This crest had an earth emblem on it, so I dropped it into my pocket with the other crests. That done, we moved on. Over dunes, we travelled. The fiends were tough but we were tougher. Rikku and Ben both were stealing from every fiend we encountered. Drew and Auron were working on their speed, while Lulu was showing Marrissa how to cast magic. Lulu was working on black magic with her, and when I got the chance I was teaching her white magic. I must say that Marrissa was picking it up quickly. Really quickly, in fact.

In no time, we hit the whirlpools. I told everyone to open any chests even if we had to fight fiends for them. It only took minutes to find a chest that wasn't opening. It was Yuna that had found it, so I jogged over to her and pulled out the Celestial Mirror. The box sprang open and inside was the Mercury Crest.

Ben wanted to see the Al Bhed Home again, so since we were close we decided to look. As we hit the final dune, a chest caught my eye. Walking over to it, I had an impulse to use the Celestial Mirror once more. After the light of the Mirror shone on the chest, it popped open and Ben came running to my side.

"I felt like I needed to be here right now. It felt like a pull to you." He whispered. Marrissa looked on in wonder as Ben reached into the chest, and pulled out a blue shaded claw. Rikku looked at her golden claw then at Ben's claw. Ben noticed this and yelled out.

"No trades!" He took off running towards Home. My head shaking, I followed him. I watched as he saw the ruins of Home, his eyes opening wide and his jaw-dropping. I came up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"They saved me. They taught me to fight and taught me their language. Who would do this?" He spoke in only a whisper. I responded with one word: Seymour. Yuna looked at me sharply, so I guess she had heard me. Tidus muttered that he always knew he was bad news, and Rikku shuddered. Cid hadn't shown up yet, so I suggested that we help the Cactuars. Marrissa laughed and said that she had been roaming the desert for a while, so that was already done. That is when I looked and saw something in her hand.

"Is this what you were looking for?" She asked me, showing me what was in her hand. It was a Sigil, the emblem was for Mercury. When asked where she got that, she replied that she had gotten bored and a Cactuar had been there and she followed it back to a sandstorm. I looked over to the place where the sandstorm should have been, only to find that there was no sandstorm raging.

I looked at Marrissa in wonder, and she just shrugged. We turned back to Home and saw the airship just pulling up. Well, there was nothing left to do on Bikanel Island, so I told everyone to board. Marrissa excitedly asked if we were going to ride the airship and I told her yes.

Once on the airship, Cid asked where to next, pointedly ignoring Marrissa. I wondered why, so I asked.

"That one is a weird one. Kept talking about things that don't exist. Called them cars and planes. I would keep your distance from her." He said in a low voice barely above a whisper. That is when I said that she was a guardian and that when we were separated, she must have come in contact with Sin. He nodded but looked at her weirdly.

Next stop, the Mi'ihen Highroad. We got there in record time, and back to collecting fiends, we were. When we hit the statue of Lord Mi'ihen, we found a chest behind it. Opening it up was a piece of cake once we realized that it was a Celestial Mirror chest. Once open, Marrissa was reaching in the chest to pull out what we knew as a unicorn plush. She whispered the name: Tiger Lily. Everyone looked at it weird, but we explained that it was a mythical creature in our world and left it at that.

This time, when we got to the Travel Agency, Wakka didn't argue. My best guess was that he was too tired to argue. We rested for a while, then continued. Marrissa was casting spells left and right, while Ben and Drew were taking down what was left. Yuna and her guardians had nothing to do but walk behind us.

At least, until the Crusaders came. They all crowded around Yuna, talking to her. Except one. He hung back looking at me. Yuna noticed it too and broke free of the group.

"She is a summoner as well. Is there anything wrong?" She asked him, and in one swift movement removed his helmet. Marrissa took a double-take at him and screamed.

"Spencer! What in the world are you doing here?" I asked confused. He just shook his head and asked the other Crusaders if they could talk. My thirteen-year-old nephew was in the Crusaders! My thoughts were racing but I didn't let it show on my face. I could not show him my relief that he was not there for the doomed operation. While they talked I pulled Marrissa over to me.

"If he decides to join us, we will have to hope that he doesn't say anything that could decide the future," I told her and she nodded. Just then I noticed that Spencer and the rest had stopped talking and were heading my way. Marrissa moved toward them and asked them what was their business with me.

"I wish to become a guardian to my aunt. I have heard that guardians protect summoners, and that is all I want to do." Spencer spoke up for the first time. Ben laughed and Drew looked sideways at him. Marrissa, on the other hand, looked at him mouth wide open. Auron walked over and addressed Spencer.

"We are not on a pleasure cruise. We will have to defeat Sin. If you are ready to do what is needed, then you are more than welcome to join us." he said gruffly. Spencer nodded and walked to a spot next to me. His next words jarred me out of the state of shock I was in.

"I swear to protect my aunt, the Summoner even at the cost of my own life." For the first time, I blacked out. I saw Sin and Braska. I watched as Braska called the final aeon and was torn apart from it. I heard his final wish. That Yuna grows up safe and in a world free of Sin. Is this real I wondered, or just a dream. The visions didn't stop there. Tidus in Zanarkand, Auron in the warrior monks, Lulu and Wakka crying as they received news on Chappu. Kimarhi as his horn was broken, Drew in Baaj Temple fighting to survive, Ben with the Al Bhed. All of them there then gone.

I woke up who knows when only to find myself in a bed. Yuna was beside me passed out as well. Before I could even speak, someone handed me a water bottle and I drunk half of the water in there. When I spoke, my voice was just a croak.

"Where are we? And what happened to Yuna?" I looked around to see everyone crowding around the bed. Drew spoke first.

"You passed out, then Yuna followed suit. I caught you and Tidus caught her. We carried you to the travel agency, and you are the first to awaken." He explained. Something was wrong. I could feel it. But what?

Yuna woke up an hour after I did, and asked all the same questions. She looked to share my feelings that something was wrong. Spencer and Marrissa walked in at that point, asking me if I was ok. I nodded, still feeling like something was wrong. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Yuna was ready to continue within minutes, but I took longer. I took inventory, making sure I had everything and that everything was in order. The crests and sigils were first to check. When everything was there and accounted for, I said I was ready.

It didn't take long to return to where we were, even with the fiends. I let Yuna and her guardians take the lead. When we had defeated the right amount of fiends, I told them that we could move on to Mushroom Rock Road. Once we got there, I told Auron to follow me.

I moved just passed the now broken machina and headed towards the hidden statue above our heads. A lift was there like I knew there would be, and soon Auron and I were in front of the statue. I pulled the Rusty Sword out of my belongings and placed it in front of the statue. As quickly as I did that, the sword jumped into the hand of the statue and a glyph appeared behind the statue. Using the Celestial Mirror's light to shine on the glyph, the wall broke away and revealed the chest. The chest sprang open just like all the others, and Auron pulled out a sword. It was Masamune, Auron's Celestial Weapon. He swung it a couple of times and nodded.

When we returned to the group, everyone knew that Auron had his weapon now. Only two of Yuna's guardians did not have their Celestial Weapons, and we still hadn't found all the crests and sigils for both parties. But we were heading to the doomed Operation Mi'ihen command post. We defeated every fiend in our way, and after keeping track, I let them know that there was an easier way to the Djose shore.

"So that means we don't have to climb down then right?" Wakka asked and I told him no, we didn't. We retraced our steps, and when we got back to where we started, Yuna asked if we really had to do all this.

"To unlock Auron's weapon we do. Looking from my standpoint, he and Drew are the powerhouses. They have the strength we need. Tidus, Ben, and Rikku have the speed. Wakka, Lulu, and Marrissa have long-range weapons. Kimarhi has fiend power and excellent up-close fighting, Spencer does too I believe. You and I are healers, for the most part. We have to have all this unlocked and ready if you want to beat Sin for good. I know you want to go after Sin, but what happens if we are not strong enough? We have only one chance, so those that are guarding us must be strong." I said tiredly. Yuna's guardians all nodded, understanding my words. Drew moved closer to me and whispered a question to me.

"If Yuna and you are healers, why did you need to get all the aeons?" He asked as he moved closer to me. I was getting uncomfortable, so I pushed him away. Then I answered the question.

"While Yuna and I train our magics and strength, the aeons get stronger as well. Having them helps us." I explained. As I lead the way to the Djose shore.