Chapter 6: Paradox
"Outside the dream world, life can be harsh---even cruel, but it is life." -Auron, FFX
Disclaimer: The only real people I own are Azrael and the doctor who gave Yuna the bad news last chapter.
"I want to die. Anytime in the near future would be great after what I heard about Yuna. I'd be rid of pain and sorrow and would be with Yuna within a month or so. I just feel that there's nothing I can do anymore." Tidus thought to himself as he silently trudged through the streets of Zanarkand around midnight, rain pouring onto the top of his hood. But he didn't care about the time or his appearance at all; in fact, he had no idea on what he cared about now that Yuna's fate had been decided.
Tidus thought dying was his only option, even though saving Yuna somehow was one too.
But could he do it?
"Saving her would be an absolute miracle, but is it possible? Heck, after I found out that angels existed I began to believe there was hope out there."
Without warning, he looked up.
"AZRAEL! What's the meaning of all this!?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, unheard by the Zanarkand citizens despite his loud outburst. "Come show yourself, you coward..."
Nothing happened. Tidus kicked at the concrete sidewalk with the toe of his boot and kept on walking, holding onto the Deathseeker tightly in his left hand. Right now he wanted to throw the staff right out of his hand and into the rain, but Azrael would kill him. Then again, Tidus did want to die.
He was just about to chuck the Deathseeker when Azrael appeared abruptly in front of him. Azrael grabbed Tidus' arm and held it tightly, just so nothing would be thrown.
"You gonna throw that?" Azrael asked calmly, his cold gray eyes staring into Tidus' rebellious ones.
"And what if I want to?" Tidus answered, his teeth clenched. "What'll happen, huh? Will I die? Or just get a time out?"
Azrael didn't respond. Instead he slowly removed his hand from Tidus' arm, but did not take his eyes off of his apprentice.
"Dammit. Just come with me and you'll find out." Azrael conjured up a portal and walked in, leaving Tidus behind. For a few moments Tidus remained motionless.
"Listen, you wanna make things right?" Azrael's voice rang out of the portal, causing Tidus to jump.
"What do you---"
"Just come in before I change my mind." Without even thinking, Tidus walked into the portal.
For a good thirty seconds or so, Tidus actually thought he was in Heaven. The whole atmosphere appeared to be perfect and serene, the kind of feeling that was rarely displayed in real life.
Yet Tidus was wrong, for instead of there being the pearly gates of Heaven and St. Peter, who had the job of sending people to their destinations, there was nothing of that sort around him except rolling hills and trees. But in the place of blue skies and clouds up above, to Tidus' sheer amazement he was gazing up at outer space. Planets, the sun and moon, several galaxies, and billions upon billions of bright stars; it was all there.
"Where...where the hell are we!?" Tidus exclaimed loudly, not being able to take his eyes off the galaxy up above.
"Well, we're definitely not in Heaven---saying hell out loud would be a one way ticket there." Azrael answered, brushing locks of his silvery hair out of his eyes.
"Sorry." Tidus muttered sheepishly. "But if we're not in Heaven, then where is this place?"
"Purgatory."
"Purga-wha?"
"Pur-ga-tor-y." Azrael told him slowly. "Don't make me repeat it. It's the boundary between Heaven and Hell. Those who aren't religious fanatics or evil wrongdoers come here. Not all of the luxuries of Heaven are here, but this place is enough for most."
Without warning, Azrael walked down a dirt path in front of him, with Tidus following quickly. The whole time, Tidus couldn't help but admire the beautiful scenery before his eyes.
"After a while, this place gets to be pretty boring." Azrael said to Tidus, who looked at the angel with curiosity.
"Why's that?"
"Because that's all Purgatory is. It's pretty much the same everywhere. But if you're lucky then you might come across a person who is walking by or a comet or meteor flying through space."
"But wouldn't the comet be able to hit---"
"---Ah, Auron. Just the person who I wanted to see."
Due to Tidus' question he didn't even realize that he stopped. In fact, Auron was the last person Tidus expected to meet.
"Sir Auron!" Tidus exclaimed, walking over to him. "I didn't expect you."
"Hmph. You're the last person I'd want to see, too." Auron said roughly.
When Tidus was younger, Auron had been a great friend of his father and Yuna's. But according to them, Auron had passed away due to mysterious circumstances and refused to give out any information.
"In that case, I'll be leaving you two alone for a little bit." Azrael answered, conjuring up another portal and passing through it.
"Wait! How do I leave here?" Tidus called out loudly.
"I'll show you later." Auron answered simply. "Come, walk with me. There are many things that I must discuss with you."
Auron began to pace down the long pathway, and Tidus followed him. For a while neither one of them said a word.
"So...what do you need to talk about?" Tidus asked.
"Yuna and her current situation." Auron told quietly. "You know, I've been watching her for quite sometime now, and watching her condition worsen is becoming unbearable. Right now she's bedridden in the hospital."
Tidus looked away from Auron, not wanting him to see the hurt look on his face.
"Auron, I don't---"
"You love her, don't you?"
He hit a nerve.
"I-I..."
"You don't have to tell me now. It's your business, not mine."
With a sheepish look on his face, he gazed at Auron with a mixture of curiosity and wonder. "You know I'm beginning to run out of ideas for how to save her. I've heard Geo-Stigma patients only last a month or so."
Once again both Tidus and Auron were not saying anything to one another. It wasn't until Tidus decided to break the silence between them.
"Hey Auron," Tidus began, "How did you die?"
Auron straightened his sunglasses, and continued walking.
"Hm, I thought you'd never ask." Auron answered.
"My old man mentioned once that it involved your old job, right? He didn't give out any details after that."
"That's the gist of it, but there's more." The ronin answered. "You know how I used to be a worker at the Shin-ra Company?"
"You were a doctor, right?"
"Correct, however my job was to create medical drugs instead of curing people. A long while ago, I had originally discovered a possible remedy for the Geo-Stigma, a disease that had just broken out at the time."
"But I thought there was no cure for---"
"Let me finish." Auron interjected. "As I said earlier, with this remedy I had figured that by making many replications of the drug, I'd be able to save lives. Yet there was a slight problem."
"Go on."
"You see, I wasn't the only doctor in my field discovering possible cures. There was one doctor who did not want my drug to go public. In fact he did not want to find a cure for the Geo-Stigma. He did not believe that my cure would work. He believed that the drug would kill people instead of help them."
"And who was this guy?" Tidus asked curiously, putting his hands in his pockets. "He must have a pretty thick head to believe that the drug wouldn't work."
"His true name is unknown, but he goes by the alias 'Zephyr.'"
"Zephyr? I've heard of that name before."
"Anyways, the day I was to present my remedy for the Geo-Stigma in front of the company president Rufus Shin-ra and his colleagues, Zephyr cornered me. He threatened me to hand the remedy over, or else he'd kill me."
"By looking at your state, it's obvious that he did, right?"
"Exactly. Instead of going to Rufus, I pretended to go back to my office and hid the remedy instead. Yet Zephyr had followed behind. He never did get ahold of the cure, but he strangled me to death after I wouldn't give out the remedy's hiding place."
"So that's how it happened." Tidus answered, slightly taken aback by Auron's confession. "But why didn't my old man tell me what happened?"
"I suppose he didn't want you to know. Due to Zephyr's strength in society your father would get arrested for blaming him, and so would anyone else who tried to speak the truth. You know, I must be the only one who knew who killed me, for Zephyr didn't get caught. Thanks to a powerful team of attorneys as well as a strong authority in Shin-ra Co., Zephyr had gotten off the hook. But even to this day, Zephyr is still searching the perimeter of Shin-ra Co. to find my cure. I'm also the only soul to know where it's hidden; after I died my secret went down with me."
Once again Auron stopped suddenly, pausing to look up at a meteor that had just flown into the sun. He was deep in thought, and Tidus figured he wouldn't say anything until Auron was done pondering.
"There's a catch, however." Auron told Tidus.
"What's that?"
"The whole experience with Zephyr chasing me and my passing somehow caused me to forget the location of the cure. It's somewhere in Shin-ra Co., and if Zephyr gets ahold of it and destroys the cure then no one will be safe."
"Hold on," Tidus said, an invisible lightbulb turning on in his head, "Now I remember where I've heard of Zephyr. After Rufus Shin-ra passed away he was made President of Shin-ra Co. Rufus' killers mentioned him also."
"Hmph." Auron grunted. "So Shin-ra was killed after all. I believe that he had heard of my remedy's cures and tried to search for it himself."
"Zephyr sent out assasins to kill him on the night of my first mission as Azrael's assistant. Shin-ra was the first person I sent to this place." Tidus said.
Both Auron and Tidus looked around Purgatory's landscape quickly.
"One of these days I might run into my old boss. If I see him I'll mention your name. Listen, kid. You should get going. I've kept you here too long."
A portal appeared in front of Tidus.
"That'll take you back to Zanarkand. When you get back there's someone you should talk to. Her name's Tifa Lockheart, and she's not only one of the best bartenders in Zanarkand but she has the ability to talk to ghosts."
"But I'm not even dead!" Tidus said annoyingly.
"It doesn't matter; she has information about Zephyr." Auron motioned Tidus to head into the portal.
Just before Tidus stepped in Auron grabbed his arm roughly.
"Tidus! Remember, the antidote might be the key to Yuna's survival! Speak to Tifa, her bar's called '7th Heaven' in downtown Zanarkand. And don't forget, you must somehow get into Shin-ra Co. and retrieve it!"
At least a million thoughts were running through Tidus' head as Auron spoke. Most of them being about Yuna, Tifa Lockheart, Zephyr, the Geo-Stigma, and Auron's cure.
"Lastly, do not underestimate Zephyr! He is anything but human! That man is not only ambitious but highly dangerous, and he has killed in the past. Just because you are invisible to the human eye does not mean that he won't hunt you down, thanks to Shin-ra's advanced technology."
"I know, Auron, I---"
"Tidus, I made a pact with Yuna's father that I would protect her always. But now that I'm no longer alive, I can only watch her from up above helplessly. You're the only one now who can save her. If you truly love Yuna, you would go to any lengths to save her! Promise me you will!"
"L-love...Yuna!? Do I love her?" Tidus thought as Auron begun to push him through the glowing portal.
And without another word, Auron pushed Tidus into the portal, which closed behind him, still gazing at the spot where the portal closed.
"I do love you, Yuna. I really do."
A/N: Me not updating fast enough is getting ridiculous. But now I think I've found my groove, and I'll continue on with this story. At the same time, though, I'm now prediciting Death's Apprentice to be about fifteen chapters or so, not twenty five like I had originally hoped.
Now that that's out of the way, future chapters (that is, if I can update fast enough) will be even more interesting from now on, now that Tidus' got a mission to do.