Chapter 10: Another Time, Another Transformation

It was still early in the morning in the Calm Lands, story time having gone all through the night. The two Saiyans here had already run out of things this place had to offer, the vast fields just about empty of wildlife that was fit for eating. For breakfast they had caught plenty of fish in the nearby sea, cooked it up quickly, and had already consumed all of it before the sun finished climbing over the horizon. All that was left in the Calm Lands was to look at the birds flying in the sky, and to take the occasional pot shot at those birds with energy blasts.

For a few minutes they simply relaxed and listened to the wind blowing through the fields, before they got bored with it and moved on to what Goku really wanted today. "So what happened next?"

"I think that would be obvious," Bardock said. "We completed the pilgrimage."

…

It was still early in the morning when the last of them awoke, and soon the party resumed its journey for the final length of the pilgrimage. They travelled down the broken highway into the ruined city, taking in the sights of the buildings destroyed long ago. Every step of the way took them closer to the ruined stadium, where a cloud of pyreflies swirled over Zanarkand. The journey took little more than an hour to complete, bringing them to the threshold of the stadium. The entryway had collapsed a long time ago, leaving an open gash in the wall to cross through.

At the threshold to the stadium pyreflies came together, condensing into the form of an elderly priest, who seemed to be staring into Braska's very soul. "Journeyer of the long road, name yourself."

"I am the summoner Braska," he introduced himself. "I am from Bevelle."

"You have journeyed well," the Unsent priest acknowledged. "Lady Yunalesca will surely welcome your arrival. Go to her now, and bring your guardians with you."

The Unsent priest quickly walked away from Braska, soon disappearing back into the pyreflies from which he came.

Braska led the way into the ruined stadium, where the pyreflies were much thicker and casting a dark shadow that permeated everything inside. Walking through the swarms of pyreflies sent chills down their spines, a sickening reminder of all the people that perished here long ago. The route through the ruined stadium had been constructed from fallen debris, spanning a wide open space that appeared to have been the Blitzball arena. On the other side they entered a long hallway, finding steps at the far end leading up into a chamber.

Beyond this place was the Cloister of Trials, just like in all the other temples visited before. It was a simple puzzle to solve, given the aerial view of the glowing floor that Bardock provided. Solving the puzzle opened the way forward, which in turn was blocked by a monstrous guardian wyrm. Bardock easily solved that as well, blasting the wyrm into many pieces splattered on the walls. From here the way forward was a vertical shaft down, and a platform rose up to carry a summoner to their true destination.

When all four of them were on the platform it descended into the void, taking them down to the bottom level. There was a short hall at the bottom that they walked through, leading them to a place that looked like a Chamber of the Fayth. Like the ones before there was a statue in the floor under glass, this one resembling a man wearing armor with a long flowing cape. Besides the cracked glass and chipped stone, this statue appeared to be just like any other Fayth. However, when Braska knelt to pray to the Fayth, nothing happened.

"This can't be…" Braska muttered. He stopped praying and stood up, facing his guardians. "There's no Final Aeon?"

"Huh?" Jecht said. "What do you mean no Final Aeon?"

"This isn't a Fayth," Braska clarified. "It's just an empty statue."

The rear wall lit up with blue light, and the Unsent priest from the stadium entrance emerged from the light. "That statue lost its power as a Fayth long ago. It is Lord Zaon, the first Fayth of the Final Summoning. What you see before you is all that remains of him."

"What happened?" Auron asked.

"Lord Zaon is…" the Unsent priest seemed to hesitate, as if still coming to terms with the reality himself. "His soul is gone."

"Gone?" Jecht questioned.

"Then how does one get the Final Aeon?" Bardock asked. He looked at the others. "We saw that other summoner use it. I fought with it and nearly defeated Sin."

"Fear not," the Unsent priest reassured, as he did for all summoners that made it here. "Lady Yunalesca will show you the path. The Final Aeon will be yours. The summoner and the Final Aeon will join powers. Go to her now. Inside, the lady awaits."

Just as he had appeared, the Unsent priest vanished once more.

"I guess we go through there," Jecht said, pointing at the blue light coming from the wall, where the Unsent priest had come from.

It turned out that the wall behind the light was merely an illusion, something to make one think passage was impossible before one was ready to pass. Walking through the light and the illusionary wall took them into a large audience chamber, much resembling the entrance halls of the temples of Yevon. On the far end there were steps leading up to a door, though where it went none of them could fathom a guess. From that door a woman with long white hair and bathed in pyreflies emerged, so scantily clad that only the bare essentials were covered.

"That must be Lady Yunalesca," Braska figured.

"Welcome to Zanarkand," Yunalesca greeted. "I congratulate you summoner. You have completed your pilgrimage. I will now bestow you with that which you seek. The Final Summoning will be yours. Now, choose."

"Choose?" Bardock questioned.

Yunalesca kept her gaze on Braska. "You must choose the one whom I will change, to become the Fayth of the Final Summoning."

"One of us must become the Fayth?" Jecht questioned.

"How do we know which one of us should do it?" Auron asked.

"There must be a bond between chosen and summoner," Yunalesca answered. "For that is what the Final Summoning embodies. The bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends. If that bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin."

"Is that why Belgemine failed?" Braska asked. "Her bond wasn't strong enough?"

"Yes," Yunalesca confirmed. "She did not care for the guardians that protected her, not in the right way. Her bond with him was weak, and so her Final Aeon was weak accordingly."

"So she gave her life for nothing," Auron said.

"There is nothing to fear," Yunalesca assured. "You will soon be freed of worry and pain. For once you call forth the Final Aeon and defeat Sin, your life will end. Death is the ultimate and final liberation."

"No it isn't," Bardock muttered, knowing that firsthand. Then he raised his voice. "We'll prove it by destroying Sin once and for all."

"You seek to bring an Eternal Calm," Yunalesca surmised. "What you seek is not possible. Sin is eternal. It may be stilled for a time, but Sin is always reborn."

"Then make me the Fayth," Bardock requested. He turned to look at Braska. "Maybe, as an aeon, I will become powerful enough to kill Sin for good."

"But Sin always comes back," Auron said. He stepped towards Yunalesca. "Why does Sin always come back?"

"Every aeon that defeats it becomes Sin in its place," Yunalesca answered, like it was obvious. "And thus is Sin reborn."

"Then what's the point?" Auron demanded. "What good is the Final Summoning if it just creates the next Sin over and over again?"

"Sin is an inevitable part of Spira's destiny. It is never ending," Yunalesca described, letting that sink in for a moment. "The Final Summoning gives the people of Spira hope. Without hope, they would drown in their sorrow."

"But there must be a way to stop Sin for good!" Auron pleaded.

"A thousand years have been spent trying," Yunalesca said. "It has not been found, because it does not exist."

"Very well," Braska said, stepping ahead of the others. "I will use the Final Summoning, and life Spira's sorrow one more time."

"Now choose," Yunalesca said. "Who will be your Fayth?"

"I will," Bardock said. "Perhaps a Saiyan Aeon might resist Sin's corruption."

"No, you can't!" Auron said, getting between Bardock and Yunalesca. "If you're wrong, and you become the next Sin, with all your power behind it, you might become a Sin so powerful that no Final Aeon could ever defeat it again."

"Then make me the Fayth," Jecht said. "I'll fight Sin with you Braska. Maybe, if we fight together with Bardock, he might find a way to stop Sin from taking over the Final Aeon. I'm sure I'd die in the end, but then my life would have had meaning."

"There's no guarantee that will work," Auron argued.

"It's the best option we have," Jecht reasoned.

Braska put one hand on Jecht's shoulder. "Jecht, thank you."

Jecht nodded, and then turned to Auron. "Braska still has to fight Sin, Auron. Guard him well, make sure he gets there."

"And then what?" Auron argued, asking something that often went unasked. "If your plan fails, your deaths with mean nothing."

"I suppose, you could try to find my Zanarkand," Jecht suggested. "My dream is back there. I wanted to make that runt into a star blitz player. Show him the view from the top. If by some chance you find my Zanarkand, look after my boy."

"If I can, I will," Auron promised.

"After you get little Yuna to Besaid," Braska insisted.

"At least I know I can do that much," Auron said. Then he looked at Bardock.

"What?" Bardock asked.

"Don't you have any last requests?" Auron asked. "Any children you want me to look after?"

"Trust me on this one," Bardock insisted, thinking it better if they didn't know the details. "If either of my sons still live, and if one of them happens to show up here, you run. You run as far as you can, and you pray that you escape his notice."

"I'll take your word on that," Auron said.

With nothing else to settle, Braska approached Yunalesca. "We're ready."

…

It was late in the morning now, and Goku was looking to the north. There Zanarkand lay far beyond the horizon, where fate seemed to beckon to everyone on this world. Goku imagined a small group of comrades sharing their last moments, knowing that they would never be the same again. He also thought about the quip Bardock said he made way back when, and just how wrong his advice had been. Granted, if it had been Raditz instead of him the advice would have been correct, but that scenario was neither here nor there.

What did matter was this ritual performed in Zanarkand, and Goku thought about the human sacrifice that it required. "I think I can see where this is going."

"Really now," Bardock said. "Why is that?"

"The first time I destroyed Sin, I saw someone appear," Goku said. "I get the feeling that was Jecht."

Bardock nodded. "Yes. But I'm sure you don't know the particulars of how that happened."

"I'd rather not think of it," Goku said, remembering when the black pyrefly tried to possess him. "So did you fight Sin here?"

Over the time spent here Goku had gotten a better look at the terrain, now recognizing the scars of battle all over the place. Many battles had taken place here, some having nearly torn the land in two, the damage large and deep enough to still be visible after centuries of erosion. The Calm Lands appeared to be the preferred place for battles with Sin, away from civilization and no bystanders to get caught in the crossfire. It was amazing that anything could live in a place that saw so much death, or rather had lived until the hungry Saiyans came by.

"Over there actually," Bardock said, pointing to the lands south of Bevelle. "You can still see part of the battle scars, though the grass has overgrown most of it."

Goku looked over there and nodded. "I see."

"Please, do go on," Goku said.

…

"Braska had acquired the Final Aeon."

"It was time to put it to use."

That time was the full moon, and the place was in the lands south of Bevelle. The party of three stood at the northern edge of the Macalania woods, as there had been reports of Sin heading up from the south. By then the sun was setting in the west and the moon was rising in the east, setting the stage for the battle with Sin. Bardock took flight and soared above the forest, needing a better view of the battlefield tonight. He gazed upon the full moon rising into the sky, and quickly transformed into the form of the great ape once again.

Braska called upon the magics at his command, conjuring a rift in the ground behind him. A massive clawed right hand emerged and grabbed the ground, and it pulled up the massive being below. A horned head that vaguely resembled Jecht's came up, followed by a larger clawed left hand grabbing the ground. With two thick arms the being pulled itself out of the rift, and it set foot on solid ground while the rift closed behind it. Like a massive, muscular, discolored version of Jecht, this summoned being truly was Braska's Final Aeon.

Auron did his job and escorted his summoner away from the impending battle, seeking shelter from the trio of combatants to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Along the way he could see the Final Aeon walk across the land, noticing that it was about the same size as the great ape. The two giants stood in the distance, yet were still shadowed by the larger monster further away. The Final Aeon stood eye to eye with the great ape, seemingly measuring each other up before the fight. For a moment Auron thought this might backfire, that they would fight each other instead of Sin.

Instead the Final Aeon and the great ape each raised a fist, and bumped those fists together.

Together they charged at Sin and leapt into the air, the Aeon slashing Sin with claws and followed by the great ape punching the same spot. Then the ape leaped higher and punched Sin's jaw, tipping the head back to expose the throat, and the Aeon buried its claws in Sin's throat. Sin roared in agony as the Aeon tore out a chunk of flesh, and it shook its head to throw off the great ape. The Aeon fell and grabbed the base of Sin's tail, stabbing it over and over as long as it could. Both of Sin's fists struck the Aeon, sandwiched it in between, and pulled away to let the Aeon fall to the ground.

The great ape had reached Sin's face again, and from its mouth it fired a large energy beam at point blank range into Sin's right eye. Half blinded Sin thrashed around madly, enough to throw off the great ape. Meanwhile the Aeon stabbed the Sin's foot, distracting the monster even further. The Aeon leapt into the air and stabbed Sin's chest, and as it fell it gouged long bloody lines across Sin's underbelly. Once the Aeon was out of the way the great ape fired its mouth beam again, hitting those bloody lines and blasting open a hole into Sin's torso.

Energy coalesced on the Aeon's skin and flowed to his chest, erupting in a burst of light there. In that eruption the hilt of a sword stuck out from the Aeon's flesh, perfectly scaled for the right hand that gripped the hilt. The Aeon pulled on the hilt and drew a sword just as long as he was tall, and once the sword was out there was a J shaped scar in the Aeon's chest. The Aeon leaped hallway up the height of Sin, bringing the sword down on the base of Sin's tail. Once strike severed the tail completely, which fell to the ground and quickly became still.

Sin shrieked in pain from the loss of its tail, the kind of sound that all men knew was the herald of death. The Aeon jumped and slashed his sword into Sin's right arm, cutting through black flesh above the elbow, almost reaching the bone buried within. Meanwhile the great ape pulled a giant boulder out of the ground, nearly as big as the great ape and completely solid. The great ape threw the boulder at Sin, only for it to duck at the last second. The Aeon caught the boulder, held it like a giant blitzball, and red energy flowed from the Aeon's claws into the giant boulder.

The Aeon threw the now glowing boulder back at Sin, slamming into Sin's head before detonating a massive explosion. The blast tore open the entire right half of Sin's head, the previously wounded eye was simply gone, and a ripped open mouth made Sin's next roar have a gurgling echo to it. Then the great ape leapt onto Sin's exposed underbelly, plunging both fists into the largest wound and pried it open even further. In turn Sin grabbed the great ape with both sets of claws, pulling apart as if to tear the great ape in two.

The great ape bit down on one of the claws, inflicting enough pain to loosen Sin's grip. Meanwhile the Aeon slashed at Sin's leg, and one set of claws swiped at that foe only to miss its target. The other set tightened around the great ape again, until the Aeon slashed again and inflicted more pain. A slight slack in Sin's grip was enough for the great ape to escape, but not quite far enough to get away from Sin's reach. The great ape was falling when Sin clenched its claws again, just barely missing the great ape's back…

…and slicing off the tail instead.

Immediately that loss had an effect on the great ape, collapsing the moment he hit the ground. Fur retracted into his skin, and the great ape began to shrink. For without the tail this form could not be maintained, and in short moments the great ape vanished from sight. It reverted back into the ordinary Saiyan warrior, only the very small and exhausted Bardock remained. Drained by the battle and sudden reversal of his transformation, Bardock could barely stand and look up at the massive monster that towered over him now.

"So close…" Bardock muttered, clenching one fist. "We were so close!"

But then Bardock saw the Aeon leap into the sky, sword in hand as it ascended towards Sin. Above Sin's head the Aeon brought down the sword, stabbing it right in the intact left eye. After blinding Sin the Aeon dragged the sword down the face, slicing it open all the way down to the jaw. The cut was deep and black flesh split apart even further, leaving Sin's head in tattered pieces that hung off its neck. And yet Sin was still standing, though thrashing its arms around madly. Sin was well and truly blind, and certainly vulnerable now.

"One more ought to do it," Bardock said.

Bardock aimed both palms at Sin, channeling all the power he had left into one more attack. From both palms a large energy beam fired, impacting the gaping wound in Sin's chest and exploding inside the monster. The explosion disintegrated a good portion of internal flesh, leaving an even wider hole in the belly of the beast. Then the Aeon leapt off the ground and lunged into the hole, stabbing with his sword and piercing all the way through. Coming out of Sin's backside the Aeon then fell to earth, leaving behind a wound that one could see all the way through Sin.

Sin fell.

Like a set of armor detached from its stand, the remains of Sin collapsed onto the ground. There Sin stopped moving, and when the gurgled breathing stopped the monster was finally dead. From the open wounds pyreflies emerged, one by one at first but soon multiplying in number. Soon thousands of pyreflies were emerging from all of Sin, shrouding its skin in a veil of every color of the rainbow. Then Sin's body disintegrated into a massive swarm of pyreflies, all ascending for the heavens before dispersing in the moonlit sky.

"Yes!" Bardock yelled, imagining all seeing this saying the same thing, certain of what this meant for Spira. "Sin is dead!"

However, within the dispersing swarm of pyreflies, there was a small black core slowly rising. At first glance it looked like a larger pyrefly, but blacker than the night with a dark red aura around it. Within this corrupted pyrefly one could almost see some kind of insect, taking up nearly all the space in side and branded with the symbol of Yevon. Then it drifted forward and out of the pyrefly swarm, taking its time to scan the area. It soon found what it needed to survive, and rocketed through the air straight for Braska's Final Aeon.

"No you don't!" Bardock yelled.

It took everything he had left to do it, but Bardock leapt into the air and took flight. He flew directly into the path of the black pyrefly, and it crashed into him. Its ethereal form passed into Bardock's flesh, filling him with pain beyond imagination. At the same time Bardock felt the presence of another mind, one that had degraded into nothing more than basic instincts long ago. It sought nothing more than to preserve its own existence, and to protect something far away from here. It needed a body to do it, the body of the Final Aeon that had slain Sin.

The black pyrefly separated itself from Bardock, resuming its path towards the Aeon. Having spent the last of his strength, Bardock fell from the sky and crashed into the ground. He was face up after the impact, and could only watch as the black pyrefly reached its target. The Aeon swung its sword into the black pyrefly, only for the blade to pass right through it. The black pyrefly impacted the Aeon's chest and disappeared into it, leaving a small red spot where it had made entry. Then the Aeon suffered a severe spasm, screaming in agony as the foreign presence invaded his mind.

Far away from the battle, at the very edge of Bevelle, Braska felt intense pain in his chest, like his heart was being ripped from his flesh. "Jecht…"

"Braska?" Auron muttered, seeing his friend in pain. He put his hands on Braska's shoulders, holding him upright. "It's happening, isn't it?"

Now Braska could understand, why the summoner always died after defeating Sin. It was the connection between summoner and aeon, the connection that gave the aeons their power. The connection flowed both ways, and corruption in one affected the other. A poison was corrupting the very essence of the Final Aeon, a poison that flowed directly into the summoner. Braska could feel it eating away inside him, attacking at the spirit instead of the body. Braska collapsed into Auron's arms, barely having the strength left for one final act.

"Thank you," Braska said, his eyes slowly closing. "For everything."

Barely holding it together, Auron held Braska's body in his arms. "Rest well, my friend."

As the summoner died, the Final Aeon was corrupted. The colors drained out of the body, leaving only dark blues and blacks behind. The Aeon screamed in agony all the while, turning more monstrous towards the end. Then his eyes turned bright red, and the scream stopped. For a while the corrupted Aeon was still, as if not able to move at all. It did not last long, and then the corrupted Aeon leapt into the sky. At the height of the jump the corrupted Aeon changed into a glowing sphere of light, which then split into seven lights that shot away in different directions over every horizon.

On the ground, vision fading, Bardock could only watch. "No…"

…

It was early in the afternoon now, though it didn't really matter to either Saiyan. The mood was soured by the somber tone Bardock had taken, the pain of loss evident in his voice. Goku knew that feeling all too well, having lost those close to him on more than one occasion. He knew it would have been worse for Bardock, having lost everyone he cared all over again. It was even worse for Bardock than it was for Goku, having no means of getting them back after the threat was destroyed. Still, there was the silver lining to consider, something that Goku hoped would help Bardock feel a little better.

"Well… at least you did it," Goku said. "You defeated Sin."

"Not really, not in the long run," Bardock said. "Sin came back after all, and it was all for nothing."

Goku sighed and looked away, thinking about just how painful that must have been when it happened. "Is this when you became a Super Saiyan?"

"Almost," Bardock said. "We're almost there…"

…

"I had won, and I had lost."

"Irony hates me."

When Bardock recovered he heard the good news, hearing that the Calm had come to Spira. Everyone was celebrating in the streets of every city in the world, for this was a joyous time that was to be enjoyed while it lasted. Already memorials were being made for the newly declared High Summoner Braska, statues carved in his honor that would be brought to every Temple of Yevon. But that did little to sooth Bardock, knowing that he had failed yet again. So he left to find answers, rage building by the minute.

Bardock flew out of the city at high speed, no care or concern for what he left in his wake. Bardock flew into the sky and set a course due north, heading to the only place he might still make a difference. He left Bevelle behind and flew over the Calm Lands, quickly passing by Mount Gagazet on the right. A few moments later Bardock was flying over the dead city of Zanarkand, spotting the ruined stadium up ahead. He dived through the open dome and flew through the building, penetrating the Cloister of Trials and entering the large audience chamber.

But he wasn't the first one here. Someone else had gotten the same idea.

"Auron?" Bardock questioned, seeing the wounded man standing at the bottom of the stairs. "The hell happened here?"

Barely standing, Auron had been trying to walk away from the stairs. His face was smeared with blood, coming from a gash down his right eye. Auron stumbled and fell onto one knee, and Bardock caught him by the shoulders before he could fall any further. Bardock gently set the man down, easily imaging what Auron had been doing here. Much the same reason he was here, to take vengeance on the person that made Jecht and Braska's pointless sacrifice possible. Auron must have left immediately after the battle, in order to get here in the days it took for Bardock to recover.

"Yunalesca…" Auron muttered, barely anything left in his voice. "I tried… I couldn't…"

"I know," Bardock said, resting Auron's head on the floor. "I'll do it."

If the cycle of death was to be broken, the Final Summoning had to end. Only Yunalesca could grant it to summoners, and so her existence had to end to take it away. She had turned Jecht into a Fayth that was now corrupted, in turn made Braska sacrifice his life, and had now mortally wounded Auron. Even as Bardock walked back in he heard Auron's breathing stop, the last of the unexpected companions lost. After so much death for a senseless cause, the only appropriate act was to bring death back to someone that was already dead.

Bardock passed through the doors to enter the inner sanctum, walking onto the platform that was forever floating in the void. Bardock stopped at the center of the platform, seeing the image of the cosmos all around him. The Hymn of the Fayth was still being sung in the void, but in his rage Bardock could barely hear it. His eyes searched the platform and the space before the cosmos, but could not find the person that he sought. Bardock took a deep breath, clenched his fists so hard his palms hurt, and shouted as loud as he could.

"YUNALESCA!"

The name echoed through the void, soon drowned out by the hymn. There was no answer to that name, no one in sight to hear it. Bardock yelled the name again at the top of his lungs, but again there was only the echo and no answer. The target of his rage was not here, and certainly wasn't going to appear before someone that could follow through on murderous intent. It appeared that Yunalesca knew that she could not survive a fight against Bardock, and so refused to show herself while he was here and wanting her deader than dead.

His rage building up even more inside him, Bardock struggled to keep it focused. Both fists were clenched tight and raw energy cackled around them, even though there was no one here for him to kill. The very air around him seemed to hum with power, and loose pieces of rock on the floor rattled on a vibrating surface. Within the void lightning struck around the platform, though entirely unnoticed in a blinding rage. All Bardock cared about was the vengeance he sought, and even that had been taken away from him.

"I have been denied everything!" Bardock threw his head up toward the heavens, shouting his rage into the void. "Even My REVENGE!"

Raw power erupted from Bardock, blowing wind in every direction. A brilliant flash of light followed, as if a sun had appeared in the middle of the cosmos where Bardock stood. After the flash Bardock was enveloped within a pulsing golden aura, while his hair had turned yellow and his eyes turned green. His now yellow hair was mostly pointing up, and the golden aura was pulsing in a steady rhythm much like a heartbeat. Power unlike anything he had ever dreamed of was now coursing through him, far beyond even the power of the great ape transformation.

"Can it be…?" Bardock muttered, looking at his hands and feeling more powerful than he had ever been before. "Is this… a Super Saiyan?"

"It took half a year to master the transformation."

"It was just enough time for the resurrection of Sin."

A short six months was all it took for the Calm to come and go, as such things always did. Those six months of peace were a blessing to the people of Spira, safe with the thought they could sleep without fear of dying the next day. Now that fear was due to return with a vengeance, all of Spira returning to the spiral of death. And with it would come the return of the pilgrimages, with summoners seeking to bring back the Calm once again. It was only a matter of time before one of them succeeded, and repeat the senseless sacrifice made by High Summoner Braska.

Bardock refused to let that happen, now that he possessed more power than ever before. From the peak of Mount Gagazet he looked over Spira, searching for the first sign of Sin's return. And return it did, as Bardock saw far to the south, with Sin coming out of the sea. The reptilian form had been replaced by an aquatic form, now resembling a massive black whale with fins long and large enough to double as legs. On its present course the new Sin would graze past Bevelle and pass through Macalania, heading toward Guadosalam for the first attack of this incarnation.

Bardock focused on the latent power within him. He slid his feet further apart and clenched his fists, yelling as his power began to surge. A golden aura formed around him, and his muscles grew slightly thicker. Then his hair rose upward and turned yellow, while his eyes changed to green. A bright golden flash intensified the golden aura, and the changes to Bardock's appearance stuck. Now Bardock possessed more power than even the great ape, yet remained at his regular size, as foretold by the legends of the Super Saiyan.

He took off from the peak of Gagazet, flying away from the mountain while leaving a golden trail in his wake. Bardock flew faster than he had ever flown before, fast enough to circumvent the globe in under an hour. At that speed he reached Sin in only a minute, and he rammed himself into the side of Sin's head. The impact twisted Sin's head to the side, and turned the rest of it a full one eighty degrees before Sin stopped itself. By then Bardock was hovering in front of Sin's face, staring into the eyes of a monster that was staring back.

"I don't know if you can hear me," Bardock said, though he tried to talk to him anyway. "Jecht, if you're in there, you would understand."

A mighty roar from Sin was the only answer, and Sin charged straight for Bardock while kicking up huge tidal waves in its wake. The head of Sin slammed into Bardock and carried him along, until Bardock pushed back with all the power he put into flight. In moments Sin had stopped moving forward, and Sin roared as it struggled to push forward. Then Bardock let go and flew straight up, letting Sin surge forward and then dive face first into the sea. Then Bardock flew back down and rammed Sin's back, making the monster completely submerge the water.

Bardock aimed both palms and fired a large yellow beam into Sin's back, burning black flesh while sending himself back up. He burst through the surface and ascended high above the sea, and when he stopped firing Bardock hovered in the air. Sin came up after him, taking flight in a fashion that appeared to be swimming in the air. Sin ascended with his immense mouth wide open, which then closed around Bardock in order to swallow him whole. And then Sin dived back into the sea, letting the water wash down this meal.

In the middle of being swallowed Bardock fired a large yellow beam, piercing the black flesh through Sin's neck. A torrent of seawater surged through, and Bardock flew into the water to come out the other side. From there Bardock flew out of the sea, taking in a much needed breath of air. Sin quickly followed him into the air and slammed a front leg into him, knocking Bardock out of the sky and falling back towards the sea. He stopped falling and hovered just above the water, where high waves splashed at his back and drenched him over and over.

Putting both of his palms together and aiming at the oncoming Sin, Bardock fired an intense volley of small energy blasts. Thousands of them scattered apart and filled the sky, battering Sin like rain against a mountain. Each and every one of them exploded on impact, blanketing Sin's face with a golden veil that blinded the monster. When Bardock finished firing he quickly flew around Sin to get behind it, and when the veil of explosions vanished the monster had to look for him. It took a few moments for Sin to search, which Bardock spent charging his next attack.

Holding his right hand up with his palm facing the sky, Bardock focused his power into the space right above it. A bright blue orb appeared and hovered there, growing brighter and larger as Bardock put more and more power into it. The last time he used this technique it had failed to kill Frieza, but back then it did not have the power of a Super Saiyan behind it. Once the orb was fully charged he threw it at Sin, which had fully turned around by then. The attack struck the middle of Sin's face, the orb detonating in an explosion bigger than the monster itself.

When the dust settled a gaping wound was dripping black blood, and one long leg covered the wound long enough for a large scab to form and stop the bleeding. Meanwhile Bardock had both his palms up, charging two of the same large blue orbs. He threw one and then the other, the first on a curved path and the second in a straighter one. Sin had turned to shield its wounded face, only for both blue orbs to hit the same spot on Sin's back at the same time. An even larger explosion detonated there, blowing a larger hole in Sin's back. Sin fell down into the sea, splashing into the water and sinking into the depths.

Still hovering high above the sea, Bardock was breathing heavily and looking down. His aura was dimming slightly and the pulsing rhythm slowing, accompanied by weariness in his arms and legs. Yet he knew that there was more work to be done, that Sin was only wounded and not yet dead. Bardock aimed both palms down and charged an energy attack, making his hands glow with bright golden light. The energy grew from both hands and merged into a single bright light, channeling the entirety of his Super Saiyan might.

The sea erupted as Sin's head burst through the surface, spraying a torrent of water in every direction. The rest of Sin remained submerged in the sea, using the water to help heal the large wound that had torn apart half of Sin's back. The head of Sin was looking straight up with its mouth opening, and dark energy coalesced within the widening space. The dark energy built up to overflowing Sin's mouth, and kept on charging even further. All that dark energy, all that destructive power, was now aimed up directly at Bardock.

Bardock fired a massive golden beam at Sin. Sin fired a colossal black beam at Bardock. Gold light came crashing down from above, while black darkness shot straight up from below. The two collided in the middle with a brilliant glare, pushing against each other with flares of power scattering towards every horizon. The golden beam was narrower than the black beam, piercing into the larger attack and forcing its way down towards Sin. Around the golden beam the outer rim of the black beam kept going up towards Bardock.

Struggling to force his golden beam through the black one, Bardock's focus on everything else faltered. The combined force of firing his own beam and the counterforce of Sin's beam was a constant upward push, and bit by bit Bardock was pushed higher and higher. All around him the outer rim of Sin's beam crept up past the golden beam's origin, surrounding Bardock on all sides but up and enshrouding him in an ever growing darkness. Bardock's beam narrowed to pierce the black beam further, and the surrounding dark energy closed around him tighter.

Bardock concentrated his attack into as narrow a beam as possible, shrinking it to just slightly wider than a person and funneling all that power through such a small space. The narrower beam pierced the black beam all the way through, getting to Sin's mouth and then going down its throat. From front to back Sin was skewered by the narrow golden beam, from the throat through its stomach and then out the rear end. The narrower beam kept on going into the water and then the seafloor, piercing the very crust of the planet.

At the same time the larger black beam filled the space left behind when the golden beam shrank, closing in around Bardock where the beam reached his altitude. Once the dark energy was past the golden beam's source it enveloped Bardock, hitting him from all sides and searing into his flesh. The pain shattered Bardock's concentration and the golden beam ceased to be, and the dark energy of the black beam struck him head on. Fully caught within Sin's black beam Bardock was shot into the sky, going up several miles before the dark energy dissipated.

It took all the power Bardock had left to shield himself from the worst of the damage, and when he finally got out of the black beam all his power had truly been spent. His golden aura completely vanished and his power of flight failed him, so Bardock began to fall back down to Spira. His hair reverted to black and fluttered about as he fell, and his eyes reverted to normal before they closed. Arms wide apart and tipping backwards Bardock was falling head first, blacking out as he plunged into Spira's largest ocean.

The last thing he knew was hitting water.

…

It was late the afternoon, and a strong breeze was blowing through the Calm Lands. Goku had been enjoying it while he listened to the story, one of the simple pleasures that he rarely took the time to enjoy. He hadn't been enjoying the latest part of the story, feeling bad for what his father had gone through. To achieve the form of Super Saiyan, yet still be unable to defeat one's opponent, was a crushing blow to morale few could know. Goku wanted to believe the loss was from Bardock's base form being much weaker than his own, but pointing that out would only made the mood worse.

"Is this when you travelled to that ruin I found you in?" Goku asked. "I have to imagine this is the end."

"It might as well be," Bardock said. "There was one more thing I came across, but this was the last time I fought Sin before you arrived. I just couldn't go through with it again."

"Well we've got time for it," Goku said. "What did you find?"

"The strangest thing I've seen in Spira," Bardock answered. "It was like something out of a dream."

…

"As you can imagine, I was getting sick of this by then."

Bright lights stirred the unconscious Saiyan, bringing him back to the waking world with their radiance. Bardock was drifting with the current floating on his back, so he was looking up when his eyes opened. There was light coming from his left as bright as a sunrise, yet to his eyes the sky was black as night. When he turned his head to look what he saw wasn't a sun, but artificial light so bright that it washed out the stars with its brilliance. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, and what he saw was truly a sight for sore eyes.

On the horizon was a city unlike all the others in Spira, a city of glass and iron that shimmered with light. This was a city of a more modern era, a city sometime in a technological age. It seemed like a dream come true, a city that just might have the technology to achieve space travel and get him off this rock. It also seemed like a city that would be in Sin's crosshairs, something that had to be destroyed by the monster. But for this moment Bardock simply looked at the city, taking in the brilliance of a city that appeared to never sleep.

The current took Bardock towards this shining city, and he relaxed to let the current take him there. Soon he was washing onto a shore, which had the city standing right up to the edge. It seemed strange that there would be buildings right up to the shoreline, where any storm or even high tide would inflict damage. Once on the shore Bardock got on his feet, groaning as his aching muscles resisted compliance. To his left and to his right there were civilians enjoying the water, with children playing all kinds of games and laughing all the while.

Yet it all seemed to very surreal, as if something was not quite right about this city. Bardock walked away from the shore and into the closest city street, going along a sidewalk while motorized vehicles took the center lanes. Watching the locals all around him Bardock could see that they did not know fear, not like the rest of Spira did. These were not the people that thought they could die any day, but people that lived their lives in comfort and security. Something was definitely wrong here, as if the entire city and its inhabitants were some kind of dream.

When he got tired of walking Bardock took to the air, startling some locals as he flew away from them. From up in the air all became clear, as he recognized intact versions of ancient ruins from far away. "Zanarkand…"

It all seemed to fit together. This was the place that Jecht had come from, the city that had been described as his Zanarkand. From the air Bardock could see that it was surrounded by water on all sides, the horizon was all sea in every direction. This Zanarkand was isolated from the rest of Spira, all but inaccessible by the means available to the technologically-handicapped world. Yet this Zanarkand definitely had a connection to the Zanarkand of the summoner pilgrimage, for the intact buildings here had a striking resemblance to the destroyed building in the ancient ruins.

"There's more to this place," Bardock muttered.

As far as he knew the rest of Spira had no knowledge that this Zanarkand existed, and if Jecht was anything to go by this Zanarkand was unaware of the wider world. The isolation might have accounted for that, if this city wasn't standing in the middle of an ocean. Bardock wasn't sure if he could believe his eyes on this, for it seemed that the city was floating on the waves. Otherwise the tides should have made construction on the edges impossible, yet there they were standing in opposition to the very forces of nature.

Bardock landed on the roof of the tallest skyscraper, still getting a nagging feeling that something was very wrong here. "What kind of place is this Zanarkand?"

Suddenly the air seemed to go still, and all the sounds of the city went conspicuously silent. It was like going deaf in an instant, only he could still hear the sounds that he created. Bardock looked over the edge of the skyscraper, and he was perplexed by what he saw below. The populace of this city had frozen in place, as if someone had hit the pause button on a recording. Only Bardock remained in motion in a motionless city, finding the effect especially creepy. But then he heard something else, and turned around to face it.

"What is it like, to be awake inside a dream?"

"You?" Bardock questioned, for what he saw there was the Fayth of Bevelle, yet so very far away from its statue. "What…? How…?"

"This place is not real," the Fayth described, and immediately preempted the obvious question. "Oh it exists, but not like you or someone alive does."

Figuring that he should test the claim, Bardock aimed a palm and fired an energy blast at an adjacent skyscraper. The blast hit the target and exploded, demolishing the top floor of the building. A shower of rubble was ejected from the explosion, raining down on the streets below. But halfway down the rubble stopped following, rippled like it was made of water, and vanished into thin air. The rippling happened again at the damaged skyscraper, and the part that had been destroyed reappeared. The skyscraper was whole again, like it had never been damaged in the first place.

"Some kind of construct?" Bardock guessed.

"A summoning, on a scale greater than any before or since." The Fayth looked at the city, sadness emanating from his very being. "Everything here, the buildings, the people, all of it was created a thousand years ago. To preserve the memory of Zanarkand in an eternal dream."

"And Jecht was a part of his dream?" Bardock guessed.

"More than that." The Fayth pointed to a large billboard in the distance, which had Jecht's image prominently displayed. "He escaped the dream, and took on a life of his own."

After looking at the billboard, Bardock turned back to the Fayth. "You had a hand in it, I presume."

The Fayth nodded. "We have been dreaming for a thousand years. We're tired of dreaming. We seek to end the dream so that we can truly rest in peace."

"I could try destroying it," Bardock suggested. "But I suppose that's not going to be enough."

"It would only reform." The Fayth turned and looked away. "Just like Sin, so long as Yu Yevon lives and summons, it will always come back."

"Yu Yevon…" Bardock muttered. "You've mentioned him before."

"Yes." Now the Fayth looked into Bardock's eyes. "Yu Yevon is the source of Sin, the source of this Zanarkand, and if he is destroyed, both will come to an end."

"All of this will vanish?" Bardock wondered, sweeping an arm across the city skyline.

"The people here, the original people, either died or became Fayth a millennium ago." The Fayth closed his eyes and tipped his head down. "The dream is not perfect, for it is based off the memories of those that became Yu Yevon's Fayth. Memory is inherently flawed, and so the people here are incomplete."

"So Jecht was not a complete person?" Bardock asked.

"The original did not survive the war." An ethereal visage of Jecht appeared beside the Fayth, but incomplete with empty voids where pieces were missing. "The Jecht you know is the Jecht that Zanarkand remembers, the star Blitzball player believed to be invincible in his game."

"And kind of a jerk," Bardock added.

The Fayth nodded. "The worst parts of life are often the most remembered. For all we know the original was a good father, but we do not have that memory, so the dream son resents and hates the dream father."

That reminded Bardock of a promise that Jecht once asked for. "So the boy is here."

The ethereal visage of Jecht vanished, and one of a small blonde boy replaced it beside the Fayth. "Like his father, this boy is incomplete. The malice and hate of the original were not remembered, leaving only the naïve innocence and selfishness behind. With guidance, he could be molded into someone greater, someone that might succeed where his father failed."

"I know that feeling," Bardock admitted, as the Fayth's words had dredged up old memories. "Before I died, an alien cursed me with true foresight. It was so I could be tormented with visions of my world's destruction, visions that came to pass when I failed to prevent it. But the final vision, when I died, was my son succeeding where I had failed."

"The sins of the father are redeemed by the child." The Fayth looked at the visage of the small boy, and it vanished into the void. "Some tasks are best left to the next generation."

Bardock nodded, and started walking away from the Fayth. "Jecht and Braska asked Auron and me to look after their kids. Yuna is already taken care of, so I will bring Auron here for Jecht's son."

"And your son?" the Fayth asked.

"Yes," Bardock said. He stopped and laughed. "There's nothing that can be done about him. Whether or not he comes here, that is up to Kakarot."

…

"You just made that up," Goku accused.

Bardock shrugged. "Maybe… maybe not…"

Night was coming again, the day coming to an end along with the end of the story. Finishing the tale had Bardock greatly relieved, as if there had been a heavy weight on his shoulders that he never knew he was carrying, gone now that he had someone to talk to about his pain. Goku looked out at the horizon, wondering where this other Zanarkand may lie, an entire city filled with people that he could not sense. He made a mental note to offer Tidus a ride back there, once Sin had been destroyed for good.

"So where is this dream Zanarkand?" Goku asked.

"It's in the middle of the ocean," Bardock answered. "About as far away from civilization as you can get on this planet."

"Of course it would be," Goku said. Given how fast he could fly, it wouldn't take very long for him to find, so he put that off for later. "Is that everything there is to this story?"

"All that matters," Bardock said. He sighed and looked away. "The rest… isn't really important."

Goku got the feeling Bardock didn't want to talk about it anymore, that much was obvious even to him. "Is there anything else you want to do? Anywhere you want to go? Anyone you want to see?"

Bardock thought about that for a moment, and one option came to mind. "You said you came across Auron? Do you know where he is? We haven't spoken in a long time."

"I don't," Goku said. He stood up and put two fingers to his forehead. "But I can find out pretty quick."

"That sensing thing again?" Bardock assumed.

"Yup," Goku said. Once he found who he was looking for, Goku offered his free hand to Bardock. "Found him. Take my hand and we'll be there in an instant."

Curious to find out what Goku meant, Bardock accepted and grabbed Goku's hand. "Okay. Do it."

And so in an instant, both Saiyans vanished.