Oh, more cruel truth...
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next morning, the mountain was bathed in a fresh coat of snow. The new layer of cold, wet snow didn't speed their progress. The next night they camped on the mountainside, finding only an overhanging ledge for shelter. If it had stormed that night like it had the last, they would have all frozen to death. The third day into their hike up Mount Gagazet, the party reach the path that Auron said lead to the summit. The air was thin and frigid up there, and they slowed down as they traveled the last leg of the trail. Rikku slowed down, grabbing Tidus' arm to stop him. The others went on, unaware.
"What is it?" Tidus asked Rikku.
"Zanarkand is on the other side, you know?" Rikku said. Her eyes shone with worry.
"I know," Tidus sighed.
"Yunie is gonna get the Final Aeon, you know?" Rikku continued.
"I know," Tidus sighed again.
"I still haven't thought of anything," Rikku said.
"Me neither."
"What are we gonna do?" Rikku's voice was thick with despair.
"We'll do something!" Tidus declared. "We just don't know enough yet. Until we do, we really can't help Yuna. Let's go to Zanarkand. We'll find something there. It'll all come together. I know it!"
"Hey…" a smile flashed over Rikku's face. "Just now you sounded like a leader, you know?"
Tidus let out a chuckle. "Star of the Zanarkand Abes! Didn't anyone tell you?"
"A-ha!" Rikku said with a mock bow. But her humor was short-lived. Tidus spotted an all too familiar figure was standing in the snow behind her. Seymour?
There he was, Maester Seymour, looking just as he had in life, priestly robes flowing into the snow, pastel blue hair falling around his face in weird, unnatural angles.
"Ah…" Seymour said with a sickly smile. "The son of Jecht."
Tidus felt his skin prickle. How does he know? Seymour began to approach. No time for that!
"Rikku, run ahead and tell Auron!" Tidus shouted, whipping out his sword.
"You are not fighting him alone!" Rikku shouted back.
"Just go! Go!" Tidus snapped. After a moment's hesitation, Rikku ran. Tidus tightened his grip on his sword hilt. He was not going out without a fight.
"Now is your time to die," Seymour said in that silky, sicky-sweet voice of his. "Prepare yourself, son of Jecht."
"Not if I can help it!" Tidus shouted back. He raised his sword up in front of him, prepared to block whatever Seymour threw at him.
"Save some for Kimahri!" A familiar, deep rumbling voice met Tidus' ears. The rest of the party rushed up to join him, Yuna coming up to his side.
"Lady Yuna…" Seymour said, smiling evilly. "It is a pleasure."
"Yuna!" Lulu shouted, making motion with her hands like twirling a staff. Yuna nodded and raised her staff, beginning the sending dance.
"A sending so soon?" Seymour said. Yuna tensed, and her dance faltered. "Allow me to say something to the last Ronso before I leave." Seymour let out a cackle. His gaze rested on Kimahri. "Yours was… truly a gallant race. They threw themselves at me to bar my path. One… after the another…" Seymour cackled again, clearly enjoying the looks of shock and horror on everyone's face.
"No…" Kimahri rumbled, his yellow eyes blazing. Tidus could barely keep himself from leaping forward and plunging his sword into Seymour's chest. That maniac…
"Kimahri…" Yuna's voice shook.
"You could end the suffering of this poor Ronso," Seymour said, using his soft coxing voice.
"I don't understand you!" Yuna shouted back. She gripped her staff so tight her knuckles were white.
"Allow Kimahri to die, and release him from his pain," Seymour said simply. "Spira… is a land of suffering and sorrow caught in a spiral of death." He held his arms out of emphasis. "To destroy- to heal- Spira, I will become Sin. Yes, with your help. Come with me, Yuna."
Tidus quickly stepped between Yuna and Seymour. He was so ready to take him on.
Seymour's chilling gaze rested on Tidus. "Once I have become the next Sin, your father will be freed again."
Tidus clenched his teeth, determined not to let Seymour get to him. The next Sin? Does Seymour know something about all this? Know how my father became Sin?
"Argh! What do you know?" Tidus snapped back. Seymour wasn't getting under his skin. He'd protect Yuna to his last breath, if that's what it took.
A cloud of pyreflies accumulated behind Seymour, forming into a massive fiend. Seymour rose into the air, his unsent form merging with the writhing mass. The new Seymour-creature had many stone-like tentacles and two gold-colored arms extending from the front. Its two arms had long claws on the end.
"Pitiful mortal!" Seymour's voice echoed eerily around the snowy cliffs. "Your hope ends here. And your meaningless existence with it!"
A shockwave of energy swept over the party, blowing them all back a few feet. Tidus dug his boots into the ground in an effort to stay on his feet.
"You have angered Kimahri!" Kimahri snarled, clenching spear. "The sprits of the Ronso will guide Kimahri's spear!" Kimahri leapt forward, slashing his spear at one of Seymour's golden arms. His blow was strong, and a few pyreflies leaked from the resulting wound. Seymour retaliated, slashing at Kimahri with one large, clawed hand. Yuna rushed over to heal him.
Tidus made a beeline for Seymour, leaping into the air to hit him. He directed his hit at the wound Kimahri had left, driving his blade in deep. Seymour grunted, jerking his arm to throw Tidus off. Tidus landed on his back in the cold snow. He didn't stop for a moment, leaping back up to his feet. A fire spell hit Seymour, distracting him as Wakka, Rikku, Auron, and Kimahri closed in on him. Tidus raced to rejoin the fight.
Auron swung his long katana at Seymour's injured arm, and this time the unsent howled in pain.
"Yuna! Now!" Auron shouted, pointing his sword at Seymour. Yuna nodded and ran closer, beginning her sending dance. An eerie, echoing, chuckle sounded from Seymour.
"Not yet." Seymour's massive monstrous form backed away towards the cliff edge. In a few moments, he dispersed in a flood of smoke and pyreflies. It was the same way he'd gone last time, running scared.
Tidus leant over on his knees, panting and shouting angrily at the pyreflies floating away into the cold blue sky. "And stay up there!"
"Is everyone alright?" Auron asked flatly. He was answered by a chorus of nods. Tidus glared at the sky one last time before rejoining the others.
"We leave," Auron said, turning to continue up the path. But Yuna didn't follow him.
"He will become Sin… with my help," she mumbled to herself.
"Lies. Forget them," Auron said sharply.
Yuna continued regardless. "If he becomes Sin, Sir Jecht will be saved."
"We're leaving," Auron snapped, but Yuna still didn't let up.
"You know something!" she nearly shouted at Auron. "Tell me!"
Auron remained stonily silent, not breaking under Yuna's interrogation.
Yuna turned to Tidus. "Tell me!"
Tidus let out a sigh and hung his head. Why can't Auron tell them and make this easy? "Sin's… my old man."
"You hit your head?" Wakka asked, sounding thoroughly confused. Perhaps Tidus could have explained it better, but thinking so hard about his father and Sin… It made his anger boil over and his thoughts tumble carelessly into words.
"Sin is my old man," Tidus repeated, anger leaking into his voice. "My old man became Sin! I don't know how or why he did it. I felt him, inside. And when I did, I knew it was true. My old man is Spira's suffering. I… Sorry."
There was silence for a few moments, but Yuna broke it.
"Even… knowing that Sin is you father… Still, you know, I must…"
"I know," Tidus replied quickly, sparing Yuna from having to say it out loud. "Let's got him. I think my old man would want that." A memory surfaced in Tidus' mind; inside Sin, under Lake Macalania. A single desire, thrumming through the jumbled mass of images. I know that's what he wants. What Auron said. He wants me to stop him.
"You'd fight your own father?" Lulu asked.
"Yeah." Tidus let out a weak chuckle. "No problem there."
Wakka's face was scrunched in confusion. "Uh… 'Bout your old man… You sure this ain't some kinda bad toxin dream or something?" Tidus let out a sigh, and Wakka continued. "Then, Chappu… I, uh… I think I'll just pretend I didn't hear nothing. I'm getting a little confused, ya? Why… Why'd this all have to happen?"
"We'll learn when we arrive. Soon." Auron's voice broke through the discussion. He started off up the path, and the others followed wordlessly. Tidus had a feeling that this would be important, though he didn't know why.
…
It was the very top of Mount Gagazet. The summit. It wasn't anything like Tidus had imaged. Perhaps, somewhere, there was the amazing view down across all of Spira that he had expected, but if it was there, he didn't even notice.
At the summit, a serine pool of cold blue water, fed by a waterfall, lay to the left of the path. A funnel shaped column of blue energy rose from the water, or perhaps it was water, held together by some strange force. But that wasn't even what Tidus noticed the most. To the right of the pathway, a stone wall was covered with statues, statues of human beings trapped in stone. Thousands of them. Energy in the form of blue mist ran off of the statues, pooling over the ground. They sent a strange chill through the air, and, though he couldn't tell why, they seemed familiar to Tidus. The waves of energy washing through the air made his head feel fuzzy.
"W-What are those?" Wakka asked, mouth dropping open in astonishment. In his amazement at the sight, Tidus had nearly forgotten about the others. Or maybe it was the thrumming of energy rippling through the air, disrupting his thoughts.
"Those are fayth…" Yuna said. "A summoning! Someone is using these fayth! Someone is drawing energy from all of them!"
"This many?" Rikku asked in astonishment.
"Who wields power on this scale, and what could they be calling?" Lulu pondered aloud.
Rikku ran straight up to Auron. "Hey, you know something, don't you? Spill the beans!"
"Look not to others for knowledge," Auron replied. "This is your journey, too." Ordinarily, Tidus would have made some comment about Auron making excuses, but he was too enthralled by the collage of fayth to care. Where have I seen these before…?
"Yunie might die, you know?" Rikku said to Auron.
"No… Auron's right," Tidus said. He wasn't really thinking about his words. The waves of energy from the fayth made him struggle to even think. "This is our…" Tidus broke off. For some reason, all he could think about was the night Sin had attacked. He and Auron underneath Sin, debris flying through air around them, up towards the mass above… Auron's words…
"This is my story."
Tidus had no idea why, but he got the urge to reach out at touch the glowing fayth statues. As soon as his hand made contact with the fayth, a flash of light filled his vision, instantly dispersing the mirky fog that had invaded his mind. Maybe the pulse blew him backward, but he couldn't tell. Everything faded away, then…
Tidus jerked awake, feeling anything but tired. Where am I?
Tidus was lying on his stomach, so he pushed himself up and looked around. He saw lights, cold white lights, hanging over a dock. The ocean as far as he could see, forever into the distance. At his back was a city, a massive, glowing city. The city that never slept…
Zanarkand?! But… it can't be.
But there was nobody there. The city was unharmed, not ravaged by Sin, but it was entirely empty. And it was so dark… Even with the stars and the city lights, Zanarkand seemed unnaturally dark. Something just wasn't right.
Tidus pushed himself up to his feet, taking in his immediate surroundings. He was at the docks, the docks where all the houseboats connected to the city. Just in front of him was a very familiar looking houseboat, rocking in the gentle waves that had lulled Tidus to sleep for as long as he could remember.
Home…?
Unsure of what else to do, Tidus walked inside. It was just as he remembered it, the same house he'd lived in for seventeen years. Only, it felt like a lifetime since he'd been there. It looked all the same… except for the boy sitting in the corner. This boy looked familiar. He was semi-transparent, wearing a dark purple hood that covered his eyes. The mysterious boy stood as Tidus entered.
"Welcome home," the boy said, as thought this was all perfectly normal.
"You…" Tidus stammered, but he couldn't think of what to say.
"Remember me?" the boy asked. "We met in Bevelle."
"Uh… yeah," Tidus said after a few moments. Right…He was the fayth… Bahamut's fayth.
"But that wasn't the first time we met." The fayth boy's lips curved in a knowing smile. "I've known about you for a long time. A long, long time."
"I… I feel like I know you, too," Tidus said warily. But it was time he got some answers. "Where are we?"
The fayth boy chuckled. "Silly, don't recognize your own home?"
The boy vanished, fading away into thin air. In his place, a ghostly image of Wakka materialized.
"What's gotten into you? Hey!" Wakka shouted before vanished. Then, Rikku appeared, all transparent.
"Wake up! Wake up!" she shouted before disappearing in kind.
"Wait…" Things started to come together in Tidus' head. "This is a dream."
The fayth boy appeared again, still wearing that knowing smile, bordering on smug. "Precisely," he said.
"A dream?" Tidus let out a groan and shook his head. "Are you crazy? I don't have time to be dreaming now!"
"You're wrong," the boy said simply. "It's not that you're dreaming. You are a dream."
"Huh?" Tidus frowned in confusion. "Wait a sec."
But the boy didn't wait. He took off running, sprinting out the door. Tidus, a sickly feeling in his gut, followed. Whatever this was, whatever he was about to learn… he had to know. He had to.
The boy was standing out on the upper deck of the houseboat, waiting. As soon as Tidus reached him, the fayth boy continued his explanation.
"Long ago, there was a war," he said.
"Yeah, with machina, right?" Tidus asked.
"Yes." The boy nodded. "A war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Bevelle's machina assured their victory from the start. Spira had never seen such power. The summoners of Zanarkand didn't stand a chance. Zanarkand was doomed to oblivion. That's why we tried to save it- if only in a memory."
"What did you do?" Tidus listened with rapt attention.
"The remaining summoners and the townspeople that survived the war…" the fayth answered. "They became fayth for the summoning."
"The summoning…" Tidus pondered a moment a moment. "You mean Sin?"
"No, I mean this place." The fayth gestured around him. "A Zanarkand that never sleeps."
"What?" Tidus' eyes widened.
"The dreams of the fayth summoned the memories of the city," the fayth continued. "They summoned all the buildings, all the people who lived there. These now exist far away, safe from the rest of the world."
"The people…" Everything was coming together now. Tidus understood what the boy meant. Yuna had explained summoning once. A summoner's talent gives a fayth's dream substance. These fayth at the Gagazet summit, they were summoning the memory of Zanarkand. All its people… "Wait, they're all dreams? Me, too?"
"Yes, you're a dream of the fayth," the boy said with a nod. He seemed pleased that Tidus had understood. "You, your father, your mother, everyone. All dreams. And if the fayth stop dreaming…"
Zanarkand dissolved away into nothing. The entire city, every light, faded away into nothingness. Reality hit Tidus like a cold wave.
"No!" he gasped. "So what if I'm a dream! I… I like being here."
"We've been dreaming so long…" the fayth's voice took on a tone of weariness. "We're tired. Would you and your father… Would you let us rest? Both you and your father have been touched by Sin. Sin, the one around whom all Spira- the spiral- revolves."
"What are you saying?" Tidus asked.
"You two are more than just dreams now."
A ghostly image of Yuna materialized beside Tidus, its ethereal glow lighting the darkness.
"Wake up!" she called. "Wake up, please!"
"Just a little more, and maybe…" the fayth boy began to fade away, too. "Maybe you are the dream that will end out dreaming at last."
Then the fayth boy was gone. Yuna was gone. Zanarkand was gone, too. If the fayth stop dreaming, the dreams will fade away. That means me, too. If the fayth stop dreaming, I'll fade away…
…
Tidus blinked open his eyes. The first thing he saw was Yuna's face leaning over him, crisp blue sky behind her. He was lying on his back on the cold stone pathway, at the summit of Mount Gagazet.
"Are you okay?" Yuna asked. Her voice was thick with worry. Tidus sat up, quickly climbing back to his feet.
"Oh, phew." Yuna let out a sigh of relief. Everyone else was there, too, crowding around Tidus.
"Hey!" Rikku said. "We were so worried about you!"
"You okay?" Lulu asked.
"I… I'm okay," Tidus answered hesitantly. The mirky feeling that the fayth sent through his brain wasn't so strong now, though it hadn't dissipated entirely.
"What happened?" Yuna asked. Tidus hesitated before answering. What was he supposed to tell her? That he wasn't even real, just a dream of the fayth? Tidus hadn't even gotten his own head wrapped around the concept. Everything had happened so quickly… Tidus knew a lot more now, but still not enough. He decided he had to come to terms with this new revelation before telling Yuna.
"Nothing…" Tidus replied to Yuna's question. "I blacked out. I was dreaming. You called me… and I woke up." Tidus stood, stretching like he was just getting out of bed, perhaps with a little too much nonchalance. "Nothing like a good nap!" he said, flashing Yuna a grin. "Well, I'm ready. Let's go!"
