REVENGE OF SHUYIN

CHAPTER 2:

YUNALESCA'S DISCOVERY

"After all that, we got a sphere about someone excited to go to a concert in Zanarkand," Harry muttered with a scowl. "Was it me, or did that sound like Maechen?"

"That old Unsent?" Tidus asked. "Yeah, it did. At least we got a new Dressphere out of it."

Harry's scowl didn't lessen. They had gone to the ruins on top of Mount Gagazet once they had confirmed sphere waves from there, only to find Leblanc and her goons waiting. Leblanc and her minions decided not to battle them this time, and fled for the sphere. Thankfully or not, they got into trouble along the way, and the Gullwings managed to get there first, only to have to face a massive crab-like Fiend. And after getting the sphere, Leblanc caught up, only to snootily declare the sphere to be a dud. Which wasn't far from the truth. Oh, and Brother had come on a quixotic rescue mission, and Rikku coined a new word: disasterrific.

As Tidus said, the only bright side was that they managed to get a new Dressphere out of it. He was still annoyed, though. He'd have preferred it if there was something more on Vegnagun, Shuyin, and/or Lenne, or something more interesting than a few seconds of home movie from someone who went to a concert a millennium ago.

Rikku came up to him, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Harry," she said. "It's okay. We can't always find good spheres."

"I know, Rikku. I just hoped we could find something that would be of more help." He sighed. "Maybe we should do a spell helping out at the digs on Bikanel Island the Machine Faction are organising again. We got a few interesting spheres last time, plus a bunch of things Gippal and Hermione wanted."

"Probably not a bad idea," Buddy remarked. "If nothing comes up in the next little while, we'll drop by Djose before heading to Bikanel. We'll need to get Tidus and Yuna registered first."

"What do you mean?" Yuna asked.

Rikku, Harry, and Paine looked at each other, before Rikku said, "Well, remember how Gippal founded the Machine Faction?"

Yuna nodded. "It's an organisation founded to not only salvage machina, but also to do…research and development. Gippal and Hermione told me."

"That's right," Harry said. "But they fund a lot of digs in the desert on Bikanel Island. The Al Bhed have salvaged most of Home, and they've started rebuilding as you know, but the desert is filled with old machina. They also do dives, like the one you helped with when we first came to Spira, Tidus. The Machine Faction is the group trying to improve technology, even create new machines. Hermione helped when she brought a whole bunch of books back from Earth, and Rikku, of course, brought some examples of technology back when we had our honeymoon. The Machine Faction is pretty much the group we have the closest ties with. We're on decent enough terms with Yunalesca and Baralai, but we're not exactly friends with Aegis. Ditto the Youth League: we like the ex-Crusaders who are part of it, along with my friends from Earth, but I'm a little leery of it, especially given Nooj is the leader, and we still don't know if he's still possessed by Shuyin. The Machine Faction, however, is pretty much neutral."

Rikku nodded. "It may be an Al Bhed organisation, but anyone willing to join can."

"I probably won't join overtly," Yuna said. "But I will go on these digs. We didn't see much of Bikanel outside of Home. At least the Machine Faction has not pestered me like Aegis or the Youth League have."

"Miss Yuna, our latest…celebrity," Harry drawled, doing a fair impersonation of Snape's nasal, resonant voice.

Tidus scowled. "Was that Snape you were impersonating?"

"Yeah. His first words to me, other than a spiel about Potions, which was pretty good admittedly, were 'Mister Potter…our latest…celebrity'. He then asked me what wormwood and asphodel make when combined. Prick was testing me with a potion from a later year, though he told me after he came to Guadosalam that he was trying to tell me that he bitterly regretted my mother's death in the language of flowers."

Rikku nodded. She had been there at the time. "You had socked him on the nose because Lupin told us earlier that he had told Voldemort about that prophecy."

"Hey, not to interrupt, guys, but there's an incoming transmission from Bevelle. Direct from Yunalesca and Baralai," Buddy called out. "No video or audio, just a text message with the right codes. Please come ASAP and discreetly regarding V. Y&B."

"Can we do discreetly?" Harry asked. "We've got Yuna and Tidus on board. Are we able to teleport to the sphere in the antechamber to Aegis' office?"

Buddy nodded. "We'll get close first. While you're in Bevelle, Brother and I will monitor for sphere waves."

"Who is the leader?!" Brother snapped at Buddy in Al Bhed. "I am! I decide what we do!"

"You'll be doing what he suggested anyway, Brother," Rikku said with a roll of her eyes. "Or else checking up on the engines."

Brother scowled, but he conceded the point. Where technology wasn't concerned, he was somewhat at sea. While he claimed to be the leader of the Gullwings, in truth, Harry, Rikku, and Paine were closer in fact. Brother didn't like that, though, and he only tolerated it because Rikku was his sister, and Harry her husband.

They materialised in the elaborate antechamber of the office of Yunalesca. To their surprise, the Gullwings found Baralai waiting for them, though he was a little surprised to find them here so soon. The dark-skinned, white-haired young man recovered himself, and said, in his quiet voice, "Thank you for coming. I'm a little surprised that you're here so soon…and that the rumours of Lady Yuna and Sir Tidus leaving Besaid are true after all."

"Please, Baralai," Yuna said. "You don't need to stand on convention. Calling me Lady Yuna and Tidus a Sir is embarrassing."

Baralai chuckled. "I got the same thing from Rikku, Harry, and Paine when they first visited. However, we have, as you know, a matter of considerable importance to discuss." He opened the door into the office. "This way, please."

The office was once that of Grand Maester Yo Mika, with a window looking out across the towers of Bevelle. Bookcases lined the walls. Where the Yevon symbol once predominated in the décor, the distinctive emblem of Zanarkand replaced it.

Standing at the window was the figure of Yunalesca. Over a thousand years old, but looking like a beautiful woman in her thirties at the oldest, she had a lengthy mass of lavender-coloured hair reaching down to her calves. As usual, she was dressed in little more than jewellery and a thong bikini, though Harry, Rikku, and Paine knew that she now wore robes whenever she was meant to be seen in public, if only to spare the sensibilities of the more prudish members of Aegis.

"It has been two years since I have seen either of you," Yunalesca said in a voice that was part dignified elocution and part sultry purr. "Yuna, and Tidus. Forgive my more zealous underlings trying to recruit you into Aegis. I know you prefer to be left alone, and have issued decrees to that effect, but alas, some of them seem intent on matching the zeal of the Youth League's attempts at evangelism." Yunalesca then turned to face her visitors, her golden eyes peering at them. "How is life treating you two?"

"Well enough," Yuna said, "though the fame is something of a burden."

Tidus nodded. "Yeah, it gets annoying."

Yunalesca smiled. "Still, you two caused something of a stir when you left Besaid Island," she said, moving closer. "Just out of curiosity, why?"

"We found a sphere with Shuyin on it," Rikku said. "Harry? Show her."

Harry fished the sphere out, and handed it to Yunalesca. She activated the sphere, which she and Baralai watched. It showed the shadowy figure of a young man who resembled Tidus in a cage. His voice, while a little hard to make out through the corrupted sound, was still recognisable as Tidus'.

"…not sorry! I haven't done a damned thing wrong!" Shuyin was yelling at his captors. "I know you're listening, even if you aren't talking. If she was your girl, what the hell would you do?! Huh?! How can you blame me for trying to use your weapon? It was the only way I could save the Summoner! What would you do if you were in my shoes?" As the recorder began walking away, Shuyin rattled at the bars of the cage, screaming, "LET ME OUT, YOU BASTARDS!" Then, he broke down into sobs. "Please…I want to see her…one last time…please…"

After the recording ended, Yunalesca nodded solemnly. "That is indeed Shuyin. There is no mistaking it. I recognise his outfit. The recording was probably done as the prelude to a possible prisoner exchange between Bevelle and Zanarkand, one that didn't happen."

"Yunalesca," Paine said. "The message you sent us suggested you had information about Vegnagun."

"Indeed I do. I found Vegnagun a little over a month after your last visit to Bevelle." Holding up a hand to forestall protest, she added, "I did not notify the Gullwings because I needed to confirm whether Vegnagun was still active, whether it could be sealed without trouble, and so on. At the moment, it is lying dormant, but it is still potentially active. What's more, there's potential weak spots in the hangar area that Vegnagun could use to flee to the Farplane, which is a possibility. We're therefore working on a means to contain Vegnagun, prevent someone from accessing it. Destroying it outright may not be possible without an Aeon, and as we sacrificed them to stop Sin…"

"So you're just going to bury it, and hope Shuyin doesn't find it?" Paine asked with a roll of the eyes.

"No," Baralai said. "We're installing security systems to alert us to anyone trying to infiltrate the Vegnagun hangar, as well as sealing off as many ingress points as possible. We have also managed to find a way of communicating with the Fayth on the Farplane, as the hangar is close to it. The entrance in Guadosalam is becoming unstable, as you may know, but Lady Yunalesca, given her knowledge of summoning, is able to summon their spirits temporarily. Not enough to become Aeons again, but to ask them to keep an eye on things. Lord Braska, Sir Jecht, and Sir Auron have also agreed to be our sentinels in the Farplane, lest Shuyin try other methods."

"Unsents who can possess mortals are rare, but they can be powerful," Yunalesca added. "Unsents who linger for as long as Shuyin or myself grow in power, simply through accumulating Pyreflies. The same can be said about Fiends too, and as Sin was a form of massive Fiend…well, while Shuyin is not as powerful as Sin, he is far more insidious. Where did you find the sphere with Shuyin, anyway?"

"Mount Gagazet, in the recently-discovered ruins. We found another sphere in another part of the same ruins," Harry said.

Yunalesca pursed her lips. "I believe that complex used to be an observatory Zanarkand built to keep an eye on Bevelle. It may be that this is a copy of the original recording, sent to said observatory by Bevelle. In any case, I believe things may be coming to a head soon. The friction between the Youth League and Aegis is quickening. Although I am trying to keep relations with the Youth League peaceful, both sides have their troublemakers, and even I cannot have a leash on the worst offenders in Aegis. And it suits the Youth League to have their own rabble cause trouble. Personally, I am glad that you are staying out of the politics of this, Yuna. While Aegis would receive a boost with your willing membership, it may come at a cost of the enmity of the Youth League. And given the Gullwing's strong ties to the Machine Faction…while many in Aegis sneer at the Machine Faction and the Al Bhed running it, I believe it to be as vital a group as Aegis, or even the Youth League."

"Glad you think so," Paine said with her usual sardonic tone. "Did you ask us here to talk about Vegnagun?"

"Mostly. I must ask you another thing. Beware an Unsent claiming to be a priest of Yevon, or an agent of Aegis, known as Trema. He attempted a takeover of Aegis, which I rebuffed, but be warned. He too seeks spheres…but to erase Spira's past. He is surprisingly powerful. He may be the most powerful Unsent still in existence on Spira, aside from myself and Shuyin." On a gesture from Yunalesca, Baralai handed over a photograph of an elderly man in Yevon robes. "Cid and Sirius, with my blessing, are turning Zanarkand into a tourist attraction, as you may know. And there was another reason. I haven't spoken to any of you for some time, and I must confess, I sometimes want for civil company, instead of sycophantic followers and belligerent rabble-raisers. Harry and Rikku, you made me realise where my path had led Spira, and showed me another way. Yuna, you bear my name in part. And you, along with Tidus and Paine, have me to blame for the ends of your loved ones, and yet, you bear me no malice. It is pleasant to speak to people on relatively normal terms. Few in Aegis do so. In many ways, we are the same. Seen for what people believe us to be, and not for the people we are or were." She turned away from them, the dismissal clear from the gesture. "If I need your help dealing with Vegnagun, I will ask for it as soon as I can. However, I won't detain you from your own quest. Should you encounter Shuyin, though…remind him I still live. After a fashion."

"I will," Yuna affirmed softly.

After saying their goodbyes to Yunalesca and Baralai, they got back to the Celsius. "We haven't found anything new yet," Buddy said after they relayed what they had learned from Yunalesca and Baralai. "You want to head to Djose?"

"Yeah," Rikku said. "At the very least, we can say hi to Gippal and Hermione."

"Let's go!" Brother yelled. And so, off they went…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, here you have it. Harry and the others have been brought up to date by Yunalesca about Vegnagun.

I skipped over that first mission because, well, it's a lot of incident but not much story. Well, let's face it, so too are the other missions. Whereas I wanted to do more character stuff. Next chapter, we'll have Gippal and Hermione. THEN we'll start getting to the meat of the story proper.

No numbered annotations.