Chapter Twelve

Tidus stepped off of the deck of the airship into the numbing cold of Gagazet.

"Ahhh!!," he heard Rikku scream from behind him.  He turned around to see the young Al Bhed take off inside the ship with her hair flowing behind her in the cold, mountainous air.  "Be right back!" she cried overtop of the howling wind. 

Tidus turned his gaze towards Yuna.  "You all right?" he asked.

"Hmm," she started.  "Yeah.  Just so many memories."  Of course Tidus was referring to the cold weather and not to Gagazet village, directly in front of them.  The village had grown tremendously since the last time he had been here.  Many new buildings have sprung up showing that the Ronso have really progressed since the unmerciful attack two years ago.  But even so, he could still see parts of the town still in shambles due to Seymour's rampage.  His eyes then fixated on two figures coming down the snowy trail in his direction.  He recognized them immediately: Yenke, and Kimahri.

Behind him the bay doors opened up and Rikku stepped back out.  "Ah, much better."  Tidus turned to see that she was wearing a light blue jacket, although it only concealed a little bit more of her open skin, it probably still felt much warmer.  He also noticed that she wasn't alone.

"E's kuehk fedr oui," said the mohawked Al Bhed.

I'm going with you, Tidus deciphered in his mind.  The more the merrier, he thought to himself.  However he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling about taking the Al Bhed with him.

"I…" Brother said, reaching for the words.  "Thank youu.  Help pro-guard Rikku at Siiiin….Me help yooou now."

Tidus couldn't help but smile at the Al Bhed's desire to learn his vocabulary.  "Thanks," he said.  "But it's gonna be dangerous.  You sure you're up to it?"  Tidus had never seen Brother in a fight, so he was a little apprehensive about letting him go into the heat of battle.  The fiends in Gagazet are rough, his mind recalled.

It was then that Brother produced a rifle that was nearly twice as long as his arm.  Al Bhed technology, Tidus thought as he smiled.  It looked like a relic to Tidus by his Zanarkand standards.  The bullets were probably two inches long, he chuckled to himself.

"Thanks, we'll need all the help we can get," Tidus said enthusiastically.

"I thank you also," Yuna said.

Tidus turned back around to look at the two Ronso who were trudging down the snowy path.  "Hey Kimahri, Yenke." Tidus said, raising his arm.

"Regain memory?" Kimahri asked.

"Uh…yeah, couple of weeks ago."

"Still protect Yuna?" he asked.

"Yeah, as much as I can."

"Kimahri glad," he said crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Why you come to Ronso village?" Yenke asked.

"We've come to see the Fayth that sleeps next to Zanarkand," Rikku said, obviously now adjusted to the elements.

"Hmmm…." Kimahri said.  "Long ways."

"Yeah, I know.  But we got to," Rikku replied.  "Pleeease?"

"No summoners pass now," Yenke started.  "No more pilgrimage.  Nobody go Zanarkand since Sin.  Many fiends there now."

"But we still have to go," Rikku pleaded. 

"Kimahri knows," he said.  "Kimahri go with you.  Kimahri protect friends."

"Thanks Kimahri," Yuna said.  "I knew I could count on you."

Suddenly the great airship Rekrfeht fired its thrusters as the engine came to life.  The ship then rose up and twisted away to the left.  Tidus saw Cid on the bridge of the ship through the glass.  He gave Tidus a salute.  Tidus waved back.

"Byeee!!"  Rikku yelled waving her arms dramatically.

We'll, Tidus thought.  It's started.

----

Yuna's pulse jumped as her heart pounded in her chest.  Despite the coldness biting at her legs, a few beads of sweat popped out on her brow as she stared directly in front of her.  Her eyes were fixed on the three Bashuras that were plowing through the snow directly toward them.  She knew that she was rusty, not fighting anything but her own emotions for the past two years.  Now using her handguns, which still feel alien to her, she felt uneasy about fighting.  She knew the path to the Fayth would be perilous, but she didn't want to see battle this quickly.  She looked ahead and saw Tidus take his position.  Instantly she already better and more relaxed.  She swallowed hard and raised her gun.  Whatever they ran into, she would feel better with Tidus by her side.

Tidus wasted no time, instantly taking the offensive slashing the first bashura and stabbing the other in the ribs on the draw back.  Yuna jumped behind him, protecting his flank.  She buried three bullets inside the right arm of the first Bashura.  Rikku and Brother worked their way to the left side, sticking pretty close together, but not nearly as close as Tidus and Yuna.  Rikku swiftly jumped in and used her claws on a bashura's leg.  The great beast swung one of its four arms down and Rikku jumped to the side easily and got in another blow before retreating out of harm's way.  Kimahri on the other hand took off to the left gripping his spear intently.  He's always been a loner, both socially and in battle.  Kimahri doesn't need anybody to take his flank, his instincts guide him in the field.  He quickly plunged his spear in the middle fiend.

Tidus slashed furiously and almost recklessly at the bashura on the right sending it to its death.  He looked up in time to see the right side of the head of the middle fiend simply explode.  He looked back and saw Brother reloading his rifle.  Tidus grinned and then slashed open the remaining bashura.  The last fiend exploded in a stream of pyreflies as Kimahri's spear rammed through the fiend's shoulder blades.

"Yeah, that's how its done," Tidus exclaimed as he flipped his sword up and caught it as it came back down, one of his signature moves.  Yuna felt a wave of relief pass her body as the moment of danger passed.  She took a deep breath and pressed on up the trail.

It took the group five hours to get within seeing distance of the Fayth.  As Yuna expected, the trial had been tough.  Around every corner was a group of fiends, some being easy to defeat, while others being extremely difficult.  The longer and longer she was in battle the more natural her handguns seemed.  Her style was different from Brother's, who had the devastating power rifle.  He would stay at a relative distance, almost sniping the enemies.  Yuna however stuck as close to Tidus as she could, popping a series of bullets into an enemy at almost point blank range.  She was also continuously protecting his flank.  This allowed Tidus to slash away furiously and unrelentlessly, always taking the offensive.

"We're almost there," Tidus said when the grand wall of Fayth came into view. 

"Watch out," Kimahri growled.  Tidus was so entranced in looking forward that he completely missed the large serpent creature that was barreling towards them from the left.  Tidus quickly ducked as it's scaly arm swung by his body.  Tidus then heard Yuna scream in pain.  He turned around in time to see the creature's arm strike Yuna in the torso tossing her like a rag doll.  Slowly Tidus' world began to turn red.  He then felt the familiar feeling of his overdrive meter top out: it was called rage.  Suddenly Tidus turned around and started slashing his sword like a madman.  His fury was unleashed on the creature as his sword came down blow after blow after blow.  Tidus felt like he was cutting away like an insane warrior.  Finally the serpent's body fell limp as it started to disintegrate into pyreflies.  "Yuna," Tidus said as he turned around looking for his girlfriend.

She was standing there in the snow apparently no worse for wear.  She was also smiling at him.  "Are you ok?" Tidus asked.

"She's fine," Rikku answered for her.  "Thanks to me and Al Bhed potions.  But what was that?"

"I don't know," Tidus said.  "Some kind of water fiend far away from home."

"No," Rikku said.  "Not that, that!  That move you just did.  How'd ya do it?"

"Oh…I uh, I don't know.  It just happened."

"What do you call it?" Rikku persisted.

"How should I know?"

"Hmmm……It needs a name," she said pursing her finger to her lips apparently deep in thought.

"No it doesn't," Tidus replied.  "For all I know I may not be able to do it again."

"Hey, how 'bout the Omnislash," she said, completely disregarding Tidus' last statement.

"Omnislash.  What is that?  It sounds like a disease."

"No silly, it's a name for your move.  I have a friend who saw someone do a move just like it; only he had a really big sword, like what Auron used to have.  She said that he called it the Omnislash."

"You can call it whatever you want, I'm going to go up here and talk to the Fayth."

"Heey," Rikku said waving her arms.  "Wait for me!!"

Tidus stared at what was once the great water fountain of dreams.  What was once a great swell of liquid memories, feelings, and lives, was nearly gone.  Almost, being the key word.  What remained was a trickle so thin that if you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't even notice it.  It looked as if blue water was running down a piece of thread, wavering in the wind, but never breaking.  A smile crossed Tidus' face…two seconds before he collapsed on the ground.

When Tidus opened his eyes, he was standing on what looked like a platform, no bigger than ten meters, suspended in nothingness.  Underneath it, he could see nothing but inky blackness.  Beyond it, he could see nothing but a swell of void.

"Huh?" he said, his voice echoing in the darkness.

"Hey there," came his reply.

Tidus quickly turned around to see the small boy that he had seen briefly but on many occasions before.  It was the Fayth he was looking for.

"I figured you'd show up sooner or later," the boy started.  "What kept you?"

"Uh, I've been…uh, busy."

"Oh, I see," the Fayth said.  "So I guess you're wondering why you're back, and where your memory is."

"We'll…really, I was just wondering why I was back.  My memories have already returned."

"Interesting…" the boy started.  "You were a dream of the Fayth," he started.  "But you already knew that.  The huge wall of Fayth out there, were all that remained of Zanarkand's original descendants after the war with Bevelle.  We came together, to form the dream that is Zanarkand.  Our plan was to dream the dream for everyone else to remember what Zanarkand really was about.  But nobody came to see it, except summonses on their journey.  We were going to dream until someone came up with another way to preserve Zanarkand the way that it truly was, based on our dreaming.  We waited a thousand years, but that day never came.  The longer we dreamed, the more tired we became.  We were about to give up dreaming, and give into a well-deserved slumber.  But then…"

"I was touched by Sin," Tidus answered for him.

"No," he corrected.  "Your father was touched by Sin."

"We were afraid of him, at first," the boy went on.  "One of our creations, had been given the chance to live in the real world, with real people.  We were afraid that if we stopped dreaming, then he would disappear.  If we knew he would have become Sin, then we would have stopped.  But then he came back for you.  When that happened, many of us did stop dreaming.  But others, myself included, kept with it, realizing Jecht had a plan.  And when it came through, when you defeated Sin for the last time, our wishes were granted, and we stopped dreaming and fell asleep.  But some of us felt guilty.  We gave two people the chance to live, the chance to love, feel, talk, walk, and be real, just to snatch it away from them.  So a handful of us made a pact: that someone would wake up and keep a part of the dream real.  Your part of the dream.  And when the first person gets tired, they are to switch off."

Tidus was speechless.

"Uh…wow," he finally said.  "All this?  For me?"

"Really, you beat Sin, gave joy to the people of the world, and allowed us to rest in peace.  It's the least we could do."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You guess?" the Fayth asked.

"Well…….I'm not complaining or anything, but I would rather have came back in one piece."

"Ahh, your memories," he said.  "When we decided to re-dream you, we really didn't know how to go about it.  It never has happened before.  So there were a few transcription errors."

"Transcription errors?" Tidus questioned.

"Spira and your Zanarkand are two completely different worlds.  There are pathways between them, although they're never used.  Think of a phone, or a fax back in Zanarkand.  You have two places, with one connector, the phone line, and you scan something, send it, and the other place deciphers it.  It's the same process.  The pathway between worlds, the same one that Jecht used as Sin, the Fayth can use also.  However, if the data is messed up, or something comes out in the wrong place, that is called a transcription error.  Bringing you back to Spira, it scrambled your mind for a while."

"So that's what caused it," Tidus said thoughtfully.

"Yes, so be grateful," he said.  "You could have come back with four arms or a head sticking out of your leg.  I'd say for the first time, we did pretty good."

"That reminds me of something I'm supposed to ask you…"

Tidus awoke on the snow a few minutes later.

----

"How long was I out?" Tidus asked as he rose to his feet. 

"A couple of hours," Yuna replied.

"How'd it go?" Rikku asked.

"Hmm," Tidus said looking at the darkening skyline.  "It went great.  Things are going to turn our way soon."

"Kimahri glad you're back.  Kimahri think we need to go now."

"Yeah," Tidus replied.  "We're going to get caught in the dark.  It's gonna get real cold real soon.  Plus, it looks like bad weather's coming"

After an hour of fighting through the snow, Tidus turned around briefly to watch the last remnants of the sun sink beneath the surface.  The temperature had dropped steadily since his return to the land of the living.  Now as Tidus watched the last of the warmth drain out of the sky he noticed that the snow had set in hard.  Not just a normal snow, he thought.  Nice and wet.  He looked over to see Yuna shivering.  He wanted to help her somehow, but even his scarce clothes wouldn't do her much good if given to her.  He felt himself fighting the urge to shake.  He turned around and pressed forward.

"How…..much……longer?"  Rikku asked after a while.  She had fallen a good six steps behind the group, with her pace slowing down with every step.

"Four hours," Kimahri said.  "Longer if snow keeps up."

"That's……not….. comforting."

"Can we start a fire?" Tidus asked.

"No.  Must press forward.  Storm get worse," Kimahri answered.

Tidus wasn't sure how long he could go on.  But regardless he lowered his head into the freezing wind and trudged forward.  Within another fifteen minutes he had lost his footing twice, covering himself in snow.  Another ten minutes and he was shaking so bad that he couldn't walk straight.  The pain was excruciating.

"Kimahri go on.  Kimahri go faster.  Kimahri get help."

Tidus could only nod his head as he saw his big blue friend turn and start bounding down the slopes.  Tidus took a few more steps and turned around.  He couldn't see Brother or Rikku through the waves of snow that was pouring down on the trail.  He gripped Yuna's hand tighter and started walking again.  It wasn't long that he realized that he couldn't see Kimahri's footprints anymore.  Now he had no idea where the trail was.  With a foreboding sense of helplessness he dropped to his knees, trying to resist giving up the fight to go on.

"Tidus," He heard Yuna call.  Her voice seemed as if it was miles away to him.  Finally Tidus fell all the way to the snow, shivering so hard that he couldn't concentrate.  All he wanted to do was sleep.  The last thoughts he remembered thinking before closing his eyes and drifting off was Yuna's face, which looked paled.  She tried to say something, but he didn't hear the words.  He remembered that, a flash of crimson red, and something long and made of steel.

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Author's notes

1—Give you three guesses what that flash of crimson red was, but you only need one.

2—Wow, that was unusually long.  But a few points had to be cleared up before story progressed.  (i.e. How Tidus got back, his memory, and stuff.)

3—All names, characters, places, and events referred to are copyrighted by Squaresoft.

4—These keep rolling out.  Stay tuned for the next installment, which includes something, although I'm not quite sure what!!

5—Oh yeah, another reference.  That whole transcription errors thing, that's from Michael Chrichton's Timeline.  A pretty good book, although not one of his best.  Although the physics is really intriguing.  It just seemed to fit here.

6—I don't know if it's just the caffeine or what, but something seems a bit odd about this chapter.  I don't think my grammar is perfect, or maybe I misspelled something, or maybe I made a really stupid error somewhere and I can't find it.  I feel like I've missed something.  Maybe not; It may just be the paranoia creeping back into my system.

7—Sanguine Guardian, it's good to know you're still alive.  Demon Star and Blurry, thanks for the support.  You kids are the reason why this thing keeps on rolling out.

8—Recommended reading:  A Desert Rose, by Amberlee.  None of my words can describe this and do it justice.  It's an aweseom one-shot fic