Chapter XVII – Trial

"Cover your eyes!" Helena ordered, running forward and throwing a flashing object on to the ground. Cid threw up his hands over his eyes. A bright white light danced across everybody's vision. They made their escape at that moment.

"What was that?" asked Alexander.

"An Al Bhed flashbomb!" Helena replied.

They broke threw the crowd once more, this time going in a different direction. Cid led the group, knowing where he was going. The company stopped to catch their breath. "Where did Sara go?" asked Helena.

"The Bevelle Palace is a temple. Sara goes to one place only," explained Edgar.

They proceeded to the next area. Helena saw something to their left. It was a control panel. She pressed a few buttons, and a metal staircase spiraled down. "What's a machina doing in a temple?" Alexander seemed to be in shock, again.

"I dunno. I suppose it comes in handy," shrugged Helena.

"That's not what I mean! What about the Teachings?" demanded Alex. The Al Bhed girl just shrugged and started down the staircase. "Another machina?" Helena went to go press some more buttons before deactivating a jelly-like barrier.

"So this is Yevon's true face. They betray their own teachings," commented Auron.

"They treated us like dirt."

At that moment, Cid momentarily stopped. He saw something. His vision turned completely white, enveloped in a bright radiance of light.

Sparks flew as two blades collided with each other. Clang! Clang! Clang! The music of steel rang in the cold, damp air. A place like this wasn't exactly the best place to sentence someone to die. Two men held their swords high, battling each other. One had the look of a deadly viper, poised to strike at any time. The other wore a worried expression, as if he was fighting not for himself but for another. The man with the dangerous expression leaped at the second person, lunging with his blade. In one smooth movement, he was hurled away by the force of steel hitting steel. Knowing he had been defeated, he ran to the only person that he could depend on to win, putting a sword at her throat. One word rang clearly in Cid's mind: Be'lal.

He awoke from his trance while in the waiting room outside the Chamber of Fayth. Cid shook his head, clearing his mind of the vision he had just seen. Be'lal, Judas, and Sara he remembered, reciting the names in his head. Sara came out of the Chamber of Fayth as he finished saying the people. Immediately, soldiers with guns and Kinoc appeared out of nowhere.

"You are to stand trial," said the governor.

"I expect it will be a fair trial," replied Auron with a grimace.

"The High Court of Yevon is now in session," announced a tall Maester at a high platform. It was Maester Kelk. Maester Mika and Seymour and Kinoc were all present too. "The sacred offices of the court seek nothing but the absolute truth, in Yevon's name. To those on trial: Believe in Yevon, and speak only the truth." He now focused on Sara. "Summoner Sara, you have sworn to protect the people of Yevon, true?" The woman said yes quickly. "Then consider. You have inflicted dire injury upon Maester Seymour Guado and conspired with the Al Bhed and joined in their insurrection. These are traitorous and unforgivable crimes that disturb the order of Yevon. Tell this court what possessed you to participate in such violence."

"Your Grace," Sara began. "The real traitor is Maester Seymour! He killed his father with his own hands!"

Maester Kelk looked shocked. He turned to Seymour, looking for the truth. "Hmm? Haven't you heard?" asked Seymour in an amused tone.

Sara didn't stop there. "Not only that…Maester Seymour is already dead!"

Lulu assisted Sara in her argument. "It is a summoner's sacred duty to send the souls of the departed to the Farplane! Sara is only doing her job as a summoner!"

"Grand Maester Mika," said Sara. "Please, send Seymour now!"

"Send the unsent where they belong?" asked Mika. He seemed to be in much thought. "Send the dead…hmm?" Pyreflies began to leave his body. "You would have to send me too."

"Grand Maester Mika is a wise leader. Even in death, he is invaluable to Gaia," explained Kelk.

"Enlightened rule by the dead is preferable to the misguided failures of the living," Kinoc added.

"Life is but a passing dream," Seymour said in a wheezy tone. "But the death that follows is eternal."

"Men die. Beasts die. Trees die. Even continents perish. Only the power of death truly commands Gaia. Resisting its power is futile."

"But what of Sin?" protested Sara. "I am a summoner, my lord. I am on a pilgrimage to stop the death that Sin brings. Are you…" Her voice cracked for a second. "Are you telling me that, too, is futile? Grand Maester Mika, I'm not alone! All the people who have opposed Sin…Their battles, their sacrifices…were they all in vain?"

Mika shook his head. "Not in vain. No matter how many summoners give their lives, Sin cannot be truly defeated. The rebirth cannot be stopped. Yet the courage of those who fight gives the people hope. There is nothing futile in life and death of a summoner."

"Never futile, but never ending," Auron whispered.

"Indeed, that is the essence of Yevon! Yevon is embodied by eternal, unchanging continuity, summoner." Sara looked shocked, her mouth dropping from her mouth. "Those who question these truths are traitors!"