The Spiral Unwound

After an evening of company and conversation, Arelle's guests spent that night at her cottage -- the cadets camping in the yard, Paine and Baralai sleeping in Liss's old bed. The next morning, everyone rose early to prepare for the walk to Bevelle. As Arelle cooked breakfast with Baralai's assistance and Paine's other students broke camp, the captain found her cousin standing on the porch, gazing into the distance.

"Look," Liss said, gesturing to the towering mountain perched on the horizon, just visible through the treetops.

"Is that Mount Gagazet?" Paine asked.

Liss nodded. "Quite a view, isn't it? Ever since learning who my father was, I've thought about journeying to the other side. But I never have." She turned to Paine. "Have you ever been to Zanarkand?"

"Yes. I went with the Gullwings a few times, and the Defense Force gets called there pretty regularly." Liss raised her eyebrows in surprise as Paine continued. "It's very unstable. You could almost call it an outpost of the Farplane, given all the unsent and memories haunting the place. So there are fiend outbreaks, and other problems."

"Hmm." Liss faced the mountain once again. "Is there anything that can be done?"

"The Guado think so. They restabilized the Farplane easily enough, after the problems five years ago; now they're turning their efforts to Zanarkand. They've been working with Yuna and New Yevon to find some way to make it safe enough for people to visit, then restore it without turning the place into a tasteless tourist trap, like the Al Bhed almost did a few years back. They've been making a lot of progress; Yuna hinted that they might even have an announcement at the ceremony tomorrow." Paine looked at Liss again, questioning. "If you want to visit the ruins, I'm sure Rikku would take us there on the Celsius."

Liss said nothing for a moment, then responded. "Maybe sometime. Like I said, I am curious. But…" she trailed off, uncertainty in her tone. "I wonder. Maybe I should visit the actual Farplane first."

"Up to you," said Paine. "Do whatever feels right."

"I'll think about it." Liss sighed. "Let's get Bevelle over with first."

Paine held back a chuckle. "Sure. I think breakfast is almost ready; come eat?"

"In a minute."

Paine turned back into the house, leaving Liss alone with her thoughts and the view.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

Tidus looked at me, accusatory, as we gathered around Zaon's empty stone form, forever buried in the floor. We had reached the ruins of Zanarkand, then fought past unsent, memories, trials, and the Spectral Keeper, and now we were here, on Yunalesca's doorstep, on the verge of discovering the truth about the Final Summoning. Yuna had been about to enter the Lady's chamber when Tidus made his charge, but she paused when he spoke, her back to us, stopping just short of the doorway that led into her lair.

I met his eyes. "Yes."

Now Rikku turned on me. "Why didn't you tell us?"

I addressed the entire room, but the words were for my summoner. "If I had told you the truth, would it really have stopped you from coming?"

She said nothing, unmoving, resolved, much as her father had been before her. Thoughts of Braska led me back to the memory we had encountered in the dome outside. There was no telling what she had made of my moment of weakness, that first attempt to save Braska's life.

"Yuna," Kimahri said softly.

His call broke her silence, and she responded with a shake of her head. "I'm not going back!"

The Ronso nodded. "Kimahri knows." He took his place at Yuna's side, looking down at her. "Kimahri goes first. Yuna is safe. Kimahri protect." He stepped through the energy curtain that filled the doorway, and Yuna followed. I went right after her and took a place at the back of the room, the others filing in behind me. After a few moments of waiting in silence, Yunalesca entered and descended the staircase, looking exactly as she had ten years ago. She looked over us all -- if she recognized me from my previous visits, she didn't let it show -- eyes eventually settling on Yuna.

"Welcome to Zanarkand," she said, then launched into the same speech she had given Braska, her deep voice filling the room. Listening to her words, I was reminded of Seymour and his romantic ode to the joys of death on the Highbridge. Hypocrites, I thought. If death is so appealing, why are you both still here? As she spoke, I watched Yuna and her guardians closely. When Yunalesca explained the need to sacrifice a guardian, the reaction was much as I had expected -- surprise, shock, horror. Rikku, particularly, looked sickened at the thought. Yuna seemed more bewildered than anything else; I found that I had no idea what she would do now. Perhaps she did not know herself. The thought was unsettling.

Then Yunalesca left us, and the pyreflies swirling through the room coalesced into three shapes: Braska, Jecht, and me. And the most terrible moment of my life played out before us, as Jecht offered to become the fayth. Living through these events the first time had been difficult enough; reliving them was almost unbearable. As I watched my friends file up the steps and into Yunalesca's chamber yet again, then saw myself fall to my knees, my mounting agony burst in my chest and propelled me forward, sword drawn. I cried out ten years of loss and pain as I swept the blade through this image of my younger self, trying to banish the apparition. It soon faded from view, but not from my mind.

"And the cycle went on," I said, my voice thick, bowing my head.

Tidus, who had been standing quietly in the back of the room, looked straight at me as I walked to the base of the stairway. "We'll break it," he said, his tone confident.

"But how?" Wakka was incredulous. "You got a plan?"

Lulu stepped forward. "If one of us has to become a fayth, I volunteer," she said. Once again, I had to swallow down disappointment in this woman. I had totally misjudged her willingness to defy convention; she was a blindly loyal follower of Yevon, as bad as Wakka, if less vocal about it.

"Me too, Yuna," Wakka said, predictably.

"That still won't change anything, you know?" said Tidus. Clearly, he would take the same side of this argument that I had ten years ago, but he was forceful where I had been desperate. A better tactic, perhaps. "You'd bring the Calm, and then what? Sin would just come back. That won't break the cycle!"

Wakka glared at him. "Listen… you wanna defeat Sin and keep Yuna alive? You don't want Sin to come back? Well, that is just not gonna happen."

Lulu nodded agreement. "If you want everything, then you'll end up with nothing."

"Says who?" Tidus crossed his arms. "Says Yevon? Well, I don't care what they say. Why shouldn't I be able to have everything?"

"Now you're just being childish," said Wakka with a snort.

Tidus threw his hands up in the air. "I give up, then. What would an adult do? Just throw away a summoner and then do whatever they like?" Wakka and Lulu exchanged surprised looks, slightly tinged with guilt. "You're right, I might not even have a chance. But no way am I just going to stand here and let Yuna die. And what Auron said about there being a way? I think it's true."

Rikku raised an eyebrow. "'You'll think of something'?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'll go ask Yunalesca. She's got to know something more than she's telling us. Maybe it won't work, but I have to try."

My heart leapt up. This was exactly what I had been hoping for: a confrontation with Yunalesca to bring out the truth about Sin's rebirth before anyone had to be sacrificed. I clenched my right fist, invisible at my side, the only outward sign of my relief at this first step toward victory. What happened next made me even happier.

"Wait," said Yuna, who had been totally silent until this moment. Now she turned to look at Tidus. "I will go with you."

Every head in the room turned to her.

"It would be so easy to let fate carry me away, to follow this same path my whole life through. But now… I know I can't." She looked at Tidus and brought a hand to her breast. "I will do what I must do, with no regrets."

Their eyes locked, and it seemed that, for them, the rest of the room went away. The two of them joined together in the center of the room, then headed up the stairs, the rest of us following. We found ourselves on a stone platform surrounded by an empty night sky, ornate tiles laid in the cobblestone floor, where they formed Yevonite runes. Yunalesca was there, waiting.

"Have you chosen the one to be your fayth?" she asked. "Who will it be?"

"Might I ask something first?" Yuna stepped forward, though she stayed close to her guardians. "Will Sin come back even should I use the Final Summoning to defeat it?"

Yunalesca bowed her head. "Sin is eternal," she said. "Every aeon that defeats it becomes Sin in its place. And thus is Sin reborn."

"So that's why Jecht became Sin," Titus murmured, glancing at me. I responded with a single nod.

"Sin is an inevitable part of Spira's destiny," Yunalesca continued. "It is neverending."

"Neverending?" The blood drained from Wakka's face. "But… but… if we atone for our crimes, Sin will stop coming back, ya? Someday, it'll be gone, right?"

The first High Summoner smiled ruefully. "Will humanity ever attain such purity?"

Lulu, too, looked pale and flabbergasted as she took a sudden step toward Yunalesca, punctuating her words with sweeps of her hands. "But this… this cannot be! The teachings state that we can exorcise Sin with complete atonement. It has been our only hope, all these years!"

"Hope is comforting." Yunalesca spread her arms. "It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be."

"No!" Tidus shouted. His voice was joined by another: mine. I turned to see my memories take visible form yet again. All I could do was watch as my remembered self confronted the Yunalesca from the past, first with words, then with his blade. The specter rushed her, rebounded violently off her spell of protection, then landed in a heap on the ground and disappeared.

The Yunalesca of the present looked straight at me then. I returned her gaze, impassive. "Yevon's teachings and the Final Summoning give the people hope," she said. "Without hope, they would drown in their sorrow." She turned back to Yuna. "Now, choose. Who will be your fayth? Who will be the one to renew Spira's hope?"

Yuna bowed her head, mute. I took in a deep breath and held it as I waited for her decision. An eternity seemed to pass before she raised her head and said the words that I had hoped to hear.

"No one."

I let out the breath, my silent sigh of triumph.

"I would have gladly died," Yuna said. "I serve the people of Spira and would gladly have died for them. But no more! The Final Summoning is a false tradition that should be thrown away."

"No." Yunalesca's voice became deeper and harder. "It is Spira's only hope. Your father sacrificed himself to give the people hope, so that they would forget sorrow."

Yuna shook her head. "Wrong. My father wanted to make Spira's sorrow go away! Not just cover it up with lies."

The spectral lady let out a laugh of disbelief. "Sorrow cannot be abolished. It is meaningless to try."

"My father… I loved him," said Yuna. "So I…" She paused in thought, then continued. "I will make my own choice, to live with my sorrow. And I will defeat sorrow in his place. I will stand my ground and be strong, and someday, somehow, I will conquer it. And I will be victorious without false hope."

"Poor creature," Yunalesca replied, genuine pity in her voice. "You would throw away hope. In that case, I must free you before you can drown in your sorrow. Better to die now, in hope, than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator." She began to slowly rise in the air, and I saw my chance.

"Now!" I shouted as I unsheathed my blade. "Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow. Your fate is in your hands!"

Kimahri was the first to join me, lance at the ready. "Yuna needs Kimahri. Kimahri protect Yuna."

"Well, I'm fighting!" Rikku piped up from behind.

Wakka groaned from my other side. "I can't believe we're gonna fight Lady Yunalesca. Gimmie a break!"

Lulu came between us. "You can always run," she said.

"Hah!" I glanced over to see them smiling at each other. "I'd never forgive myself if I ran away now. Where Yuna goes, I follow. Even into death, ya?"

"My thoughts exactly," Lulu replied.

"Yuna?" Tidus reached out to her and clasped her hand. She took it and squeezed back, smiling. "This is our story, right? So let's see this thing through together." She nodded. He dropped his hand and ran straight at Yunalesca, sword raised, Yuna casting a protective barrier over him as he charged the enemy. The rest of us were right behind, and we jumped into what promised to be a long, ugly battle.

In the end, it was indeed both long and ugly. We came close to annihilation more than once, with only Yuna's protective magic pulling us back from the brink. Like Seymour, Yunalesca was proof against aeons, so it was up to guardian weapons and magic to take her down. But take her down we did, slowly wearing her down as she switched into various aeon forms.

"If I die, so does the Final Aeon," she hissed at me as I approached for the deathblow.

"That was the idea," I growled, slamming the point of my sword into her body, which had grown large and grotesque. I twisted the blade as it went home and felt a surge of satisfaction at avenging myself, and Braska and Jecht, and everyone else who had ever died in the name of Yevon.

"You are destroying Spira's only hope," she sighed, shuddering and falling back, shrinking back into her human shape as she weakened.

"Then we'll find Spira a new hope," Tidus declared, standing over her.

"Fool," said Yunalesca as she crumpled to the ground. "There is no other way. Even if there was… even if you did destroy Sin, Yu Yevon would only create Sin anew."

"Yu Yevon?" Tidus looked up at me. I shrugged -- it was not a name I had ever heard before.

Yunalesca let out a gasp and fell flat on her back, rapidly emptying eyes staring into space. "Zaon… forgive me…" Her head tilted to the side, and then she dissipated into pyreflies.

Yuna stepped forward, grasping her staff, face pale from magical exertion, and shock. "I cannot believe what we just did!"

Tidus looked at her. "Let's do something even more unbelievable."

"What?" Rikku asked from the corner, where she was tending Kimahri's wounds.

"Defeat Sin. So that it never comes back. And without the final aeon."

Everyone rose to their feet, Wakka helped by Lulu, everyone else under their own power, and slowly exited the room with one question in their minds: "How?"

In silence, we filed out of the Hall of the Final Summoning, through the trials and the byways of the dome, and back into the ruined city. The first thing we saw there was Sin, waiting for us.

I did as you asked, I told him. I came to Zanarkand and defeated Yunalesca. The Final Summoning is no more. So. Now what?

There was no reply.

Dammit, Jecht! You promised me that you'd have a plan. I can't do this without your help. Tell me what I must do next.

I could feel him there; I knew he was listening. But still no response came. Was something blocking him? Or was he too far gone to communicate with me now?

Tidus was next to me, regarding Sin as well, a thoughtful expression on his face. Perhaps he would be able to get through to Jecht, if I could not.

The monster turned away and sailed into the sunrise, passing Cid's airship, which had somehow known to come. It glided to the ground, and a gangway opened to admit us. We all stepped onto the ship and made our way to the bridge. Cid waited there, along with his son the pilot, who immediately began babbling in Al Bhed.

"'Where, where?'" Rikku replied, mockingly. "Is that all you can say? Why don't you think of something?" The youth fell silent.

I turned to Tidus. "Well? Any good ideas?"

His eyes were wide. "You're asking me? You're the one who knows everything!"

"What do we know?" I began thinking out loud. "Sin is Jecht. That gives you a bond with him. Perhaps that is our key."

"Maybe." He scuffed his feet. "So what do we do?"

"We think, and we wait," I said.

"Two things I'm bad at!" He sighed.

I chuckled, then turned to leave the bridge, catching Yuna's eye as I went. She looked at me, and I looked back, then nodded. Whatever else happened, I had succeeded in my primary goal: Yuna had made her way to Zanarkand and would not be sacrificed to the Final Summoning. And neither would any other summoner or guardian, ever again. Even if we did not manage to defeat Sin, I could be satisfied with this. I walked into the hallway and leaned up against the wall, clearing my mind and turning it to the new problem of how to destroy the scourge of Spira once and for all.