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Author's Notes:


TWISTED DESTINY
by akksgurl
Chapter Twenty-Two: Power Struggle

It was always very interesting to Tidus to discover new places and new routes to get to them, but this particular place and the route he took to get there wasn't thrilling him in the slightest. It didn't surprise him that Seymour had an underground dungeon under the main room of his house. It didn't surprise Tidus that it was dark and dank and dangerous – much like Seymour himself. What did surprise Tidus was that Seymour didn't chain him to a wall and whip him until he bled to death. Instead, the taller man had simply locked him in a well furnished extra-bedroom. It was odd to say the least, but it was better than the other ideas that were running rampant through Tidus' head at the present moment.

He'd considered telling Seymour what he knew involving Vegnagun and Shuyin in the hopes that the man would go easy on him. Instead, he opted against it. Seymour wouldn't believe him, or he wouldn't care. Either way Tidus was going to get whatever torture Seymour was planning. And he knew it had to be torture. Otherwise he wouldn't be in such a comfortable room. It was the calm before the storm.

As if on cue, the key sounded in the lock and Seymour came rushing into the room, slamming the door behind him and putting a folding chair and some wires on the floor beside him.

"What do you want with me?" Tidus asked, unconsciously taking a step back when he saw Seymour rummaging through a chest on his left until he lifted a mechanical looking box from its depths.

"I want to know why you smell of the Farplane."

Tidus could wager a guess as to that answer, but he still didn't want to spill about Shuyin to this man. He took another step back, "How do you plan on doing that?"

"With this contraption." Seymour replied, connecting the wires to a few locations on the box, "I never bought into that 'machina is forbidden' stuff Yevon spews. I rather like machina. I invented this when I was young. It reads pyrefly energies." He lifted his eyes to Tidus, "This will tell me what I need to know."

"And what exactly is that?"

Seymour winked at him, "That's for me to know and Yuna to find out."

Tidus felt a flicker of anger inside of himself. It felt good to be angry and he wasn't quite sure why. He'd never particularly liked it before. But it certainly felt better than being scared. He glared at his captor, "Is this some sort of elaborate scheme to steal my girlfriend? Frame me for something and then comfort her?"

"I didn't have to frame you for anything. What you've done on your own should be more than enough." He grabbed the chair and unfolded it, "But you're right about one thing. I am going to use this to get Yuna. I've never had a fair chance."

Tidus moved further away from him, wary at how Seymour was gripping the rope he'd picked up from the floor, "What are you talking about?" he asked him, "You married the girl. What more chance do you need?"

Seymour stared at Tidus blankly for a moment until his countenance registered with confusion, "Did they beat you in prison?"

"No."

"Then where are you coming up with such weird notions? I'm not married to Yuna. I never have been."

Tidus felt more anger fanning inside of him, "Excuse me! You mean to tell me that all this time you've been lying to her!"

"They must have beaten you." Seymour mused under his breath, "No matter." He moved quicker than Tidus counted on and before the blitzer knew it, Seymour had forced him into the folding chair and secured the rope around his waist and arms, twisting it down to secure his legs. The Guado-man smirked, "There. Nice and secure." He reached for the free end of the wire he'd wound into his machine and grabbed Tidus right hand with his other. Seymour lifted the wire to his mouth and bit into the casing before poking the sharpened point directly into Tidus' middle finger.

"Ow!" Tidus shrieked, trying to pull his hand away, but Seymour held it fast in place and pushed the wire in harder. Tidus squirmed, "Shit! What the hell are you doing!"

Seymour sneered at him, "Don't be such a baby."

"I'm not being a baby!" Tidus shouted back, more fury growing in him as his finger started to throb.

Seymour flicked a few buttons on his machine and as it came to life, Tidus felt stronger and weaker at the same time. He felt angry and sad. Awake and asleep.

"Interesting…that explains a lot." he heard Seymour murmur but Tidus wasn't focusing on him anymore, or on the weird machine. He was focused mostly on the fact that he seemed to be losing control again. His fingers were moving, but he wasn't moving them. His feet were working at the bindings and loosening them, but he wasn't doing it. Tidus realized he could get away after just a few moments, but couldn't force his body to move.

He wasn't in control anymore.

Shuyin lay in wait as Seymour studied the printout from the machine and absently removed the wire from his victim's finger. He lifted a brow, "According to this, Tidus, you are dead. Yet you are obviously not. Care to explain?"

Shuyin lifted one of Tidus' brows in a mock of Seymour's expression, "I'm dead!" he said sarcastically, "Well, knock me over with a feather. I wonder how that happened!" he smiled sardonically, "Oh, I know. I bet it's when those Bevelle soldiers shot me 5 times and let me bleed to death on the floor." He nodded, "Yep, that's it."

Seymour lowered the papers and stared at his captive, "You're not Tidus, are you?"

"You're a bright one." Shuyin replied, "How'd you guess?"

"It all makes sense when you think about it." Seymour replied, "There was something in the cave that looked quite a bit like Tidus when I first saw him. Tidus goes into that cave and starts acting strangely and then is suddenly breaking into the Bevelle underground to try and get to something he shouldn't even rightly know about." Seymour bit his lip in thought and turned his back to Shuyin, "If I had to guess, I'd say you were one of the two killed during the war with Zanarkand 1000 years ago. You tried to get Vegnagun then too, as I recall."

Shuyin nodded although Seymour couldn't see it, "Yes. And Tidus, my darling brother, is my unwilling vehicle. I had considered going in my ghostly form, but realized I'd need a body to manipulate Vegnagun once I'd received it. It just made sense to me to use Tidus. Baralai and Nooj were so uncomfortable."

Seymour turned back to Shuyin with a confident smile, "Well, your attempts end here. You'll never reach Vegnagun. That's been proven pretty well, I believe."

Shuyin almost agreed with him until a sudden, brilliant plan flashed in his head, "Oh, I don't know about that. I think I can come up with a way to get to Vegnagun. In fact, I bet everybody will move aside and let me pass by."

Seymour shook his head slowly, "Unfortunately, we'll never know if your plan would have worked because you're not leaving here. I'll be keeping you here until I can figure out how to exorcise you from Tidus."

Shuyin smirked, "You think so?"

"I know so."

Shuyin moved faster than lightening, throwing the loosened ropes from his body and lunging at Seymour, slamming his head against the doorframe and watching happily as he slumped to the floor. He felt on the unconscious man for the keys to the door and unlocked it to let himself out, then he turned and locked it behind him again. He slid the keys into his pocket and made his way back the way he'd seen Seymour take Tidus. He needed to get back to Besaid in order to get his leverage.

He was gone at least ten minutes before Seymour came to. He knew instantly that Shuyin had locked him in the room and thanked his intelligence that he'd thought to install a communication system between the lower levels and the upper levels. He quickly found the intercom hidden behind a decorative painting and called up to Tromell. If his suspicions about Shuyin's plan to get to Vegnagun were true, Yuna was in serious trouble.

000000000000000000000000000000

He'd never been to Besaid before and was happy to find out that the town consisted of one main road. It made it much easier for Baralai to find his way around. He knew he should have visited every town in Spira, but he just never had time. In fact, the only reason he was even in Besaid was because of what he'd witnessed in the underbelly of Bevelle. He thought Yuna should know.

And so here he was, wandering down the dirt path's slight decline that led to the main gate of Besaid town. It seemed like a really nice place to live. Perhaps he'd retired to it one day after all his duties to Yevon were completed.

There were six huts lining the road as well as the temple at the far end. Baralai sighed. He didn't know where to start. Yuna could be in any of those places, or perhaps none at all. He wasn't even sure if she was there.

And then suddenly he saw her. She darted out from a hut on the right nearest to the temple and made her way toward the hut directly across from it. The curtain slid shut behind her. Baralai quickened his pace and rushed to the doorway. He peered through a slit in the barrier and saw Yuna laying flat on her back with her arm over her eyes to shield out the light. She looked exhausted and Baralai felt guilty. He was only going to add to her troubles.

He knocked on the doorframe softly, "Excuse me…"

Yuna sat up, "Yes?"

"It's Baralai, m'lady. A servant of Yevon. May I come in for a moment?"

Yuna stretched and made her way to the curtain, pulling it back to reveal the taller man, "Hello, Baralai. What can I do for you?" She was sounding more polite than she felt. It had been a long…long day.

Baralai bowed slightly at his waist, "I'm afraid I don't have very good news, m'lady, but I felt I had to let you know."

Yuna frowned, "What sort of news?"

"I'm afraid your friend, Tidus, has been arrested in Bevelle."

Yuna felt a little light headed and backed up until her legs hit the side of her bed before sitting, "How…why…" she stammered, forcing herself to calm down before continuing, "Why? And how do you know its him?"

"I know its him because I asked around after he was arrested and that was the name he was booked under." Baralai explained, moving into the room farther and letting the curtain fall into place, "And why…well, let me ask you a question, m'lady. What reason would Tidus have for being in the Bevelle underground?"

Yuna's breath caught in her throat and she lifted a hand to her mouth, "The Bevelle underground…?" She bit her lip and felt her heart beating a little faster. Could he really be looking for Vegnagun? Could that be why he was acting so strangely? But…what would he want with Vegnagun? It didn't make any sense. She lifted her eyes back to Baralai's, "What exactly did he do?"

"He's been charged with breaking and entering, and assault."

"Assault? On who?"

Baralai shrugged softly, "Me. He attacked me when I caught him downstairs and asked him to leave. Then he proceeded to make a mad dash toward…well, further into the underground. He was caught before he could do any damage."

He'd been running further into the underground…toward Vegnagun. Yuna closed her eyes and counted to ten so that she couldn't overreact. She wasn't even quite sure how she should react. It wasn't every day that something like this happened…although it seemed to be happening more often than it used to these days.

"And where is he now? In Bevelle prison?"

Baralai shook his head, "No. I'm not quite sure where he is. He'd been taken to Bevelle prison but by the time I finished inquiring about his name he'd been released into custody and taken elsewhere."

"Released into whose custody?"

"Lord Seymour's."

Yuna wrinkled her brow in confusion, "Why did Seymour take him? It doesn't make any sense. Unless he's doing it to force me to stay married to him…"

Baralai gasped, "You're married to Maester Seymour, m'lady?"

"Yes." Yuna replied, slightly confused by his obvious surprise, "Didn't you know that?"

"No, I'm afraid I was not privy to that information. I've only just started with Yevon. They must have felt it wasn't appropriate to let me know the details."

Yuna wanted to ask more, but decided that it could wait. She needed to find out why Seymour had Tidus and what he wanted with him. If Tidus had just been in prison, she wouldn't have cared too much. He deserved it after all. But having him with Seymour wasn't something she'd wish on anybody, especially him. She loved him in spite of everything.

"Excuse me, Baralai." Yuna said, standing and ushering the man toward the door, "I really must hurry to Seymour's chateau and find out what's going on."

"No need."

Yuna spun around and saw Tidus leaning lazily against the side of the building. She gaped at him, "How long have you been there?"

"Not long. The boat just got in a few minutes ago." She watched in amazement as he sauntered into her hut as if nothing was wrong. She was stunned by his audacity, but followed nonetheless.

"Aren't you going to explain yourself?" she demanded, angrily pulling the curtain into place and shutting Baralai out, "I heard you got arrested."

"And…?"

"And!" she squealed, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn around and look at her, "Breaking into the Bevelle underground is a big deal! I don't think I need to remind you of what happened the last time someone did that!"

He narrowed his eyes and glared at her, "I always liked you, Yuna. Don't make me regret it."

Yuna suddenly got a very odd feeling and made her way toward her bedside table as casually as possible. For the first time she felt strangely glad that Seymour had given her those pistols. She didn't reach for them, though. Instead, she stood with her back to the drawer but her hands resting close to the handle, "Okay, maybe that was a little harsh," she admitted, "But you know what I meant. I just want you to be careful. That's all."

"But I'm going to be careful. I'm going to be just fine." He smirked wickedly, "I've come up with a fool-proof way of getting down there. They'll happily let me pass."

"Oh really?" Yuna replied, torn between being truly intrigued and being scared out of her mind by the wicked glint in his eyes.

"Yes."

"How?" she slid the drawer out just slightly and slid her hand in to caress the cold steel of the gun. She didn't want to use it. She just wanted to scare him a little. He still didn't know she had it.

"I'm going to take you with me." He replied calmly, as if it was the most sane idea in the world, "And you're going to get me through."

"I can't do that. They'd never listen to me."

He took a step toward her and she unconsciously closed her grip on the gun in the drawer, "They will when I'm holding that gun in your hand to your head."

Yuna's eyes flew open as he lunged forward. She pulled her hand and the gun from the drawer, banging her knuckles against the drawer as it went. She'd left the other in the drawer, but didn't worry too much. His eyes were focused on the one she now pointed at him, "Tidus…I don't know what's going on but…"

"I'm not Tidus."

Yuna's hand started to shake and she lifted her other to brace the arm in place, "Then…who?"

"Who do you think would want to get to Vegnagun?"

"…Shuyin…?"

Shuyin smirked happily, "Ding…ding…ding…! We have a winner! Give the girl a prize!" his face darkened just as quickly as it had brightened and he made a move toward her, "Just hand the gun over, Yuna. We both know you won't use it."

"Where's Tidus!" she shouted, backing up, "If you hurt him, I will kill you."

"He's my brother." Snapped Shuyin, "I'd never hurt him. He's fine. He's just resting."

"You'll hurt him if you use Vegnagun." Yuna wasn't sure why she suddenly decided to talk sense into Shuyin. Maybe it was because she realized he was right. She couldn't shoot him. No matter how much she wished she could. Shooting him would save her, but it would kill Tidus. She couldn't do that.

"I'll save him if I use Vegnagun." Shuyin replied, "I'll be saving all of Spira from their cycle of destruction."

"Lenne wouldn't want you too do…"

"Don't bring her name into this!" he screamed, "You don't know what she would have wanted! I do! I know she didn't want to die! But she did! She did and its all Bevelle's fault…and Bevelle rules Spira now. So all of Spira must die so that Bevelle can attone for its mistakes."

He lunged and forced Yuna to the floor. He reached for the gun but she rolled away from him and tried to get to her feet, but he grabbed her again and pulled her to the ground. He got a firm grip on the gun and Yuna tightened her own. He was stronger…so much stronger than her. She let out a scream as she felt her fingers losing their hold on the gun.

And then it fired.