Hymn to Fayth- Part 13
Author: dream-edge
Title: Hymn to Fayth
Summary: AU. Ziggy awakens an ancient power within himself and ends up joining the Rangers before he could ever join the Cartels. Dillon is guided to Corinth by a mysterious voice and learns the values of trust, friendship, love, and faith.
Rating: T
Pairings: Dillon/Ziggy
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything related to the franchise. I do not own anything recognizable as from one of the Final Fantasy games.
AN: I feel the need to run and hide now. I should probably go do that. However, those with a good knowledge of FFX, or even those that have been paying really close attention, should be able to piece together a few parts of Ziggy's plan. I think I'll still go hide though.
AN2: I think there should only be about four chapters after this.
Hymn to Fayth
Chapter 13
His head was killing him. That was the first thing Dillon was aware of when he woke up. He groaned and slowly levered himself up into a sitting position, wearily looking around. The lab was trashed. He swallowed heavily, looking around for a familiar head of messy brown hair. Nothing. He tried not to panic but he was starting to get the feeling that Ziggy was planning to do something very stupid. "Where's Ziggy?" he demanded, pushing the words past the lump in his throat and focusing on the Rangers scattered around the room.
They looked up at him in surprise followed by relief. "Oh thank god." Summer whispered, sounding all to calm considering that Ziggy wasn't here. Ziggy was always here when something happened to him; he was the first thing Dillon saw when he came around after being knocked out in battle. Ziggy should be here and he wasn't. He tried to stand up, stumbled briefly and had to grasp at the table he'd been laying on. "Where's Ziggy?" he asked again.
They all looked at each other with trepidation before Doctor K spoke up from where she was sitting in the corner, one arm cradled haphazardly in a sling. "He went after Tenaya. He took her blaster." It took a minute for the meaning of those words to register. Ziggy… has Tenaya's blaster? Why did he have that? Then, realization dawned.
Ears ringing, balance screwed, and head pounding, he forced himself to head to the door. "Where are you going?" Scott demanded.
"I gotta find him." Was his only answer.
--0--0--
Tenaya slowed to a stop in front of the city walls, placing her hands on her knees and trying to calm her breathing. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and sobs still pushed past her lips. She ruined it, ruined everything! And then she'd made it worse by running. She's known when she'd run that it was a bad idea but she couldn't handle the look of pain on K's face, the blood pouring down her arm, and she couldn't handle seeing her brother lying there not moving. "Damn it." She whispered to herself, falling to her knees. Ziggy had been right. Venjix was never going to let her go.
"What a mess."
She jerked at the voice and spun around to see Ziggy staring at her calmly but without his usual gentleness. His eyes had gone hard and cold. Everything in her suddenly wanted to start running again when she saw the cold fury on his face. "Ziggy?" she whispered.
"Tenaya." He said back, his tone blank. "You destroyed the lab." He told her, as if he thought she didn't know. She gulped thickly and looked down for a long moment, fighting tears. When she looked back up at him, she noticed a blaster, her blaster, being held tightly in his grip. She stood slowly, choking back more tears and looked him dead in the eyes. She held her arms out to her sides. "Go on." She whispered. "Shoot me. Before I hurt someone else."
Venjix wouldn't let her go. Not ever. There was no way she would ever get to have her own life.
"Don't you even." He warned her, his voice gaining a hard edge. She jerked back, stumbling away a few steps. "You think you die and everything's going to be sugar and rainbows?!" He demanded. She flinched again, more tears stinging at her eyes. Finally, she looked back at him. "What do you want from me?" She demanded. "If I can't live and I can't die then what am I supposed to do?!"
His eyes stared back at her, merciless and without pity. "The hardest thing in this world, Tenaya, is to live in it." he replied. "You wanted this. You wanted to be human. And being human, you screw up, and you either face it or you run. Facing things isn't easy but if you run, you will always be running."
She stared at him for a long time, looking for some sense of mercy in his eyes, waiting for him to tell her what to do. She didn't know what to do anymore. Then suddenly, Ziggy jerked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing on something to her left, and he raised the blaster in his hand. She turned automatically to where he was facing and got a good look at Kilobot before things descended into a flurry of blaster shots and chaos. The last thing she noticed was that it felt like a bomb had gone off before everything went black.
Ziggy hit the ground hard, his head smacking against the ground with a sickening crack. He winced, bright white light flashing behind his eyes and flaring across his other senses. His power awoke suddenly, spinning around him and encasing his mind in warmth. And then came the sweeping, unsettling displacement of a vision.
--0--0--
It felt like all the color had been drained from the Garage, leaving it dull and empty. The other Rangers moved sluggishly, their eyes always on the ground, and a defeated hunch to their shoulders. Gemma was crying silently in the corner but no one went to her, not her brother, not even Flynn. The original three Rangers were sitting quietly in the kitchen, Summer nursing a cup of coffee, and Flynn with his head buried in his arms. It was dark and sad, depressing, and it seemed like everyone was afraid to move very fast or speak too loudly, when they did speak at all.
The world melted, replaced by Ziggy's room. Half-filled boxes were placed everywhere. The room felt empty and lifeless, the warm colors gone and the tokens of his time on the team missing. Dillon stood near the small desk in the room, looking down at an open notebook. There was a pained expression on his face. Suddenly, he blurred into movement, grabbing the notebook and throwing it violently at the far wall. Papers fell free of the bindings, scattering across the floor as Dillon collapsed to his knees, sobs tearing themselves from his throat. He curled up, burying his face into his arms, and tried to block out the emptiness of the room, the silence.
Things change then, again, and suddenly Ziggy is no longer just a silent, invisible spectator who has to watch from a distance as his friends fall apart. Suddenly he is a part of the scene, feeling everything, and there are warm, dry lips against his own and familiar arms wrapped across his waist, a single hand pressed into the curve of his back. Ziggy sighed then and gave in, trying to focus on the warmth and passion, on the smell of cologne and machinery that always ends up mixed into Dillon's clothes, and not on how bittersweet this feels. Because it does feel bittersweet. Bittersweet and heart-breaking.
It feels like goodbye.
--0--0--
Ziggy came to a few seconds later, his ears still ringing from the hit that sent him crashing and his head complaining something vicious. He groaned and squinted upwards, Dillon's familiar brown eyes swimming into view. He blinked heavily up at the older man, managing to just make out Dillon shouting at him worriedly through the buzzing in his ears. He struggled for a minute with the lingering feeling of displacement because he can still feel Dillon's lips against his, overlapped with the present feel of hands running through his hair, checking for injuries. He winced when they brushed against the knot forming on his skull and reached up to brush Dillon's hands away. "Fine." He complained, pitching his voice louder than was probably necessary in order to hear himself. "I'm fine."
Dillon's hands fell from his hair, only to pull him close and crush him against his chest. The older man muttered something softly into his ear that he couldn't quite make out and, although it probably wouldn't reassure Dillon of his health any, he had to ask him, "What is that ringing sound?"
Dillon pulled back again and framed his face in his hands, looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. "You're okay, right? You're just fine?" He demanded desperately. He sounded like he thought he could heal all of Ziggy's injuries just by fussing over him enough. Ziggy didn't answer, just stared up at Dillon equally desperately, because as much as he could still feel that kiss, he can also see Dillon broken into pieces, sobbing brokenly in the empty confines of his room. The memory of it, if it's possible to have a memory of the future, made tears pour down his own cheeks. Dillon panicked, constantly asking him what was wrong, and all he could do was bury his head in Dillon's chest.
"They're back." He finally replied brokenly. "The visions are back."
--0--0--
They didn't have their meeting in the lab, none of them able to look at the wreckage so they gathered in the kitchen. Ziggy didn't have a concussion, thankfully, and his ears didn't ring anymore. About the only, serious injury among them was K's broken arm and he didn't let her remove it from his lab as he carefully used his powers to piece the shattered bones back together. Every so often, Summer would sniffle slightly, like she was fighting to keep back tears, and the sound tore through his heart. No one spoke.
Ziggy glanced at Dillon briefly, pressing his lips together in pain. Dillon seemed unwilling to look any of them, gazing instead at his clasped hands. Pain radiated from him in waves. Ziggy couldn't look at him for long either, the vision of Dillon in tears starting to greatly eclipse the one of the kiss in his mind. He looked away finally, turning his attention back to the hand in his lap. The bones were fixed, which was good because Ziggy doubted he could have kept his attention on the healing spell any longer with the thoughts running through his head.
He'd been wrong, he decided. No one, not even him, could change the future. It was as set in stone as the past and even if the circumstances changed, the results wouldn't. Avoiding the calamity that had been crashing towards them since Dillon had arrived at Corinth was impossible. He knew what he had to do in order to get Dillon's slight smile back on his face.
"I think I can still save her." He muttered softly. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise and for the first time since they'd learned about the virus in Tenaya, a glint of hope appeared in Dillon's eyes. That decided Ziggy. The hard knot of fear that had existed in the pit of his stomach since he had learned of the technique shifted into cold determination. "It's an old technique, very powerful. It actually marked an end to a Summoner's pilgrimage and they earned the title High Summoner. I… didn't want to use it before because I was afraid to. It's dangerous." He paused then and looked up at them, trying to put as much steel into his voice as possible so no one would question him. He couldn't lie very well at all. "But I can do it."
"What is it?" Dillon asked, his eyes and voice reflecting his relief and his gratitude. Ziggy gulped and whispered out the name of the spell that would burn him dry and lead him to his death. No Summoner that had ever used it had survived.
"Final Summoning."
--0--0--
Ziggy stared silently down at the notebook resting on the desk in his room, rereading his latest and last entry in it. It would not take the place of a proper apology or even a proper explanation but it was better than leaving everyone with no answers at all. Still, it didn't feel right. He felt like he owed it to Dillon, to all of them, to explain that he would not be coming back with them once they found Tenaya. But he couldn't. No matter how much Dillon wanted to save his sister, he wouldn't let Ziggy go. And if he chose Ziggy over Tenaya, he would always hate himself for it, just a little, no matter how much he loved Ziggy. Ziggy would never, could never, ask Dillon to choose him over Tenaya.
"Ziggy?" Dillon's voice asked from outside his door. Ziggy immediately jerked into action, flipping his notebook to a random page so his guilty confession of the truth wasn't visible and turned as Dillon entered his room, hoping his guilt didn't show in his expression. If it did, Dillon didn't say anything. He merely moved over and sat down heavily on his bed. "Will this really work?" he asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. It'll work. Don't worry." He whispered. They had all talked it over. In the morning, Ziggy would use his rarely used ability to dream-see in order to find Tenaya. Then they'd go after her and hope that Ziggy knew what he was doing. For them, the plan was that he all went home as a big, happy family. For Ziggy, the plan was that he went back in a body bag.
Dillon pulled out his pocket watch and ran his fingers over it sadly. "She loved this thing you know? Hated her own song, but she loved the watch." He told him. Ziggy stood from his chair and knelt down before him. "You're going to get her back, Dillon." He promised. "I'll get her back." Dillon met his eyes and smiled softly.
"I know. I trust you Ziggy." Dillon told him.
Ziggy felt his heart break at the words, knowing his was betraying that trust with his course of action, and gathered the older man to him, pulling him into the tightest hug he could manage because when Dillon's face was buried in his hair, he couldn't see the tears building in his eyes. He didn't know how long they sat like that but eventually Dillon slowly pulled away and said he was going to bed and walked tiredly out of the room. Ziggy let him walk out of the room, struggling against the urge to call the man back and confess everything. He couldn't do that though, even if it was one of the hardest things he'd ever done.
Dillon paused just before closing the door behind him and looked back at him. "Hey Ziggy. Smile, okay?" he requested. Ziggy chuckled softly and smiled obediently at the request, watching a small smile drift across Dillon's own features. They both muttered good nights before Dillon left. Then Ziggy was alone.
Slowly he stood up and walked over to his desk again, reading over the entry he'd written there briefly. It was his entry on the origin of the summons. He paused, a brief image of Dillon's pocket watch appearing in his mind. His breath caught in his throat in surprise and awe and slowly, a real smile worked its way across his face. He couldn't stop his visions from coming true, but he could change the circumstances. He flipped back to his new entry and wrote done one more sentence before signing it and closing it, heading to bed.
--0--0--
In the end, finding Tenaya was actually easy. And getting to her would be even easier. Venjix wanted them to go after her was the decision everyone reached. Once again, Venjix was underestimating them. Whatever defenses he put in the way they would tear through in order to get Tenaya back. He underestimated Ziggy again, right at the point when he held the power to rewrite the universe. Ziggy watched as his teammates slowly packed whatever they thought they'd need into their cars. His eyes flickered up to where Dillon was slowly walking down the stairs, not moving his gaze from the watch in his hands. Ziggy straightened and walked over to him. He needed that watch.
He stopped before Dillon, waiting for the older man to look up at him. Once Dillon had, he smiled widely. "Don't worry. Everything's going to turn out alright." He promised, feeling happy that it was the truth when he said it this time. He didn't plan to die now. He had a real plan. "We'll save Tenaya."
Dillon smiled at him softly. "I know." He made to move around the younger man then stopped when Ziggy merely stepped in front of him again. At Dillon's raised eyebrow, Ziggy motioned to the watch in his hands. "May I?" he requested. Dillon paused then nodded and handed him the watch. Ziggy smiled softly and accepted it, forcing Dillon to lean towards him so he could use the key as well. There was a small, amused glint in Dillon's eyes as the tune started to play.
Ziggy closed his eyes and let the tune wash over him for a few minutes. Then he asked, his whispered a wistful whisper. "Did we ever… figure out what song this was?"
"No." Was his answer, Dillon's voice as soft as his was. He could feel Dillon's breath ghosting across his face they were so close. This moment, Ziggy realized, represented what his life had come down to these last few months; the soft lullaby, Dillon, and the spicy scent of cologne and machinery that was always threaded into Dillon's clothes, no matter how many times they were washed. He nodded to himself. "Then, can I name it?" he requested.
Dillon agreed calmly, obviously having no problem with it. Ziggy smiled and said, "Then let's call it our 'Hymn to Fayth'." Dillon smiled softly back at him, eyes warm and gentle, and Ziggy had to tell him the truth, had to let him know that the plan wasn't what he expected. "Things are going to get worse before they get better Dillon." He whispered, not willing to let the others hear. If it was just them then Dillon might, might, differ to his judgment. Dillon's brow furrowed in confusion and his mouth opened to ask him a question but Ziggy cut him off. "That's why, I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing. Things will get better."
Dillon still looked like he might argue, still force out the truth, so Ziggy gave into the urge he'd had for months now and kissed him. It wasn't that hard, they were so close to each other already. He only had to lean up just a little to catch his lips, move one of his hands to clutch desperately at Dillon's jacket, the other hand tight around the watch. Dillon was tense against him for only a moment before kissing back, one of his hands burying itself into his hair while the other fell to the small of his back, pulling him closer. Dillon's lips were warm and chapped, surprisingly soft and gentle against his own like he was afraid he might break Ziggy.
Ziggy felt warm and wanted and the kiss almost made him want to rethink his plans, to admit the whole truth of thing to Dillon so it wouldn't feel like he was somehow betraying his trust. At the same time though, the kiss was still bittersweet because it hurt that it was taking this huge lie to give him the courage to do it. And, despite the fact that he planned to survive this, the kiss still felt like a goodbye.
Dillon pulled away slowly, immediately missing the soft warmth of Ziggy's lips to gaze at the younger man in surprise. He knew that Ziggy had feelings for him, not even an idiot could mistaken the way Ziggy looked at him, but he had always thought him just a tad too shy to actually act on them. And while Dillon himself was far from shy about his feelings for the younger man, it had always felt like Ziggy was some sort of seventh seal that would cause the world to fall apart if he was touched. It felt like Ziggy was something sacred and otherworldly and no one, especially not him, should be able to have him.
Ziggy just met his gaze though. His eyes were disconcerting, dark and apologetic. Dillon couldn't help but remember last night, the brief flashes of guilt and agony in Ziggy's expressive features. He meant to ask him this morning but when he'd woken up Ziggy has been bright and cheerful, bright brown eyes clear of anything but determination and Dillon found all of his doubts and worries leave him after one look at the younger man.
He couldn't ask him this time either, because Scott called them, saying it was time to go with a smug smile on his face and Dillon spent the next few minutes trading insults with the Red Ranger and fighting not to blush. The easy familiarity of it all eased his worries and he never did notice the dangerous glint in Ziggy's eyes when he turned to get into the car. He never noticed Ziggy's pale hand secret away his watch into one of his pockets.
Then they were leaving and it was too late for questions or second-guessing. He merely reached across the stick shift and grasped Ziggy's hand, taking comfort in the warm, tight grasp and sweet smile Ziggy gave him. Although Dillon didn't know it then, they were riding to their destinies…and Ziggy's death.
Title: Hymn to Fayth
Summary: AU. Ziggy awakens an ancient power within himself and ends up joining the Rangers before he could ever join the Cartels. Dillon is guided to Corinth by a mysterious voice and learns the values of trust, friendship, love, and faith.
Rating: T
Pairings: Dillon/Ziggy
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything related to the franchise. I do not own anything recognizable as from one of the Final Fantasy games.
AN: I feel the need to run and hide now. I should probably go do that. However, those with a good knowledge of FFX, or even those that have been paying really close attention, should be able to piece together a few parts of Ziggy's plan. I think I'll still go hide though.
AN2: I think there should only be about four chapters after this.
Hymn to Fayth
Chapter 13
His head was killing him. That was the first thing Dillon was aware of when he woke up. He groaned and slowly levered himself up into a sitting position, wearily looking around. The lab was trashed. He swallowed heavily, looking around for a familiar head of messy brown hair. Nothing. He tried not to panic but he was starting to get the feeling that Ziggy was planning to do something very stupid. "Where's Ziggy?" he demanded, pushing the words past the lump in his throat and focusing on the Rangers scattered around the room.
They looked up at him in surprise followed by relief. "Oh thank god." Summer whispered, sounding all to calm considering that Ziggy wasn't here. Ziggy was always here when something happened to him; he was the first thing Dillon saw when he came around after being knocked out in battle. Ziggy should be here and he wasn't. He tried to stand up, stumbled briefly and had to grasp at the table he'd been laying on. "Where's Ziggy?" he asked again.
They all looked at each other with trepidation before Doctor K spoke up from where she was sitting in the corner, one arm cradled haphazardly in a sling. "He went after Tenaya. He took her blaster." It took a minute for the meaning of those words to register. Ziggy… has Tenaya's blaster? Why did he have that? Then, realization dawned.
Ears ringing, balance screwed, and head pounding, he forced himself to head to the door. "Where are you going?" Scott demanded.
"I gotta find him." Was his only answer.
--0--0--
Tenaya slowed to a stop in front of the city walls, placing her hands on her knees and trying to calm her breathing. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and sobs still pushed past her lips. She ruined it, ruined everything! And then she'd made it worse by running. She's known when she'd run that it was a bad idea but she couldn't handle the look of pain on K's face, the blood pouring down her arm, and she couldn't handle seeing her brother lying there not moving. "Damn it." She whispered to herself, falling to her knees. Ziggy had been right. Venjix was never going to let her go.
"What a mess."
She jerked at the voice and spun around to see Ziggy staring at her calmly but without his usual gentleness. His eyes had gone hard and cold. Everything in her suddenly wanted to start running again when she saw the cold fury on his face. "Ziggy?" she whispered.
"Tenaya." He said back, his tone blank. "You destroyed the lab." He told her, as if he thought she didn't know. She gulped thickly and looked down for a long moment, fighting tears. When she looked back up at him, she noticed a blaster, her blaster, being held tightly in his grip. She stood slowly, choking back more tears and looked him dead in the eyes. She held her arms out to her sides. "Go on." She whispered. "Shoot me. Before I hurt someone else."
Venjix wouldn't let her go. Not ever. There was no way she would ever get to have her own life.
"Don't you even." He warned her, his voice gaining a hard edge. She jerked back, stumbling away a few steps. "You think you die and everything's going to be sugar and rainbows?!" He demanded. She flinched again, more tears stinging at her eyes. Finally, she looked back at him. "What do you want from me?" She demanded. "If I can't live and I can't die then what am I supposed to do?!"
His eyes stared back at her, merciless and without pity. "The hardest thing in this world, Tenaya, is to live in it." he replied. "You wanted this. You wanted to be human. And being human, you screw up, and you either face it or you run. Facing things isn't easy but if you run, you will always be running."
She stared at him for a long time, looking for some sense of mercy in his eyes, waiting for him to tell her what to do. She didn't know what to do anymore. Then suddenly, Ziggy jerked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing on something to her left, and he raised the blaster in his hand. She turned automatically to where he was facing and got a good look at Kilobot before things descended into a flurry of blaster shots and chaos. The last thing she noticed was that it felt like a bomb had gone off before everything went black.
Ziggy hit the ground hard, his head smacking against the ground with a sickening crack. He winced, bright white light flashing behind his eyes and flaring across his other senses. His power awoke suddenly, spinning around him and encasing his mind in warmth. And then came the sweeping, unsettling displacement of a vision.
--0--0--
It felt like all the color had been drained from the Garage, leaving it dull and empty. The other Rangers moved sluggishly, their eyes always on the ground, and a defeated hunch to their shoulders. Gemma was crying silently in the corner but no one went to her, not her brother, not even Flynn. The original three Rangers were sitting quietly in the kitchen, Summer nursing a cup of coffee, and Flynn with his head buried in his arms. It was dark and sad, depressing, and it seemed like everyone was afraid to move very fast or speak too loudly, when they did speak at all.
The world melted, replaced by Ziggy's room. Half-filled boxes were placed everywhere. The room felt empty and lifeless, the warm colors gone and the tokens of his time on the team missing. Dillon stood near the small desk in the room, looking down at an open notebook. There was a pained expression on his face. Suddenly, he blurred into movement, grabbing the notebook and throwing it violently at the far wall. Papers fell free of the bindings, scattering across the floor as Dillon collapsed to his knees, sobs tearing themselves from his throat. He curled up, burying his face into his arms, and tried to block out the emptiness of the room, the silence.
Things change then, again, and suddenly Ziggy is no longer just a silent, invisible spectator who has to watch from a distance as his friends fall apart. Suddenly he is a part of the scene, feeling everything, and there are warm, dry lips against his own and familiar arms wrapped across his waist, a single hand pressed into the curve of his back. Ziggy sighed then and gave in, trying to focus on the warmth and passion, on the smell of cologne and machinery that always ends up mixed into Dillon's clothes, and not on how bittersweet this feels. Because it does feel bittersweet. Bittersweet and heart-breaking.
It feels like goodbye.
--0--0--
Ziggy came to a few seconds later, his ears still ringing from the hit that sent him crashing and his head complaining something vicious. He groaned and squinted upwards, Dillon's familiar brown eyes swimming into view. He blinked heavily up at the older man, managing to just make out Dillon shouting at him worriedly through the buzzing in his ears. He struggled for a minute with the lingering feeling of displacement because he can still feel Dillon's lips against his, overlapped with the present feel of hands running through his hair, checking for injuries. He winced when they brushed against the knot forming on his skull and reached up to brush Dillon's hands away. "Fine." He complained, pitching his voice louder than was probably necessary in order to hear himself. "I'm fine."
Dillon's hands fell from his hair, only to pull him close and crush him against his chest. The older man muttered something softly into his ear that he couldn't quite make out and, although it probably wouldn't reassure Dillon of his health any, he had to ask him, "What is that ringing sound?"
Dillon pulled back again and framed his face in his hands, looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. "You're okay, right? You're just fine?" He demanded desperately. He sounded like he thought he could heal all of Ziggy's injuries just by fussing over him enough. Ziggy didn't answer, just stared up at Dillon equally desperately, because as much as he could still feel that kiss, he can also see Dillon broken into pieces, sobbing brokenly in the empty confines of his room. The memory of it, if it's possible to have a memory of the future, made tears pour down his own cheeks. Dillon panicked, constantly asking him what was wrong, and all he could do was bury his head in Dillon's chest.
"They're back." He finally replied brokenly. "The visions are back."
--0--0--
They didn't have their meeting in the lab, none of them able to look at the wreckage so they gathered in the kitchen. Ziggy didn't have a concussion, thankfully, and his ears didn't ring anymore. About the only, serious injury among them was K's broken arm and he didn't let her remove it from his lab as he carefully used his powers to piece the shattered bones back together. Every so often, Summer would sniffle slightly, like she was fighting to keep back tears, and the sound tore through his heart. No one spoke.
Ziggy glanced at Dillon briefly, pressing his lips together in pain. Dillon seemed unwilling to look any of them, gazing instead at his clasped hands. Pain radiated from him in waves. Ziggy couldn't look at him for long either, the vision of Dillon in tears starting to greatly eclipse the one of the kiss in his mind. He looked away finally, turning his attention back to the hand in his lap. The bones were fixed, which was good because Ziggy doubted he could have kept his attention on the healing spell any longer with the thoughts running through his head.
He'd been wrong, he decided. No one, not even him, could change the future. It was as set in stone as the past and even if the circumstances changed, the results wouldn't. Avoiding the calamity that had been crashing towards them since Dillon had arrived at Corinth was impossible. He knew what he had to do in order to get Dillon's slight smile back on his face.
"I think I can still save her." He muttered softly. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise and for the first time since they'd learned about the virus in Tenaya, a glint of hope appeared in Dillon's eyes. That decided Ziggy. The hard knot of fear that had existed in the pit of his stomach since he had learned of the technique shifted into cold determination. "It's an old technique, very powerful. It actually marked an end to a Summoner's pilgrimage and they earned the title High Summoner. I… didn't want to use it before because I was afraid to. It's dangerous." He paused then and looked up at them, trying to put as much steel into his voice as possible so no one would question him. He couldn't lie very well at all. "But I can do it."
"What is it?" Dillon asked, his eyes and voice reflecting his relief and his gratitude. Ziggy gulped and whispered out the name of the spell that would burn him dry and lead him to his death. No Summoner that had ever used it had survived.
"Final Summoning."
--0--0--
Ziggy stared silently down at the notebook resting on the desk in his room, rereading his latest and last entry in it. It would not take the place of a proper apology or even a proper explanation but it was better than leaving everyone with no answers at all. Still, it didn't feel right. He felt like he owed it to Dillon, to all of them, to explain that he would not be coming back with them once they found Tenaya. But he couldn't. No matter how much Dillon wanted to save his sister, he wouldn't let Ziggy go. And if he chose Ziggy over Tenaya, he would always hate himself for it, just a little, no matter how much he loved Ziggy. Ziggy would never, could never, ask Dillon to choose him over Tenaya.
"Ziggy?" Dillon's voice asked from outside his door. Ziggy immediately jerked into action, flipping his notebook to a random page so his guilty confession of the truth wasn't visible and turned as Dillon entered his room, hoping his guilt didn't show in his expression. If it did, Dillon didn't say anything. He merely moved over and sat down heavily on his bed. "Will this really work?" he asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. It'll work. Don't worry." He whispered. They had all talked it over. In the morning, Ziggy would use his rarely used ability to dream-see in order to find Tenaya. Then they'd go after her and hope that Ziggy knew what he was doing. For them, the plan was that he all went home as a big, happy family. For Ziggy, the plan was that he went back in a body bag.
Dillon pulled out his pocket watch and ran his fingers over it sadly. "She loved this thing you know? Hated her own song, but she loved the watch." He told him. Ziggy stood from his chair and knelt down before him. "You're going to get her back, Dillon." He promised. "I'll get her back." Dillon met his eyes and smiled softly.
"I know. I trust you Ziggy." Dillon told him.
Ziggy felt his heart break at the words, knowing his was betraying that trust with his course of action, and gathered the older man to him, pulling him into the tightest hug he could manage because when Dillon's face was buried in his hair, he couldn't see the tears building in his eyes. He didn't know how long they sat like that but eventually Dillon slowly pulled away and said he was going to bed and walked tiredly out of the room. Ziggy let him walk out of the room, struggling against the urge to call the man back and confess everything. He couldn't do that though, even if it was one of the hardest things he'd ever done.
Dillon paused just before closing the door behind him and looked back at him. "Hey Ziggy. Smile, okay?" he requested. Ziggy chuckled softly and smiled obediently at the request, watching a small smile drift across Dillon's own features. They both muttered good nights before Dillon left. Then Ziggy was alone.
Slowly he stood up and walked over to his desk again, reading over the entry he'd written there briefly. It was his entry on the origin of the summons. He paused, a brief image of Dillon's pocket watch appearing in his mind. His breath caught in his throat in surprise and awe and slowly, a real smile worked its way across his face. He couldn't stop his visions from coming true, but he could change the circumstances. He flipped back to his new entry and wrote done one more sentence before signing it and closing it, heading to bed.
--0--0--
In the end, finding Tenaya was actually easy. And getting to her would be even easier. Venjix wanted them to go after her was the decision everyone reached. Once again, Venjix was underestimating them. Whatever defenses he put in the way they would tear through in order to get Tenaya back. He underestimated Ziggy again, right at the point when he held the power to rewrite the universe. Ziggy watched as his teammates slowly packed whatever they thought they'd need into their cars. His eyes flickered up to where Dillon was slowly walking down the stairs, not moving his gaze from the watch in his hands. Ziggy straightened and walked over to him. He needed that watch.
He stopped before Dillon, waiting for the older man to look up at him. Once Dillon had, he smiled widely. "Don't worry. Everything's going to turn out alright." He promised, feeling happy that it was the truth when he said it this time. He didn't plan to die now. He had a real plan. "We'll save Tenaya."
Dillon smiled at him softly. "I know." He made to move around the younger man then stopped when Ziggy merely stepped in front of him again. At Dillon's raised eyebrow, Ziggy motioned to the watch in his hands. "May I?" he requested. Dillon paused then nodded and handed him the watch. Ziggy smiled softly and accepted it, forcing Dillon to lean towards him so he could use the key as well. There was a small, amused glint in Dillon's eyes as the tune started to play.
Ziggy closed his eyes and let the tune wash over him for a few minutes. Then he asked, his whispered a wistful whisper. "Did we ever… figure out what song this was?"
"No." Was his answer, Dillon's voice as soft as his was. He could feel Dillon's breath ghosting across his face they were so close. This moment, Ziggy realized, represented what his life had come down to these last few months; the soft lullaby, Dillon, and the spicy scent of cologne and machinery that was always threaded into Dillon's clothes, no matter how many times they were washed. He nodded to himself. "Then, can I name it?" he requested.
Dillon agreed calmly, obviously having no problem with it. Ziggy smiled and said, "Then let's call it our 'Hymn to Fayth'." Dillon smiled softly back at him, eyes warm and gentle, and Ziggy had to tell him the truth, had to let him know that the plan wasn't what he expected. "Things are going to get worse before they get better Dillon." He whispered, not willing to let the others hear. If it was just them then Dillon might, might, differ to his judgment. Dillon's brow furrowed in confusion and his mouth opened to ask him a question but Ziggy cut him off. "That's why, I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing. Things will get better."
Dillon still looked like he might argue, still force out the truth, so Ziggy gave into the urge he'd had for months now and kissed him. It wasn't that hard, they were so close to each other already. He only had to lean up just a little to catch his lips, move one of his hands to clutch desperately at Dillon's jacket, the other hand tight around the watch. Dillon was tense against him for only a moment before kissing back, one of his hands burying itself into his hair while the other fell to the small of his back, pulling him closer. Dillon's lips were warm and chapped, surprisingly soft and gentle against his own like he was afraid he might break Ziggy.
Ziggy felt warm and wanted and the kiss almost made him want to rethink his plans, to admit the whole truth of thing to Dillon so it wouldn't feel like he was somehow betraying his trust. At the same time though, the kiss was still bittersweet because it hurt that it was taking this huge lie to give him the courage to do it. And, despite the fact that he planned to survive this, the kiss still felt like a goodbye.
Dillon pulled away slowly, immediately missing the soft warmth of Ziggy's lips to gaze at the younger man in surprise. He knew that Ziggy had feelings for him, not even an idiot could mistaken the way Ziggy looked at him, but he had always thought him just a tad too shy to actually act on them. And while Dillon himself was far from shy about his feelings for the younger man, it had always felt like Ziggy was some sort of seventh seal that would cause the world to fall apart if he was touched. It felt like Ziggy was something sacred and otherworldly and no one, especially not him, should be able to have him.
Ziggy just met his gaze though. His eyes were disconcerting, dark and apologetic. Dillon couldn't help but remember last night, the brief flashes of guilt and agony in Ziggy's expressive features. He meant to ask him this morning but when he'd woken up Ziggy has been bright and cheerful, bright brown eyes clear of anything but determination and Dillon found all of his doubts and worries leave him after one look at the younger man.
He couldn't ask him this time either, because Scott called them, saying it was time to go with a smug smile on his face and Dillon spent the next few minutes trading insults with the Red Ranger and fighting not to blush. The easy familiarity of it all eased his worries and he never did notice the dangerous glint in Ziggy's eyes when he turned to get into the car. He never noticed Ziggy's pale hand secret away his watch into one of his pockets.
Then they were leaving and it was too late for questions or second-guessing. He merely reached across the stick shift and grasped Ziggy's hand, taking comfort in the warm, tight grasp and sweet smile Ziggy gave him. Although Dillon didn't know it then, they were riding to their destinies…and Ziggy's death.