Chapter 28 – Seek the Painful Truth
Yuna stood in awe, her muscles locked, frightened stiff by the disembodied voice. The pyreflies from the black chasm stirred together, forming a dim light that gradually lit the voice's owner. Staunch and gallant as ever, her former protector, Yojimbo, stood before her. Again the growling of his dog scared her. She retreated from the tall shadow the aeon cast and bumped into the damp cavern wall behind her. Knowing she was cornered, she attempted to speak, but only the chattering of her teeth came from her mouth. A deathly chill ran down her spine, freezing her legs in place. Her breath weighed heavy and her hands trembled. Daigoro approached her with deliberate tenacity. Methodically he stalked her, his eyes now within sight. She tripped while sidestepping, and tumbled to the ground. Fearing his attack, Yuna raised her arm in front of her face and closed her eyes.
Instead of a flow of blood, a river of slobber trickled down her arm. Licking her profusely, the dog shot her with loving puppy-dog eyes. She reached out her hand in a thoughtless gesture and rubbed behind his ear. Daigoro submitted to Yuna and slumped down next to her, panting his slobber all over her legs.
Yojimbo paced up to Yuna, who gazed up at the towering figure. He shook his head, emitting a slight sigh. His figure swelled as bold and majestic as when she first laid eyes on him two years ago. Using his gigantic sword as a cane, he positioned himself next to Yuna, staring down at her.
"It seems even the most ferocious of beasts can be tamed by gentle goodness," he spoke, gesturing to Yuna.
"You aren't under Kinoc's control?" blurted out Yuna, surprised by Yojimbo's volition.
He smirked. "That shell of a man certainly attempted to exert his will over mine."
"But you're not?" she questioned, still not believing that he wasn't under Kinoc's control. "How is that possible?"
"Because the priest has no honor. Not in life, and not in death."
"No honor?"
He nodded. "Yes, he is a cold man, bound by nothing but greed and vengeance."
"Did you fight him? Is he dead?" Yuna asked, feeling Daigoro's slippery tongue lick her fingers.
Yojimbo shook his head. "Unfortunately, I had not the chance to extinguish him. When he discovered that I was beyond his grasp, he fled. Such a pitiful spirit he is."
Yuna smiled. "I'm glad."
Yojimbo shifted himself, now fully facing Yuna's direction. His long, black shadow covered Yuna entirely. It dominated over the other shadows in the Chamber. His figure became stiff and barren. Without warning, he slammed his sword into the ground, startling Yuna.
"Honor is something that no longer has value in this world anymore. Such is a lesson you conveyed to me!" he roared, causing Daigoro to dart off Yuna's lap.
Yuna, also afraid of his sudden outburst, shuffled backward. "I don't understand. Why am I dishonorable? What have I done?"
"You sacrificed your aeons in the battle with Sin. We stood to serve with you, not be wasted," he accused with anger.
"No, that's not true!" Yuna shook her head frantically. "I didn't want to do that, but I had to. You must understand that it was beyond my control. Yu Yevon took control of the aeons! He took control, and I had to stop them. Please understand!"
Expecting an immediate reaction from Yojimbo, Yuna braced herself and gripped the handles of her pistols. He paused, gazing meekly into the mist around him. He walked a few steps to his side, tapping his mighty sword gently on the ground. Tiny puffs of dust and sediment shot up from the ground with each tap.
He finally spoke, "I do understand. A truly honorable warrior sacrifices anything to fulfill one's duty. Your duty was to save Spira, and save it you did. Please forgive my frustration."
She nodded, opening her eyes to see Yojimbo, milky wisps of fog swirling around him. He tapped his sword on the ground again repeatedly, thinking deeply to himself. Yuna arose to her feet and moved towards him. She was puzzled by his sudden changes in mood. Usually calm and concise, he now seemed flustered and unsteady.
"There are many things I must tell you," he said bluntly. "Things that again pertain to Spira's safety."
"I don't understand. What things?"
"About the plan of that old priest. How he plans to conqueror Spira."
A cold sweat bead ran down Yuna's brow from these words. Someone else knew of Kinoc's scheme, which gave her no relief. She looked down, staring grimly at her feet. For a moment, her mind went blank.
Finally, she raised her head. "Please, tell me. I must know."
Yojimbo nodded, planting his sword firmly into the ground. "As you know, he had tried to gain control of all of your former aeons. He has tried to control the fayth along with another and enslave them to do his dark biddings . . ."
One by one, as far as I know, the fayth succumbed to his control. I believe I was the only one who did not submit to it. Such a dastardly man will never take my being. Even without me, he has formed a mighty militia. He wants to enslave the populous of Spira and condemn them to the same fate as he was—eternal life after death. Somehow, he has in his unsent afterlife, acquired the ability to control the fayth of people. Although I believe those sent to the Farplane are immune from his magic, those who were not can be subjected to his will.
This is why you are a primary target of his. Not only do you possess the necessary mind and spirit to halt his advance, but you could also be a valuable asset. That is why you cannot allow yourself to die and fall under his control.
With his aeons, he plans to launch an attack on Spira. I believe he will invade Bevelle first, then head south. What I do not know, is when. A man erratic like Kinoc is completely unpredictable. There is no telling when his timetable will cycle to battle. You must defeat him now, or Spira will once again be caught in peril.
In response to Yojimbo's grave information, Yuna moaned, leaning her head against the stony wall of the Cavern. She rubbed her eyes, which were shallow and distant. Swallowing hard, she refaced Yojimbo and approached him.
"Do you know of a man named Shuyin?" she blurted out.
"Shuyin you say? No, I do not."
"You don't? But he is supposed to be working with Kinoc," she stated.
Yojimbo knelt to pet his dog. "His name is not familiar. There was no other man around when Kinoc attempted his mind control. Perhaps he was the man who freed Kinoc from the dark cloister in Bevelle."
Yuna sighed once again, brushing her hair back from her face. "I'm so sick of saving Spira, and so tired of fighting. Why can't the peace ever last?"
"Fighting? With Sin destroyed, how much battling have you needed to do?" he asked in confusion.
Yuna frowned. "Too much. I've already fought Kinoc many times."
"So you have. Then I assume you've already fought some of your aeons."
"Yes, three of them. Kinoc's already nearly killed me. He did kill an old priest in cold blood, not to mention the wedge driven in between my friends and me."
"Then the days are growing darker, little by little. If he has been attacking you so frequently, then he will soon enact his scheme to decimate Spira," he replied bleakly.
Yuna sulked down on the ground. She curled herself up into a ball. Yojimbo glared at her, wondering if she was crying. It seemed as if more than battling had worn her spirit. He walked up to her, kneeling in some sort of effort to comfort her.
"It seems more than just the wounds of war are troubling you. Stand tall, little warrior. You cannot break now."
With a sudden flare, Yuna's eyes boiled with anger, "Break? I am already broken! My whole life is broken! All I do is go around searching perpetually for Tidus. And what do I find? Nothing but hopelessness, despair, and trouble!"
Yojimbo stood up and took a step back. Beneath her cloak of cheerful glee, a worn and pained soul hid from the world. Rotting inside from the years of unending wandering, Yuna could no longer mask her inner turmoil. He found her sitting there expecting her to cry, murmuring to herself. He let out a long, but muted sigh.
"For one to be hurt beyond tears is the truest of tragedies. Please, little summoner, rise to your feet," Yojimbo spoke.
She complied but didn't dare to look up at him. Instead, she stood there, wavering in the air. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a tiny sphere attached to a chain. The diminutive sphere glistened with a faint purple glow. Though the thin silver of the chain appeared antique, it was afflicted with neither tarnish nor rust.
"Please accept this, as one warrior's gift to another," he said, extending his hand out to Yuna.
She lifted her head and looked perplexedly at what seemed to be some sort of necklace. "What is this?"
"When you have finally battled a foe too great, or find yourself in your darkest hour, clench this tight to your heart. Call my name, and I will come to protect you."
Her eyes burst with surprise, "Is that possible? I can't summon anymore and I have little gil to give."
"It is, and I will come without the need for payment. Take my humble promise, dear savior of Spira. For now, I must rest, as engaging with Kinoc has made me weak," he explained, and stepped back into the mist, disappearing without a sound.
Still awestruck by what Yojimbo told her, she remained still in a state of disillusion. She slumped down on the ground, blankly staring into space. Her battles with Kinoc, pictures of her aeons, fighting with her friends, and memories of Tidus all flowed without rhythm through her mind. Utterly confused, she knew not what to do. One part of her said to endure for the benefit of Spira. The other part told her to pursue her desires.
Always smoldering on the edges of her mind existed the possibility that she would never be reunited with Tidus.
Without being conscious of her actions, she rose to her feet and stepped on the teleporter to exit the Chamber. For a long moment, she stood atop the teleportation platform, staring at the necklace Yojimbo gifted to her. Abruptly snapped out of her trance by the shouting of Paine, who was running towards her, she looked up. A dreadful expression covered Paine's face.
"Yuna! Yuna! There you are! Where have you been?" she questioned, giving Yuna a half-worried, half-angry look.
"In the Chamber. One of my aeons was there," she replied quietly.
Paine now changed to an appearance of confusion. "Huh? An aeon? You're not hurt are you?"
She shook her head. "No. He wasn't under Kinoc's influence."
"That's thankful. Then what happened between you two?"
"I'll explain on the ship. Everyone needs to hear what he said to me."
Although not sure what Yuna could be referring to, Paine agreed and escorted Yuna out of the cave. A crowd of happy souls greeted her. They appreciated the good samaritans of the Gullwings. Even though Yuna was glad they could help, it wasn't near what she needed to quell her inner hardships. With the sky darkening with the coming of dusk, the Gullwings returned to the Celsius. Rikku's stomach growled endlessly from hunger. The sphere hunters gathered in the cabin, where Barkeep and Darling were whipping up some of their Hypello specials. Yuna felt it appropriate to discuss what her aeon told her.
"It was certainly a surprise," she replied to Buddy, who asked her what Yojimbo was doing in the Cavern. "But for some reason, I was compelled to go into the Chamber of the Fayth.
"You always seem to get yourself into trouble, Yunie," teased Rikku.
An awkward silence proceeded Rikku's joke, as Yuna didn't smile. She seemed more in sorrowful agreement with her statement than anyone would like to see her be. Brother decided to break the silence.
"Well, at least he didn't try to pick a fight like your other aeons," he blurted, to Yuna's displeasure.
Buddy followed with a question to distract her from the thought of her other aeons, "So tell us, what did he say to you?"
Yuna told them about the attempt of Kinoc to control Yojimbo. She explained what Yojimbo told her about Kinoc's plan and his ability to control unsent fayth. This sent a nonconsensual shiver down everyone's spine. When Paine asked about Shuyin, she wasn't sure how to answer.
"I'm not sure of their connection," she finally replied. "While Kinoc claimed they were partners, nobody was present but Kinoc when Yojimbo fought him."
"That's really weird," Rikku said between chewing. "Although we've never seen them together."
"That's true, we haven't," agreed Paine.
"Now that I think about it, Yojimbo did say that Shuyin could have been the one to release Kinoc from some dark cloister."
"Dark cloister? What do you mean?" questioned Buddy.
Yuna shrugged. "I don't know truthfully. He said it was underneath Bevelle or something."
Shinra perked up at this and began tapping his finger on the table. "That kind of sounds familiar to me. I think I read something about that somewhere."
Brother, waiting for a further explanation, became typically impatient. "Well Shinra, what do you know? Spill them beans!"
"I don't know off hand! But I can look it up, geesh! I'm just a kid, not a library," he complained, annoying Brother.
"I bet it has something important to do with Kinoc though," chimed in Rikku.
Paine nodded. "You might be right. How 'bout it Yuna, think it's worth checking out?"
"I don't know," Yuna replied, letting out a long, heavy sigh. "I'm just so confused right that I just don't know which way is up."
Her cousin became distraught. "It's been a busy day. Maybe you should lie down?"
Yuna looked at Rikku, bluntly replying, "That's not going to help me."
"Sorry," spoke Rikku quietly, sulking down into her chair.
Ashamed at the harshness of her own words, Yuna got up abruptly and left the cabin. She ran to the lift and went to the deck, where she hoped to escape to tranquility. For once, she succeeded. She immersed herself in the peacefulness outside. Dusk had transitioned to darkness, and clusters of stars glistened brightly in the night sky. There wasn't but a handful of wispy grey clouds hovering above, allowing the moon to bathe Yuna in its radiant light.
For a moment, she recalled her thoughts from the Chamber after Yojimbo faded away. Always at night did she feel doubt the strongest. Under the moonlight, her hope seemed the furthest away. Pondering this strange cycle, Yuna yearned for the dawn. Closing her eyes, she pictured her love walking on these same plains. She recalled how he comforted her when she first tenuously entered the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. Like a drug, it was a sweet satisfaction that never lasted. Memories were but memories—thoughts of a past long since faded from reality.
A calm, gentle breeze ran across her face, tickling her hair. She again opened her eyes to watch a small swatch of clouds pass in front of the moon, shading its light from the world below. Many times had she dreamed of embracing Tidus beneath a mellow night sky like this. Just as the clouds masked the golden light of the moon, she felt as if the perils in Spira cloaked the happiness she felt entitled. Two years ago, she embarked on a long, dangerous endeavor to save Spira. In the present, Spira seemed to be instilled in the same kind of jeopardy that it was when Sin embroiled the lands. The Eternal Calm felt entirely too ephemeral.
At first, this thought disappointed her. The longer she dwelt on it, the greater the feelings turned into anger. It hurt her so incredibly much to admit that Tidus was gone and he wasn't coming back, no matter what she did. For the Calm, which should last forever, to be dashed out of existence so easily, hurt more than she could bear. It meant all of her sacrifices meant nothing.
She laughed to herself, wondering how funny it was that things never changed. They merely took on a different form. While she was supposed to be the great bringer of the Eternal Calm, she now realized that such a concept did not exist. The people of Spira would suffer, just as they had with Sin. A thousand years and nothing had changed. Propping her arms behind her head, she watched the stars above twinkle in the deep blue sky.
While her mind wandered off to sleep, her thoughts drifted to Lenne. Did she realize this was all futile a thousand years ago, Yuna kept asking herself in her mind. Tossing and turning atop the Celsius, Yuna did all she could to push these thoughts out of her head. She didn't want the last person she disappointed to be Lenne.
