Truth Revealed, A New Path Opens part 2
Auron: Yuna... We're here.
Yuna: The hall of the Final Summoning.
Auron: Go.
Yuna: Yes.
[She gets on the elevator by herself and ascends. Jecht speaks, on some plane:]
Jecht: Huh? What do you mean no Final Aeon?
[She goes back down]
Yuna: Sir Auron! Everyone!
[They all get on and ascend, walking into the fayth's room.]
Yuna: This isn't a fayth. It's just an empty statue.
[The man from the dome entrance appears.]
Man: That statue lost its power as a fayth long ago. It is Lord Ganondorf, the first fayth of the Final Summoning. What you see before you is all that remains of him. Lord Ganon is...his soul is gone.
Wakka: Gone!?
Link: (recalling the fight with seymour at Bevelle) ... right... gone
Rikku: You mean, there is no Final Aeon?
Man: But fear not. 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.
[The man disappears, and a door opens up behind Yuna.]
Link: Yuna, wait! Auron, you knew this was going to happen, didn't you?
Auron: Yes.
Rikku: Why didn't you tell us!?
Auron: If I had told you the truth, would that really have stopped you from coming? And Link must face his past.
Kimahri: Yuna.
Yuna: I'm not going back.
Kimahri: Kimahri knows. Kimahri go first. Yuna is safe. Kimahri protect.
[The party walks through door into a well-lit room. The door at the top of the stair starts to open.]
Rikku: Someone's coming!
Yuna: Lady Yunalesca.
Link: Yunalesca Zelda Hyrule...
Yunalesca: Welcome to Hyrule. I congratulate you, summoner. You have completed your pilgrimage. I will now bestow upon you that which you seek. The Final Summoning...will be yours. Now, choose. You must choose the one whom I will change...to become the fayth for the Final Summoning. There must be a bond, between chosen and summoner, for that is what the Final Aeon embodies: the bond between husband and wife, mother and child, or between friends. If that bond is strong enough, its light will conquer Sin. A thousand years ago, I chose my husband Zaon as my fayth. Our bond was true, and I obtained the Final Aeon. There is nothing to fear. You will soon be freed of worry and pain. For once you call forth the Final Aeon, your life will end. Death is the ultimate and final liberation. Your father, Braska, chose this path.
[The pyreflies recall the moment that Braska and his guardians had to decide.]
Auron: It is not too late! Let us turn back!
Braska: If I turn back, who will defeat Sin? Would you have some other summoner and his guardians go through this?
Auron: But...my lord, there must be another way!
Jecht: This is the only way we got now! Fine. Make me the fayth. I been doing some thinking. My dream is back in the other Hyrule. I wanted to make that runt into a star fighter. Show him the view from the top, you know. But now I know there's no way home for me. I'm never gonna see him again. My dream's never gonna come true. So make me the fayth. I'll fight Sin with you, Braska. Then maybe my life will have meaning, you know.
Auron: Don't do this, Jecht! If you live...there may be another way! We'll think of something, I know!
Jecht: Believe me, I thought this through. Besides... I ain't gettin' an younger, so I might as well make myself useful.
Braska: Jecht.
Jecht: What! You're not gonna try to stop me, too?
Braska: Sorry. I mean...thank you.
Jecht: Braska still has to fight Sin, Auron. Guard him well. Make sure he gets there. Well, let's go.
Auron: Lord Braska! Jecht!
Jecht: What do you want now?
Auron: Sin always comes back. It comes back after the Calm every time! The cycle will continue and your deaths will mean nothing!
Braska: But there's always a chance it won't come back this time. It's worth trying.
Jecht: I understand what you're saying, Auron. I'll find a way to break the cycle.
Auron: You have a plan?
Braska: Jecht?
Jecht: Trust me, I'll think of something. I'm not a Hylian Knight Commander for nothing!
[Jecht and Braska leave through the door at the top of the stairs. Auron cuts through the specter of his former self and dispels it.]
Auron: And the cycle went on.
Link: Then it ends now.
Wakka: But how? What, you got a plan now?
Lulu: If one of us has to become a fayth...I volunteer.
Wakka: Me too, Yuna!
Link: NO! That won't stop Sin! He will just keep returning!
Wakka: Listen... You wanna defeat Sin and keep Yuna alive... You don't wan't Sin to come back, ya? That is just not gonna happen, brudda, you know?
Lulu: If you want everything, you'll end up with nothing.
Link: So what?! ... I swear to Din... It's just like back then...
Wakka: Now you're being childish!
Link: Childish?! So what would an adult do, then? The Maesters know they can just throw away a summoner, then do whatever they damn well want. Not any more...I Failed as the Hero of Light; and you're right, I might not stand a chance. But I'm not letting Yuna die. I won't continue being a failure!
Rikku: 'You'll think of something'?
Link:I'm confronting Zelda... She knows something.
Rikku: You really think she'll help you?
Link: I don't know, but I have to try. No more running from my past. This is my story.
Yuna: Wait. You say it's your story, but it's my story, too, you know? I would be so easy...to let my fate just carry me away...following this same path my whole life through. But I know...I can't. What I do, I do...with no regrets.
[The party walks into the ruins of Hyrule Castles' Throne room]
Yunalesca: Have you chosen the one to become your fayth? Who will it be?
Yuna: Might I ask something first? Will Sin come back even should I use the Final Summoning to defeat it?
Yunalesca: Sin is eternal. Every aeon that defeats it becomes Sin in its place... And thus is Sin reborn.
Link: So that's why Jecht became Sin.
Yunalesca: Sin is an inevitable part of Spira's destiny. It is neverending.
Wakka: Neverending? But...but...if we atone for our crimes, Sin will stop coming back, ya? Someday, it'll be gone, ya?
Yunalesca: Will humanity ever attain such purity?
Lulu: This...this cannot be! The teachings state that we can exorcise Sin with complete atonement! It's been our only hope all these years!
Yunalesca: Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be.
Link: No! This world of death is just what Ganon wants!
[Just then, the specter of Auron from ten years prior appears, squaring off against Yunalesca, saying:]
Auron: No! Where is the sense in all this? Braska believed in Yevon's teachings and died for them! Jecht believed in Braska and gave his life for him!
Yunalesca: They chose to die...because they had hope.
[The image of Auron brandishes his sword against Yunalesca and attacks, but she repels him. The specter flies back, falls on his neck, and doesn't move; it disappears into pyreflies.]
Yunalesca: Yevon's teachings and the Final Summoning give the people of Spira hope. Without hope, they would drown in their sorrow. Now, choose. Who will be your fayth? Who will be the one to renew Spira's hope?
Yuna: No one. I would have gladly died. I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them. But no more! The Final Summoning...is a false tradition that should be thrown away.
Yunalesca: No. It's our only hope. Your father sacrificed himself to give that hope to the people. So they would forget sorrow.
Yuna: Wrong. My father... My father wanted...to make Spira's sorrow go away. Not just cover it up with lies!
Yunalesca: Sorrow cannot be abolished. It is meaningless to try.
Yuna: My father... I loved him. So I... I will live with my sorrow, I will live my own life! I will defeat sorrow, in his place. I will stand my ground and be strong. I don't know when it will be but someday, I will conquer it. And I will do it without...false hope.
Yunalesca: Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator.
Link: ZELDA!
Yunalesca: Die Link! I will kill you just like you killed ME!
Link: I DID NOT KILL YOU!
Yunalesca: LIES! Now die!
[Yunalesca prepares for battle.)
Auron: Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
Kimahri: Yuna needs Kimahri. Kimahri protect Yuna.
Rikku: Well, I'm fighting!
Wakka: I can't believe we're gonna fight Lady Yunalesca! Gimme a break!
Lulu: you can always run.
Wakka: Hah! I'd never forgive myself - no way! Not if I ran away now. Even in death, ya!
Lulu: My thoughts exactly.
Link: Yuna! This is our story! Together we will see this through to the end. I will reawaken the Master Sword and regain the Triforce of Courage!
[The fight begins, and our heroes square off against Yunalesca, in all three forms. Her first form is that of Ghoma, as she takes the form of the grotesque spider, the very room melts away and is replaced with a large dark cave with tree roots hanging from the ceiling.]
Link: ?! SERIOUSLY!
Yunalesca: Good, i see fear!
Rikku: Gross Gross Gross.
(Link takes aim at Ghoma as she climbs the ceiling of the newly formed cave. She opens her large eye, and Link fires an arrow, stunning her, causing her to fall to the ground with a crash. Link then commands the others to attack. They do so and Yunalesca's spider form fades into darkness. Yunalesca reappears and transforms again, this time taking the form of Dodongo, a large four legged lizard. The room once again changes; this time into a large room with a lava pool in the middle.)
Link: Not again.
Auron: You do have bombs, right?
Rikku: Bombs?
Link: A few. Didn't think i would end up needing any!
Rikku: Hello! I can make explosives.
Auron: Do it! She comes.
(And the battle rages on. Link and Rikku wait for the right moment, Yunalesca comes around the corner in front of them and stops. She begins to breath in, as she does so, Link and Rikku toss in the bombs and grenades, causing the giant Yunalesca to choke as they explode. The Dodongo form returns to the shadows, and the room starts shaking once again, this time the area turns into an open green field, and Yunalesca appears in the hideous form of Barrinade.)
Link: Great... I am sensing a pattern here.
Wakka: What kind of fiends are these?
Lulu: Quit complaining.
Link: Just don't get hit, or you will get the shock of a lifetime!
(Yunalesca's final form attacks. Link pulls out his Gale Bomerang, and charges it. He throws it, cutting down each and every shock-jellyfish attached to it. Our heroes make quick work of Barrinade, defeating Yunalesca. The room returns to the ruined throne room of Hyrule Castle)
Yunalesca: If I die, so does the Final Aeon. And with it, Spira's only hope.
Link: Then we'll find Spira a new hope!
Yunalesca: Link... there is no other way. Even if there was... Even if you did destroy Sin... Yu Yevon the immortal would only create Sin anew.
Link: Yu Yevon!?
Yunalesca: Ah... Zaon .. Forgive me... Spira has been robbed of the light of hope... All that remains is sorrow.
[Yunalesca dies and turns to pyreflies.]
Yuna: I cannot believe what we just did.
Link: I specialize in the unbelievable.
Rikku: What?
Link: We destroy Sin. So it won't come back, and without the Final Aeon. I don't know how just yet. But I'll find out.
[The party starts to walk back to the elevator. Auron calls Link aside.]
Auron: We must talk.
Link: What?
Auron: There is something you should know.
Link: I know...it's about you, right?
Auron: I am also an unsent. You are not surprised?
Link: i kinda knew already... Zelda did it, didn't she?
Auron: When Braska and Jecht died defeating Sin...I just couldn't accept it. I came back here...tried to avenge them. But she struck me down. Someho I made my way, crawling, down Mount Gagazet. But my strength left me just outside Bevelle. That's where Kimahri found me. I told him about Yuna...just before I died. I've been wandering ever since, never going to the Farplane.
Link: Auron...
Auron: Don't make that face. Being dead has its advantages. I was able to ride Sin and go to your Hyrule.
Link: And you've been watching over me since then, why? Why would you care about a failed hero?
Auron: It is one of those things that is difficult to explain. Very well, I will show you. My memories.
[Pyreflies come out of Auron and display one of his memories to Link. Jecht and Braska are there, in Hyrule.]
Jecht: Can I ask you one last favor? Uh... Nah. Never mind.
Auron: Out with it!
Jecht: Okay. Listen good. Take care of my son. My son, in Hyrule. He's such a crybaby. He needs someone there to hold his hand, see? Take care of him, will you?
Auron: But how am I supposed to go to Hyrule?
Jecht: Hey! You said it yourself! There must be a way to get there, right? You'll find it.
Auron: All right, I will! I give you my word. I'll take care of your son. I'll guard him with my life.
Jecht: Thanks, Auron. You were always such a stiff, but that's what I liked about you.
[Auron's pyrefly memory concludes.]
Auron: That is why.
[The party walks out of the old stadium dome and Sin is there, watching them silently.]
Link: (Dad? I know. The Final Summoning's gone. But I'll think of something! Just give me a little more time!)
[Sin slides back into the water and leaves, while the Al Bhed Airship flies down to pick up the party. Just as Link turns to walk inside the airship, a voice speaks to Link's mind.]
Zelda: Link, thank you. I am now free from Ganon's spell.
Link: Zelda?
Zelda: Yes. Listen close, for there is not much time. If you want to reawaken the Master Sword, go to my Tomb. It is located in the ruins of the Temple of Time. Look for the archway on the road of Mihen... You will find the key within a chest inside the travel agency located there. Overcome the three trials inside the temple.
Link: How do you know all this?
Zelda: It matters not. Now go. Save this world!
(Well that brings this chapter to an end folks. What a battle! But with Yunalesca dead, and the Final Aeon gone, what will our heroes do? Well join us next time in Shadows Over Spira. Next Chapter Master Sword Recharged!)