STORY: FFX
a/n: a preview, like the summary says. i'll explain more in the ending author note, but for now, i'll just let you read, even though it's not much and it cuts off. oh, and you'll notice that Lenne is mentioned. yes, Lenne and Shuyin
will be present in this story, as they did live in the time period of Yu Yevon and Yunalesca...
Pray
Savior
Dream
Child of Prayer
Forever and ever
Bring us peace
High Summoner Zeke paused a moment outside the classroom door, reading and rereading the plaque on the door: Basic Summoning Arts 3-A. These children must be no older than nine, not exactly the best age to hear the news the old Summoner brought. He took a final deep breath and plunged through the doorway, alarming the woman teaching within.
"High Summoner Zeke! May I help you, sir?" Bara was her name. Zeke had seen her at a few staff meetings, but since she taught at the lower sector of the school, he never saw more of her than that.
Placing her name, Summoner Zeke replied "No, Ms. Bara. I am sorry for interrupting in such a way. Please, continue. I can wait." Inwardly, Zeke was upset that she did not persist in helping him further. However, he smiled and nodded as she thanked him, apologized, and continued with the class.
Zeke watched her teach and scanned the students quietly. They all sat, or rather fidgeted, at their desks in front of the 5,000 gil apiece machina screens Zeke had consented to invest in. 'They're not even using the machina! They're kids, for Zanarkand's sake! Why did I have to pay for machina in every classroom!' he was already planning the memo he would leave on Summoner Emii's desk demanding the removal and refunding of those screens.
Apparently during his mental rant, Zeke's eyes had landed on a student's face. The kid, feeling the High Summoner's gaze, looked up from his doodling to stare back at him. Coming to, Zeke took this kid in...
He was a scrawny boy with pearly hair that glinted in the bright fluorescent lights of the classroom. He had tied blue and purple beads into his hair, as was customary of warriors and icons of the time. 'So he's star-struck,' thought Zeke, 'just what I need.' A green headband kept (in theory) the silvery strands of hair out of the boy's face, though to no avail, and was tied in the back of his head, leaving the extra fabric to fall over his shoulders. His eyes were purple or blue, depending on how the light hit them, and sucked up every last trace of detail around the boy, bottomless pits burrowing into his pale little head. He wore the uniform blue and yellow robe and pants characteristic of Zanarkand's Academy of the Summoning Arts, but slung around him in such a way that they were unidentifiable. 'This definitely means I'll be seeing this kid in my office' the Summoner thought.
Zeke broke the stare-down by checking his portable machina screen board, leaving the kid to shrug and continue drawing. Zeke glared out of the corner of his eye.
That woman, Bara–whatever, was going on and on about the Farplane. It was all super basic, which lead Zeke to questioning if this class was necessary, since the school's budget…
The High Summoner's thoughts were interrupted by that… woman's yammering as she asked, "isn't that right, High Summoner Zeke?" He grumbled under his breath and replied brightly, "Of course!"
"Right, so what, class, can be found in the Farplane apart from that?" That kid from earlier was biting his tongue, bending inches away from his drawing.
"Excuse me, but I think that young man would like to answer" Zeke said sweetly, pointing. 'Haha, revenge, you squirt!' he thought smiling at the boy.
The boy snapped up, and icy glare shooting Zeke directly in the eyes. He slowly dropped his pencil and sat up.
"Ma'am, pyerflies, or the souls of the living that have been either sent or dispatched from Spira some other way reside in the Farplane, from where Summoners, such as the great High Summoner Zeke may draw them in the forms of Aeons to aid them."
"Very good, Yu! Have you been studying? Oh, I mean, YOU you, not Yu you…"
Yu didn't look away from Zeke's face, his face frozen and intense. 'Sheesh, and he's only a Basic' thought Zeke.
The Summoner dismissed it and looked back down at his hand-held machina. "YUUJI YEVON- URGENT INFORMAL F-P-A"
"Is there a Yuuji Yevon in this class?" he asked.
"My name is Yu Yevon" smart-ass-boy said. Of course, of all the students to give this message, it had to be this one.
"Come with me," the man said gruffly, "I have some unfortunate news for you."
Yu stalked through the snow, eyes placed on his feet as they sunk into the ground. The Summoner's school of Zanarkand had asked him not to go to Mt. Gagazett, had warned him of the conditions and danger. Still, someone had to clear a path for the hovers on their annual trip to Guadosalam as they carried 40+ excited ten-year-olds. It might as well be him, Yu thought, since no one else in that Academy seemed competent.
Yu pulled his blue and green robes closer to him as a gust of icy wind rushed through his hair. After the wind passed, he checked to see if his weapon was still attached to his back.
"Would hate to lose that, since those Ronso can be a nasty bunch…" he said to himself.
As he reached a small alcove, Yu slid off his pack and slide down the stone wall, sitting in the snow. It offered little protection, but it was the best there was. Setting up a Reflect and Protect spell, Yu settled down to light a small fire. Since it was lit by magic, the cold and wind could not blow it out, thankfully. Yu tilted his spear against the stone and went to sleep sitting up after saying a short prayer: "Pray, savior, dream, Child of Prayer, forever and ever, bring us peace".
Yu awoke a wave of cold sweeping over him. He gasped and shivered, turning to face the Flan Blanco glaring at him. The Reflect spell must have worn off.
Shaking off the snow that had fallen on him during the night, Yu stood and lifted his spear. "Fira!" he cried, and with a swing from the long weapon, the fiend exploded into flames, melting into the snow.
Before the fiend's pyreflies could fly off, Yu sent them, his dance jerky and restrained due to the cold. He picked up his pack, shook the ice from his robes and hair, and continued on.
After a couple hours more of walking, Yu herd sounds coming from his pack. He reached in and pulled out a Commsphere, the concerned face of High Summoner Elias gracing its curved surface.
"Ah, Summoner Yevon! Is this a bad time?"
"No," Yu sighed, "just making my way up Gagazett. This is as good a time as any."
"Good, good. Well, you know how I feel about you going up there by yourself, but I haven't called to talk about that…"
Yu rolled his eyes. The news must be pretty serious if Elias didn't want to complain to him about the "bloodthirsty, cannibalistic Ronso".
"Sir, it's you daughter."
"You mean Yuna? What's she up to?"
"Well," Elias turned to look at the ten-year-old girl sitting behind him and swinging her legs, "Yunalesca has once again 'admitted' to her participation in summoning without a teacher chaperone," he leaned closer to the Commsphere, "though I suspect she is just covering for those delinquent friends of her's again."
Yu laughed, talking as he walked. "Yea, that sounds like Yuna. So just what did that kid summon this time?"
"Sir, that is a little embarrassing to say, if you understand," Yunalesca giggled in the background, "but perhaps you could talk to her yourself. She doesn't seem to want to talk to me this time."
"Of course. Hey, Yunie!" The little girl's face appeared on the screen. "So what did Lenne do this time?"
"Oh, Lenne said it was an 'Aeon to save the school from an evil dictatorship' or something, you know Lenne, but really it turned out to be a giant spider thing. It nearly gave High Summoner Elias a heart attack though."
"Then I guess it did work!" laughed Yu. Lenne was very involved in the politics of Zanarkand, but not so much in her studies at the Academy.
"Seriously though, why do you keep getting yourself in trouble for that kid? I'm not always sure she would do the same for you."
The girl shrugged and wiped the long strands of silver hair from her face. Yunalesca and Lenne were inseparable. That meant whenever Lenne got in trouble due to her 'strong personality', which was often, Yunalesca bailed her out. Yu said that Yuna was "just too nice", but he understood how the two needed each other.
a/n: that's pretty much it for now, sorry it cuts off! oh and the first thingy is the hymn... and i think i changed the spelling of "yunalesca" mid-chapter... and i realize that "yu yevon" means "curse of yevon", and "yu" isnt his first name, but i thought he, as a boy, would pick it up as a kickass nickname and it would stick and end up having more meaning than he could imagine... anyways, if all goes according to my plaaaan [muahaha, it will be in 2 parts: before Sin following Yu Yevon mostly and post-Sin following Yunalesca's first pilgrimage... possibly switching in every other chapter. i want to explain my take on a lot of the FFX mythology through this story, and also how yu yevon could get to the point that he could do what he did... and also how yunalesca could end like SHE did as well. and politics between zanarkand and bevelle, with the war and all. yesh yesh send me a message or review if you think i should bother with this, because i like the idea a lot, but i also have tons of stuff goin' on!
--bucky