Author's Note: This short story has some major conflicts with the game story line. Yunalesca would have never been able to talk to her father after Sin's attacks. The game clearly states Yu Yevon is incapable of independent thought after getting himself inside his Sin armor. Because of the conflicts with the game plot this story has been removed from my larger novel (Final Fantasy X3 A possible sequel for FFX, FFX2 )
But I'm pretty proud of the way I described the love between Yunalesca and Zaeon and their sacrifice (What can I say, I'm a girl and I dig romance!). And I loved my homage to William Gibson's Cyberpunk novel Neuromancer (the source of the "Zen spiders clan" idea). Hence I am keeping the tale as a short story even if it is inaccurate. Enjoy!
----Yunalesca
At this moment their meeting in the Bevelle dungeon was interrupted by one of the Maester's attendants
"Sir, there is someone in Via Infinito looking for you" the attendant said to Yu Yevon
"Who could it possibly be. No one knows I'm here" puzzled Yu Yevon aloud but then remembering his daughter Yunalesca knew of his envoy mission.
"My daughter! She must have figured out I'm alive and didn't die in my fateful trip as Zanarkand peace envoy." Yu Yevon told the others
"Which floor is she in ?" asked Yu Yevon
"The 80th floor Sir" the attendant answered
"80th ? That is pretty impressive!" said one of the praetors
"Nah! She may have strong spells but she is a weakling like her mother unfortunately" said Yu Yevon angrily.
He needed to find a way to be immortal or to get a better heir than the pathetic child his late wife left him. The weakling girl would always loose her will to her emotions Yu Yevon mused angrily as he made his way to meet with Yunalesca
"What brings you here child?" he asked the fully grown woman
"Father, what have you done ?" asked Yunalesca gravely
"What do you mean child ? Out with it, I have no time for charades" said Yu Yevon impatiently
"I know you since birth. Did you expect me to not recognize your handiwork on that murderous beast Sin ?" she asked
"You always were smart. Pity your heart can put a stop to your brain so easily" he said
"What have you done Father ? Why ? You were never bound by any emotion but you never murdered thousands before.." Yunalesca asked, fighting the tears that insisted on rolling down her face
"I don't need to explain myself to you. You lack the ability to understand anyway. You are weak" he said
"Try me." she asked loosing the battle with her tears
"You know as well as I do that the Zanarkand battle was lost. Unlike you, I refuse to side with the loosing side. I now have power, power beyond your comprehension." Yu Yevon said calmly
Yunalesca wrestled with her tears. It was no use. Her father had never been moved by them. Her crying only made him angry. Her mom had told her that she would have to cast a mute spell on her when she was a child, lest her father get so angry at "that kid's incessant whining" that he would hit them both. The memory of her late mother made her stronger. She was able to calm down
"Father… What have you done ? I am not the only one who knows! You disgraced the name Yevon ! Our family has been summoning and protecting Spira for generations. What good will all this power do when you are gone and the Yevon name is in disgrace ?" said Yunalesca, using the only weapon she knew that got to her father: his name and his legacy
"Who else knows ?" he asked
"Zaeon knows. And it is only a matter of time before the Guado mages figure out who is behind Sin" said Yunalesca
"I can handle the Guado. Bevelle can keep them in their place. But you know I will have to kill Zaeon. Regardless of your recent marriage to him" Yu Yevon told his daughter
"You knew ? And you didn't kill him ?" asked Yunalesca surprised
"Of course I knew child. Why would I kill him ? I told you, emotions are weaknesses. So you disobeyed me and married a poor captain. But what good would killing him do ? You were married already." Yu Yevon said
"Didn't you want revenge ?" asked Yunalesca
"I never had any illusions. You are weak. I knew you would betray me. In the end, I even liked that your love for Zaeon gave you courage to defy me. I even had hopes that he could make you stronger. So I postponed my revenge. Revenge is a dish that is best served cold anyway" said Yu Yevon in a chilling voice
"Father you can't! You have killed so many! Aren't you satisfied with all your killing ? Kill me but spare Zaeon!" pleaded Yunalesca
Looking at her father talking so coldly about postponing his revenge reminded Yunalesca of the legendary "Zen spider" clan of the Guado. The ones that waited until their prey was most unaware and would feel the most pain to exact their ever certain revenge. A victim marked by the Zen spiders would be allowed to marry and have a kid, only to be killed before meeting his firstborn for the first time. Yunalesca shuddered. She cursed her fate of being born to such a cruel man yet again. She missed her mother, her only ally, every day since that fateful trip to Bikanel.. At this moment they heard someone approaching, exhausted and bleeding after battling through 80 floors filled with powerful monsters just to be with his wife
"Yu Yevon! Kill me now but spare my wife!" shouted Zaeon arriving at the scene
"Zaeon! Stay back!" pleaded Yunalesca
"Well isn't this special.. A cozy family reunion on our dungeon" said the Bevelle Maester clapping his hands from behind a column. He and his praetors had been there hearing the entire conversation
"Stay out of it!" said Yu Yevon threateningly
"Sir, if I may ?" said one of the praetors to Yu Yevon
"Go ahead" Yu Yevon answered curious to see what would make the praetor risk his wrath
"Your daughter seems distressed with all the killings. What if you promised her to refrain from killing Spirans for a while, in exchange for her silence ?" said the praetor winking at Yu Yevon
"Not for a while. He has to stop. Period. Otherwise he will have to kill us both" said Zaeon
"I won't stop. Why would I give up my powers, my invincible armor ? Sin needs the power of millions of pireflies to imbue me with it's impenetrable shield" Yu Yevon said
"I see. And how does that power feel when you are killing thousands ?" Yunalesca asked coldly
"I don't FEEL anything stupid child! Sin is just my armor. I let it do what he needs to survive just like I let my Chocobo mount graze the grass when it needs feeding" he said
Yunalesca was speechless. Her father never ceased to disappoint her. He manage go below her low image of him even when she thought there was nowhere else it could go… Such selfishness! She knew she had her mother's caring heart but it still shocked her to find herself related to Yu Yevon. Did her heart hide a powerful selfishness and boundless cruelty in one of it's dark corners ? Yunalesca shuddered.
"Why do you say my father will stop for a period ? Is that true father ?" she asked the Bevelle praetor
"Yes, it is true" said Yu Yevon annoyed
Yu Yevon was angry that those snakes at Bevelle were making him to be the only villain in this story. Oh well, it doesn't matter.. he thought. As long as he got his armor and his immortality all people in Spira were mere insects compared to his power anyway. Who cares what a fly think of the giant armed with the flyswatter ? Only the other lowly flies and maggots he thought disgusted. Maggots, that is all that they were. He couldn't care if the maggots called him God or Demon as long as he got his powers. He gestured for the praetor to go ahead and finish explaining the reason to his weakling child.
- "Well milady, it seems that if Yu Yevon keeps killing he will quickly run out of souls to weave his armor. His power will be gone " said the praetor
"So he needs to allow Spirans some calm times before Sin can feed again" continued the praetor
"I see.. And what is your role in all this ?" Yunalesca asked feeling oddly detached from the horrors she was listening to. She was beyond horror after her father's comparing Sin's killing to a Chocobo grazing in a meadow
"Yu Yevon has graciously allowed us to live if we help him with the task of restoring calm to war torn Spira" the praetor lied
"Yes and the Bevelle people have graciously agreed to make people worship my name all across Spira" said Yu Yevon.
"Sir ?" gasped the praetor
"Why yes, isn't religion a great way to calm the masses ?" said Yu Yevon with a sweetness that chilled the praetor to the bone.
They wouldn't get away that easily! Yu Yevon thought. If he was supposed to pose as the only greedy mass murderer in Spira in front of his only child than he would make them pay dearly for it. He couldn't care if the Bevelle maggots thought of him as a Demon but he would force them to treat him as a God and worship him all across the land. They needed a God and a religion to keep the masses content and low tech, as both he and the Bevelle council had concluded. Why not have Spira worship his name ? That would show his weakling child how wrong she was. He was not disgracing the family name, he was elevating it into heights that no one else in Spira could achieve.
"Yu Yevon is right. Religion is the calming balm we were looking for. That is our role in this matter Milady" said the Maester to Yunalesca looking at his praetors and Yu Yevon intently.
"Precisely. The religion of Yevon" said Yu Yevon firmly
"I beg to disagree, the religion should ring true, it should have true spiritual forces behind it or it won't stick" said one of the praetors
"Ha! You guys can weave a web of lies like no other. After your impressive performance convincing the entire Bevelle army of Zanarkand's wickedness you expect me to believe you can't convince the Spirans that I'm a saint ?" shouted Yu Yevon
At this point Zaeon pushed Yunalesca pushed aside and told her
"This is insane! Those guys will make Spira worship the very monster that preys on it ? I won't allow it!" whispered Zaeon
"You have no choice. Would you rather see all in Spira die ?" Yunalesca asked
"I can't allow it. I won't. I will fight to the death, as all others from Zanarkand did" said Zaeon unmoved
Yunalesca told Zaeon she was afraid that her father could loose patience and go for the instant gratification of being the most powerful being in Spira even if he died with it. She knew his murdering rages better than most.
"But Leska …We can't! I just can't live with myself if I agree with it!" said Zaeon anguished
" You don't know my father as well as I do. There is no option. We either agree to his mad scheme or we die ourselves today without being able to do anything. Without helping anyone" said Yunalesca
"I'm so sorry Zaeon. You were marked for death the minute you married me. I should never have accepted. I thought I could protect you but Sin…" said Yunalesca amid hot tears coming down her face
"Shh Leska… I knew. You know the tales whispered about your father's cruelty when no one is looking. I knew crossing him could get me killed. I just couldn't help it. You are my life! With you by my side I don't mind dying today " said Zaeon softly
"Zaeon… I shouldn't have accepted to marry you, but I also couldn't help myself.. You are my life too! With you by my side I don't mind dying today either but I would like to at least make sure our deaths are not in vain! " said Yunalesca, tears glistening on her face
"You think that if we accept this travesty we can do some good ?" asked Zaeon
"I do my love… If we keep Spira alive we can always have hope. And maybe I can get him to agree to spare you" Said Yunalesca hopeful
"Hope… Hope for Spira. That is what we need to demand from your father and those Bevelle creeps! They need to keep Spira's hope alive. If they promise it I will agree to anything your father wants, including my head on a platter." Zaeon said fiercely
Yu Yevon was having a shouting match with the 3 Bevelle council members, still discussing his demand that the new Religion be centered around him when Yunalesca and Zaeon approached them and told them their price to keep silent. No one heard the couple as the shouting did not stop. Yunalesca could see her father was loosing his temper. She saw him start gathering energy for a summoning. Was he going to summon Sin here ? That would be the end of Spira she thought and panicked. From what she had heard, Sin needed to "feed" on the lives of many every time it was summoned. Who could stop the beast if her father was himself out of control with anger and the mad rulers of Bevelle were about to be Sin's fodder ? Could she stop her father ? She had to at least try. Without much time to think she called Zaeon to her side and told him what was going on and her fears.
"We don't have much time love. I have to try to stop him, but alone I am not strong enough. I wish Lenne and the council summoners were still here to help me!" said Yunalesca in despair
"Isn't there something called the Final Summoning ? Isn't that what Lenne and the others gave their life for ? That could be strong enough to stop Sin, couldn't it ?" said Zaeon
"I can't do it. I need a fayth to do it. Someone has to be willing to die to give me that kind of power. And even then, I am sure it will not kill Sin" said Yunalesca looking at her father's summoning of Sin aghast. He was almost finishing it!
"You said you want to give Spira hope right ? Wounding Sin might be enough to stop your father here today. Then you get him and the creeps to promise, and stick to their word that they will keep Spira alive and most importantly, keep Spira's hope alive" Zaeon said with an odd face
"Yes but.. where am I going to find.. No! " she shouted
"No, Zaeon I won't. I won't use you as my fayth!" said Yunalesca desperate at the thought of loosing him
"We have no choice Leska… . You said it yourself. I'm dead anyway soon, might as well do some good with it. Besides, it would be great to get it over with. It will spare me from this Zen spider stuff you father likes so much" Zaeon said shuddering
"I was marked for death on the minute I saw you in Bevelle's Highbridge, even before we ever talked to each other. I have loved you more than life ever since. Don't feel bad. I have no regrets. Just stop your father's madness as much as you can muster. Keep Spira's hope alive" he said brushing away her tears
"Yes my love. I will make him and those creeps give me their word on that" said Yunalesca crying softly and gathering his life energy, the life he was offering so willingly
There was barely time for Yunalesca to summon the Final Aeon as her father had finished his casting of Sin and the beast was starting to form. She and the Final Aeon merged together and dived into Sin's half formed body, piercing it's armor, but getting pierced by the millions of pireflies engulfed in it. As Yunalesca lay dying her father appeared
"You cast a Final Aeon against me ? Why silly child ? Surely you knew this can't kill me.." said Yu Yevon feeling something odd inside him, an odd lump in his throat
"Stupid girl! Now your precious Zaeon is dead, gone. I needed him to replace the Sin Aeon you damaged. He is now one of my Aeons. He will be Sin now" Yu Yevon said furious at the stupidity of this child.
"I.. We.. just wanted to stop you.. Sin.. long enough to get your word.." said Yunalesca weakly
"My word on what ? I told I will not stop summoning Sin!" Yu Yevon said angrily
"Did you really expect me to give up my powers and glory for you ? A weakling weepy woman that reminds me so much of your weak mother ?" Yu Yevon said trying to hurt her as much as her attack had hurt him
"Not.. stop… Just .. give calm.. to Spira.. as the praetor said. Calm and hope. Make Spira have hope. Lie if you have to.." Yunalesca said and then she was gone, her pireflies floating up and dancing in the air lazily
"Oh no, you wont! I won't let you go to the Farplane!" said Yu Yevon angrily, quickly casting a gravity spell and binding her pireflies to the first thing he saw, a large Basilisk monster that slithered by the dungeon's corridor in front of them
Shaking with fear the cowered Maester and his 2 praetors had been watching the whole event. Fearing for their lives they had agreed between them that Yu Yevon was not someone to be trifled with. Today he had almost killed them on the spot by casting Sin, in spite of his need of their services. Better do what he wanted and made him the new God particularly now that his daughter had saved their lives with her own life. Surely she deserved sainthood! the cowardly Maester thought relieved he was still alive. The two praetors agreed heartily.
Yu Yevon started running to catch the bewildered Basilisk that was trying to escape from him. In a minute he was upon it and casting a spell to talk with his daughters pireflies, to no avail.. She had just released them and her memories and thoughts were still all jumbled up inside them. Frustrated he forced himself to calm down. Still holding Yunalesca's Basilisk he turned to talk to the 3 Bevelle rulers.
"You will do what I demand or I will make this Basilisk turn you into stone and then throw you on the bottom of Lake Macalania!" said Yu Yevon in a steely voice
"Yes certainly. We will have all Spira worship you, but.." started the praetor
"No buts!" bellowed Yu Yevon shaking with anger
"Yes sir, absolutely sir" all 3 said chastised
Yu Yevon needed to rest. He didn't want to admit in front of the Bevelle clowns but Yunalesca's attack shook him and weakened him in a way he had never thought possible. He had not felt this shaken before, not even when Yunalesca's mother died in that Bikanel attack. The Angra Manyu ghost fiend had been unstoppable to his measly powers at the time. And that was when he understood that power was more important than anything else. You didn't get to keep anything else you liked if you didn't have power.
But now Yu Yevon had all the power of Sin and he had lost something. His daughter. He shouldn't have allowed her to waste her life in such a foolish quest. Calm ? He was going to give Spirans calm anyway! Stupid, stupid kid! He would never have a kid again he thought, now that he was on his way to immortality he didn't need one, didn't want one. He didn't want to feel this shaken, this weak ever again. He needed to get rid of his remaining emotions and shape himself into a summoner mage who lived only for his magic. His magic and his power were entirely under his control. Those would never betray him or make him feel ashamed of himself.
"Sir, if I may interrupt your meditation ?" one of the praetors asked
"Yes" said Yu Yevon icily
"Err… We couldn't avoid overhearing Yunalesca.." said the praetor
"Lady Yunalesca to you" corrected Yu Yevon furiously
"Yes, well, Lady Yunalesca mentioning giving Spira hope" said the praetor
"Yes what about it ?" said Yu Yevon now paying attention to what the sniveling maggot was saying
"Well, err.. Sir, you mentioned we are experts at weaving lies.. Anyway, in my expert opinion granting her wish would be very beneficial to our goals" said the praetor
"Go on" said Yu Yevon
"By inserting hope into the tenets of our new religion we will be able to keep Spirans a lot calmer than if we don't" said the praetor
"Hmmm… carry on" said Yu Yevon curious
"We could create a religion that is based on Yevon's teachings of hope for Spirans. We can make them think that if Spirans follow your mandates without deviation or questioning they may be worthy enough to defeat Sin" said the praetor
"So I will be their teacher not a God, but I will be the one who brings them hope ?" asked Yu Yevon
"Well, yes Sir, according to our expert opinion the people in Spira may resist if we impose a God like figure on them but they will be very open to a sacred teacher that brings hope to them" said the praetor glad that the mad summoner wasn't trying to destroy him for talking back
"I like it. OK, you can make me a teacher not a God. But I want prayers and bows to my teachings. And my daughter should be one of the first martyrs of this Yevon church of hope. After all, she and her husband gave their life for it" said Yu Yevon
A moment ago Yu Yevon would have never agreed to what the praetor proposed. But he had decided it was time for him to cast all his emotions aside and live for his magic. Trying to care less about whether he was going to be called God or not by those maggots was a good start, he thought
This is how the Church of Yevon was founded 1,000 years ago in the bowels of Bevelle's underground bunker. Yu Yevon and the 3 Bevelle rulers needed a way to have Spirans act carefree and multiply themselves for at least 10 years, while the population in Spira grew back to a level it would allow another Sin massacre. So in a stroke of genius the Bevelle Maester and his two praetors came up with a religion that would keep Spirans from despair over their endless sorrow at the hands of Yu Yevon and the Bevelle schemes.
Yu Yevon would don his Sin armor and relish in it's power for 2-3 years, until all Bevelle's need for pireflies was satiated. Then one of the many Spirans trained as "High Summoners of Yevon" would be forced to relive Lady Yunalesca's sacrifice, as a homage to Yu Yevon's daughter sacrifice for Spira. And Yu Yevon would let his armor be pierced and take possession of a new Aeon in homage of Zaeon's sacrifice. Yu Yevon would then go back to his trance meditation, waiting for the Calm to pass so he could kill again and rebuild his Sin Armor.. An endless Spiral of Death… Spira's Spiral of Death, which Yuna and Tidus finally broke.