, brandishing his sword. Only Yuna, who stood silently, understood.
_|_
Somewhere in Besaid, people were celebrating the defeat of Sin, and the eternal calm. The Aeons were vanishing, and they were turning into stone. Finally, they could rest.
Yuna performed her sending, all of the energies of Sin, all of the people it had killed, danced with her. Tidus watched Auron slowly begin to fade, he was an unsent, after all. Yuna suddenly stopped.
"Don't stop." Auron said.
"But…"
"It's been long enough. This is your world now." Auron stepped forward and dissolved into a flurry of pyreflies.
Tidus looked down. He was beginning to fade. Yuna looked at him in horror.
"I have to go."
She shook her head in protest. Tidus stepped dangerously close to the edge of the airship, and looked down, like Yuna had seen him do so many times before.
"Hey!" Wakka called after him.
"Are we ever gonna see you again…?" Rikku asked, but Tidus didn't hear them.
"Yuna!" Kimiharri shouted as Yuna ran to Tidus, trying desperately to hold on to him. She passed through him, and landed with a thud on the Airship deck. A tear slid down her cheek. She picked herself up, and stood with her back to Tidus.
"Thank You." She said, but there was something in her voice. By 'Thank You', what she meant was 'I Love you' but she didn't have to say it.
Tidus walked up to her. His eyes were glassy.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. He wrapped his arms around her, though Yuna didn't feel him. She turned against his chest, little ripples forming in the air where she touched him. Tidus turned away and ran. He jumped off the deck of the airship, finally taking the plunge.
And then, there was nothing.
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