Wakka abandoned his snow sled at the temple's first entrance and started down the snowy path to Macalania Temple. It only took the others a few moments to catch up with him. They burst into the temple, only to be stopped by a priest standing at the steps to the trials.

"We're Tidus' guardians. We have the right to enter the Cloister." Auron said.

"Maester Seymour has requested that you not enter." The priest replied.

"Screw him." Rin replied, pushing the priest aside and running up the steps.

Auron grinned at Lulu. "I like him."

The guardians followed Rin up the stairs and down a snowy hallway. To everyone's surprise they ended up outside the Chamber of the Fayth instead of the trials. Wakka growled. Seymour and his two guardians were standing outside the Chamber.

"Seymour!" Wakka bellowed.

Seymour slowly turned around, a calm smile on his face. "Please. Be quiet. Tidus speaks with the Fayth."

"Get out of my way, Seymour." Wakka growled.

The wooden shield slid open and Tidus emerged. His eyes widened at the sight of his angry-looking guardians.

"C'mere Tidus..." Wakka said gently.

Tidus looked at Wakka then over at Seymour. The Maester smiled at him.

"You killed your own father." Rikku said.

"What of it?" Seymour shrugged. "Tidus. You knew this, right?"

"I did..." The blonde replied softly.

The Guado's eyes narrowed a bit as Tidus slowly went to stand beside Wakka.

"And I came to do what your father asked. I came to stop you!" Tidus exclaimed, unsheathing Liquid Steel.

Seymour made a motion with his hand and his guardians stepped forward. Tidus' guardians formed a tight circle around him.

"Ah. Yes. 'Protect the summoner. Even at the cost of one's life'. The code of the guardian. How admirable. Well...if you're offering your lives. I will just have to take them."

"Don't think I'll just stand by and let you hurt my friends, Seymour." Tidus growled. "I will fight you too!"

"Very well then." Seymour hissed.

Tidus motioned for Rin and Kimahri to join him. Auron, Lulu, Rikku, and Wakka focused their efforts on the Guado guardians. Lulu blasted one with a Thundaga spell, intent on just knocking him out. Everyone got a shock as the guardian cast a Protect spell on Seymour before fading into pyreflies.

"T-they're Unsent!" Rikku gasped.

Auron rushed forward and stabbed the other guardian with his katana. The protector cast a Shell spell on Seymour and turned into pyreflies. The Maester backed up a few steps, but he didn't seem frightened. Tidus' eyes widened and he motioned for Kimahri and Rin to back away.

"He's summoning. Leave this to me."

"Tidus..." Kimahri frowned.

"None of us are any match against that summon. Please Kimahri. I have to do this alone."

The Ronso and Rin backed away. Seymour just calmly smiled and summoned his powerful Aeon. A slight trickle of fear ran down Tidus' spine. He hadn't realized that the summon was so large. Taking a deep breath Tidus summoned his newest Aeon. A cold wind blew over the group, making everyone shiver. Snowflakes fluttered down and one landed on Tidus' nose. Then the Aeon known as Shiva made her appearance. She smiled and handed her silk cloak to Tidus to hold. The blonde shivered. The cloak was as cold and smooth as ice. A wail from Seymour's Aeon got Shiva's attention. She steadied herself and cast the most powerful ice spell ever known. Her Overdrive: Diamond Dust. Once her spell had done its damage the Maester's summon returned fire with a Pain spell. Shiva winced slightly as the spell hit her but she immediately cast Blizzaga twice. With a pained, muffled moan the other Aeon started to melt into pyreflies. Seymour's eyes were wide. He couldn't believe any Aeon had the power to defeat his.

"That power! I must have it!"

A small scream escaped Shiva's lips as she was hit with Seymour's powerful Firaga spell.

"Shiva!" Tidus cried.

Blue liquid seeped from between Shiva's lips and she fell to her knees. Both Shiva and her cloak devolved into pyreflies. But instead of vanishing like most pyreflies they buried themselves back into Tidus' subconscious.

"Tidus! Look out!" Wakka called.

Tidus barely had time to react before he was hit with a Firaga spell. The blonde collapsed. Kimahri and Rin rushed to the summoner's aid. Auron and Rikku guarded them. Lulu, with the help of her doll, attacked Seymour with a Waterga Fury Spell. Seymour was hit with eight consecutive Waterga spells. He stumbled about like he was drunk. Wakka tossed his blitzball at the Maester, hitting the man in the chest. With a strangled gurgle Seymour fell onto his back. Kimahri helped Tidus to his feet. The summoner cured his burnt flesh with several Cura spells before kneeling beside the fallen Maester.

"Tidus...you would...pity me...even now?" Seymour asked.

Tidus averted his eyes and didn't respond. Seymour smiled that confident smile of his before letting his head drop back onto the floor. The summoner looked back at the Guado before closing the Maester's eyes. Suddenly the doors burst open. Tromell and two female guardians rushed in.

"Lord Seymour! What happened here?!"

Tidus was still kneeling beside the Maester's body. The blonde clutched his stomach and his eyes watered.

"What have I done?" The blonde sobbed.

"It's not your fault! Seymour struck first! He's the bad guy!" Rikku exclaimed.

Tromell looked down at Tidus, "You did this!?"

Tidus slowly stood up and backed away. Auron folded his arms and looked down at the floor.

"Tidus. Send him."

The summoner nodded and unsheathed Liquid Steel with a shaking hand.

"No! Stop! Stay away from him traitors!" Tromell shouted.

The two female Guado rushed to Seymour's side. They hefted Seymour's body into their arms and ran out. Tromell gave Tidus one more deadly look before following the guards. Tidus fell to his knees once again. Kimahri rushed to the teen's side.

"Traitors?" Tidus whispered.

"But Seymour's the bad guy! We'll just tell everyone what happened!" Rikku exclaimed.

"It won't be that easy. Quick. Let's get the hell out of here." Auron ordered.

Kimahri scooped Tidus into his arms and lead the group out the door. He had only set one foot in the hallway when the floor vanished from underneath him. Both Kimahri and Tidus cried out as they fell at least one story to the ground.

"Tidus! Kimahri!" Wakka called.

Other portions of the hallway's floor vanished. An entrance formed beside the group and they all ran down a snowy ramp to the level below. Tidus was sitting beside Kimahri. He had one hand on the Ronso's head and the other pressed to his bleeding nose.

"Are you two ok?" Wakka asked, crouching beside Tidus.

With a pained growl Kimahri pushed himself off the floor. Rin gave Kimahri and Tidus Potions. Tidus leaned against Wakka. He was trembling all over. The redhead wrapped one arm around the summoner, helping him to his feet. Auron and Lulu helped Kimahri to his feet.

"That was quite a fall. Are you ok?" Rikku asked.

Tidus nodded. He looked pale, but Rikku knew it wasn't from the fall. The group took a few minutes rest to let Tidus and Kimahri collect themselves before they started rushing around the trial like headless chickens. It only took them fifteen minutes to complete the trial. They climbed the ramp back up to the hallway. Rin jumped up and down in the hallway before motioning for the others to follow him. They did and exited the Cloister. Wakka swallowed hard. Tidus grabbed onto Rikku's hand. Tromell and a handful of guards were blocking the exit to the Temple.

"Please. Let me explain." Tidus pleaded. Rikku's hand tightened around his.

"No need. I already know what I'm going to tell the other Maesters." Tromell replied.

"Meaning..." Auron snarled.

"You're traitors. Simple as that."

"You're not letting us go." Rin said.

Tromell laughed, "Let you go? Let you go!? Lord Seymour would never forgive us if we did!"

"Jyscal. Sphere." Kimahri spoke up. "We show them."

"You mean this?" Tromell held the sphere up before destroying it with a Fire spell. "The Guado always take care of Guado affairs."

The guards advanced on the group. Kimahri and Auron stepped forward.

"Get away!" Kimahri ordered.

"Run!" Auron commanded.

The group pushed and fought their way through the guards and ran from the temple.

"Get them! Stop them!" Tromell ordered.

Tidus hung onto Rikku's hand for dear life as they ran along the snow path. The blonde looked over his shoulder to see the guards chasing them. He felt a strong hand grab onto his free one.

"Wakka!" He cried.

"Come on! Just use me and Rikku's strength!!"

The blonde nodded and let Wakka and Rikku pull him along, pumping his legs as fast as he could. They jumped onto their discarded snow sleds as quickly as they could and sped off. Tidus hung onto Wakka's waist tightly and Rikku was clinging to his. Kimahri and Lulu were in the lead, Auron and Rin in the middle. They had just reached Lake Macalania when the sled Tidus, Wakka, and Rikku were on was hit with a massive Flare spell. Rikku screamed as she and the others were launched into the air. Lulu and Kimahri's sled was hit with a Flare spell as well. A huge Wendigo jumped out from behind a snowbank.

"Argh!" Auron shouted as the fiend knocked him off the sled.

Rin jumped from the sled as the Wendigo smashed it with its massive fists. Tidus shakily pushed himself up, blood spilled into his eye. He could see two Guado guards join the Wendigo. The guards smiled at him. The guards ran over and swooped down on Tidus.

"No!" Wakka cried weakly, grabbing Tidus' hand.

"Wakka...!" Tidus cried.

The brown-haired guard kicked Wakka right in the face. The redheaded guardian slumped to the ground with a moan, his hand releasing Tidus'.

"No!" Tidus screamed as the Wendigo raised its fists high.

The Guado hauled a struggling Tidus to a safe distance as the Wendigo struck the ice, making it break and crack. Tidus burst into tears as the ice gave way and his already injured guardians fell into the darkness.

"Wakka! Kimahri! Lulu!!!"

The guardians nodded at each other and started dragging Tidus away from the gaping hole.

"Rikku! Auron! Rin! No!!!!"

----------------------------

Rikku moaned and moved slightly.

"Tidus!!" Someone shouted.

She lifted her sore head to see Wakka screaming up at the huge hole way above them.

"TIDUS!" The guardian called again. "FUCK!"

Rikku got onto her hands and knees and crawled over to Wakka. It had been late afternoon when they had visited Macalania Temple. Now she could see the sky above was dark and starry. The redhead jumped when someone grabbed his leg.

"Rikku! You're awake!"

He kneeled down and gave the blonde a Hi-Potion. The Al Bhed drank it all down.

"What happened? How long was I out?" She asked once she felt better.

"The Wendigo cracked the ice and we fell into old Macalania City. Lulu and Kimahri went to see if there's a way out. Auron is brooding in the dark somewhere and Rin is sulking in the corner. We were all out pretty long. I only woke up twenty minutes ago. How do you feel?"

"Lousy. They kidnapped Tidus..."

Wakka nodded and slung one arm around Rikku's shoulders. The girl leaned against him.

"I feel like such a failure." She whispered.

"You're not the only one, Rik..." Wakka mumbled.

"The only way we can get out is if we climb...Rikku! Doll! You're awake!"

Lulu rushed over to Rikku, placing a kiss on the girl's lips. "Are you ok? Is anything hurt?"

Rikku blushed, "I'm fine, Lu."

"So we climb out and get Tidus back. Sounds like a plan to me." Rin said. "Auron! Where are you!?"

"I'm here." Auron replied, emerging from the darkness.

"Ok. Few minutes rest. Then we climb." Lulu said.

Rikku frowned. "Something's wrong. Listen..."

"Kimahri hears nothing." Kimahri replied.

"Exactly. The Fayth has stopped singing..."

Suddenly the ground beneath the group's feet began to tremble.

"The ground!" Auron shouted.

"There's something there!" Rikku cried.

"Sin!" Wakka exclaimed.

The ground beneath the group crumbled and cracked open.

[Tidus...]

That was the last thing Wakka thought before he and the other guardians were sucked into a monstrous whirlpool.

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Geez. My version is much more violent o_O *shrug* oh well. My version has Wakka and Tidus lusting over each other XD