Chapter XIX – Friends
Hurling Be'lal's sword at point-blank range, Cid dashed to his friend's side. He gingerly felt the deep wounds that he made. He whispered his name one last time before placing the corpse of his friend back on to the cold floor.
"Be'lal," he muttered to himself.
Sara came forward quickly. "It's best if I perform the Sending for them," the summoner explained.
Cid let his tears drop from his face like rain freely. "He…he tried to kill me," he stuttered slowly. "He…betrayed Yevon…He took all that he had learned and threw it away…"
"No," interrupted Sara. The guardian looked helplessly up at her calm face. "Be'lal never betrayed Yevon, nor did Judas. Both of them were true at heart but weak in mind." She looked sad. "And Maester Seymour exploited that to warp their fate into what they are now."
"Seymour," grunted Cid through clenched teeth. He stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes with a swipe of his arm. "I'm gonna kill that guy!" He raised his sword high into the air. "I'll stab every part of his body and pierce his soul before I die!" Be'lal's broadsword was lying on the ground innocently. "And I'll use you too," he muttered to himself only, as he picked it up.
"Fresh air!" announced Helena, relieved from being trapped in a cold, wet dungeon for such a long time. Her joy was cut short, a little too quickly. She screamed out loud with a shrieking tone as Seymour came into view. He was accompanied by four well-armed guards and Kinoc.
Surprisingly enough, Auron stepped forward with a surprised look on his face. "Kinoc…?" he mumbled with a tone of recognition. Kinoc's feet were motionless. The guards dragged him instead.
Anger began to build up in Cid. "Why, you!" He couldn't put his hatred into words.
Seymour looked with those wickedly calm eyes. "I have saved him," he said as the guards threw the dead body on to the ground. "He was a man who craved power. And great power he had." He looked at the still form of Kinoc. "But he feared losing it." Seymour turned his gaze to the group again. "Trembling at unseen enemies, he spent his days scheming petty schemes. Chased by fears, never knowing rest. You see…Now he has no worries. He has been granted eternal sleep. Death is a sweet slumber. All the pain of life is gently swept away…Ah, yes. You see…if all life were to end on Gaia, all the suffering would end. Don't you see? Do you not agree?" Those mysterious eyes fell upon Sara. "That, Sara, is why I need you. Come, Lady Sara. Come with me to Zanarkand, the lost city of the dead. With death on our side, we will save Gaia, and for this…I will take from you your strength, Sara, your life, and become the next Sin. I will destroy Gaia! I will save it!" His last two sentences sounded out through Bevelle with an inhumane tone.
Edgar thrust his spear into the place where a human heart would be. But, much to their surprise, Seymour didn't die. The guards and Kinoc transformed into pyreflies, which were somehow absorbed by Seymour. His skin turned a pale white, and he seemed to have a shadow behind him, materialized out of nowhere, yet made up of that same grotesque white material. "Run!" ordered Edgar.
"Go!" added Auron, beginning to flee.
"No way!" protested Cid, standing his ground and drawing his blade. "I'm fighting!"
Auron raised his giant sword. "I said go!" Cid looked at him, then Edgar, and sped off to the other end of the bridge. After all, Bevelle was built over water. They almost were at Macalania Woods when Sara stopped.
"I won't leave Edgar behind!" she said loudly.
"He is a guardian," replied Auron. "Protecting you is everything."
Cid thought for a moment. Then he spoke out loud. "That's right! We're all guardians! And you know what that means?" He turned to Sara. "Sara…Wherever you go, I'll follow!"
"Anywhere?" asked the woman with a raised eyebrow. Cid nodded quickly. "Well, then…"
Their voices said the words in unison. "Let's go!"
"Hey Edgar! Leave some for us!" yelled Cid, pedaling his feet as fast as he could. Sara had much more stamina than Cid thought. Perhaps, it wasn't her strength. Perhaps, it was the strength of a friend.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Alexander ran to follow them.
"Me too!" Helena followed suit.
Lulu gave Auron a rare smile and said, "I'll go too." Auron shook his head and followed.
Seymour's feet didn't touch the ground. He was suspended in mid-air, levitating. Both Cid and Auron went berserk. Cid had no clue why, but it must've had something to do with Kinoc. Perhaps they were long-time friends or something like that. Sara called forth her newest aeon, Bahamut. Alexander played catch with Helena's grenades. Cid finally realized that the two, despite their different religions and backgrounds, were very similar. He couldn't help but smile as Alex batted each grenade at Seymour with his shield as the Al Bhed tossed them at him. Edgar too attacked Seymour with much hostility. Lulu stood back with Sara and doused flames that Seymour created. Just like the previous battle with Seymour, they began with a powerful, aggressive offence. They were eventually blown away into separate corners as Seymour created a heavy wind that constantly pushed them back. The only one who wasn't was Sara, who was protected by Bahamut. Eventually, even the aeon vanished into pyreflies, due to Seymour's immensely powerful magic. Seymour's claw-like fingers latched on to her arms.
"Oh no you don't," muttered Cid. He recovered back on to his feet and threw his sword like a projectile. It cut through the wind like a speedy arrow and struck Seymour's hands while returning back to Cid's hand like a boomerang. Who ever knew that he could do that? He truly surprised himself a lot.
Helena fell into a sitting position. "Ouch! That hurts a lot, you big meanie!" she screamed. Cid had to hold himself back from shaking his head in disappointment.
Auron grimaced sourly. "This isn't something that you'd expect," he muttered softly to himself, although the others heard it.
"I'm beginning to think this guy is too much!" exclaimed Alex.
"Definitely not!" piped up Sara's voice. She somehow summoned Valefor, Ifrit, Ixion, and Shiva all at once. All the aeons bombarded Seymour with a combination of devastating blows. Seymour was caught in the midst of a blizzard of thunder, wind, and fire. He didn't dissipate. Instead, Seymour just vanished into thin air.
Hundreds of guards poured out of the exit of Via Purifico. "Run!" commanded Auron.
They fled into Macalania Woods. Auron disappeared for awhile into the trees to check for any other sentinels. Later, he reappeared before them. "We're all clear." Everybody let out a sigh of relief except for Sara, who was not present. She was alone in a lake across from their campsite. Edgar followed her to watch over her. "We will have to avoid Bevelle in the future." Cid asked him about Sara. He only responded with "She said she wanted to be alone."
Remembering his promise, Cid went to the icy lake. Sara stood in the shallows of the water, which reached up to her knees. "I always thought that this would be easier somehow," she said. "I thought that everyone would help me…" She floated over the water on her back, swimming a perfect backstroke at an extremely sluggish pace. "With all my friends together beside me…I've been trying so hard."
"Maybe you're trying too hard," Cid suggested, diving into the water. "Just don't do it." He couldn't help to close his mouth before those words came out. "Forget all about Sin, about being a summoner. Forget all that. Live a normal life. Come on, Sara. What'd you say?"
She thought for a moment. "Maybe I will." Sara stood up in the water. "Wouldn't everybody be surprised?"
Cid nodded. "Yeah, except for Helena. She'd be with you. Lulu and Alex won't hold back for long."
"Edgar would say yes too," added Sara. "But what about Sir Auron?"
"I'll make him understand." She looked up at the sky. "What would I do then?"
"We can go to Bevelle!" Cid said. "Not the one that exists now, but one without Seymour or any unsents. "We can all fly there! Everybody can come! We can have a big party on the highbridge!" Sara looked just as excited as Cid.
"We can have a blitzball dome built there! Maybe Alex and you can make your own team! We can watch you play! I'd cheer and cheer till I couldn't cheer anymore!" Then she stopped herself. "Well, what would happen after the game?"
"We can go out and have fun!"
"In the middle of the night?" asked Sara, confused.
Cid threw back his head and laughed. "Wherever I stay never sleeps!" Sara tried to suppress a chuckle. "Maybe we can go to the sea, right before sunrise! First, all the lights in cities will go out. Then, stars will start coming into view. First in the sea, then in the sky, then to the whole world. It'll get brighter and brighter, till everything glows! It'd be really pretty. You'd like it."
"I'd love to see it…" She trailed off. Cid heard her mumble the word "someday" after. It was then that he noticed that tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"Sa…?" He didn't get to finish his sentence.
"I can't!" she cried through her sobs. "I just can't! I can't go!" Cid wanted to comfort her, just make her smile again. This wasn't the normal Sara that began on the pilgrimage. She had changed, with the experience of Yevon's betrayal and Seymour's malicious plans. Before he knew what he had just done, Cid gave Sara a light kiss.
Sara stepped out of the lake. "I'll continue," she declared. "I must. If I give up now…I could do anything I wanted to, and yet…Even if I was with you, I could never forget."
"And I'll go with you. I'm your guardian." Cid then looked at the ground, putting on a mock meek look. "Unless…I'm fired…"
She just simply laughed. "No. Stay with me until the end. Please."
"Not until the end." He then dropped his voice into a low whisper. "Forever." Unfortunately, they forgot that Edgar was still there. Luckily, the man left after hearing their conversation.
"Maybe you should head back to camp first," Sara suggested. Cid began to go when she stopped him again. "Wait. I'll go with you." They walked off into the midnight sky, hand in hand, awaiting together what would confront them next.
Author's Note: I know the relationship isn't very clear, but I still tossed it in there. Hope you enjoy this chapter!