77: Summoner's Sacrifice
Yu Yevon stared at them in disbelief. "You… would presume to fight me?"
In reply, Jecht leapt forward with a yell and swung his sword downwards.
Lip curling, Yu raised a hand, and a woman frozen in the crowd next to him animated. She flung herself in front of the summoner. There was a sickening crack of broken bone when she took the brunt of the Jecht's blow.
Rikku let out a small, shocked cry, her hands coming to her mouth.
"The hell?" Jecht stepped back in shock, watching the woman collapse in a boneless heap at their feet. Her body quickly turned translucent, fading away.
Laughing, Yu waved. The people frozen on the streets turned to face them as one, their features slack. "This is my world. My Zanarkand. And these have always been my people. The arrogance! To believe you, my own creation, could touch me here."
He dropped his hand, and the people rushed towards Jecht – men, women, even children, dead-faced and heedless of their own safety. They swarmed over Jecht like ants, sweeping him away from Yu and trying to tear him apart with their bare hands.
Jecht knocked his attackers away as best he could with punches and kicks, but his face was pinched. Even knowing they were only figments of Yu's overactive imagination, it was still impossible for him to land proper blows on what were basically civilians. They looked just like the ordinary citizens of his own Dream Zanarkand.
"That's not fair!" Rikku shouted, stomping her foot. I've gotta stop this! Heavy, rhythmic music filled the streets as the pattern she'd have to dance flared to life before her, and for a moment, her feet stopped. "Wait a minute!" The beat stuttered… and then kept on stuttering, purposefully.
"Lenne? This is…" Insane, she finished, hopefully in the privacy of her own mind. She'd never seen a pattern so complex before. It flickered before her in challenge. Before she could second-guess herself, though, Lenne threw her into the dance.
Confidence, Lenne demanded, just as imperiously as Yu. Her body moved towards Yu; she sucked in an apprehensive breath that was at complete odds with the arrogantly pointing finger and disrespectful shrug she aimed at him. Her feet skipped aggressively over the ground. She didn't feel half as assured as she looked, but the people of Zanarkand were still throwing themselves at Jecht rather than her at the least.
Lenne weaved her smoothly in and out of the building crowd to a pulsing, hip-hop beat. It was actually kind of terrifying, feeling them press around her. Just ordinary people acting like zombies, their eyes devoid of any emotion and their movement violent and jerky, intent on causing harm.
Move like you mean it! Lenne snapped at her, sensing her distraction. Rikku was beginning to think overconfidence was a trait common to everyone from the Zanarkand of a thousand years ago, but she forced herself to focus on the dance as soon as Lenne dropped her out of her toprock and into a dizzying back spin. She knew from the way her limbs were moving without her accord that Lenne wouldn't hesitate to snap her tendons, tear her muscles, and even fracture her bones, as long her body could keep up with the magic being performed.
The complex floor work circled her around Jecht. As she moved, the crowd overrunning him parted, slowing down. And then she threw herself into a flip and never came out of it, freezing in place while balancing on one hand, legs extended. The sea of people around Jecht froze with her, some even stopping mid-attack. Lenne locked her limbs in place, not allowing even the slightest tremble in her arm. Sweat dripped down her brow and her voice came out tremulously.
"Move, Jecht!"
"Freaky," Jecht grunted shakily as he extracted himself from the frozen mob. "But thanks!"
Her arm was screaming, and she nearly wept in relief when Lenne pushed her legs into a slow, controlled drop to the floor. The relief was short lived, though, because then she started breaking in earnest in a widening ring around Jecht.
Yu's face twisted in displeasure as she wrested control of his puppets. He raised his hand before his eyes, summoning more and more denizens of Zanarkand to surround them. It was hopeless; Lenne, still furious at him, took it as a challenge. The music swelled and Rikku's feet moved even faster, the radius of her breaking widening, freezing every opponent he tossed their way.
Jecht rushed towards Yu, this time unhindered, and slammed an armored fist into his face, ending the summoner's concentration and sending him backwards, reeling.
"Stop sendin' me stand-ins an' fight me yourself, coward," Jecht sneered as he brought the flat of his sword around and whacked Yu in the back, forcing him to his knees.
The crowds of frozen people vanished as Yu rolled across the ground. He stopped and came to his feet shakily, wheezing. His furious glare was directed at Rikku rather than Jecht, though. Or more accurately, Lenne. "You brought Shuyin's little summoner with you," he snarled at her.
Lenne dropped her into an insulting pose and flipped Yu off.
"Very well!" Yu yelled, looking back and forth between her and Jecht as he backed away. "I don't need those pathetic sheep to ward off the likes of you!" He clapped his hands together and bowed his head.
Zanarkand shook, bits of stone and rubble shifting off of the buildings. The earthquake grew in size, and soon Rikku and Jecht were fighting to keep their balance on the street. She lost her footing during a particularly violent rumble, her Songstress dance magic dissipating. Privately, she wept in relief as Lenne's iron hold over her body broke. Her arms and legs were on fire from performing trick moves that should have only been physically possible in her Berserker or Samurai costumes.
There wasn't time to catch her breath; the ground had risen high enough that she was slipping backwards in an uncontrolled slide. With a sinking feeling, she realized that Yu didn't need people to fight them off for him. The street roiled under their feet like an ocean wave, lifting them up and pushing them backwards rapidly. Yu had dreamed up this headspace, and now, their opponent was Zanarkand itself.
"How are we supposed to face down an entire city?" she asked Jecht hopelessly, struggling for balance.
"He ain't gonna win," Jecht swore, trying to claw his way forward. "No way I'm lettin' a bastard like that share my face!"
Abruptly, Lenne's scorn ran through her like lightning. Believe in yourself. Yu Yevon is but a bitter shell living in a self-serving dream. Why are you afraid of anything he does? These are nothing more than stagnant, pathetic memories!
Zanarkand was crumbling all around them; still, as terrifying as it was to be trapped in the midst of an apocalypse, she noticed that Yu Yevon himself kept backing away from them, never attacking directly. At her side, Jecht took a giant leap forward, only to have a street sign bend and smack him so hard that he landed behind her in rough roll.
"Damn!" he yelled, getting up and shaking his head, before trying again. This time, he slid low, slicing through the poles of all the street signs as he fought his way forward, determined to make his way past any obstacle Yu threw at him.
Yu Yevon's nothing at all like Jecht, she realized, her confidence returning.
The earthquake intensified, so she materialized her microphone and started singing. "I put my armor on, show you how strong I am! I put my armor on, I'll show you that I am—" The magic swirled around herself and Jecht, shielding them from the razor-sharp shards of stone, brick, and asphalt that exploded all around. "—unstoppable, I'm an airship with no breaks! I'm so confident, yeah, I'm unstoppable today!"
Yu growled, lifting his hands higher, and whole chunks of buildings began to tear themselves away, flying towards them.
Jecht ran in front of her, swiping the Fang back and forth, batting the smaller projectiles to the side and smashing through the larger ones with his celestial weapon. They continued their relentless advance on the increasingly anxious summoner.
"Impossible!" Yu yelled, his eyes flashing. "You're nothing more than a dream! Stay back!" He raised his arms. Water burst out from between the cracked rubble of the city streets and buildings, blasting towards them in jet-powered streams.
Rikku changed her tune immediately. "Thank you in advance, I don't wanna dance," she sang, dodging a blast of water from a manhole. "I'm feelin' untouchable, untouchable!" From the corner of her eye, she saw Jecht cartwheel out of the way of a water whip. "I'm feelin' nah to the ah to the no, no, no!" They continued stylishly sidling their way up to Yu despite his repeated attempts to strike them down.
"I'm going for it," Jecht warned her when they neared Yu, his muscles tensing.
Rikku flipped her microphone to her other hand and began swinging her hips. "This is how I roll, animal print, pants outta control!" She blew Yu a kiss just as Jecht sprang. "When I walk in the spot, this is what I see! Everybody stops and is staring at me!" He barreled into Yu's chest, knocking him to the ground, and all the water whizzing through the air fell in harmless splatters around them. "I got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it – I'm sexy and I know it!" she crooned as Jecht stood up, grabbing the front of Yu's robes with one hand.
Jecht drew his fist back. "Man, you gotta learn to just give up sometimes," he growled, then slammed it into Yu's stomach.
Yu coughed out a pained wheeze and sagged, his legs folding.
"Right," Jecht grumbled, holding Yu's limp body aloft by his robes. "Well, that was underwhelmin'. Thanks for the assist," he told her, dragging Yu behind him.
A flush of satisfaction ran through her, and then Lenne's presence faded, leaving her feeling tired and surprised. Around them the city was flickering, fading away, their surroundings just as weakened as Yu Yevon himself.
"Why…" Yu rasped, finally stirring as he looked up at them. "Why do you fight against your fate? If you defeat me, you will die too. I only…" His head hung low. "I only wanted to save Zanarkand. To create a world free of pain and suffering. A glorious city that would never sleep, never fade, and shine more brightly than any star in the heavens." His hands wrapped around Jecht's arm, and he looked up, tears glimmering in his eyes. "Why? Why would you want to destroy that, when I've worked so hard for it? Sacrificed everything and everyone for the perfect, never-ending dream?"
Jecht stared down at his creator with a look of mingled disgust and pity. He sighed. "You failed," he finally said. "I felt it ev'n when I lived there. That it wasn't real, y'know. I was on top o' the world, but I still wasn't happy." He smiled wryly. "I can't even hate you, man. I am you. An' I think you made me because you knew it too." He waved a tired hand at the ruins of the city around them, which now looked just like the real Zanarkand in Spira. "None o' this here is real. You were just too chocobo-shit to admit to yourself that it was all hollow. That you wanted it to end. So you made me to do it for you." His fist tightened in Yu's robes, his eyes turning bright with his own unshed tears. "Just… why?" he said lowly. "Why'd you have to make me able to feel, huh?"
Yu hung his head miserably. "Because I needed you to be perfect."
"Jecht?" Rikku whispered, reaching out a hand.
He looked up and caught her motion and flinched away.
She pulled her hand back, hurt.
Jecht's eyebrows rose and his expression softened. "Naw, Blondie. Don't touch." He lifted Yu a little, dangling him between them. "It was hard enough gettin' this guy off o' you the first time." The city around them began to ripple and waver, fading slowly. "Listen, I know what he's tryin' to pull here, but he ain't gettin' his way just yet." He smiled at her, wide and bright. "You're gonna have a great life, y'know? Bringin' Spira the Eternal Calm with Yuna and my boy. I'll keep Yevon in check 'till then. That way everybody can get their happy ending, right?" He hauled Yu to his feet and pulled him away from her. "Now get lost before this asshole decides to start fightin' again," he said gruffly.
The city faded away completely, Jecht and Yu disappearing with it. Rikku blinked. She was back in the nebulous grey space Jecht had pulled her into, but she was alone now. Overhead, a bright light shone, beckoning her forward. Trembling, she pushed her way towards the surface.
She came awake with a gasp.
"Rikku!"
The tightness in her chest this time was warm and comforting; it came from Auron, who was hugging her to himself like she would disappear if he lost his grip on her.
"Auron! I'm… I'm okay, I think," she said, returning his embrace. Turning her head, she saw Jecht standing next to them. He was still in his white-haired aeon form as Braska's summon, towering over them both. The now-limp squid that was Yu Yevon was gripped in one of his hands. A little behind him, Braska was kneeling, propping himself up with his staff while still in Rapture.
Auron released her and turned to look at the two men. "Thank yo-" he began, relief and warmth coloring his voice as he spoke.
Jecht didn't reply, instead bringing Yu Yevon to his chest and lifting the Fang high, its blade glowing bright with runes. Then, with a grunt, he drove the celestial sword through both of them. The black mass sunk inside of him along with the weapon, which didn't emerge from his back. Jecht didn't stop, trembling with effort, until the hilt of his sword was completely swallowed and the glowing crack he'd created in his chest sealed shut. He staggered, his skin momentarily turning as black as the being he'd trapped inside of himself.
There was a soft pop, and Rikku looked down. The Lady Luck sphere on her belt cracked; memory water was running down from it in rivulets. Then, with a musical tinkle, the sphere shattered completely.
Braska's eyes opened as he came out of Rapture with a gasp. "Oh-!" He looked at them, surprised, and then toppled over. The soft thunk of his body hitting the floor reverberated through the empty chamber.
Auron was frozen only for a moment. "No!" he yelled, lunging for Braska. The way the other man's body rolled limply in his arms when Auron lifted him was answer enough. "NO!"
Rikku put a hand over mouth, shock reverberating through her. This isn't real. It can't be! He'd been right there just a second ago, breathing and talking to us! She felt light-headed, disconnected from her own body. "I can't have failed. I can't." She wanted to deny it. He wanted to live after seeing Yuna, right? He was looking forward to watching her grow up! Braska… The tortured cry from Auron's throat grounded her spiraling thoughts.
"Auron—" Rikku reached for him, but stopped and let out a sharp gasp. Her hand flew to her chest as sudden, sharp pain lanced through her. There was another pop on her belt and the Berserker sphere shattered. She couldn't focus on that, though, because something else had shifted. Something inside of her. Strength leeched out of her limbs and she fell forward to her elbows, unable to speak. She looked up, panting.
Auron, she thought, wanting to reach for him, but her arms wouldn't move. Auron's back bowed over Braska's body, shaking it. He was shouting something. She couldn't hear what he was saying, though. Her fingers scratched at her sternum, and her eyes widened as a pyrefly drifted past her. Out of her. One, and then the next.
"You can't stay here." The voice was crystal clear, and with effort, Rikku turned her head. She blinked, seeing two small, brown feet. Lifting her head, she took in Bahamut's Fayth. His eyes were shadowed and hidden under his purple hood. "You have no anchor anymore," Bahamut told her softly.
Anchor? Her eyes fell to Braska's slack face.
'You are my temple here. You are my Fayth. I wish to worship you.'
Her head spun. She'd thought he'd sounded obsessed, back then. His soft words of longing had fallen across her ears back then like a hypnotizing chant. A hymn.
'Please. Let me love you.'
She managed to push herself back on her heels, numb. Auron whirled around, Braska's body still in his arms, and saw her. The look he gave her shook Rikku more than the pyreflies escaping from her body. He was terrified, and Auron was never scared. His eyes shot to Bahamut's Fayth, clearly able to see the boy this time. "Who is that?!"
"Ba…hamut," Rikku managed to say, clasping both of her hands to her chest, as if she could stop herself from dissolving. Her hands were turning into strange, glowing glass; she could see the floor through them. "I… thought… I was… your pawn."
Bahamut's head dipped. "Braska was a brilliant summoner. Just as Yu Yevon was. And just as Yuna will be. They all have had the power to summon their hearts' desire… and the strength to give those desires free will. It was an opportunity we have waited all these long centuries for. It was our only hope."
Bahamut was Braska's favored aeon… or maybe, Braska was Bahamut's favored summoner. Her eyes dropped to Braska's pale, lifeless face. Above all of the other confused, jostling emotions struggling to take the front, a feeling of intense betrayal flooded her. The bond between a Fayth and their summoner had always been sacred. Inviolable. She looked at Bahamut again, this time with building anger. "He trusted you!"
"I know. I'm sorry." Bahamut shook his head. "But now, you can't stay any longer."
"I… can't leave yet!" Rikku met Auron's eye. She remembered how he'd left them the first time. The pain, the years of never being able to let go afterwards; the way it'd changed her. But her burning desire wasn't changing the fact that she was losing the ability to speak. "Not… without saying… goodbye. Not… like this," she said, her heart aching for him. "He… can't… lose us… all!"
Bahamut was silent for a moment. Then he reached out and placed his hand on Rikku's forehead. "For Braska's service to us, I accept your price," he said. His touch brought instant relief, and she let out a soft sigh as her body solidified and stopped leaking pyreflies.
"But we can't keep you here for long. The answer has always and only ever been death. Anima brought you close once, against my will. But it was too soon."
"What do you mean?" Auron asked Bahamut hoarsely.
Not yet, another Auron's voice had whispered into her ears. Not yet.
"Go now," Bahamut told Auron, ignoring his question. "Sin is collapsing. If you stay here, you'll die." He turned his head to Jecht. "Can you still take them?"
Jecht, who'd been standing stock-still behind them, tilted his head in acknowledgement. There were strange protrusions growing all over his body; they looked like dozens of tiny blisters, or warts. A whisper of a future to come.
He kneeled by Auron, gently pushing Braska's body further into the other man's arms. Standing, he grabbed onto them both with one hand, cradling them securely against his chest. He picked her up much more unceremoniously with his other arm. It wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the floor, leaning her against his side like she was a blitzball. Then he began running down the platform, dragging them both with him.
Rikku's breath caught as Jecht leapt over the edge, sending them sailing off of the platform and over the long drop into Dream Bevelle. They never got a chance to fall, though, because the city suddenly exploded into a dense, glittering stream of pyreflies all at once. It was painfully bright, so she closed her eyes. Golden light flooded the back of her eyelids, and for a moment, Rikku was dazed.
When the light faded, her eyes opened wide and her stomach leapt into her throat. They were high in the air, the atmosphere thick with pyreflies, and hurtling towards the Calm Lands below at a breakneck speed.
Jecht's massive arms tightened around them, lifting them high. When they hit the ground, they jolted painfully in his grasp, but he held them safely aloft, his armored legs steady as he smashed through the grass, cutting a deep trail behind. He hopped a few times to gain his balance, and then came to a stop. Carefully, he deposited them onto the ruined field.
Auron slumped down, easing Braska's body to the ground, and looked up at Jecht.
The aeon straightened, blank and emotionless. Still, he lingered by them silently for a few moments longer, before turning around. He staggered.
"Jecht?!" Auron asked, reaching for him.
Jecht turned his head, looking at them both with bright, glowing eyes. Then he hunkered down and took off at a run, thundering down the grassy field towards the cliff side. The sky cleared and some of the bright sunlight – now seeming like a cruel mockery – broke through the pastel curtain of pyreflies drifting aimlessly through the atmosphere.
It was because they were trailing after Jecht, she realized. Sin's gravitational pull had already begun, drawing in the pyreflies that had remained after they'd destroyed the old body. He sped up, his new aeon form eclipsing the limitations of his human one, but still the pyreflies drifted after him, slowly and inexorably. With a kick, he dived off the side of the cliffs and towards the distant ocean below, escaping them for the time being.
But as she watched the cloud twist and weave lazily after Jecht's trail, she knew that one day, they'd catch up.
A brittle laugh at her side made her glance over. Auron was kneeling by Braska's body, both hands on his knees. He, too, was watching the cloud of pyreflies spill over the cliff towards the ocean. Another sharp, mirthless laugh erupted out of him. He turned to look at her, his one eye dark and wounded, and smiled a broken smile.
"And what am I to do now?" he asked her helplessly.
.x.x.x.
Jecht… had dropped them off on the wrong side of the Scar. Rikku stood, surveying the other side of the Calm Lands with a sense of helpless despair. "Auron… I don't think it's doable," she said quietly.
"I don't care!" Auron's answer was sharp and biting, his temper frayed. "I am not consigning him to become a fiend in that death pit!" he snapped, arranging the few bits of shrubbery he'd managed to gather around Braska's body. He leaned back from his work, looking up at her. "Can't you use your belt?"
Rikku flinched, turning around and joining him. She placed her own bundle of kindling next to Auron, noting how woefully inadequate it was. The sun was setting and they'd been gathering for hours. Soon, it would be too dark to try collecting anything more.
It still wasn't even remotely adequate to burn hot enough to make a funeral pyre. There just weren't any trees in the Calm Lands.
"I could try mixing some reagents to help, but…" Her hand drifted to her Grid. It was feeling as broken as she was; she didn't even have enough spheres left to activate the powerful Flare magic that would have incinerated Braska's body cleanly. "I just don't have enough magic power," she whispered.
"Then I'll do it myself," Auron growled, reaching for her belt. She caught his hand, stopping him with a shake of her head.
"You have even less magic power than I do. You can't do it either. Only Braska could." And he can't do anything anymore. She couldn't take her eyes off of Braska's pale face.
Auron made a low noise in his throat. His hand gripped hers. "What if we try together, then?" he asked after a moment, sounding broken. "I can't leave him like this."
If she was being honest with herself, neither could she. Reaching into her pouch, Rikku fumbled around her dwindling supplies, finding what she was looking for. She sprinkled her mix over Braska's body, and then mechanically unclasped the hook on her belt, stepping a few paces away.
Auron watched her work silently, rising to his feet when she beckoned and standing by her side.
"I need your arm," she told him, grabbing his bare wrist. Carefully, she wrapped the belt around both of their arms, stretching it so that the clasp closed. It felt like a wedding ceremony gone horribly wrong, joined together as they were, with Braska lying before them like a sacrificial offering. She felt the thrum of magic energy reappear, and Auron did as well from the way he straightened. His fingers wrapped around hers.
Her grid hummed, and she saw Lenne's ghostly hand slip over theirs as well. Her disembodied voice, sweeter than Rikku's could ever be, drifted over them as they lit the pyre with magic.
Place your hand in mine
And close your eyes…
With a kiss on your eyelids,
Let me heal your pain
Go to sleep, take your time…
The fear of loss envelops everyone
With the same sorrow and hesitation
I want to feel powerful…
If everybody becomes aware of the futility
Of conflict, a glittering sun will rise
Until then, I will pray…
Lenne's image faded, and they held on to each other in the silence, bleeding the magic out of their bodies. Together, they pushed and held the flame until only ashes were left behind.
A/N:
I know, I know, and I'm sorry. But we're not at the end of the story yet, not for a while, actually. I wrote the outline for this passage way back in 2006, about 3 chapters in to starting this story. It's been a long time in coming. Feel free to share your thoughts though, even if it's just to get out any anger about what I did to everybody's best friend and/or the second male lead. I can take it better than Auron and Rikku are right now. *slinks away*
Songstress Abilities:
Break Dance (stops the enemy). Toprocks, Drops, and Freezes are all actual moves in breaking.
Cantus Firmus (raises the party's defense). Song: Sia, "Unstoppable"
Matador's Song (raises the party's evasion). Song: Meghan Trainor, "NO"
Dirty Dancing (party hits for critical damage). Song: LMFAO, "Sexy and I Know It"
Lenne's dirge at the end is the unofficial English translation of the Hymn of the Fayth.