Chapter 8—Tragedy
Everyone was silent, as the ship approached the now devastated town of Kilika, destroyed no more than a few minutes ago by Sin. As the ship pulled into one of the few remaining intact piers, I looked around in horror at the scene. For the most part, the whole town was wiped out. Buildings were broken and scattered, only a few left intact. Trees were uprooted, floating in the water and crossing several of the walkways. The most horrifying sight, however, were the numerous bodies that dotted the once tranquil port town. Clenching my fists unconsciously as I departed the ship, I couldn't help but feel pure, unbridled hatred for the monster that had done this.
"This is terrible...so many bodies..." I say silently, surveying the area.
I watch Yuna, Kimahri, and Lulu walk off towards what I guess used to be the main part of town, as Tidus and Wakka meet up with me.
"Come on." Wakka says to us, walking towards the direction of the others. I simply hang my head for a moment, knowing what was to come.
As we arrive at the town square, or what was left of it, I quickly see Yuna and the others talking to some of the residents.
"Greetings. I am the summoner Yuna. I have come from the temple in Besaid." Yuna says, doing the prayer gesture, as the other people seem to smile in relief.
"M'lady summoner!"
"If there is no other summoner here, please allow me to perform the Sending." she says, her face almost expressionless.
"Thanks be to ye!" one says, as another walked up beside them.
"Our loved ones...we feared they would become fiends!"
Yuna smils softly, before looking at the first person who had spoken. "Please, take me to them." As two people lead the way, I watch silently, a small tear falling from my face.
'Can't believe this. So much destruction, so much death. It's just terrible...' I think to myself, following slowly. Approaching another part of the square, I notice a small crowd gathered, as Yuna goes over to talk to them. Tidus approaches Lulu, and starts to speak.
"Uh, what's a 'sending'? Are we going somewhere?"he asks.
Lulu simply turns, frowns a moment, and shakes her head. "You truly are clueless. Are you sure it's just your memory that's the problem?" she says, Tidus forming an offended look on his face as Lulu continues. "The dead need guidance. Filled with grief over their own death, they refuse to face their fate.They learn to live on, and resent those still alive." she says, turning to look out at the water."You see, they envy the living. And in time, that envy turns to anger, even hate. Should these souls remain in Spira, they become fiends that prey on the living. Sad, isn't it?" she finishes, Tidus nodding slowly. "The sending takes them to the Farplane, where they may rest in peace."
"Summoners do this?" Tidus asks, to which Lulu nods. Looking around, my attention is turned to Yuna, who has walked to the water's edge, and is staring off across the ocean. She begins to walk out into the water, but instead of in, she starts to walk over it. Walking out about 15 feet, she stops, holding the staff out to her right side, the top almost touching the water.
Yuna lowers her head, before beginning the sending. Spinning around with the staff close to the water, she faces us, before bringing the staff over her head, and then lowers it again to repeat the movement. Now facing away from us again, she brings the staff in towards her, with the top pointing to the right, before fanning it out again to the right, and back in. Holding it with both hands, she does a slight jump forward, kicking her leg out and bending down, before arching back and forward, the staff held over her body.Almost touching the water now, she rises back up and spins the staff several times, as something strange begins to happen.
The flames on the nearby torches turn blue and flare up, causing Tidus to snap his head in that direction, completely missing what's happing out on the water. Bright trails of light begin to rise up out of the water, surrounding Yuna and rising up into the air. The water suddenly takes on a life of its own, rising up into a pillar, Yuna now standing on top of a fountain of water as she continues to twirl, the staff rising and falling elegantly as more of the trails of light begin to rise up, ascending into the sky, and on to the Farplane. All around us, people are crying, and unable to control it, I start to cry softly too, the feeling of loss and sorrow all too familiar to me.
As the last of the trails of light start to fly upwards, Yuna jumps lightly around on the fountain for a moment, before grabbing the staff with both hands, and pointing it downward, the fountain beginning to fall slowly. Finally reaching the water's surface again, Yuna wipes a tear from her eye, before walking back towards us. Clearing my own eyes, I turn to Tidus, who continues to watch Yuna, but starts to speak again.
"It must be tough, being a summoner." Lulu nods, the same emotionless expression on her face, seemingly not affected by the sending.
"Yuna chose her own path. She knew from the beginning what it meant. All we can do is protect her along the way. Until the end."
"Until the...end? What's the end?" Tidus now seems a little uncomfortable, as everyone has now turned to stare at him, as if to say 'What's wrong with you?'.
"Until she defeats Sin." Lulu says, walking away as Yuna approaches. Yuna notices, and starts to run, catching up to Lulu as she turns to face her.
"I hope...I hope I did okay." she says, as Lulu puts her arms around her.
"You did very well. They've reached the Farplane by now. But...no tears next time, hm?"
Yuna smiles, as the two of them walk off together. Turning my attention to Wakka, I decide I need to figure out what we're going to do next.
"So, what's the plan?" I ask, Wakka looking up from his position on the ground.
"Hmm. It's starting to get late, so I guess we should all try and do what we can to help out, and then get some sleep for tomorrow." he says, and I nod slowly.
"Okay, I'll see if I can find somewhere we can stay that wasn't destroyed, like an inn or something." I reply, walking away towards the western side of town. As I enter this part of town, I can't help but notice that it's in much better shape than the rest. Probably because it was farther inland, which may have saved it from most of Sin's attack. In any case, it doesn't take long for me to notice a somewhat large building, with a sign saying 'Inn' on top. Walking inside, I look around, but see no one.
"Hello?" I say, waiting for a response of any kind. None comes. "Hmm, guess there's no one here right now." I mumble, walking back out and towards the square. Before I can get there, I'm met by Wakka and Tidus.
"Hey, we just talked with some of the townspeople. They said we can stay in the inn until tomorrow." Wakka says.
"Cool. Where's Yuna and the others?"
"They're coming. They're checking around to see if anything else needs to be done before tonight."
"Okay. What say we get some rest, then?" I ask, and they both nod, walking towards the inn.
I'm awakened pretty early, not by the rays of sunlight beginning to stream in through a window, but rather by Datto, yelling at Tidus from downstairs.
"Hey, you awake? Cap'n Wakka's waitin' for you!"
Hearing the door slam, I groan, and get out of bed, quickly dressing and heading downstairs. Walking outside, I see Wakka, Tidus, and the Aurochs near a damaged boat, and I quickly walk over to them as the Aurochs huddle up. Yawning slightly, I start to listen in on the conversation.
"On to the temple, where we pray for victory!" The Aurochs walk off, I assume heading to the temple here in Kilika, as Wakka looks at Tidus. "High Summoner Ohalland used to live in the Kikika temple here. Yep, Lord Ohalland was once a great blitzer, you know?"
"Wow, a summoner who also played blitzball. Little unusual, but guess even they need to have fun once in a while." I say, smiling. Tidus looks a little concerned, though.
"Wakka..."
"Hm?" he says, facing the blond haired boy.
"Praying for victory's all good...but is this right?" he asks, a look of worry crossing his face.
"Something wrong with enjoying blitzball?" Wakka replies, confused as to why Tidus seems so upset.
"Is this really the time?" he asks silently.
"This is the only time!" Wakka replies, a little sharply. "The players fight with all their strength, the fans cheer for their favorite team. They forget pain, suffering...only the game matters! That's why blitz has been around for so long. Least that's what I think."
"Well, I see the point there. Taking their minds off of everything helps, doesn't it?" I say, looking at Tidus.
"Whatever you say." he replies, shrugging.
"Let's play...and win! Right?" Wakka asks Tidus, pumping a fist in the air.
"Right!" Tidus replies, doing the same, as Wakka turns around.
"Temple's beyond the jungle there. Let's go!" he says, pointing towards a large wooden gate near the far side of town.
As we approach the gate, the massive structure swings open, reminding me of all sorts of horror movies where the door opens for the victims. Brushing the thought aside, I follow Wakka, who is approaching Yuna and Lulu. Something seems up, as well, as Yuna has her head down a little, and Lulu, well...has the same stoic look on her face as always, so I guess no surprise there.
"What's up?" Wakka asks, noticing the same thing I did. Lulu speaks up before Yuna can get a chance to.
"Yuna's saying she wants you two with us." she says, causing Tidus to take a step back in surprise, while I simply stand there, smiling on the inside.
"Huh?" Tidus says, stunned by the offer.
"I want to ask you to be my guardians." she says, looking at the two of us. Wakka gets a strange look on his face, and walks over to Yuna.
"Yuna! What? This is no time for jokes, ya? Tidus may be a blitzball whiz kid, and Ben may know how to fight, but up against fiends, they're both newbies!" he says, obviously as shocked as the two of us. Yuna hangs her head again.
"Not guardians, then...I just want them nearby." she says, continuing to stare at the ground.
"What do you mean?" Tidus asks, confused by Yuna's statement.
"It's just that, well..." Yuna begins, before Lulu breaks in.
"We're all going to the temple anyway. Can't this wait until later?" Yuna slowly nods, and looks up at Tidus.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." she trails off, as Tidus waves a hand through the air.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just not really sure what's going on." Tidus says, causing me to groan inwardly as Yuna speaks again.
"My apologies." she says, turning around as Kimahri walks up to us, followed by the two Crusaders from earlier, Luzzu and Gatta, who walk right past us into the jungle.
"Oy, Tidus es muy estupido..." I mutter to myself, beginning to follow the duo into the jungle.
"What was that?" Tidus asks, apparently having heard my mumbling.
"Nothing, nothing at all." I reply, smiling, as the others follow.
Halting a bit further down the path, I notice we've come to a crossroads. Paths to the left, right, and straight in front of us. Although, the path in front of us doesn't look safe, probably because of the large, ugly creature in front of us, a little farther away.
"Company, halt!" Gatta yells, a few feet in front of us, as Luzzu turns to our group.
"The fiend before us is Ochu, Lord of the Wood!" he explains, motioning to the thing. "We've had trouble with this one before. Remember, discretion is the better part of valor."
Looking at one another, we silently decide what to do, but Yuna is the first to voice our general opinion.
"We'll help you." she says, gripping her staff tightly. Nods from the rest of our group seal it, and we start to walk towards the fiend. As we approach, I notice just how massive it is. The top of it is at least 10 feet tall, and the tentacles are enormous, easily 12 feet in length each. The whole creature is a dark red, with a green leaf skirt, it looks like, around its 'waist'. A large mouth sits at the top of the creatures body, with 2 fleshy pieces covering the top, but leaving the bottom open. Four stubby, root-type appendages are in the place of its legs, giving it motion, albeit limited.
"Same strategy we used on Echuilles?" I ask Wakka and Tidus, and they nod. The creature roars, turning to face us upon noticing our arrival, and we all draw our weapons, prepared for a tough fight.
"Let's give it all we've got!" Tidus yells, increasing everyone's strength and defense, as Wakka begins to use his Dark Attack. The ball slams into the creature, blinding it, as Lulu calls out a spell.
"Fire!" she yells, the flaming attack licking away at the creature, making it screech.
Suddenly, the creature starts to shake, and a shower of spores erupt from the top of it's 'head', floating down towards us. I look up, and run backwards, trying to escape the spores' range. Everyone else does the same, but Wakka isn't so lucky, and drops to the ground, coughing violently.
"Esuna!" Yuna cries, the status removing magic curing the poison from Wakka's body, as he stands back up.
"Lets try this out...Haste!" I cry, using the first of my abilities, as time seemingly slows down, similar to my Overdrive, but not giving me any special powers other than enhanced speed and reflexes. Charging the creature, I slash it twice before jumping back, to allow Kimahri to swipe at the creature with his massive poleaxe. The creature jerks, and swipes the both of us away with its tentacles. Now, Kimahri was bigger than me, so he just fell down. I, on the other hand, practically went flying back head over heels.
Yuna has stopped doing anything now, and appears to be concentrating, her staff held perfectly still in front of her. Suddenly, she shouts to the rest of us.
"Everyone, get back!" she yells, as she takes the familiar stance of summoning. I immediately back away, clutching my ribs from the last strike, as everyone gets behind Yuna. The trails of light fly up into the air, and suddenly Valefor descends from the sky, coming to land right beside Yuna, who strokes it for a moment, before it jumps in front of her, giving a mighty roar.
"Sonic Wings!" she yells, causing the aeon to fly up in the air slightly and flap its wings for a moment, before releasing a wave of air which crashes into the fiend, staggering it slightly. Lord Ochu is quick to react, however, and slaps Valefor almost out of the air with a powerful swing. Valefor seems mad, and flies towards the monster, slashing at it with its talons, drawing a greenish blood from the fiend's body.
Valefor simply receives another swat for its efforts, and then Ochu bites the aeon, leaving a gash in the right wing. Valefor growls, and Yuna smiles slightly.
"Energy Ray, Valefor!"
Valefor flies up, and starts to charge a beam of energy in its 'mouth', which turns into a bright yellow ball. Thrusting its head forward slightly, a thin, yellow line of energy shoots out and snakes along the ground and lower section of Ochu's body, seemingly doing nothing. Then, the whole area where the ray hit simply explodes, taking the Ochu fiend with it as it crumples to the ground, dissipating into pyreflies even as it falls. Giving the tired Valefor another pat, she dismisses the aeon, and casts a Cure spell on me and Kimahri, before taking a step forward, staggering a slight bit from the effects of the summoning and casting.
"You okay?" Wakka says, quickly moving to Yuna's side. Yuna smiles slightly, glad for Wakka's concern.
"I'm fine." she says, as Luzzu and Gatta approach again, looks of awe on their faces.
"Whoooa!" Gatta says, impressed with our skills.
"A summoner and her guardians. Very impressive!" Luzzu says, complimenting us as well, earning a smile from Yuna. "Let's get going, Gatta! We need to get back to the command center."
"Coming!" he yells, before turning back to us again. "Thanks for all your help, Lady Yuna. Hope to see you again!" he says, before running off to join his comrade.
"Command center? Wonder what that's all about?" Tidus queries, turning to the rest of our group.
"Don't look at me." Wakka says. "We better get going, we need to get to the temple."
"Ok then, so why are we still standing here? Let's go!" I say, starting to walk off past where Ochu was just defeated, as the rest of the party follows, Wakka shaking his head at my enthusiasm.
For the people who don't speak Spanish out there, here's the translation.
Tidus es muy estupido... Tidus is very stupid...
Anyway, hope I described the sending well enough, as it's one of my favorite scenes in the game. As always, please review, as I like hearing what people think, good or bad.
