Chapter Six

Shuyin's Journey

The next morning, I was still lying in bed, just staring up at the ceiling.

Unless you count those five minutes of "sleep" about seven hours after I'd gone to bed at 10 pm, I hadn't slept at all. I was more tired than I'd ever been before. I sat up in bed with great effort. My whole body felt as if it weighed a ton. I went out of bed and got dressed, trying not to think about what Lenne could be enduring at this very moment. "I cannot let anything happen to her." But of course, saying that over and over again, no matter how resolvedly I said it, wouldn't make things better. If I wanted to save my Lenne, I couldn't just sit here.

"Unless you find any way to save her, Shuyin, you'll never see her again." A small, truthful voice told said inside my head.

"I cannot just sit around like this." I said. I must find a way to save her."

Later that evening, I sat in the living room, watching the news.

The guy on the screen was talking about the Summoner Office, and that they'd sent every summoner in Zanarkand to the frontlines in their attempt to fight back a gigantic army of Bevelle's Machina, that had infiltrated Zanarkand. "The rumour has it" the newsman announced.

"That the Machina city of Bevelle has got Machina at their Headquarters in Bevelle which is far more powerful than what they've brought to the frontlines." My head jerked upwards from my lap as I heard this. The memory of the nightmare surfaced in my mind.

I remembered the gigantic, fiendish Machina. I remembered the dark holes which was its eyes. And I remembered the definite feeling I had had in the dream; the feeling that this Machina was the only thing that could save my Lenne. "But this of course, is just rumours, citizens of Zanarkand." The man on the screen said. So don't worry about what I've just said." "If you don't want us to worry about this rumour, then why did you tell us?" I wondered irritably. "We'll keep you informed on everything that happens at the frontlines, unless the Bevellians get us before we manage to inform you. Whoa! Didn't mean to scare you, folks!" The newsman yelled hysterically. And with that, he apparently announced that the news had ended, and I turned off the wide-screen TV on the wall.

"Machina more powerful than anything at the Bevelle HQ." I mumbled, sitting without moving at the chair in the living room.

"I wonder……If I somehow could get hold of that Machina……and…..then perhaps…..I could save Lenne."

I sat there, awed at eh, the "plan" that slowly got formed in my head.

But from my point of view, it could work. Probably because I felt so desperate at the moment. I wanted Lenne back to me, and I was willing to do anything to get her back, even if it included destroying a city full of millions of people. And all of Bevelle's Machina along with the city, including the Machina they'd brought to Zanarkand, I would do it, even if I died in the attempt to save her.

"I'll save you, Lenne. Even if I'll have to destroy Bevelle, I'll save you." I sat like that for a long time, trying to steel myself to do what I had to do, if I ever wanted to see Lenne again.

Later that day, I left my house in search for equipment for the journey to Bevelle, to steal the Machina everyone was talking about. I had brought a backpack with me, and had filled it with what I had found at my house when it comes to food, before I left.

I walked all the way to the business district. I was thinking of buying some kind of weapons there, or something to defend myself when I was searching for the one thing that could perhaps save Lenne.

I entered the weapon shop in the business district, looking around for suitable things to bring on the journey.

The shop was tiny, but still with a huge selection of many things which looked like they could come in handy, swords, daggers, and other martial art weapons. But there were also Machina weapons. I took note of a black pump-shotgun, many different types of automatic pistols, either in black or brown colour. There were mostly automatic Machina weapons in the small shop, in addition to the pump-shotguns hanging on the wall. I looked around, checking out the different weapons in there. I'd never fired a gun before, so that was out of the question, but I wasn't completely ignorant when it came to fighting with swords. (I'd trained with wooden sticks with my friends at school when I was a kid) Then my gaze fixed on a huge sword hanging in a red holster. I remembered using the exact same sword in the nightmare, and how I'd used it to chop up the door leading into the room with the Machina. I went over to the counter.

"Hey, um….is that large sword for sale?" I asked, pointing at the sword behind the counter. The extremely fat shop keeper behind the counter turned and looked in the direction I pointed. He looked at the sword behind him. He turned back to me, his eyebrows raised in astonishment. "You're actually gonna buy that!" He asked.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" I asked a little annoyed. "No, it's just….that thing's been for sale here for months without being even paid any attention to by the other customers." "Well, how much do you want for it?" I asked. The big shop keeper looked down at me for a few moments, before he finally actually spoke. "You can have it." He said quietly. "Again?" I asked, not quiet sure if I'd heard him right.

"You can have it, for free." The shop keeper said again.

"Whoa. Thanks!" I exclaimed. The shop keeper turned around and took the large sword down from the shelves it lay on. He turned around, and handed it to me. "Here you go, sir. I'm just glad to get rid of this shit." He said. He laid a device on the counter used to attach the sword to my back. I took the sword. It felt surprisingly light in my hands, as if it was made of glass, and not heavy materials. I couldn't tell what materials it was made of, but that didn't really matter to me.

All I cared about was how I could use it in my quest to save Lenne.

I attached the sword to my back by the help of the device he handed me. "Thanks, pal." I said, and walked out of the shop.

Now that I'd gotten what I needed to survive, food and weapons, I walked all the way over to the airport, many miles away from the business district. "Now, all I have to do is ensure transport to Bevelle." I thought, trying to see things from the bright side.

I went inside the gigantic building. It was one of those skyscraper-sized ones. The exception from the other large buildings was that next to the building, was a field for airships to land and leave the airport from..

AUTHOR'S NOTE (if you could call it that):

Could someone please tell me what Shuyin actually is planning to use Vegnagun for in the game? I hear someone say he's trying to use Vegnagun to kill Sin, but I cannot imagine that Sin existed at the same time as Zanarkand and Bevelle's technology was on top. I'm sure you can understand why. I thought that just before Bevelle was about to crush the last of Zanarkand, Sin appeared, and destroyed what was left of the city. If I'm not mistaken, some guy in Final Fantasy 10 tells Tidus this, ya see. Could someone please email me with the answer? I thought that Shuyin is trying to use Vegnagun the way I've described in this fic.