DISCLAIMER: I do not own FFX or FFX-2 or any of the characters or places associated with it. I do, however, own the twisted idea for this story.

DO NOT COPY MY STORIES!

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I have had problems with my fics being stolen. Reviewers of the Silver Wings trilogy know all about the situation. Please keep an eye out for this story or any of my others posted on any other sites. I only post here and I only use the name "akksgurl". If you think my story has been stolen, please contact me so that I can look into the situation. Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Author's Notes: I think we're getting near the end, although with my muse you can never be sure. Haha. Anyway, things start getting a little hairy for Tidus in this chapter. Enjoy!


TWISTED DESTINY
by akksgurl
Chapter Twenty: Not Quite Himself

Yuna's mind was in Guadosalam long before her body was. She stood on the deck of the boat, or sat on the seat on the shoopuf and imagined what she'd say; what she'd do if she found Tidus there threatening Seymour. The fear that he'd do something to Seymour was overwhelming. It wasn't fear for Seymour, of course, but rather fear of retaliation by the Yevon maesters or the Guado for the death of one of their own. Yet as much as she wanted Tidus to not be at Seymour's chateau, an equal part of her wanted him to be there so that she'd at least know where he was. It was the not knowing that was slowly killing her inside.

She was off the shoopuf before the giant creature had even pulled into the docking station entirely and was running like a madwoman. She knew people were staring. She didn't care. One more minute wasted was another minute Tidus could so something irrevocable. She couldn't allow that. Her feet pounded in time with the drumming of her heart as Guadosalam came into view and she dashed through the main doors, weaving in and out of Guado as they stared mouths agape at her.

She pushed the doors to Seymour's home open quickly and heard a loud thumping sound. Letting the doors slam behind her, she saw Tromell lying dazed on the ground. Yuna lifted a hand to her mouth in shock and knelt beside the Guado butler, "Tromell! I'm so sorry."

He accepted her hand and rose, dusting himself off carefully, "It's quite all right, Lady Yuna. Are you here to see Lord Seymour?"

"I'm actually wondering if Tidus is here." She said, silently praying that he wasn't and yet at the same time hoping that he was. It was an odd feeling.

Tromell thought for a moment and then shook his head, "The maester hasn't had any visitors that I am aware of, m'lady, but you're welcome to ask him yourself. He's in his office."

"Thank you." She said in a breathless whisper as she dashed up the left hand stairs and passed the portrait of Seymour's late father, Lord Jyscal, and into the spacious upper living quarters.

Seymour was sitting behind a large wooden desk in the corner of the smaller of the two rooms. Yuna knew the other room was his bedroom and she didn't want to go into there if she could help it. She was grateful she wasn't going to have to. Seymour didn't seem to notice she was there as his face was buried in a copy of the Yevon religious book. His right hand moved along a sheet of white paper as he made notes of whatever he was reading.

She took a step forward and opened her mouth to speak when Seymour beat her to it, "What can I do for you, Lady Yuna?" he asked, not lifting his eyes from the book.

Yuna instantly felt stupid for rushing there as fast as she had. Tidus obviously wasn't there. She sighed, "It's not important, Seymour. I won't bother you."

"Yuna," Seymour began, lowering the book and putting his pen down, "you obviously came here for a reason. What is it?"

She bit her lip and took another step toward him. If Tidus wasn't there, then the only other place that he might be would be the only place she didn't want to go alone. Seymour might be useful.

"I was looking for Tidus. I thought he might be here."

Seymour lifted a brow and circled his desk to lean on the other side, "You lost him already?" he laughed slightly and took a deep breath, "Why would he be here. I'd think this would be the last place he'd want to be."

"He spoke to Gippal about you…" she explained, her heart beating a little bit faster at his nearness. She backed up a step, "I just thought maybe he…"

"Stole the guns I gave you and came here to shoot me in the head?" he finished with a smirk.

"Maybe…"

Seymour shrugged and moved away from the desk to the sideboard. He pulled out a whiskey decanter and held it out to her. Yuna shook her head. She hated spirits. The blue-haired man shrugged again before pouring himself a small shot and swallowing it quickly. He released a slight breath of satisfaction and turned back to her, "Well, as you can tell I'm not dead and he's not here. Even if he was, I'd have sent him on his way by now. I'm not in the habit of housing my wife's lovers."

"You make it sound like I'm doing something wrong."

"You are!" He snapped, slamming the decanter back on the table and looking at it for a long moment, "You are my wife…by law if not by heart. And he is your lover. That makes you an adultress, no matter how you look at it."

Yuna watched him warily as she said, "You're annulling. That was our agreement."

"But that doesn't make what you're doing any better." He whispered. His shoulders sank low and for the first time Yuna caught a glimpse of a defeated man. She was about to say something comforting – although not quite sure why – when he straightened his spine and turned toward her, "Not that I care what you do, of course. I'm just thinking about my reputation after all."

"Of course." Agreed Yuna, although she didn't believe a word of what he was saying.

Seymour tilted his head to a regal angle and made his way stiffly back to his desk, "Now if you'll excuse me…I really have to get back to work."

Yuna felt her spine stiffen. Seymour had never been one to dismiss her so coldly although she supposed she deserved it. She hadn't exactly been kind to him. Wait…what was she thinking? She wasn't kind to Seymour! What about what Seymour had done to her? Yuna glared at the back of the man's head and snapped, "So that's it. You're just going to kick me out."

He turned around and stared at her, "I thought you'd be happy to get out."

"I came here for a reason!"

He shrugged, "You came looking for Tidus. He's not here. You can leave now."

Yuna fisted her hands at her sides to try and stave off the angry shaking that was threatening to quake her entire body. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to force the anger to be expunged from her system. When she was sufficiently calm, she said, "He spoke to Gippal about you…that's why I thought he might be here."

"You said that already."

"I know that." She forced herself to blurt, taking another slow breath to remain calm, "He also spoke about…the cave."

Seymour's cobalt eyes caught hers and she instantly felt like he could see straight through her. Scratch that. She knew he could see through her. It was cosmic. It was the way she had always known he could see through her even from the first moment their eyes had met in Luca. His voice was low and menacing when he finally said, "The cave? What are you talking about?"

And so she told him. She just started blabbering and wishing at the same time she could pull the words back and pretend she hadn't said them. With every word, Seymour's gaze darkened until she could see the danger inside of him that he struggled to hide from everyone. She forced her mouth shut after the final words of her confession, waiting in fear for his reaction. To her surprise he was extremely calm.

"So you're the ones who disturbed the cave…" he said, tapping his finger against his jaw in a silent motion, "I had received reports that the doors had been forced open. I was wondering what was going on. Not to worry, though. Unless he has another sharp object with him he won't be able to get in. The doors were resealed an hour ago."

Yuna sighed with relief, "Oh, well that's good news. When I realized he was gone…" she stopped and lifted her eyes to the clock on the far wall and then thought back to the positioning of the sun when she'd awoken from her midday nap. The door was sealed an hour ago. It takes at least that to get to the cave. And Tidus went missing almost four hours before. Yuna felt her heart slamming in her chest, "In Yevon's name…" she cursed, reaching out for Seymour's hand and pulling as hard as she could, "He's been locked in the cave!"

Seymour pulled her back and Yuna slammed into his chest at the force and then pulled away as quickly as she could. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him, "Yuna…you don't know that for sure."

"Yes I do!" she shouted, struggling to free herself from his grip, "He left four hours ago! If he's not here then he's got to be there!"

"Or in Luca…or in Kilika…or on the Mi'hen Highroad." He spat, releasing her shoulders but giving her a look that told her not to go anywhere, "Yuna, listen to yourself. There's no proof that he's there."

"But there's no proof that he isn't either!"

Seymour was silent for a moment in thought before he sighed, "Okay, fine. We'll go and check." He went around his desk and pulled out a small pistol from the top drawer, "Make sure yours are loaded."

"I don't have them." She stated.

"Where are they!"

"Besaid."

Seymour sighed and slid his gun into his belt, securing it tightly, "They're not going to do you any good there, Yuna. I gave them to you for your protection."

"The only person I'd be willing to shoot with them would be you." She stated simply, turning to go toward the door, "And I didn't want to put myself in that position. As much as I distrust you, Seymour, I'd never want to kill you."

Seymour chuckled behind her as she descended the stairs. He shut the door to his office and said, "Well, I guess I'll take that as a compliment."

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Tidus' mind and body came awake at the same time only to find himself laying face first in the dirt floor of the cave. He braced his hands against the ground and forced himself up, spitting dirt from his mouth as he went. Once in a sitting position, he ran the back of his left hand over his face and looked around. It was a lot darker in that cave than it had been. How long had he been out?

More importantly…what had made him pass out?

Tidus remembered entering the cave. He remembered looking for something. But what was it? He closed his eyes and opened them again as if the answer would suddenly appear. Wait…something had suddenly appeared. What was it? He'd turned around and seen something, but that's when there was a huge blank. What had he seen? Why had he passed out?

He groaned and fell back onto the ground. Nothing. No memory flashes. Nothing to tell him what he was in the cave for in the first place. He sighed and muttered to himself, "Good job, Tidus. You run away from Yuna and you can't even remember why. You are so in for it now."

He gasped. Yuna! Rising to his feet as fast as he could, Tidus made a mad dash for the front of the cave. If he hurried, he might be able to make it back to Besaid before she even noticed he was missing…providing that he hadn't slept away more than a few minutes in the cave. As he closed in on the far end of the cave, Tidus slowed down and frowned. There was no light signaling the doorway. He turned to his left and then to his right and finally looked behind him. There was no light at all. For the first time, he noticed it was pitch dark in the cave. His eyes had adjusted enough to allow him to make his way without falling and killing himself, but that was it. There was no way to find the door.

He felt his heart beat begin to race and forced himself to calm down. He knew that the door was directly in front of him. All he needed to do was find it. Tidus moved forward, extending his hands to brace himself if he happened to come in contact with a wall. What he came in contact with, instead, was the cold metal of the door…which meant…

"Oh shit! It's shut!" Tidus yelped, pushing at the door with all his might. It didn't budge even the tiniest and in his panic he tried to pry it open with his bare hands but he had no luck, "Why the hell didn't I bring Rikku's pointy weapon thing?" he asked himself, panic rising even higher as he slowly came to the realization that he wasn't going to get out of there.

Tidus took a few steps back and drew in a sharp breath, letting it out just as quickly. He repeated the motion several times, "Just stay calm, Tidus." He ordered himself, "Just stay calm. Its not really all that enclosed…"

Tidus had only hyperventilated once before, while in the trunk that his father had left him in, so he didn't know the signs very well, but he was willing to bet by the quickening of his pulse and his breath that he was well on his way to a full meltdown. He ran back to the door, pounding with all his might, "Let me out of here!" he screamed, reaching ear busting decibels, "I don't want to die!"

Tidus thought he heard shuffling outside of the door, but he wasn't sure until he heard Yuna's voice muffled by the doorway, "Tidus? Tidus?"

"Yuna!" he screamed, beating against the door again, "Let me out of here!"

He heard her muffled words spoke to someone and then he heard the sound of the doorway being unlocked from the outside. He wasn't in the state of mind to wonder how Yuna had known to get someone with the key to the cave or even how she'd known he'd been there. All he had the capacity to do was to fall at her feet and hug her ankles once the door was opened. His hysterical tears moistened her boots and he felt guilty for mucking them up, but he didn't want to let her go. She moved her feet a little until he released them out of necessity and then she squatted down next to him, "You okay?"

He nodded stiffly and buried his face in her neck, "Sorry…"

"You said you were claustrophobic. It's to be expected."

"If he's claustrophobic, then why the hell did he come back here in the first place?" It was the first time Tidus fully comprehended that they weren't alone and his head shot up until he focused on the tall, blue-haired man that stood scowling down at him. Seymour Guado looked even more menacing to Tidus now that he was in his current state of barely controlled hysterics. The man drummed his long fingers on the doorway and stared at him, "Well? Care to regale us with the reason you're here?"

Tidus was about to retort that he had no idea, but then thought better of it. It was bad enough to look like a fool in front of Yuna, but to do the same thing in front of this man…this man who was still legally Yuna's husband. Tidus didn't want to do that. He sniffed and lifted his nose a bit, "I know about the Crimson Squad."

Seymour lifted a brow at him, "What about it?"

"I know what happened to them."

"They died." Seymour said with a shrug, "This cave affected them. It's not some big conspiracy, Tidus. Why do you think I'm supposed to keep this cave shut? So it doesn't happen again!"

Tidus clamped his mouth shut. Seymour wasn't supposed to admit to it. He was supposed to have paled and balked, showing Yuna that he couldn't be trusted. Tidus looked askance at Yuna, who seemed mildly surprised by the confession…but only mildly. She must have realized that only something as traumatic as that would have kept Gippal from going into the cavern. Seymour was still glaring at Tidus through hooded eyes and Tidus decided to play his trump card, "I'm talking about when they were shot at by their commanding officers."

Yuna gasped, "What!"

"It's not as sordid as all that, Yuna." Stated Seymour with a shrug that effectively deflated Tidus' hope of shutting the evil man up once and for all, "Maester Kinoc…he was a bit unstable. When the cave killed most of the members, he panicked and shot at the survivors because he didn't want word of the cave leaking out."

"That's why you killed him?" Yuna asked Seymour, her mind flashing to when her husband had tossed the body of Maester Kinoc to the ground like yesterday's garbage.

Tidus' eyes widened at Yuna, "He's a murderer? For real!" he grabbed her wrist and rose to his feet, pulling her with him, "Let's get out of here. You shouldn't be hanging with him."

"I killed Kinoc because otherwise he would have killed more than he helped. It was for the good of Spira." Seymour replied to Yuna, not even flinching at Tidus' attempt to spirit her away. He grinned at Tidus then, an evil smirk reminiscent of the first one Tidus had seen him form, "And I'm very impressed with your ability to skirt around the real issue here, Tidus. Quite impressive, I must say. But why don't you just tell us why you're here."

"Yeah." Yuna agreed, "You should have told somebody you were leaving. We would have come back with you."

"Unless you didn't want anyone to know what you were plotting." Seymour suggested, pushing the locking mechanism to allow the doors to shut and lock, barring entrance to the cave. He looked at Yuna and sighed, "I told you to watch your back around him."

"I'm not doing anything." Tidus snapped, "You're the murderer here."

"Perhaps…" Seymour admitted, "but I'm not the one lying to Yuna about my reasons for being here. I'm here because she asked for my help. Plain and simple. You're here because…" he paused, "Well, we're not really sure now are we?"

Seymour sighed, "Well kiddies. It's been fun, but I really do have to be going." He walked past Tidus and Yuna, stopping only for a moment to tap his left hip in a motion Tidus realized was for Yuna to understand. He looked at Yuna seriously, "They're for your protection, Yuna. Don't be a fool."

He was gone before Tidus realized he was shaking in an anger he wasn't aware he was feeling. Where had it come from? He didn't feel like himself, especially when he grabbed Yuna's wrist and screamed, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't see where that's any of your business." She snapped back, wrenching her wrist from his, "And don't manhandle me like that."

He grabbed her again, wondering why he was doing this but unable to stop it, "I demand to know what the hell that meant!"

She gaped at him, "You demand?" she repeated. The shock in her eyes was quickly replaced by anger as she pushed him away from her, "Why don't you tell me what you were doing first? Then I'll think about telling you about a private conversation between me and my husband!"

"Your husband?" he shouted back, "You're referring to him as your husband now? What happened to the annulment?"

"Until it's annulled, he's still my husband and what we discuss is none of your business!"

"Then my reasons for being here are none of yours!"

It all happened so fast that Tidus wasn't even aware of what was going on until it was over. He walked passed Yuna as soon as the last venomous words were spewed from his mouth, still wondering where the anger had come from, when he felt her grab his wrist. She'd screamed at him to tell her because she had every right to know when he'd seen his free hand swing up as if of its own will. Her head was turning with the force of the blow before he'd even realized back handed her right cheek.

Tidus backed up suddenly, shaking at the sudden realization that he'd just hit Yuna. He'd resorted to violence just like his old man. Like father…like son, he thought. He reached out for Yuna's hand, "Baby…I…I'm."

She pushed his hand away, reaching up to touch her face gingerly before bestowing him the angriest glare he'd ever seen in his life, "Don't…you…touch…me…" she stated slowly, menacingly, "You just proved Seymour right…" she whispered, "I never thought you'd do it…but you did. Congratulations."

And she stormed passed him, disappearing into the mist and leaving Tidus wondering just what the hell had happened.