A Wish that Spans the Ages
Track 02. Hotel Lobby
Author's Notes: Final Fantasy X-2 is owned by Square-Enix, not me. The song Hotel Lobby is the property of Utada Hikaru.
…
She could trace back when she first met Shuyin back to when she was seventeen, two years ago.
Spira was a wonderful world, and advancements in technology were bettering the quality of life across the globe, and it truly was an era of prosperity. People were moving to bigger cities and due to the booming economy and more dispensable income more forms of entertainment became thirsted after, such as blitzball and entertainers. In Zanarkand alone there were several entertainment agencies rushing to train new stars and make money off of them.
One of those entertainers in training was sitting in the hotel lobby.
Her name was Lenne.
"Hey there." A long-haired woman sat herself down next to her; glancing around, Lenne saw that there were plenty of other seats available. Looking over to her, she noticed that she had pale complexion and long brown hair which was slightly wavy and parted down the middle. Her emerald green eyes closed slowly as she stuck a cigarette into her mouth and lit it with a lighter. She sat herself down right next to Lenne.
"Aren't you cold?" Lenne inquired, seeing that she was in a tube top, miniskirt, and boots. It seemed like it would be rather uncomfortable to be in such a getup, but she seemed friendly.
"Nah, it's fine." She responded. What came next came as a surprise to Lenne. "You're a summoner, aren't you?" The stranger took note of Lenne's stunned expression, as Lenne turned her gaze to the floor.
"There's no need to be scared of me, you know. I'm one too."
"How could you tell?" Lenne had to do a double-take and be surprised once more, but this time her wide eyes were staring at this stranger.
"Don't you know?" The woman replied, with a smile on her face as she crossed her arms. "While summoners may be discriminated by everyone else in the world, Zanarkand is a land where summoners don't need to face that kind of crap about prejudice." She took another breath of her cigarette.
Lenne found herself sighing in relief. "So... are there a lot of summoners here?"
"Well..." The older woman paused, as smoke was exhaled. "It's not like anyone took a census or anything. Even if they did, summoners still aren't used to the idea of being accepted. Besides, if anybody knew how powerful Zanarkand really was we would become a target of the other world powers." Bevelle was the leader of machina development of an offensive nature in the world of Spira. For this reason it is assumed that's why they held onto traditions of prejudice against summoners; if a summoner gained enough power, they would be able to rival machina.
"Oh, I see..." Lenne was a little anxious about talking about such a thing in a public place, but the lobby was mostly empty.
The strange woman got up suddenly, and put out her cigarette. "I'll be back, if you're staying around for a while." She tossed her hair aside, and Lenne noticed that a man in a business suit just walked into the lobby. The woman walked towards him, and though Lenne couldn't hear their conversation, she knew something was going on; he then took her to the elevators, and she assumed to his room. Perhaps they were lovers...?
A little less than half an hour passed, and she returned.
The talked for a little while longer; Lenne found that her name was Eris, a 22-year-old who hailed from Kilika. She used to sell flowers, until she realized that "flower-selling wasn't exactly a money-maker, so I decided to go with a different kind of flower to sell". She came to Zanarkand with her mother, since her father was in jail. However, her mother eventually committed suicide.
"I'm sorry." Lenne didn't exactly mean to get the depressing details of Eris' life out into the open, and wasn't sure of how else to respond.
"It's fine." Eris lit up another cigarette. "My father did the crime because I became a summoner. My mother never got over it."
"Do you..." Lenne was hesitant to ask. "Do you regret becoming a summoner?"
"Nope!" Eris smiled. "I don't care what anyone else says or does. I don't regret it for a moment, and wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world."
Lenne understood how she felt, as a summoner who shared an intimate connection with her aeons; she wouldn't give it up for anything else in the world, either. Her mind darted back to the very first instance she became a summoner herself.
Lenne took note of the state of the hotel lobby as she surveyed the people and her surroundings with her brown eyes. It wasn't such an odd occurrence, really; she was used to staying in hotels all of her life, when her parents were touring when she was a child and also when she began touring myself. Lenne still couldn't get used to it, as hotels began to represent something to her… false appearances and isolation; it's funny how her family finally settled down in Baaj, and then she found herself traveling around out of her own volition.
"Oh, here comes another customer!" Eris stood up and laughed a little. "Hey, I come here often. Stop on by if you have the time, okay?" She smiled. "Say, what's your name?" She asked me.
"Oh..." Lenne was caught by surprise. "Lenne. My name is Lenne. I'm from Baaj." She stood up, and bowed to her new friend. "I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Eris." She then continued to talk about her life. "I moved from my hometown of Baaj to Zanarkand, away from my retired parents. I enrolled into a school at Zanarkand, Zanarkand's School of the Arts; that's what my superiors told me to do. I didn't mind for several reasons, honestly..." These were probably the loneliest years of my life, now that I think about it; I didn't have nearly as many friends as I did back in Baaj, but then again ever since I began my career my relationships have always suffered. "But I'm glad to have met you, Eris." Lenne smiled.
"Likewise!" Eris smiled, and then went to the man who just came through the entrance. Lenne was then told that her room was ready, so she checked in and slept.
…
It was the next day, and orientation took place. Most of the students had to audition in order to secure their position at the school, but Lenne didn't need to since her agent insisted to the school's directors that her debut music sphere was enough proof that she belonged at this prestigious establishment.
Lenne settled into her dorm room two nights prior to the beginning of classes, and shared a room with an Al Bhed girl named Kristina.
"Well, all the Al Bhed kids know for sure."
"What?" Lenne gasped in disbelief. She was surprised, to say the least... then again, her first few sphere singles were under a label that wasn't too major, and she heard that they were very popular among the Al Bhed despite not being in their language. "Maybe I shouldn't be that surprised..." Lenne commented, after she thought about it and turned the other way.
"This is so exciting!" Kristina squealed, falling back into Lenne's bed. She quickly got herself back up "Oh, don't worry! I won't tell anybody! Cunno!"
"Oh, it's all right..." Lenne tried to calm her down. She remembered thinking at the time that her new agent probably wasn't too smart if he didn't take precautions to keep Lenne from rooming with an Al Bhed, who was likely to be a fan. A sigh escaped Lenne's lips.
"I know!" Kris clapped her hands together. "I'll show you around campus!" Before Lenne could say anything, Kris did as she said she would.
While she was dragging Lenne off from place to place, Lenne noticed that Kris obviously did not have a flawless command of the common language; her speech was riddled with bits and pieces of Al Bhed every so often.
They passed by the blitzball stadium, and then Kristina stopped in her tracks. "That's right... today's the exhibition match..."
"Exhibition match?" Lenne didn't follow any sports, much less blitzball; she was unsure of the terminology surrounding such things. "So... it's just a match to show off the players?"
"Sort of..." Kris tilted her head in thought, wondering how to explain it. "Basically, this match they're pitting the incoming class against the upperclassmen."
"Oh, I see." Lenne responded with a nod, following Kris into the tightly-packed stadium. The dome was closed, so the sphere was illuminated only by brightly colored lights. The crowds, full of students and parents, were cheering.
"Wow, this is a huge turnout!" Kris exclaimed. The pair found places to sit, and sat down. "It seems like things are about to wrap up..." Lenne took a look at the clock, and saw that a little under a minute was left. Glancing at the scores she saw that it was rather one-sided.
"Kris, who's winning?" It was Kris' turn to look at the scores as well.
"No way!" Kris was amazed as she stood up. "This has never happened before!"
"Wait... what?"
"The incoming class..." Kris began, but the entire stadium stood up and cheered. It was over; the game had been won.
They both looked over to the giant sphere of water to catch a glimpse of the slightly muscular, slender blonde man who scored the final goal, and as Lenne found out later, most of the other goals as well.
"We... must have a lot of good incoming players this year." A girl next to them exclaimed. "The loss of the senior class won't affect us at all!"
"Do you know who that is?" Kris asked her.
"Of course!" The girl sighed. "It's Shuyin! He's so dreamy! He's a world-class piano player, and as you can see, he's not a shabby blitzball player either!"
"Shuyin..." Lenne found herself staring at him.
"Is he your type?" Kris asked, with a grin on her face. That statement caused Lenne to snap out of her trance-like daze and turn to her.
"No!" Lenne quickly retorted. "It's just... I've heard of his piano skills." She began to whisper. "His piano prowess is legendary among those in the music industry!"
"Oh, wow!" Kris was all excited again.
"Come to think of it..." They were walking outside of the stadium. Lenne turned to Kris. "What did you audition with?" It would only make sense that Kris herself had some sort of talent or skill to be placed at this school.
"Oh!" Kris smiled. "I'm a dancer."
The tour was more or less finished, so while Kris went on to socialize with the other students around campus Lenne decided to go visit the first friend she made in Zanarkand.
"So, how's your school so far?" Eris removed a cigarette from her mouth and put it out in the ashtray, blowing smoke away from Lenne's direction. They were sitting on the same couch they first met on.
"It's okay." Lenne smiled. "It's fun so far... meeting people who don't know too much about my past. I feel like a normal person again."
"That's nice." Eris smiled in return. "I would have never guessed that you were the famous singer. I'd better not ruin your voice with my smoking."
"Oh, it's not that impressive..." Lenne sighed. "I... I grew up being sheltered and protected, you know? My parents were famous people also, so growing up in the studio or the hotels around the world of Spira was kind of lonely. Growing up protected... I kind of wish I didn't miss all that I've been seeing right now."
"Heh." Eris chuckled, and patted her companion on the back. "You're a good girl. But you know... I envy you, too. If I were more protected, I'd probably be in a better place than this."
"Eris..."
"Well, no regretting the past!" She got up and stretched. "I have another client coming in, and he's a regular; better not disappoint him!" She once again seemed bright and cheery. "I'll be one of the first to buy your next single, okay?"
"Right!" Lenne smiled in return.
The sphere was had an incoming transmission, so Lenne turned it on. It was her agent. He wanted her to come into the studio and start recording a song. Lenne hasn't kept up with her ideas, so she jotted down a song idea right before she went in.
It became her first single from her new label.
…
She rises with the sunset
She wonders, "When will this end?"
The world is full of money, full of money
She goes out unprotected
She doesn't listen to her best friend
It's only for the money, for the money, for the money
She doesn't want to be respected
Reality's her best friend
She needs the extra money, extra money
In the city, the town, and the household
So many things go unreported
So many things her eyes have seen,
Eyes have seen, eyes have seen
Meet me in the hotel lobby
Everybody's looking lonely
Watch me as I walk in slowly
When your eyes meet mine
It's in the mirrors of the hotel lobby
This is not what she expected
Her hopes, they stretch and they bend
Wrinkle like paper money, paper money
In the city, the town, and the household
So many things can be distorted
So if you want a true life story
Bring money, bring money
Meet me in the hotel lobby
Everybody's looking lonely
Watch me as I walk in slowly
When your eyes meet mine
It's in the mirrors of the hotel lobby
Meet me in the hotel lobby
Everybody's looking lonely
Catch me because I think I'm falling
I'll be waiting in the mirrors of the hotel lobby
…
"What should we do with the bodies?" One of the men asked. The two lovers' bodies were sprawled across the floor in front of Vegnagun, and blood was beginning to spread across the floor.
"Well, it's a shame to simply dispose of them." Another guard replied. He pulled out a sphere. "This one can at least absorb something from the girl. It's still experimental, but maybe something can be done."
"Okay." The first soldier nodded. After doing so, the bodies were disposed.
The sphere was then put into storage. However, its storage space was then sealed and pulled into a ruin nearby Bevelle, and wasn't uncovered for another thousand years.