The Day I Died.

Chapter 17. Death and rebirth.

Serian, clearly aware of the restless atmosphere around him, brushed the fear-stroked confusion away with his cold, yet so loving smile. He watched the scenery around him in grim satisfaction while tasting the fear with his lips. Seymour, the half-blooded ex-Maester, was staring at the Lord with confusion, and he returned the gaze with utmost loathing. Since the half-blood´s face was so revolting for a pure-blooded, noble man as he was, Serian soon turned his interest to the young woman before him. Curiously, like a prying child, he observed the Summoner´s expression with his head tucked slightly on the side. The woman´s face was pale but her eyes hold a tingle of wonder and fearless determination. Yuna was confused, but not scared; she seemed to be the only one who´s courage had not betrayed her.

"Yes, that is correct, summoner. " Serian said, now like a teacher observing his naïve pupil. Yuna furrowed her brows, and Serian let a ghost of a smile play in his lips once again. "The Guado must not be Sent to Farplane. After all, we cannot be so cruel to let their memory perish…" Serian, despite his now crumbling mind, whispered the words to the cold air in false amusement, and few Inquisitors around him chuckled.

Before Yuna could ask any questions, Serian spoke again with authority. "Do what you came to do, summoner. Failure is not an option." He then commanded her to come closer to him with a wave of his gloved hand. Serian, already knowing well that Yuna would not refuse, held her staff in his outreached hands. Their bargain was simple: either she would perform the Sending, or she would witness the death of her friend. For her, the former option became quite the better choice.

Yuna walked slowly to Serian, and he now held her staff closer to himself, forcing her to take that last step right in front of him. She reached her hands to take her summoner´s staff, but Serian didn´t release his firm grip from the weapon. Questioningly, she lifted her determined eyes to meet his, and that fleeting moment was all what it took to convince Serian that she would not fail. She would not fail, not even in death, and he knew that he would meet her in battle someday. The small voice in his mind then grimly added to this, "preferably soon." With this thought, Serian let go of the staff, and with averted eyes, he took a step back.

"Go on." The Inquisitor next to her commanded, and with mixed emotions, Yuna lifted her staff. The moment froze the observers of this ancient ritual. Yuna´s Nirvana rose and fell, and with soundless music, she danced in the tune of the cycle of death. The staff continued to swirl in the air like the Grim´s reaper, as the souls of the dead began their journey out of their mortal shells. They now swirled in the still air around her, trapping her in their ethereal cocoon.

Darkness fell. Pyreflies should have already vanished, but they continued their dance around their liberator, as if not yet wanting to be freed from their earthly lives.

Yuna stopped her dance, watching in terrified silence as the pyreflies continued to swirl around her restlessly. In the shadows, Seymour observed in silence how Serian stepped to the souls´ midst. Seymour watched how he calmly, almost lovingly opened his arms and lifted his face to meet the darkness above him. The pyreflies halted their restless movement, and fled away from the summoner and began to swirl around the Lord. Slowly, each soul now dissolved within Serian and he closed his eyes and took in with pleasure, with a joyous smile, the first taste of his new power.

:

"I mean, man, that guy had the guts of pulling that stunt off, all by himself!"

"Oh, be quiet, Rikku. I´m sure that Wakka knew what he was doing."

"Oh yeah? You really think so? Then why did we have to travel all the way back to Luca without him?"

"Then who is going to save Yuna, Rikku? Wakka told us that something very serious was going on in Bevelle, and by looking at the Spira today, I would say that that little hunch of his was right. And it takes no fortune-teller to say that something really, really bad will happen soon, if we don´t hurry!" Lulu breathed. It was beautiful day, and the sun shined warmly on them. Not caring about the fine weather, Rikku glanced at the older woman once and then shrugged her shoulders.

"But I don´t see any reason to go to Luca….Yuna is in Bevelle, remember? And she needs our help!" Rikku stopped her walk, and Lulu sighed in frustration.

"Oh, fine. I´ll explain it for you, for the last time. Remember when we saw that woman who looked so much like Yuna, in Besaid? She told us that she was the wife of this new lord, and her story seemed so right that we know that she is speaking the truth…and there were the spheres to prove her story´s worth. Now, we both know that something bad is going to happen if those cloaked clowns continue to terrorize normal people, and we have to stop them. That´s what we decided, remember? Well, that lady told us that Yuna was going to be executed soon when her work was done, and we can´t stop that if we will just bark in." Rikku decided to object to this, but before she got the chance to open her mouth, Lulu continued.

"I know, Rikku. Wakka is there to watch over her, but he can´t do much anything else. Smuggling her out of there is out the question, because Bevelle seems to be crowded with guards nowadays….There´s no way that those two would get away without being detected! But, Wakka once talked about "barking into Bevelle", remember? Well, you know what Rikku? We´re going to do just that." Lulu had a small smile in her lips, and Rikku stared at her in disbelief. "We´re doing what?"

"Yes. That lady also told us that many people are already fed up and angry about the Inquisition and their terror, so they have started to gather some resistance….And think about it. It has been just less than a month after Sin was defeated and this new faction rose! Well, I think that Mrs. Honoré is also getting rather frustrated with all this nasty business, and in secret, she has started to gain contacts with the underground movement to finally put an end to the Inquisition Faction. I don´t know her real motives, though. She seems to love her husband so much….why would she help us to destroy him?" Lulu´s sentence silenced as her thoughts trailed off into new paths, but Rikku was already getting anxious. "Yeah, well, we gotta save Yunie, remember? What are we gonna do now?" She whispered with spiral eyes wide, and Lulu snapped back to reality. "The lady Honoré also told us that the main base for these people who oppose this new Faction is in Luca. But they are hiding underground, so we have to find them first." Lulu said, and Rikku nodded in agreement. "And then we collect the people together, march with them into Bevelle and take over the city? Sweet! Just my kind of game, that is! But isn´t it a bit more, err, un-discreet compared to the smuggling-Yuna-out-plan? I mean, isn´t that plan a bit more….likely to succeed? If we just bark in there with a lot of people, it´s gonna be difficult with all those soldiers around…..And how does that lady know all this? It may be a plot to get us all, you know." Rikku chirped, and Lulu furrowed her brows. "That´s true, but we don´t have any other choice. That Lady wants us to invade the whole city with the resisters, because if we don´t, it´s only going to get worse in there. We have to do this. It seems really odd, but we must continue our plans, because if we don´t, Yuna will suffer, and undoubtedly, so will the rest of Spira, thanks to that close-minded, racist Guado and Al Bhed-hater of a "Lord". Let´s go, Rikku! We don´t have much time left!" Before she managed to end her sentence, they both sprinted their chocobos into full speed. Fortunately, with chocobos they were a lot faster, but the journey still took so much of their valuable time.

Hopefully not too much.

:

Silence echoed in the surrounding darkness for a long moment before Serian opened his eyes again. He savoured the moment when he saw things which only he was entitled to see. Images, memories and dreams clouded his darkening mind, and he held those memories close in the grip of his mind, as he slowly, almost regretfully, returned to the world of the living. His eyes were blank, seeing something others did not, something what had happened years ago. And when Yuna finally gasped from shock and wonder, he averted his violet eyes to meet hers.

"Truly, they are in a better place now." Was all what he whispered, as he turned to leave. Not one dared to object his intentions of departure back to Bevelle, since they were too busy of gaping in awe and fear of his feat. "I believe that we are now ready." He now said, louder, as he turned back and gestured the party´s departure as well.

"You shouldn´t have done that. It was wrong!" A quiet, yet determined voice rang in the opening, sounding almost as whispering, but the speaker knew very well that the words would be heard, so intense the petrified silence was.

"What was that? Who said that!" Serian slashed with eyes wide from rage, and everyone turned to stare at the young Summoner who had a mixed look of hatred and fear in her face. Yuna nodded and continued. "You may think yourself as some kind of "liberator" or "saviour", but don´t you see?" After a moment of hesitation, she drew in a shaky breath and continued, "You´re nothing more than a pathetic murderer. That what´s you are. Nothing more. Those people had lives as well, you know? They had children, love, happiness, hope! And -- And you just took all of those things away, just like that…how could you do that?" Yuna whispered with breaking voice, all the while trying hard not to show any more signs of emotion to this cold man. But at the moment, her voice was the only voice of remorse in the opening, and he stared at her for a long moment, eyes blazing, and Yuna felt like fainting from the sheer look on his face. Oddly, Serian simply gestured others to leave the two of them with a small flick of his gloved hand. After a small moment of hesitation, the soldiers did leave. Only Seymour, Serian and Yuna still stood in their places, but Seymour was only an odd outsider in this battle of the wills.

"Please, repeat what you just said." Serian whispered in a dangerous, low tone, with his face pale and hands shaking. Yuna gathered all of his courage. "How could you do that?" Was all she whispered, and Serian slowly, step by step, walked closer to her. "How could I do that, you ask?" Still, his voice was barely a whisper as he walked closer to the girl. "I did it because…." Serian took a step closer. "…the likes of them…." another step. He was now right in front of her. "…do not deserve to live." He breathed with eyes wide, and Yuna gasped as she saw how empty his eyes were. No regret, no remorse, not even hatred. Only the strong will to do...right. Despite her increasing horror, she decided to speak. "How can you say that? They were people too! You can´t judge who can live and who must die! They deserve to live just as we all do!" She spoke trough her sobs, but Serian´s expression did not flinch as he whispered. "No."

Yuna startled. "What?"

Serian look at her in cold determination. "No." He said again, louder. "They are not people. They are things. Beasts! They have no right to live. They must be destroyed! And only when those creatures are gone, only then can Spira be saved. The Guado will drag us all down with them if I don´t do what I´m destined to. I say this again, and for the last time, do not question me: I am saving Spira. When this is done, the people will love me. And my son --" He stopped in mid of his speech, and turned to gaze something with an expression which was close to despair. "….I…have I already forgotten? Have I forgotten my promise to him?" He whispered to himself, wondering something. "NO. How could I forget? I´m the Lord Serian Honoré, the only ruling Maester of Spira, I can´t just forget something. No. I´m Serian. Serian Honoré -- I´m the one who people will love! I will save them! I--" He continued to speak very fast, like he was trying to speak himself over to do something, like he was persuading himself, but Yuna had enough. She didn´t want him to continue his lies.

"You did forget." Was all what she said, and Serian turned to look at her in confusion.

"You did forget." She repeated, her mouth in a small, sad smile, but Serian didn´t still quite understand how she would know what he meant. "I know." She whispered, and these words possessed immense impact on Serian. He gasped and took a small step back, while shaking his head from left to right, as trying to repel the memories away which now arose from the depths of his suppressed conscience. He had tried to bury them, suppress them for so long, and he had ultimately forgotten.

Yuna took a step closer to him. "I saw the spheres. I know who you are."

Serian now backed away a little more, with a look of utter confusion and fear in his eyes. "But you don´t understand! I´m Serian Honoré. " Yuna averted her eyes, while shaking her head slowly. "No. Even your name is not true. Nothing of you is true. Do you see now? You have forgotten who you are." She whispered, and calmly watched as Serian covered his face with his gloved, shaking hands, trying to suppress that single, tired sob, and his shame with it.
"That name is false, we both know it. How did you manage to change it? How did you do all that?" She questioned him harshly, and Serian choked his tears back, as he fell to his knees, his hands still sheltering his fragile face. "You´ve changed so much. How did you do it?" Yuna whispered, she spoke in unforgiving, harsh tone as she circled around him, "these reasons you give to the people in order to murder them are false. You keep lying. You even lied to your own wife!" Her voice steadily rose into higher tone, and as her tone rose, so did Serian. His face looked so tired, so worn out, but still he rose up from his misery, and had now a look of defiance. After regaining his composure, he then calmly spoke. "Oh, believe me, my wife knows very well what I am. You know as well. That´s why I can´t let you leave. You must die." He said in calm, cold manner, and Seymour now glanced the two in confusion. "What are you talking about? What is going on?" Seymour asked in utter confusion, but Serian didn´t even bother to glance in his way.

He already knew that Seymour didn´t know anything, and it was for the best for the matters to stay that way. But Yuna startled, and looked at Seymour in disbelief. "You…don´t know? How is it possible that you don´t know? you were the Maester of Yevon, of course you know!" Seymour was still confused, but after a moment of feverish thinking, his eyes widened from disbelief. "The strict rule which prohibited me to talk about the Honoré family lineage during the time my father was the Maester of Yevon….or how I was forbidden to investigate the reason why Commodus Honoré wanted Serian´s son to be executed….why his son was never allowed to be seen in public…No. It can´t be. It just can´t be! Yuna, he´s not--" He looked at Yuna in utter disbelief, and then turned, in very non-aristocratic way, to gape at Serian. "Serian, you are not….are you…?" Seymour whispered, and stared at Serian with his eyes wide from disbelief.

"SHUT UP!" Serian barked so loud, that even Seymour startled from the furious tone, but as he looked at him, he understood in the second. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Serian yelled, in fierce rage and fear, "Do not dare to say it! You are not worthy of uttering my true name!" He then swiftly strolled closer to Seymour and took his left wrist in his tight, painful grip. The two men stared into each other´s eyes, and Seymour saw rage, and as the other man stared into his half-brother´s eyes, he saw fear. In that moment Serian knew he would win. The time was his.

He cast a joyous smile to his opponent, and embraced Seymour like he´d be his full-blooded brother. He whispered something into his ear. "It is time for me to take your life, traitor. I have no more use for you. The time is mine now. It´s mine to spent."

He then looked at his half-brother in the face, still smiling, as he drew his silver dagger into the light from the darkness of his black robes. With louder voice, with a glimpse of almost-affection in his words, he then spoke, for the last time, to Seymour.

"Embrace your death, brother."

Serian lunged the cold dagger into Seymor´s chest with terrible power, and as he tried to pull away from his embrace,eyes wide from surprise, Serian only pushed the dagger deeper. With content smile, he planted a soft kiss on his half-brother´s cheek and let go. Seymour fell to his knees, keeping his eyes firmly fixed in the smiling, content face of Serian, his half-blooded brother, until the pain and the loss of blood took stronger hold of him, and he succumbed into welcoming darkness.

Serian, watching as his rival was slowly giving up on life, cleansed his dagger which shine was shimmered by the thick, dark blood of the half-Guado, in the hem of his black cloak. "What a petty fool you were. You honestly thought that your little plays could go unnoticed, right behind my back? That you could actually control Sin? Laughable. I wonder now, why my father didn´t kill you right when you were born, so that we all would have been saved from all this trouble….Strike them when they´re young, I say. Not so much resisting then. Well, your death means the fulfilment of the revenge I swore when your father killed my son. You should be glad, actually. Since you are the last Guado, I will now welcome the new Spira into my arms." He whispered, but his smile vanished, as he kept talking to the withering ex-Maester with a voice which now faltered, if only briefly.

"I told you not to say my past name aloud. I was Serian Guado, but that part of me is now dead. And will always remain so. I am Serian Honoré." He nodded his brother a subtle farewell, took a step back, and allowed Yuna to rush to her lover´s side.

Seeing as Yuna would not run away, as she wouldn´t even try it, Serian then left and send a soldier to get her back to Bevelle.

Yuna already heard the soldier´s footsteps behind her, but she couldn´t let go of Seymour. She saw as thick, dark blood kept pouring out of the deep wound from his chest, and with every heart´s beat, Seymour was closer to his end. His face paled with every moment, and he was gasping for air with great effort, as his lungs gradually filled with his own blood. He was dying, and out of desperation, Yuna lifted his head to her lap and embraced him while sobbing pitifully into his hair. Yuna just wouldn´t let go. All what she could do was to cover the wound with her hands, but of course, that didn´t do much to help him. Magic didn´t do anything, because her powers had already died, and she couldn´t allow her lover to die because of her inability to cast any decent spell. Seymour closed his eyes, and despite her cries, he didn´t open them anymore.

Yuna was now panicking, and when the bleeding just wouldn´t stop, she started to cry and sob something incoherent, while Seymour seemed to feel her efforts, he opened his eyes with great effort and stared at Yuna in his half-conscious state. "Yuna, you don't--you don't need to do that…I´ll die and…and…you can live, see? It really is not so bad-- I should have done this a long time ago….It´s like…l-like falling asleep--" He whispered, and although blood sprinkled from his mouth, he smiled. Yuna gasped with eyes wide, trying hard not to cry anymore like a child.

"N-No! Don´t talk like that! Don´t even dare to talk like that! Shut up! I´m not going to lose you too.We--I…I will get you out of here-- I will help you!" She sobbed, and tried desperately to end the bleeding with her hands, but the soldier, who was now standing behind her, had now enough of drama, and decided to end the scene. "Enough. He´s good as dead. Now, let go, you have to go to Master´s side. He has requested your presence." He said, but Yuna pressed into Seymour´s body even harder, embracing him with all of her might.

"N-no, please! Please, help him! Please, I´ll do anything if you will just help him!" She cried and she wept, and the Inquisitor didn´t listen. He prepared to pry that annoying, sobbing wench off of the dying half-blood by grabbing the summoner by her shoulders. "You can join him…or you can join the Lord! Which will it be?" He murmured while with great effort tried to yank her off. Then Yuna, finally lifting her reddened eyes away from the pale visage of Seymour, spoke furiously to the soldier. "You won´t help him, then? Fine then! Fine! I´ll join him then…." she whispered, and grabbed the soldier´s shining dagger which was fastened to his belt as his secondary weapon. She pressed the dagger close to her chest, preparing to press the blade deeper.
"Will you help him now, or do I have to kill myself? I know that the Lord wouldn´t be quite happy if you managed to kill his prized Summoner, you know…" She added darkly, and the Inquisitor halted his movements in the second, and glanced at the woman with distaste. "You blackmailing little whor--" But before he managed to continue his cursing, Yuna pressed the dagger little deeper, so that blood started to ooze trough her white shirt. The man startled and seemed quite scared. "Okay, okay, fine! I know some healing magic…I´ll use it on him…but don´t do anything stupid, you hear me, girl? The Master don´t want to see you die. Yet." He whispered quickly, and his face was pale. Yuna rose from his way, but kept the dagger still close her heart, pressed to her chest, just in case. The man performed a simple cure-spell, which was just enough to close his wound, but it did not do anything about the huge loss of blood. Seymour was still unconscious, and the soldier grumbled in dissatisfaction. "You know, if the Lord knows that I brought that man back to life, we´re both dead. Don´t go talking to anyone that he´s alive. Pretend that he isn´t, so we´re both safe. Understand?" The man barked, and Yuna nodded. "Better leave him here. So that he won´t be spotted when he wakes up…now, let´s get going. The Lord is waiting for you." The man added, and gestured the girl to let go of the dagger. She did so, but didn´t even try to wipe out her tears. She felt awful about leaving him there, to lie in the bloodied ground like the other corpses. But she did manage to notice that the bloodied, messy thing she was wearing now seemed more like the apron for a butcher, not a white top of a Summoner. "You have to give me your cloak….my shirt is bloody and a mess." Yuna whispered, but the soldier shook his head. "No. He wouldn´t recognise that that blood is yours, since you were hugging that corpse so tight that you swam in it. Now, start moving already." He grunted, and Yuna glanced at Seymour one last time before walking away.

Her face was pale, solemn and serious, when she walked slowly back to Serian, who was already waiting for her. "With head bowed, tail between her legs…returning back to her master…like a dog…" Yuna thought bitterly, and for the first time in her life, she felt hatred so strong that she wanted to kill that man who murdered all those people. "Wouldn´t it be justified if I killed him? Of course it would be. He should just die!" Yuna whispered her last word aloud, and she startled from it´s tone. Cold shivers ran trough her body. "I really meant it. I have never wanted this before…not even when Seymour…No. Don´t think about it. Don´t let that awful feeling get to you…You´re better than that." So, with a little more confidence guiding her way, Yuna lifted her head up, but kept her dignified, solemn expression glued to her face. And she did not abandon it, not even when Serian knew what she was thinking.

"You feel it now, don´t you? You want to push that dagger into my chest, isn´t that right? Hatred…" He said slowly, savouring the taste of the word, "at last, you have learned what it is to hate someone. You are now complete." Serian said, while watching her in grim amusement. "What do you mean?" Yuna hissed, but Serian didn´t answer. He simply smiled that devilish smile of his, and nodded her to walk with him to the carriages.

"Oh, you´ll find out soon. But you really should be happy, summoner Yuna. You´ll be executed by tomorrow! Isn´t that fun?
And I also did you a favour by killing that mockery of a Maester…so that his fate as a traitor would be the most…painful one. That purple sphere sure is a fine example of his treachery. Were you not disappointed with him when you saw that sphere?" He questioned, but Yuna just furrowed her brows. "Again, Serian, what do you mean by that?" She snapped coolly, all the while trying not to sound so curious, but Serian merely lifted his brows. "You do not know? How is it possible that you do not know? Didn´t you watch that sphere at all?" He asked with fierce tone, but her oblivious expression showed her ignorance. "I lost it before I decided to watch it. What was it about?" She then quietly added, like speaking to herself, "like anything about that sphere´s content would be true. Seymour would not do anything behind my back."

She earned nothing but a mocking "humph" by the Lord with her trusting words, and she decided to ignore his disrespect for the ex-Maester.

But now, Serian´s face grew dark and threatening, as he spoke again.

"And about what you said to me earlier, Summoner Yuna…I hope that you do not whisper a word about it to anyone. If you do, I would be forced to act with the utmost…severity against you. And I trust that you do not want that to happen, do you?" He then added with a grim humour, "and we would be very unhappy then, wouldn´t we?" Yuna had enough of him, and calmly, almost proudly she lifted her chin up and spoke. "I know what you are. It will be only a matter of time before they will find out about you."

"Oh, but I do not think so. The only proofs about my….heritage… are in those spheres, and you know where they are. And you will tell me where they are." He whispered, but Yuna only smiled. "I don´t have them anymore. I gave them away."

Serian paled. "You lie."

"No, no I don´t. I wanted them to be in a safe place in the case something like this would happen. I gave them away." She chirped in half amusement, half-furious tone.

Serian´s face grew even more darker if possible, and with a tense, anticipating voice, he spoke again. "To whom did you gave them to?"

Yuna only smiled, leaned more closer to him and whispered. "To your wife. She forwarded them for everyone to see." Serian gulped, and stared at her in disbelief. "She would not do that. Ever." Serian whispered with a hint of fear in his tone, and Yuna´s innocent smile grew into more devilish one. "But she did."

"She loves me." He whispered with a voice which now faltered for a brief moment, but then he continued in more usual manner. "Talk something like that ever again, and I will hand you over to my men who tend to be rather…lonely…at times." He took a strong hold of her wrist, while watching her reaction in anger. "…They´ll have a fine time ravaging your slender body." He continued gravely, and saw how this threat sinked into her. He let go off her hand, while eyeing her with unreadable expression. "I now see what makes you so very different from my wife. You have courage, but you are also very foolish. Do not anger me again."

"I have found that extremely difficult, sir." Yuna spat, and they both stared at each other in the eye for a fleeting moment. Then it was Serian´s time to speak with faltering voice, "I have changed my mind. You are not to be executed yet. I´ll let you live for another day to see what lies ahead in your future."

"And what kind of an future would that be?" Yuna questioned in bitter hatred, and Serian looked at her with a mystical smile in his lips. "A…pleasant one."

Silence echoed in the opening, and as they continued their controversy, ominous clouds darkened the sky which was sealed with the upper branches of the trees of ancient Guadosalam. No matter how dense the branches were, rain sometimes did find their way into the city, and so it was in this case as well. With a loud grumbling of thunder, the skies opened up and like it was Spira´s blessing for complete erasing of a culture which had lingered for well over a millenia, heavy rain cleansed the vanished city from blood. So laid Seymour, the only one of his kind, in the ground while the rain was merciful enough to cleanse him from all the tainting blood as well.

It renewed him.

:

A/N: Yes. I know. Not much Seymour in this chapter either. I´m sorry. But he´ll have his main role soon back in this play! And I have not been updating for a loooong time. I´m terribly sorry: I hope that there´s still people who wish to continue reading this!

Since the summer vacations start soon, I´ll have more time to write.

Remember, the more (positive) reviews this story receives from the grace of you, the reader, the more inspired I am to continue! And the more inspired I am, a lot more faster the next chapter will be written! Ho-hum. So, if there was anything bad (or even good!) in this chappie, please let me know, and I shall write the next chapter with much more care.

Review?