Chapter 9: Another Path, Another Pilgrimage

Both Saiyans slept late into the morning, having little reason to wake up early. Goku had gotten particularly comfortable during the night, and when he woke up he wanted to keep on sleeping. Bardock was used to letting the time slip by, and he didn't want to continue with telling his story. Shortly after waking they had a light breakfast, though any passersby would have assumed it was a full meal instead. Once they finished their meal there was no putting it off any longer, though Bardock would have preferred otherwise.

"Can we get back to the story now?" Goku asked, standing next to Bardock. "I think we've had a long enough break."

"I suppose that's true," Bardock said, leaning back against a steep hill. "Now then, where was I?"

"You had just gotten beaten by Sin," Goku said, remembering that part clearly. "Again."

"Yes, that," Bardock said, more than a little bitter about it. "How could I forget…"

…

"For the first time since I died, I had a mission."

"If I could not save my people from Frieza, I would save these people from Sin."

"Hey, are you going to be okay?"

It was the next morning, and Bardock was still lying in the dirt. A compassionate voice stirred Bardock back into consciousness, his eyes opening to see Braska crouching nearby. Bardock groaned and slowly rose to his feet, and he saw Braska rise with him. A glance around let Bardock see Auron standing nearby, along with someone Bardock did not recognize. The stranger was a muscular man with black hair held back by a red bandana, was wearing black shorts, and was shirtless to put a large J tattoo on his chest on display.

"I will be," Bardock said, but had trouble putting meaning into those words. He'd been beaten by the same opponent twice, difficult for any Saiyan to accept under any circumstances. "When I see Sin's corpse rotting before me."

"Good luck with that," the stranger said. "It kicked that giant monkey's ass. I don't see you doing any better than that thing."

"Final Aeon," Braska corrected.

"Actually it was me," Bardock re-corrected. "And what's a Final Aeon?"

"That monkey was you?" Auron questioned.

"So I'm not the only one unfamiliar with this summoning stuff," the stranger interrupted.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" Bardock asked, and then crossed his arms while facing the stranger. "Also, why should I care?"

"Jecht," he introduced himself, as if that was supposed to mean something to everyone. "And I'm the best blitzball player there is."

"Never heard of it," Bardock said.

All three of them stared at Bardock, all three mouthing the same words but only Jecht actually speaking. "You've never heard of blitzball?"

Auron turned towards Jecht, with a look of disbelief on his face. "Says the man who never heard of Spira until a few days ago."

That got Bardock interested in Jecht. "Wait, you're not from Spira either."

"Nope," Jecht confirmed.

"Do you have a spaceship?" Bardock asked.

"Spaceship?" Jecht questioned. "I got to Spira on a boat."

"Is it a space-boat?" Bardock asked.

"Just a normal boat," Jecht answered. "I was heading out to sea for some training, Sin swam by my boat, then boom, suddenly I'm in Spira."

"Just like that," Bardock said. He shook his head in disbelief. "Looks like I'm never getting off this rock."

"Do I even want to know what your story is?" Auron asked.

Bardock hesitated to answer, getting the feeling that these people would not react kindly to someone admitting to being dead. "To keep it simple, let's just say I'm from very, very, very far away from here."

"Fair enough," Jecht said.

With that settled, Braska turned the conversation to one of his questions. "You said that giant monkey was you. How do turn into an aeon and back again?"

"It's not an aeon, whatever that is," Bardock corrected again. He held one hand up and pointed down, drawing attention to his tail wrapped around his waist. "As long as I have this, I can become the great ape during a full moon."

Jecht stared at Bardock's tail for a moment. "Now that's something you don't see every day."

"Maybe around here," Bardock admitted, but then he looked at Braska and quickly changed the subject. "So what's that 'aeon' thing you mentioned before? And why did you mistake my transformed state for one of them?"

"An aeon is a being of great power," Braska described. "Summoners can call upon them to do battle, and are generally more powerful than anything else short of Sin. And the Final Aeon, obtained in Zanarkand, has the power to fight and defeat Sin."

"So Sin can be killed," Bardock said. "How does one obtain this Final Aeon?"

"Certainly not in my Zanarkand," Jecht mused.

"Quiet you," Auron said.

Normally it would have been awkward for Braska to tell someone this, but he had already done so once with Jecht and thus had some practice. "Only summoners can call aeons, and only if their prayers are heard by the Fayth. Summoners must travel to every temple in Spira, receive each individual aeon from the Fayth, and then travel to Zanarkand for the Final Aeon. Only then can Sin be defeated."

"Go places, ask spirits nicely, go the finish line, kill Sin," Bardock summarized. "So, uh, where's that faith thing in the Bevelle temple?"

"You want to become a summoner?" Auron asked.

"Sure, why not," Bardock said.

"The Chamber of the Fayth is in the lower levels, past the Cloister of Trials," Braska answered. "Pray to the Fayth, and pray that it listens."

"Got it," Bardock said.

Bardock startled the three of them when he took flight at high speed, and went straight back to Bevelle as fast as he could fly. It took only a few moments for him to find the temple from the air and he dived straight through the roof, barged his way inside and proceeded to fly through the following floor, smashing hole after hole through many more floors as he descended into the temple's lower levels. At some distance down he found a small room, and shortly after his entrance debris rained down through the hole he made in the ceiling.

Shortly after landing Bardock realized that he had no idea what he had to look for. Fortunately there was a startled priest seeking shelter behind a support pillar. "You there, I'm looking for something called a… faith chamber… I think? Where is it?"

The priest pointed a trembling finger at one end of the room, to a door that looked like it would slide up into the wall.

"Ah, thank you," Bardock said.

When he reached the door Bardock simply forced it up with raw muscle strength, and heard several gears grinding and breaking as he did so. Then he walked into the chamber beyond, which was even smaller and had a simple dome shape. Most of the floor space inside was occupied by a statue underneath a thick sheet of glass, a statue that resembled a dragon that was lying on one side. And inside the chamber Bardock could hear a strange and unfamiliar melody, a song that seemed to be coming from the statue itself.

"This must be it," Bardock said. He crouched at the edge and tapped on the glass a few times. "Um… hello… faith?"

There was a bright flash of light within the chamber, and when it passed a small child had appeared above the statue. The child wore blue clothes with a hood over his head, shrouding most of the dark features on his face. Not only did the child simply float just above the surface of the glass, he was also transparent enough for Bardock to see the surfaces behind him. This ghostly child watched Bardock stand up tall, his gaze never moving away from Bardock's eyes. It almost seemed like the child was looking into his very soul.

"You wish to become a summoner?"

"That obvious?" Bardock said.

The child closed his eyes, paused to think, and when he opened his eyes he shook his head. "No."

"What?" Bardock blurted out. "Why not?"

"You are not the type to let someone else fight for you," the child answered. "The power of the aeons comes from the trust placed in us, the trust in your faith. As someone who only trusts himself, your aeons would be far weaker than the strength you already possess."

"So I'm better off as I am?" Bardock asked.

"Not entirely." There was a flash, and many images appeared and were overlapping. Hundreds were shown praying here, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, all equal in their desire to bring peace to Spira. "Though unsuitable to be a summoner, you have great potential as a guardian."

"Guardian?" Bardock questioned.

"They are the pillars of strength that summoners rely upon," the child answered. "Trust is placed in them to protect their summoner, to keep them safe until the time comes to battle Sin."

"Trust got my comrades killed," Bardock mused. "We all died because I failed."

"And yet you remain, an Unsent," the child commented. "Your work among the living is not yet done. You cannot rest until a great evil is slain at your hand."

"Yes," Bardock confirmed. "My people are gone. But maybe, these people can be spared."

The images in the chamber changed, now only showing the most recent summoner, Braska. "This man wishes to defeat Sin, and has the greatest potential since the last High Summoner. He trusts in those that no one else will. He trusts in those that wish to be trustworthy. He could trust in you."

Bardock looked away and sighed. "I'll think about it."

The child smiled. "That's all I ask."

There was another flash of light and the child disappeared, leaving Bardock alone in the chamber with the strange song. He took one last look at the statue, and listened to the song one more time. Then he left the chamber the way he came, going to the room with the roof he had damaged earlier. Now there were guards armed with swords and guns standing in formation, seemingly there to stand in his way. Bardock simply smirked before he flew up, and just to piss off the guards he smashed another hole in the roof as he left the temple.

Once he was outside Bardock flew out of Bevelle and back towards the spot he last fought Sin, but by the time he got there the area was completely deserted. But there were plenty of tracks left in the ground scorched by Sin, so clear and so few that anyone could hunt down the three people that left them. The tracks led to the southeast towards a forest in the distance, but in order for Bardock to follow them he had to stay on the ground. Still he made better time than most on this world could, being able to use his Saiyan strength to run faster than most beasts.

Unfortunately he had to slow down when he reached the rather strange woods, as the tracks crossed a heavily walked path and became indistinguishable from all the others that walked through here. To make tracking even more difficult the path split in two, one direction leading towards the everlasting thunderstorm and the other leading deeper into the woods. Figuring that no one in their right mind would walk through that storm, Bardock took the other path instead. He didn't know what lay ahead on this path, but was certain that his quarry would soon be in sight.

As Bardock walked through twisting and winding path through the forest he noticed a few weird things about the scenery, the first being all of the various shades of blue that colored the vegetation. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, or at least on the planets that he hadn't taken a 'blast first and ask questions later' approach. The path itself seemed to be a part of the forest, incorporating the large branches and roots of the majestic trees. Butterflies were everywhere here, from the red and blue to a few of ever shifting colors floating back and forth across the path.

Along the path various fiends tried to bar his path, but Bardock shot them down without bothering to slow his pace even a little. He still didn't understand how their corpses disintegrated into pyreflies, while corpses of unfortunate travelers remained to rot. Bardock didn't waste too much thought on that and continued on his way, noticing the elevation gradually rising as he passed through the forest. The temperature plummeted as he found high terrain at the far side, and just beyond the trees the ground was covered in snow.

Here the tracks were quite clear in the fresh snow, but by then there was no point in tracking them. "Hey! Braska!"

Just outside of a small inn built into a hill, Braska and his guardians were just outside the front door when they heard Bardock. "Good evening," Braska said after he turned around. "I didn't think you'd be coming this way so soon."

"Let's just say I had an inspiring conversation," Bardock answered.

"Fair enough," Braska said.

"So what are you doing here?" Auron asked. "The only things out this way are this little shop and Macalania Temple."

"Or were you just following us?" Jecht asked.

"Alright, you got me," Bardock answered, holding his arms apart. "I figure if I can't kill Sin by myself, I could help you do it."

"Then it's a party of four," Braska decided.

"You can't be serious," Auron objected, facing Braska and waving a hand at Bardock. "We barely know him. Do you really want him as a guardian?"

"You still barely know me," Jecht pointed out.

"Quiet you," Auron said, then went back to Braska. "Sure this guy talks like he has a lot of power, but we still haven't seen what he can actually do."

Bardock aimed a palm at a snowbank and fired an energy blast, which detonated in the snow in a grand explosion that evaporated the snowbank, and left a crater in the ice underneath. "I can go bigger."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Braska said.

…

"Well that explains Auron," Goku commented.

Now it was Bardock's turn to have a question. "You've met Auron?"

By now it was the middle of the day, the hot sun beating down overhead, with the spray of the sea hanging in the air. Fortunately there was a strong breeze wafting through the Calm Lands, more than enough to keep cool on this hot summer day. There was still no sign of Sin's next return, despite sufficient time having passed for it, which had Goku wondering why it was taking longer to return. He wasn't going to ruin the mood by mentioning this, far more intrigued by Bardock's tale and not wanting it to end early.

"Yeah, in fact, he thought I was you at first," Goku answered, remembering that experience in Luca. "But it didn't take him long to figure out we are different people."

Once again Bardock was reminded of the similarities between him and Goku, if only on the superficial level of their appearances. "I suppose he would be confused at first."

"I think he figured it out pretty quickly," Goku said.

"Good for him," Bardock said. He cleared his throat. "Anyway…"

…

"And so I followed Braska on his pilgrimage, from Macalania to the Guadosalam and beyond."

"Yet he was not the only summoner that I met."

After crossing the massive river that divided the southern continent, Braska introduced the others to their current stop on the pilgrimage. "Here we are, Djose Temple."

"Doesn't look like much," Jecht said.

Suddenly the rock above the temple entrance broke free, yet the pieces did not fall. Electricity surged from the temple into the large slabs of rock, making them float in the air and orbit the temple.

"Not that's better," Jecht said.

"There is another summoner inside," Auron said. He gestured to the floating rock. "That happens whenever someone prays to the faith in his temple."

"Well then, lets meet the other summoner," Bardock suggested. "Who knows, maybe the new guy and Braska can team up to beat Sin together."

When they entered the temple they ended up having to wait in the front antechamber for a while, as it went against protocol for two summoners to address the Fayth at the same time. But the wait was fortunately short, and before long the other summoner emerged at the top of some stairs. She was a young woman in a green kimono, but had strange green and yellow disks covering her ears. Followed by a pair of Yevon soldiers for her guardians, the summoner walked down the stairs and stopped when she spotted Braska.

"Another summoner," she said. "You are fortunate. This Fayth is in a pleasant mood today. You should not need more than a few minutes to obtain the aeon."

"Thank you, milady," Braska said, giving the bow. "May I ask your name?"

"Belgemine," she introduced herself.

"Braska," he returned the introduction. "My guardians were wondering if we might complete our pilgrimages together. So we may have better odds of defeating Sin."

"Perhaps we may," Belgemine said. "I will be departing for Guadosalam in the morning. That will be more than enough time for you to obtain the aeon here."

"We were just there," Jecht complained.

"Yes we were," Braska said. "It seems that we are going through the pilgrimage in opposite directions. I still have to pray at Kilika and Besaid Temples."

"Macalania and Bevelle for me," Belgemine said, clearly disappointed by the different destinations. "So it seems that we must part ways here."

"A pity," Braska said. "It would have been a pleasure to travel together."

"Good fortune to you, and may Yevon guide your path," Belgemine wished, and then she left.

"Braska acquired that aeon, and we continued onward to Luca."

"But we arrived too late."

As the group stood atop a cliff overlooking the seaside city, Bardock could only stare at the thick smoke rising up from the city. "What happened here?"

Auron had a pretty good idea. "Sin…"

The monster was long gone already, but had left its mark on this port city. All of the docks and just about every ship in port at the time had sunk beneath the waves, and the vast majority of the shoreline was destroyed or heavily damaged. Over half of the city's buildings had been demolished, and of those that remained standing most of them were on fire. Homes that were the furthest inland suffered the least, but even there the locals had to contend with Sinspawn causing havoc. Bodies were lying everywhere, most still unattended while the city fought for its survival.

However, in the middle of the devastated city, one large structure remained untouched. The Blitzball stadium had been protected by legions of Crusader forces, which could only divert Sin's wrath away from the stadium. Once they were certain that Sin had left the Crusaders marched through what remained of Luca's streets, cornering various Sinspawn and slaying them one by one. Survivors found among the debris were brought to the stadium for shelter, at least until reconstruction could begin to restore Luca to its former glory.

Bardock pitched in by sniping Sinspawn from the air, slaying all that he could see with his energy blasts. Auron went to the Crusaders to lend his assistance, flushing out Sinspawn that were lurking inside ruined buildings so that the Crusaders could slay them. Jecht ran to the water and dived beneath the surface, searching for any survivors that might be trapped in underwater air pockets. Braska approached a Crusader that appeared to be in command of the situation, or at least was the only one still able to command it.

"Sir," Braska said, eyeing the relatively young man with red hair. "I am Summoner Braska. If I may have your commander's permission, I will perform the Sending."

"My commander is dead," the Crusader said. "Acting Commander Luzzu, at your service. And a Sending would be appreciated after we finish searching for survivors."

The search lasted well over three hours, long enough to turn over every last piece of rubble. A couple dozen survivors had been found in various nooks and crannies of the city, some of them making it through alive in emergency shelters while others had lived because of sheer dumb luck. It didn't make up for the thousands of people that died today, their souls now at risk of becoming fiends. They needed guidance to find rest in the Farplane, and lending a helping hand to the dead was the grimmest task performed by a summoner.

With his staff held in both hands Braska walked onto the water, which thanks to a little bit of summoner's magic the water supported his weight. All around him were floating coffins filled with the bodies of the dead, sent out to sea like the souls will be sent to the Farplane. On the water Braska performed a sacred dance, using elegant motions that included the spinning of his staff. From the floating coffins and from unrecovered remains pyreflies emerged, which began to swirl around Braska as he continued the Sending.

From high in the sky Bardock watched Braska perform the Sending ritual, just like the surviving locals that were watching from the ground. He could see the grief of those that had lost loved ones, who would soon be well and truly gone from this world. The pyreflies coming out of the water were a sight to behold, as if the stars themselves had been brought down to Spira. Their numbers grew with each passing moment, more and more pyreflies drawn out as the Sending ritual's reach spread across the devastated city of Luca.

Sudden pain afflicted Bardock, one hand clutching his chest. "What the…"

Bardock fell from the sky into the ruins of a bar, crashing through wooden debris onto cold hard ground. There he was on his knees with his other hand on the ground, barely keeping himself from collapsing all the way. The pain intensified beyond just about anything Bardock had ever known, with the sole exception of his demise at the hands of Frieza. Even he couldn't help but scream in agony, the pain was just too great. It was like the very essence of his self was being torn apart from the inside, every bit of him seeming like it was going to slip away.

Looking down at the hand clutching his chest, Bardock noticed a slight shimmer. Then a pyrefly burst out of his hand, and several more followed from all over his body. Bardock stared in horror as his hand became transparent and saw the floor behind it, shocked at the hand quite literally fading out of reality. Now it felt like something was pulling him out of his current existence, forcing him out of this world and towards the next. But his work in among the living was not yet done, and Bardock refused to let this unseen force send him away.

In an instant, everything snapped back.

All the pain instantly vanished, the pyreflies were gone, and his flesh was solid again. However Bardock felt very exhausted and he was breathing heavily, his muscles ached as he slowly stood up. For a moment he was grateful to have been in the ruins of a bar, having half demolished walls that concealed his moment of weakness from the world. Once he had fully recovered Bardock walked out of the ruined bar, and took he took an unnecessarily long route to reach the others, trying to make it look like nothing at all had happened to him.

Approaching from behind Auron, Jecht and the survivors Bardock got there in time to see Braska step back on shore. "I didn't realize he could do that," Bardock said.

"Where do all those pyreflies go?" Jecht asked.

"The Farplane," Auron answered. "It is where souls of the dead find their final resting place. Normally those souls get there without help, but when their death is meaningless they linger here in resentment of the living, turning into fiends."

"So this Sending prevents that," Jecht guessed.

"Yes," Auron confirmed. "Though not always. If a person's soul is sufficiently strong willed, they can resist the Sending. These particular individuals even retain their minds and appearance after death, and they are referred to as Unsent."

Bardock didn't make a comment on that subject, only nodding before pretending to be interested in something else far away. But his mind was still focused on what he had just learned, somewhat understanding what had happened to him just a moment ago. Bardock was a dead man in the living world, he knew that, and on this planet that rendered him an Unsent. It didn't matter that he was a different species or possessed superior power, being an Unsent rendered his spirit just as vulnerable as any other dead guy to the Sending.

Meanwhile Braska approached Luzzu, both giving the Yevon bow to each other. "It's done. May their souls find peace on the Farplane."

"Thank you," Luzzu said.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Braska asked.

"Some extra hands would be very much appreciated," Luzzu answered, pointing at the few Crusaders left at his unexpected command. "It will take a lot of work for us to rebuild Luca. And we should get started right away."

"We stayed long enough for the city to get back on its feet, and no longer."

"Then we set sail, first for Kilika, and then Besaid."

Besaid was one of the smaller islands in the southern seas, lush with tropical vegetation and that covered most of the terrain. The only port on the island was so small it could barely be called that, only having enough room for either one large vessel or two smaller ones. The recruiter's vessel fit the latter classification, and was alone when it dropped anchor between a pier and a sandy beach. A narrow wooden ramp was put into place to connect the vessel to a small dock, allowing the passengers to disembark at their leisure.

The only real settlement on Besaid was on the other side of the island, built on slightly higher ground that had sheer cliffs along that part of the shore. The only road was little more than a dirt trail, which curved around the base of a small mountain. Compared to all the other roads they had traveled down before, this one was like a walk in the park. The few fiends that dwelled there were pitifully weak, each slain with just one swing of Auron's sword. Of all the places in Spira this island was the closest thing to paradise, and was so small that even Sin seemed to ignore it.

The village was just a dozen small huts, all of them in front of the much larger temple. At first glance it looked like the village only existed because of temple, as if the locals would be dispersed all over the island if the temple wasn't there. Still the people looked happy here, or at least happier than in most parts of Spira. There were children playing out in the open, and the parents were actually smiling as they watched their kids having fun. The group paused at the threshold to the village, taking in the sight of simplistic bliss.

Naturally Jecht ruined the moment. "Smallest heap of huts I ever saw."

Braska had a different opinion. "Now that looks like a fine place to live."

Bardock shrugged. "If you're into simple living, I suppose it would be."

"Auron," Braska said, looking at him. "When this is over, could you bring Yuna here? I want her to live a life far away from conflict."

"Who's Yuna?" Bardock asked.

"My daughter," Braska answered. "We left her in Bevelle before you joined up. But I think she would grow up better here."

"Hmm…" Bardock muttered, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Oh what do I know about parenting? It's your kid, do whatever you want."

Braska nodded. "So Auron, will you bring Yuna here?"

"I will," Auron promised.

"Let's get going," Jecht insisted, already getting ahead of the others. "Isn't this the last temple we have to stop at?"

"Yes it is," Braska answered, quickening his pace to catch up to Jecht.

"So, where do we go next?" Bardock asked.

"Back the way we came," Auron answered. "From Bevelle we go north to Gagazet and then Zanarkand, and when that's done we hunt down Sin."

"If we have to go all the way back, shouldn't we have started here?" Bardock questioned. "It just seems like a lot of wasted legwork back-tracking our way through the entire pilgrimage."

"We might find a ship to the Moonflow," Auron said. "That would cut down the return trip quite a lot if we skip the highroad."

"Sounds good to me," Jecht said. As he crossed the threshold to the temple entrance he noticed that one of them was staying behind. "Aren't you coming Bardock?"

"Not this time," Bardock answered, standing near one of the huts with his back to it. He had spotted a pair of young boys running around the village, which stirred up long buried thoughts. "Take your time with the Fayth, I'm not going anywhere."

"Suit yourself," Auron said, considering himself fortunate that Bardock wasn't even going to suggest breaking through the Cloister of Trials. "Just try not to destroy something while you wait."

"No promises," Bardock said.

While the others went into the temple Bardock remained where he was, still looking at the two boys playing with a wooden sword and a little ball. The older one with the ball had to be early teens, and the other was a few years younger. He could almost picture his own sons playing like those two were, imagining Raditz clearly along with a mini-me of himself for Kakarot. He would never let it show, but Bardock regretted not being able to see them grow to adulthood. Sure they were probably better off without him, but it still hurt to think of them growing up alone.

Bardock wondered where his sons were now, if they were even still alive after all this time. He knew that Raditz had been off-world when Planet Vegeta was destroyed, and may well still be alive in some distant part of the galaxy. He was certain that Kakarot was out there somewhere, maybe even challenging Frieza by now in fulfillment of that last vision of the future. But he was certain that he would never see either of them again, as the odds of them stumbling upon this world by accident were astronomically low.

Either the time went by faster than Bardock thought it did, or the others only spent a few minutes in the temple. "That was quick."

"Now I think we were supposed to start here," Jecht said. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "This was the easiest temple yet."

"I guess Belgemine had the right idea," Braska said.

"Who?" Bardock asked.

"You were there when we met her," Auron scolded.

"You can't expect me to remember everyone we meet," Bardock excused.

"She was another summoner," Auron specified.

"Still not ringing a bell," Bardock said.

"Doesn't matter," Braska said, as that subject was going nowhere. "Let's just get back to Bevelle so we can continue the pilgrimage."

"And how do we get there?" Jecht asked. "Our ride isn't leaving for at least a month. And I didn't see any other ships in that tiny little port."

Bardock smirked.

"Oh no…" Jecht muttered.

With one hand Bardock picked up Braska by the back of his robes, and with the other hand Bardock picked up Auron by the back of his vest. Jecht was left behind when Bardock flew into the sky, taking two passengers across the sea back to the mainland. The easiest landmark to spot from afar was the Macalania Woods, as the blue forests stuck out like a sore thumb. When he reached the woods Bardock dropped off the passengers, one exhilarated by the experience while the other was terrified. Bardock couldn't hide the smug look on his face, having wanted to do that for quite some time.

"Don't do that again!" Auron yelled.

"So leave Jecht on that island," Bardock said.

Braska pointed back the way they came from. "Get him, then don't do that again!"

"Aye-Aye," Bardock said, and took off for Besaid.

A short flight later, Jecht was dropped onto the ground next to the other two.

"Don't do that again!" Jecht yelled.

"All three of you said that," Bardock mentioned. "I don't think you've ever been unanimous on anything before."

"Then maybe you should listen," Auron said.

"I only promise to try," Bardock said.

…

That last part had Goku trying not to laugh, amused by the little bit of fun Bardock had indulged in back in the day. Bardock noticed the suppressed chuckle, and stopped long enough for Goku to get it out of his system. He looked at the sky and realized another day was quickly passing by, already being in the middle of the afternoon. It was getting to the time for hunting down more food, but that could wait a little while longer. Soon enough Goku had gotten over the little amusement, and had something he wanted to tell Bardock.

"You know, Auron kept that promise," Goku said. "I saw Yuna leave that island to start her pilgrimage. It seemed like the people there knew her for a long time."

"Good," Bardock said, relieved to hear that. "Braska would be happy to hear that."

"She seemed happy there," Goku said, thinking back to his very brief visit to that island. "The other people didn't want her to leave."

"I'm sure they didn't," Bardock said.

"So what happened next?" Goku asked.

Bardock sighed. "Well, we didn't stay long in Bevelle…"

…

Standing at the top of a cliff overlooking vast plains, Braska stood at the precipice of the next part of his pilgrimage. "The Calm Lands…"

"Do you see that?" Auron asked, noticing something odd out in the distance. He pointed towards the western side of the Calm Lands, where the terrain abruptly dropped to the sea. "Is that Belgemine?"

Sure enough it was Belgemine standing out there in the Calm Lands, currently facing the western sea and staring at the water. Only one of Belgemine's guardians was standing with her, as the other one was nowhere to be found. They seemed to have set up camp in the Calm Lands, about halfway between where they stood and the last trading post this side of Bevelle. At first there didn't seem to be a reason for the summoner and guardian to be standing there all alone, but over the next few minutes the reason became clear.

Sin was coming.

Half a mile out to sea the waves broke as Sin's massive form rose out of the water, its steps shaking the sea floor as it walked towards the Calm Lands. Sin's head rose higher and higher as it walked into shallower waters, easily towering over the summoner even though she was standing on higher terrain. Belgemine did not run from the approaching behemoth, holding her ground in the face of such adversity. For Belgemine now possessed the one thing known to have defeated Sin in the past, the one thing she spent her entire life preparing to use on this day.

The Final Aeon.

Magical energies swirled around Belgemine to begin the Final Summoning, an action that so few summoners got to perform. A circular rift opened in the ground right behind her, leading into a deep dark abyss of some otherworldly place. A colossal metal hand reached out of the rift and came down on the ground beyond the rift's edge, and pushed against it to bring more of this being into this reality. A two hundred foot tall metal man emerged from the rift, though its head looked like it had been fused with its shoulders.

"So that's a Final Aeon," Jecht said, amazed by the sight.

"That's the thing that can beat Sin?" Bardock asked for confirmation.

"Yes," Braska answered.

Once Belgemine's Final Aeon was fully in reality the rift closed, and the colossal metal soldier stood tall in the Calm Lands. The metal soldier drew a very large sword and brandished it in the face of the enemy, as if to challenge Sin to a deadly duel. Sin stopped just beyond the edge of the Calm Lands and looked down on the challenger, as if recognizing its eternal foe in an entirely new persona. A mighty roar was Sin's acceptance of the metal soldier's challenge, and the Final Aeon stood its ground before the first attack.

The metal soldier leapt onto the outstretched arm of Sin, ran up the length of it while dragging its sword and slicing black flesh along the way. At the shoulder it brought the sword down on Sin's neck, burying the blade to the hilt. Sin shook his head and threw the metal soldier off, sword still in hand, and then struck with its tail to toss the foe back into the Calm Lands. But then something small and fast impacted Sin's head, and the monster stumbled a few steps to the north. Sin recovered and saw what hit it, and floating in the air was Bardock.

Bardock fired a barrage of energy blasts into Sin's right eye, blinding the monster until it swung an arm at him, knocking him away and across the Calm Lands. The metal soldier jumped high enough to stab Sin's throat, and on the way down it slashed Sin's torso as well. Bardock rammed into Sin's head again, and the metal soldier slashed the left ankle, together making the monster tip over on its side. The metal soldier leapt and stabbed Sin's face, and Bardock rammed the sword hilt to drive the blade in even deeper.

The metal soldier grabbed the sword and pulled it out, and then looked at Bardock hovering next to it. There was an unspoken understanding of each other, both wanting to see Sin dead and willing to go to any lengths to have that. So when Bardock flew up the metal soldier jumped after him, fist and sword brought to bear against the mutual foe. Bardock punched Sin's jaw hard enough to force its head back, stretching the neck so that the metal soldier could slash Sin's throat. More black blood flowed from the latest wound, quite a lot of it now staining the Calm Lands.

Sin took a few steps away from the two, one clawed hand covering the gut wound and the other covering the throat wound. From afar it seemed like Sin might actually retreat from the battle, now that it had sustained significant damage. Back on the southern cliff Jecht was cheering on the two fighters, Braska was on the verge of joining him, while Auron wasn't getting his hopes up just yet. Sin wasn't dead, and it was charging dark energy in between its jaws. Sin fired that energy in a black beam, but it missed both Bardock and the metal soldier entirely.

And hit Belgemine instead.

The summoner was vaporized in an instant, and her guardian suffered the same untimely demise. Without Belgemine to sustain it her final summoning ceased immediately, and for her Final Aeon it was a critical existence failure. The metal soldier collapsed face first into the ground, and it could not get back up again. Pyreflies burst from the metal soldier, turning it transparent for a few moments before it vanished. The balance of power in the Calm Lands drastically shifted, leaving Bardock all alone in the fight against Sin.

That was when Sin jumped into the air, blotting out the sun over part of the Calm Lands with its vast shadow. Sin came down on top of Bardock, slamming him with all of its mass, and then impacted the ground so hard it felt like an earthquake. When Sin got back up there was an impression in the ground, though so large it could only be noticed from afar or above. In the center of that impression Bardock was pressed into the dirt, groaning as he slowly pulled himself free. Bardock looked up to see Sin looking back, realizing that he now had Sin's undivided attention.

A right leg stomped on Bardock, and kept on stomping again and again several times. Then Sin punched the same spot with both fists over and over, pummeling Bardock even further into the ground. After that Sin stood up tall, charged more black energy in its jaw, but instead of firing a single beam it instead fired a barrage of smaller blasts. The barrage turned the ground into a crater with a rising cloud of dust, and after a minute the barrage stopped. A moment passed for the dust cloud to clear, and then Sin resumed firing into the crater.

When it ended for real, Bardock was losing consciousness. "Just send me already…"

When Bardock regained consciousness he was looking up at a ceiling, plain white with a single light in the center. He was lying in a bed in a rather small room, and noticed that his armor had been replaced with simple thin clothes. But the armor wasn't stolen, just lying on a nearby table with the fabric parts neatly folded. Bardock groaned as he slipped his legs off the bed and got onto his feet, though he stumbled as he went for his armor. That's when he noticed the bruises all over his body and the cuts that were covered in bandages, signs of a battle that he had quite clearly lost.

"We were so close," Bardock muttered, thinking about how the fight with Sin ended. One death had changed everything, turned a sure victory into a crushing defeat. "Braska better keep his distance when it's his turn."

Once Bardock had recovered enough to leave, he set out to find Braska and the others. It was almost time to get back on the pilgrimage, or so Bardock had thought. There was one more thing that Braska wanted to do before departing again, and no one wanted to persuade him otherwise. He had been staying at the Temple of Yevon with Auron and Jecht, putting their affairs in order while they could. When Bardock reached the room they stayed in he found someone else there with them, a small person that he did not know.

"Who's the little girl?" Bardock asked.

That little girl hid behind her father's leg, occasionally peeking around the side for a look at the stranger. She had to be no older than five, and with brown hair that barely reached her neck. The oddest part about her was the mismatched eyes, one of them blue and the other green. Other than that this little girl seemed like any other normal child, wearing a simple blue dress that wouldn't get her noticed around here. Like any normal child she was suspicious of strangers, and stayed behind the only person she implicitly trusted.

Braska picked up the little girl and held her around his chest. "This is Yuna."

"Hi," Yuna said.

"Yuna, this is Bardock," Braska introduced. "He's daddy's third guardian."

"You're gonna stop the monster?" Yuna quietly asked.

"I'm going to kill the monster," Bardock promised. "Your daddy and I are going to do it together."

Braska put Yuna down and then crouched to be at her eye level. "Yuna, we found this little island along the pilgrimage. It is a beautiful place, and when this is over I'll make sure that you get there. It will be the perfect place to live during the Calm."

"But I want to go with you," Yuna pleaded.

"I'm sorry," Braska said, starting to tear up. "It's a dangerous road I have to walk. Until the Calm you're safer here."

"It only took a few more days to finish the pilgrimage."

"We crossed the mountain, and saw the destination."

"So that is it," Jecht muttered.

Near the peak of Mount Gagazet, the view of the lands to the north stretched on for miles. At some time in the very distant past it would have been a gorgeous metropolis, but now the hundreds of buildings were in ruin and many had collapsed very long ago. Light from the setting sun reflected off many planes of glass, like thousands of tiny stars twinkling in the urban landscape. And swarming above the destroyed city were millions of pyreflies, gathered in clouds that were constantly changing color in the sky.

"Yes," Braska said. "That is Zanarkand."

It was quite a grim sight, looking at this city of the dead. Though the city had been destroyed nearly a thousand years ago, it looked like the deed had been done yesterday. One could still imagine the screams of its former inhabitants, right before they perished in the face of an ancient foe. In the middle of the destroyed city an ancient stadium still stood, though its roof had collapsed and large cracks were in its walls. A broken highway still provided a path through the destroyed city, leading from the mountain's base to the ruined stadium.

"I thought everyone had to be mistaken," Jecht muttered, eyes fixed on the dead city. "I thought… this couldn't possibly be my Zanarkand."

Bardock looked away from the city and towards Braska. "So what's the story here? What makes these ruins so special?"

That story was told as they walked down the mountain slope, reaching the end as they reached the bottom. This Zanarkand had been destroyed in a war nearly a thousand years ago, and was now regarded as a holy place for the Yevon religion. Jecht's Zanarkand was a city that was very much alive, full of people that Jecht had last seen months ago. Unless there were two entirely different versions of Zanarkand in the world, the most likely explanation was that Jecht had been hurled a thousand years into his future.

"So how did you get here?" Bardock asked.

"I had a run in with Sin," Jecht answered, remembering when he went on a training exercise off his Zanarkand's coast. "Somehow that thing took me to Spira."

"You still think it could take you back," Braska said.

"Maybe," Jecht said. "But after all I've seen in Spira, all the death Sin caused, if getting stuck here is the price I have to pay, I'd rather see Sin dead."

"That has to be the noblest thing I've ever heard you say," Auron noted. "Then again, for you, that wasn't hard to do."

The sun was almost beneath the horizon when they reached the ruined city, standing just outside the edge of the urban landscape. Braska pointed to a spot near the road's beginning, where a small hill stood between it and the sea. "We'll make camp there."

A small campfire was set up in the middle of the campsite, and all four people took spots around it. The mood here was a somber one, all eyes looking at the ruined city ahead of them. The long journey was almost finished, one small step was left to complete the pilgrimage. Sitting here, at the threshold to Zanarkand, it felt like they shared this moment with the other summoners that had preceded them here. Tomorrow they would have what they had come here for, the Final Aeon that would allow them to defeat Sin.

"It truly is a magnificent sight."

All eyes turned to an old man standing nearby. "Who are you?"

The old man had a rather short stature, and he was wearing elegant green robes that came with a tall green hat. He had a white beard that reached his chest, and had spectacles in front of his weary old eyes. He was slightly hunched over in his posture, keeping his hands folded behind his back whenever he could. He found a small boulder and sat down, enjoying the respite it provided for his old bones. It was impossible to tell exactly how old this man really was, only that he was far older than anyone else they had ever met.

"Oh where are my manners?" the old man wondered. "My name is Maechen."

"Do you live here?" Jecht asked.

"Oh my no," Maechen answered with a laugh. "I am just a wandering scholar."

"And you wandered all the way out here?" Auron asked.

"Yes," Maechen answered. "There are countless stories to be told about this place. I could spend centuries here and still never discover them all."

"Care to share any?" Braska asked.

"You would listen to an old man's tales?" Maechen asked.

"We're not going anywhere tonight," Auron said.

"Well then," Maechen said. "Where should I begin?"

"At the beginning of course," Bardock suggested.

"The beginning it is then," Maechen said. He cleared his throat and began to tell the tale. "I suppose it all starts with Zanarkand…

"Long ago… before the era of Sin… Zanarkand stood as the crown jewel of Spira's civilization. The only rival worth compare was Bevelle, a very close second in many things. Zanarkand was a city that never slept, its towers of glass and iron shining brighter than the stars. For centuries there was peace and prosperity in Zanarkand, and its citizens believed the good times would never end.

"Then the war came, the war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. History has forgotten what caused the war, but it is speculated that Bevelle started the conflict, much to the contrary of Yevon's teachings. Another fact that Yevon wishes forgotten, Bevelle fought the war with advanced machina. Zanarkand fought the war with summoners, using an army of aeons to fight the machines.

"Alas, the war did not go well for Zanarkand. The summoners were no match for Bevelle's machina weapons, and it soon became clear that Zanarkand would lose. The city was leveled by ancient machines, destroying the grand city that had stood for centuries. It took a full year for Zanarkand to fall, and for Bevelle to claim victory.

"And yet, when Bevelle's armies moved in to occupy the remains, the citizens that had to have survived were nowhere to be found. The still smoldering ruins were empty of life, even though it was impossible for the survivors to escape. All that could be found was a large Fayth, as if all that remained of the city's inhabitants had been transformed for a grand summoning.

"The victory celebrations had just begun when the worst happened. For that was when Sin first appeared. Sin destroyed the armies and the machina occupying Zanarkand, utterly and completely. And then Sin turned its attention to Bevelle itself, destroying the machina defenses it possessed. In an abrupt turn of events, it seemed like Bevelle would share the fate of Zanarkand.

"Then the one and only Yunalesca appeared, promising a way to defeat Sin and spare Bevelle from destruction. Yunalesca was the first summoner to ever call the Final Aeon, the first to ever defeat Sin. In return for her valiant work Bevelle gave praise to Yunalesca's father, starting the teachings of Yevon that have lasted to this very day.

"And so began the tradition of the pilgrimage. For a thousand years summoners have walked this road, all seeking the Final Aeon that Yunalesca first created. Zanarkand, once the brightest city in the world, is now a ruin that Yevon has ordained to be holy. All because of a war fought long ago, for reasons that have been forgotten by time."

His story over, Maechen sighed while stretching his back. "What a time it must have been, to witness those events firsthand."

"You speak like you did," Bardock said.

"I've had practice with storytelling," Maechen said, taking a bit of pride in his work. "I am just grateful that you listened."

"I enjoyed it," Braska said.

"Thank you," Maechen said.

By then the campfire had nearly burned out, and it was time for everyone to get some much needed rest. They slept throughout the entire night, the first one waking just as the sun was rising. But when Auron awoke he discovered that Maechen was gone, figuring that the old man must have left after everyone else fell asleep. Auron would have wondered how Maechen could survive on his own, but it seemed that he had been doing so for quite some time. His gut told him that he would meet Maechen again, so Auron did not worry about it.

…

"I suppose you've met Machen too," Bardock presumed.

Goku thought about that for a moment, trying to recall whether or not he ever met someone by that description. "No… can't say that I have."

"Oh," Bardock said. "It seemed like you have met a lot of the people I did, or their kids."

"Sorry to disappoint," Goku said. "I would have remembered meeting an old man that likes to tell long winded stories."

Most of the night had passed, and the first rays of the coming dawn were coming over the horizon. Neither Saiyan had bothered to sleep this night, Bardock taking the time to tell his story, Goku listening to every word. Relaxing during the story had been rest enough for them, and both could manage another day without proper sleep. Still, they were surprised by the first rays of sunshine, neither realizing how long the story had taken to tell until now. They stood up and faced the east to greet the dawn, the start of a new day.

"Let's get some breakfast," Bardock suggested. "We can continue after we eat."

Goku nodded. "That sounds good."