*****Standard Disclaimer. I do not own FFX or the characters in it. They are owned by Square-Enix. I do own this story, and my original characters. The song, "Check it Out" was written and performed by John Mellencamp. "The Stuff that Dreams are Made of" was written and performed by Carly Simon.******
Isaaru was still in Bevelle, according to the ship's oscillo-finder device. Either he had already received word that Yuna and her party were no longer considered traitors, or, he was persuaded by the sight of Kimahri towering over him, but he came aboard the airship willingly enough. Yuna led him to the room they had used for their earlier meeting, to find that the rest of the group was already waiting for them.
Isaaru now found himself facing what seemed like a tribunal, eight faces turned toward him in judgment. He feared that he was about to be punished for his battle with Yuna at the exit from the Via Purifico, in spite of her assurances that everyone just wanted to talk with him. He looked around the room, saw most of Yuna's guardians seated around the table, but Sir Auron was standing against the far wall, surprisingly close to a dark-haired swordswoman he had not seen before. Had Yuna acquired yet another guardian?
"Lady Yuna, I do not understand why you have brought me here. Surely, you have already been to Zanarkand. What need have you for a failed summoner such as I?" Isaaru asked.
"Lord Isaaru," Yuna began, but he interrupted her. "I am only Isaaru now, Lady Summoner."
"Lord Isaaru," she continued, "you can still summon, can you not?"
"Yes."
"Then, Lord Isaaru, we have invited you here because we do need your help," Yuna continued.
"But you have won our challenge. You have met Lady Yunalesca and received the Final Aeon. What possible assistance could I provide?" Isaaru's voice carried a note of self-pity.
Auron had heard enough, and said so. "That is enough," his voice cut the air. "Do you know the choice you would have faced if you had met Yunalesca?" This boy was an idiot.
Mercy just knew he was going to keep on going. Damn it, man, the point is to get him on our side, not scare him to death! "Auron," she warned, her voice low, as she laid her hand on his arm.
He heard her, but he couldn't stop himself from continuing, "Yunalesca offered each summoner who reached her a choice, which guardian would they sacrifice to become the fayth for the final summoning. Who would you have chosen?"
Isaaru turned to Yuna in horror. "Lady Yuna, is this true?"
She bowed her head for a moment, then raised her face to meet his eyes, "Yes, it is true."
Isaaru blindly stumbled to the table, and fell awkwardly into a chair. His head dropped into his hands. "My brothers…I could not have done it. Not even for Spira."
"But once you knew the truth, Yunalesca would not allowed any of you to just…walk away." Auron's voice was still gruff, but quieter now.
"Oh, Yevon," Isaaru cried out in anguish.
"I know, man, it's tough," Wakka said in sympathy. He knew what it was like to lose a brother. He might be lacking in the imagination department, like Lulu said, but this, he could understand better than anyone.
Isaaru recovered himself enough to ask, "Why? What is the purpose in all this?"
Lulu was the one who answered. "At the core of Sin is an ancient summoner, Yu Yevon. Every time Sin was defeated with the Final Aeon, Yu Yevon used the Final Aeon to create a new Sin, and thus was Sin reborn."
Isaaru searched out Auron's face. "High Summoner Braska?" he asked.
"Jecht," Auron replied.
Isaaru looked around the room again, visibly counting. Yuna had all the guardians he had met before, plus the woman with Sir Auron. This made no sense. "But, Lady Yuna, you seem to have more guardians than you did before. What happened in Zanarkand?"
Yuna replied, "I would not sacrifice any of my guardians for a false hope. Lady Yunalesca attacked us."
Tidus continued, "So we fought Yunalesca, and defeated her. We think there is a way to destroy Sin, and Yu Yevon, without the Final Aeon. We have to try."
"And that is where you come in," Mercy went on.
"But who are you?" Isaaru was clearly bewildered.
"Lady Mercy is Sir Auron's wife," Yuna interjected. Isaaru had started to get up, but he collapsed back into the chair at that announcement.
Mercy ignored his reaction. She was starting to get used to it, she supposed. "We believe we have a way to defeat Sin and Yu Yevon, but we are not certain. We won't know until we try, and then it will be too late. All the teachings point to Yunalesca, and the Final Aeon. They won't work anymore. I don't know if you believe what we've just told you, or not. I hope so, but frankly, it doesn't matter. We only ask that you keep an open mind, and most important, that you remember what we have said. If we fail, we beg you, please go to Zanarkand and see for yourself. Please promise us that you will do that much. It is all that we ask."
Isaaru met each of their eyes in turn, then replied, "I give you my word. If you fight Sin, and do not return, I will go in your place. What is your strategy?"
They gathered around the table to discuss methods and tactics for the better part of the afternoon.
After Isaaru left, it was time to head toward Baaj, to see if the submerged temple was the location of Seymour's aeon. Besides, Tidus had a score to settle with the creature that lived in the ruins. He was looking forward to meeting it again, with Wakka and Rikku to back him up.
"How long will it take us to reach this place?" Mercy asked Rikku.
"I dunno, I'll ask my dad," the girl replied.
"Let me come with you, I'd like to ask him something myself," Mercy said in response.
"Sure thing," Rikku chirped.
Auron shot her a questioning look, but Mercy pantomimed playing a keyboard, and he understood. It had something to do with her music. That was all he needed to know.
On the way to the bridge, Mercy asked Rikku, "Is there a cargo hold or something where you dad keeps a lot of machina, or spare parts, anything like that?"
"Yeah, sure. Why are you interested?"
"I'm looking for something. A certain kind of machina. The kind I used to use for my music. With my brother." Mercy's voice choked, stopped. Dafydd.
Rikku saw the grief on the woman's face, didn't know what to do to cheer her. "You okay?" she asked quietly.
"I'm okay. Just thinking about my brother, that's all. We used to sing together." Her voice caught. "I miss him."
In a quiet voice, Rikku said, "Would you tell me a little, about Zanarkand?"
Mercy made an effort to shake herself out of her dark mood. "I'll make you a deal. You help me search for my music machina, and I'll tell you all you want about Zanarkand. Deal?"
"You bet!" Rikku responded enthusiastically, as the doors to the bridge opened.
"Hey, Pops, when will we get to Baaj?" Rikku asked Cid.
"Tomorrow morning soon enough for you?" the captain boomed in reply.
"Sure, Pops," his daughter answered.
"Cid, can I ask you for a favor?" Mercy cut in.
"And what might that be, little lady?" he answered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"I understand you have a cargo hold with some spare machina and parts. I was wondering if I could take a look through it, see if I could find a music machina I need," Mercy responded.
"Music machina? Sure, no problem. Take what you want. Good luck makin' anything in that junk pile work," he laughed. She had her work cut out for her, he thought.
"Don't worry about me. If I can find what I'm looking for, I can make it work. Thanks, Cid." Mercy turned to Rikku. "You still willing to help?"
"100 percent," she said eagerly.
"Then let's go," Mercy started towards the door, rubbing her hands together in anticipation of the search.
The room was a mess. Mercy had explained to Rikku on the way down which brands she was looking for, and what the instrumentation machines looked like, grateful that it had always been a niche market, so there were relatively few brands and models to look for. They started at the door, and worked in opposite directions, trying to cover at least part of the 'junk pile' before dinner. As they worked, Rikku peppered Mercy about life in the machina city for the first hour or so, until they both became too focused on the search to concentrate on conversation. Eventually, Mercy realized that her tunic was sticking to her back with a nasty combination of sweat plus grease from the machina she was handling, so she stripped it off, and used it to wipe her face. The black sports bra she wore underneath was more than adequate coverage. Rikku's orange top was streaked with black grease. Neither of them was sure it could even be salvaged.
After three hours, Mercy had finally hit pay dirt, more or less. She was doubled over the edge of a cardboard box, her hands barely reaching the bottom, her feet no longer touching the ground, blood rushing to her head. But she had found the guts of an instrumentation/backup machine just like one of the ones that Daf used to use, which meant that the outside casing must be around here someplace. She was just about to shriek in triumph when she heard the door open.
Auron stepped into the cluttered hold, and saw his wife's very fine behind poised over the edge of a crate. He did not notice Rikku crouching amid the broken machina on the other side of the room, and Rikku decided to keep it that way, as Auron made a beeline to Mercy's side, pulling off his glove and shrugging his left arm out of his coat as he moved. He looked down at her, bent over the box. She was at his, well; mercy was a pretty good word for it. The husky note in his voice when he spoke made Mercy feel even more light-headed. "My lady, may I help you?" he purred, as he kneaded her backside with his hands. The sound of his voice, the touch of his fingers, made Mercy's temperature rise. She pretended to flail her hands helplessly, 'accidentally' letting one brush against his thigh, and reaching up, hearing his breath catch when she brushed against what she was aiming for, then catching herself on the box again. "You could help me up," she finally replied, fairly steadily she thought, for someone hanging upside down. "I could throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here," he responded, his voice low. He was seriously considering the idea. "Love, I'm going to pass out down here. Let me stand up while you think about it. Okay?" She put her arms back behind her, in a gesture clearly meant for him to haul her out of the box, and he did, pulling her back into his arms immediately afterwards until her head cleared.
Rikku wished she wasn't there. She couldn't see anything, but she sure could hear. Just listening was enough to make her face flame. It also explained a few things. Hearing them, she could understand how someone could fall in love with a mean old grump like Auron. If he'd ever sounded like that with her. No. Best not to EVER think about that. But someday, she wanted a man to talk to her that way.
Mercy turned in Auron's arms, so she could face him. "What brought you here?"
"Looking for you. You have been down here a long time. I was...hungry." It was clear from the expression on his face that he was not talking about food. Suddenly, she wasn't interested in dinner, either. More like dessert. "We should...do something about that," she replied, licking her lips suggestively. "But first, I need to talk with my able assistant," she said, and stepped away from him. "Rikku," she called.
Rikku stood up, yawning as though she had been asleep. Good save, Mercy silently congratulated the girl. "I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep. What's up?" Rikku tried to sound as though she'd just woken from a nap, but she was blushing furiously.
"It's dinner time. I'm going to take a break for the night. I just wanted to tell you, we're on the right track. I found the insides of a music machina in that box, so the outside casing is probably here too. At least there's a good chance. We'll just have to look the next time we're aboard. Thanks for all your help. And your company. This would have been really dull without you, Rikku."
"Glad to help," the girl chirped, her face still fairly pink as she left.
Now that they were alone, Mercy turned back to Auron. "About that appetite of yours..." she teased, as she slid her arms around his neck.
---------
The ship dropped them above the ruins of Baaj Temple in the morning. Whatever had submerged the temple had done a pretty thorough job of it; there wasn't a whole lot above the waterline. They all knew the inside of the temple was still pretty airtight, thanks to Tidus' and Rikku's earlier visit, but Mercy wondered how long it would stay that way. Tidus certainly enjoyed settling the score with the monster outside the temple, with Wakka's and Rikku's help. The rest of them were happy to just watch. Then they were inside the temple.
Tidus had been right, there was definitely something here. The problem was, they couldn't find out exactly what. The chamber was a puzzle. Lulu was the one who solved the riddle. "This is the Cloister of Trials," she said at last. "This one chamber is the trial. The symbols behind the statues represent the temples. See, there is one for each temple, Besaid, Kilika, Djose, Macalania, and Bevelle."
"So what's the last one for?" Tidus asked.
"These same symbols were on the points of the lift that descended to the chamber of the fayth in Zanarkand," Lulu continued. "Therefore, I believe the last statue must represent Zanarkand. We must go back." They all turned to Yuna, waiting for her to decide their next move.
Yuna stood silent for a few moments, considering. "I think we should go to the Calm Lands next, to the Arena…I don't think that we are ready to go back to Zanarkand…yet.
"As you wish," Auron responded.
Mercy reflected on what she had just witnessed. Lulu was clearly the 'expert' in the group, the one who always had all the answers, the one everyone else looked up to. I wonder if she was jealous when Auron showed up, and suddenly he was the expert? And a legend, into the bargain, based on some of the stories I've heard bits of since I've been here. Then I appeared, and confused things even further. I'm amazed she hasn't sent a Firaga up my nose long before now, since she doesn't dare touch him.
"Then let's get back to the ship, ya?" Wakka prompted. So they went.
It was late afternoon when they returned to the ship. Mercy and Rikku headed back to the cargo hold with renewed energy, hopeful that the main part of the machina they were looking for would be in there, somewhere. It helped that Mercy now knew exactly which one to look for, and could give Rikku a specific description, based on the parts she had seen. They found the casing within an hour, and, working together with surgical precision, had the machine fixed in less than two hours. It helped a lot when you knew what you were looking for.
Rikku had been a little shy as they worked, not asking nearly as many questions as the day before. She was trying to work up her courage to ask something personal, and it took her a little time. As Mercy started to program the machine, to test it, Rikku finally started working her way around to what she really wanted to know. "Uh, can I ask you something, well, personal?"
"You can ask." Mercy replied coolly, but then she smiled up at the girl, to let her know that she meant it kindly. "Don't worry, that's actually kind of a joke," she continued. "Tidus used to ask me personal stuff all the time. The day I met him, I think I answered three quarters of his questions with 'none of your business'. He would ask the same question over and over, in as many different ways as he could think of, just to see if he could trip me up. Of course, he was all of twelve at the time, so his attempts weren't very subtle." The expression on her face was very fond. Then she bent her head back to the control panel of the machina, and her fingers busied themselves with the programming.
"So, how did you meet Tidus, then?" Rikku asked, figuring it was a safe place to start.
"Auron introduced us. He used to spend Sundays with Tidus, and he took me with him. We'd known each other about a week, then, so I was pretty nervous. I wondered what I would talk about with a kid, not knowing that Tidus would do all the talking. Still does." Mercy grinned.
"But how did you meet Auron?" Rikku blurted out.
Mercy closed up the control panel on the machina, wiped her hands together, stood up, and dusted herself off. "My brother and I were performing in a club in Zanarkand. Auron was walking on the street outside, and heard me singing, and came in." She paused and took a breath. "I don't know if this is going to work, but I think I just programmed this machina to do backup for the song I was singing that night, or at least I sure hope so. I'm a little rusty, and so is the machina, so this might not work too well, but if you're game, I'll try it."
Rikku perched on a crate. "I can't wait. I'm all ears."
Mercy flipped a couple of switches on the little machina, tried a couple of experimental prayers to whatever deities might possibly exist and watch over performers on Spira, took a deep breath, and waited for the opening bars of "Desperado". Her stomach did flip-flops as the machine began to play, but when her cue came; she closed her eyes, and sang from her soul, seeing in her mind the night in Zanarkand when Auron walked in, and her world changed.
Rikku closed her eyes, too, and let the words of the song wash over her. This is so beautiful, she thought. And the story is just so romantic. I mean, Auron is the Desperado, after all. After the song ended, Rikku was practically bouncing with enthusiasm. "Mercy, you should do concerts. On the airship, I mean. You sound so good. It would be so cool. Everyone would come. Would you, please? Think about it, I mean?"
"I will think about it, Rikku. I was planning to make some recordings, at least. That's why I wanted the machina. I'm not sure about doing concerts; it's hard for me to think about performing without Dafydd. But I do miss it."
"Dafydd?" Rikku inquired.
"My brother. He's in the other Zanarkand."
Rikku was slightly abashed. "Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault. I promise I'll think about it, okay?"
"Okay!" Rikku replied enthusiastically.
Later, Auron found Mercy in their cabin, sitting on their bed, her head bent over the machina. He automatically sat behind her, and began to massage the stiffness out of her back and shoulders. She leaned into his touch with a grateful sigh. "Does it work?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," she answered. "It works all right. It actually sounds pretty good. Rikku thinks I ought to give concerts, in fact." She tilted her head to look at his face. "What do you think?"
"I think you are still the woman I met in Zanarkand. The one who said that her soul needed the music."
"You're right. I had just intended to make recordings. To leave something behind, in the hope that, when the Calm comes, someone might find them useful, but it's not enough. I still prefer to sing in front of an audience, even if it's just Rikku." Mercy paused. "I'd rather sing for you. If I give concerts, will you be there?"
"Always, my lady," he murmured, as he pulled her down onto the bed. As she wrapped her arms around him, she whispered, "Love, I need my music, but not as much as I need you."
In the morning, the airship returned them to the Calm Lands. Tidus decided to train another chocobo before they rode to the Arena. Auron muttered something under his breath to Mercy to the effect that, "We do not have time for this." Mercy whispered back fiercely, "Let it go, Auron. He has no time but this."
Mercy observed the byplay between Tidus and Yuna. Their relationship was somewhat on again/off again. She'd seen it on the ship, too. It was obvious that the two were very much in love with each other. Everything showed it. They stood close together, touched whenever possible, held hands, smiled foolishly at each other when they thought no one was looking. Just the way Yuna was cheering Tidus on as he raced now with the chocobo trainer gave it away. She knew from what Auron had told her that the two had been lovers before they reached Zanarkand, yet now they slept apart. Why? Was Yuna that concerned about the proprieties, now that she knew she was going to survive? Or was Lulu filling her head with that nonsense? Tidus, young fool that he was, hadn't told her that he wouldn't be around, once Sin was gone. Yuna had no idea that now was all they had. She thought there would be plenty of time, later. Besides, what they were attempting was still very dangerous. Any of them could fall along the way. Now was all any of them could count on. None of them could afford to waste a second of it. She took Auron's hand for a moment, clasped it briefly, felt an answering squeeze, and let go. Their eyes met. She mouthed the words, "I love you," soundlessly to him. Surprised, he smiled back, and nodded.
Tidus lost the race with the chocobo trainer. They rented enough of the friendly yellow birds to travel swiftly to the old arena on the eastern edge of the Calm Lands. The old man was glad to see them return, and even gladder when they agreed to help him restock his training ground. They almost all groaned when they heard they would have to buy his special weapons, it did sound rather like a scam to most of them. Wakka was the most trusting, Mercy thought. He is so sweet; he believes the best of everyone.
It took them three days to capture one of every kind of creature in the Calm Lands. Three long, wearying, footsore days hiking the length and breadth of the vast plain. Mercy was not totally sorry to have missed the original trip through the place, except for the time she had lost with Auron. It would have been worth it, just for that, she thought. But only for that, she decided, as they captured yet another Flame Flan. The party returned to the airship every night, which was a luxury they hadn't had on their earlier passage. The quarters they had occupied had now been permanently assigned to each of them, and had become repositories for spare weapons and extra possessions, so they had become rather like home to them, and had begun to take on the characters of their residents. According to rumor, Rikku's were cluttered, Yuna's, neat as a pin, and no one ever got past the door of Lulu's, since facing the door was a set of moogle dolls staring at any would-be intruder until they fled in terror. Mercy tried not to think about what Tidus' cabin must look like. She had seen what his houseboat looked like after he moved out on his own. She didn't know Wakka well enough to guess, and she had no idea what Ronso housekeeping was like. She and Auron weren't exactly neat-freaks, either. Or rather, she suspected he had been when he'd been with the warrior-monks, mostly because he hadn't had enough stuff not to be tidy, she guessed, but she wasn't, and he'd adapted when they'd lived together.
After they had captured at least one of every type of fiend in the Calm Lands, they returned to the arena to collect their payment. The old man rewarded them with, among other things, a chest that they couldn't open. Except…the cloudy mirror that Tidus had won at Remiem in that chocobo challenge reacted to the box. It wouldn't open it, but it hummed, just like it did when it came in contact with that crazy map he had picked up as prize. Maybe, if they figured out what the mirror was for, they could translate the map, and open this box.
Tidus spoke up. "I have an idea. Let's go through Macalania Woods. It'll be a change after all this grassland, and we can pick up a new set of fiends. How about it?"
Mercy asked, "Could we visit the temple? I think it might be a good idea to speak with the fayth again. To see if they have anything else to say, now that we are decided upon our course." I want to thank her, Mercy admitted to herself. She caught Auron's eye. He nodded.
Yuna agreed, "I think that would be a good idea, to see if we are on the right track. We will go through Macalania."
--------
At Macalania Temple, when Yuna went in to pray to the fayth, Tidus, Auron and Mercy accompanied her, surprising her a bit. Shiva's message was addressed to Tidus, rather than to Yuna, who was clearly puzzled by the fayth's words. Shiva said, "Should the dreaming end, you too will disappear--Fade into Spira's sea, Spira's sky. But do not weep, nor rise in anger. Even we were once human. That is why we must dream. Let us summon a sea in a new dream world. A new sea for you to swim."
Tidus wanted to shout that he didn't want a sea in a new dream world, he liked this one just fine, but he kept still. He didn't want to upset Yuna.
Shiva then turned to Mercy, saying, "Do you value the gift that we have given?"
"More than my life," Mercy replied.
"Then you have passed the final test. Child, you have done well. You have fulfilled all our dreams for this…stubborn guardian. It is time now for you to dream your own dreams."
"I know. And, I thank you." Mercy bowed to the fayth.
Auron took Mercy's hand in his. "And I also thank you," he said gravely. "You gave me the greatest gift of all."
"Guardian, it seemed a fair exchange. We hope that you believe so as well."
"I believe that I have the best of the bargain," Auron replied, smiling.
"Then we are content," Shiva answered him.
-------
They returned to the airship in the evening. Mercy had spent much of her previous spare time aboard ship programming the machina, and testing it. On this occasion, she packed up the little machine and told Auron, "I am going to find a place where I can practice. I hope you don't mind."
"No, go right ahead," he replied calmly. He had been planning for this for some time. In less than fifteen minutes there was a knock on the cabin door. It was Tidus. "She's three levels up, all the way forwards. There's a crowd already, and it's growing fast," he said.
"We'd better go," Auron answered, getting up and heading for the door.
"Right behind you, boss," Tidus was already talking to the empty air. Auron was halfway down the corridor.
By the time they reached the impromptu concert, Mercy was almost halfway through the songs she had programmed into the machina. Based on the enthusiastic applause at the end of each number, this audience wouldn't care if she repeated every song. Twice. When Auron entered the room, her eyes met his, and her face lit in a dazzling smile. Yes, he thought, this is exactly what she needed. I must thank Rikku. Later.
She sang to him, as she had so many times before:
It's the stuff that dreams are made of
It's the slow and steady fire
It's the stuff that dreams are made of
It's your heart and soul's desire
It's the stuff that dreams are made of
And for them, it was.
She saw Rin, in the corner of the room, holding up a sphere. Aieee! He was making a recording. He winked at her, as though they were making a deal. She nodded back. I do have a deal for him. They would discuss it, later.
Meanwhile, this was her legacy, so she sang one song, to acknowledge that, to herself, at least.
A million young poets
Screamin´ out their words
Maybe someday
Those words will be heard
By future generations
Ridin´ on the highways that we built
Maybe they'll have a better understanding
Check it out
Hope they'll have a better understanding
Then, Mercy looked at Tidus, and Yuna, sitting side by side, his arm around her shoulders, and sang "Help Me" for them, and "Anticipation", hoping that they would understand, but fearing that they would not. These are the good old days. These are all we have. Make them count.
She smiled at Auron, and closed, as always, with "Seven Wonders". The applause was thunderous in the small space.
------
The next morning they tried the southern portion of the Macalania Woods. They met a young mother and her son who were waiting for the remaining member of their family to join them. Traveling through the woods, they ran into the man, who had become confused about the rendezvous point. Luckily, the party was able to point him in the direction of the rest of his family. When the group didn't find many fiends down the road they were walking, they turned back and followed him. He had located his wife, but now his son was missing. Apparently, the boy had scampered off while his mother's back was turned, and now his mother was concerned about him. They searched the area, and eventually located the child at the head of top of a mysterious glowing path, in front of a large, spherical crystal, yet another one of the mysteries in these woods. Something in Tidus' pack started to hum in reaction to the crystal. They escorted the boy back to his worried parents, then returned to face the crystal.
Tidus dropped his pack and rooted through the contents until he uncovered the cloudy mirror, then turned to face the crystal with the mirror in his upraised hand. The mirror began to glow with light, as though it were reflecting the light from the crystal. As Tidus lowered the mirror, they all looked at it in wonder. It was not merely reflecting the crystal; it had actually absorbed some of its light. Now, the mirror was sort of a mini-crystal, lit from within, even when Tidus covered it with his hands. He started to replace it in his pack, but his pack started humming again, louder this time. "What now?" he grumbled. "The map, the map," Rikku exclaimed. "Yeah, right!" Tidus practically shouted, as he drew the old parchment out of his pack. In the new light of the mirror, they could all read the map. At the top the title read "Celestial Weapons". The map had three symbols repeated all over it, and at the bottom, the symbols were identified as either "Weapon", "Sigil", or "Crest". Beside each symbol on the map itself was one of three words, "Seek", "Quest", or "Challenge".
"Deciphering this is going to take some time," Lulu declared. "We should save this until we are aboard the ship tonight."
"Agreed," Mercy seconded. Lulu looked at her in surprise. Mercy shrugged. When the witch was right, she was right. Why argue?
-----
They gathered around the map after dinner, in the room that Mercy secretly thought of as the "conference room".
"Okay, it's a map of Spira. But what's a celestial weapon when it's at home?" she asked.
"Must be like Lord Mi'ihen's sword, like that guy said on the Highroad," Wakka offered.
"Yeah, I think that's it," Tidus agreed eagerly.
"He must have had a lot of friends," Mercy replied, somewhat archly.
"Other heroes, over the years, may have also left their legacies behind," Yuna responded, more reverently.
"You're right, Yuna," Lulu agreed.
"So," Mercy went on, "I think we have to hope that there is a weapon for each of us. We'll know when we find them. Meanwhile, we have three sets of symbols; weapon, sigil, and crest. Weapon is obvious, but what about the other two? Do you think they broke the weapons apart when they were hidden, to dim their power?"
"Possibly," was Auron's contribution. "We have already located most of the crests. Everyone, get the ones you have and return here." Once everyone returned, they were able to match the crests to the locations where they had been found. All of the locations had been marked with the notation "seek". Two remained, one in Luca, one in Guadosalam, although they had no clues yet as to which of the party each crest belonged to, if any.
"Each of these was found easily, in the location specified on the map. There was no test, no trial, no puzzle," Auron continued. "This must be the meaning of the 'seek' notation."
Tidus studied the map again, looking at the Calm Lands area closely. "Look here, the Arena is marked three times, once for a weapon, and twice for the sigils, whatever they are. They all say challenge." He stopped to think for a moment, then went on in a rush. "Hey, I wonder if that's what's in that chest the old man gave us, the one we couldn't open. I bet the mirror will open it now. I bet that either one of these weapons is in it, or one of the sigils. We should check tomorrow. Capturing fiends for the arena must be one of the challenges."
"We should test your theory in the morning," Lulu replied.
In the morning, they returned to the Arena, and proved that Tidus' theory was correct, at least so far. The chest proved to contain a staff, inscribed with runes that named it "Nirvana". It was clearly meant for Yuna. Gathering around her, they tried placing each of the crests, one by one, next to the staff, to see which belonged to the staff. Only when Yuna held the Moon Crest near the staff, did they hear a faint resonance. "I think we need to return to the crystal in Macalania to merge the weapon and the crest," Yuna said uncertainly.
"I agree," Lulu responded swiftly.
Tidus turned to the fiend handler. "You got any other prizes for us?"
"Not until you bring me some more fiends. I got some really interesting stuff for you, if you restock my whole place, though," the old man answered.
"All right!" the young man eagerly replied. Then he turned back to the others. "Look, there are two more places marked as 'challenge' in the Calm Lands, a weapon in the northwest, and a sigil near the travel agency, but the only challenge I know of is racing the chocobo trainer. Let's go check it out!"
The expression on Auron's face was almost pained as he looked at his wife. Mercy just shrugged in response, but she had to smile at Tidus' enthusiasm. He was on the right track, after all. She just wondered how long it was going to take to beat the chocobo trainer, twice, it seemed. Tidus hadn't had much luck, so far.
It took, as it turned out, most of the day. But, in the end, he won, both his weapon, the Caladbolg, from the northwest section of the Calm Lands, and the Sun Sigil that matched it. They had mastered the key to the map, it seemed. The only question that remained was whether there truly were weapons for each of the members of their party.
When they returned to the ship, Tidus was in high spirits, as were most of the others. Auron had found the afternoon, just watching, extremely annoying, and needed to blow off some steam, so he headed toward the room set aside as a gymnasium. As she headed for the shower, Mercy felt a little sorry for whoever or whatever ended up as her husband's sparring partner this afternoon. That unlucky soul was going to end up with some serious bruises, she thought.
In the shower, she thought about Tidus, and Yuna. It was so obvious that they were deeply in love, but something was holding them back. She still wondered why, or what, as she stepped out of the shower and put on her robe. She tied the red silk around her waist as the door chimed. She was surprised to find Yuna standing in the doorway. She quickly ushered the young woman inside.
"Mercy, may I trouble you for a moment?" Yuna said, as she bowed to the older woman.
"Of course, Yuna. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"May I ask you a personal question?" First Rikku, now Yuna, Mercy thought.
Mercy was more cautious now. "Please sit." She sat on the side of the bed. Her side of the bed, as it turned out. Yuna stared around the room for a few seconds. The room was in a mild state of disarray. The bed was unmade, a black robe thrown across one side. The party had been aboard the airship long enough now for the room to have definitely taken on the character of the occupants. Both occupants. Yuna's face flushed, and she began to back out of the room hurriedly. "Yuna, wait, you wanted to ask me a question. Please, go ahead."
Yuna stood irresolute, but only for a moment, then she stepped forward, and sat beside her hostess. She truly had no one else she could ask. "Mercy, what is love?"
Mercy closed her eyes. To herself, it seemed like just a second. A kaleidoscope of images, thoughts, feelings, flashed through her mind, but she said nothing of them. Instead, she looked into Yuna's eyes, read the younger woman's face, and said, "Why ask of me a question to which you already know the answer?"
"Because I do not know what to do, and I hoped that you would advise me. I have no where else to turn."
Mercy took the younger woman's hands in her own. "Yuna, that's not the real question, is it?" Yuna shook her head, her eyes downcast. "Yuna, look at me." When their eyes met again, Mercy continued. "Do you want to know what I think?" "Yes, please," Yuna responded.
"Okay, then. I think this is the real question: Is there anything about loving, or about being loved in return, or about acting upon that love that would impair your ability to perform the task that you have chosen? That is the only question that matters. Not what other people may think, or what they will say, but whether you will be able to perform the task ahead? When you have the answer, you will know what to do." Mercy released Yuna's hands, and the two women stood and faced each other for a long moment.
Yuna turned and walked towards the door, but then heard the other woman take in a deep breath as though she had something else to say. Yuna paused and faced Mercy again. The older woman spoke one last time, the words spoken sharply, as though it cut her to say so much, "Consider this, you told Yunalesca that you did what you did, with no regrets. Well, I regret very little that I actually did. Yuna, you will find, later, that regrets are made of what you did not do." She paused, one last time. "I do not regret a single second of the time that Auron and I have had together. But, I regret…I regret every night of those five years that he was in Zanarkand, that we each spent alone." Yuna saw the pain in Mercy's face. The other woman meant every word. Yuna turned and left the room in a rush. She needed to think.
That evening, Yuna asked everyone if it would be all right if they went to Besaid next. She wanted to visit Valefor in the temple, she said, but she looked troubled. They all agreed, so the course was set for the island that Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu called home. In the morning, they arrived at Besaid. Valefor's message, at least, was helpful. The fayth confirmed that their decision about Sin, about Jecht, at least, was the correct one. They would free him from Yu Yevon. They captured more fiends for the arena. Yuna looked at the faces of the villagers, and searched inside her heart. She reached her own decision. "Let's return to Macalania. Tomorrow night, I would like to camp by the spring again, if everyone agrees." Shyly, she looked at Tidus' face, and smiled into his eyes.
That night aboard the airship, drowsy and content in each other's arms, Mercy finally remembered to ask Auron, "Is there something significant about that spring?"
"What spring?" he murmured sleepily.
"In Macalania. The one we're going to camp at tomorrow."
"Probably," he replied, half asleep.
She punched his shoulder. "Auron, tell me. Is that where…?"
"Yes." He smiled, kissed her gently. "Now, will you go to sleep?"
"Maybe we should check it out tomorrow, too?" she teased.
"Mmm…that has possibilities," he replied, as he spooned against her back, pulling her close.
----
They found the challenge in Macalania, first. The butterfly chase, resulting in the Saturn Sigil. Also a fine collection of fiends for the arena. They made camp near the spring, but in a much lighter mood than they had on the previous occasion.
After dinner, which tasted surprising good for field-cooked food, they all sat around the campfire debating their next destination. Yuna rose, cast a significant look in Tidus' direction, and headed for the spring. Kimahri followed her, to keep watch over her until the blitzer took over.
Tidus hoped he understood what was going on. He thought he was supposed to follow, he thought that was why Yuna wanted to camp here, but he wasn't sure. He waited a little, trying not to be obvious, not like it wasn't really obvious to everyone, then walked over to the pile of gear and picked up a couple of towels and moved down the path to the spring, feeling everyone's eyes on his back as he went.
As he passed Kimahri, the Ronso placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment, then turned back toward the campfire, making it clear that he would not be watching. Tidus continued toward the spring, where Yuna was waiting for him.
They returned an hour later, arms around each other's waists. If the warmth of the smiles on their faces weren't enough to show that their relationship was now completely out in the open, the rest of their behavior left no doubt. Mercy looked at them, glad to see the change in their relationship, and tried to pinpoint what else was different. It was subtle, but something else had changed. What was it? She almost laughed. Tidus had stuffed his gloves in his pockets, the same way Auron tucked his into his belt. His hands were bare.
It was time to lay out bedrolls and start the watches for the night, the one disadvantage of camping out. Mercy sat by the fire, and watched as Auron picked their bedrolls up from the pile, and laid them out together in a corner of the campground. He clearly didn't think anything of it; he just did it casually, but very quickly, since they had the first watch. She noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Tidus was watching him very carefully. As soon as Auron had finished, Tidus tried to do the same thing. He went to the pile, located his and Yuna's bedrolls, and picked them up. He couldn't pull off the nonchalance, however. His face was scarlet. Mercy gave him points for perseverance, since he took the bedrolls to a different corner, and laid them out together, his back to the rest of the group, ignoring as best as he could the fact that everyone was staring at him. Yuna stood and moved to his side, helping him to organize their sleeping space, becoming an active participant and, thereby, showing her consent to the new arrangement. Lulu was thunderstruck. At first, she appeared to be considering which spell would cause the most damage, and Mercy let one of her throwing knives fall to her palm. But, as Mercy watched, she realized that what Lulu felt wasn't anger, it was pain. Lulu loved Yuna like a sister, and she wanted her to be happy, but it hurt so deeply to watch, that Lulu almost couldn't bear it. Mercy turned away. She felt as though she was intruding, seeing this. But as she turned, she saw Wakka's face. Oh dear, he loves Lulu so much. His heart is in his eyes. Doesn't she know? Mercy wanted to weep for them all.
After Kimahri had taken over the watch from them, Auron and Mercy took a couple of towels and headed for the spring. Mercy hoped they had brought enough towels for everyone, since this pair was likely to end up as full of grass stains as the ones that Tidus and Yuna had used earlier. When the trail opened up in front of the spring, Mercy stepped ahead of Auron to move closer to the water. "Auron, this is beautiful," she breathed, gazing at the spring in wonder.
"Yes, it is," he replied, watching her.
She looked over her shoulder at him, teasing now. "Want to go for a swim?" Without even waiting for a response, she started to take off her clothes, as he watched. This was one show he never tired of. She looked like a goddess when she beckoned to him again, her bare shoulders and breasts rising above the water. He stripped, fast, and tried to join her. She swam out of reach, laughing. He chased after, caught her by the ankle, pulled her against him. Warm now, the water heightened sensation, as they kissed, touched, caressed. As the water buoyed them up, she clasped her arms around his neck, her legs around his hips. He thrust deep inside her, holding her tight in his arms, just as she gripped him tightly inside. She whispered, "Is there magic here?" "Only what we make," he answered. They did.
End chapter eighteen