A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Fifty-Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2

Last Time:

"Yeah," Takoire answered, confirming what she had said. "I was her godfather. I don't know what happened to them after I fell into the Farplane. I couldn't track them. It was like they disappeared off the face of Spira. I never found out what happened to them." He bowed his head. "I was supposed to protect them. Ryak asked me to protect them before he died, and I didn't do it. I should have been there." He bowed his head. "I should have protected you. I should have been there for you… but I wasn't. There are a lot of things in my life I should have or shouldn't have done, and even with this ability to travel through time, I know I can't change any of it. I know that if I were to change the smallest detail in the world…" Takoire began to drift. "I might not have met you, and that isn't worth more than anything else in Spira. There's hardly anything in my life worth anything, and what is, I don't want to lose. Lenne, I-"

With no prior warning, Garren burst into the room, panting and short of breath. "Lenne! Takoire! Sareth's just attacked the Macalania temple filled with refugees! The council thinks he's after the third object! We don't have enough guardians there to defend it!"

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At the moment, the pilot of the airship Bahamut was angry with the Crimson Knights Darka and Garren, as well as the summoner guardian Takoire. According to the pilot, if they had put on one more guardian or summoner onto the airship, it would not have been able to get off the ground. The Bahamut was currently filled to capacity with guardians and summoners, all headed to the temple of Macalania. All ready to fight Sareth.

The general feeling throughout the airship was that of tension. Guardians and summoners alike were imagining what would happen and what they were going to encounter. Would they be the hero of the battle? Or just a casualty?

Sitting up near the front were a few whose names were common among the people in Spira. The Crimson Knights Garren and Darka sat across from High Summoner Lenne and her guardian Sir Takoire. The mood among them was slightly more somber than that of the rest of the ship, each thinking about something different.

"Garren," Lenne began to say, breaking an awkward silence. "Why do we stand out?"

He looked up in confusion. "What?"

"Why do we stand out?" Lenne continued. "All of us, everyone whose parents have done something worth anything. Why are we the ones who stand out?" The Crimson Knight opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Think about it. There's you and Gaia. You became the head Crimson Knight when you were sixteen, and Gaia was head of her own department at the same time. We all know Vidina's next in line for the position of Crimson Knight of Besaid, and it's not because we all grew up together, either. Look at Malthus and Bairan, their parents are Aunt Paine and Uncle Baralai, they're both on the Council of Factions!" She sighed. "And look at me, the first high summoner since my mother, and I start my own branch of the Council of Factions."

It became quiet right then, the meaning of Lenne's words sinking in.

Garren shook his head. "I don't know… I've never thought about it before."

Takoire bowed his head "It's your family." Lenne and Garren stared at him. "Your closeness and how you constantly support each other and are there for each other." He paused." Every person who has made their mark in history has been driven by something. It can be greed, ambition, power, lust… it can be anything," Takoire drifted. "You know… I think it was about four months ago. I came across a time near the end of the reign of Sin and met a summoner and his guardians. I asked each of the guardians what they were fighting for. One told me he fought because of a sense of duty; the other guardian told me he wanted to see his son again. I asked the summoner the same question, and he told me that he wanted to protect his daughter. You know they were?" he asked. They all shook their heads. "One of them was the guardian Auron, the other Jecht, and the summoner was Braska." Two of them were your grandfathers, Lenne." He wore a gentle expression. "What about you, Garren?"

The dirty-blonde young man shook his head, as if realizing a simple fact for the first time in his life. "My family… I joined the city guardians so I could protect my family."

Takoire turned. "Darka?"

The Crimson Knight of Besaid looked hesitant. "I've never had a family, so I guess I was just looking for one. I've been looking for one my entire life, and I found that with the guardians."

Lenne frowned as she knew what was coming next. She let out a deep breath. "To protect my family. That's the only reason why I do all this."

"See?" the former blitzball player said. "You and Garren were raised by families who take care of each other no matter what, all the way back to your grandfathers, Lenne, and, Darka, you found a surrogate family among the other guardians. You trained for the men in your city, didn't you?"

"Hey," Garren put out, pointing to Takoire, "what about you? What drives you to do all this? Travel through time and help us? Why even waste your time helping us? All you have to do is go to the Farplane and be rid of Sareth for centuries."

Takoire shook his head. "No… I'm not like you guys. My family was nothing more than strangers who shared a common ancestor."

"What is it?" Garren persisted.

"I'm not a good person," the former blitzer continued. "Sareth killed our entire family, started a war, and tortured me for seven months. I want vengeance."

Lenne shook her head. "If that was what the Cheribum had asked you if you had taken his test and if that is what you would have answered, you would have failed."

Garren added, "Lenne's right. If vengeance alone had pushed you for five years, you wouldn't be the guy you are now. I haven't known you for very long, but you're a good guy. A good guy who cares about the people around him, even though you only show it in a way other fighters can understand. But what pushes you?"

"I-I uh…" Takoire faltered. "For the past five years," he looked up at Lenne. "I've searched and longed for the only thing that was good in my life, even though I've known all along that I can never keep it."

So that was it. He wasn't doing this for himself so he wouldn't have to say good-bye. He was doing it for her. They both knew he would be eventually forced to leave; especially considering their last parting. She could see it on his face, the emotion that was so clearly written on his face than in any other occasion she had ever seen it.

He was feeling guilty. She could feel it too. That small part of her that felt feelings she knew weren't hers. She sighed, half angry and half confused. Her guardian was doing the right thing, but the right thing wasn't what she wanted.

"Takoire…" Lenne began.

But the ship rocked violently to the side, the guardians and summoners falling on top of one another. The airship rocked back and forth as the people inside tumbled like gil inside of a pocket of someone taking a fast run.

A voice came over head as the lights dimmed and the sirens blared. "Okay, people, listen up! We're having trouble getting control of the airship so be prepared abandon ship! Sir Garren, Darka, Takoire, and Lady Lenne, please report to the main cockpit!"

Looking at each other, the four nodded and struggled upwards, normally only four or five steps away, but now a long struggle uphill… literally. The ship had tipped towards bottom, and the cockpit had been pulled up.

Lenne groaned, pulling herself up with the aid of Garren, Darka, and Takoire. "Ugh! Takoire, this is feeling a whole lot like déjà vu."

Garren pulled himself up next to his cousin. "Jeez! Define déjà vu."

Lenne and Garren continued to pull themselves up with Takoire and Darka only a step behind. "Lenne, Kiron, Seru, Zaon, and I found ourselves in a similar situation on our way to Bevelle," Takoire grunted. "Sareth's assassins did something to the ship's engines."

Garren grabbed hold of the handle to the cockpit. "What'd you do to get out of that mess?"

"Lenne summoned Suzaku, and it took us down onto the ground," Takoire answered.

"Yeah," Darka suddenly spoke up, "why don't you summon Suzaku right about now?" he asked as Garren climbed into the cockpit. "I summoned Suzaku in the last situation we were in, and after feeling that drained, I'm not in a hurry to do it again."

"Pilot," Garren started, turning to the frantic pilot, "what's happening to the ship?"

He looked over his shoulder. "It's just that, there's nothing wrong with the airship." He flipped on a switch, an image of the airship's deck appearing on the screen. "Some sort of giant, silver bird's attached itself to the airship's deck."

"But how is the damn thing affecting the airship?" Darka yelled over the sirens.

The pilot frowned. "When I told you earlier that if you put one more body onto the airship it'd fall outta the sky, I wasn't kidding. And that is one huge body on top of us."

"We'll take care of it," Takoire answered. "Do what you can. Try to land. If there's nothing wrong with the airship itself then we can just take off again once we get rid of that thing," finishing, he headed back into the airship's main body.

Following his lead, Garren patted the pilot of the shoulder before going up after the three others.

Takoire led the battle uphill while the guardians and summoners parted for the senior officers. Reaching the lift, Takoire opened the doors and struggled to get inside, offering his hand to the others once he had achieved his goal. Lenne reached the lift second, and the summoner and guardian helped the others. With a pant of relief, Darka kicked the button to close the door. "Don't tell me it was this hard the last time this happened to you."

The black-haired guardian shook his head. "No. Lenne actually did all of the saving. Kiron, Seru, Zaon, and I pretty much ran to the cockpit to help out."

"Oh stop flattering me," Lenne retorted. "Somebody had to save me every once in awhile."

The doors opened to the deck, and Takoire immediately threw out his two daggers from beneath his sleeves, throwing Garren and Darka down in the process. "Grab hold of those!" Takoire yelled over the wind, stabbing his own sword into the airship's deck. "Lenne! Take my hand!" The high summoner did as she was told, grabbing hold of his hand as he pulled her from the lift. They locked eyes. "Don't let go," he whispered.

"What the hell?" They both heard Garren and snapped out of their trance that had held them for only a few moments. Looking up, they saw a giant figure coming towards them.

It looked to be made out of metal, but the way it moved said it was the last thing from metal as possible. From appearances, the creature was an eagle. Its beak, eyes, talons, and feathers all in silver, and was no larger than Suzaku, perhaps even the same size as Valefor.

It shrieked.

"If anybody's going to do anything," Garren yelled out, "now would be a pretty good time to do it!"

Lenne looked behind her shoulder to see the Crimson Knight of Besaid barely holding onto the dagger. "Darka, are you all right!"

The blonde-haired guardian's eyes shot open. Normally a pale red, a certain glow seemed to be emanating from them with a look of strict fierceness written on his face. He let go of the dagger.

"Darka!" Lenne yelled.

But he was fine. He was actually calm and suspended in the air. The red glow that had begun in his eyes had now enveloped his entire body. Darka held out his hand, parallel to the ground. "Level," he said in a voice that was not his.

Immediately the airship obeyed and leveled, coming to fly beneath Darka's feet. A look of bewilderment was written on the three others faces.

The bird shrieked again.

Darka turned quickly and glared icily at the creature. "How dare you attempt to harm those in my domain!" Darka's voice bellowed. It was hard and as icy as his eyes had become and demanded that it be listened to. "You who follow orders blindly and weakly gave your souls to be used, be gone! I banish you from my skies!"

With a wave of his hand, the creature erupted into pyreflies.

The Crimson Knight of Besaid's comrades stood up and stared at him in awe.

"Darka?" Garren asked, touching his Besaid counterpart's shoulder.

Lenne's eyes widened. "That's not Darka…"

Garren quickly withdrew his hands as Darka turned.

"It's Suzaku…" Takoire finished, staring at Darka. "Suzaku's possessing Darka's body…"

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Author's Notes:

Final Revision