ShiavA

Shiava Horst pondered the above, as he sat on a rooftop railing at the Palace of St. Bevelle. The boy watched the fireworks fill the sky with their multicolored light. Although only seventeen, Shiava was already a graduated Firstblade, an elite order of warriors, who directly served the measters of Yevon. The measters were the high priests. They were the highest order you could attain. Yevon's system of government worked like this: each species technically had its own nation. All areas of Spira had some kind of leader. The civilized nations had their own sovereign ruler, who in turn had to report to the measters, the high priests of Yevon. The measters then reported to the Grand Measter. The Grand Measter "controlled" all of this. Technically they didn't have much real power. The nations were simply united under the Yevon church. Shiava looked out over the city of Bevelle. It was lit with lights. Since the fall of Zanarkand, Bevelle had been the capital of Spira. Its skyscrapers were lit with electric lights and its highways were buzzing with traffic.

Shiava turned from the sight to catch a glimpse of himself in a window. He was an unusual looking person. A pale seventeen year old, with white hair and bright violet eyes stared at him from the glass. This was because he was a sword mage. Sword mages were very, very rare. They were people who had the gift to hear the voices of otherwise inanimate objects, such as stone or wood. Sword mages always were born with white hair and violet eyes. Sword magery had been in the Horst family for over five generations. It wasn't consistent. Shiava didn't exactly mind being one. If you were a sword mage you could learn to shut out the voices of the objects around you, it was actually very easy. As he looked at the fireworks, Shiava wished that he had been part of the team to defeat Sin. High Summoner Yuna had needed many guardians to help her. There was Tidus, Yuna's lover. Then Wakka a blitzball captain from Besaid Island. Kimhari, a stern Ronso. The Ronso were blue furred catlike beings that lived on the far away Mt. Gazett. Yuna's hyperactive cousin Rikku was a guardian. Lulu, a sorceress, and then there was Sir Auron. Sir Auron was legendary in Spira. He was the only person to come back alive from fighting Sin, twelve years ago with Yuna's father. He was a master swordsman. It was said no man could stand against him. He then helped Yuna and her guardians overcome Sin. Auron had been Shiava's hero since he could remember. That was why he'd wanted to be a Firstblade. Then he could become like his hero.

"Hey Shiava! Are you going to keep sitting around like that?"

Shiava turned to see his best friend, Arnis Kelsin standing behind him. The other boy had climbed up to the roof. Arnis was another Firstblade. He and Shiava had entered the Palace school at the same time at age nine. They had been inseparable friends ever since. The two of them were quite popular. While Arnis was more handsome and charming, with his blond hair and brown eyes, Shiava was more to the point. They made a good pair. There was, however one more addition to the group.

"Hey Shi, Arnis what're you doing up there? Talking about me I'll bet."

Arenna Cedric climbed up the steps. Her long brown hair hung down to her back. Arenna was a beautiful person. She was tall and thin with large brown eyes. She was also a Firstblade. There was also one other thing special about her to Shiava. She was his girlfriend. Unlike Shiava and Arnis and most other people, Arenna hadn't joined the Palace school to become a Firstblade at age nine. Instead she had joined at age twelve, knowing nothing about swords. There was a reason for this. Arenna had experienced a bad childhood. The daughter of a summoner and a high ranking Yevon official, Lord Hugh Cedric, Arenna's life might have been pure luxury and love. Instead, while it had been luxury, there had been no love. For Arenna's birth had not been Lord Cedric's pride and joy. It had been his shame and sorrow. Hugh had fallen in love with a summoner as a young official. They were both young and in love. But the summoner knew that she must go off to fight Sin, and would not return. Thus in the priests cloisters in the Palace of St. Bevelle they spent their last night together. A few months after this Arenna was born while the summoner was on her pilgrimage across Spira. A servant was sent in the dead of night to fetch the baby girl and take her to Lord Hugh's estate. There she was raised in secret by servants for nine years. Lord Hugh was trying to become a measter, and he knew all too well that if the knowledge of his illegitimate child were to get out, his opponents would use it against him. Then one fateful day, nine year old Arenna had wandered dead into the middle of a conference of aristocrats who were backing him. After he had said strongly that he wasn't married. Needless to say he lost the chance. For the next three years, now angry and bitter, Lord Hugh Cedric pondered what to with his daughter. Then he had an idea. Send her to Firstblade school. She could learn academics and sword skills. And if she was killed in the service of the measters so much the better!

So, Arenna joined the Palace school at age twelve. By this time however, word had already spread of Lord Hugh Cedric's shame. In the beginning the other children teased Arenna mercilessly. The teachings of Yevon spoke out strongly against children out of wedlock, and all of these children had been raised on the teachings. The teachers tried to stop it but they couldn't be everywhere, and they couldn't stop the word "bastard" from being etched on Arenna's practice sword. They couldn't make the kids stay with Arenna instead of moving away when she sat at their table. And they couldn't stop the girls from giving Arenna nasty looks when she passed them, because they though Arenna would steal their boyfriends. Only Shiava had been willing to accept her. He had seen her crying on the steps. He sat down to comfort her. Arenna, thinking it was preparation for another bullying had finally had enough. She had hauled off and punched him in the face. Shiava had collapsed onto the marble steps laughing. When Arenna had demanded what was so funny, he explained he had been trying to comfort her. She was horrified, and they had been the best of friends since. As the years went on, their friendship became deeper. Shiava would always wonder why Arenna hadn't chosen Arnis as her boyfriend. Perhaps it was because, while Arnis hadn't teased her, he hadn't gone out of his way like Shiava had to stop the teasing.

"So what should we do this fine Calm Day night?" Arnis asked.

Shiava shrugged indifferently. "I don't know, don't really care. What would Bevelle have to offer three seventeen year olds like us this early? It's only five 'o clock."

Arnis smiled mischievously. "What if I told you there was a way to imitate High Summoner Yuna and her guardians' heroics?"

"I might be interested."

"You could imitate them….inside Sin!"

Arenna looked horrified. "I…I can't believe that you're doing this…it's against the law for one thing…second of all there might be fiends and such…"

Fiends were monsters that inhabited Spira. They were unsents who had lost their humanity and now roamed in hideous form, looking for living people to rip to shreds.

"Arenna, Arenna, where's your spirit of adventure? You're usually the most adventurous of all of us!"

"Yeah", agreed Shiava, "you usually come up with all the wacky ideas".

"I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about it."

After much badgering and arguing, they succeeded in getting Arenna to give in. The three of them headed out. They buckled on their red handled swords, marking them as Firstblades

Shiava glance at Arenna. She was frowning severely. "Jeez Arenna, lighten up. You look like Measter Mika."

Shiava was referring to Grand Measter Mika, the head of the Yevon church, and therefore the head of the government. He was extremely old. No one knew what his age was. He had been elderly when Shiava's parents were small children!

"How dare you compare me to that old geezer!? He looks like he's been sucking shoopuff droppings!"

"Arenna!" Shiava was shocked. He couldn't believe that his girlfriend had just insulted the Grand Measter. Even Arnis looked a bit surprised.

Arnis turned and said, half mocking, half serious "how could you say something like that?"

Arenna didn't look the least bit sorry. "Because when I first came to the Palace of St. Bevelle to learn to be a Firstblade, I had to be introduced to the different measters. When I was introduced to Mika, he looked at me, and then he just looked at the maid who was with me, and said, in that stupid, crackly voice, 'is this the illegitimate child of Lord Hugh's?' Then the bastards started talking about illegits being against the stupid Teachings of Yevon."

Shiava looked at Arenna. Her normally cheerful face was dark with bad memories.

"So", he said to change the subject, "isn't the Palace pretty tonight?"

It was true. The Palace of St. Bevelle was taller than any other building in the city. It took up three whole sections of the city. It was made of white marble, veined with red and blue stone. Its delicate archways and bridges looked so fragile, that it seemed a bird might break them, yet they were extremely sturdy. It had four towers, all pointing straight up toward the sky. In the sunset the sun's last rays caught the gold spires of the towers with blood red brilliance. Extending from the side of the Palace was Seawall Bridge. It encompassed the sea on the west side of Bevelle. This had been built in the Age of Despair, to keep Sin from attacking Bevelle. The Bridge was actually useless. Made of the same beautiful stone as the Palace, it was more a beauty affair than protection. Cars crossed up and down its length.

Soon they had come to the outskirts of the city. This area was abandoned, and had been for two years since Sin had crashed down among the buildings here. The place was eerily quiet after the hustle and bustle of Bevelle. Then they reached Sin. The giant whale like creature's body had not decayed in the least. It could still be seen from space. The monster was the biggest thing on Spira. It was the size of a city and a half. Pyreflies floated around the body, and amongst the abandoned buildings. Pyreflies were small motes of colored light, the size of tennis balls. They hung around ancient or mystical places, "Or, Shiava thought, thinking of all the creepy stories of unsents he had heard, around the walking dead".

Arenna stopped and looked at the monster's body. She folded her hands on her hips triumphantly. She turned to Arnis. "Alright Mister Smarty Pants, how are we going to get in?"

Arnis smiled. "We'll make out own entrance in, custom made for us!" he said drawing his sword. Before anyone could say anything, he had cut a hole in the monster's gigantic side. In comparison to Sin's actual size the hole was microscopic.

The three friends entered the hole. They were immediately plunged into a strange dimly lit place. It was totally unlike what the inside of a gigantic monster was supposed to be like. They stood in a large misty area.

"The Sea of Sorrow", said Arnis. He began to walk forward, his sword drawn. Shiava and Arenna did the same, keeping their swords ready for any bloodthirsty fiends.

Soon they reached a strange platform. After climbing the massive steps they found themselves in a huge stone city.

"Something's wrong", Shiava said. It was quiet here. Usually he would here the ancient voices of the stone in his head. But now there was an eerie, deathly silence.

"We are in the City of Dying Dreams", said Arnis almost reverently. He touched the walls carefully. As they made their way through the place, Shiava felt the hair on his arms and neck rise. Something horrible was going to happen. He could smell it.