Disclaimer: Square-Enix Incorporated owns all copyrighted material this fanfiction may include. All other materials, such as characters, events, dialogue, et cetera, all belong to Zeshin-kun.
Author's Note: To habbo: xD! Oh well, there's always messaging and other methods of contacting me in the end. =P Still, I'd recommend select all and copy before you make the send. The internet can be a cold place, dear.
I've been hearing a few notions about how I refer to Tidus in this fic. If you hadn't guessed it yet, I'm trying my hardest to maintain the nature of Final Fantasy X, which was to never mention Tidus' name and only to refer to him as "him" "you" or "that guy". However, it's quite a simple task when you're playing as him and could only typically be referred to as "you" etc. The hard part comes when you're writing as Shuyin and have to refer to him as something other that Tidus when you're just talking about him. I resorted to using tons of pronouns and adjectives. Here's a quick list on how I've figured it:
Shuyin Other me, My better, The other blitz ace
Rikku The Blitz Ace, Yunie's boy, Yunie's guy, Shuyin's twin
Yuna My love, The dream, "him"
Everybody else would follow one of those schemes. =P I know at a lot of points, this becomes weird and you may not know who I'm talking about, but hopefully I've done a good enough job for you to keep up and hopefully, my telling you this now let's you appreciate it more. x)
Anyway, we're at the next big brawl and where best to have it than right in Bevelle? I hope you all enjoyed Seymour's appearance in Chapter 15 because now you've got another unsent baddie ready to kick up some dirt. This is going to be a simple introduction to the return of Shadow Shuyin, but even so, I tried to make it just as thrilling as what I have planned later. Also, there's going to be a new development at the end, which is going to carry over into later chapters, as well.
Also, there's one more footnote that won't be spoken of for a while, but does have an inkling into future developments so see if you can pick out what I'm talking about. After this chapter, the action really starts to pick up so if you're one of those who have felt this story is going a bit slow, stay tuned.
Spira: The Eternal Discord
Chapter 17: Twilight in Bevelle
Shuyin
"Twilight in Bevelle." I muttered.
It wouldn't be the first time. Perhaps this is why the fates chose to bring me back. Only he can defeat himself, right? It was my fault that those pyreflies of mine were filled with hate and disgust. I lived my life in ridicule of them, the lot of Spira. My existence branded itself in resentment of life, of society. Then, I became a superstar, an ace blitzer, and my bitterness only grew with the rise of fame. I despised Zanarkand's people and that of the world for praising me only once I'd proven my worth to them via sport. My mind clung to the memories of humanity's worst characteristics, their callous and conceited natures. In death, this became vengeance and my breaking point. Bevelle had shown me the proof I felt I warranted since birth, that this world was full of ugliness and despair, that even the most beauteous of creatures, the songbirds and baby sisters, would eventually be broken, betrayed, and abandoned.
"It'll end there, right? When we stop Seymour and your darker side, we'll be finished, right?" Rikku asked of me, her eyes pleading for me to give her some positive answer.
I couldn't give her that answer. I could only look ahead, toward that setting sun that glared at me as if disappointed with how things turned out with this planet. That other part of me, the remnant, remembered Lenne and Kirin. That one knew what happened to them and felt all of it with me for those thousand years. We were so similar that I saw myself in that cloud of pyreflies in Macalania's temple. That's how I knew who had come to the Maester's rescue. Still, there was now a key difference between the shadow and I. I was myself, the star player of the Zanarkand Abes, lover to Lenne, assumed brother to Kirin, whatever it was I needed to believe I was capable of humanity. That thing I left in the Den of Woe, whatever it was, it no longer possessed it. It was the being I became when I lost my heart and soul, when Kirin and Lenne were taken from me. That allowed it to harm Lulu to such an extent; I didn't want to think about what else it was able to do now.
The trip to Bevelle was a dysfunctional parade of sound. Rikku, after becoming frustrated with my inattentiveness, had gone to inquire the same of my twin. Yuna and Paine were conversing with Beclem who had been adamant about joining our fight, even to the point of endangering more lives by assembling Leblanc's pitiful band in Bevelle beforehand. Brother and Buddy, undoubtedly frantic over circumstances, had been arguing over navigation, which point they should take to approach the city. All the while, I could only look ahead. What had I done?
When we landed, Brother had chosen to take a final victory over Buddy in their argument by setting the Celsius down within Bevelle's walls, something the New Yevon guards were all too accommodating. Luckily, seeing Lady Yuna triggered one of their command protocols and they quickly escorted us to the central tower where Praetor Baralai should have been waiting.
Or, at least, that's what those other two would have had us believe. Perhaps it was for his best or they just really wanted a piece of me before their pal had his shot. Either way, instead of being greeted by my most recent host body, the instigator was none other than my longest host and dearest friend, Mevyn Nooj himself. Along with him, he had brought the Leader of the Youth League's rival, the Machina Faction head, Gippal.
"You two. Hmm, well, I had been wondering when the hostilities would begin with you." I easily mused, "Where's the third stooge? I thought he'd have been the most ready to jump the gun."
"Baralai is occupied with New Yevon duties outside Bevelle." Nooj stated.
"I'm sure you two have nothing to do with that, eh?"
"Baralai's been through enough you wretch!"
"Sheltering him from the storm will only work for so long, old friend."
"I'm not your friend! You should have never come back. I don't know what you have done to Yuna and the others, but this time, it ends. No amount of casualties will stop us. You must be stopped at all costs!"
Smiling, I lifted my hands and applauded, "Nooj, I commend you for your bravery and heroism. Sadly, it's awfully misdirected. I'm not your enemy, as unbelievable as it may sound."
"I don't think so."
"I know so."
Without another word, Nooj gripped my collar, using his machina arm to wrench mine to my back. Gippal held off the others with his Grinder. The scene looked all too humourous if you weren't one of them. On my end, I felt Nooj's anger through his touch. His hand trembled with the desire to crush my throat and his ragged breath demonstrated the price he was willing to pay, even if there was a part in the back of his mind that was hesitant to perform. My sending had changed him, you see. He was no longer the deathseeker of two years ago. He was no longer the deathseeker of a month ago. There was a want to live about my old friend now, one I found myself treasuring in him, almost like a renewing innocence.
"Nooj, you don't know what you're doing!" Yuna pleaded on my behalf.
"Yea, Gippal. It's not what it looks like!" Rikku added, inserting herself in the conflict.
"Cunno, Cid's girl. Dunno what's going on anymore, but Nooj's got a point and I'm sticking to his plan." Gippal replied, keeping his weapon up high.
"Hey dummy! I fought the guy some, in blitz or in battle. You really think this stuff you're pulling's gonna hold him?" My better noted, equipping himself with the Brotherhood.
Without a second's time to digest his words, my double struck, launching the sword at Nooj and me while running in for a shoulder block on Gippal. With the large weapon, the Al Bhed couldn't stave the assault and took it hard in his middle. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood, charged with Energy Rain landed just a few feet from us, sending its power into the ground beneath us. When it exploded, I pulled out of Nooj's grip on my neck and scissored his head between my legs, twisting to send the rest of him into the uneven ground. Freeing myself from his machina arm and taking possession of the pistol he carried at his side. Directing the barrel at his temple, I motioned for him to stand slowly.
"What are you waiting for? Pull the trigger. We both know you would."
"Look, we don't have time to chat right now. Short version: Seymour's here and we can finish this right now." I stated, eyes never leaving my former host's.
Nooj hesitated, but surprisingly muttered, "I trust that you'll need full access then?"
Nodding, I removed the weapon and turned it around, holding the barrel of it to hand it back to the Mevyn. Taking my attention back to the others, I noticed Rikku tending to an unconscious Gippal. It turned out, some of the shrapnel made by Energy Rain found its way at the guy's head while he was recovering from the shoulder block. It conked him out quite effectively.
"What made you trust him?" Yuna asked, coming up to us.
"Memories." Nooj lowly stated, his gaze on me gentler than before.
"Memories?" Paine interjected, "I would think they'd make you want to kill him even more."
"Not if you compared them instead of replaying them. The Shuyin that forced me to fire at my only friends wasn't the man that had my pistol to my head." He explained, eyes never leaving me for a second.
"You'll have to go over that with me some other time." Paine replied, taking her leave to help tend to Gippal.
"I could be of use in this fight." He then mentioned to me.
I shook my head, "I think Gippal may need you. I can't afford to lose both Rikku and Paine on this one."
He took the hint and nodded, "Yes, I think those two would be of better use. I'll stay here with the guards and look after Gippal. Do you know where Seymour will strike?"
"Not Seymour. I have an idea where the other one might, though."
"The guards won't cause you trouble. Just tell them I'm allowing you passage."
"Thank you, Nooj." Yuna responded for me, "Everyone! We're moving on!"
"Where do you think you're going, loves?" The high-pitched squeak of our "recruits" echoed.
From the distance, the Leblanc Syndicate approached, their leader displaying an annoyed pout. Apparently, they had been waiting for us outside Bevelle's front gate and when the airship basically bypassed them, they were left between a rock and a hard place, that being Leblanc's head.
"Who put that red eye sore in the middle of Bevelle's hall?!" She screamed, "Do you have any idea how hard it was to get around that thing?"
"Hard? We're the ones that had to lift you high enough for you to get to the deck and then we had to crawl under it!" The fat henchman whined.
"Do you want the heel?"
Following his whimper, I decided there was no time left to waste and took off for the temple on my own. Rikku followed close behind, then Yuna, Paine, and my twin. I believe Beclem and the Syndicate were left with Nooj for the time being. It was probably best this way. Those four didn't have combat experience like our band. Even Nooj and Gippal, who were trained to eventually take on Sin, I didn't believe were ready. The Crusaders were a lost cause during the Age of Sin. I felt them, their ridiculous dreams of martyrdom. They weren't ready to face anything except maybe the typical hoodlum, if this Spira's guidelines allowed for such behavior.
It was simple getting to Bahamut's Chamber of the Fayth. The mechanism for the Cloister of Trials had long since been deactivated. However, the trek from the chamber through the labyrinth of Bevelle's Underground proved troublesome over its length. Fiends amassed there out of the swarms of pyreflies the cells and other deathtraps contained. Twists and turns were filled with memories for me, of mine, of the tortured, of the many generations after me. Even if I no longer felt their pain and suffering, the memories of the lifetimes when I did flooded back to the surface. Bevelle was the catalyst for the remnant's being. This place was perfect to preserve its purpose.
Slowly, I tread through the passages leading to Vegnagun's Chamber. Once I got there, I tried to feel for it, but didn't get anything other than the cold that permeated every corner of the structure. In the distance was the platform where Lenne and I parted ways for a millennium. Yuna placed a hand on my shoulder, nodding sympathetically for me to proceed. Taking a deep breath, I moved on, continuing all the way to the end.
"You're my only hope in saving Lenne." I uttered, though this time, I wasn't directing these words to the machina, "Remember when we said these words, Shuyin? Been a while, huh?"
Nothing, just cold, and I couldn't even sense any similarities in the atmosphere. It was slightly unnerving to be in the area where I was both murderer and murdered. The recollections I had of this place haunted me, even if Rikku and the others had gotten me to put it behind me. No matter the conscious effort, my soul recognized its destruction. My heart was already crying over what could have been, the things I could never regain.
"C'mon, you've waited long enough in the shadows. You've felt the grief this world contains. Why would you wish to retain such emotion? Do you not want justice? Do you not desire freedom?" I continued, glancing all over the chamber, but to no avail.
Whatever was going on, the shadow wasn't here. I had underestimated it. I had figured it would come here due to circumstances, but those circumstances would only apply if it still bore the sentiment of its life. That could've been easily lost to it by my reemergence on Spira. If my new form encompassed who I was in life, then this shadow was not me at all. If it couldn't remember being Shuyin, the blitzer of the Zanarkand Abes who fought against Bevelle until the end, it would just be what I became in death, Spira's executioner.
"Shuyin? What's wrong?" Rikku asked, since I had begun staring horrified into Vegnagun's visage over my thoughts.
"Rikku, I think I've made a mistake."
"What do you mean?"
"The shadow you fought. That was still me. I remember it… but…"
"But what?"
"I don't think it does." I gasped, "I think I'm the only one that remembers."
"But what does that mean, Shuyin?" Yuna asked, coming to look at me, sharing a countenance with the Yuna who had feared losing herself to my evil.
"This shadow… it really is a shadow. Our enemy is just the darkness I grew after death. It doesn't care why it came to be, just that it demands Spira's annihilation." I explained, "That's why it isn't here and wouldn't need to be here."
"Then, where should we go?" Yuna asked.
"We'll have to find Seymour instead. I don't really know anything about the shadow after all."
With our spirits low, we began to make our way back to the surface. Along the way, I began to concentrate on my memories of those years spent in agony. What was my ultimate goal? I wanted to eliminate Spira to bring about a Calm that Spira could really take as their Eternal Calm. I had been feeling, seeing, suffering through the same tragedies every living soul on the planet faced. I absorbed them all at once, whenever such an instance occurred. Those events drove me insane and led me to decide that what was best for Spira was its total obliteration. Even so, Kirin and Lenne, the countless stories that ended prematurely, they were surrounding me, reminding me of why I felt the way I did. This thing, it most likely didn't have those thoughts and didn't know why it wanted what it wanted. It was like a lost child, randomly assuming a role in an attempt to seem like a full-fledged being. I'd normally say that was exploitable, but this time, I wasn't sure that was a safe weakness to take advantage of.
"Attention… wings… Attention Gullwings! Paine, come in! Seymour… attacking… Western District… Quick…" Nooj's voice echoed from Paine's com.
"We have to go!" Paine immediately ordered, "NOW!"
We rushed outside and made our way to Bevelle's condemned ruins. Through Yevon and the thousand years of horror, the only piece of Bevelle to maintain its history was that one area. I'll give you one guess as to why. If you need some background, this was the part of the city that the old Bevelle Jowiles Stadium was built. Considering who the secret leader of Yevon was, it didn't surprise me one bit that this was the only chunk of Bevelle that made it through the test of time. Of course, all the technology was totally wiped out, but not even good ol' Mikala could've stopped that.
When we got to the scene, the stadium loomed over us, worn down by age and had a new skylight courtesy of Sin, no doubt. As we got closer, I noticed Seymour hurling Ultimas all over the lower levels. There was a guy leaning against the side of the building, apparently oblivious to the explosions. I left the ex-Maester to the others and made for the guy.
"Hey, are you alright?" I asked.
He simply pushed off the wall and came over, "Don't you think you've done enough to him?"
"What? Who?"
He didn't need to answer me. As I got a better look of his face, I saw all I needed to know. It was Kamil, the Areth lookalike. I had killed him in the past. Did that make him an unsent now? At a time like this, I really couldn't deal with…
"He hasn't been the same for a while now."
I turned to the voice and I was suddenly inside the stadium back in the day and the person who'd spoken those words I had heard before appeared before me. Sleek jet-black hair, tanned skin, and a pair of shades flashed across my eyes, which was soon replaced by a Flare. The spell brought me out of the past and through a thin wall of rubble. When I came to, I saw that Anima had been summoned. Unleashing my sword, I dashed in to take it down when something swooped in, tackling me to the ground.
"Hey Shuyin. Didn't expect you to get all nostalgic on me so soon." The remnant mused, its voice even closer a duplicate to mine than even Yuna's guy.
"My age just caught up with me is all. I'm already catching my second wind."
The stage was set. My double was set on gouging Seymour onto the Brotherhood. Yuna was offering backup decked out in her Alchemist dressphere. In the meantime, Rikku and Paine took on Anima, both protected by the heavily armored Dark Knight. Therefore, I was left to deal with the trouble I created for Spira. It was then that our reinforcements arrived. Leblanc's team equipped themselves with Ribbons and came to the aid of Rikku and Paine while Beclem added himself to the fight against Seymour, armed with… a practice rapier.
"Marvelous." I mumbled.
"Eye on the prize, mister." The shadow grinned, slamming its sword down at me.
I quickly dodged to let it strike the ground, then planted my hand to lift up into a double side kick, which I followed by grabbing its neck between my ankles. Tucking my arms, I made a forward tumble to flip it, but it knew and compensated, twisting enough to land crouched on its feet. I immediately came out of the roll with a lunge, but it made a similar lunge while it turned in its crouch and I had to offset my position to bypass it. My weapon slid harmlessly by its head and its skimmed just next to my side. Using its momentum, it pulled forward and grasped my collar with its free hand. Pulling me up, it began swiping at me while I was still mid-air. The shadow's swings came in hard and fast, keeping me stranded off the ground. I waited for an opportunity and, as expected, it made a vertical slash upward. I pressed the flat side of my blade against it, rolling forward to plant both my heels straight into its skull. This was when it chose to make use of what it could do as a pseudo-unsent. I found myself passing through it as pyreflies blinded me from the surrounding.
"Cheap tricks already, eh?" I said into the swarm.
Suddenly, there was a brightness beyond the pyreflies and I strained to see what it was before it came at me, a powerful Flare from Anima. The spell sent me plunging into the ground and the shadow was on me the moment I recovered.
"About that nostalgia…" It jeered, pushing the blade deep into my waist.
I winced at the pain, garbles of ideas flowing through my mind. I saw myself in the Calm Lands, in the Bevelle of my dreams, facing Areth, facing that soldier, seeing the blood-craving grins as the weapon pulled up, causing more damage. Choking out some that had flooded into my throat, I saw myself this time, eyes filled with vile ecstasy as it plucked the weapon out, leaving me to collapse onto the floor.
From the distance, I saw that Anima was defeated again, but Seymour had had his fill. With my better and Yuna regrouping with Rikku and Paine, the remnant easily released a smaller bolt of Force Rain to send dust into the air before pulling the ex-Maester away in a stream of pyreflies. Trying to get back to my feet exasperated my injury and I found myself seeing blurring visions of the city, the blackening day further dimming as I fell to darkness.
Author's Note: Fans of my first story know what this is from and yes, this is the same situation so don't worry. I don't plan on killing Shuyin just yet. . . I mean, I wouldn't kill him, right? ^.^;;; *sees the fangirls readying the knives and torture devices* O_O So like, he's still fine and dandy… well, give or take the stitches. Anyway, so evil Shuyin. How'd you like him? =D
Next chapter, we'll be seeing some more development on that, but Shuyin's out of the game for now, right? Future events should prove interesting, wouldn't you say? Like I said earlier, tune in! Ciao for now!