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Seishuku Skuld Author Pairing Rating Subject


Saidan no Hitsuji
Chapter Twelve: Canta Per Me (Sing for Me)

By Seishuku Skuld (skuldsai@magicgirl.com)

It's Spring Break! I'm trying to get as much done as possible! ^_^ Yay for Spring Break! Anyhoo...hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's mostly thought and angsting. ^_^ **sweatdrop**

And for those of us who had Auron as our highest affinity level, here is his moment of glory! When he jumps off the airship first! ^_^ w00t w00t!


tempra la cetra e canta
il inno di morte
a noi si schiude il ciel
volano al raggio

strengthen your lyre and sing
the hymn of death
the sky opens to us
they fly to the ray of sunlight

-NOIR: Canta Per Me

Saidan no Hitsuji Part 12

A singing ship in the sky, a world joined by one voice, one purpose, one song. I stand now in the corridor outside the bridge of Cid's airship. I lean against the wall, my arm in my coat, one foot resting against the wall behind me. My head is bowed as I listen to Spira sing the Hymn of the Fayth. A smile curls the corners of my mouth, I can hear it even from here, inside the ship, protected by its cool metal walls. Undoubtedly Jecht hears it too.

My breath nearly stops as I think of him, and I see him flash a kind smile in my mind's eye. He always loved the Hymn, he told me it brought him a sense of peace, a quiet serenity he'd never been able to find before. He'd asked me to hum to him a few times, and he'd always fallen asleep in my arms. I told him it was a song to soothe the souls of the dead. But some in this world know better than to take Bevelle at its word.

In truth, it is a song that Zanarkand had sung in defiance of Bevelle during the war. Its origins became lost to the people, and it somehow became a song of defiance against the religion of Yevon. How ironic, as most things go in this place. Then Bevelle declared it a song to calm the dead, and wrote it in its scriptures. I exhale my breath, my shoulders shaking with laughter. The maesters of Bevelle are quite clever.

I look up, a presence unfolding in my mind. Jecht. He comes to meet us in battle. I feel that much of him has slipped away during our journey, his control over his actions is now only tenuous at best.

"Sin!" I hear the Al Bhed pilot shout as he spots Jecht in the distance. He is drawn by the forces of fate, to our ship, our son, and my presence. He is placated by the Hymn, it calms him, it makes him docile. The children run past me, to the deck of the ship. Tidus is still in the bridge, speaking with Cid. I hear his determined voice echo along the hallway I stand in.

"If we can't get through the mouth, we'll rip open a new one! You with me?"

I smile. He is still childishly determined, but I know he will follow through with his words. But it hurts me that he cares not for Jecht, but only for defeating him. It may be a manifestation of his hate for his father, or it may be that he has seen the death that prowls in Spira's shadows. It is probably both.

There are more voices, and then Tidus runs out, the glow of adventure on his face. He stops when he sees me unmoving against the wall. He pauses for a moment unsure of what to do. I showed him a small bit of my memories after Yunalesca's defeat; I showed him why I came to him in Zanarkand. In that little bit, undoubtedly, he learned of my relationship with Jecht; how much he meant, and still means to me.

I glance up as Tidus looks at me uncertainly. He knows who we are going to fight, and he wonders if I will join him and his friends. He extends a hand out to me.

"Come on, Auron, let's go," he says, a dazzling smile on his face.

I grunt and take his hand. We run to the deck of the airship together.
We're at the top of the world, where the Hymn can clearly be heard. Tidus pulls out the sphere that Yuna dropped in Zanarkand.

"You don't need this, anymore. Right?" He throws it overboard with all his strength, and it disappears, lost from view. I smile. I wonder if he knows what that really means.

The airship starts shaking, and I no longer feel Jecht, he is replaced by an insane madness. I inhale sharply, my head turning up to look at the sky. Yevon. He is here.

"Hey guys?" Wakka looks around, uncertainly. He feels it too. "That's not good ya?"

Sin stares at us, its myriad of eyes focus straight at us as it forms a giant ball of violet and black light. The seas beneath it broil and froth, all the clouds in the sky gatheter as Sin opens its giant maw and the energy ball grows, shooting out in every direction, enveloping it. Sin's power throws us to the deck, the children and I fall hard, our breath knocked out of our bodies. The ball of light splits into pieces with a roar and fly through Spira. I lift my head slightly to see them cutting through ocean, air, and land.

There is a moment of terrible oppressive silence, as we rise to our feet. Young Rikku looks about her, and her jaw drops when she gazes at the vision before her. The water, the clouds, the land is cut into a perfect circle by the passing of Sin's beam. For a moment, the water is still and nothing stirs, a perfect point of impossibility...and then there is a rumbling as the seas crash back down and the earth trembles and rises up. We all duck our heads down as the storm passes over us in a hail of ash and furious uproar.

When it is gone, we look up, Sin is before us, unmoving and still.

"Damn you, old man..." Tidus curses his father, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes.

"Hey," Cid's voice breaks the quiet as he speaks to us, "I saw somethin' shine at the base of Sin's arm! I reckon it's a weak spot!"

We bring ourselves to our feet again, holding our weapons at the ready. The ship shakes again, and we see Sin approaching faster.

"Sin's pulling us in!" Rikku cries.

"Everyone, back inside!" Cid orders, but already it is too late.

I run into battle as Sin continues to draw us closer to him. Soon we are next to him, and I can see his weakness clearly. I am surprised that Sin does not attack us full, as he had just shown us his impressive power, but I suspect that Jecht is trying to his best to keep his mind during the fight. The people of Spira continue to sing, though I can barely hear the Hymn with the rush of adrenaline and the cracking of Lulu's magic.

We finally defeat Sin's limb, and I am left breathless. Twin lancets appear at the sides of the airship, and in one foul blast it takes out Jecht's arm. White and blue sparks fly from the open wound as I hear Jecht cry his pain. Sin roars, throwing its head back, beginning to flounder in the air. My heart leaps into my throat at the wail, I can feel the injury in the voice all to clearly.

This must be done, I tell myself, my eyes closing, trying to keep my heart from shuddering. This must be done to free Jecht. This must be done to rid Spira of Yevon. I can hardly believe what I am doing.

"Got it!" Tidus cheers, lifting his arm in victory.

"Couldn't have done it without you!" Cid's voice also has a joyous ring to it. "All right! Everyone look sharp! Time to hit the other side!"

"Easy for you to say," groans Rikku as the airship whips around and the battle begins again.

Once more, we defeat Sin's other arm, and the airship's cannon knocks the limb into the sea. Now there is white light trailing from both of Sin's sides, as it floats finless in the air.

"The main gun's busted!" Rikku suddenly gasps. That spells bad news for everyone.

"Dang it!" Cid's voice says, "all right, back inside! Time for another plan!"

"No!" Tidus shakes his head, purses his lips. He started this fight, and he was not about to abandon it. I smile wryly. I would not have thought him so eager for battle just a few months before, but he is starting to remind me even more of Jecht.

"We're going in," he continues. "Every blitzer knows: when you got the ball, you gotta score!" He says this last bit with a rush of excitement. The heat of battle has its hold on him, and nothing can stop him.

I smile again, if he is so brave, then so be it. "Foolhardy..." I say, running forward. "But fun plan." Sin just below us. I run to edge of the deck, and look down below me. It's a long way, but I can't possibly miss it. I jump.

"Hey," I hear Tidus calling after me, "Star players first!"
Sin falls, white sparks trailing from its open wounds as it tumbles to the sea. The people on Bevelle gasp in horror as they see Sin falling. We look onward as Sin falls, leaving a huge cloud of steam and dirt as it crashes. We walk back inside.

There is no way that Sin can be defeated this easily, I muse to myself, standing on the bridge, looking at the fallen figure of Sin. The children talk excitedly around me, but wat they say means nothing to me. I sigh, exhale my breath quickly, calming my body after the battle. The end is soon, I can see Jecht. I can feel bits and pieces of him in Sin below me, as Yu Yevon forces him to raise himself and face us again.

"Jecht," I whisper, wondering if he can feel me the way I feel him. It's been too long, these years, this journey with Braska's daughter. I am weary, and body feels the aches and pains it has been put through. The scar Yunalesca gave me ten years ago burns with fury. It reminds me of where I should be, where I should be going. But I shake my head each time I think about it, I have business to do, a promise to fulfill.

Tidus and Yuna walk back to the bridge as Jecht raises himself up again and spreads his glowing white wings like a flower in full bloom. But Tidus never forgets to stop and talk to me, the father I've been to him for so long.

"Jecht..." I tell him, "he's waiting for you."

He's waiting for me too.
We run to the airship deck one last time. This time, we're really facing Sin. Tidus plans to take us in the through the mouth, and I hope it doesn't come to the words he said earlier.

Sin looks at us, its eyes moving in every which way, a grisly grin on its face. I feel not a hint of Jecht in there, and that strengthens my resolve for the fight.

Jecht, I'm coming to meet you again.
Sin's mouth opens wide, translucent white mist pouring from a gaping hole beneath. It writhes in pain, roaring, and then suddenly is still as the airship pilot slowly guides us through. Inside Sin is a thousand, a million pyreflies floating about in red and blue fog, crying to us in their eerie voices.The interior of Sin is a veritable world of its own, dark and watery paths that lead into visionless haze.

The children and I struggle through the interior, through murky and nebulous mazes, a crazed blue-haired fiend, a dead abandoned city. Nothing inside Sin is real, I know, but a manifestation of Yevon and Jecht's consciousness. Nothing is linear, we jump from one place to the next with flashes of light and losses of consciousness...until we are where we are seeking to be.

There is a familiar figure standing in front of me, looking just as he left me that one cold night in Zanarkand. Looking not a day older than he was ten years ago, his lithe build framed by the memory of the Blitz Sphere in Zanarkand. The stadium, the city horizon, everything is exactly as it was, recreated by the man standing before me. I see the scars running down his back, and he looks like flesh and blood, the same way I am. I am the first to walk forward. I waited for this moment for too long. It is all I can do not to rush to him and take him into my arms, crush him to me and make him a part of me again.

"You're late, Auron," he speaks first. I hear his voice, and it fills me with peace and mad desire with a bittersweet bite. I lower my eyes, look off to the side as I feel the weight of his ten years upon my shoulders.

"I know," I reply, trying to keep my voice from trembling.

I'm sorry, Jecht. All these years, I kept I thinking about how I should have stopped you, how things might have been different if you had stayed with me. But we were fated to do this.

Jecht turns around slowly and greets his son. His words with me are over. We never needed them in the first place. We both know where we will be before long.

"Hey."

"Hi," Tidus replies, tersely, obviously uncomfortable.

Jecht senses this and chuckles, trying to put our son at ease. "Hah! You got tall, but you're all bones! You eating right, boy?" He tries to joke around like he usually does, but Tidus doesn't respond, so he turns serious again. "You've really grown," he says in earnest.

"Yeah, but you're still bigger," Tidus retorts bitterly.

"Well," Jecht smiles, "I am Sin, you know."

"That's not funny."

Jecht laughs, he knows its too late for him and Tidus. He only has one more hope for reconciliation. "Well, then..." his arm reaches instinctively behind his neck, "I mean...you know." He looks at me, and I meet his gaze. We both nod, slightly, imperceptibly. "Let's end this."

There is a small pause, and I glance over at Tidus. He looks as if he's holding his tears back, about to say something. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I hate you," Tidus bursts out, trying to put all the years of hatred for his father into that single statement.

"I know, I know," Jecht sighs. If there was always one thing he never stopped regretting, it was what he did with his time with Tidus. "You know what you have to do."

"Yeah."

I too, nod. This is what those ten years comes to, facing Jecht again, and defeating him as Sin. I wonder if I can even do it. I took me years to get here, I know cannot let him down, but...I see him again, and I everything in my body is telling me I can't lift my sword against him.

"I can't hear the hymn so well anymore," Jecht admits. "Pretty soon, I'm gonna be Sin. Completely. I'm glad you're here now," he smiles, and I know he speaks to me. He knows what I am reluctant to do. "One thing though...when it starts, I won't be myself anymore. I won't be able to hold myself back. I'm sorry."

"I know," I whisper, comforted by Jecht's assurance. At least, I know what he wants.

"That's enough," Tidus cries, unable to bear it any longer. He thinks he hates his father, but we both know he loves Jecht, in a deep, dark, hidden place in his heart. "Let's finish this, okay?"

"Well then...let's go!"

Jecht turns, walking to the middle of the platform we stand upon. He raises his arms in the air, crosses them, and forms a beam of light. That's when he loses a part of himself, and I feel Yevon's madness come upon him. He staggers backward as the energy sinks into his chest, blue sparks circling around his torso.

"No!" Tidus rushes forward before I can hold him back, and he reaches his hand out to Jecht. A last chance for absolution. Tidus runs fast, but he does not reach Jecht in time, and he falls into the swirling energy pool beneath us. The platform rumbles and all of Zanarkand erupts in a blinding light that sweeps across the city.

A huge, flaming fist slams itself down in the platform, and Tidus jumps away just in time before the other clawed hand grasps the edge. It is Braska's Final Aeon, a sight I haven't seen in over ten years. It towers above us, full of rage and murderous insanity, two great pillars on either side of it, feeding its fury.

"I promise this will be quick!" Tidus shouts, as he pulls his sword out, "Hit me with all you got, Dad!"

Our battle begins. I shift the Masamune on my shoulders, the heat of battle rushing to enclose my mind.

"I won't lose! You won't beat me this time!" Tidus cries, holding his sword at the ready. Jecht, for a moment, seems strangely calmed by his words, but then the madness overtakes him again and he recedes deeper into Yevon's disordered mania.

"Jecht," I whisper, "I promise it won't be long now." The wait is nearly over, and my imminent release beckons. It fills me with purpose and resolve, knowing that the end is so near. I relish death coming, almost as much as Jecht. This battle is to free him from his pain and suffering, to unchain him from Yevon. He wants this, but every blow I delivered to him kills a part of me as well. I push myself forward, even when Jecht pulls his familiar sword from his chest, even when he takes me into his fist and crushes me, throwing me back on the ground. It is for him, for the future of Spira. This is my tragedy, and I am forced to play my part.

Jecht slams his sword in the ground when he is defeated, his great bulk collapsing forward. I see Yevon escaping from him, flying high into the night, a sphere of swirling red and black light. Only after Yevon is defeated can have my peace. The hulking form of Braska's Final Aeon disappears in a fantastic explosion, shattering to pieces, leaving a faltering Jecht falling to his knees.

I move quickly, but Tidus moves faster, and he rushes to his father, catching his fall, and lowering him gently to the ground.

"You'll cry. You're gonna cry. You always cry, see? You're crying," but Jecht's words no longer the hold the menace and contempt it did when Tidus was a child.

"I hate you, Dad," Tidus sobs, tears running liberally down his cheeks. I close my eyes, wishing I could be by Jecht's side as he dies, but I know that this is his time with his son. These are their last moments together. I will get my time, my eternity when Yevon is defeated. So for now, I will just stand by the side, and watch Tidus and his last chance with Jecht.

"Save it for later," Jecht says gently as Tidus lays him on the cold floor and stands up.

"Right," Tidus nods, "we've got a job to do, don't we?"

"Good. That's right," Jecht raises himself with effort. "You are my son, after all."

I smile, content that Tidus had the time, at least, to forgive his father. But Jecht's strength drains quickly, and I know he is exerting every last bit of to stay in this world.

"You know..." Tidus said slowly, "For the first time, I'm glad to have you as my father." I know that no doubt, Jecht is comforted by that admission.

"Sir Jecht..." Yuna steps forward uncertainly, "I should..."

Jecht shakes his head, makes an attempt to rise to his feet. "No, Yuna, there's no time!" His time in this world remains only in seconds, before he would give, and go to the Farplane. I promise Jecht he won't have to wait long for me.

Yevon circles in the air above us like a vulture, waiting for his prey. We sense its fury, its malice, and Tidus shouts his defiance at it.

"You stay away!"

"Yuna," Jecht growls, his life leaving him, "you know what to do! The aeons..."

::We aeons...:: the violet clad fayth appears behind us, echoing Jecht's words. He is here to help us, help us defeat the last vestige that ties them to this world. He is here to help free the people of Spira.

"Call them!" Jecht cries, his last words.

::Call us!::

Jecht falls to the ground, his strength gone. "Auron," he murmurs, as he lays his head down, his body going limp, pyreflies flying from him. I close my eye, look away. It is too much temptation to go with him. It tears my heart to see him die before me, just as Braska died. But I have one last thing to do, and I cannot see him again until I do it.

"Goodbye, Jecht," I whisper back.

"Here it comes!" Lulu gasps, as Yevon closes in. It falls into Jecht's sword, beams of blinding light flashing everywhere, striking my senses. I am lost in endlessly clear whiteness, and when I come to, the final battle has begun.
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