Author's note: I tried to follow te storyline as much as I could, so for those wo hate spoilers,I suggest you stop reading and beat the game first
I cracked my neck, feeling the tension in it. It had been a long day. The fiends seem to have had a field day, and had been attacking me constantly throughout the day. Kimari was settling things with the other Ronso, and couldn't be with us currently. Wakka and Lulu had stayed behind with Kimari to get Lulu some things she wanted for customizing a cactaur that she had found.
Yuna had decided that we would stay at the Ronso village for awhile, which caused Auron to search for an inn or a hospitable family to board us for a few days. Yuna and Rikku were exploring the village. They were apparently looking for someone who sold hair bands. Rikku was apparently running low. I smiled at the memory of my beloveds' imploring me to come with them, but I had to get away for awhile.
I had decided that I had needed to train a bit, so whenever I could, I would go and seek out fiends. It was wearying, and could be extremely painful. I had managed to sprain my wrist last time, but I had luckily managed to find an elixir on the fallen fiend. I also managed to gather quite a few items, and weapons, most of which I sold, or added to my pack. The gil that I found, or received for the items I sold, I deposited into Lulu and Yuna's purses. They had not really noticed, although several times they commented on how they had forgotten they had the amount gil that they found.
This time, I had managed to get away virtually unscathed. I had found an odd doll thingy, which I decided to show Lulu. I also found several Phoenix Downs, and some grenades, which I added to my stash in my pack. The gil I found I deposited into a purse that I had made. I wanted to have a bit saved up, for when this was all over.
I went searching for Lulu, and I found her with Wakka a little ways from the village. They were experimenting with something, although I could not tell what from this distance.
"Hey, Lulu! Wakka! I need to show you something!" I said as I approached them, the odd doll I had found in one hand. Their heads jerked in my direction, and covered what they were working on with a cloth. I shrugged at this behavior, tossing my now long hair over my shoulder.
"Yes?" Lulu asked when I reached them, her ruby eyes boring into mine.
"I was checking out the view earlier, and I encountered a fiend. When it dissipated, it left this behind. I have never seen any others like it, and I thought you might take a look at it." I said as I held out the doll.
Lulu looked at the doll, before paling, and gazing at me in disbelief. Wakka, seeing his companion's reaction, looked close at the doll. He had virtually the same reaction, although he blustered a bit.
"What? What is it?" I said after a few moments. I looked at them questioningly.
"What fiend did you fight?" Lulu asked her voice a bit breathless. I frowned, but I answered the question.
"Well, I would have to say I don't the category for it, but it was a crab-like fiend, except for its huge proportions. It seemed a bit different from the others, but I figured that's because I have never fought one before. Why?" I asked.
"That is no ordinary doll. That is something called the Onion Knight. It is one of the most powerful dolls in existence, but no one has been able to find the fiend that stole it many years ago. It is the magic user's most sought after item, and many replications have been attempted, but none have been successful." Lulu explained to me. "There are weapons of various types like this, all of which had been stolen by fiends, all within the same week. The fiends that have them have become known as the Fiend Guardians. Some rumors say that they will only be found by a certain person, of their choosing. Others say that they fiends were all water types, and went back into the sea." Lulu grew quiet when she finished. I became awkward, and started to fidget.
"Here, I don't need it, you have it. I… I got to go!" I said, giving her the doll before fleeing. I ran away from the village, and from my questions. I stopped where I had defeated the fiend, and just gazed out at the view. The village was nestled on Mount Gagazet's slope, and it looked peaceful. I sighed wistfully as I longed for that peacefulness.
If only I could feel that peaceful I thought as I watched the village go about its business.
"Come on Yunie! We need to hurry up!" Rikku said as she danced from one stall to the other, examining the Ronso's wares. Her long blonde hair reached to her waist, although she had it trimmed constantly. Yuna's hair reached to her shoulders, where she had cut it back to recently.
"Calm down Rikku, we have plenty of time." Yuna said as she smiled at Rikku. Although Rikku had settled down since they had gotten together, occasionally she would become extremely excitable, usually when it concerned either Yuna or Tidu.
"Yes, but we have to find the perfect gift! You know the others have all gotten their gifts, or are working on it in Lulu's case, but still! We are the only ones who don't have presents." Rikku exclaimed.
"Don't forget, Tidu doesn't know that Auron told us that it is her birthday today. Anyway, it's barely noon. Tidu isn't likely to return until later. You know how she is. She loves scenery." Yuna said stopping to look at some hair bands. "Rikku, you said you needed some hair ties. Here are some for sale."
"Oh good, I was afraid I would have to cut my hair short again. They keep breaking on me. It's from all the stress they receive." Rikku said picking half a dozen out and paying the young Ronso that was caring for the booth.
"Yes it is. It would probably help if you stop putting them in so quickly." Yuna teased the younger girl gently. Rikku simply stuck out her tongue, and bounced ahead to the next booth.
"Looky! This is perfect for Tidu! She'll love it." Rikku exclaimed. Yuna laughed, and they continued the shopping venture.
I entered the place we were staying, stretching a bit. I was no longer tired; the fresh air had done me good. I saw that Kimari was there, and I strode up the small Ronso.
"Hey Kimari. So I take it went well?" I asked him.
"Yes, meeting go well. Ronso apologized, and gave Kimari better weapon." Kimari said, pointing to the weapon in the corner. It was a magnificent weapon, one which looked brand new.
"That's great! Where are the others?" I asked him.
"They go eat. Kimari waited for Tidu. Go eat now." Kimari said. We left the building, and headed for one of the other, bigger buildings. Inside was everyone, and they were milling around a bit.
"Hey guys, lets eat! Sorry I took so long, I fell asleep." I said to them.
They laughed, and we all sat down. Yuna sat on my right and Rikku at my left. I kissed them both before I sat down and started to eat. When we had all finished eating, Wakka came in with an ice cream block, which had candles on it. It took me a while to realize what they were doing, and when I did, I started to blush furiously. They sang the happy birthday to me, and I blew out the candles when Wakka placed the block in front of me.
As Wakka dished out the ice cream, I voiced my curiosity. "How did you know?" I asked the room.
Rikku answered. "Well, you were always so conscious of our special days that we asked Auron if he knew yours, and he said that it was today. We thought we'd surprise you." she said with a giggle. "Everyone got something for you. Happy birthday Tidu!" she said, handing me a bag. It was a leather bag, made of a Lupine's hide, and was incredibly soft. It was the type of bag that was slung over one shoulder. It was bigger then my other bag, and was decorated. Yuna handed me a shirt, and some ribbons. The shirt that I wore was getting worn out, and was rather cold here in the north. The ribbons were embroidered, and were meant to be used to tie my hair back. Lulu gave me a better curative shield, and Wakka gave me two good scabbards for the brotherhood and my other sword. Auron gave me a small, blank book, as well as a pencil. He knew that I enjoyed drawing. Kimari, apparently under the advice of Auron, gave me a set of paints, and some rolled canvases. I thanked each in turn, and eventually we made our way back to the inn. We each separated into our room. Yuna, Rikku and I shared a room. I carefully put my presents down, and sat down.
Yuna and Rikku exchanged a glance. They had never seen me this quiet, or if they had, not in a long, long time.
"What's up Ty?" Rikku asked me, plopping down beside me, her arms encircling my waist, and her head resting on my shoulder. Yuna sat next to me, and gripped one of my hands, squeezing it reassuringly.
I sighed, "The last time I celebrated my birthday was when I was ten. I didn't think that Auron even knew my birthday. It was always just another day." I said softly.
"Tidu?" Yuna whispered softly. I lifted my gaze to Yuna's and saw her question in her eyes.
"I always considered it another day of the year, because no one ever remembered, except me, so I stopped expecting it. It kind of just faded from everyone's mind that I didn't have a birthday for eight years. I was surprised when you guys celebrated my nineteenth birthday with me." I told them.
"Aww… Ty, we would never purposely forget your birthday. We love you." Rikku said, nibbling on my ear. I giggled as both she and Yuna started to tickle me. I was soon pinned beneath them naked on the bed, and they paused, gazing at my abdomen. I looked to see what they were looking at. A long jagged gash was there. It was closed, but it looked as if I had received it today.
"Tidu? When did this happen?" Yuna asked me softly, tracing the cut.
"I can honestly say I have no idea." I replied. They both just shrugged, and snuggled up against me. Soon they were both sound asleep. I lay awake for a while, thinking of the happiness I found with Rikku and Yuna. I loved them both so much, but they both were family women, and would want to have children one day. It was something that I could never give them. I fell asleep thinking those thoughts, thinking of things I could not give to those I loved…
We set out the next morning, heading for Zanarkand, steadily climbing up to the mountain pass. We were passing a clearing, and I heard something. The others continued on but I stopped for a moment, looking at the open sky, from which the sound was emanating.
When the others realized I had stopped, they stopped. When they realized that I was not coming, they called for me to hurry up.
"What that noise?" Kimari asked after a few moments.
Suddenly, Seymour appeared, mounted on what looked like machina. My eyes blazed with hatred at the sight of him. I drew my sword, and put my shield on.
"My, my, such a greeting. Is that anyway to greet an old friend?" he said in his slick, oily voice. I shuddered in revulsion. The others had drawn their weapons, and came to stand by my side. "How touching, the whole group has come to greet me." His eyes narrowed at me. "There is something different about you… you don't look the same as you did at the wedding." He said with a cruel smile. The words caused me to stiffen. "There is something different about you… you look different… No matter, I will find out when I check your bloody carcass." He said, his laugh ringing among the cliffs.
The battle began. I was not among the front line up. Auron, Lulu, and Rikku were fighting first. Auron was the first to be knocked unconscious, followed shortly by Lulu. Kimari and Yuna went to take their places, as I dragged the others off the battle ground.
I was covering them when Rikku let out a scream. I saw her fall to the ground, and I rushed to her side. I could see that Yuna wanted to aid me, but I waved her back to the battle. I dragged Rikku out of the area, to where I had taken Auron and Lulu. Wakka had fallen when I had returned, as well as Yuna. I could fell the fury building up inside me.
"Kimari, get them out of here. Let me deal with this." I shouted. He was about to object, but he looked at me, and reluctantly obeyed.
"Oh my, such bravery. Foolish young one. Time to meet your maker! Lance of Atrophy!" He said stabbing at me with his lance. I blocked his attack, and parried with counterstrike. Little bits of machina fell off. The Mortiorchis used cross cleave, and the twin blades sliced into me, as well as stirring up dust. Seymour smiled as he waited for the dust to settle, expecting to see me down. Instead, all he saw was a slightly dirtied me. I heard Kimari come back to my side.
I used a shadow gem on Seymour, and I saw more pieces of machina fall off. I could even see a faint trail of blood trickle from the corner of his mouth.
"Lance of Atrophy!" he said again, this time stabbing Kimari, who fell to his knees.
"Protect Yuna, Little Warrior…" He said before he fell to the ground.
Seymour sneered at the Ronso's still form. "This little creature, protect Yuna? Ha, that's a laugh." He turned to gaze at me, "I am surprised you made it this far, to Mount Gagazet no less. Why don't you go run on home now, little boy." He said with growl.
"Spiral Cut!" I shout, powering up, before delivering the hard blow. The attack left Seymour with a bloody trail streaking down his chest.
"Why you little…" he stopped, and had to visibly gather himself, "That was quite impressive," he said through gritted teeth, "Flare!" he said.
I felt the magical attack hit me, and I felt my body scream in pain. I felt some of my skin split from the attack, and where it split, it bled. I clenched my teeth throughout it all. The Mortiorchis used cross-cleave again, adding a parallel set of cuts to the earlier set.
"Destruction Blade of Brothers!" I shouted, drawing the brotherhood. It was an attack that I had been working with, and was still a bit shaky with. It did massive amounts of damage, but it could only be used if my blood had been spilled. It also drained my overdrive, and drained my health.
Brotherhood started to glow a vivid red, and I leapt up. It let out a blinding flash, and I thrust it downwards into Seymour's chest. It buried itself deeply in his chest, and the glow spread to overtake the Mortiorchis.
I looked into Seymour's eyes, and I saw fear in them. "Blood Bath." I said softly to him.
"No!" he said as he and the Mortiorchis suddenly began to weaken, and die. "How is this possible? I was beaten by a mere boy!" he said as he flailed in his death throes.
"Not a mere boy. I am a woman. Blood Bath destroys you, it deals you back all the blood you spilled, as long as you spilled at least a drop of the wielders." I said as the world started to turn black. "Looks like I beat you…" I said as I fell in a dead faint.
Rikku groaned, and slowly sat up. The others were around her. Yuna, Lulu, and Wakka were still unconscious, but Kimari and Auron were awake. Tidu was nowhere to be seen.
"What happened? Where's Seymour?" Rikku asked, clutching her throbbing head.
"Here, take this first." Auron said, handing Rikku a high potion, which she drank. She immediately started to feel better. "We don't know what happened. Kimari last remembers falling with Tidu fighting Seymour, alone. He was starting to wake when he saw a blinding red flash, which he still cannot see from. He is fine, just a little dizzy. We haven't had the chance to look for Tidu yet. We want everyone up, and we are getting everyone to drink a high potion. Sit tight Rikku. We need everyone to stay together. We don't know if Seymour is still out there." He warned Rikku.
Rikku could not deny the logic of it, so she sat down, and waited to other to rouse. They did, and everyone was healed with curaga by Yuna. Everyone asked questions, and Auron told them all the same thing. They set out to find Tidu, and Seymour. They searched up the peak, and found them at a higher clearing. Mortiorchis was totally obliterated, and Seymour was dead. Tidu was nearby, the brotherhood in her hand, stained with blood. She was riddled with cuts and gashes, and her lips were turning blue from the mountains cold temperature. They did what they could for Tidu, which wasn't very much. Most magics only worked if the being was awake. Rikku and Yuna stayed near Tidu, while the others looked through the wreckage, looking for anything useful or salvageable, and hopefully explanation to the light, and the result.
Many items were found, but nothing was helpful in finding out what happened. They all waited, praying for Tidu's recovery.
I heard voices swimming through my head. They wove around my mind, gibberish, and their meaning just out of reach. My body throbbed, and I let out a small groan. The voices stopped for a moment, and I heard something approach me. The voices spoke again, and I struggled to understand them. Finally, I heard my own name.
"…Tidu…" I heard it say. All I knew was that it was said in a concerned voice. I fought to open my eyes, and they slowly opened to find that Yuna, Rikku, and Lulu were hovering over me. Yuna was softly calling my name. I groaned again at the pain bright light brought my eyes.
"Tidu? How do you feel?" Lulu asked me quietly.
I looked into her eyes and whispered "Like shit." Although she had to bend close to hear. She looked shocked at my choice of words, but she laughed as she went to presumably tell the males my condition.
Yuna and Rikku were casting healing spells, which would have an effect now that I was awake. The throbbing eased, and disappeared, although an ache remained. I sat up slowly, with the two of them helping me. I looked around me.
We were in a cave, with a fire burning merrily in the middle. The males and Lulu were on the other side, and the packs were to my right.
I jarred a rib and I hissed softly. Apparently, I was in really bad shape.
"Did it work?" I asked the group. They all looked at me in confusion. "Is Seymour dead?" I asked.
"Yes and the Mortiorchis obliterated, although you were in really bad condition when we first found you. You've been out for almost a week." Lulu said.
"What happened, did ya decide to just up him?" Wakka asked a bit loudly.
I winced at the strength of his voice. "No. I used…" I paused in my reply. They stared at me expectantly, "I used an attack I've been developing. It is a two part move. The first part is called Destruction Blade of Brothers, which I use the brotherhood to power up, and initialize the attack. If I am successful at that, it will glow a bright red, with a blinding flash. I thrust the blade into the opponent, and then the second part commences." I paused again, trying to regain my breath. My weakened ribs would not allow me to take deep breaths. "The second part is called Blood Bath. The more blood the person has spilled, then stronger it is. It burns them from the inside out with a draining magic. They will most likely go through a painful process, but if you have spilled a great amount of blood, then you die a painful death."
"That doesn't explain why we found you in such bad condition." Rikku commented.
"There is a price for this attack. It can only be initialized if my blood had been drawn. My overdrive empties, as does my health. It kills both the attacker and the defender." I said softly. They all fell into a stunned silence.
"How long have you mastered this attack for?" Auron asked.
"I haven't. I have only been working with it. I am still really shaky with it." I said.
I was hugged gently by Yuna and Rikku. I smiled softly and started to drift off, the effort to tell them what happened having exhausted me.
We continued on our way two days later, although everyone slowed down for me, so I could keep up. My ribs were sore, as were my legs. They eventually loosened up, and we began making our way to Zanarkand. We finally got off Mount Gagazet, and set along the trail. We passed an enormous fayth, and we stopped to gaze at its beauty.
Everyone around me froze, and the world shifted, back to the Zanarkand I knew. I was faced by what I had figured out as the Fayth.
"We are the dreamers." It said from its child like body. "We dream this world, and everything in it. Everything created in it, is in our dreams. We sustain it, and have for a thousand years." it paused, its shoulders slumping slightly, "But we are so tired. We have been sustaining so much for so long."
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because you know the real world. You come from this world, but you have been touched by sin. When we stop dreaming, you will fade away like the others. Will you let us stop dreaming?" it said to me, and I was back in Spira with a jolt. I realized that if we defeated sin, then, I would no longer exist. I felt my heart drag for a moment, before I set my mind for saving Spira.
"Come on Tidu! We are almost there!" Yuna called to me. I saw that the others had gone on ahead. I looked at the giant fayth for a moment more, before running to catch up.
We were destroying the Aeons, one by one. We were down to Valefor, the first Aeon Yuna had ever summoned.
"Goodbye." Yuna said to it softly, as she cast Holy. The Aeon was destroyed instantly, and Yu Yevon soon followed. Sin and the Aeons burst, turned into Pyreflies.
The faiths one by one stopped dreaming. Finally, I felt the one near Zanarkand slowly stop dreaming. I looked at my hands, and they wavered. I looked at those sadly around me, as they watched in awe at the spectacle.
I walked toward the front of the ship, and looked back at my friends and loves. "Goodbyes my friends, I must go." I told them.
"What? No, don't leave us!" Rikku and Yuna said, as they rushed forward. I turned to embrace them, but they just ran through me, and fell to the ground. The others stared at me in horror; I sadly turned to my loves.
"I have to go. I… I love you all. My best wishes for the future." I said, before I leapt off the ship and into the night sky. I fell downwards, past Auron, and Braska, to where Jeckt was waiting. I met him with a high five, and then it faded to nothing.