"Final Fantasy: Oblivion"

Prelude

My name is Maylina Guado, and I am twenty-three years old. I am half Guado and half human. The Guado are species of people in the world of Spira. They are considered the only species that have retained to their faith, and live a life separate from the rest of Spira within their cities and forests.
The war between the Guado and the rest of Spira has been going on for over thirty years. The Guado have taken over half of Spira, while the rest of is being run by the government of humans. Three humans to be more precise; three brothers that run the three major cities of Spira. One is the leader that the other two are suppose to acknowledge, and he is the youngest of the three and lives in Luca. The middle sibling lives and runs the machina city, Terra Skies. A mysterious place that hides many secrets within it's depths of machina. The last and oldest brother lives past the Mount Gagazet and the Ronso's land in the city that never sleeps. This place is called New Zanarkand, and it takes its name from the ruined city that it was built next to. This place is only for the most faithful, and some say that the dead posses the living. It is place that many Guado see as a ghost city haunted by the past, and the new city now carries on the burden that old city once had. They say that city will come to a final rest and sleep when the "Traitor of Zanarkand" returns to repent or destroy the city and its people.
The Guado government is run under always one man from the same family for the past two hundred years. They took over and bought chateau in Guadosalam when they took over. I pay no attention to the politics of the Guado, but as I understood it until today that Prince Jyn Guado had taken over recently after the passing of both his parents.
I have never really paid much attention to the outside world to just a few years ago. I never cared for the war or the rest of Spira. All there ever was the temple and my religion, and helping the people. The Guado live quite differently, but yet the same to the rest of Spira. We are attached to nature, and it is proven through the fact that three hundred years ago we were able to save the Macalania Forest from dying. Many of us Guado really don't know how they saved the forest, but we believe it was our faith with former aeon protector, Shiva, that allowed us to save the forest. Many of the Guado tend to believe the Guado are of higher class above all other species. I live among the people of the Guado, but I am not a full Guado.
My parents were united through their faith. My mother was human, but believed in the Guado's religion before the war had started. That is why I am high priestess of the Macalania Temple. Did I tell you, the Guado were able to salvage the temple over hundred years ago. It baffled them how fix the problem of the sunken temple at the bottom of the lake. They decided to leave the temple at the bottom, and make access to the bottom through means of flying animals or trails down to the bottom. It is quite beautiful at the beginning of spring.
My first journey to Guadosalam began when I was only a child. This is my journey to my destiny, to bring Spira back together. Even though I live with the Guado, and am a priestess of their religion, I still serve for the better of Spira. My mother, Marana Kana, had trained at the very same temple I became high priestess. She met my father, Senar Guado, there and from the day on they were never apart. They were married, and a priestess under our laws could not marry unless political reasons. They were especially strict on her marrying a man that was a guardian of priests. So she gave up her priesthood to spend her life with my father. I was born a year after their marriage, but soon after my birth my father had to leave to fight in the war with Spira. As I grew up when ever he came home I would spend as much time as I could with him. He would tell me stories of Spira before it was torn apart. He would tell tales of the former great summoners of long past ages Summoners such as Lord Braska, Lady Yuna, Yunalesca, Lord Seymour, and Lenne. All the past summoners he spoke of were always heroes, and adored by every one within the Guado's territory. I loved my father greatly, and I felt nothing would tear our family apart. That was until that fateful day on my eighth birthday.
My mother and I awoke that morning to a knock on the door. I had heard everything that morning.
"I have brought terrible news concerning your husband," the Guado warrior said at the door.
"Where is he?" my mother asked with concern.
I could tell she was panicking underneath her concerned demeanor.
"I am sorry madam, your husband, Senar Guado, died in battle with honor."
He had given her my father's necklace, something he had received as a family treasure. When the Guado left, my mother had turned around, and didn't even look at me. She had gone to the fireplace, and threw the object into the fire. I remember burning my palm trying to get the necklace out. I had gotten the treasure out of the fire, and the scar of the burn still has a small presence on my right hand. The scar was the shape of the necklace's pendant, the shape of the ancient statue of the aeon Shiva. It was a family emblem; the family had passed down the necklace for over three hundred years. I had then gone to my mother in the kitchen. This was when my mother had lost her sanity and reality.
"Mommy, I need something for my hand."
She gave me a washcloth with some ice. She didn't care that my burns were severe at the time. I would eventually though take care of the wound.
"Mommy, why did you throw Daddy's necklace in the fire?" I had asked.
"Because he's dead honey. That's why the guard was at our house. Daddy died fighting against the humans, the rest of Spira," was her only reply.
"So he's not coming home for my birthday, no special gift?"
"No honey, but consider that necklace to be your very special gift from your father."
That day I had to grow up, not to be eight years old, but rather almost like a teenager, because the next day would change my life forever. The next day my mother returned from the Temple of Macalania, after spending all morning in the temple praying. I still remember the news she gave me from her trip.
"Maylina come here. I have some great news for you," she began.
"Yes mother," I replied.
"You are wearing the necklace," she said when I approached her in the living room.
"Yes, I want to remember Daddy."
"You don't need to remember your father. You're going to learn the ways of ancient religion of the Guado; you're going to be a priestess."
"What?! Why? I want to be with my friends, and learn how to fight like Daddy."
"No! You need to learn the ancient teachings of a priestess, study the history of past summoners, and uphold family tradition. Succeed where I had failed. You will become a high priestess like the former Maester Seymour," she replied harshly.
"No Mommy. I want to learn to fight like Daddy. I want to bring peace to Spira and be a soldier."
After that day my mother became a priestess again and put me into the priesthood. I would not see my mother again for ten years. She would go and devote her time to the Guado, the temple, and became obsessed with notion that I would rise to power like the half-Guado Seymour. She felt that he and I had a lot in common. We were the minority in society, strong-willed people, and willing to over come obstacles to make the world better. Even though I always felt that the stories of Seymour were a bit far fetched once I reached my teens. I started questioning the deeds of all the past summoners; even the High Summoner Yuna and her success in defeating Sin.
When I turned eighteen, I was ready to face the trials. These trials would test my skills as a summoner, and my abilities to face danger in the heat of battle in the wilderness. Always on my journey through the Macalania Forest I had my guardian, my best friend for eight years, Renac Guado. He is a guardian, like my father, and a Guado. He was the only Guado at the temple when I was assigned a guardian that would be my guardian. At first he was reluctant and didn't like me for being a half- breed. Over time he never regretted meeting me, and becoming best friend. We share our secrets with each other, and he was always there when the other priests and adepts would tease me.
Over the year I began to forget the idea of becoming a solider and the love of my father, and began acting like a true priestess. Even though I thought Seymour's stories were far fetched I still looked to his courage of being only half-Guado for confidence to keep at my training.
Even though I was priestess, Renac did teach how to fight. I don't look like a normal priestess. I don't wear the traditional clothing; where I wear confining clothing that keeps me from being mobile and able to handle challenges in the outside world beyond the temple. I was always the outcasts among the adepts throughout my childhood, but Renac supported me. Around my eighteenth year, I went through my trials in the Macalania Forest. I had returned to the temple, with Renac, in triumph. At the time I was the only priestess at the temple, because the high priest had died recently, and the other students had not passed the trials yet. That very day I was made high priestess of the Macalania Temple.
That day was when I saw my mother again, but something had happened, two Guado were taking care of her. I had found out that she had become mentally ill, and could not recognize anybody. I still remember trying to talk to her.
"Mother. Are you all right?" I asked her.
He must come back. He will bring unity, and honor my family. The power of a summoner likes within my only child."
"What do you mean? I'm your child," I had replied to delusions.
She had looked at me with an empty stare.
"My daughter is not you. She is a priestess, not a warrior. She will bring back the Fayths, disturb the Farplane, and bring him back from the dead."
"Who?" I had to ask.
She looked up into the sky, and she seemed to be in a trance.
"Our high priest of Macalania, Maester Seymour," she replied detached.
She was never the same again. A few months later, under the advice of the temple, the Guado sent her to the border between Spira and Guado. The humans took her to Luca, because she was a human, and they put her into a mental hospital.
For the next three years I would be a teacher for the new students who came to the temple, and continued my studies about the Fayths, the former guardian of our temple Shiva, the history of Macalania and Lord Seymour, and kept up with my duties as high priestess.
When I turned twenty-one, I had gone to the statue of Shiva to pray like any other day, but this day would be different. When I was praying, a sudden light had appeared from the statue, and that's when I saw my first aeon, Shiva. She had changed in appearance from what I had seen in photos and read about. Her hair was no longer in dreads, but straight and beaming with blue light; her hair was also blue. She now wore a sleek, shining, and see-through blue dress. I remember she disappeared from the shrine, and a Fayth, a spirit of a person, replaced her. The words of my destiny, I can still remember.
"You are the child of the summoners. You possess the power to summon aeons. Maylina, you must take this aeon, and you must go on a pilgrimage. You will reach the ancient ruins of Zanarkand. You must find the strength within yourself, and the guardians you will find along the way."
"You will give me an aeon to summon?" Maylina asked excitedly.
"Yes, reawaken the Fayths, and recall the aeons. First go to your city, Guadosalam and go to the Farplane."
"Of course," I replied enthusiastically.
A day later after receiving Shiva, Renac agreed to guard me on my journey to Guadosalam. That was when I had shown him Shiva. He could not believe what he saw, an aeon, and being summoned by a summoner. He and I both knew no one had been able to do such a miracle in over three hundred years. After Shiva had left, Renac ran up to me, and picked me up and hugged me.
"I am so proud of you Maylina; you have become the hope for Spira."
It had taken only a day and a half to get through Lake Macalania and the Thunder Plains. We had arrived in Guadosalam, with guards everywhere. They all looked at me with suspicion because I looked partly human. I looked just like a human except I had scars that looked made tattoo-like patterns on my face and body, my hair was light blue, and my fingers were exceptionally long like a Guado with long finger nails.
The guards had to search us, and they finally let us into the city. It was a beautiful city, with gardens of trees and flowers. The city had grown quite large over the years. Now over hundred thousand people lived in Guadosalam and worked in the grand city of nature.
Renac and I checked in at the inn, and we settled down. Renac decided to inform the manor of the lord of our arrival. I had decided to go to the Farplane. I put away my weapons, and brought my short staff to the Farplane. I entered through the force that protected the living world from the spirits that presided in the Farplane. I walked onto a circle platform of land in the middle of the clouds. I had come to one edge, and dropped to my knees. I began to wave the staff around in the ceremonial fashion. I then got back up when I saw my father. He wore the traditional clothing of a guard, but a helmet didn't cover his face. I remember him speaking to me, and I was crying.
"Hi Maylina. How is my little girl?" he asked me lightly.
"Dad, I miss you so much," I replied with tears coming from eyes.
"Don't cry you are strong and will make it. Your power is your strength."
By then I had stopped crying.
"What am I supposed to do?" I needed to ask.
"You will need to help; just wait he will come." he replied peacefully.
That was when I heard someone behind me, and my father had disappeared. I turned quickly, and found Renac, several royal guards, and a man dressed like a prince there. The man dressed royally walked up to me, and took my right hand.
"Milady I greet you, I am Prince Jyn Guado, and I am the leader of our people."
"Thank you Prince Jyn. I am pleased to be here, and it is pleasure to finally meet you," I had replied properly.
"I am more pleased to meet you Maylina. I was told you are the High Priestess of Macalania. Please, would you join me for dinner at my chateau?" he asked blearily.
"Of course my lord," I replies courtly.
When we had left, something happened to the Farplane because I could feel it. My presence in the Farplane had disturbed the souls of the dead, and something had followed us out. That night as dinner was quite normal until the very end. When all the political people and the guards that were dismissed left, Jyn asked to me to excuse Renac also. One of my first mistakes was to excuse Renac from the room. I still remember him taking my hand, and kissing it.
"This war needs to come to an end," he began.
"Yes, you're right milord."
"My father had started this war, and has torn apart this land. I want Spira to be together again," he continued.
My only reply to his pleading was, "Why not create a treaty with the leader of Spira in Luca."
"I have, but they want me or my spouse to be there in Luca. I can not leave Guadosalam."
"Do you not have a wife?" I had asked disturbingly.
"That is why I wanted us alone. I need a wife who will go to Luca for me. Not a full-blooded Guado, but someone who can relate to both the Guado and the rest of Spira.
"What I am saying Maylina is that I want you to be my wife, and bring back the Eternal Calm to Spira."
"But I just met you, and I am not sure even how I feel for you."
"I know how I fee for you. You're beautiful, strong, kind, and the hope of light lies within you," he replied with plead in his voice.
There was something though I knew that was beneath his words. It was something that disturbed me from within, and it wouldn't go away.
"You are right, and I will consider your offer," was all I could reply.
"Very good. I will see you tomorrow, and I hope you will say yes. Good night milady."
"Good night milord."
I had left him alone, and returned to the inn with Renac. I told him about Jyn's offer, and he was not happy about it. He needed to remind me about my new power, and how Jyn would use me. Not just for my power, but Renac had told me how Jyn liked his share of women. At the time I didn't know better. Now, my first night in Guadosalam, in my room, I have written what has happened to me so far. Tomorrow I intend to give Prince Jyn my decision. I will marry him, if I am allowed to go on my pilgrimage. This where my story begins, a story of faith, friendships, trust, and hopefully love even it is not allowed.