To Zanarkand!

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Characters: Jecht (dreamer), Chika (dragged-in)
Location: Slumberland, but not the Little Nemo one
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed.
Summary: Jecht has a dream. It isn't a good one.



Zanarkand.

The ruined city of Zanarkand. An ancient city that never slept, its technology meaningless compared to its Summoners -- and its Summoners meaningless against the war machine of Bevelle.

A thousand years ago it had fallen. On a hill just outside the city, Jecht stood, arms crossed, facing the reality of a city that had been real to him. A dream, dreaming of a dream.

Comments

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Machina are forbidden devices," the man in robes said.

The scantily-clad woman smirked coldly. "Even if you smashed it, Yu Yevon would simply rebuild it. Sin is eternal."

[scatterflower]

Chika frowned. "Forbidden? Why?"

She turned to glare at the woman. "Yeah, but your option isn't taking care of the problem. It's just doing the exact same thing!"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"The teachings," the robed man said. "Overuse of machina is what cursed Spira with Sin's presence to begin with."

Jecht snorted, but said nothing.

"Sin is eternal," the woman said. "It cannot be defeated forever. Only a few years of peace bought! Is the price of one summoner's life not worth the dozens, the hundreds, that would die otherwise?"

[scatterflower]

"... That makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever," Chika said. "How exactly does using machine's make a giant city destroying monster?"

She turned back to the woman. "And nothing is immortal. There needs to be some way to kill it for good somehow. But no one's even looking!"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Even if it were destroyed some other way," she said coldly, "Yu Yevon the Immortal would simply recreate it."

[scatterflower]

"... Which isn't any different than what you're doing now," Chika said. "Only your not forcing someone to choose to kill someone else and then themselves."

She frowned. "And why does this Yu Yevon person do that anyway?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Yer not gettin' it," Jecht said. "There ain't another way. Summoning's the only thing strong enough to beat it."

As for the question of why... did anyone have an answer to that? Possibly the immodest woman, but if so, she didn't volunteer it.

[scatterflower]

"And from the way you guys are talking, you sound like no one's even tried!"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

The three men looked at each other awkwardly, not certain how to reason with such blind insistence. Finally, Jecht sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Look. I'm here. I ain't goin' home ever again, I know that. I got no reason not to do this, and every reason to do it. Even if it's nothin' more than lettin' Braska's kid grow up in a peaceful land, at least for a few years."

[scatterflower]

Chika frowned again, looking over at him. "Fine. But what happens once people stop being willing to do this, or if next time no one's able to make it here?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

The samurai folded his arms. "Why stop a crime today, if there will just be another criminal tomorrow? Why save a man's life now, if he's destined to die eventually anyway?"

[scatterflower]

Chika frowned, glaring over at the samurai. "That wasn't what I was meant. Obviously you guys aren't planning on trying to find another way, but what happens if no one else can get here the next time this thing starts killing everything? If this is the only thing that works, that's not going to be good for everyone else, is it?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"There are always summoners prepared to make the effort, and guardians to protect them," the man in robes said. "The pilgrimage is sacred and time-honored, and there will always be a determined soul to make it in time."

[scatterflower]

Chika frowned. "So, that's it. No one's even going to ever try to think of a way to get rid of this thing for good then?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"No one's sayin' it's perfect," Jecht said quietly. "But hell, I've seen this thing, and I can't think of a damn thing that'd stop it. Fine to say, yeah, let's kill it forever, but..."

He shook his head.

"It ain't that easy. Just sayin' it doesn't make it happen. And if you tried to kill it and failed, well... that's someone sacrificin' themselves for nothin'. If I'm gonna give up my life, at least I know it'll work."

[scatterflower]

Chika frowned. "I... I see."

Well, that was a good point, but even so, they couldn't go on doing it like this. But what could she do? She didn't even know why she was here; she hadn't even seen what the thing that they're trying to stop even was.

Her fists clenched, but she didn't say anything else. What else could she really say?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"I ain't ever gettin' home again," Jecht said softly, for everyone in the room to hear. "Ain't ever gonna see my wife or my kid again. Maybe that's for the best, I'm a lousy dad. Guess this'll at least give my life somethin' worthwhile, at the end. Maybe it's nonsense... but I believe in Braska. I'll be his Aeon."

[scatterflower]

Chika sighed. "Fine. Obviously I can't stop you guys, if it would even be my place to stop you." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "But if you're going to do this, you two better not mess it up."

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Ha, don't worry," Jecht said, smiling in a way that didn't really reach his eyes. "We got this..."

The dream dissolved around them...

[scatterflower]

"Oka..."

Chika couldn't even finish her sentence before everything seemed to melt away almost. "... Wait, what's going on now!?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

...and resolved once again to the plains that would come to be known as the Calm Lands, stretching out far into the distance.

At the moment? Not so calm at all. In the center of them, far from any landmark or shelter, Braska stood alone, staring westward with purpose. In that direction, the immense form of Sin moved slowly towards him.

[scatterflower]

Chika frowned, watching on as all of this happened. She wasn't near where Braska or Sin was, but she could already tell just what they meant by this thing being massive. No wonder they had be so sure that bombs wouldn't work on it at all.

She couldn't help but just stare at it, wondering if even the thing they were talking about could beat it.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Braska wasted no time once Sin was in reach. He lifted his staff, and invoked the Final Aeon.

[scatterflower]

Chika couldn't help but just... gasp as she saw what a massive thing that Braska had managed to summon. This... this was the same guy who she had been talking to before? It sure looked similar, but it was gigantic!

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

The Final Aeon drew its sword, and without further ado, advanced on Sin --

But that was, in a sense, anticlimactic. All of this had been written already. The battle between the monsters came only in flashes and brief images of violence because Jecht himself remembered it as such. The only truly coherent image left in the dream was the horrible moment in which the countless pyreflies that made up Sin's body dissolved as the life left the creature -- and then a burst of parasitic energy jumped from it to the Aeon, wrenching it free of Braska's control and shattering the summoner's life in the process. As he began to slump, the dream also dissolved...