Chapter Thirteen
Tidus stirred and rolled over. He felt strangely weak, and he wasn't sure if he should be alive or dead. In his weary state, he tried to think of where he was, and why he should fear death. He tried to recall what has happened to him, but nothing came to his mind. All he wanted to do was to sleep some more. However, something urgent was pulling him, teasing him really, and he couldn't quite grasp it.
As he was about to give up on the endeavor, thoughts and images raced through his head: snow, wind, freezing cold, and Yuna. "Yuna," he gasped as he sat up, now fully awake. He looked around trying to get his bearings. He was in a room, actually, it was more like a large tent. There were an assortment of cots lying around, some lifeless, and some with figures nestled in blankets. He saw a large barrel standing in the middle of the room on top of the dirt floor. On it was an old dusty oil lamp, with its flames flickering in the darkness. There were two flaps in the tent-like structure to his left. The wind was blowing them inward, sending a cold chill his way. He pulled the blanked up around him that someone had placed on his body to shield himself from the numbing breeze. Suddenly Tidus heard a stern, authoritative voice flowing from behind him.
"So you're awake?" it said.
Auron, his mind thought.
He turned around to see the once powerful warrior monk hunched over on a cot. He had his ever-present handle of shine sitting next to him. Within his hands was a large, cold, gray steel sword that had been plunged downward into the hard dirt. He was pivoting the blade back and forth in the ground, causing a good four inches of the edge to be buried in the earth. His face was locked in determination down at an angle looking at the tip of the blade before him, never once rising to meet Tidus gaze with his dark brown eye. He hasn't changed much in two years, Tidus thought. His eye was still scarred over a bit and his dark, smooth hair was still streaked with a few strands of gray. He looked exactly the same as he had since the last time he had seen him. It was if Auron had slept for two years.
"It's about time you came out of it," he said, still looking downward. "You had everyone worried."
"How long was I out?" Tidus asked, shifting his body on the cot so he could see Auron directly.
"Two days," he replied slowly and calmly. "You're the last one to wake."
"Is everyone else alright?" Tidus said, with a sense of hope in his voice.
"More-or-less," Auron began still staring downward at his rotating katana. "Kimahri is fine," he began. "Other than the nagging guilt he feels of leading his friends into a battle they couldn't win. Rikku, we'll, she's vowing to never come here ever again. But besides her pestering, she seems to be able to go on. Brother, lost three toes on his right foot. Frostbite. It was pretty bad. He can still walk, but it's going take some time to get used to. Yuna…" he started. "Yuna, other than constantly worrying about you, is perfectly healthy."
"Thanks Auron," Tidus said. He felt a little uncomfortable owing Auron a thank-you, even though the crimson clad warrior has saved his skin many times in the past. Tidus and Auron seldom had a comfortable relationship; starting with his days in Zanarkand. One day Auron had just appeared out of nowhere when Tidus was still a child. He said that he was here to watch over him, as per his father's request. Tidus, having such strong hatred for Jecht automatically put negative connotations with anything connected to his father. That's probably when the resentment started. Ever since then Auron has always been there, watching him, protecting him in some way. However, it was obvious that Auron was not comfortable around children or adolescence. Sometimes having a mentor that was as strictly business and as pressing as Auron was really didn't foster good feelings from Tidus. But after a while, the young teenager finally got used to the idea of Auron around. It gave him someone respectable to look up to. Someone who was in no way close to being like his old man; someone who was a much better role model. So by the time the pilgrimage in Spira had begun, he actually had a good relationship with him. By the end, he actually felt…
"Tidus," he heard from behind him next to the door. He turned around in time to feel Yuna's body pressed against his as she had practically leapt into his arms. "Tidus," she repeated. "I'm so glad you're alright. You're ok aren't you?" Yuna asked in a flurry of speech.
"Yeah, I'm cool," he replied, not even picking up on the pun.
"I was so worried," she continued as she hugged him again "I thought I had lost you again."
"Hey now," he said breaking away from Yuna. He felt the hot gaze of Auron boring into his neck. "I'm fine. Are you ok?"
"Hmm," she replied. "I'm ok."
"Some people are trying to sleep over here," Tidus heard from one of the cots. Tidus looked up in time to see Rikku rise up off of her cot. "But it is good to see that you're alive. Now, I'm going back to sleep. Pleeeeeease be quiet."
"Hmph," Auron replied. "It's not as if you haven't been sleeping for two days."
Tidus was about to say something when the flaps to the tent swung open, revealing Kimahri and Brother, who was limping inside out of the cold. His hand was placed on Kimahri's shoulder who was helping the Al Bhed inside. Suddenly Tidus didn't want to be here. He had a bad feeling about bringing Brother along in the first place. Granted, he pulled his own weight more than enough, being deadly accurate with that Al Bhed rifle of his. However that didn't change the amount of guilt Tidus felt over Brother's injury. Tentatively, Tidus raised his hand at his fallen comrade, and gave out a meager "Heya."
"Rao," was his response.
"I'm sorry about your…um…loss," Tidus said, reaching his arm up and placing it behind his head. "I really didn't…"
Suddenly a man came bursting in through the tent nearly knocking the two fighters down. What the heck? Tidus thought. The man was wearing a pair of khaki pants with a blue button up shirt and a yellow tie. Tidus couldn't help but notice that the shirt was torn in many places. The guy had short black hair and an even shorter matching goatee. He was also way out of breath, heaving so hard that he almost doubled over when he stepped into view.
"My," he started in between gasps of breath. "My…..Lady Summoner."
"Yes," Yuna said hesitantly. She hasn't answered to that title in two years now. To her, it seems as if her summoning days are so long ago that they're in another life. Looking down at her apparel, she couldn't help but feel even less than a summoner than she already was.
"You…." the man started again, heaving for oxygen in the high altitude of Mount Gagazet. "You're in danger…and so are your friends."
Suddenly Yuna's heart sank and her face paled.
"Speak up," Auron demanded as he rose off the cot he was sitting on. He also conveniently still had his massive katana in his hands. "Who are you?" Auron said.
"Sit," the man said, now catching his breath, drawing his gaze to the warrior with the long sword. "This will take a while to explain."
"Explain what?" Auron asked.
"Everything."
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"My name is Abel," he said after regaining his breath. Suddenly recognition took off in Yuna's face. Abel, she thought. This man is one of Luzzu's most trusted confidants. What's he doing here?
"I'm Head of Spira Affairs to Lord Luzzu. I'm here to tell you what he is up to, and what it means for you."
"I'm listening," Auron said.
"It all started about a year and a half ago," Abel said, about as non-chalantly as he was telling a fairy tale. "Luzzu had claimed the office of Grand Marshall to the Assembly after Yuna stepped down and voted her confidence in him. At first, he was humble to accept it. I was one of his most avid supporters at the time, so he stuck me high in his cabinet. It was about two months later that I noticed a change in him. He started reading the newly appointed scrolls of Spira; he was pouring over them actually, looking for some kind of loophole in the governmental process. He read those documents sometimes until the sun rose the next morning. It was then that his demeanor changed. He soon developed this five-step plan. It was…" Abel paused for a moment. "His plan to take over the world."
"His first phase," he continued, disregarding the looks of surprise from most everyone in the room. "Was to implement the Crusaders in town protection. He achieved that six months into his tenure, by passing a bill that would allow the Crusaders to still remain active in a reserve kind of way. Their role was overly undefined, but some of their tasks would be to protect the cities and towns of Spira from fiends along with settling any domestic disputes if there were any. But he had other plans for the Crusaders.""
"Phase Two," he continued. "Was to create a Fayth."
"What?!?" Tidus and Auron exclaimed at the same time.
"How can he do that?" Tidus continued.
"A process that Luzzu and his scientist supporters came up with. He initially took fiends from all about Spira and put them in a pressurizing chamber. Then the process called for adding a mixture of pyreflies, megalixers, dark matter, shadow gems, and mana springs: quite simply, the most powerful liquid creation of magic available. They called it mako. They poured this creation into the pressurized chambers along with the fiends. In short, they were making powerful, dead monsters."
"I don't get it," Rikku said. "Why would anyone want to have a Fayth?"
"With a Fayth," Abel answered. "You can summon things. Magic, cities, or monsters. And they can all do your bidding. With a strong enough Fayth, you can even summon Sin. But that wasn't his plan. It would be too overt for him. At first, using normal fiends, he couldn't get anything near the power that he wanted. He would try to use spells; drawing from the Fayth he created. Sometimes he would get a spark when he tried Thundaga; other times, he would just get nothing. So his scientist started putting two fiends in together in the same chamber, some of those being most powerful fiends in the planet. It only had minor results. They were quite literally fusing fiends together, killing anything that was inside the chambers."
"Finally, he was getting desperate. He had a timetable, and he was falling behind. So he naturally tried more rash things. One day, he brought in this…guy," Abel said, his voice tapering off. "I was too stunned to even ask 'Why.' 'He was a homeless,' Luzzu had said to the people on the project. 'Better off now than he ever was before.' It was then that I started to object. 'Using fiends is one thing,' I remember saying. 'Using humans are another. It's murder' I had said. He criticized me for my lack of vision. He said 'If this works, then we will live like kings on this planet that could be our playground.' I was manipulated into staying."
"Until one day, being not satisfied with the results of the homeless testing, he brought in an infant. He said that it was the son of a black mage, and that it would be so powerful that only in its afterlife could it fulfill its potential. I refused, so much that I had to be escorted away by security."
"I can still," Abel began, struggling for words. "I can still hear its crying, and screaming as it was placed in the compression chamber."
"Chappu," Tidus said grimly. So I was right about Mangus and Luzzu, he thought. Even though the feeling of being right hardly offset the feeling of anger he was experiencing now.
"Yes," Abel replied.
"Is he still alive?" Yuna asked, her voice shaky.
"No," Abel replied, looking directly at the ground. "He was combined with a dark element, they both died in the compression process."
Nobody spoke for a moment, allowing the mix of sadness and anger to pass over the room. "That was when I quit. That was two days ago. I grabbed what documents I could, sabotaged the compression chambers, and left in the middle of the night. But…there were guards posted, looking for me. Lord Luzzu had a saying. It was: 'Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.' I was close. He obviously saw me turning into an enemy long before I did. And he was right. But the time I had sneaked out of Bevelle, he had released a statement to the press, saying that I was a traitor and discrediting me. So those 'authentic' documents that I had were now worth nothing. My sabotage attempt…was righted the instant I was gone. I thought I was a step ahead, but he was three ahead of me."
Abel sighed while flickering his brown eyes down towards the dirt. He swallowed hard, trying to clear his voice before he could continue. "So I went to the only place that I knew that I could be heard. The only people whom he considered a threat. The only people whom he wanted removed, before they thwarted his plans. You guys."
A few seconds of silence passed through the room, allowing everything to sink in. It was Auron who finally spoke.
"And Phase Three?"
"To use the power of the created Fayth," Abel said, "He was planning on completely destroying Kilika, although I think that may be compromised."
"Why?" Yuna asked.
"If some unknown threat is lingering over Spira. If something so huge and so powerful destroyed a city, and it was something that the origins were unknown, Luzzu could use the powers given by the Crusader Bill. He could…"
"Mobilize an army," Auron said, cutting him off.
"Yeah. He could ask for emergency power from the Assembly. He would then have the army of the Crusaders at his disposal."
"So Jecht was right," Auron said, to apparently no one but himself. "He knew that Luzzu was up to something big. I know now what I must do."
"What are you talking about?" Tidus asked.
"You'll see," was Auron's only reply.
"Why do you think that our friends are in danger?" Rikku asked.
"Because," Abel started. "Phase Three called for the destruction of Kilika. But he knows, that I know all about his plan. And if I were to defect, then he would assume that I would warn the people of Kilika. For his plan to work, he must have a complete surprise attack. He still needs to destroy some place to call for the power of the Assembly. So I think his target now, would be Besaid."
"Not Besaid," Yuna gasped, thinking of her hometown, her friends, and Lulu and Wakka.
"Genius," Auron mulled. "Take out two birds with one stone. Complete Phase Three, and eliminate his threats all at once."
"Yes," Abel said. "But he doesn't know that you guys are not in the village. Also he doesn't know that I suspect Besaid."
"What are we waiting for?" Rikku asked. "Let's go save our friends."
"E femm lymm dra Rekrfeht," Brother said, reaching for his com.
"I've already summoned the Rekrfeht," Abel said, apparently knowing the full extent of the Al Bhed language. "It should be on its way."
Tidus looked at him with an emotion of skepticism and awe. He is really on top of things, he thought.
Abel returned the gaze before saying: "Every second counts, when you're dealing with a madman."
"So all we can do is wait?" Rikku asked. Tidus knows from experience that patience is not one of her virtues.
"Yeah, for a few minutes anyway, until the airship arrives"
Tidus looked down, still trying to digest everything that was just revealed to him. So my old man was right, he thought to himself. I hope his plan works, whatever it is. Tidus looked up, gazing around the room at his friends.
Everyone had lost so much in the past two years, he absently thought to himself, trying to occupy his thoughts to pass the time. I'm sure everyone would want nothing more than to put aside the fighting, and live happily ever after, he thought to himself. But I guess things don't work out that way do they? His gaze shifted to Auron, who's been dead for twelve years. After years of resting in peace on the Farplane, he was snatched away, only to fight once more.
His eyes then drifted to Rikku. She took the job as Al Bhed Representative to help her people and their fight for respectability. After her hard work, it seems that someone hell-bent on being a tyrant was going to eventually strip the Assembly of all their power, probably trying to dispose of the Assembly members as well. Tidus shook his head still trying to believe that everything that he was told was the truth. Desperately his mind tried to find some kind of loophole, or something that would disprove it. He let out a sigh as he couldn't think of anything.
He looked at Brother. His pain and loss was evident, as he was leaning on Kimahri for support. His three toes were now gone, due to battle. Tidus shook his head in disgust.
He then looked behind Brother to Kimahri. Although the Ronso don't exactly show pain easily, it was obvious that he had been through a lot. Seymour had almost destroyed all of Kimahri's people, along with his hometown. I guess there really is no rest for the weary, Tidus thought.
He then glanced to Abel, the shorthaired man with the goatee and the ripped blue shirt. Although he had just met him, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. It was obvious that he was young and ambitious and loyal, until the breaking point. His mentor turned out to be an evil, corruptible tyrant. And although he had tried heroically to dispel Luzzu's effort, he had failed. Tidus didn't know anything about him. He had no idea if he had any family in Bevelle. He could only imagine the pain of leaving them in the hands of the enemy, just to fight the good fight.
And then Tidus' gaze turned to Yuna. Although she has progressed a lot lately, she still is far from the light-hearted, unselfish girl with the ever-present smile. The streaks of gray were still noticeable in her hair. The wrinkles are still barely recognizable. Time had not been her friend, neither lately or her entire life. She had lost her father when she was young, her friend Chappu, her guardian Auron, and the man she loved.
Tidus silently wished that fate had been a kinder ally to them. Everyone had suffered immensely due to the fighting, or the fighting that was to come. He didn't look forward to the future. He just wanted to come back and live a happy life with Yuna and his friends. He sighed as looked around the tent one last time, at his friends that had lost something along the way. He looked at his allies, his battle partners, his friends, and his army that he has to fight with again. The army of fallen heroes.
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Author's notes:
1—Wow, that was a long one. I thought about cutting this into two chapters, but I felt like everything had to be explained and it should be in one shot. I hope I answered everyone's questions up until now. This was the chapter that revealed all, well, almost all. It's better to save some mysteries.
2—All names, characters, places, and events referred to are copyrighted by Squaresoft.
3—Recommended reading: Journals, by Kurt Cobain. Ok, different genre but still good if you're into that scene.
4—Bring down somebody's GPA and introduce him or her to this game, they'll love/hate you forever.
5—Another reference: X-files. This was back before the series shot itself all the way to Hell. The character Deep Throat had a saying in season one: "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." I just thought that was really awesome and it needed a place in my story somewhere.
6—SG, ten points for picking up the reference. That's a way for me to pay homage to FFVII. You're the only one who picked up on it. And just so you know, this is in NO way going to be a crossover. I just enjoy making references to other FF games. It's just a way to pay respect. The thing about Zanarkand and Earth, well, not much was really explained about Zanarkand. I just took some creative liberties and assumed that they had telephones and similar technology that we have. (Hmm…maybe video games too?) Thanks again for the constructive criticism. Many people hate it, but I appreciate it.
7—Thanks kids. Trey Loose, yes, I am alive. Where in the hell have you been? J/k. Lady Yuna, I'm glad you enjoy. Short? We'll, this thing may go to thirty chapters so I hope that's long enough for you. Blurry, 'preciate it. DemonStar, ok so I lied to you, but my excuse is that my hard drive somehow physically corrupted and I've been debugging it since. That's why I'm a little late. Maths, here's your next chapter.
