Chapter XII – The Truth is Revealed
They entered the ice fields in front of Macalania Temple. The frozen glaciers seemed to be rock painted white. As soon as he took a step on to the ice, Cid stopped at the voice of Auron. "You're worried about Sara."
Cid began to get used to talking to the big man. "Definitely. I wonder what she's thinking…"
"The simplest answer would be: in exchange for agreeing to marry him, she hopes to negotiate with Seymour," replied Auron in a stone voice.
"What would she have to negotiate with him?" asked Cid, but Auron didn't have the answer.
"She's strong, but Seymour is the better negotiator," commented Auron.
"Why don't we do something about it then?"
"She wants it that way. She doesn't want us caught up in whatever she is planning. Sara is easy to read, but hard to guard. Stand by her always," advised the legendary guardian.
Tromell appeared again. That man just seemed to pop up everywhere! He bowed as he approached Sara. "Lady Sara, we've been expecting you," he began. Of course, the Maester always expects her, thought Cid. "We were surprised to see you so soon, but of course, pleasantly surprised. Lord Seymour sends his deepest apologies for leaving so unexpectedly."
Sara nodded. "It's alright, but I have one question. I want to keep journeying, even if I marry. Do you think Maester Seymour will let me?" she asked.
"Of course!" exclaimed Tromell. "Lord Seymour wishes nothing else, I'm sure." Sara waved goodbye to her companions. "Well, we must follow Guado traditions. I'll have to ask you to wait here a little longer. I'll send someone to escort you."
Tromell and Sara didn't even walk ten steps before Helena screamed "Al Bhed!" Cid found it incredibly ironic and nearly laughed but ran none the less. A bunch of Al Bhed men on sled-like motor vehicles surrounded Sara, but her guardians pushed through.
"Stand back," said Auron, raising his giant sword. Tromell bowed in thanks, but Sara went to assist her guardians, much to Tromell's surprise.
"Helena!" screamed a voice. She whipped around in a full circle at the sound of her name by a familiar voice. "Tyh'd ehdanvana un oui kad dric!" A giant machina with the look of a cannon crawled over the brow of the hill hill. "Oain bnaciuic magic and aeons yna caymat!"
"Translation?" suggested Cid.
"He's going to use an anti-magic field on us!" exclaimed Helena.
"Ked dras!" screamed the man.
The machina stopped in front of them. Helena was the first to notice a timer under the barrel of the cannon. "Ten minutes till the cannon fires!" she announced. "Look!" Helena pointed to a strange droid suspended in the air next to the machina. "I think that's what's holding up the anti-magic field! We have to destroy it!" Lulu and Sara stood back with Edgar protecting them with his spear. Cid and Auron leaped up as far as they could to reach the droid, stabbing it with their swords, but the machina was too far up. Alexander hurled his shield at it, but it moved just at the last moment to dodge it. Helena threw a grenade at the droid, which immediately caught on and exploded on contact. The machina fell to the ground, useless, and burst into flames on the ice.
Lulu then leaped forward and began to beckon thunder and lightning to come. Sara pointed her staff into an ice wall as a beam of lightning shot out from the tip of her weapon. A circle of lightning appeared, and a horse was pulled out by the lightning connection. It leaped on to the ice, roaring into the air the sound of a horse. Ixion looked like a horse, except it had a hooked horn on its head. The aeon of thunder certainly was not something to ride on. Thunder rained down on the machina like rain, pelting it endlessly. Ixion fired a boomerang-like object from its horn at the machina. Despite its size, the projectile sent the machina straight into an ice wall. Its heavy weight sent it through the ice and into the cold waters. Lulu bent the thunder into the water. There was an explosion that seemed to rock the world, and then it was silent again.
That man that had yelled to Helena appeared again at the hill. "Helena! I femm damm Vydran!" he hollered.
"E ys dra guardian of Sara, oui caa? Sara ec cyva! Fa femm kiynt ran! Cra ec cyva!" replied Helena, screaming at the top of her voice.
The man shook his head. "Oui tu drec ymuha, cecdan!" He left with a steaming head.
"How come you speak Al Bhed?" demanded Alexander, even though he knew the answer already.
"Because I'm Al Bhed, and that was my brother." Helena looked down at to the ground.
Alexander looked at the others. "You knew?" Cid nodded slowly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We knew you'd be upset," murmured Lulu in a quiet voice.
"This is great. I can't believe I've been traveling with an Al Bhed for all this time!" exclaimed Alexander, kicking the ground with his foot. "A heathen!" He spat on the ice.
"You're wrong!" argued Helena. "We Al Bhed have nothing against Yevon."
"You Al Bhed use the forbidden machina!" countered Alexander. "You know what that means? Sin was born because people used machina." The others just watched them with something similar to interest. "It's in Yevon's teachings!"
"Yevon says this, Yevon says that, why don't you think for yourself for once?"
"Well, then tell me: why did Sin come?" demanded Alexander, his face red with rage.
"I…I don't know! But that doesn't mean you should do whatever they say without thinking! Nothing will ever change that way! There might be a way to stop Sin from coming back, you know?"
"Sin will be gone once we atone for our past mistakes. If we keep faith in Yevon's teachings, it will be gone one day!" Helena shook her head and walked away to Auron, who asked her if she could get the motorsleds from the fled Al Bhed running.
"We're not using that, are we?" sighed Alexander. "Wait…Sir Auron isn't Al Bhed too, is he?"
Cid shook his head. "C'mon, Alex. Getting angry just because you found out Helena's an Al Bhed…You guys got along okay before right? I know she's a good person. She's just Helena!" he said. Alexander turned to Lulu.
"Just think of this as an opportunity to learn more about the Al Bhed," she replied. Alexander left in fury.
"Let him go," commented Auron. Helena started to apologize, but Lulu said that she had nothing to say sorry for. Helena and Lulu hopped on to one sled while Auron took another. Cid had one to himself, and so did Edgar. Alexander, Sara, and Tromell seemed to have already left.
As they were driving, which was much simpler than Cid thought, he decided to ask Edgar some questions. He accelerated next to Edgar. "What do you think of Helena being an Al Bhed?"
"Most people in the world are followers of Yevon," replied Edgar in a deep voice. Cid found out earlier that indeed Edgar did talk, although very rarely, but he had been chatting a lot more with the others. "But the Al Bhed are the Al Bhed, and Helena is Helena. She swore to protect Sara and she's not a liar. I can tell. Therefore, she's a friend."
Cid thought for a moment. "You might want to tell her that," he suggested. "I think she needs to know why she's still here with us."
They arrived at Macalania Temple shortly. It did not surprise them that there was a guard who stopped Helena as she tried to walk into the temple. "Halt!" ordered the man. "The likes of her are not welcome in this hallowed place." Auron explained that she was a guardian. As expected, he was shocked at an Al Bhed guardian.
"I've decided to be Sara's guardian, and that's all I want," she said softly.
Auron walked past them both. "And that's all one needs to be a guardian." Helena and the others followed him. They entered the vast room of the temple. A priest told them that Sara and the Maester had gone to the Cloister of Trials. Abruptly a woman ran out of one of the rooms and screamed.
"Lord Jyscal! A sphere, in Lady Sara's belongings…" It only took moments before the summoner's guardians rushed in. Cid bent down and picked up the sphere, pushing a button on the bottom to play it.
There was a ghostly image of Lord Jyscal, who closely resembled a mixture of Tromell and Maester Seymour. Then they heard his strange, mysterious voice. "What I am about to tell you is the unclouded truth. I swear it on my honor as a Guado. Listen to me very carefully, for I shall tell you the truth about my son, Seymour. His mind is closed even to me, a maester of Yevon. But I can feel flames of darkness burning in his heart. He is using Yevon, the Guado, and even the summoners. If he is not stopped, he will surely bring destruction and chaos to Spira. I will leave this world soon, killed by my own son. But I do not fault him. Because I was not wise enough he has suffered, and become twisted. I could not protect him and his mother from the world and its cruelty. I will accept death as punishment for my deeds. But whoever is watching this...I implore you to stop Seymour! Stop my son." The sphere ended.