In the International + Last Mission version of X-2, a major feature alongside the Coliseum and the Creature Creator was the Fiend Tales. Capturing fiends allows Shinra to analyse them and become friends with them, giving us a side to the fiends that we had never seen before. Each fiend has their own personality and desires, some of which will tell you how they died and even imply that they can become humans again if they find out how.
Levelling up fiends in your team will reveal more of their story and wants to you, and when you get far enough, you will unlock their Creature Ending. These are non-voice acted cutscenes that involve Shinra releasing the fiend, and having the fiend either getting their wish granted and resting in peace, or running off and adapting to their new lifestyle.
This is a guide to the summaries of the fiends' stories and endings. I will update it over time.ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooSALLET
Analysis:
A former monk of Yevon from the time of Lady Yocun. Cause of death is unknown. Despite his old age, he swears to be Yuna's guardian and to stay by her side until they reach Zanarkand. He still thinks that Sin and Yevon's teachings are around and that machina are forbidden; mistaking the Celsius for a boat being attacked by Sin's storms. When he is told that the Celsius is powered by machines, that the Calm is eternal, and that Yuna is a sphere hunter, he gets angry and denies it. He demands that they go to Zanarkand and meet with Yunalesca who, unbeknownst to him, isn't around anymore.
Ending:
Arriving in Zanarkand, Sallet sees that the ruins have been turned into a tourist attraction, and are also a breeding ground for monkeys. Realising that Yunalesca no longer resides in Spira and that he doesn't belong, he takes one last look at Zanarkand's night sky and accepts Spira's new age. Dissolving into pyreflies, he leaves Spira in Yuna's hands.
BICOCETTE
Analysis:
A Bicocette that claims to have the ability to use Doom. Cause of death is unknown, though he claims to have 'messed up'. He claims to once have been a petty thief that made a pact with the Angel of Death. Death gave him his powers and told Bicocette to reap human souls for him. Upon his death, his partners sealed his powers, but didn't send him to the Farplane. Eventually the seal breaks, and he goes out to hunt down his former friends.
Ending:
Bicocette returns to his hideout with his regained power. He plans to use Doom on his partners. However, he starts to regret it when things get out of hand. Death tortures and kills his friends, and Bicocette runs away, saying that he only wanted to scare them and make them apologise for making fun of him. He fears what his friends would think of him when they reunite in the Farplane. Death appears before him and says that he will never reach the Farplane anyway, and attacks him. The screen fades to white, ending with Death saying that he craves the souls of fiends that have sunk to the lowest depths.
BARBUTA
Analysis:
N/A (Creature lives to fight.)
Ending:
N/A
ARMET
Analysis:
A female sailor who used to be married. Cause of death: Sin's attack on Kilika. She says she is happy to be a fiend, because her human life was so difficult. Recently, she had regained her memories of her human life, saying that she probably forgot it because she didn't want to remember. She says that there is a cave where fiends work together to build new lives. She is reminded of the 'battles' she had when she was married. She was wooed by her husband to move to Kilika from Besaid. Her husband was a good man, but was submissive to his mother. Armet's mother-in-law and sister-in-law abused her when her husband wasn't around, which resulted in her fighting back. When she died to Sin, her and her mother-in-law still argued back then. She concludes by saying she was grateful for making those memories, and that she should get back to the cave.
Ending:
Armet returns to the cave, meeting up with a Bully Cap. The Bully Cap suspiciously says to Armet that she came back early. Bully Cap then proceeds to reveal that she had also regained her memories. Armet figures out that the Bully Cap is indeed her mother-in-law. MIL jokes that their fates have conjoined. Armet's sister-in-law, a Thunder Flan, drops in, telling Armet to hurry up and make dinner. Armet gets dizzy from the realization that she is stuck with her abusers again. SIL asks if dinner is ready. SIL complains that Armet made so little in so much time. MIL tells Armet to do the cleaning and laundry, who then collapses and weeps, her morsel of food still in front of her. MIL and SIL eat their food, only to freak out over its spiciness. Armet is seen laughing behind a wall. The screen fades to black, saying that it's the start of Round 2.
(Fun fact: The food model that Armet gives to MIL and SIL is the same model for the tray of food that Rikku gives to Tidus on the Salvage Ship in FFX.)
BASCINET
Analysis:
An admirer of the Gullwings. Cause of death is unknown. She says that she found out about the trap pods in Gagazet from a friend, so she purposefully got caught in one of them to join the Gullwings. She says it's because she admired a specific person in the Gullwings, which turns out to be Brother from her (amusing) description. She says that she first saw Brother when he jumped ship to save Yuna in the Gagazet ruins. Brother's affection for Yuna touched Bascinet in a way. She reveals that she's been practising her body language to be just like Brother, and that she thinks that she and Brother have come to a deeper understanding. She wants to become Brother's best student, and goes to tell him how she feels.
Ending:
Bascinet meets with Brother at Bikanel's oasis, and plans to ask him to become his number one apprentice. She hopes that her body language is good enough. Bascinet tries to communicate with Brother through body language: 'LET-ME-BE-YOUR-APPRENTICE.' Brother, not being the smartest person in the world, misinterprets her gestures as 'WHAT-IS-YOUR-NAME'. He plays along, saying 'MY-NAME-IS-BROTHER.' Bascinet also misinterprets his gestures, thinking it's 'THE-PATH-WILL-BE-DIFFICULT.' She responds with 'NO-THANK-YOU.' Brother thinks she said 'WILL-YOU-MARRY-ME'. It sends Brother on a frenzy, which Bascinet interprets as 'TOO-SOON.' Thinking it's him rejecting her request to be his apprentice, she is disappointed. Brother, in relation to her not-quite-proposal, quietly says to himself that it's from a friend. Bascinet hears this, misinterpreting it as her second chance.
HEAVY SALLET
Analysis:
Cause of death is unknown. She talks in vague sentences, saying that it's too cramped, and that she won't do well with the 'neighbours'. She is hesitating to say hi to them. She then thinks she's too sensitive, and that she'll never make friends. She says that she met someone in Kilika, and that she asked him to come and hang out. The man didn't seem sure, so she said that he could bring his friends. His friends agree and she is delighted, but says to keep it a secret. She then says that it was fun at first, and that they got along, but then they kept refusing to go home. She then thinks that she sees 'smaller ones'. She is afraid that the Gullwings will fire her for this. Later, the smaller ones have multiplied so much that the room is about to burst. She panics about what to do, when she notices some of them leaving.
Ending:
Heavy Sallet goes to confront the Gullwings, who then spills her dilemma to them. She apologises. Rikku, who has a monkey on her head, is looking irritated at Heavy Sallet. It is revealed that the 'smaller ones' are the Zanarkand monkeys, which have invaded the entire cabin. HS apologises again, and says that she'll gather them up and leave. Afterwards, Shinra is seen cradling one of the monkeys in his arms, saying that it's his.
DIVEBEAK
Analysis:
Cause of death is unknown. He acts as a delivery service exclusive to fiends. He hates humans, and says that they and fiends will never get along. He gets an order from an Iron Giant to deliver a huge pillow to an ochu on the Mushroom Rock Road. He drops it, but a 'fat chocobo rancher' helped him out. He says that he's quite helpful for a human, and hope that the chocobos don't eat him. He gets a special delivery: deliver a datachip to a machina in Bikanel. He mentions how times have changed because he is working for a machine, and that it was on the verge of breaking down. When he delivered the chip, he was shocked to see that the Al Bhed girl he gave the package to was worried for the machina like it was her child. He gets a delivery from a coeurl in Djose to deliver a gift to his grandson in, but Divebeak doesn't want to do it since his grandson is a human. The coeurl started crying, and Divebeak gave in. When he delivered the gift, the grandson started crying too. Divebeak can't bear crybabies, and says that this is the first and last time he ever deals with humans.
Ending:
Divebeak says that the next delivery is a little special. This time, it's a request from the coeurl's grandson. He found Divebeak's records, and begged him until he accepted the job. He says that the grandson has a friend who's very sick, and was asked to deliver medicine to him. Divebeak must go through the Thunder Plains. He complains about the weather, and is almost struck by lightning. He says his wings are getting heavy. Meanwhile, an Ahriman tells his boss, a Humbaba, that he spotted the one who 'works for humans'. Humbaba blocks Divebeak's path. Divebeak tells him to get out of his way. Humbaba tries to shame his working for humans, and starts to attack Divebeak. Divebeak evades, and tells Humababa that this is an important delivery to him, but he still chases after him. Eventually, Divebeak is getting affected by the weather, but still presses on. He gets to the Thunder Plains inn, and drops off the medicine. Making it in time, Divebeak collapses and dissolves into pyreflies, saying that jobs like this aren't so bad. Fading to black, it's said that the boy recovered, and keeps a feather that he found outside the inn with him at all times.
PEREGRINE
Analysis:
Cause of death: fiend attack. He tells Shinra to stop peering into his soul to figure him out; he has nothing to say. He asks why he won't be left alone, and just wants to be left unnoticed until he's released. He says that he always look out the window from his small room in a temple, with no friends and family. He wonders if anything would change if he vanishes. After supposedly being orphaned by Sin, he was raised in Kilika Temple. He thinks that his parents being killed by Sin was a lie, countering with why he would be the only one alive and left all alone. The monks told him that many others were orphaned, and told Peregrine to be strong for Spira's future and hope. He says that he didn't want to live in a sad world. One night, he made a bet and fled the temple, not caring that the woods were dangerous. He felt that if he couldn't get through the forest, he wouldn't be strong enough to go on. When a fiend attacked him, he said that that was the one time he wanted to live.
Ending:
At night, Peregrine and Shinra are on the deck of the Celsius. He mentions how he lost his life to the fiends, and wondered if he would go to the Farplane alone, and cried. He mentions that he was only ten years old: not a grown-up, but not a baby, either. He still had many things he wanted to do. He regrets having made the bet on his life. He says that he couldn't stop crying, and that his tears turned into pyreflies. Eventually, the tears and pyreflies stopped, and he turned into a Peregrine: a fiend with giant wings. He says that under this sky, he still has many worlds to see, and that with his wings, he is truly free. He concludes with saying that he'll continue his tale as a fiend, because he loves the sky and it makes him want to go on living. Peregrine flies off, saying that he'll see Shinra again in the sky. The screen fades, saying that the boy spread his wings and became a bird.
(Fun fact: You can see Brother dancing in the spotlights in the background.)