Operation Mi'ihen
We made fair time, and five days after leaving Luca we arrived at Mushroom Rock Road. The trip had been largely uneventful, aside from our battle with a chocobo eater at the Mi'ihen Travel Agency. Jecht, Braska, and I had fought and defeated another of these ten years prior, and it was a little disheartening to find one here again. In fact, I had noticed an overall increase in the number of fiends and wondered at the change. I came up with a number of unsatisfactory theories and did not like the implications of any of them.
Our group gelled quickly. I hadn't traveled with so many others since commanding warrior monks, but our strengths were complementary, and the fiends rarely gave us much trouble. I drilled Tidus every morning and watched his fighting skills improve daily. I could feel myself returning to form as well, remembering techniques long unused and rebuilding my strength. The other three guardians worked together flawlessly. Lulu and Wakka, especially, seemed to have a close bond, though it hadn't taken long to determine that theirs was a tie of friendship rather than romantic affection. They were also both devoted to their faith and would hear nothing against it, Wakka in particular. He fixated on the use of machina and the "heathen" Al Bhed -- obviously he had no idea of Yuna's heritage, although how he could have missed the story of Braska's Al Bhed wife was beyond my understanding -- but I still worried that he would be unable to accept the truth about Yevon and the Final Summoning.
As we walked, we encountered many Crusaders on the road, carrying rumors of an upcoming campaign against Sin. After days of talking with our fellow travelers -- Tidus was insatiably curious about this world and paused to chat with almost everyone we saw -- we finally learned that Yevon's fighters had joined forces with the Al Bhed and were planning to fight Sin with some powerful machina weapon. The plan could not succeed, but that wasn't my main concern. What bothered me was the implicit support of the new Maester, young Seymour, whom we had also met on the road. Unless something had changed drastically, machina weapons were still forbidden, and the Crusaders claimed to have been excommunicated for following this path. Yet here Seymour was, providing his stamp of approval by the simple fact of his presence. So what of the rest of Yevon? Surely Brac had not endorsed this mad scheme. I was surprised not to see him here, trying to put a stop to it. Unless Brac was no longer Maester, unless someone else had risen to take his place.
I would have preferred to steer clear of the whole business. But Seymour had asked us to observe from the command center, and coming up with a plausible reason to decline a Maester's invitation would have been tricky. Besides, Yuna genuinely wanted to come, to help however she could. So it was that we found ourselves stepping off a lift early one morning after camping at the end of the Highroad the night before, arriving at the high bluffs overlooking the ocean not long after sunrise. A collection of large weapons -- one of the Crusaders had called them "cannon" -- sat on the edge of the cliff. Wakka approached one, muttered a curse, and kicked it. Then he grunted in pain as he hopped away.
We continued on, watching as the Al Bhed prepared their weapons and Crusaders began opening cages containing Sinspawn of all types and herding them down to the beach. Wakka crossed his arms and shook his head. "Won't work anyway," he grumbled.
"Don't say that," said Yuna. "It might be a hopeless campaign, and they might be defying Yevon. But the Crusaders and the Al Bhed--they're trying their best to beat Sin. And that's what we want too, isn't it? " She turned to look at Wakka. "Isn't it?"
Wakka folded his arms. "Hmph. All right, fine. But I still think machina are bad news! They're forbidden for a reason."
I caught myself about to groan with irritation. True, I had once been a devoted follower of Yevon. But I truly hoped that I had never been so mindlessly pious as this young man. He was unquestionably going to cause me some trouble. Yuna, on the other hand... her defense of the Crusaders and their unconventional choice stirred me, gave me hope. Perhaps she would be open to the new path I planned to offer. And if she followed me, so would her guardians. Probably.
"Lady Summoner! There you are." Our heads all turned to see an approaching Crusader captain, a Chocobo Knight named Lucil. She had escorted us up Mushroom Rock Road earlier this morning, and she seemed both poised and competent. "The command center is that way," she said, pointing to our right. "Maester Kinoc is also there."
Yuna said something in response, bowed, and turned in the direction indicated. The others followed her, but I froze in place. "Maester Kinoc"? Maester Kinoc?
I found that my hands had involuntarily clenched into fists. Taking a breath, I pulled my fingers in tighter for a swift second, then released them. This should not have come as a surprise -- he had thought that Brac was grooming me for the role, he had desired it for himself, and he had taken action. The only real shock was that no one had ever seen through him and known the treacherous, black-hearted worm for what he was. Or perhaps they realized and did not care. I had thought my opinion of Yevon couldn't fall any further. I was wrong.
Another deep breath, and then I turned to follow my party. My recovery only took a moment; I doubted that they had even noticed my reaction. We passed by a soldier, a boy named Gatta whom Yuna and her companions knew from Besaid. "The operation will begin shortly," he droned, clearly unenthusiastic about having pulled guard duty.
"You okay?" Wakka asked.
"Of course not!" The youth growled, the dull facade broken, and made a fist. "I came all the way from Besaid to fight Sin, and they stick me here?"
I looked at this soldier and in his face saw every young warrior monk I had ever known, ready and eager to test himself against Sin. And then I saw the same men, bodies bloodied and broken on the ice of Lake Macalania, against the rocks of the Djose Shore. "If you want to prove yourself," I said as he turned to me with wide eyes, "first you must complete the tasks you are given."
He hung his head slightly, seeming to consider this advice. I nodded to him and turned to go. Tidus stayed for a moment, seemingly continuing the conversation. I wondered what they were discussing. But as I entered the command center, I heard a voice that drove all possible wonderings from my mind.
"Ah!"
The voice was instantly familiar. But for an instant, the man was not -- who was this rotund figure wearing orange and blue robes, seated on a camp chair decked out like a temporary throne? Then my vision resolved, and beneath the increased girth I saw my old friend, my sworn enemy, his eyes lighting up with surprised pleasure. Kinoc lifted himself from his chair, a smile on his face, and walked straight to me.
"I'd heard from Seymour, but I didn't know if we'd actually meet," he said as he threw his arms around me. I stiffened at the unwelcome contact and did not return the embrace. He took a step back, hands resting lightly on my elbows. "Good to see you, Auron! Ten years, is it?" Then he laughed heartily. Shocked by his audacity, all I could do was stare silently at him. Did he really think I might slap him on the back and greet him as a friend?
I heard footsteps behind me, and we all turned in time to see Gatta running into the command center with a salute. "All troops ready to move at your command, sir."
"Good," said Kinoc, his voice shifting into the old military tone that I'd once known so well as he dropped his hands to return the salute. "Dismissed."
"Sir!" Gatta left, Wakka and Lulu following their friend out. Part of me would have liked nothing better than to join them, but my feet were rooted to the spot.
"Tell me, Auron." Kinoc stepped slightly away. "Where have you been these last ten years?"
Finally I found my voice. "We don't have time for this now, do we?" I said.
Kinoc betrayed no reaction to my coldness. "This plan won't work. You know that as well as I do. But we'll let them dream a little while longer."
Why encourage them to their deaths then? I wanted to ask. But before I could pose the question, another presence made itself known.
"Lord Kinoc?" Seymour had stepped in to the pavilion from the other side, and he took a place behind the wooden platform where Kinoc's chair rested, raising an eyebrow.
Kinoc turned to face him and started to walk back to his seat. "Oh yes. Proceed."
Tidus sidled up to me as I watched him go. "That Kinoc, a Maester?" I muttered under my breath, intending that only the boy would hear me.
But Kinoc stopped, then looked at me. He said nothing, but I saw a brief flash of emotion in his eyes. Even after all this time, I could still read his expressions, and I knew exactly what he was thinking: He knows.
I stared back at him, holding my head level, unflinching. You bet I know, you fiend-damned bastard.
The silent confrontation lasted only an instant. Then a mask fell over his face. "I heard that, Auron," he said, striding back in my direction. I saw a bit of his old grace then, still evident despite what appeared to be years of sitting behind a desk in preference to training. "A lot has happened in the last ten years." He glared at me. "What were you doing, and where?"
"Fulfilling a promise I made to a friend," I replied, my tone even. "I still am." I shifted my weight as I prepared to walk away, sending every possible signal that our conversation was over.
"Just tell me one thing." He stood shoulder to shoulder with me, almost close enough touch again. "Have you seen Zanarkand?"
I looked briefly to the sky. Then I grunted and continued walking away. I used a map on the other side of the command center as my excuse and studied it, the outline of the Mushroom Rock coastline blending into the familiar shapes of the Djose Shore. In the background, I heard a Crusader talking to Tidus and Yuna, warning them that the Sinspawn would soon be released and to prepare for battle, but I wasn't really listening. With half my mind I studied the map, and with the other half I considered this encounter with Kinoc.
Part of me had always assumed that, if I were to see Kinoc again, I would murder him on the spot. Or I would force him to admit his crimes, try to wring some sort of explanation or apology out of him with my fists. But faced with him now, I found the thought of revenge curiously distant. I still despised the man and everything he stood for, but the heat of my anger had cooled. Was it my death and the detachment from the world it brought me, or had the simple passage of time lessened my rage? I would probably never know.
But regardless, even if I had still felt the murderous impulse, I could not have indulged it. Kinoc was a Maester, one of the most powerful personages of Yevon. If I killed him, I would be imprisoned and taken from Yuna, and her pilgrimage would go on without me. I could not allow that to happen under any circumstances. I had to be with her when she reached Zanarkand. Jecht's plan was far more important than my own petty vengeance.
I turned away from the map and took a place at the edge of the clearing. The rest of the party scattered about the area: Lulu and Yuna looking at the map, Kimahri standing guard by the door, Wakka staring out over the sea, Tidus exploring as usual. As he finished his wanderings, he walked up to me. "Now what?" he asked.
"Go to Yuna," I replied. He nodded and then did so, the two of them exchanging a few words as they examined the map.
"Maester Kinoc, if you please." The Crusader who seemed to be running the command center gestured to a wooden platform at the edge of the cliff. Kinoc stood alone right next to it, his hand on the railing. I wondered then at the absence of Gray Squadron. Surely Kinoc's personal guard ought to be here, protecting him. What other mission could be more important? I suddenly realized that I had yet to see an on-duty warrior monk during my time in Spira. There hadn't even been patrols in Luca. Had they been completely withdrawn to the temples? If so, why?
I had no more time for musings as Kinoc walked out to the end of the platform.
"Will Sin come?" Yuna asked. She and Tidus had left the map and were standing with the soldier.
"Sin always returns for its Spawn," the man explained. "To make sure, we're going to encourage them to call out to it."
"You won't need to," I said quietly, looking at Tidus. I could sense Jecht's presence not far distant. He hadn't spoken to me, but I had a feeling that it was time. He would want to demonstrate Sin's full destructive power to Tidus sooner or later, and this was a perfect opportunity. "It'll come."
Silence fell over the command center and a modified hush descended on the gathering of troops below. I saw Kinoc raise his hand in signal, and the cages were encased in artificial thunder. The spawn inside writhed and screamed. One particularly large monster thrashed its powerful arms against its cage door and knocked it open. With a scream, it leapt out of its cell and landed on the bluff.
It took many blows, many spells, and some assistance from Yuna's fire Aeon, but eventually we beat it back. Exhausted, the Sinspawn fell over on its side. Kimahri gathered himself to spring into a mighty jump, intending to finish it, when he paused, looking up and out.
Panting next to him, tired from the battle, I followed his gaze to the darkness gathering in the water. I could hear the troops below -- weapons rattling, chocobos squawking -- as they prepared themselves to attack the mighty creature rising from the water. Sin. It was here.
"Fire!" On command, dozens of Al Bhed weapons released their cannonballs, glowing with white heat as they flew through the air, pelting Sin. Most of the projectiles found their target, but they didn't seem to be having much effect. Were these the superweapons that the Al Bhed and the Crusaders were depending on? Then I glanced down the shore and saw what looked like an enormous gun, perched on another cliff. That must be it. Not that it would work, either.
A distant cry of "Charge!" rose from the beach, and a herd of chocobos thundered through the water, their riders brandishing swords and spears. The foot soldiers followed, attacking the swimming Sinspawn that had fallen off their master. Sin stood above it all, waiting, biding its time.
Gathering its strength?
"Look out!" I shouted, recalling my first battle with Sin on the steps of Djose Temple. I dove to the side, pushing Yuna down with me, both of us hitting the ground with great speed and force. I heard the shockwave passing over my head, ripping through the air. I heard screams as those not lucky enough to duck were tossed about like leaves in a storm, then nothing.
I raised my head, the eerie silence oppressive and frightening. Carefully, I stood and took stock of myself and my surroundings. I was still tired and bore a few wounds from our battle with the Sinspawn, but I had not been freshly injured. Yuna lay on the ground a few feet from me, Seymour another step distant. Kinoc and the others were nowhere to be seen. I moved to help Yuna, but before I could aid her, she had risen to her feet on her own.
A howl split the air, and the three of us turned to see that the Sinspawn had come around and was moving to attack again. I glanced at Yuna, and she nodded -- she was strong enough to fight. The two of us took places on either side of Seymour, who had pulled out a staff and seemed to be making preparations for battle. He acknowledged me, then turned to Yuna. "Stand back, Lady Yuna," he said.
"Yes, your grace," she murmured, taking a slight step away.
The three of us made short work of the creature. Tired as we were from the earlier battle, it was even more badly damaged, and Seymour was a mage of more than a little skill. He seemed to have all kinds of hidden talents. When it was dead at last, we moved away from it and back toward the bluff, turning our attention to the large weapon that appeared to be powering up.
A beam shot out of the pointed end of the weapon. Sin had mustered another shockwave, though, and it battled with the ray of light. Before long, Sin's power burst forth and hit the weapon with a mighty backlash.
"No!" Yuna cried, raising her hands to her mouth in agony as the cannon broke, the heavy top splitting from its supports and tumbling to the ground, then exploding. We watched it burn. There was no escaping that conflagration -- if anyone had been inside, or standing underneath, they were surely dead.
Sin paused again, almost as if it were glancing over the killing field. Again I received no direct communication, but I sensed Jecht there. He was upset with himself, I knew, but he was also satisfied. Tidus had seen Sin's devastating power. Maybe now he could be persuaded to do what must be done.
And then Sin -- Jecht -- no, Sin, I told myself; long past time for me to stop thinking of him as my old friend and start thinking of him as the scourge of Spira -- turned and dove into the water, swimming away into the morning sun.
Yuna, Seymour, and I made our way down the cliff face, heading for the beach were we could aid the living and the dead. A handful of survivors were moving the bodies in a central location for the sending. I saw Gatta, the young boy from Besaid, among their number. So he had not stayed at his post after all. Rash, foolish, perfectly understandable. I bowed my head for him and for the rest of the fallen: men and women dead in a hopeless battle, one that their leaders knew was doomed to fail. Suddenly I understood Kinoc's purpose in encouraging this misguided effort, and the knowledge was accompanied by a spurt of rage. To waste human life in this way... what kind of monster had Kinoc become? Or had he always been such a creature, and I was only now seeing it?
I shook my head and backed away, putting as much distance from Yuna and her sending as possible. I hadn't attended a sending since my death and didn't know how my unsent body would react. Best to stay away and not take any chances.
As I walked down the beach, I saw the rest of our party. Somehow all four of them had made it safely down the cliff. Lulu tended the wounded, Wakka prayed over bodies, Kimahri walked past me and nodded, making his way to Yuna. And Tidus lay on the beach, his hair and clothes sopping wet. I almost panicked but then saw that his chest rose and fell with breath.
"I see you're still here," I said to him as he sat up, his gaze turned thoughtfully on Yuna and her dance of sending.
"Huh?" He looked at me quizzically.
I gestured over the remains of the battlefield. "Many stories ended here today," I said. "But yours goes on."
He shook his head as if to clear water from his ears. "What?"
I sighed and moved away. He would understand eventually. I headed off the beach and in the direction of the road to Djose. Kinoc stood at the entrance to the road, Gray Squad now gathered behind him, his captain at his left hand. So they had finished their errand, whatever it was. I did not recognize any of them; too young, most likely.
"A swift retreat," I said to him, an edge of anger creeping into my voice. "Satisfied?"
"What do you mean?" Kinoc presented innocence, but I could tell it was an act.
I glanced out over the corpse-strewn beach, and Maester Brac's words after my first battle came back to me. "...You hold the lives of the men you command in your hands... Value them. Do not give them up too cheaply." For all his faults, Brac would never have approved of a massacre, much less presided over one. I found myself missing my old mentor for the first time in many years. I returned my gaze to Kinoc and his retinue. "Those who turned from Yevon died, while the faithful live on."
He looked back at me coldly. "The last ten years have changed you, I see."
We stared each other down for a long moment. Then we both turned away at the exact same moment, taking our opposite directions. And I found myself fervently hoping that I would never see him again.