Where dreams end...
8. On the Road to Operation Mi'ihen
"Who does he think he is?" Tidus muttered, as they passed through the gates. It was clear that he was just a little jealous, though of what Yuna had no idea. Maybe he liked her as much as she liked him. Yuna couldn't help but smile at that thought.
"He's a Maester," Wakka said. "Better get used it, ya?"
Beyond the gates, the terrain changed rapidly. Unlike the Highroad, a place of gently rolling hills and pleasant greenery, the Mushroom Rock road was a bleak, grey, route, nothing but dirt and rocks. It ran along the edge of a cliff, and the crashing of waves could be heard not too far away.
The party walked on for a while, an uncomfortable silence settling over them. They actually caught up with Seymour, at another guard posting. "All hail Maester Seymour!" One guard exclaimed.
"Brave Crusaders of Spira, protectors of all Spira," Seymour acknowledged, performing a prayer. "Believe in the path you have chosen, let faith be your strength! I, Seymour Guado, Maester of Yevon, will bear witness to your deeds today."
The Crusaders saluted. "Sir!"
"What's going on?" Wakka asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Buffy asked quietly, a note of distaste in her voice. "He's giving another one of his inspiring speeches." She smiled too sweetly at the blitzer, and moved off to one side before he could reprimand her for her lack of respect.
"Why's Maester Seymour backing the Crusaders, eh? They're using the Al Bhed's machina! They're violating the teachings!" Wakka protested stubbornly.
"Even going against the teachings they're willing to risk it for the greater good," Yuna said, her quiet voice strong. She shot Buffy a meaningful look, wondering if the young guardian understood.
Buffy gave the Summoner no indication that she did. Yuna breathed a dejected sigh. "Wakka, I think Maester Seymour sees that, too."
Wakka looked taken aback by Yuna's quiet support of something so immoral to the teachings of Yevon. He turned to the black magician. "Lulu?" He asked, hoping for support.
"Hmm… I can only speculate," Lulu said.
"Ask him yourself," Auron said calmly. He nodded in Seymour's direction. The Maester of Yevon was coming their direction. Seymour walked up to Auron, examining the old guardian thoroughly.
"Ah, Sir Auron," he said. "It is an honour. I would be most interested in hearing what you've been doing these past ten years." There was the hint of a question in Seymour's voice, and also the hint of something else.
"I've got nothing to say about it," Auron said coolly. He turned, and joined Buffy away from the rest of the group.
"I… see," Seymour said slowly. He turned towards Yuna. "Sir Auron must be a great asset as a guardian."
"You Grace!" Yuna said, bowing.
"Please, there's no need for formalities," Seymour said, a smile on his face.
"Excuse me… Maester Seymour?" Wakka started hesitantly. He scratched the back of his head, trying to find the right words to approach his doubts. "Why is your Lordship… presently… present here… sir?"
"He wants to know what you're doing here, given that your teachings are all anti-machine and everything," Buffy supplied, rolling her eyes.
"It's true… I should stop them," said Seymour, nodding towards Buffy, before turning back to Wakka. "However… both the Crusaders and the Al Bhed truly wish peace for Spira. This Operation Mi'ihen was born from that wish they share. Although it may be sacrilege to Yevon, their intentions are pure. And I, Seymour Guado – the person, not the Maester of Yevon… As a denizen of Spira, I wish them well in their endeavour."
"But using machina… that's bad, isn't it?" Wakka sputtered.
"What's bad about what they're trying to do? If they manage to beat Sin this way, then maybe the cycle of its rebirth will end. Isn't that worth the risk?" Buffy asked quietly. Yuna looked over at the girl. She did understand after all.
"Sin is our punishment, for relying too much on machina. Using more machina to stop it is only going to make it stronger, eh?" Wakka asked, a rhetorical question.
"Pretend you didn't see them," Seymour said.
Wakka gasped in shock. "Beg your pardon, but that's not something a Maester should say!" He protested.
"Then, pretend I didn't say it," Seymour said simply.
"You're kidding!" Wakka sputtered. Seymour shook his head and turned
to go, his honour guard following him. Wakka was left speechless. They
too started off, Seymour already having dropped out of sight.
I have to admit, despite the fact that Seymour totally gave me the
creeps, I could see his point. Sometimes I think Wakka's just a little
blinded by his devotion to the teachings.
"Excuse me, Lady Summoner Yuna?"
Buffy recognised the young man, barely out of his teens. He had been with the Djose Chocobo Knights, when they had met on the Mi'ihen Highroad a couple of days ago. This guy was the kind of guy that faded into the background. He looked sort of chubby, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a green tunic underneath some plate armour that looked a little too big for him.
Buffy could dimly remember the man's name was Clasko, though how she knew this she didn't know. She didn't remember ever being introduced to him.
"Yes?" Yuna asked, giving the young man a smile.
"The command centre…" Clasko said, gesturing to the left hand fork in the road. "Maester Seymour requests your presence there, ma'am."
"Thank you," Yuna said, bowing slightly to the Crusader.
"Take that road to the command centre. It's not far," said Clasko, again gesturing to the left hand fork. "We're still in the midst of our preparations this way. Sorry."
"Thanks buddy," Buffy called out over her shoulder, as she followed the rest of the group down the left hand path.
It lead deeper, into a strange rocky canyon at the back of which was the command centre. It was actually kind of weird the way the scenery had changed so abruptly from the Mi'ihen Highroad. Several times, they ascended to different levels along the way, by way of strange geyser-powered elevators, essentially nothing more than a slab of rock laid over an active geyser.
Several times, they were attacked by fiends. Wakka, Tidus, and Auron did most of the fighting, heavy hitters the lot of them. Buffy doubted they were any match for her strength, but she figured it'd be unfair if she did all the work.
They made it to the back of the canyon. There was a large lift here, operated by a series of springs, cogs, and pulleys. It looked like it belonged in a museum to Buffy.
There were a couple of Crusaders there, token guards, the young Slayer guessed. After a moment, Buffy recognised them; they passed through the gate at the end of the Highroad before the Summoner's party had been let through.
What were their names again? Luzzu and Gatta.
Tidus turned towards them. The others followed.
"Why only you, sir? I want to fight, too!" The shorter, darker-skinned,
Crusader said, obviously agitated. He had black hair and dark eyes, and
was armoured in green. This was Gatta.
"Orders are orders," the taller, paler-skinned, Crusader said. He had
red hair and blue eyes, armoured in purple. This was Luzzu.
Buffy hadn't really been paying attention to them before, so this was the first good look she got.
"I'm not a cadet anymore, sir!" Gatta argued angrily. "Let me go with you, and I'll prove it to them!"
"Guarding the command centre is important too, you know," the older Crusader said, trying to sound reasonable. Gatta was incensed, so it had to be difficult on Luzzu.
"But I came all the way from Besaid to fight Sin, sir!" The younger man yelled angrily.
"I know," said Luzzu, responding calmly to Gatta's outraged yell. "But an order's an order. To your post, Crusader."
"But, sir!" Gatta protested. The look on Luzzu's face was serious. Gatta turned and stormed past the guardians. Luzzu noticed Tidus.
"They let you through, huh?" He asked.
"Gatta deserves better…" Tidus said, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes followed the path that the Crusader had just taken. Buffy turned and followed his gaze.
"I'm gonna go after him," the girl told Yuna. Yuna nodded, and watched Buffy turn to follow the path that Gatta had taken.
It didn't take long for Buffy to find Gatta. He stood guard in front of the main tent. "You wanna talk about it?" She offered.
"What's to talk about?" Gatta asked angrily. "Luzzu's treating my like I'm just a kid!"
"Aren't you?" Buffy asked, smiling slightly at the angry look she got from the young Crusader. "Look at you. You're maybe a year older than me. What do you want to fight Sin for? You've got your whole life ahead of you."
"All of which means nothing, if Sin continues to exist," Gatta said. "A life living in fear, constantly wondering if that monster is going to rise up out of the ocean to destroy your village, is no life at all. And besides, you're fighting Sin too! You're a guardian!"
"Yeah," Buffy nodded her agreement. "Yeah, I guess I am. But I have a reason for fighting Sin. I'm fighting to protect my friends, and to make their dreams come true. What are you fighting for, Gatta?"
"Sin has killed so many," Gatta said at length. It was clear that Sin had killed someone close to him, maybe even his parents. From what she understood about it, Sin left a lot of kids orphaned.
"So it's revenge," said Buffy, crossing her arms over her chest. She wasn't impressed, but she wasn't really surprised either. "That doesn't solve anything. Do you really think it'll bring all the people Sin has killed back to life, if you go and get yourself crushed on some beach somewhere?"
"But…" Gatta started.
"Trust me when I say that there are better things to get killed for," Buffy continued, giving him a playful grin. She was not giving the young man a chance to answer her rhetorical question. "Why don't you try making a difference some other way? Become something other than a pointless sacrifice, if you want to honour those people killed by Sin."
"I guess…" Gatta said, dejected. He brightened a moment later, as if struck by sudden inspiration. "Thank you," he said, bowing formally to Buffy.
"Stop it! You're gonna make me blush," Buffy said, smiling.
"My apologies," said Gatta, firing off a sharp salute.
Buffy rolled her eyes, and turned away to explore what must have been the command centre. There were rows of cannons set up along the cliff, and what she now recognised as Al Bhed mechanics inspecting them.
Walking to the edge of the cliff, she could see an army of Crusaders, all gathered on the beachhead, waiting expectantly for the time of combat. She let her eyes drift off to the distant ocean.
"Am I doing the right thing?" She whispered to herself. She got the feeling that the part of Xander that now lived in her mind and heart agreed with her actions. That was enough to alleviate her immediate doubts.
After a while, she was joined by the rest of her new friends. They walked back towards the tent that Gatta had been guarding. He saluted sharply again, when they approached. "The operation will begin shortly. Please check all your equipment."
Buffy patted her sword, to show that she had checked it. "Um, you all right?" Wakka asked Gatta hesitantly.
Gatta breathed a sigh, looking towards Buffy for a second. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," he said, nodding. He ushered them into the tent, before returning to his post.
"Girl, I don't know what you told him, but whatever it was, good job," said Wakka, clapping Buffy so heavily on the back that she stumbled forward a couple of steps.
Inside the tent, there was a short, fat, bald man, dressed in resplendent golden robes. Obviously, he was a big fish around here. "I'd heard from Seymour, but I didn't know if we'd actually meet. Good to see you, Auron! Ten years, isn't it?"
Lulu leaned towards Buffy and Tidus, who were sharing identical blank looks. "That's Wen Kinoc, one of the Four Maesters of Yevon," she said in a hushed voice. "He leads the warrior monks and also commands the Crusaders."
Gatta stepped into the tent, saluting again. Was that all he knew how to do, Buffy wondered, rolling her eyes. "All troops ready to move at your command, sir!"
Kinoc nodded. "Good. Dismissed."
"Sir!" Gatta said, leaving the tent.
"Tell me, Auron," said Kinoc. "Where have you been to, last ten years?" He was talking to Yuna's guardian like they were old friends, but the look on Auron's scarred face clearly said something else entirely.
"We don't have time for this now, do we?" Auron said, a rhetorical question.
"This plan won't work, you know that. We'll just let them dream a little longer," Kinoc said.
"What?" Tidus almost yelled.
"You can't do that!" Buffy protested.
"Lord Kinoc…" Maester Seymour said, stepping into the tent. The half-human Maester gave Kinoc a look, and Kinoc nodded.
"Oh, yes. Proceed," said Kinoc, nodding to a nearby Crusader. The young woman disappeared to pass on the order.
Auron turned his back on Kinoc, turning towards Yuna and her other guardians, more specifically Tidus. "That Kinoc, a Maester?" He asked, chuckling darkly.
Kinoc looked offended at Auron's rhetorical question. "I heard that, Auron. A lot has happened the last ten years. What were you doing, and where?"
"Fulfilling a promise I made to a friend. I still am."
"Geez, this guy could give Angel lessons in being cryptic," Buffy muttered to Tidus, thinking back on the first time she ever laid eyes on the vampire with a soul. There was no way Tidus could know what Angel was like, so he just nodded, a clueless look on his face.
"Just tell me one thing: have you seen Zanarkand?" Kinoc asked.
"That's a dumb question," said Buffy evenly. Kinoc gave her a hard, imperious, look, almost as if asking her what right she had to question him.
"If a Summoner's pilgrimage has to end in Zanarkand, and Auron was Yuna's dad's guardian, then he would've gone with Yuna's dad to Zanarkand." That said, she turned and walked from the tent. She could feel eyes on her as she left.
"I don't think that's what he meant," said Tidus, following her out.
"I know," Buffy said, shaking her head. "He was talking about your Zanarkand, right?"
"Huh?" Tidus asked.
"It's nothing," Buffy dismissed, shaking her head. She turned away from the young man, letting her eyes wander over the distant waves. "You've been distant ever since we left Luca. You want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?" Tidus asked.
"Whatever it is that's bothering you," Buffy answered.
"Nah, it's okay," Tidus said, after a moment. "But hey, as long as we're on the subject, how come you're so distant?" He asked with a grin.
"Noticed that, huh?" Buffy asked. "Kinda hoping nobody would. I—"
"Sinspawn!" Someone screamed.
"Let's go!" Tidus said, rushing back into the tent. Buffy followed quickly behind him. They didn't bother to stop in the tent, running right through and out the other end, where they came face to face with a huge Sinspawn.
It looked to be made up of all the different Sinspawn that the Crusaders had gathered together. Somehow they'd become fused together into this monstrosity. It resembled a giant insect, with two great pincers and a hard-looking shell.
Buffy drew her sword and took her place in the line, next to Auron and Tidus. "You do know how to use that thing, don't you?" Auron asked, a chuckle escaping his lips.
"Very funny, gramps," Buffy said. Suddenly, the Sinspawn attacked with one of its pincers.
Tidus launched himself at one of the monster's pincers. He slashed it once, dodging a counter attack, then slashed it again. Tidus ran back and forth slashing the target dodging four more times, before leaping back into line. The pincer evaporated in a cloud of pyreflies.
"Let me show you how it's done," Auron said. He leapt forward, bringing his massive sword around in a brutal arc. The other pincer was destroyed.
Buffy dodged one of the monster's fire spells. She ran at the Sinspawn. Using the monstrosity's huge body as a boost, she kicked off and launched herself into the air. She brought her new sword down hard, cleaving the monster in two.
"I think I can take care of myself," Buffy quipped, with a grin. The grin faded when she turned to face Yuna.
Beyond Yuna, something huge and monstrous was rising up out of the sea. This was beyond her abilities alone, Buffy knew instantly. This wasn't something that'd go down with a simple stake to the heart, even if that seemed to work for a lot of other things. No, this'd take violence on a level she wasn't sure she could deliver on her own.
"Sin," Auron said in his calm impassive voice.
"You're freaking kidding!" Buffy gasped. "That huge thing is Sin? I mean, I knew it was a monster and all but…" Buffy's voice trailed off.
Sin's angry roar shook the surroundings. Minor Sinspawn peeled away from its monstrous body, swimming quickly towards the restless Crusaders waiting on the beach. They were soon embroiled in fierce fighting.
Sin gathered an energy field about itself, glowing a brilliant blue-white. It was gathering energy for an attack! "Run!" Buffy yelled down at the fighting Crusaders. "Run! It's going to attack!"
The Crusaders continued to fight. The light around Sin grew brighter still. An attack was imminent. She had to do something!
And then, she knew what she had to do. Sin was going to kill every man and woman down on that beach; it was already building up the energy for its attack. She couldn't let that happen, but she needed help.
The warm feeling in her heart that Buffy now recognised as Xander seemed to respond. She understood. Buffy closed her eyes, and tried to focus on that warmth that she felt within. "Please help me, Xander."