Chapter 15 – Forsaken Warrior
Yuna clenched her fists, exhaling out an apprehensive breath. She then nodded to Cassius and proceeded to follow him into the outstretched rectangular chamber. The high, vaulted ceiling held dimly shining lamps, projecting murky streams of light down into the room. She looked to the far side of the chamber, noticing a glowing blue sphere sunken into an elegant pedestal. Her eyes focused on the prize she sought.
She questioned whether or not she could defeat him. Tremendously uncertain shook her confidence. His stance, his demeanor, his voice—it was self-evident to Yuna that Cassius was a seasoned combatant. Each step of his chimed from the metal of his armor. The sword by his side swiveled with grace and determination. He reminded Yuna of her old aeon, Yojimbo. She began to second-guess accepting his challenge.
Walking about a dozen or so steps beyond where Yuna had stopped in the chamber, Cassius did a sharp about-face. A fierce resolution burned in his eyes, but it wasn't the same as what she expected. Rather than a tyrannical gaze of a soldier ready to kill, his eyes appeared stern, yet sorrowful.
He brushed the white beard surrounding his mouth, and spoke with less of a bold tone than before, "I expected the offspring of Braska to be a bit taller."
"Don't be fooled by my petite stature," retorted Yuna, staring harshly at Cassius.
He smiled, easing his austere posture even more. "Of course. You have faced many a foe and willingly accepted a pilgrimage with your final fate being death guaranteed. An old man like me compares so utterly poor next to Sin."
Yuna only hardened her stature, waiting for Cassius to strike. In the back of her mind, crept the fear of his battle prowess. She knew he could fight infinitesimally better than she could ever hope to. It was all that she could do not cry out in pain from the burns still aching across her back. Her eyes quickly darted up and down his iron-clad body, analyzing him for some sort of weak point.
"As a summoner, you've fought beside many faithful guardians. However, how well can a little girl such as yourself fight on your own?" he questioned, drawing his sword suddenly.
Yuna gasped and nearly fell over from such a scare. The starkness of his question pierced her mind. For years, she had relied on others to protect her. What had she done to safeguard herself, she wonder. More to the point, what could she do? Compared to the colossus that was Cassius, her frame was meek. She choked to swallow her nervous saliva, her breathing becoming heavy and sporadic. It was at this moment, that she remembered Tidus' face. She could almost see him, beaming his beautiful smile at her. She recalled the strength that others gave her. It wasn't always with them next to her, but with their spirits within her.
Yuna peered at him, focusing all her energy on the battle. Whatever Cassius may throw at her, she was ready. She didn't need others for protection anymore. Droplets of sweat began to bead from her pores. Her breath weighed heavy, her muscles sharp with tension. With a flick of his body, Cassius sheathed his sword and chuckled lightly to himself. He let out a sigh and began to approach Yuna. She instinctively braced herself, but he waved his hand to call her off. Yuna still kept up her elevated guard, confused by his sudden change in demeanor.
"Fear not," he said calmly, shaking his head. "There will be no battle today."
Yuna gazed at him in mistrust. "What do you mean? I don't understand."
"I know," he replied concisely.
He turned to the side, extending his arm out towards the sphere. The gesture made Yuna uneasy; she expected a fight and not Cassius' surrender. She moved with careful motion towards the pedestal. She then turned back to Cassius, who hadn't moved at all.
"Explain to me, why you didn't attack?" she demanded.
He closed his eyes for a moment, pausing to reflect. "I suppose you wouldn't understand. Please Lady Yuna, let me explain."
Approaching the pedestal, he walked feebly and stopped in front of Yuna. Sighing deeply, he knelt before her, his head down in humble indignation. Taken aghast by his sudden change in demeanor, Yuna didn't know what action to take. He marched like a valiant champion just moments ago. Now, he graveled on the ground, as if Yuna was the victor.
"I must make amends to both with you and your father," he said quietly, almost in a whisper.
Yuna, still unable to grasp his reasonings, stuttered to speak. "I still don't understand. Make amends?"
"Please, allow an old warrior to confess . . ."
As I said before, long ago, I had infiltrated Zanarkand. In truth, my mission was not to assassinate or find some grand secret. It was to hide. You see, I was a deserter. Fighting was never in my blood. The only reason I was in the army was to protect my family. Still, even with them in my mind, I didn't have the gall to battle. I ran to Zanarkand after leaving my guard unit. Perhaps, I thought, I might have been able to find some sort of refuge there. I can't explain why. I was desperate.
But, it seems, fate already had my soul in its grasp. Not long after hiding in Zanarkand, I came across a secret they had. They had information about the super weapon Bevelle had developed. Somehow, they had confiscated a sphere with its data on it. I didn't know much about the weapon, all I knew was that I couldn't let them have it.
I attacked the installation where the sphere was kept. I thought I could sneak in and out unnoticed, but I was eventually spotted. I ran for my life, somehow making my way to this stadium. My memories are blurry, but the fact remains, I escaped down here, in this sort of dungeon. I was safe, but I was also trapped. No matter how hard I tried, I could not open the doors to release me. I have never been sure if they locked me down here, or if it was because of my iniquity, yet here is where I've remained.
So, even after death, I stayed here to safeguard the sphere. I guess in my mind, I was honorably protecting the generations of my family. Throughout the ages, the story of this sphere and I became a myth. For centuries, I've fought off would-be thieves and sphere hunters. Then, I noticed one day, that the sphere I had been so mightily protecting was gone. It had decayed into nothing over the centuries. Now, all that was left in this musty, infested chamber was my expired soul.
One day, your father came to face me. He, too, wanted to see this sphere. After so many years of loneliness and despair, I was finally happy to see another man with life in his veins. He probably told you many horrible things about me. It's just . . . I had been slowly going mad with nothing to protect myself. Your father gave me that opportunity back, even for just a moment.
He was truly a skilled fighter, much more than his appearance would lend credence to. I was surprised to find someone who could even come close to matching my combat abilities, as I had been constantly training myself over the eons. We had a long, uninterrupted fight. But in the end, I cornered your father. In exchange for his life, I stole the sphere he was carrying. What surprised me was, that if it was not for the two men accompanying him, I believe he would have died trying to get this sphere back. It wasn't until I watched the sphere that I understood why.
Cassius walked up to the pedestal, gently removing the sphere from its resting place. He handed it to Yuna, patting her on the head as well. He motioned her to keep it, then turned to walk away.
She grabbed his arm. "What is on this sphere that was so important to my father?"
Cassius stopped and paused for a brief second. "It's of you, and your mother."
"My mother?" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes. It seems your father treasured you and your mother above all else. He fought for you and always kept you near to remind himself of that. It revived in me how I once felt so long ago."
Yuna gazed at the sphere—a sphere of her mother, her father, and herself. Beyond Tidus, she wanted this more than anything. She thought getting Tidus back would come before this, yet in her hands, she held something she desired beyond comprehension. She turned to speak to Cassius, but he was gone. Now, only a dusky silence remained in the chamber. A swirl of pyreflies faded into the shadows.
She blew the dust off her sphere and flicked it on. It lit up with a bright image of Bevelle, filling the chamber with the first light that it had seen in the last millennia. She heard the laughter of a small girl in the background.
"Now, now dear, don't run in the street like that," said the mellow voice of a woman.
Yuna's eyes began to swell with tears at the sound of this voice. The picture turned around to show the image of a gorgeous Al Bhed woman, patting her delightful child on the head.
"Don't worry dear, the streets are always calm around here," replied a man's voice behind the sphere camera.
Now Yuna genuinely cried, as she knew her father's voice better than anyone. She watched as the picture grew closer to her mother. She turned around, flashing an elegant smile at the lucky man behind the camera.
Her mother walked closer to the camera, cheerfully saying, "It's such a lovely day. I'm glad we decided to do this, especially since—"
"Ah, ah! Not one mention of that. Today, all that matters is me spending time with my beautiful wife and little girl," Braska stated.
"Daddy, daddy," rang the voice of a little Yuna, racing towards her parents, "I found a toy!"
Yuna looked upward to see herself, so small, being cherished by her parents. Her mother embraced her, lifting Yuna in her arm so she could see her father better.
"That isn't a toy, Yuna, it's an old machina scrap," he chuckled heartily.
"I see your daughter is as inquisitive as you are," joked another familiar voice from afar.
"It's Uncle Cid!" the young Yuna exclaimed, pointing to the broad man coming nearer to them.
The older Yuna had to laugh, as Cid had his trademark gruff expression on his face. A hand outstretched from the camera view, gesturing for him to come over to Braska.
"Take the camera. I want a shot with my wife and daughter for the road."
"Of course, Braska," agreed Cid.
He handed the camera sphere off to Cid, who bumbled around with it for a moment. Finally, Yuna's whole family came into view. There she was, in her mother's and father's arms, smiling so joyously.
"Now we'll have this moment in time captured forever," he said, pointing to the camera.
Yuna's mother glanced over at Braska. "This is such a wonderful moment. Maybe I'll take this to Bikanel with me."
"I don't want you to leave," little Yuna whimpered.
Braska rubbed her head. "Don't worry, your mother won't be gone long. We'll be together again in no time."
The image faded, and the sphere shut itself off. Although it lasted only a short time, watching her mother and father again was the best thing she'd seen in a long, long time. Wiping away her tears, she tucked away the sphere with the letter she had found earlier. While she knew it better to leave the past behind, some memories should never be forgotten. Yuna walked to the door and put her hand against it to push it open. Unlike Cassius, the door opened without effort. She walked out, immediately receiving four relieved arms of her friends.
"Yunie, you're okay!" Rikku bellowed, throwing her arms around Yuna.
"Hey, are you alright, Yuna? Did you kill him?" asked Paine intently.
Yuna shook her head. "No, we didn't fight at all."
Rikku looked with perplexity at Yuna. "Huh, you didn't fight? Then how did you get the sphere?"
"Because of his guilt, I suppose."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, I'll explain it all to you back on the Celsius. Hey, do you want to see some pictures of my mother and father?"
Rikku shuffled up next to Yuna. "Your mom and dad? Cool!"
Yuna laughed and put her arm lovingly around Rikku as they left for their ship. While she did not unearth the enormous secret that she might have hoped for, to Yuna, it was her most successful mission yet. She took one last look back into the bleak chamber which had imprisoned Cassius for so long. Instead of the solemn, stoic body of Cassius, she saw a swarm of pyreflies shooting off into the sky. Freed from the shackles of broken vows, the forsaken warrior could rest.
