Akane looked around the room in astonishment. Swirling colors surrounded them, shooting stars and planets floated next to her, and everything seemed so real...
But it was just a projection of the record sphere Seymour was showing them.
"This sphere is a reconstruction created from the thoughts of the dead that wander the farplane," the maester explained to them.
Then the scene shifted, and they found themselves in a street full of people. The buildings were as high as the skyscrapers in Tokyo, and shining lights were on almost every building. Floating vehicles drove on a nearby highway, and a giant blitzball poster decorated the side of an enormous wall next to them.
The pedestrians didn't seem to notice them. Akane reached out with her hand to touch a walking man, and her hand passed through his image like he wasn't there.
"Zanarkand," Tidus shouted out in surprise.
"Correct," Seymour nodded. "Zanarkand as it looked one thousand years ago. The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand. She once lived here."
'She?' Akane wondered. 'Who does he mean?'
And suddenly, the scene shifted once again. They were all standing in a bedroom, before a big mirror. Rikku looked into the mirror, but couldn't see her reflection. But suddenly, the image of a woman appeared in the mirror. Startled, Rikku jumped back.
The image of the woman walked into the room without paying attention to them. Like everything else they saw before, she was just an image recorded on that sphere.
The woman was undescribable beautiful. She only wore some sort of ornamental bikini and a strange headdress. Akane looked with envy at her figure.
"Lady Yunalesca..." Yuna whispered. The beautiful woman was walking over to the bed and sat down.
"She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages. And you have inherited her name," Seymour quietly said.
"It was my father who named me..." Yuna said, while looking down.
Akane watched the ancient summoner that was sitting before her on the bed. If this was the first person that defeated Sin, what was before that time? Where did Sin come from? And existed summoners before that time?
"Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task," Seymour continued. "He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat the unbeatable Sin... it took an unbreakable bond of love - of the kind that binds two hearts for eternity."
A man entered the room. He was translucent, like Lady Yunalesca. He was wearing some sort of ceremonial robe, similar to the robes the statue of Lord Braska had. He walked straight through Yuna towards Yunalesca. She smiled, stood up from the bed and embraced the man.
Yuna watched as they shared a deep kiss.
'Lord Zaon...' Yuna thought.
Seymour slowly walked over to her and whispered something into her ear. She gasped.
----
When the images were gone, they once again were standing in Seymour's dining room. In reality, they had never left the room.
Yuna was breathing heavily. Startled, she ran over to a glass of water and drank with deep gulps. When the glass was empty, she let out another heavy breath and put it back onto the table.
Rikku looked worried at her cousin. "Wow, your face is beet red! You okay?"
Yuna stuttered a little, then managed to say: "He... he asked me to... to marry him."
"You serious?" Tidus asked in surprise.
Auron looked at Seymour seriously. "You know what Yuna must do," he said.
Seymour smiled. "Of course. Lady Yuna - no, all summoners - are charged with bringing peace to Spira. But this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to her as maester of Yevon."
Akane turned Yuna around and looked carefully at her face. "Yuna, are you seriously considering accepting his offer?"
Yuna had to swallow multiple times. "I... I have to think about it..."
Seymour bowed as they left. "I await your favorable reply."
When everyone but Auron and Tidus had left the room, Seymour called to Auron: "Why are you still here, sir?"
Auron stood still.
Seymour smiled and lowered his head. "I beg your pardon. We Guado are keen to the scent of the farplane."
Tidus looked at Auron in bewilderment and took several sniffs. He couldn't smell anything. Annoyed, Auron shoved him away and left the room. Tidus followed him quickly.
----
Shampoo was opening her eyes.
"Wh-where is this?" she murmured. A gentle hand stroked her face. "It's all right. You're in Guadosalam. This is the healer's room... my name is Mia Guado. Can you get up, Shampoo?"
The slightly furred amazon erected her body. "Sh-shampoo think so." Carefully, she swung her legs over the bed's edge. "Wh-what happen?"
Ranma was standing before her. "Shampoo, do you remember what happened after Nabiki and Rikku joined us?"
Shampoo grasped her head. "Shampoo try to remember, but... is all very confusing..." But then, a flash of memory was spread out before her. Herself, with gleaming eyes, turning into the Alpha Fiend.
"Oh no," Shampoo sobbed. "What has Shampoo done? Have attacked so many... have attacked Ranma... am terrible monster... a fiend, yes...?"
Mia took her by the shoulders and shook her head. "No, Shampoo. It wasn't you. It was the Alpha Fiend. The pyreflies in your body somehow created a second conscience that is trying to eject you out of your body. Someone wants to misuse you to create the perfect killing machine."
"What Shampoo gonna do?" she said. "Fiend in my head, will kill again. Must take my own life before is too late..."
Ranma was at her side instantly. "Don't even think about that. We'll find a way. Mia said that the farplane may be a possible way to get this jerk out of your mind. You'll still have the fiend abilities, but let's worry about that later."
"Yes," Shampoo nodded. "Must make sure that... this thing never hurts someone again. Where is farplane?"
Mia smiled. "I'll show you. Come on, let's go together."
----
"If you get married, you'll quit your pilgrimage, right?" Rikku asked with a slight tone of hope in her voice.
Yuna shook her head. "I... will go on. I will continue my journey and face Sin. I'm sure Maester Seymour will understand. I must defeat Sin."
"Like Braska before you," Auron nodded.
"I'm going to the farplane," Yuna decided. "I'm going to see my father and think about this."
"Your father...?" Akane asked confused. "On the farplane? You are going to... talk to the dead?"
And Akane instantly got a vision of a skeletal summoner climbing out of his grave to talk to his daughter in a raspy voice. She shuddered.
"S-s-s-s-s-scary..."
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(Posted Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:13)
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