I've changed my mind. Unless you really want me to release all the remaining chapters so you can marathon-read them all, I'll stick with my one-a-week schedule.
Enjoy! And remember to come check out my new FFXII story, if you're interested.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The party was escorted by armed monks out of the courtroom. After that, they were split up. One set of guards took Yuna, Lulu, and Rikku, and another took Kimahri and Wakka. Auron and Tidus were led to a large room full of cells hanging from the ceiling. The cages looked like giant lamps, and they hung over a dizzying drop. The only solid ground in the room was a long catwalk from which the guards shoved Tidus and Auron into one cell.
"Hey!" As soon as the door was shut, Tidus started shaking the bars and yelling. "Get me outta here! I want out now! You hear me?!"
"You waste your breath," Auron said plainly. He had settled in, leaning nonchalantly against the bars.
Tidus plopped down on the cold metal floor with a sigh. "Man, I hope Yuna's okay."
"She's strong," Auron said reassuringly. "She'll make it."
"She'll make it? What, so she can die?" Tidus let out a sigh. After everything, he just felt… drained. "Why is it… everything in Spira seems to revolve around people dying?"
Auron looked up at this, the first movement he'd made since he took his position leaning on the bars.
"Ahh, the spiral of death," he said darkly.
"Huh?" Tidus wasn't sure he understood. Spira? The spiral of death? Is that supposed to be funny?
Auron let out a sigh and gazed out the bars at the forest of cages hanging from the ceiling. "Summoners challenge the bringer of death, Sin, and die doing so. Guardians give their lives to protect their summoner. The fayth are the souls of the dead. Even the maesters of Yevon are unsent. Spira is full of death. Only Sin is reborn and then only to bring more death. It is a cycle of death, spiraling endlessly."
Tidus let out a sigh, staring down at the floor of their cell. Talk about depressing.
Tidus and Auron spent the night in the cell. Normally, Tidus wouldn't have gotten much sleep, dangling so high in the air, but he was exhausted. Crashing Yuna and Seymour's wedding and then being put on trial had really taken it out of him. Early that morning a jailer had come by and given them a meager breakfast. Tidus noticed that Auron didn't touch his. Auron hadn't said a thing since his despairing speech about Spira's spiral of death besides a curt good morning. Tidus didn't blame him; Auron had never been the most talkative person, and now didn't seem like a good time for words.
Early that morning, a group of warrior monks lead by Kinoc came to greet them. Kinoc shoved a key into the keyhole and swung the door open. Tidus didn't know whether to be glad or afraid. They're letting us out, but for what?
"Come out," Kinoc said, signaling his guards to be ready. "Your sentence has been decided."
"Sentence?" Auron scoffed as he stepped from the cage. "Don't you mean execution?"
Tidus tensely followed Auron from the cell. Execution? How are we going to get out of this one?
"Really, now, what person would execute a dear friend?" Kinoc said with a sickening smile, locking eyes with Auron.
"You would," Auron countered with a glare.
The monks took Tidus and Auron away, and Maester Kinoc went off in another direction. After a short walk, the monks took Auron in a different direction, and Tidus was alone. Two warrior monks escorted him to a small, dark room that certainly didn't look like an execution chamber. Unless they were just going to shoot him and call it good.
One monk, a gun pressed to Tidus back, led him over to the far end of the room. The floor cut away before the wall, revealing a flooded tunnel. He could see the water went on for quite a ways, flowing away under the walls.
"Looks like you're next!" the monk who held Tidus at gunpoint said.
"Next for what?" Tidus asked. He considered making a break for it but thought better of it.
"Get going!" the monk shouted. He gave Tidus a shove and he fell down into the water.
"Whoa!" Tidus landed in the cold water with a splash. He called back up to the monk. "Where's everybody else?"
The monk shrugged. "Floating down there somewhere, maybe." He turned and left Tidus there in the water.
"Huh? Hey, wait!" Tidus called after him, but there was no reply. Tidus examined the wall up to the floor where he'd been pushed off. It was sheer and wet and there was no way he could climb it. Tidus glanced farther down the flooded tunnel. It went on for a long while from what he could see, and there was a little space between the water and the roof. Well, I guess that's where I'm going. Oh, Yuna, I hope you're okay!
After swimming for who knows how long, Tidus spotted something bobbing in the water ahead of him.
Is that…?
"Wakka!" Tidus called out, quickening his stroke. He soon met up with Wakka.
"Oooh! You made it!" Wakka met Tidus with a high-five. Tidus spotted Rikku swimming in the water beside Wakka.
"What's our sentence?" Tidus asked Wakka.
"I think they expect us to give up and die down here," Wakka replied. He glanced around at the wet walls above the cold water.
Tidus scoffed. "Well, that's a lame way to kill someone."
"Where's Yunie?" Rikku broke in.
"I don't know," Tidus said with sigh.
"Wonder if we should wait for her…" Rikku mumbled. She looked down the tunnel in both directions.
"Let's wait at the exit," Tidus said after a moment's contemplation.
"If there is an exit," Rikku said drearily. Tidus tried not to let that get him down. The water was freezing and smelly and the tunnels seemed to go on forever, but he would not give up. Never.
…
Kinoc left his guards to dispose of Auron and headed to meet with Maester Mika and Maester Seymour.
They're getting what they deserve, the traitors. They're getting what they deserve.
The Via Purifico was the ultimate punishment, reserved only for those who had committed treason against Spira's way of life. The dark pathways were full of fiends, and those thrown in rarely lasted more than a few hours. Kinoc could imagine that Auron could survive for days down there. Perhaps he could even find his way to an exit. If anyone could, it was that stubborn, hot-blooded warrior. If Auron set his mind to something, he'd accomplish it no matter what, whether it was guarding Lord Braska, getting Kinoc accepted into the warrior monks, or anything else. Auron would challenge the laws of physics if it was necessary. Kinoc chuckled at the thought. More than once, Auron's hot-headed stubbornness had gotten both of them into trouble. Kinoc quickly shook his head, banishing those thoughts. He was a maester of Yevon, and Auron was a traitor. That was that. But still he couldn't forget everything they'd been through together. If it wasn't for Auron, Kinoc wouldn't even be a monk, much less a maester. But it had been so long since Auron left that day, ten years ago…
"Thanks for everything, Kinoc," Auron said. He stood by the door, ready to depart on his pilgrimage with Lord Braska. Not many favored their success, as Braska was greatly unpopular due to his marriage with an Al Bhed. It would be a long time before Auron returned here, to the warrior monks, perhaps never. In all honesty, Kinoc didn't favor his chances without his best friend. Auron wouldn't be there to back him up at every turn. Things would be hard.
"I know I don't need to tell you this, but guard Lord Braska well," Kinoc said, trying not to seem as dreary as he felt.
"That, I will," Auron replied. His long black hair, tied in a ponytail, shook as he nodded. "And you'll be busy, too. I heard they made you second-in-command."
Kinoc sighed. Another reason why he was frightened out of his wits. "You know that promotion was meant for you. You were always the better one, even until the end."
Auron let out a scoff. "You make it sound as if I was going to die or something. I will see you again."
"Yes." Kinoc nodded. That, at least, was a comforting thought. He wasn't sure how long he would make it without Auron.
"Well, then…" Auron glanced at the door, which stood open. He reached down to pick up his long katana, the only possession he was bringing along.
"Going already?" Kinoc asked. He realized too late that he'd let fear slip into his voice. Hadn't Auron been telling him for weeks he had what it took to make it on his own?
Auron nodded. He hefted up his large sword and rested it on his shoulder, turning towards the door.
"Auron!" Kinoc called out one last time before he departed. "You will tell me about Zanarkand when you return, won't you?"
Auron nodded. "Farewell."
With those words, the two friends parted ways. Even when they had reunited at Operation Mi'ihen, it hadn't felt right. Neither of them was the same. In a way, those two best friends who had said their goodbyes in the monks' quarters ten years ago were both dead…
Kinoc banished all his memories as he pushed through the doors to the court of Yevon. Maesters Mika and Seymour stood on the balcony, discussing matters. They didn't address Kinoc as he entered, so he remained silent and listened.
"How fares the Ronso maester?" Mika asked, his voice low and wispy.
"It seems my father's murder troubles him," Seymour replied. He looked amused.
"Ever the Ronso," Mika said with a chuckle. "Hard-headed, hardly useful."
"However…" Seymour began. "The summoner Yuna, daughter to High Summoner Braska… She may be of some use to us alive."
"She has disturbed the order of Yevon," Mika said sharply, all amusement gone. "She cannot be allowed to live."
"I understand," Seymour said with a courtly bow. Kinoc could see the glint of displeasure in his eyes.
"Let it go, Seymour," Kinoc said, interjecting himself into the conversation. "No one thrown into the Via Purifico has ever survived." Not even Auron.
"Yet there is always a small chance that they might," Mika said. He turned to Kinoc. "Place guards at the exit. Kill any who emerge."
"Sir," Seymour interrupted, giving another bow. "Leave that to me."
"First your father, now your bride?" Mika asked, amusement returning to his voice.
"Allow me to do this because she is my bride," Seymour replied, his voice assuming those suave tones that few could resist.
Suddenly, Kinoc felt out of place. He'd worked with the maesters of Yevon for ten long years, and all this had started to feel normal. The scheming, the plotting… it was all just part of his everyday life. When Auron had left that day, Kinoc had been terrified that he wouldn't be able to keep up in without his friend's constant support and encouragement. He had feared he would simply cave in. But he hadn't. Kinoc had risen to the position of maester and gotten himself tangled up in the dark power-plays of the Yevon hierarchy. What would Auron think? What did he think? Here Kinoc stood, listening as two unsent maesters joked about Seymour killing his father and bride. This certainly wasn't what either he nor Auron had wanted when they joined the warrior monks all those years ago.
"Wait. I will go, too," Kinoc suddenly spoke up. He had no idea what he could do, but if somehow Auron made it out of the Via Purifico, past the measures Kinoc had put up… then perhaps he had earned the right to live?
"You do not trust me?" Seymour fixed Kinoc with a sharp, penetrating stare that made Kinoc want to squirm. But he wasn't the nervous boy he'd been when he met Auron all those years ago; Kinoc was used to such veiled threats.
"Would you trust a man who murdered his own father?" Kinoc shot back. Seymour narrowed his eyes but nodded reluctantly.
"Very well. As you wish."
Seymour turned and head for the door, and Kinoc followed. He had a bad feeling about all of this. Seymour's tone of voice, the way he stared sharply at him; it was as if he already knew every panicked, confused thought that had been flying through Kinoc's head. Kinoc really had no idea what to do, but he'd try something.
Something.
…
Yuna opened her eyes slowly, her head throbbing. Where am I…?
She could remember guards dragging her out of her cell, and falling a long ways. Shaking her head, Yuna sat up slowly. She lay on the floor of a dark, dank tunnel that smell of death and decay. The tunnel was man-made, the walls and floor smooth. The floor was covered with stone tiles, and small blue lights illuminated the long hallways. It was less like a cave and more like an ancient, abandoned palace.
The Via Purifico…
Yuna had spent the first seven years of her life in Bevelle, up until her father had died defeating Sin. When she was little, she's heard stories of the greatest traitors to Yevon being thrown into the Via Purifico, a horrific underground maze full of fiends. No one ever made it out alive.
Yuna shook her head, trying not to remember the fables the priests would tell her. Those were just stories, made up to scare children into being good. Surely it wasn't impossible to find a way out. There were exits.
Holding these thoughts in her mind, Yuna stood up and gathered up her staff. At least they'd thrown that down with her. She couldn't think about how Yevon had betrayed her, about how all things she'd been told were lies. Right now, she had to focus on finding the others and finding a way out. Sucking in a deep breath and holding her head high, Yuna set off down the dark, shadow pathway.
…
Kinoc stood down the corridor form the Via Purifico's exit, watching attentively. What could he do? Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could help Auron and his friends, not without jeopardizing his position in Yevon's hierarchy.
With Kinoc were Seymour, three Guado, and one of his own guards. Kinoc struggled to think of a plan, especially with Seymour watching him. There was something disturbing about his red-violet eyes, and how intently they watched him. Perhaps it was the fact that Seymour was dead and existed only as an unsent. But that had never bothered Kinoc when it came to Mika.
"You're a very troubled man, Maester Kinoc," Seymour said suddenly. He was using his soft, lulling voice that Kinoc had learned to steel himself against.
"What do you mean?" Kinoc asked, barely managing not to stutter. Seymour was making his skin crawl.
"Your life is so hard, is it not?" Seymour spread his hands out for emphasis. "For years, you've struggled through Yevon's ranks, always grasping for more power. You've betrayed and been betrayed. Now, you stand waiting to kill your dearest friend. Trouble upon trouble, pain upon pain. Do you not grow weary of it all?"
Kinoc wasn't sure how to answer. He only knew that Seymour was acting very strange, and he couldn't tell why.
"Would it not be so much easier if your life was to end?" Seymour asked, still using his persuasive voice.
Kinoc scoffed. "You may think it's fine and dandy being an unsent, but I'm good being alive, thank you."
Seymour was silent for a long moment. Kinoc had thought he was joking or something, but now he looked serious. Kinoc tensed, wondering what Seymour would do next. This is bad.
"Such foolishness." Seymour abandoned his smooth voice. "Do you not see it is for your own good?" Seymour pulled out his staff, holding it in a combat position.
"W-What?" Kinoc stammered in shock. He hurried to pull out his rifle, holing it up shakily in front of him. If it was anyone else, he might have won. But Seymour was an unsent, with no need to fear for his life, and he fought with an unnatural zeal.
Sorry, Auron.
Kinoc never stood a chance.
…
Yuna carried on through the winding tunnels of the Via Purifico, searching for her friends. She tried her best to hide from the fiends, but their numbers seemed to increase the farther on she went. After rounding one corner, Yuna found herself face-to-face with a large, bat-like fiend flying in the air. The hideous creature had only one eye in the center of its forehead, and its large mouth opened in four directions. The fiend dived as soon as it spotted Yuna, and she sprang out of the way. She skidded over the damp stone floor, the muck staining her skirt. Yuna was used to hanging back, healing and summoning as needed, while her guardians fought. She didn't stand a chance in close combat.
Yuna used her staff to help her stand up in time to dodge another attack. If I can't get away, I'm doomed! What should I do…?
"Yuna!" Kimahri's familiar, deep rumble of a voice sounded through the damp air. Yuna couldn't help but smile. He raced out of one of the many corridors and struck the bat-like fiend from behind with his spear. The creature shrieked and spun around, drive-bombing at the Ronso. Before it could reach him, a blast of fire hit the fiend. It quickly halted its flight, stumbling backward. Lulu stood at the end of the corridor, already casting another spell. Kimahri hit the fiend again, hooking its right wing. The fiend dropped to the ground with a squeal, dissolving into pyreflies.
Kimahri approached Yuna, stopping a few feet away.
"Yuna," he rumbled. "Sorry we left you alone."
"No, it's okay," Yuna replied quickly. She turned to face Lulu as she approached.
"Are you alright?" Lulu asked, running up and hugging Yuna.
"I'm fine," Yuna replied.
"We must leave," Kimahri said, breaking up the reunion. "This place is not safe."
"Kimahri's right." Lulu nodded. She stepped back, smiling as she rested one hand in Yuna's hair. "Let's go."
The three of them continued on. After a ways, Yuna noticed that the lights near the floor were red, not blue as they had been. Whether this meant they were closer to the exit or farther away, she didn't know. Eventually, they found Auron. He stood alone in an open room, his sword drawn. Evidently, he had trouble with fiends as well. He turned to Yuna.
"There must be an exit somewhere," he said, without any kind of greeting. "We search!" Auron set off toward the door to the next room, shoving it open. Yuna, Lulu, and Kimahri followed him. Yuna could see someone else standing in the shadows at the far end of the room. At first, she thought it was one of the others, but then he turned around. Yuna did recognize his face, but it was not one of her guardians. It was Isaaru, the summoner she had met at the Djose Temple. He was alone, without his two guardians.
"Lady Yuna…" he said slowly as he turned around. A shadow of sadness passed over Isaaru's face. "So it is you."
"Why are you here?" Yuna asked, coming out to the front of her group.
"We rode the airship to the Clam Lands, then came to Bevelle," Isaaru explained. He stared at the ground for a few moments before continuing. "Maester Kinoc summoned us then. Ordered us to 'deal with the traitors.'"
Yuna felt a knot form in her stomach. Auron quickly stepped in front of her.
"You will fight us?" Auron asked sharply.
"The temple's orders are law." Isaaru's voice was almost shaking as he pulled out his staff. "Even if you are Lord Braska's flesh and blood… You're a traitor!"
Yuna tensed, tightening her grip of her own staff. No…
Isaaru held his staff in front of him and began to twirl it. Flames formed at the edge of the circle and began to spiral inward. Yuna knew this dance; he was summoning Ifrit, the fire-beast of Kilika.
Isaaru closed his eyes as the surge of fire reached the center and dropped to the ground.
"Forgive me, Lady Yuna," he whispered. Then the stone floor underneath him cracked and broke as Ifrit rose from it. The aeon's large body was halfway between a man and a beast, hairless save for the fiery orange fur that covered his legs and surrounded his head like a mane. Ifrit's face was very much like a beast, like some canine creature with long black horns. Curling tongues of flame licked out of his mouth with every breath.
Auron, Kimahri, and Lulu instantly placed themselves between Yuna and Ifrit. Yuna thought she would feel frustrated, almost betrayed, fighting an aeon she had summoned many times before, but Ifrit felt much different when Isaaru summoned him. Truly, the power, abilities, and sometimes even the appearance of an aeon depended on the summoner who called it.
Yuna dropped back as her guardians held Ifrit at bay. But she wasn't running. Yuna held out her staff, reaching out for the link she had with the fayth. She could feel it inside of her, the pulsing energy, the way the pyreflies moved through the air. A summoner's talent, a fayth's dream… these two things combined, molding the pyreflies to create an aeon.
Yuna held her staff vertical in front of her, channeling the fayth she had bonded with at Djose, the fayth of Ixion. A bubble of static formed around her, making Yuna's hair stand on end. The gathering electricity condensed into a cloud of lightning. Yuna stepped to the side, allowing Ixion to emerge from the crackling cloud.
Ixion was like a large horse, with one long, twisting horn growing from the center of his forehead. Blue-white fur covered his neck in a thick mane, and his black hooves clacked against the stone floor of the Via Purifico. Ixion reared back, letting out a loud neigh. Ifrit took notice, closing in on this new, threatening opponent. Yuna stood back, relying on Ixion to handle this.
Ixion lithely dodged Ifrit's lunge, sending the other aeon slamming into the wall. While Ifrit's guard was down, Ixion turned on him and gored him with his horn. Yuna stood back, trying to remain calm. As long as she didn't panic, her aeon would keep his cool. She could tell from Ifrit's frenzied behavior that Isaaru was failing in this department.
Now wounded, Ifrit whipped back around, slashing with one massive, clawed hand at Ixion's face. Ixion leaped away, but not quickly enough. Ifrit's claw caught him under the eye, and he let out a whinny of pain. Ifrit took advantage of his disorientation and kept advancing. He swept Ixion's legs out from under him and leapt on of him, digging his teeth into Ixion's shoulder.
Yuna stood at a distance, watching the two great beasts' clash. She closed her eyes, breathing slowly and trying to remain calm. She reached for her connection with the fayth, summoning up Ixion's will to survive. Fight back. Keep fighting. Get back up!
Ixion, greatly wounded now, shoved back on Ifrit, sending the other aeon flying. Ixion struggle to get his feet underneath him, but he managed to rise back up. Aeons didn't bleed, but a few pyreflies leaked from the wound on Ixion's shoulder. Yuna knew he couldn't take much more of this. She closed her eyes, reaching out to control Ixion. We need something big, and now…
Ixion lowered his head at Ifrit, pawing at the ground like he was preparing to charge. But, instead of running, a ball of electricity began to form at the end of his horn. A surge of lightning launched from his horn, hitting Ifrit square in the chest. Ifrit howled with pain, and, in a few moments, dissolved back into the pyreflies he was formed of.
Yuna looked over at Isaaru. He had pressed himself back against the opposite wall, sheltering from the aeon's duel. Yuna could see pain on his face, and he clutched at his chest. The bond between summoner and fayth was strong and losing an aeon in battle was not pleasant. Yuna, too, could feel Ixion's fayth losing its hold over its aeon, but she shook off the nagging sting. Ixion wasn't dead yet.
Isaaru pushed himself away from the wall he leaned on, holding out his staff.
"I-I cannot let you pass!" he shouted. The floor around Isaaru's feet began to glow, and Yuna knew what aeon he was calling. Valfor.
A glow formed at the ceiling, changing into Valfor as she descended. Valfor still bore her great wings, her long neck adorned with red, scale-like feathers, but her colors were somewhat darker than when Yuna summoned her. Valfor let out a cry, the bird-like call echoing around the closed walls of the Via Purifico. Ixion turned to face her.
But Yuna knew Ixion didn't have much fight left in him. He dodged back and Valfor dived at him, but not quick enough. Valfor's claws gored his back, and Ixion dropped to the ground. Yuna could feel his strength waning.
No! Get up! Please, try…
Ixion tried to get his feet under him, but only dropped back to the ground again. His body slowly turned transparent, then dispersed into pyreflies.
Isaaru's Valfor let out a triumphant cry, then swooped straight for Lulu. Lulu managed to dodge, but Valfor still nicked her shoulder. Yuna fought against the suffocating feeling inside of her as Ixion's fayth cried out in pain and dashed to Lulu's side. She crouched down next to her, focusing on healing the wound. Valfor dived at them again, and this they both leapt away. Yuna landed on her side on the ground, the rough surface scratching her legs through her skirt.
This had to end, before someone got seriously hurt.
Yuna scrambled back to her feet, not bothering to brush off her clothes. She held out her staff, reaching down for her newest fayth, the one she'd gotten from Bevelle. Bahamut's fayth.
Yuna had heard stories about the aeon Bahamut, the great king of dragons. She hoped his strength would finally end this battle.
Bahamut appeared at the room's roof, swooping down to land. He stood upright like a man, his body covered in shining, navy blue scales. Great wings, adorned with shades of gold and red, grew from Bahamut's back. His face was that of a great dragon's, eyes glowing with a pale blue light. Yuna could feel the power thrumming from his fayth. Hopefully, the stories were true.
Valfor instantly swooped in and clawed at Bahamut. Before she could lay her claws into his shining scales, Bahamut reached out and grabbed one of Valfor's wings, pulling her to the ground. That was one benefit Bahamut had over Valfor; he had hands and she didn't.
Valfor struggled under Bahamut's grasp, quickly growing frantic. Clearly, Isaaru was in a panic. Bahamut managed to make short work of Valfor, bringing their battle to a close.
Isaaru, exhausted from the loss of two aeons, collapsed to the ground. He was panting hard, barely able to draw in breaths. His eyes bulged, and his staff lay on the ground where he had dropped it. Yuna rushed over to him, her instincts as a healer kicking in.
"Stay away!" Isaaru shouted between haggard breaths. Yuna came to a halt, unsure what to do or say. Isaaru closed his eyes, waiting a moment to catch his breath.
"There's… a way to the surface up ahead," he said slowly.
Yuna still didn't know what to say. She bowed deeply to him, hoping to show her gratitude. Auron walked up to Isaaru and stared down at him, his gaze unforgiving.
"Your pilgrimage is over," he said in a hard, cold tone. Isaaru looked down at the ground and drew in another shaky breath. He closed his eyes and nodded slowly.
Auron turned his back and walked away, headed for the exit. Kimahri and Lulu followed him. Yuna lingered a few moments, not wanting to leave the wounded man down here.
"Go, Lady Yuna," Isaaru said, his eyes still closed. "If I can't defeat Sin, you must."
Yuna swallowed hard and nodded. She turned and followed the others towards the exit.
