Back to Bevelle

Let's pretend I didn't do most of the side quests last night. Let's pretend I didn't do the majority of playing tonight focused on side quests. Let's not pretend I'm going to play Blitzball tomorrow.

We went straight to the Highbridge outside Bevelle. Two guards stand in our way and are prepared for a fight. Suddenly, a woman's voice comes out and tells them to stop. The guards call her captain as Shelinda enters?! How did the nun become a guard? Auron guesses it's because of a lack of believers, but more on that later. She tells the guards that Yuna isn't a traitor, and that's just a rumor started by the Al Bhed. Rikku gets upset for being scapegoated. We ask to see Maester Mika, and Shellinda lets us in.

Mika, unrepentant that he tried to kill us, asks why we're still here? He's worried about the chaos he's caused and thinks Yuna can save them with the Calm. Yuna informs him that we killed Yunaleska and the Final Aeon will never be again. He becomes a little panicky at this, yelling that now Spira will never know peace. "Destruction is inevitable." He says he'd rather not exist than see Spira give in to despair. He mentions someone named Yu Yevon, who Yunaleska discussed too. When we ask him who that is, he responds, "He who crafts the souls of the dead into unholy armor. An armor called Sin!" Mika then sends himself to the Farplane and dies. Bahamut appears before Tidus and Yuna, asking them to "come to my room," so we return to the fayth. The Boy asks us if we have a plan. We can say no, but I said we'll fight Yu Yevon. Bahamut then gives us the information on him. Yu Vevon is Sin's summoner, and he used that to be immortal. Any aeon that defeats Sin gets merged with Yu, and the cycle is repeated. He continues, Yu lives inside Sin, and he asks Yuna to summon the aeons against him. He then turns to Tidus and reminds him that the aeon's dream will end, and Tidus will vanish. Tidus and Yuna have a conversation where Yuna knows her boyfriend is hiding something. He won't tell her, but she says he's a bad liar.

As we leave, Shelinda shows up. Rikku asks her to tell people to prepare to sing the Hymn. If everyone in Spira sings the Hymn at the same time, it should weaken Sin and give us a shot at him. Shelinda is confused at first, but she comes around when we tell her it's our plan to defeat Sin.
 
We return to the airship to talk to our party again.
Auron says he was worried at the start and congratulates us.
Yuna wonders what "all those teaching...what were they for"?
Lulu says we're going to bring an Eternal Calm.
Wakka apologizes to Cid for being racist. He admits his ignorance, and the two shake off each other's transgressions. I was hoping for this scene to bring Wakka around. He was racist, but I'm more focused on the future. It's always refreshing to see reformed former white supremacists in real life, so we should feel the same way now towards Wakka. He's a product of how he was raised, but the cycle ends now.
Rin tells us how Braska and Yuna's mother met. He keeps the story going until he says Sin attacked a boat Yuna's mom was on, and that was what spurred Braska to become a summoner.
I have no idea where Rikku was.

Regardless, that's where I'm at right now. Last night, I spent more time in the side quests. Over the last two days, I got everyone's Celestial Weapons, and all of them are at full power! Except for Lulu because I'm not dodging 200 lightning bolts. Screw that noise! I also need to get Wakka's, but I'll do that tomorrow. I also started finishing up the Monster Arena. Omega Ruins has some pretty scary stuff, and I can't get into the final dungeon yet. I plan to do them...probably, but I'm too fragile now. I got all the secret aeons and sent Belgemme. I don't know much longer we've got, but we're nearing the end!

Some of the extra stuff has lore behind it, so let me touch on it all now.
Auron's Celestial Weapon once belonged to Mi'hen, and Wakka's was Lord Oholland's, who he talked about in Killika.
The Omega Ruins was where a Yevon heretic, Omega, ran off to 700 years ago. He became an incredibly powerful fiend into those centuries.  
If you go to Baaj Temple, Tidus recognizes it as the place he started his journey in Spira from. He gets revenge on the Geo...fella (barely) and heads towards the secret fayth. We discover the fayth is Seymour's mother. She tells us his backstory as visions of what the temple once looked like pass before us. It's fun to contrast how they looked when Tidus was there. She says her son has had a hard life and blames herself. Both of his parents blame themselves for Seymour's attitude. He was caught between two worlds. His mother became a fayth to protect her son, but he wanted more and more power, which further explains why he wants to become Sin. She asks us to end Seymour's fascination with Sin.
If we return to Guadosalem, Tromell meets us. He, and the rest of the guado, are prepared to die, willing to die even. They've given in to despair and hope for Sin to destroy them. If we follow him to the Farplane, he talks to Jyscal and apologizes. While we're here, we see Lulu talking to Lady Ginnem, and she looks forward to returning to her with good news.
In Macalania Woods, Wantz has set up a customization shop. He sells four empty slotted equipment that we can use to make whatever weapons we want. We also find an old guado woman who informs us that the guado were the ones who set the fiend loose in Luca.
If we return to the temples, we can talk to the fayths. They give us story on Sin and how they're ready to rest. It's all quite riddled, though. 1000 years must have rotted their minds? If we return to Zanarkand, we'll see Dona and Barthello leave the dome. She's upset and gets more so when we tell her what we did. I guess she resigns herself to playing a bit part now.
All of these scenes are imposed upon the general populace's view of their changing Spira. Al Bhed are all over the place now, and some still hold racist attitudes towards them. Others seem fine, though. Many people tell us how they've lost faith in Yevon or fled from Bevelle. They have anger towards the church for abandoning their defensive positions around temples and roads. The Crusaders have taken up their role and now protect the roads. Gotta is in charge of the Besaid unit and protects the town. He seems happy but admits his heart is heavy. Maybe peace can heal him?

Who knows when I'll end this, but probably soon. Final Fantasy X has been better than I remember it being, and I remembered it being really good!