Here's the next chapter! I feel really bad about Maester Kinoc...
Anyways, enjoy!


Chapter Thirty

Tidus, Rikku, and Wakka made their way through the watery part of the Via Purifico. After what felt like hours, the three of them found their way up onto a long, bridge-like walkway. Out the windows, Tidus could see the city of Bevelle. Yeah! We made it!
"Whew!" Tidus blew out a blustery breath, shaking himself like a dog. Water flew everywhere. "That was rough!" After hours of swimming through dark, smelly flooded tunnels, they'd finally arrived at the exit of the Via Purifico.
"Yeah." Rikku let out a sigh. "I haven't spent so long under water in ages!"
Wakka chuckled. "I haven't swum for so long since the tournament!"
"Yeah…" Tidus sighed. The blitzball tournament in Luca seemed so long ago. Back then, all he had cared about was winning blitzball and finding a way home to Zanarkand. Going home seemed impossible now. At the moment, the important thing was finding Yuna. That seemed to be all Tidus was doing these days.
"Yunie!" Rikku suddenly squealed, rushing across the bridge. Tidus looked and saw Yuna, along with Auron, Lulu, and Kimahri coming down the bridge. Rikku raced over to Yuna and hugged her.
"You're alright?" Rikku asked. "We were so worried! It's good to have you back!"
Yuna smiled down at her younger cousin. "Thank you."
Tidus felt a glow of relief at seeing Yuna safe and well. Her navy-colored skirt was stained with dirt and slime, and her sandy-brown hair was a tangled mess, but the beautiful smile on her face told Tidus that all was well. Her odd eyes shone with the joy of seeing everyone unharmed and reunited. But that smile… Yuna had just been betrayed by Yevon, yet still she smiled. Was it just for everyone else? Tidus knew Yuna well enough to know that inside, under all her joy and relief, she must be hurt and conflicted.
Yuna lifted her gaze from Rikku and looked over at Tidus. He suddenly felt like he should something, anything to help her.
"Um… I… uh…" Tidus trailed off. No words came.
Tidus' frustration at not being able to find the right words was cut off abruptly as footsteps came from farther up the bridge. Tidus spun around to see none other than Maester Seymour approaching, wearing that sickly smile he so despised. Tidus instinctively whipped out his sword, stepping between Yuna and the unsent maester. The guardians closed the circle around her, Tidus and Auron in front. With Seymour were three of his Guado guards and one warrior monk. The monk was carrying with him the limp body of Maester Kinoc. He let go, and Kinoc dropped to the floor, unmoving. He wasn't breathing, either.
"Kinoc!" Auron shouted, jerking forward. Flames of anger erupted in his eyes, and Tidus saw his grip on his katana tighten.
Tidus readied his own sword, fixing a glare with all the venom he had on Seymour. "Why, you…"
"I have saved him," Seymour said, gesturing to Kinoc's corpse. "He was a man who craved power. And great power he had, but he feared losing it. 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 sleep eternal." Seymour spread out his arms for emphasis, that sickly smile of his growing. "Death is a sweet slumber. All the pain of life is gently swept away… Ah, yes. So you see, if all life were to end on Spira, all suffering would end. Don't you see? Do you not agree? That, Yuna, is why I need you." Seymour held out one hand towards Yuna, gesturing for her to come. "Come, Lady Yuna. Come with me to Zanarkand, the lost city of the dead. With death on our side, we will save Spira, and for this… I will take from you your strength, Yuna, your life, and become the next Sin. I will destroy Spira! I will save it!"
Tidus didn't even understand half the things Seymour was saying, but he didn't really care. This lunatic was getting at Yuna.
"You're totally nuts!" Tidus shouted. He held his sword in one hand, absolutely ready to finally teach Seymour a lesson, but Kimahri beat him to it. The Ronso broke from the group, lunging forward and planting his spear in Seymour's chest.
All was silent. Seymour didn't drop, didn't bleed, didn't even flinch. After a few moments, he looked down at the spear lodged in his chest and scoffed.
"Unpleasant," Seymour said, his tone mocking all gathered there. "Very well. I will give you your death. You seem to want it so."
A surge of dark energy flooded out form Seymour. His attendants were blown back, crashing lifelessly to the floor. Somehow, Kimahri stayed on his feet, only sliding back a few inches. Seymour's body began to glow as he absorbed pyreflies from the surrounding air. The energy wrapped around him, and in moments he transformed. Seymour became a massive creature, looking much like himself, only his skin was the color of marble, and his hair formed a large pattern of stone shapes behind him.
"Run!" Kimahri shouted, his deep voice nearly lost in the rush of dark energy. "Protect Yuna!"
"Go!" Auron said, nodding.
"No way! I'm fighting!" Tidus shouted. I am so close! No way I'm letting Seymour get away this time!
"I said go!" Auron held out his long katana, blocking Tidus' path.
"Argh!" Tidus let out cry of frustration, then turned and ran. Yuna, Auron, Lulu, Wakka, and Rikku came with him, but Kimahri stayed. There's no way he can take down Seymour all by himself! He'll get killed!
The party sprinted back down the bridge until they were far away from Seymour. Then Yuna halted, and everyone else stopped with her.
"I won't leave Kimahri behind!" Yuna cried.
"He is a guardian," Auron said firmly. "Protecting you is everything."
"Auron!" Yuna cried. Clearly that didn't make her feel any better. Tidus knew what would.
"That's right! We're all guardians!" Tidus said. He locked eyes with Yuna. "Yeah, and you know what that means? Yuna… Anywhere you go, I'll follow!"
"Anywhere I go?" Yuna glanced back towards Kimahri and Seymour.
Tidus grinned. She got the message. "Yeah, anywhere!"
"Well then…" Yuna smiled.
"Let's go!" Tidus and Yuna shouted together. They took off, running side by side, back towards Seymour.
"Hey Kimahri!" Tidus shouted as he ran. "Leave some for us!"
"Hey! Wait for me!" Wakka ran up to join them.
"Me, too!" Rikku also raced up with them.
"I'll go, too!" Lulu called.
Auron was the only one left standing on the bridge. He could help but chuckle as he watched all the others race away towards Seymour. Sometimes it felt like he had to guard all of them, not only Yuna.
Auron hefted his sword up onto his shoulder and followed them.

The group reached Seymour all together. Kimahri knelt on one knee, panting and leaning on his spear for support. Yuna darted immediately to him and began to heal her guardian. Tidus ran with her, planting himself between her and Seymour. It seems like that a place I stand a lot, these days.
Auron rushed up beside Yuna, his sword ready.
"Although he was not the man I once knew…" Auron pointed his sword forward, anger clear on his face. "Kinoc was still my friend, Seymour! You will pay for his death!"
Auron lunged forward, bringing his sword down hard on Seymour. Seymour raised one arm to block the attack, and Auron's sword hit it with the loud clang of metal hitting rock. Auron flew back, but Seymour's stone arm was cracked. Auron didn't appear injured at all, standing right back up and charging again. Tidus had never seen him anywhere near this angry.
Tidus leaped forward, swiping his sword at Seymour's body. The unsent maester wasn't really made of stone, just of something really, really hard. Tidus' sword left a large gash that leaked pyreflies, but it didn't hinder Seymour's movements. Man, how tough can this guy be?
A whooshing sound filled the air, and Tidus glanced quickly over his shoulder to see Yuna had just finished summoning. A large aeon, a dragon standing upright and covered with navy blue scales, alighted on the ground behind her. The large beast opened its mouth and let out a bone-rattling roar. Whoa… When did we get that aeon?
Seymour let out a dark chuckle. His voice resonated from his new form, echoing but still that same silky smooth voice Tidus couldn't stand.
"Death awaits you!" Seymour hissed, waving one hand towards the newly summoned aeon. The great dragon writhed for a moment before fading back into pyreflies. Yuna gasped and dropped to the ground. Tidus wanted to rush to her side, but she was too far away. He had to keep up his duel with Seymour.
Tidus lunged again, hacking at the scar he'd left in Seymour's side. When he hit it again, Seymour hissed with pain. Finally.
"So you, too, seek freedom from this painful life?" Seymour said rounding on Tidus.
Oh, please be quiet. "You talk too much, Seymour!" Tidus shouted, dodging around Seymour's arms and laying another blow on Seymour's wounded side. This time Seymour backed away, clearly in pain. It's working! Now we just need Yuna to send him!
"Yuna!" Tidus shouted, leaping back from Seymour. "Over here!"
"Yes!" Auron called, apparently reading Tidus' mind. "Send him, now! While he's weak!"
Yuna rushed up to Tidus' side, nodding. She held her staff out in front of her, ready to begin.
"Not… this time," Seymour hissed, backing away. His marble-looking form began to glow, and smoke rose from him. In a few moment, he dissolve, vanishing in a cloud of smoke and pyreflies. Yuna dropped to her knees.
"Yuna!" Tidus crouched down beside her. "You okay?"
Yuna nodded between breaths.
"Did you manage to send him?" Auron asked, coming over.
Yuna shook her head. "No, he… He left before I could."
"Left?" Tidus didn't understand. "What do you mean?"
"Seymour is an unsent," Auron explained. "He keeps his from by holding together pyreflies, much in the way a summoner forms aeons. But while a summoner relies on the fayth's dream to give its aeon shape and will, an unsent give his form his own shape and will. Seymour fled from Yuna's sending by abandoning that form."
Tidus wondered how Auron knew so much about the subject, but he didn't press. "So, if Seymour doesn't have a body anymore, he won't cause anymore trouble, right?"
Auron shook his head. "As long as he remains unsent, Seymour can always gather pyreflies to create a new form."
"How do we send him if he just runs away every time?" Tidus asked, his frustration growing.
"If we can deal enough damage to him, Seymour will be too weak to disperse," Auron replied. He knelt down beside Yuna. "Are you well enough to move? We must leave this place at once."
Yuna nodded, standing back up. "Let's go."

They escaped with their skins intact, but Yuna lost something. Tidus could see it I every word she spoke, every sad smile she gave. Yevon had betrayed her, and she was lost. The group traveled from Bevelle and found themselves in the Macalania Woods, the magical realm of crystal blue trees, north of Bevelle. This part was much farther on than the part that had led them to the Macalania Temple, the place where they first fought Seymour. All along, Tidus tried to say somethin-anything- to help Yuna. But the words didn't come. He was just as lost as she was.
And then…

Tidus sat on the leaf-covered ground, watching as Auron returned to their campsite. After their harrowing escape from Bevelle, the party had set up camp in a little clearing in the Macalania Woods. Auron had said that they were on the edge of the forest, and that a place called the Calm Lands was very close by. No one knew what they would do next. They didn't know if Yuna would continue her pilgrimage. Auron had gone out to make sure no one followed them from Bevelle, and he was just returning. He seemed his normal self again, more or less. Kinoc's death had really shaken him, or, it would have, if such a thing were possible.
"Well?" Wakka asked Auron. He sat on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk.
"We're all clear," Auron replied, moving to lean on another tree. "We will need to avoid Bevelle in the future."
Auron glanced up at an overhanging limb of the tree he rested against, where Rikku lay. Tidus had wondered how she kept her balance up there.
After a quite inspection of the campsite, Auron asked, "Where's Yuna?"
"Said she wanted to be alone," Rikku replied from her high perch.
"Of course," Auron said with a sigh.
After that, the camp remained in silence. Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu all sat on the ground, leaning against their own trees. Kimahri had gone out with Yuna, because even Yuna's being "alone" didn't meant being apart from her life-long guardian. Rikku lounged up on her tree branch, and Auron stood solemnly near the entrance, leaning on his tree. After a while, Tidus couldn't stand the lost, empty silence. He stood and walked over to Auron.
"You okay?" Tidus asked his life-long friend.
"I am… tired," Auron replied after a few moments. Tidus was surprised. Hearing Auron admit to even something so simple as fatigue was rare. He must really be feeling down.
"Maybe you should go talk to Yuna?" Auron suggested after a few more moments of silence.
"W-Why?" Tidus asked. Auron was using his heavy, more than a suggestion voice, and the fact that he thought this worthy of it made Tidus uncomfortable.
"Tidus, she's lost," Auron replied, glancing off into the forest where Yuna had gone. "She doesn't know where to go or how to get there."
"How can I help?" Tidus asked.
"Go find out," Auron said simply. Tidus let out a sigh. Maybe Auron was right. Perhaps he could help.

Night was falling on the forest. The crystal blue leaves and silver tree trunks shone with the light of silver stars and glowing fungus. Tidus made his way down the trail a short distance to the spring, the place where Auron had shone him Jecht's sphere. The water was glittering with magical light, a shimmering pool of perfect beauty. Yuna stood waist deep in the water, and Kimahri kept watch a little ways up the beach, still as a statue. Tidus came down to the water's edge, stopping as the clear water lapped at his shoes. Yuna glanced over her shoulder at him, then turned to look back the other way.
"I always thought this would be easier somehow," Yuna said slowly, gazing out over the spring. "I thought that everyone would help me… with all my friends together beside me. I've been trying so hard."
Tidus waded down through the cool, clear water to join Yuna.
"Maybe you're trying too hard," he said. Yuna glanced over at him, her gaze questioning. Tidus let out a sigh. "They told me… everything."
"Everything?" Yuna asked tentatively. Tidus nodded.
"Well, so then… you know." Yuna looked down at the crystal water. A deep sadness hung in her bright eyes.
"Yeah," Tidus said with a breath. "I'm sorry. It's just, you know… all those things I said. Like, "let's go get Sin!" Or about Zanarkand… I didn't know what would happen to you, Yuna. I guess… I hope it didn't make you sad. Forgive me."
Yuna shook her head slowly. "I wasn't sad. I was happy." Yuna stared out over the spring again, her eyes bright as ever. Always so bright and happy…
Tidus splashed under the water's surface for a few moments before surfacing in front of Yuna. The familiar feel of being submersed in water, of having the droplets drip from his hair helped Tidus think of what to say next.
"Yuna," he said, picking his words carefully. "Just don't do it."
"The pilgrimage?" Yuna asked, cocking her head slightly.
"Yeah, that's right," Tidus replied. "Forget all about Sin, about being a summoner. Forget all that. You know, live a normal life. Come on now, Yuna, what do you say?" Tidus sucked in a breath, anticipating her answer.
"Maybe I will," Yuna said slowly. Tidus turned to face her, surprised. Yuna had a gentle smile on her face. "Wouldn't everyone be surprised?"
"Yeah," Tidus answered, grinning. "Except Rikku. She'd be with you. Lulu and Wakka wouldn't hold out long."
"Kimahri would say yes, too, I know," Yuna said, the same smile still bright on her face. Then it faded. "But Sir Auron…"
"I'll make him understand, Yuna," Tidus said firmly. "It's the least I can do for you."
Yuna shook her head. "No, I should tell him. He deserves it." Yuna looked up at the sky, leaning back until she floated on the water's surface. Her hair floated around her face, and her eyes glittered with the lights of the forest. She let out a small sigh. "What'll I do if I give up my pilgrimage?"
A wonderful image appeared in Tidus mind. "Hey! Zanarkand! Let's go to Zanarkand!" he called. "Not the one in Spira, the one I'm from." Yuna turned her head in water to look at him as he continued. "Yeah, we can all fly there. Everyone can go!" Tidus grinned wide at the thought. "Then we'll have a big party at my place!"
Yuna shifted to stand again. Her face was bright with a smile. "And then we could see blitzball!"
"Yeah!" Tidus replied.
"Your Zanarkand Abes would play! We could all watched you play, in the stadium all lit up at night!" Yuna's face glowed with hope as she described what she saw in her mind. "I'd cheer and cheer till I couldn't cheer anymore!"
"Right on!" Tidus said. He smiled, too. Just seeing Yuna so happy was enough.
"Well, what about after the game?" Yuna asked, turning to Tidus with a bright smile. Her odd eyes glowed with excitement.
"We'd go out and have fun!" Tidus said, taking over the fantasy. He could just see all of them, in the bright, soaring city of Zanarkand.
"In the middle of the night?" Yuna looked astonished at the thought.
"No problem!" Tidus said with a laugh. "Zanarkand never sleeps!" He moved over next to Yuna, gesturing in front of them to the landscape in his memory. "Let's go to the sea, before the sunrise. The city lights go out one by one. The stars fade… Then the horizon glows, almost like its on fire. It's kinda rose-colored, right? First in the sea, then it spreads to the sky, then to the whole city. It gets brighter and brighter, till everything glows. It's really… pretty." Tidus turned to Yuna. "I know you'd like it."
Yuna nodded. "I'd like to see it, someday."
"Well you can, Yuna," Tidus said. "We can both go!" Tidus closed his eyes, imagining how great it would be. All of them, all their friends, him and Yuna…
The tiniest sound brought Tidus back to reality. The smallest splash of a tear hitting the water's surface.
"Yu…?"
Tidus trailed off as he saw her. Yuna was crying. He'd never seen her cry before, or even look genuinely sad. But now, bright, shimmering tears tracked down Yuna's cheeks, and she sobbed until she shook.
"I can't," she sobbed out. "I just can't! I can't go!"
Tidus moved closer to Yuna, the water rippling around him. He reached out and took her shoulders.
"Yuna…" he said quietly. Yuna turned her tear-stained face up towards him; the tears glowed brightly in the blue light reflecting off the water.
Tidus drew her in close and kissed her.

Tidus and Yuna sat up on the shore, letting the cool, gentle breeze from over the spring touch their wet clothing. They both stared over the bright, shimmering waters.
"I'll continued. I must," Yuna said firmly. The tears had long since been washed from her face. "If I give up now… I could do anything I wanted to, and yet…" She turned back to Tidus. "Even if I was with you, I could never forget."
"I'll go with you," Tidus replied.
"What?" Yuna cocked her head, as if this was surprising.
"I'm your guardian," Tidus said. "Unless I'm… fired?"
Yuna shook her head sharply. "Stay with me until the end. Please."
Tidus shook his head. "Not until the end… Always."
"Always, then," Yuna said with a smile. He hair was still damp, sticking to the sides of her face, but her eyes shone with happiness. "Maybe you should head back to camp first," she suggested, glancing at the path back.
"Roger!" Tidus said. Water droplets fell from his spiky hair as he jumped back to his feet. He walked a ways up the path before a sound stopped him: a shrill, bright whistle. Tidus instinctively whipped around and ran back to Yuna, who now stood on the path coming to meet him.
"Wait, I'll go with you!" she said. Her face was bright and glowing. Tidus smiled as he came beside her.
They returned to the campsite hand in hand.

Tidus and Yuna arrived back at the campsite to find everyone waiting for them. Kimahri was there, too. Yuna broke away from Tidus and turned to address the group.
"Um… Sir Auron? Wakka? Lulu? Kimahri? Rikku? Everyone, we leave at dawn. And… I'm sorry for putting you all through this." Yuna paused as she made a prayer bow. "And… um…"
"Enough," Auron cut her off. "You need your rest."
"Yes. Goodnight." Yuna bowed again before Lulu came up and herded her off.
"You, too," Auron said, walking up to Tidus. Tidus nodded. He was exhausted. It felt like ages ago that he and Auron woke up in their cell in Bevelle. So much had happened. He was ready to sleep, and to depart in the morning.
They would continue their pilgrimage to Zanarkand.