DISCLAIMER: I do not own FFX, FFX-2 or any of the characters and locations affiliated with it. I do, however, own the story "Silver Wings" and all references to dialogue not originated by Square-Enix.
DO NOT COPY MY STORIES!!
If anyone wants to post this story or "Silver Wings" anywhere else, please just ASK and then give me credit for writing it. Email akksgurl@yahoo.com with any requests.
Author's Notes: This chapter is going to set up the ending. The stuff Shuyin finds out will affect his actions toward the end of the story. I think there will be another 2 or 3 chapters to this and then I'll start Silver Wings 3 which will wrap up the entire story.
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SILVER WINGS 2: 1000 CONFESSIONS
by akksgurl
Chapter Eighteen: Corruption of the Fayth
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The last time Shuyin had been to the Farplane he had been on the inside looking out. He liked his current vantage point from the land of the living much better and if he had his way, things were going to stay like that for a long time.
The trip in Lenne's boat to the Farplane in Guadosalam had been much longer then he had anticipated and he worried that she might have awakened already. He was also worried that the do-gooders might have been waiting for him near the entrance, but he was fortunate that the only person to recognize him was someone named Tromell and he had called him 'Sir Tidus'.
He'd learned from his brief time in the Farplane that to speak to the dead, one only had to think of the dead. Walking into the abandoned Farplane, Shuyin took a deep breath and focused all his energies into calling forth Bruttam – the fayth.
"I was wondering when you'd show up."
Shuyin opened his eyes and grinned at his friend. Although Bruttam appeared completely different physically, Shuyin recognized him almost immediately. It was strange how the fayth looked just like children. Shuyin didn't understand why that was and he wasn't about to worry about it now.
"Miss me?" Shuyin asked.
"I wouldn't go that far." Bruttam replied, "Why are you doing this, Shuyin?"
"Straight to the point, I see." Shuyin said with a sneer.
Bruttam shrugged, "There's no point in beating around the bush, is there? You're here to see if I'll help you complete your plans and the answer is no."
Shuyin narrowed his eyes at his friend. How dare he say no to him?! Bruttam is the reason Shuyin was in this mess to begin with. If he would have just reincarnated him like he was supposed to instead of creating Tidus then this situation would never have happened. The least Bruttam could do was remedy his mistake.
"Why not?" Shuyin finally asked.
"Because no matter what I do, it won't save you."
"Now this I've got to hear…"
Shuyin cursed silently. He had hoped that after the last interaction with Tidus, he'd never bother him again. Unfortunately, that damned phony soul didn't want to give up.
"Ask him what he means."
"I'm going to! Don't rush me!" Shuyin shouted suddenly and he saw Bruttam smile slightly, "What?"
"Tidus is awake again, I assume."
Shuyin grunted, "When did you start talking so fucking proper?" he cursed, "And yeah, he's awake. He's like the fucking migraine from hell. How do I make him go away?"
"You can't. You're in his body and sooner or later he will regain control of it."
That wasn't the news Shuyin wanted to hear and Tidus' cheering and laughing was only making him more irritated. He growled low in his throat and forced his unwanted visitor back to sleep before he stared at Bruttam, "What are you talking about? I'm the dominant soul and when the merger is complete Tidus won't exist."
Shuyin's heart sunk into his shoes during the long pause that ensued before Bruttam spoke again. Shuyin had been concerned with the lack of memories he was receiving, but he hadn't thought that there might be something really wrong with the merger until this very moment. Bruttam seemed to chose his words very carefully as he spoke, "Shuyin…when Tidus was created, he was modeled after my memories of you. A fun-loving, generally great guy. I took a few creative licenses with him. I changed his name, I changed his relationship with his father, I changed his neighbors and friends and he had no Lenne in Zanarkand." Bruttam paused and let that information sink in before he continued, "When I sent his father, Jecht, to the real Zanarkand it was to test and see how a dream would fare in the real world. Jecht did so well that he ended up being that which we feared most – Sin. If I had any doubts about sending Tidus, they disappeared after his father defeated Sin next to Braska. I needed Tidus now. Yuna needed him."
"Get to the point, Bruttam…"
"I didn't consider the implications of sending a clone of you into a world where you still existed – even in the form of a soul. I hadn't thought about it. I just knew that Jecht hadn't caused any unalterable changes, so I figured Tidus wouldn't either."
"But…"
"I was wrong, my friend. I was very wrong."
Shuyin swallowed in a gulp as he felt the bad part of the story was coming up, "Go on."
"You are the original soul. You are the legitimate soul. However, you became…twisted after your death. You became desperate for revenge and ceased to be the fun-loving guy I grew up with. Tidus was still that person. He hadn't changed. When I sent him to Spira, he canceled you out."
Shuyin scratched his head in confusion, "What do you mean, 'canceled me out'?"
"You became the dream and Tidus became the reality." Clarified Bruttam, "What I'm saying is, Shuyin…the merger will wipe you off of Spira, not Tidus. It's only a matter of time until Tidus has the power to take his life back. He might already have that power and be waiting for the right time to use it."
Shuyin felt sick to his stomach. He felt dizzy. He felt like he was going to die again, right then and there.
No…
Death was the cowards way out. He wanted to have a life with Lenne again, but she had joined the do-gooders. He had thought for a while that a life with Yuna might be nice, but she was never going to consider him. That didn't mean, however, that he was going to give up his second chance at life so easily.
"You have to fix this then, Bruttam."
"I can't do that, Shuyin. What's done is done."
Shuyin fixed his eyes on his friend, "You owe me. You ruined my chances for a life with Lenne. You owe me another chance at my own life at least."
"Shuyin, I can't…"
"I don't want to hear you can't!" Shuyin shrieked, sudden anger boiling upward until he felt suffocated by it, "I want to hear you say you will! I want to hear you ask me what I want you to do!"
"Shuyin…"
The normally strong blitzball player's lower lip started to quiver involuntarily and he knew it would be only a moment before the tears started to flow. It had been so long since he'd cried that Shuyin was almost convinced that he'd forgotten how, but it was only a moment later that he recalled, "My life was stolen from me, Bruttam!" he cried through his tears, wiping them away as soon as they reached his cheeks, "Don't steal it from me again! I know you can help me. I know you can!"
Bruttam frowned, "There is nothing I can do to reverse this, Shuyin. Tidus will inevitably take you over."
"And then what?!" shrieked Shuyin, "Then he'll live happily ever after with Yuna and to hell with me?!"
"Shuyin…"
"I won't have it!" he shrieked, pulling his sword out of his holster and holding the blade to his neck, "I'll kill myself and him before I let that happen!"
"Don't do this, Shuyin. Don't take another's life again. Your death was regrettable, but it was all part of Spira's destiny. Fate had other plans for Lenne and, unfortunately, you weren't in the picture."
"Fate! Don't give me this fate shit!" Shuyin shouted, waving the sword around like a child's play toy, "Fate had nothing to do with it. The damned Bevelle soldiers took it upon themselves to kill Lenne, me, Allyn, and Reiber!"
Bruttam shook his head, "No, my friend. The army were following orders to keep intruders away from Vegnagun. That is why you and Lenne were shot. As for Allyn and Reiber…it was a plan gone awry."
"A…plan…" Shuyin scratched his head with his free hand and let the sword wielding one relax slightly, "What are you talking about?"
"I shouldn't have said anything…"
"Well, you did! So spill it!" shouted Shuyin.
"I remember like it was yesterday when Lenne was attacked in her home. We all wondered who would have done such a thing and you immediately suspected Allyn of having committed the act." Bruttam sighed, "You weren't completely wrong. Allyn paid Benedict Cyton – the Bevelle commander – to beat Lenne up in the hopes of getting her to leave Zanarkand. She didn't want her killed, just roughed up. However, Benedict had other plans. He's the one that used the knife and almost killed Lenne."
Shuyin felt his arms start to shake and a low growl formed in his throat. He had been right all along and as Bruttam opened his mouth to finish the story, Shuyin suddenly realized what happened that night 1000 years ago…
"Allyn paid Benedict to have Lenne taken as a POW. She didn't want her harmed, just kept out of the way so she'd have time to win you back. However, Benedict wanted Allyn to himself and saw a golden opportunity to get rid of you by having you shot in front of Vegnagun. Benedict then killed Reiber and Allyn after realizing that Allyn wouldn't be with him willingly and that Reiber was standing in his way of ruling Bevelle."
Shuyin felt that all too familiar flicker of anger forming in his stomach. 1000 years ago people were conspiring against him and even now they were still conspiring. Even Lenne had joined their ranks and were trying to stop him.
Allyn was the reason he was dead. Shuyin wanted nothing more then to rip her apart for what she had done, but he knew it was impossible.
Or was it…
That tall blonde that followed Nooj around like an idiot – LeBlanc. He had immediately thought she was Allyn from the moment he saw her through Tidus' eyes that day at Luca.
"Allyn is LeBlanc…isn't she?" he asked.
Bruttam nodded, "Yes, she is."
Growling low in his throat, Shuyin replied, "So she gets to be happy in her new life and I get to be miserable, is that it? And Tidus gets to be happy with MY girlfriend and I get forgotten!!"
"Don't look at it like that, Shuyin."
"Well how the hell else am I supposed to look at it?!" he shrieked, stomping his feet like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, "You fucked me over! You fucked over everything and you're telling me not to be pissed about it?!"
"Shuyin, you had your ch…"
"I had my chance. I get that, Bruttam." He frowned, "And you ruined my second chance which is precisely why you're going to help me now."
Bruttam shook his head, "There's nothing I can do to reverse the merger, Shuyin. It is inevitable."
He shrugged, "I know that. My second chance at a life with Lenne is over. Even if the merger could be reversed, she's already joined the do-gooders."
"So…you're content with the results?"
Shuyin laughed, "I wouldn't go that far, Bruttam."
"Then what do you mean?"
"An eye for an eye. That's a good motto, don't you think?" he asked, a smirk forming on his lips, "I can't be happy with Lenne so Tidus shouldn't get to be happy with Yuna. I'm sick of fucking fairy tale endings. This story is going to have an ending of my own design and you're going to help me do it."
"Why do you think I'll help you?"
Shuyin's smirk grew into a wide grin that spread from ear to ear as he whispered, "Because if you don't, I'll kill Yuna."
The long silence that passed between the two was enough for Shuyin to realize that Bruttam was realizing he had no other alternative. It was bad enough that he'd screwed up with the Tidus/Shuyin situation, but to cause the death of High Summoner Yuna due to that foul up wasn't an option for him. Shuyin knew that Bruttam couldn't read his mind, but knew what had already happened and what was already said.
Bruttam knew he had Yuna captive.
He could almost hear Bruttam's quaking limbs as he replied, "What do you want me to do?"
"Go to the other fayth," Shuyin ordered, "and ask them what it would take to recreate dream Zanarkand and for how long they'd be willing to keep it going. Let me know what they say, and then I'll have one other little thing for you to do."
"Shuyin…what are you planning?"
Turning his back on his friend and making his way toward the exit, Shuyin called over his shoulder, "That's classified information, my friend. You don't need to know what I'm planning, you just need to do what I tell you to do unless you want Yuna's death on your head."
He knew instinctively that Bruttam had vanished without having to turn around. As Shuyin made his way out of Guadosalam, new ideas formed in his head. First he needed to make sure Lenne hadn't woken up and gotten away. Then he needed to talk to Yuna and find out certain bits of important information. Finally, he needed to deal with some unfinished business with a certain blonde bitch who had gotten away with too much.
Allyn…
