Chapter 3: Gillespie
Silva had a pretty good feeling for what Yocun's plan for entrance was. She took a few steps back and looked at the available window. "We should have rope," she said. "We're going to tie it to the end of her spear. We're going to climb to that large ridge and throw the spear from there and impale it on the temple wall. From there, we slide down and go in through the window."
"You're right." Barton replied. "I don't like the idea." Silva simply nodded. Standing at the entrance was the warmest she had felt since the woods, and she wasn't entirely interested in heading over to the ridge.
Silva took the lead of the group as she tied rope to the end of the spear that Barton had in his pack. Assuredly, she took hold over the side of the ridge and began to climb up. Even through gloves, the cold was getting to Silva. Barton was coming up behind her. His gloves were thinner, but they did not appear to be bothering him in the least bit. Worst of all, Yocun wore nothing on her hands as she climbed up, and she was climbing the fastest. Despite starting last, Yocun was the first to reach the top. Silva managed to catch up and Barton, although the cold did not bother him, still did not find need to rush and came up last.
"All I have to do is impale the side of the temple with my spear, correct?" she asked of Yocun.
"Yeah, but you don't have to say it like that. It sounds so sacrilegious, like we're coming in through the window to rob them or something." Silva just nodded. She took hold of the spear, but found that the wind chill was inhibiting her ability to maintain a steady balance and a good aim. Yocun could tell and even Barton was taking notice.
"Shell," Barton said quietly. Suddenly, the winds around Silva began to die down, allowing her the ability to aim. "I'm not sure if this does anything to help, Silva. It's really only supposed to reduce damage from an elemental attack. I don't know if it works on nature."
"It's working," Silva replied. She hurled the spear at the temple, impaling it just above the window.
"Perfect," Yocun replied. She took her sword and held it over the rope. She held the handle in her left hand and carefully took hold of the blade with her right hand. Then she leapt off of the ridge and quickly slid down the rope. She lifted her feet and broke the window as she came to a stop on the windowsill on the inside of the temple. She saw exactly what she expected to see: A teenage girl on one end of the temple squaring off against a bald man at the other end of the temple.
"Yocun," Barton called from the ridge. "We don't have anything fancy with which to slide down. Is there any way you could defrost the front doors for us from the inside?"
"Yes," she called back. "Go to the front door. I'll have it defrosted in a few minutes." Yocun turned her attention to the action below her. Everyone else in the temple had taken their places behind statues of previous religions leaders and high summoners. The image of two acolytes hiding behind the statue of Lord Ohalland sent a smile to Yocun's face. Directly below her, the teenage girl was beginning to sidestep to the left. As she did, the bald man at the other end began to sidestep to the left as well.
Yocun watched as the girl stopped walking and raised her left hand. She held it in a fist for a few second before opening it. A wave of flames escaped her palms and fired straight at the bald man. He didn't move. He moved his hand in front of him and the flames bounced back at the girl. She almost reacted too late. She dove down just in time. Now she was really angry. She screamed with an incredibly shrill voice and manifested a knife made out of ice and began to charge the old man. She attacked, but the man stepped to the side. Every time she came in for an attack, he proved to her that he was much faster than her without even trying all that hard.
She swiftly changed her mode of attack and sent a wave of water splashing everywhere until the entire floor was flooded. She immediately returned to her ice blade and tried again. The man was apparently not aware of what the teenage girl was planning with the water. As soon as he tried to swiftly sidestep another attack, he slipped and slid across the temple floor. He looked up to see the girl hanging off of one of the statues, readying a lighting spell.
"What did he do this time?" Yocun called from the windowsill on which she sat. Everyone looked up to realize for the first time that the apprentice summoner was sitting on the sill. She waved at everyone below her before gracefully finding some footing on which to climb down. She stepped onto the flooded floor and the teenage girl ceased the lighting attack. "Well? What did Father Zolono do to you this time that led to all this mess?"
"Why don't you ask him?" she retorted before sticking her tongue out at Zolono. Yocun walked over and helped him off the floor. He wrung out his robe before facing Yocun. "Lady Yocun, Gillespie is fourteen years old. She will be fifteen very soon and if she wishes to become a respected member of the Yevon clergy, then she must begin studying for it."
"Hello?" she interrupted annoyingly. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to be a priestess? I'd rather do something cool with the rest of my life. Fighting fiends! Playing blitzball! Mastering black magic!"
Zolono sighed. "I will not hear of such things, and for the last time Gillespie, black magic is not against the teaching of Yevon. Arcane magic is. You would know that if you spent any time studying, which you should be doing now. You promised."
"And that's why we're arguing!" Gillespie shot back.
"You arguments have gotten a little bit more violent since I was last here," Yocun remarked.
"Well of course they have," Gillespie said. "You always managed to calm them down when you were here. Then you went off and became a Crusader. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that you were able to do what made you happy, but it kind of put me in an odd position here. Speaking of which, didn't you go off and become a summoner, Yocun?"
"It was a little bit more intensive than that, Gillespie," she replied. "I'm back to the temple to pray to the fayth and receive my first aeon. After that, I will become a full-fledged summoner."
"Doesn't a summoner need guardians?" Gillespie inquired.
"Well of course. A summoner is no good without guardians. I wouldn't go anywhere without my guardians. Oh—. Gillespie, I need you to defrost the door so my guardians can get in."
"Oops," she said. Gillespie turned to the door and focused on it for a few seconds. They could hear the ice cracking and breaking from the inside. When it was all over, the door slowly came open. Silva walked in first, taking a deep breath of the warm air and not even noticing the wet floor. Barton kept as far away from the water as he possibly could.
"Gillespie, right?" Barton inquired.
"Hey, I know you. You're that dummy with the funny-looking stubble."
"My beard doesn't grow in evenly and I didn't have a chance to shave that day! Am I ever going to live that one down?"
"Nope," she said with a smirk.
"Okay," Yocun said calmly. "Now that we're all acquainted with each other, I think it's time for us to do what came here to do. The Cloister of Trials awaits us. Barton. Silva. Are you ready?"
"Hold on!" Gillespie interceded. Her shout sent Barton almost tripping over himself into the water. Silva remained stoic. "Yocun, you can't just go in. You just got here. If you go in now, then you'll leave first thing in the morning. Then you'll be off on your pilgrimage and you won't stop until you reach Zanarkand. And then, well, you know what happens. I won't be able to see you anymore, Yocun. At least spend the night with me."
Yocun sighed at the suggestion, and then turned to her guardians for their opinion. Silva shrugged. "I have no strong sentiments either way. This one is your decision."
"I agree with Silva," Barton replied.
"Then we stay the night," she replied.
Gillespie's eyes shined with glee and anticipation. "Yay! All right! Now we can stay up all night like we did when we were kids. Well, I am still a kid, but when you were a kid. You know, when you were my age and I was younger than my age. I'm rambling. I'm sorry. Come on, Yocun! We have much to do and only one night in which to do it all in!" Gillespie took Yocun by the arm and led her into one of the side rooms of the temple.
One of the acolytes that had been hiding behind the statue came out and greeted Barton and Silva. "Follow me. I'll take you to your room."
The two began to follow her until they felt Zolono's cold hands grab their shoulders. "They're not done yet. Gillespie made a mess of my temple. Someone needs to clean it up."
"And why does that someone have to be us?" Silva inquired.
"Because this is Gillespie's responsibility, but she won't do it because Yocun always relives her of that responsibility. Then, it becomes Lady Yocun's responsibility. But, seeing as Lady Yocun is preoccupied with other matters, her duties are logically transferred to her guardians. Mops are in the closet to your right. I'd get started if I were you."
Begrudgingly, Barton and Silva began their arduous task before them. At the same time, Yocun was beginning her task as well. Yocun sometimes considered spending time with Gillespie to be a chore. She did enjoy herself, but Gillespie would not relent. Yocun found herself playing with Gillespie for hours on end and she would throw a fit had Yocun tried to leave. Gillespie had always been needy for attention and Zolono had disapproved of the way Yocun gave in and gave her the attention she craved. He believed it lead to her spoiled rotten behavior, which is likely true.
Gillespie was an orphan, one of the many living in Spira due to Sin's wrath. Gillespie came to Macalania Temple when she was only six years old. It was a fateful day when night had almost fallen and the only people still awake in the main hall of the temple were two people: a young priest named Zolono and a teenager from the village named Yocun. Zolono had been recently named high priest of the temple and was still awake trying to organize the temple for his first service the following day. Yocun was ordered to assist him for having misbehaved in school that day.
"How much longer?" Yocun complained. The teenage Yocun was fairly popular amongst the kids in Macalania. She had a reputation for being somewhat of an anti-hero. She broke rules if she felt they were unjust, and there were a lot of rules she felt were unjust. Sometimes, Yocun would just twist the wording of rules to fit her preferences. That got the teachers even more angry.
"It shouldn't be much longer," Zolono replied. "I still have to put in an order for the Yunalesca statue, but that can wait for another day. It wouldn't arrive for a few weeks anyways. Yocun, I think it's too dark to return to the town. You can get some rest in one of the empty room of you'd like."
Yocun didn't even reply. The items she was holding were on the ground and she was already walking quickly over to one of the rooms in the temple. Zolono watched her walk away until he heard a light tap on the door. Yocun heard it as well. She stopped dead in her tracks.
Both of them just stood in silence. They couldn't believe that anyone would be outside that late. They just stood, waiting to see if they would hear another knock. Sure enough, it came.
Zolono immediately bolted for the door and Yocun came running behind him. He unlocked it and opened it to see the young girl, wearing noting but a loose jacket and thin clothing to protect her from the cold barely standing at the temple steps. Zolono immediately picked her up and took her inside. Yocun closed the door behind him.
"Yocun," he ordered. "I need you to light two of the lamps. Come back with a thermal blanket as well."
"I know where it all is," she said. "I'll be right back." Yocun rushed off and Zolono placed the girl on the floor against the wall. She shivered as she sat down and looked into Zolono's eyes. Yocun came running back with the lamps in hand and the blanket over her shoulder. Zolono placed the lamps on either side of the girl and wrapped her in the blanket.
Slowly, the little girl began to stop shivering. The color was beginning to come back to her skin and she appeared to be breathing normally. Her skin was no longer ice cold and she did not appear to be suffering any frostbite. "She'll be okay after some rest," Zolono said.
Yocun bent over and looked at the girl. "What's your name? Where's your family?"
The girl took a while to respond. It looked to Yocun that she was thinking about her answer. "Gillespie," she said. "And I don't have a family. Not anymore. Sin attacked our ship."
"You have a family here with us," Zolono said as he picked her up again. "Now it is time for you to sleep. Yocun and I will stay with you tonight."
It wasn't just that night. Every night since then either Yocun or Zolono or both would stay with her. Otherwise she wouldn't sleep. Zolono officially adopted her two months after that. Gillespie never talked about her family that much. She said that as time went one she remembered less about them. She remembered that it was her father who piloted the ship that fateful day and that she had a mother and two brothers who perished as well. Gillespie couldn't remember how she survived, either.
As time went on, Gillespie took advantage of the attention she was getting for being the "miracle child." By the time she was nine, she already know how to manipulate others in the temple to do what she wished by playing the pity card. Zolono was the only one who would oppose her. Zolono groomed her to become a priestess, but Gillespie would openly detest such things. Instead, she secretly began to learn black magic as a way to infuriate Zolono.
On one fateful day, a day that Gillespie regretted ever since, she promised to Zolono that she would become a priestess on her fifteenth birthday if he still wished her to be. Apparently, she thought her ability to annoy was stronger than his resilience, but she made that promise five years ago. She was now fourteen and that day was not too far off either. Zolono, after all those years of rebellion, still wished for her to become a priestess and he wasn't going to allow her to back out of her promise.
Gillespie had only one chance at escape. There was one nonnegotiable requirement to be a priestess: celibacy. If Gillespie could lose her virginity before her fifteenth birthday, Zolono would back down. He had to. Unfortunately, being a spoiled brat already scared off all the boys in Macalania, not that she had any interest in them anyways. That was her life now. She had to get rid of it. It was the only thing standing between her and freedom.
However, for one night, she forgot all that and pretended she was a kid again. Spending the night with Yocun allowed her that one night of relaxation, even if it didn't allow one for Yocun. Yocun managed to get some sleep around morning, only to find Gillespie gone when she woke up. In her place stood Barton and Silva, well-rested and prepared to take the Cloister of Trials.
"Gillespie?" Barton asked.
"No idea," Yocun said getting out of bed. "It's nothing to worry about. Gillespie sometimes disappears. She never says where she goes, and since no one really cares it's not a common topic of conversation." Yocun quickly finished getting ready and was the first out the door.
Zolono was waiting for the three by the stairs to the cloister. "Gillespie is not here. I find it odd, actually. I thought she would have been the first to see you enter the cloister to become a fully fledged summoner."
"I don't find it odd," Yocun replied. "She doesn't want me to leave. If she watches me enter, then she knows that I must leave. It's probably too much for her, and you know how she doesn't like to show her feelings." Zolono nodded.
Yocun took a deep breath. Barton cracked his knuckles. Silva did nothing. When they were finally ready, they walked up the steps and entered the Cloister of Trials.
