FIC: Crooked Wings -- FFX-- Chapter 9 -- T

[batsutousai]

Title: Crooked Wings
Author: Batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison
Rating: T
Pairings: Tidus/Seymour
Warnings: AU, major canon-fuckery
Summary: On that fateful day when Yunalesca faced Sin, only part of her died, and the part that stayed alive finds itself in Spira a thousand years later.

Disclaim Her: Ugh. Translating of Al Bhed. *stare* If it's bold, it's Al Bhed.
Also, special thanks to Shotgunnova's game script at GameFAQs. Some scenes are taken from the game, with the help of that script.

A/N: Perhaps I was just overly tired, but parts of this chapter were written while Shivani's Tidus and Seymour were talking in my head. So their voices may be more her then me, at times, but there you go?

-0-
Wisdom, Justice, and Love
-0-

This is damned pathetic, Seymour thought as he fended off the incoming soldiers. In spite of all his training, he was hardly a match for the hordes of humes and machina Mika had sent after him with the shouted insults of traitor and murderer added in for a bonus. He hadn't even had time to summon one of his aeons before he'd been overrun, and robes were not conductive for running in.

So, here he was, being shoved back further and further along the Highbridge. He'd started towards the temple in hopes that he might be able to get backup from Gina's party, but then he'd remembered that the summoner would be praying to the fayth – or they'd still be fighting their way through the Yevon-damned trials. There was no way they would get out in any sort of time to help him out. He supposed he could have led the soldiers into the temple, but that would only add the temple guardians to his opponents, and he had no interest in fighting quasi-summoners as well as guns.

He grunted as a lucky soldier hit his leg, sending him to the ground. Is this what it's come to? Well, Yu Yevon, it looks like your followers will be doing your dirty work for you, he thought bitterly.

The Highbridge suddenly flashed with a white light and Seymour had to look away as the white orbs of the Holy spell pelted the soldiers and machina that had been moments from doing him in.

Like some sort of vengeful beast, Bahamut slammed through the barriers between dream and reality and alighted on the Highbridge between Seymour and the surviving soldiers. The dragon let out a warning growl as a few soldiers stumbled backwards.

"Seymour," Tidus whispered, kneeling next to the maester. He was out of breath from running the length of the bridge and casting the powerful white spell, but he still managed a Cura.

Seymour relaxed against the teen. "Déjà vu," he murmured. "Except, last time, I was the one healing you."

"You did a crappy job of it, too," Tidus teased, relief in his tone. He shot out another Cura to heal what was left of the damage to his lover.

"What did you do?" Gina wondered of the maester as she and Rikku finally reached them.

"I told Mika where he could shove his dead prick," Seymour replied, earning him surprised laughs from the other three. "Thank you."

"Bahamut was quite insistent that you required assistance," Gina offered. "Probably the quickest anyone has ever acquired an aeon."

Seymour struggled to his feet, Tidus silently offering his assistance. "We can't hold them here forever," he pointed out. "As soon as Mika realises we've blocked them here, he'll have the temple guardians filing through behind us."

Rikku held up a small transmitter Cid had slipped her before they'd disembarked, which was flashing to indicate it was active. "They shouldn't be too far out, so we only have to hold the Yevonites off for a little bit longer."

"Incoming," Tidus warned, having been watching the way to the temple ever since Seymour had mentioned more might come from that direction.

Seymour stepped away from Tidus and performed a quick summoning for Anima, who immediately shot out some warning attacks against the temple guardians. "That should hold them until our ride gets here," he said grimly.

"What are they doing?" Rikku wondered, peeking around Anima at the temple guardians. "It almost looks like they're summoning, but..."

The two trained summoners looked past the large aeon to see and Gina offered, "They are summoning. Or, well, trying to..."

'We will not answer their pleas,' the boy's voice from earlier said in Tidus' mind. 'You are our hope for peace; we are not about to help them fight against you.'

'You're a fayth?' Tidus asked.

'I am Bahamut,' the child replied and the dragon aeon huffed pointedly. 'I am directly involved in your dream, so my reaching out to you does not harm you.'

'Oh...' Tidus shook his head and looked towards his party, all of whom were watching the temple guardians get more and more desperate, unable to summon as they were. "Bahamut says the fayth won't fight against us," he offered to his party.

Seymour immediately hurried to Tidus' side, worried. "You're not–"

"I'm fine," Tidus assured him with a smile. "Bahamut is connected to my fayth, so he doesn't hurt me when we talk."

"Hurt you?" Gina asked, frowning.

"You told him?" Rikku demanded, scowling at Seymour.

"Anima spoke to me in the desert," Tidus explained, "and it gave me a headache. I had to explain how it was possible for a fayth to communicate with me."

"Hmm..." Gina rubbed at her chin. "Papa said he could communicate with the other fayth through the aeon who is acting as his armour, so it would make sense that you can communicate as well," she decided, then shook her head. "I don't like that it gives you a headache, though."

Tidus waved that off. "I'm fine."

Further discussion was ended as the Fahrenheit made its appearance, Cid using the loudspeakers to call, "Here's how this is gonna work: We're gonna take our friends onboard real peaceful-like. You start shooting, we shoot back."

The side door of the airship popped open as it drew even with the Highbridge. "Why do you still have the half-guado?" the man who opened it asked Rikku.

"Because Tidus would never forgive me if we left him behind," Rikku replied, hopping into the ship and reaching out to help Gina inside.

"And no one wants to put up with Tidus in a snit," Gina added teasingly.

"I can understand you, you know," Tidus pointed out as Seymour was helped into the airship. He couldn't speak Al Bhed, but he'd picked up enough of it after travelling with Rikku that he got the general gist of what they were saying.

Tidus jumped aboard once Seymour was safe and the two summoners dismissed their aeons as the door slid shut.

"All aboard, Pops!" Rikku called through the intercom.

"For the record, I vote you blow a hole in the side of the palace just for kicks," Seymour added.

Cid laughed. "Noted. Lady Gina, where are we dropping you off?" he asked as the airship veered away from the Highbridge.

Gina bit her lower lip for a moment, then glanced at Seymour. "I was told there are a couple of fayth in the Calm Lands? I've already prayed to Yojimbo, but..."

"The Magus Sisters," Seymour agreed. "They reside in Remiem Temple, near the entrance to Macalania Woods, which is impossible to reach without a chocobo."

Gina sighed. "Alright. Where in Zanarkand is Yunalesca?"

Seymour frowned. "The far north, in a large building. You intend to avoid Mt Gagazet entirely?"

"I've made this pilgrimage once," Gina reminded him, "and I don't intend to let Lady Yuna beat me, if only so she never has to face the choice of sacrificing a guardian." She glanced at Tidus. "Large building in the north?"

"Blitzball stadium," Tidus said with certainty.

"My thoughts exactly," Gina agreed, turning back to the intercom. "We're going to Zanarkand, Cid. In the northern-most part of the city will be a large, open-air building set a bit away from the rest of the buildings. That's where we're headed."

"Understood. Should take us most of the day to get there, so take a moment or three to relax a bit," Cid replied before the intercom went silent.

The Al Bhed man who had let them in sighed. "I'll take you to the galley," he offered. "You all look like you could use some food."

"That would be most appreciated," Gina replied with a smile while Rikku translated what the other Al Bhed had said to Tidus and Seymour, since she knew neither of them had a perfect understanding of the language.

The party got some food and found themselves a quiet corner next to a window to eat in. Once they'd finished, Tidus and Rikku plastered themselves to the airship window and exclaimed over the view while Gina laughed and Seymour watched them with a tired smile.

After a while, Tidus turned to his lover and asked, "So what, exactly, did you say that had Mika sending half the city after you?"

Seymour glanced at Rikku and Gina, who were watching him with curious eyes. "I told him I'd developed a conscience," he allowed.

"So he sent half the city to kill you?" Rikku wondered, shaking her head. "Yevonites are scary."

"He couldn't have you going rogue, you know too much," Gina deduced.

"I might go around telling people what he believes is the truth, that Sin is eternal and will never be destroyed. Then he'd have a mass panic on his hands, lots of suicides, and there would be no one for him to rule over any more." Seymour sighed. "Mika never knew about my aspirations to destroy the world."

"Wait, you what?" Rikku demanded, jerking forward.

"We're working on that," Tidus commented lightly to his fellow guardian as he pressed her back into her earlier seat.

"You people really believe that Sin can never truly be defeated?" Gina wondered.

Seymour grimaced. "It's been around for one thousand years, and everything we've tried has done absolutely nothing."

"The fayth think he can be defeated for good," Tidus commented, "or I wouldn't be here."

"And Papa wouldn't have assisted in bringing you through if he thought it would fail," Gina agreed. "I just wish I knew how."

They were all silent for a long few moments, thinking. Eventually, Seymour stood. "It's something to think about. Perhaps your unsent self in Zanarkand will have an answer we don't. If not, we can debate it more once we've finished there. For now, we might as well take a break. We have safety and time, we may as well enjoy it."

"You're right," Gina allowed, getting to her own feet. "I know we've only just slept, but I feel like I could do so again."

"I second that," Tidus offered. "Casting Holy takes a lot out of you."

"Oh, yeah! When did you pick that one up, anyway?" Rikku demanded as they all started for the floor where the bedrooms were.

"In the desert. Shiva taught it to me, but that was the first time I actually cast it," Tidus explained, grimacing. "I promise to teach you next time there's space."

"Casting it on this ship may well blow a hole in the side," Gina agreed, smiling. "Once we're done in Zanarkand, I'd like to visit the Magus Sisters in the Calm Lands. You can practise while we're there."

"There is...another aeon you might consider attempting," Seymour offered hesitantly.

Gina glanced over at him. "Your mother?"

Seymour nodded. "Her crystal is in the ruins of Baaj Temple."

"She's the one I sensed when we first got here," Gina explained for Tidus' benefit.

"Ah."

"If you don't mind, then we can head there after seeing the Magus Sisters," Gina said to Seymour.

The ex-maester smiled faintly. "Certainly."

They split on the second level to go to their separate rooms. Tidus waited until their door was closed before asking, "Seymour? What are you going to do now? I mean, you're not really a maester any more, right?"

Seymour sighed and sat on their bed. "I don't know," he admitted. "I suppose I could just go back to ruling the guado, but I'm not sure they'd be okay with that."

Tidus frowned and settled on the bed next to his lover. "Why wouldn't they like you leading them? For all that you've had other priorities, you seem to have done pretty well so far. I mean, they adore you, right?"

Seymour sighed. "You are not going to be pleased with me," he warned.

Tidus snorted. "Seymour, I love you, but I am rarely pleased with you. What did you do?"

Seymour opened his mouth to explain, paused, then asked, "You love me?"

Tidus sighed. "Yes. I think so? What did you do?"

"Oh. Er..."

"Seymour."

The half-guado slumped a bit and cast a sideways glance at his lover. "I killed my father."

Tidus considered that for a moment, then snorted. "My father is a part of Sin," he reminded the other.

"Yes?"

"Who am I here to destroy?"

"Ah." Seymour let out a nervous laugh. "I suppose that's true. But...you're killing Jecht for a good reason?"

Tidus snorted. "My favourite pastime before I ended up in Spira was throwing darts at a picture of him. I think it's pretty safe to say my intentions towards killing him aren't as pure as you're trying to make them out to be."

"There's a difference between throwing darts at someone's head and actually killing them," Seymour pointed out drily, though he sounded a bit more relaxed. He even pulled Tidus closer, which the teen allowed with a smile. "It's not like you're killing him for your own gains, no matter how much you might have hated him."

"So, what? I'm the poster boy for patricide?" Tidus returned, earning him a surprised laugh. He pulled back a bit and shot Seymour a serious look. "From what you've said about your old man, he probably deserved it, even if it was, perhaps, a bit more extreme than necessary. I mean, leaving your wife and kid to fend for themselves just because they're not popular..."

"I have since been told it was, at least in part, for our safety," Seymour offered, uncertain why he would even bother defending Jyscal. He knew his father had been a popular man, both among the humes and the guado, but he'd not done well by his family.

"And he couldn't have kept you safe in that giant manor of yours?" Tidus asked rhetorically, shaking his head. "I've never met him, personally, but there are ways to handle your family, and shunting them off to a distant island is not one of them, no matter your excuses." He sighed. "Murder was, perhaps, a bit extreme, but I already know you're a bit insane. And considering my own quest at the moment, I'm hardly one to talk."

Seymour hummed a bit and pulled Tidus back towards him. "We should get some rest. There'll be time to debate our various sins later."

"Yours more than mine," Tidus helpfully added.

Seymour sighed, resigned, and they both got up to change out of their mostly unnecessary clothing, then curled up together on the bed.

Seymour was just drifting off to sleep when Tidus murmured, "I'm sorry."

Seymour grunted an inquiry.

Tidus was silent for a moment, then said, "That I'll be leaving you soon."

Seymour huffed. "No," he muttered into the blond hair.

"No?"

"Won't let you," Seymour explained drowsily, tightening his arm around Tidus' waist. "Find a way to keep you. Mine."

Tidus was torn between feeling pleased and exasperated. Pleased won and he kissed the bare chest inches from his nose. "Okay."

Seymour let out a pleased murmur and it was left at that.

-0-

Rikku was the one who came to wake them, knocking loudly on their door and calling, "If you're not up and on the bridge in fifteen minutes, I'm coming in there! And none of us wants that!"

Tidus called back, "Then why are you threatening it?"

Rikku didn't respond, but her threat was enough to get the guys out of bed, Tidus muttering threats under his breath and Seymour smiling in amusement.

They got up to the bridge to find that they hadn't quite passed around Gagazet yet – something about having to go the long way around the Calm Lands because they weren't sure how to get the airship high enough to actually go over Gagazet and the cliffs spanning the Calm Lands to either side. Tidus immediately turned to Rikku upon learning that, ready to unleash his earlier plans of torture on her, but Gina said, "Tidus, come here," in a subdued voice.

Threats forgotten, Tidus hurried over to his summoner, worried. "What's wrong?"

Gina took his hand and drew him closer to the view screen just as the first of the ruins came into view. The summoner let out a sound somewhere between a mournful sigh and a sob while Tidus' breath caught. Tidus squeezed her hand in understanding, because this might not be his Zanarkand, but it was as close to it as he'd ever get, and it hurt to see it in ruins.

The bridge was silent as they soared over the shattered memories, towards what was left of the blitzball stadium. About halfway through the wreckage, Gina commented, "It hasn't changed."

"I guess he managed to keep himself from doing any further damage," Tidus offered quietly.

Gina smiled a bit sadly. "Maybe he did."

As the blitzball stadium came fully into view, Cid asked, "Where are we setting you lot down?"

Gina glanced at Seymour, since he knew the layout better than she did at that point.

"There's an unsent at the entrance," Seymour offered, "who meets incoming parties. He may be the one who warns High Summoner Yunalesca that someone has come to visit. If you'd rather surprise her, I can probably point out the closest entrance to the Trials."

Gina considered that for a moment, looking back towards the blitzball stadium. Finally, just as they drew even, she directed, "Leave us here, please. I don't much care to see if we can find a stable landing spot inside the stadium."

"Right." Cid turned to Brother, at the helm, and ordered, "Find a spot out here."

"Thank you," Gina offered honestly, motioning for the party to leave the bridge.

"Lady Gina!" Cid called as they reached the doorway. When Gina turned back to him, he offered, "We'll stay in the area. When you're done, give us a call and we'll pick you up. You can make further plans on the airship."

"Thank you," Gina repeated while Rikku let out a whoop.

The party hopped out of the ship and waited until it had flown out of sight before starting for the doorway of the stadium, Gina in the lead. A man met them just outside, asking, "Journeyer of the long road, name yourself."

"I am High Summoner Yunalesca Yevon, from the city-state of Zanarkand," Gina announced grimly.

The unsent did a double-take, eyes widening upon closer study. "Lady Yunalesca?" he breathed.

"A part of her," she agreed, smiling slightly. "I'm here to speak with the unsent here of the same name. May I?"

The man blinked in surprise. "But, how...?"

"I don't know. May we pass?"

The man dumbly stepped to one side and they slipped past him.

In the wreckage, they saw echoes of the past, images from previous summoner parties, and Gina commented, "These have changed. Before, the echoes in this city were of the people who had died here, now it's of the summoners and guardians who have given their lives. Always tales of death."

"Life fades away, but death lingers," Seymour offered.

"Yes, perhaps that is it," Gina agreed.

Of the images they saw, only two had any real effect on the party. The first was of a young Seymour, pleading for his mother not to sacrifice her life. If anyone had noticed the way Seymour had crept closer to Tidus for the duration of the memory, they didn't say anything.

The second was of Jecht, Auron, and Braska. Jecht and Auron had tried to talk Braska out of performing the Final Summoning, but he'd insisted he must and they'd moved on.

"I'm having a hard time believing Auron actually choked at the last minute," Tidus offered quietly as they moved past the faded memory.

Gina smiled. "I choked," she offered, chuckling at the disbelieving sounds of her fellows. "I did. Zaon and I camped out on the edge of the ruins for two weeks before I got the courage to actually come in here and hunt down any leftover fayth statues. When we didn't find anything, he was the one who insisted I make him a fayth and use him against Papa. We argued about it for another two weeks, though."

"Why would he be a better fayth than any of the others you already had?" Rikku wondered. "That's something I never understood."

"The stronger the connection between fayth and summoner, the stronger the aeon will be when summoned," Seymour offered. "Shiva and Anima are my strongest summons, since I am closest to them, though Anima is far stronger. Most summoners form an extremely close bond with their original aeon, since they trained at that temple and have spent time with the fayth."

"Ixion," Gina offered when Tidus and Rikku looked at her curiously. "Of the aeons I can call now, he and I are the closest. Before, it was Tonberry, who was my first ever aeon." She smiled in memory. "He was kind of cute, actually."

"If he's anything like the Tonberries that haunt Yojimbo's cavern, the cuteness is deceptive," Seymour commented drily.

Gina chuckled. "He was slow, but anyone he hit with his knife died on the spot. His small size let him sneak onto Bevelle's machina and kill the pilots, which made him invaluable to the war effort. I was sad to find that I could no longer summon him."

"You never tried using him against Sin?" Tidus wondered.

"The armour was already dead," Gina reminded him. "I would have had to destroy the armour to get to Papa, and destroying the armour with Zaon was what got me killed, so there was no way I could have summoned him."

Tidus frowned in thought, an idea forming just out of reach at the back of his mind. "Huh."

"Tidus?" Gina asked. "What is it?"

Tidus waved a hand at her. "Not sure yet. Let's talk to your unsent."

Gina nodded to that and they worked together to move through the Trials. After defeating the Spectral Keeper, they took the lift down to where a cracked crystal rested. Standing over it, Gina sighed. "Oh, Zaon, my love..." she whispered.

"Yunalesca waits within," Seymour offered quietly.

Gina sighed again and spared one last glance for what was left of her husband, then walked past the crystal and through the doorway to a large room that Tidus couldn't remember ever seeing, despite all the games he'd played in the dome back home.

Yunalesca stood at the top of the steps, surrounded in pyreflies and dressed in practically nothing. She watched the party with sharp eyes as they took up positions beneath her. "Why do you exist?" she asked Gina.

Gina shrugged. "Because Papa didn't want me dead. I've been sleeping inside Sin all this time, with him, and now I'm free. And I'm going to do what we started – what we planned – all those years ago."

Yunalesca let out a slightly crazed laugh as she started down the stairs. "Finish what we started?" she wondered. "Getting rid of Sin is impossible. He is eternal!"

"I don't believe that," Gina replied quietly, "and neither does Papa. Or the fayth."

"And I suppose you know how to destroy Sin, then?" Yunalesca returned scathingly.

"No," Gina allowed, "but I'm not going to give up."

Yunalesca scoffed. "Oh, please, give it your best shot. While you're at it, I'll be granting hopeful summoners their Final Aeon."

"No, you won't." Gina held her spear out threateningly. "Our best shot resides in the aeon that is currently acting as Papa's armour. I cannot let you grant another Final Aeon, or I will fail. And I won't fail."

"So you'll, what? Send me?" Yunalesca glanced at Seymour. "You believe what I'm saying, don't you, boy? Sin is eternal."

Seymour shook his head. "I no longer know what I believe," he admitted, "but I think I should like to see the end of Sin. Lady Gina truly believes it can happen, and I would like to believe that."

Yunalesca turned angry eyes on Gina. "If that's how it is to be, I will have to put an end to your lies!" She rushed at Gina, hands outstretched to grab the other's throat. Gina held up her spear to block her, but Yunalesca simply ducked it.

Before Tidus or Rikku could fully react to the threat, Yunalesca's hands touched Gina's throat and both women let out sounds of pain before they glowed and slowly melded together into one body, which then crumpled to the ground.

"Gina!" the two guardians shouted, hurrying to their summoner's side. Tidus checked for a pulse while Rikku grabbed Gina's hand, whispering, "Please be okay. Please, Gina..."

"She's changed," Seymour murmured, coming to stand behind Tidus.

Indeed, Gina's hair had grown back out and her face had aged. She looked to be in her mid- to late twenties, much closer to the age she had been when she'd faced Sin. She'd retained her summoner's robes, though the jewellery her unsent self had been wearing had appeared, the necklace tangling with a much smaller necklace she'd been wearing when she and Tidus had first met.

Gina let out a groan and her eyes fluttered open, causing both guardians to lean forward, hopeful. She blinked up at them and murmured, "Tidus? Rikku?"

The other three, including Seymour, let out breaths of relief. "Thank goodness," Rikku murmured.

At Gina's confused look, Tidus explained, "You merged with Yunalesca. You've aged."

"Ah." Gina held up one hand to inspect and, upon finding the once familiar calluses, said again, "Ah. Well, I'm still me." She frowned a bit. "I have vague memories of haunting this dome, alone, but our recent pilgrimage is what I remember best. If that makes any sense?" She shook her head.

"I wonder why that happened," Rikku commented as she and Tidus helped their summoner up.

"Two copies of the same person is...generally considered impossible," Seymour offered, shrugging. "The world couldn't cope, so it made you into the same person. Because you, Lady Gina, were more...alive, I suppose? You are the more dominate, at any rate, so your memories are at the fore."

Gina nodded in understanding. "That makes a certain amount of sense, I suppose." She reached up to remove the newest necklace, scowling as her hair caught. "Damn it. I'd become used to short hair."

Tidus laughed. "I can cut it again?"

"No. Not a chance," Gina returned, tossing the necklace at him. "I'd rather find someone with actual skills in that department."

"It wasn't that bad!"

"It was a little crooked," Rikku offered.

"Oiy!"

Gina chuckled at the two, shaking her head. "Perhaps one of the Al Bhed can shorten it," she decided, glancing back down at her callused hand. "Tidus, how old do I look? Approximately?"

"Not as old as you are," Tidus reported, smiling. When Gina rolled her eyes, he added, "Late twenties?"

Gina nodded. "Good. I think I like this body better."

"Picky, picky."

Gina shot him a grin, then leaned down to grab her spear. "I have to wonder what I am, though. I mean, Yunalesca was unsent, so..."

"You're not unsent," Seymour reported. At the amused looks he got, he shrugged. "Guado can tell."

"You're half-guado," Tidus pointed out, but he didn't disbelieve his lover's statement. Seymour just shook his head in response.

"We should head back to the airship, I suppose," Gina commented, then grimaced. "This should be interesting to explain to Cid."

Rikku laughed a bit nervously. "I kinda...already told him...who you were..."

Gina sighed and pulled her youngest guardian into a half hug. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Stick around and keep an eye on me," Rikku ordered, nodding.

"I'll see what I can do."

Outside the dome, where they had spoken to the unsent man, they found Yuna and party. Everyone froze for a moment, then Yuna's guardians, minus Auron, all reached for their weapons.

"What is the meaning of this?" Gina snapped, stepping out from behind Seymour, who she'd been walking behind.

"Lady Yunalesca!" Yuna breathed, the staff she'd only just finished pulling out hanging from her fingertips. Beyond her, Auron reached for his own sword, eyes wary.

"I'm a traitor," Seymour reminded Gina drily.

"And a murderer!" Wakka shouted. "You murdered Lord Jyscal!"

Gina and Rikku betrayed their surprise by glancing at Seymour in question, but Tidus shot back, "Oh, get a clue, Wakka! Your Holy Order of Yevon isn't as lily-white as it's led you to believe! The only reason Seymour's a 'traitor' is because he decided to turn his back on the lot of them and their hypocritical ways!"

"He killed Lord Jyscal!" Wakka repeated angrily.

Seymour sighed. "So? Maester Mika knew that when I was ordained a maester. The only reason he's making a deal out of it now is because I argued with him for launching an attack on the Al Bhed Home."

"The Al Bhed probably deserved it!"

Rikku made to run at Wakka, but Tidus grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. "Yeah? Why don't you say that to the airship around the corner," the ex-blitzer suggested coldly. "After they blast you to the Farplane, we can all talk about how you 'deserved it.' Or whatever."

Rikku had taken the hint and used her call button to get her father to bring the Fahrenheit into sight. Cid's voice came over the loudspeaker, warning, "Play nice, kids."

"Best listen to him," Rikku offered with an evil little smile on her face. "Pops has an itchy trigger finger."

Wakka looked torn between terrified and offended.

Yuna slipped her staff back into her obi, then stepped forward. "Lady Yunalesca–"

"Gina," the older summoner corrected her gently. "The Yunalesca you came here to ask the Final Summoning from is gone, as is the Final Summoning itself. Go back to Besaid, Lady Yuna."

Yuna looked for a moment like she might cry. "But, Sin..."

Gina shook her head. "The Final Summoning is useless against Sin. We're going to find another way, with or without the blessing of Yevon. Go home."

Yuna shook her head. "I can't," she insisted. "I can't just turn back now and go home!"

"Lady Yuna–"

"Wait," Tidus interrupted, stepping forward to touch his summoner's arm. "Gina, you remember that idea I had? The one I said I'd explain after we dealt with Yunalesca?"

Everyone looked at Tidus. Gina nodded. "I remember. What was it?"

Tidus glanced back at Seymour. "About how many summoners – or ex-summoners – are there in Spira? People who can perform the sending."

Seymour blinked in surprise, then frowned for a moment in thought. "Most priests are capable of performing the sending," he offered. "Maester Kinoc is the only other maester capable of it, and then there are the summoners currently on pilgrimage. There are probably others who have decided to live a quiet life, but those are the ones I know of for sure." He shook his head. "About thirty, give or take."

Tidus nodded and looked back at Gina. "You said Sin's armour was made up of the dead, right? That the actual composition is, I dunno, pyreflies?"

Gina nodded. "Essentially, yes. That's why I couldn't use Tonberry on it," she agreed, remembering what they'd been discussing when Tidus had first made his thoughtful noise.

Tidus smiled. "So what if you sent the armour?"

"Oh," Gina whispered, eyes wide. "Oh."

Tidus turned to where Yuna's party was watching in confusion – except for Auron, who looked approving – and asked, "Yuna, how would you like to help us defeat Sin? For good."

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A/N: I've never actually seen this solution before, and it was pure chance I even came up with it. Anyway, it makes a certain amount of sense, right? The armour's made up of dead, so why not just send them all. I mean, they might still have to fight the aeon in charge of the armour, but if there's nothing making up the shell, that shouldn't be too hard, right?
Now all they have to do is get everyone on-board with the idea. Especially with the entirety of Yevon thinking Seymour's a traitor. XD

~Bats ^.^x

Chapters:
1 - Otherworld ||| 2 - Neither Friend Nor Foe ||| 3 - Sometimes Good-Bye is a Second Chance
4 - Heaven Sent a Hurricane ||| 5 - My Secrets Become Your Truth ||| 6 - Every Clap of Thunder
7 - Throw Your World Away (For Love) ||| 8 - Poisonous Drugs of Hate ||| 9 - Wisdom, Justice, & Love
10 - Turning on a Dime ||| 11 - Kings and Queens of Promise ||| 12 - Stepped Into a Cruel World
13 - ???
Incomplete

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Comments

[hekelachan.livejournal.com]

Sending the armor is actually really clever. I'm glad to see you're not completely rehashing the "final" battle with Sin. Airship battles are really only fun to watch.^^

[batsutousai]

Tell me about it. And, having written this scene twice already... (Or, well, skimmed this scene twice already... ^.^")

[kitty11chan.livejournal.com]

Do you ever plan on finishing this, or is it discontinued? I really like it.

[batsutousai]

I fully plan on finishing it. The next chapter's about half done, but I haven't done any work on it for a while 'cause I've been busy with other things. I can't say when I finish the chapter and post it, but this fic's definitely not abandoned.