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: So Areth, after everything that we went through with Eternal Love just might be the hero this time? Oh dear, 36 chapters in and that's when they figure it out? Well, if it isn't too late, maybe they could free Areth from Shuyin's cold-hearted unsent grasp and allow the enemy of their enemy to become a friend.
Of course, one must then consider the validity of her claims. Some might not be inclined to agree with Yuna's theory, though it does offer its points. Areth had been trying to warn them about Shuyin, to ensure that Tidus would not fall into the same path that led Shuyin to damnation. We've seen Rikku's reaction, Tidus', and Yuna's, but there was another one in there who considered herself a likewise victim to unforeseen elements of fate. What must Paine be thinking about all this?
To haboo, all good questions and I hope you'll wait for the answers as it could be a while. x) Depressing is what Shuyin's all about, especially when I'm trying to make a mess of the situation. x) Anyway, if it's any consolation, you won't have to feel sorry for Rikku for much longer. *readies the murder weapons and torture devices* 3 ... I mean... *readies the "teddy bears"... yea, that's it*
To Jammy, no worries, but I'm happy you've joined now and that you reviewed. I hope you enjoy the rest of this story and let me know what you think in review. =)
Spira: The Eternal Discord
Chapter 37: United We Fall
Paine
Shuyin's eyes were cold, lost to the shadow's devices. I tried to help him come to his senses, but there was no way my being there was going to have enough of an effect. With its pyreflies, the shadow lifted me from him and pushed me against the rocky wall behind me. Still, I could feel a cushion of the little creatures at my back even with the force of the other ones plowing me straight into the wall. In my mind, I knew he was fighting it, but it was getting harder with everything that had happened recently easily chipping away at him.
"Shuyin, you're better than this. Think about it, Blitz Ace. You're the hope of Zanarkand, aren't you? Areth's still on the loose. Don't you want to stop him?" Yuna's man said.
"Zanarkand…" He began saying, "Zanarkand was betrayed."
They began talking about that, the Machina War that made Shuyin so vulnerable to his demons in the first place. I desperately hoped he could win against them and rise above those wretched moments because, deep down, I needed it. I needed to see that someone who was damaged could find her way back from the brink. I remember fooling myself into thinking I could as one of the Gullwings, pushing away those memories so I could live my life anew. That only made me bitter. I couldn't face them and that meant lying to myself about who I truly was, what had actually happened to me. I wanted a way to face them, to remember every painful minute and be fine with it. When Shuyin fought so hard to maintain himself and didn't even let us offer sympathy when the shadow replayed the worst events in his life, I greatly admired him and thought that if he could be that brave in facing his dark past, I should have no excuses.
But that all changed when his lips curled into a vile grin at the mention of being under the shadow's thrall, "Do you honestly think I could be so easily controlled?"
"What?" Only Rikku wasn't surprised.
It was probably from how long they'd been together. She knew almost as much about his and his limits as the old Kirin did. She could sense it in him, that Shuyin wasn't right this time. Something also told me that he had accounted for it, appointing Rikku as the one to finish him off if he wasn't capable of winning. The look in her eyes when she raised her daggers against him broke my heart. If he had failed, what hope did I have?
"Lenne?" Slight hope returned when he stuttered at her name.
Even then, it was short-lived. This Shuyin didn't hold enough of a viable soul to acknowledge her, to understand love. After only a small break in character, he was back to that hideous apparition we faced in the Den of Woe the first time. The one we had come to know and respect was gone, lost in his battle for superiority. As strong as he was inside, the darkness in his heart defeated him. By then, even I could feel it. The pyreflies that still held me against Gagazet overflowed with hatred and rage, the same that filled the entire cavern and the Farplane depths alike when Shuyin's malice possessed them. It wouldn't surprise me if the Den of Woe was kept stable by it, an arrogant testament against the very forces of nature. They wouldn't let the caves fade into history and, likewise, the tortured the Farplane's tranquility, drenching its harmonious will with their malevolent blight.
"Hmph, you think she can save you now?" Areth would speak, letting us understand that Shuyin was gone and only the shadow remained.
"Did you really think I wanted this Shuyin gone? Silly mortals. He and I are on common ground." He added, revealing his true motives for reminding Shuyin of his crimes.
"It's you who antagonize our goals." The shadow told us, clutching my body tightly in its pyreflies.
I was thrown into Shuyin's fayth-born dream as he pleaded with his originator, "Shuyin, stop letting the shadow do this to you!"
I knew those words were futile by this point. Rikku made it really obvious. Our mission was a failure. The only thing left to do was fight, but I couldn't bring myself to. I was too shattered and shaken by his loss to his demons. My mind started playing back the moments before the apparition retook him, too. I was the one that took the fight out of him when I stabbed the shadow through and gave the impression that it was beaten. In doing so, Shuyin relaxed himself too soon, probably letting himself feel the pain and sooth his wounded heart, both perfect conditions for the evil presence to seep back in and consume him.
"You lot are so easily fooled, it's embarrassing."
"He's not Shuyin." Rikku growled.
"Oh, but I assure you he is." Areth stated, but I knew more than the others what he was trying to say.
The rest of the conversation meant nothing to me. Those two were planning to end existence again. Regardless of how they intended to do it, I understood what Areth had said to us. It wasn't like before. I was possessed just as Rikku was, even Yuna now, but none of us were left completely blank. We were all there, we watched what was happening to us, and we were simply unable to do anything about it. This time, it was Shuyin being possessed by a part of himself. That wasn't nearly the same. It was what Shuyin had told us even before we got to the Den of Woe: They merged. The dominant will became the only presence to survive that process so, while Shuyin had a physical body left, his mind was nothing more than bitterness and resentment developing to a full capacity. He was dubbed the "shadow" because of being a shadow of his former self. That was why Lenne had any effect on him when we fought him in the Farplane, by reawakening the dormant true essence in him. That essence was now extinguished and the "shadow" was maturing inside of his hollowed out shell of a body. Whatever he needed to be a complete individual was being afforded to him by Shuyin's memories. Since Shuyin himself was a stubborn and strong person, whatever happened in his past made him decidedly good, love being the key. All the same, the hatred of the shadow only turned him into a pure monster, remembering every bit of wrong Shuyin witnessed in life and using that to fuel its evil nature.
By the time they chose to go, I had already come to terms with the fate of warriors like us. If he couldn't battle back his demons in the end, neither could I. Rikku had broken down once they left, the last of her emotional strength used up to make that stand against him. She was still innocent, but she had given much of herself to helping him and, while I thought Shuyin depended on her some to keep him going, Rikku had the same invested in him. We were all caught off-guard thinking about a bright future when there was obviously none to be found so now that that fantasy crumbled into dust, we were unprepared to deal with it.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" I heard Rikku say behind me while I absentmindedly made my way to the bridge.
"We'll send him to the Farplane. When he's there, the nurturing atmosphere should save him eventually." Yuna suggested to her, as if that was going to help.
"It didn't help us last time when he was in there." I told them, making my way back over to them still at the hatch.
"We'll have to defeat him like we did Seymour. Fight him until there's nothing left." The dream of the fayth offered, but he might have just been lashing out.
It wasn't like he was a normal enemy. Who could guarantee that going to the Farplane, even in pieces, wouldn't only spread his pyreflies further and let those tainted emotions blackened Spira's core further? Really, all we could do was keep moving on, fight until our last and see if there was any point to it at the end. Yuna saw that Rikku wasn't handling all this well and took her to her room while the rest of us were left to decide if we were going to lay down and die, talk about how to fight, or scream like I so wanted to. However, I was going to hold it in. Shuyin held it in and failed when the shadow's influence pulled them all back out, but for all intents and purposes, he was at his strongest in fury. Maybe I could do the same, harness my hatred and resentments to push farther, strike harder.
"What in the blue blazes happened down there?" Cid bellowed when we got to the bridge.
"Shuyin's gone. The shadow won after all." I told him calmly beside the fact that I wanted to explode.
"What do you mean 'the shadow won after all'? Won what?"
The dream explained for me, "We thought the other Shuyin, the one we were fighting against possessed our Shuyin so that's why we went to Gagazet because Rikku said he'd be there. He was, but he ended up telling us he wasn't possessed at all. It was just him all along."
"Well, that or the merger he was so worried about went in the shadow's favor after all." I corrected.
"That's great and all, but what does that mean? What are you planning to do now?" Cid asked us.
"What can we do? Beat the bastard to a bloody pulp? Send him? Really, we don't have any idea what would actually work on him." The dream admitted.
"Don't wallow like a bunch of sorry saps, now. Get a plan goin'! That's an order!" Cid grumbled, turning away to boss around some of the Fahrenheit's crew.
Taking a breath, I thought to suggest the only route we might have left, "We should go to Mushroom Rock Road. Maybe Nooj can come up with something."
"Why are we going there?" The guy asked me, making me want to smack him.
Instead, I just took another breath and explained, "Until Nooj sets up permanent headquarters in Bevelle, the Youth League is still at Mushroom Rock Road."
"I mean, do we really need to go to the Youth League?" He replied.
"Right now, they're the only military we have not on duty. We should consult with them and figure out a plan. The crusaders in their ranks might still have some of their old battle machina." I suggested to him, thinking through the scenario.
"Then, we should contact Lucil or Elma first. There's no point in going there on a fool's errand."
At the point, Yuna returned, "If we do that, shouldn't we go to Bevelle? Nooj sent Lucil and Elma to aid Baralai in defending Bevelle's Underground, remember?"
"Bevelle then." I accepted, "We can tell Baralai he was right all along. Should put a smile on his face."
"No, we should hold off then. From what I've been hearing about the guy, he's not going to take it lightly. How much do you wanna bet he'll want to come along with us?"
I had to admit, he had a point. Nooj was possessed for two whole years, but he was hardened and didn't seem too fazed by not having control of his body. Baralai was much more idealistic and sensitive to the wrongs of the world. If we were to tell him he was right and Shuyin was on the loose again, who knows what he might think to do. It was too risky. That's when Yuna came up with the idea of going to the Youth League headquarters without any formal notice. We weren't going in hopes of a miracle solution or anything, but the way we were, we needed some time to recover and think things through to come up with a proper way to deal with the problem.
"Like Yuna said then."
With that in mind, I went to the navigations console and plotted a course to Mushroom Rock Road. Cid joined those two as I left, which gave me time to be alone with my thoughts. After I set the navigations, I stayed at the console, browsing through recent history to look at all of the files that were opened before Shuyin's folly. I found them to be slightly worse than I had wanted. There were files on Vegnagun's specifications and current diagnostics of its systems. He took a lot of time to review the Machine Faction's plans for reconstructing the ancient Machina Cities, specifically power supplies. Also, he had been looking at Bevelle's historical records, citing several visits to past Maesters and regulations made by Yevon. I was afraid he'd be tempted to rethink his plot to destroy Spira with Vegnagun, and maybe he was convincing himself otherwise, but the thought had remained with him and was the obvious choice in weakness when the shadow merged with him. It catered to his doubts about a bettering world in Spira and fed into his fears of a repetition of the Machina War. It didn't take me too long to understand that he still carried those feelings he did when we faced him before. A millennium of holding true to that resolve doesn't just disappear overnight.
I was just about ready to give up, having already accepted the reality of our fate, but then one small link caught my eye. It took me to a file about the Songstress Dressphere and how it came into being. Unlike the other files, Shuyin had had this one placed in temporary memory, which meant it was still being accessed when we arrived at the Den of Woe. What did that me…?
"M'lady Paine," One of the Al Bhed on staff alerted, "Trouble."
"What is it?" I asked him, closing the file and following him.
"Mushroom Rock Road is up ahead." He told me, pointing to an alcove in the distance.
There was heavy smoke coming from it and, when I had them zoom the external comsphere, I distinctly made out broken parts of what had to have been the guard machina at the entrance to the Youth League Headquarters. Quickly, I ran to the communications deck and began casting broadband transmissions. After ten minutes of no response and dead air, and having the airship at landing distance from the alcove, I had no choice but to investigate what I already knew I would find. Gripping the transceiver tight, I slammed it back onto the control panel before making my way back to the others.
"The Youth League's been attacked." I told them, directing their attention to the view-screen.
When we arrived, the entire place looked like a war zone. Whatever remained of the bodies were scattered about, laying open with vacant expressions. Their weapons were in pieces, strewn to the winds. Only one of the Youth League's banners remained identifiable, its surface coated in black ash and torn all over. While Yuna and the others stared in horror, I decided to investigate a little, seeing what was hit hardest. It looked like one abrupt explosion of force that whirlwinded for a while, much like Shuyin's Force Rain, but it just felt different. The energy patterns weren't right. It could have just been wishful thinking, but it almost didn't feel like the unsents did this. However, when Yuna announced to me that her attempt at sending proved useless and that the dead possessed no pyreflies to send, I knew it had to have been Shuyin. Only he had the gravity of sheer will to draw in exhumed pyreflies. He had done so in the Den of Woe and then again in the Farplane with the individual fayth resting there.
"So what's our next move?" I asked, my eyes wandering back to the airship.
Part of me just wanted to take the ship to Bevelle and crash it right into Shuyin the moment he went after Vegnagun. That thought was short-lived once Yuna noted that, "This Shuyin isn't just the shadow. If he was, he would have gone after Vegnagun by now. He must be up to something different this time, but what?"
"Well, it probably has something to do with pyreflies or he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of getting these." The dream said.
"I agree. He could be collecting a large amount of them for possession on a grander scale." Yuna theorized, putting a finger to her chin.
"You think he'll try possessing the fayth again?" I asked.
Yuna shook her head, "No, that already served its purpose, remember? That was more the shadow's plan to draw Shuyin in. He kept using them to say that Shuyin was something it needed."
"Then, he's going for people then." The blitzer clarified.
"Genius deduction, but that doesn't tell us any more about why he would want to. Why won't he just go for Vegnagun?" I asked.
"Vegnagun was defeated, too. He's conscious enough to make a foolproof plan this time. After all, he's partly human."
"If he's thinking like a human, maybe he'll consider the war he lived through." He suggested.
"Maybe. If that's the case, he might be trying to incite the factions to war again, but Lenne already put a stop to their bickering so he'll want to come up with another way to get them fighting." Yuna started to hypothesize.
"He could just possess lots of people and make them hate each other."
While I couldn't even imagine him being that powerful, Yuna began nodding her approval of the theory, telling us then that he could try possessing everyone and forcing them to kill each other. I didn't want to believe it, but it did make sense. If he was capable of it, he could take hold of everyone and use his total control to do what he wanted to Spira without any resistance. He did say that we would be helpless to stop him this time. Like Yuna noted, we would be completely helpless if we were made nothing more than his puppets.
"You know, with Areth's illusions, they don't even have to possess anybody." The dream added.
I hadn't even thought about it until then, but Areth was on his side, "Do you think he could channel Areth's illusions through the pyreflies?"
"It's possible. If he can possess people, he could probably get them to see anything he wanted. If Areth can make us see all those mirages, what if Shuyin could get those mirages to every place on Spira? They wouldn't even need to possess anybody. All they have to do is make them see enemies all around. They'll kill each other out of self-defense."
"But we overcame those illusions in the end, each time." I said.
"Try doing that with Shuyin giving him a boost." He replied, "You don't even know if what you're seeing is a fake or one of them in disguise."
"They'll kill the ones that do see beyond the tricks and let the others slaughter one another."
"Except I don't think Areth is a true player in this." Yuna suddenly inserted.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked her, not really sure where she was going with it.
"Areth was showing us time and time again what kind of person Shuyin really was from his own interactions with him. He showed us that even early on, he was capable of murder; it wasn't something that resulted from his detrimental path in life."
"So what are you saying?"
"I think he was trying to show us what he was really planning and was trying to warn us about it, but couldn't do so directly."
"Why would he do that?" I questioned, curious how Yuna came to that conclusion.
"He hates Shuyin, that much I think is true based on our interactions with him. So, if he hates him so much, how could he side with him?"
The dream chimed in next, adding that, "Yea, I remember when he first showed up. He asked me if I was just as bad as he was. Maybe he was testing us to stop him. When you were possessed by the guy, he kept trying to tell me not to be controlled by my anger at him for kidnapping you. I didn't want to make anything of it, but it almost felt like he was teaching me not to fall into the same traps."
"He told me. When I was under his thrall, he let me see everything until he made me fight you. All the while, he kept asking me if I could trust Shuyin and what truth I would really find in the words of a man who manipulated everything on Spira. I think he was giving us the chance to understand Shuyin's nature so we wouldn't be led astray from what we actually needed."
"Supposing that's true, it still means that Areth's on his side now, out of choice or fear. The plan could still come to pass, which means he's our enemy. What do you suggest?" I noted.
Without a clear answer, we ended up following Cid and boarding. Cid left a few of his men at the ruins of the Youth League to perform search and rescue along with gathering up the dead. When we took off, Yuna was stuck considering what we should do in case Areth was trying to help us and her man was now at the console, but browsing dossiers and character assessment to find some way to exploit a weakness in battle when we took Shuyin on.
Me, on the other hand, "We go to Bevelle, get them so-called leaders to have a little sit down and we get a working strategy going!"
Grunting at Cid's pugnacious attitude, I retorted, "And what do you think they can come up with that we wouldn't have already thought about anyway? All we might end up doing is inciting Baralai to go off on a suicide run."
"Well, you kids ain't come up with nothin' good!"
"It's not that simple. It isn't as if we're dealing with a typical enemy. We can't just kill them unless you want us to be the first possessed and start a rampage while equipped with an armed airship."
"Fine, then my men are going on duty. We ain't part of no league or faction, but we ain't just gonna stand round here yappin' while crazies go on the loose."
"What do you intend to do?"
"Them's my business." He simply replied.
Before I had a chance to sock him in the jaw, a cadet approached us and alerted us to recently received reports. Going to the view screen with Cid, we were fed images and clips of random explosions and destruction across many regions around the world. There were sinkholes in the middle of several bodies of water near the port and beach cities. Even Bikanel was starting to collapse as Gippal sent us a message, having returned to the excavations site with Rin. Seismic activity was anomalous and growing steadily and there was two or three accounts of strange sound coming from the direction of the Zanarkand Ruins.
"Now we got more of a mess to deal with." Cid bellowed.
"I got it." I told him, thinking about what to do, "If we defeat Shuyin and Areth, this all ends. We should make that our priority.
"Sure, you make it your priority, but my ship, my rules." Cid responded, directing his pilot to take us to Luca.
"What are you doing?"
"This war ain't about you bunch mucking about the planet anymore. All this junk needs to be dealt with, too."
"And how were you hoping to handle it?" I asked him, ready to knock him out and assume control of the Fahrenheit myself.
That is, until he said, "Listen, my daughter's been down and out all this time, you kids can't figure out one way or another what you want to do, and we've still got all those people down there ain't got time to wait. My men can help sort them out. While we're getting them there, maybe you can figure something out. Got it?"
Nodding my head and saluting the captain, I went to the navigations and set a proper course to guide the Fahrenheit to all affected areas and set drop points for Cid's Al Bhed. However, the rest of the crew were still busy receiving more reports and the clamor was nearing unbearable levels. Some time in the middle of it all, though, Yuna finally broke her silence and shouted for all of us to stop. Everything that was going on was raising concern and stress in all of us, something Shuyin was very good about advantaging. If they were going to delude everybody into thinking about fighting, having us on edge was the best way to go so we couldn't let him get that out of us. When we all figured that out, Yuna took her own turn at the navigations panel and plot another destination for the Omega Ruins.
For the next few hours, we took off and hit the drop points to release Cid's crew who began coordinated evacuation, rescue, and relief. The lapse in time before we'd make it to the ruins gave me time to think about where we were. Did I believe all of that that Yuna was saying? Areth helping us realize that Shuyin was up to no good? If I wasn't going to believe Shuyin, why would anyone expect to me to believe Areth? Since it was those two, I had further doubts about the validity of their thoughts. Yuna was possessed by the guy. It didn't take much to figure in a guess that maybe Areth left some of his influence in her mind. As for the other guy, really now, how hard was it to convince him of anything? He hadn't even stopped tilting back and forth over whether or not he accepted Shuyin yet when Yuna was captured and he was fed all those scenes of Shuyin being a bad guy. If anything, I was more inclined to believe he was trying to cause us to doubt the one on our side so that he'd feel isolated and the weakened resolve then benefited the shadow when it merged with him.
By the time we finished our support deliveries and were finally on our way to Omega, I had come to the conclusion that I'd let Yuna play out her gambit of proving Areth's cooperation and perhaps forging another alliance with a vigilante. After it failed, which was what I was counting on, then I'd move in to seeing about Shuyin. After everything we had seen, all the theories we'd made, and the files I found Shuyin looking into, I couldn't commit to the idea that he had just been defeated. Even though he wasn't in control, some part of me felt that he let us go at Gagazet to be able to mount a counterattack. He also accounted for how weary we'd be by now and staged scant problems all over the planet. He probably knew they could be taken care of by Cid and his men, which also gave us this time to rest and regroup. If he was so good at manipulating events, it was easy for him to figure out what Cid's reaction would've been. In my opinion, while he hadn't been able to overcome the shadow, he was still in there, still fighting, but using us as a final backup plan in case he couldn't win out in the end.
"Alright, do or die time." The blitzer announced, readying his sword, the Brotherhood, and opening the rear hatch.
"Let's find out if my idea is correct." Yuna said, taking a gulp, "Omega was where we returned other suffering souls to rest. Perhaps history can repeat this time."
Just then, we heard the uneasy footsteps of someone coming toward us and turned to see Rikku, eyes swollen and red from crying, but saying, "I'm ready."
Walking to the girl, I brought her into my embrace and hugged her close. It was probably the first time I honestly felt her sadness and sympathized with her. "Don't worry, I promise you I'll get rid of your nightmare and whatever's left after."
As expected, her eyes only released more tears as she whimpered in my arms. I rocked her gently, cooing to calm her and make her understand that she was safe with us. She had been possessed by Shuyin before and hoped so much that he had come back a better person. Rikku was too innocent to know the parasites poisoning the heart of a reluctant warrior. I'd beat the shadow this time and do better than light could. Holding back only allowed the darkness to spread to other corners until the light faded. It was time to use fire. Fire brings light and stands to beat back the shadows that try to claim it. If Shuyin couldn't be saved, he'd burn, too.
Right as we exited the ship, it was hit by a glancing blast of Force Rain, toppling all of us outside while it was forced to take off. Yuna had wanted us to land on the ruins' surface, which wasn't firm enough for the Fahrenheit, but rather than being able to hover there in wait, it now had to find a safer location to wait as we came face to face with swarms of pyreflies.
"Attention all passengers, you may experience some turbulence in flight." Shuyin declared when he emerged from the curtain of pyreflies.
"We trusted you, you lout!" I screamed at him, getting to my feet and arming myself with my sword.
For the moment, I would adhere to Yuna's theory and that would be a good opening statement if Areth was to be made aware of our idea. Shuyin merely huffed, walking a few steps to the side as Areth formed behind him. He lifted his sword up to his shoulder and gazed at the setting sun in the distance before giving his attention back to us.
"Really? Tough." That was all he replied with.
"So harsh, Shuyin. Didn't realize your coming out party was gonna be so awkward." Areth added, his words making Yuna's claims seemingly possible, though I still didn't want to believe it.
"He killed your brother, but you side with him?" I enquired, hoping to retrieve more clues to his actual allegiance.
He only took a deep breath, closing his eyes as if enjoying the moment before replying with, "Bigger fish, my dear."
"This world is diseased and in need of cleansing. You've already seen it. All of you. There's no going back. Spira must be purged to ensure peace." Shuyin explained, though now it felt more like the shadow of old, something more along the lines of my theory.
"Didn't Lenne already make you see that there's hope left for Spira?" The dream of the fayth asked.
"What is with you people and Lenne?" He said, "I thought you'd know by now she can't save you this time. I'm not going gaga over her anymore."
That sounded a lot like the shadow had something to prove than anything truthful, "Or maybe you're just suppressing it. Why do you think you would? Maybe because you know she would hate you for doing what you intend to do. You're afraid to think about her."
With that, the shadow let loose a howl of ecstasy and mused, "Didn't I tell you there's none of the old Shuyin you knew left? There never was. It was a trick to lure you into my thrall and servitude."
"If that's the case, why do you have to bury your past?" Yuna questioned, helping me with my tactic.
Shaking his head, the shadow simply sent forth a wave of his pyreflies and forced us to the ground, asking us once he did, "How's Rikku by the way? I'd love to catch up."
As his other pyreflies swirled about his body in an accelerated rate, footsteps were heard behind us, telling us that she had still been on the airship. Once she landed she walked out in front of us, her arms spread out as if to shield us.
"Here I am. Come get me…"
Author's Note: Right, so rather than believe Yuna about an Areth who wanted what was best for the group, Paine believes Shuyin's earlier words that Areth was only attempting to drive a stake between them and sever their strong bonds. Isolated, Shuyin would have even less of a chance to fight the shadow, which means that the shadow is still on the loose. There is still a Dark Shuyin and he is possessing Shuyin, or is he? Paine also detailed a merger situation whereby the two are currently battling for supremacy underneath the surface, Shuyin being the losing side to Dark Shuyin's malevolence. She also provided good backing to her claims, having researched into all the documents Shuyin was scanning. Is there validity to her theory?
Well, as the lot of you can see, we're about to find out. Next up, time to hear it from the man himself. Shuyin accounts for his choices, the circumstances of his betrayal, and the likely future in the next chapter of Spira: The Eternal Discord! Until then!