Chapter 19: War

Lenne, Bahamut, and Zen swam toward the shore using as many resting points above the water as they could grasp onto, no matter how unstable or brief-lived they were. She didn't even notice her aeon was shot down because she was too concerned with trying to keep her brother and herself alive. When they reached solid ground at the mainland's waterfront, they ran for the nearest public transport station, but all trains had been rendered useless.

Another missile whistled into the city and exploded behind them. Lenne grabbed her brother's hand and ran down the crumbling, blazing streets while dodging falling debris. Stumbling a few times, they finally rounded the corner of the road where their mother lived. The building, or what remained of it, was completely engulfed in flames. The floor Meri lived on no longer existed. Lenne dropped to her knees, pulling her brother down with her, and fell into heartbroken sobs with him. Zen stood over them in silent vigil as they grieved, but with floodwaters already rushing through the waterfront district streets, he knew they could not stay.

When another missile hit the city, Zen pushed them to keep running. The ronso lifted the boy onto his back and ran with Lenne toward the inner city. She passed through shattered buildings, and between injured people she knew she could not help, pushing toward the temple with only a passing glance to her own destroyed apartment complex.

The temple was on higher ground and close to the Zanarkand plains. But it had been targeted by the warships. People were already bringing their wounded and dead, begging tearfully for the assistance of a white mage or summoner. But since the temple had been hit, everyone was afraid to go inside. While officials were doing everything they could to get people out of harm's way, Lenne decided her primary task was to sort the severity of the survivors' injuries. But she struggled with the knowledge that it was unlikely that her mother escaped before her building was hit. And she had no idea what had become of her aunt or production crew. She kept hoping—fearing—that she might find familiar faces among the new arrivals, living or dead. If she could not heal her loved ones, she could at least help them rest in peace in they were found. She couldn't bear the thought of them becoming fiends.

"Lenne!" One of the temple summoners jogged toward her from inside the temple. "High Summoner Yevon is calling all available summoners and white mages to defend the city. Said to tell any summoners present to join in casting the shell."

Lenne nodded in agreement, but then turned to their ronso friend. "Zen, we have to get as many people as we can to safe places, but nowhere in Zanarkand is safe anymore. You said there were hidden caverns in the mountains. Is it possible to send our weakest ones there for temporary shelter?"

Zen was clearly reluctant to say without approval from the tribal elder, but he had witnessed the unprovoked attack and damage done to the city. He nodded in agreement.

"Then, I will suggest it to Lord Yevon." She looked at Bahamut. "Do you know how to join a casting yet? We need all the magic we can get."

The boy nodded, too.

"When Shuyin comes looking for us, let him know we're okay," she told the ronso. "Just keep moving people to safety!" she called back as she took her brother's hand and ran with the other summoner to the temple and down into the summoning chamber. Nearly every summoner in Zanarkand that had survived the attack was gathering in a large, multi-ringed circle, extending their hands and magical staffs toward the starry sky overhead. Lenne and Bahamut slipped into the ring wherever they could squeeze in and lifted their hands as well, drawing spirit magic together in a manner that united it into one potent spell. In the center of the circle, Yu Yevon lifted his staff and directed their combined flow up into the smoke-filled air over Zanarkand, summoning a defensive shield. It started above the temple and spread down and around the rest of the city.

Almost as soon as it went up, a missile slammed into the shield and exploded. One of the airships that didn't see it exploded on impact. The night sky looked as if it was on fire, but the shield held. The warships fired on it in one last effort to break through before flying away. Their mission to punish Zanarkand had succeeded. Three-fourths of the city was sinking into the sea, and the fourth that remained above ground was a broken, burning mess.

))((

By the time Shuyin reached the temple, the city shield was being maintained on a rotational basis. Some of the summoners began sending as many dead as possible. Others continued tending the injured. They moved everyone into the stable areas of the temple and used fire spells on emergency torches to light the bombed ruins. It was easy for him to spot the large ronso helping Lenne carry bodies into a blown-out corner for the sending rites. As soon as she spotted him, she ran into his arms and held on for a long emotional pause. Frightened and overwhelmed by the trauma of the day's events, the pair simply hugged each other close until the pain of what they had experienced subsided.

"How's your brother?" he asked.

She dried her tears. "He's helping in the summoning circle."

"And your mom?"

"There's nothing left." She was beginning to sound hoarse from all the crying, shouting, and screaming.

"Meri ..." He felt Lenne's loss almost as deeply as she did.

"Everything is either burning or sinking. Survivors coming in say the whole city is flooded—even most of the mainland. There's so many ..." She broke down and wept again. "So many have died. So many are still dying. There's no way we can send them all. Zanarkand will be overwhelmed by fiends with this many deaths all at once." Lenne clenched her teeth. "How dare they attack us like that! How dare they do this during a big event like the tournament when they knew people would be defenseless! People who don't even live here were at that game! That far from the shore, there was no way to escape! Families with babies and children! Even in the buildings, they were trapped and ... and ..." She pounded her chest with a fist, but short of breath, broke into tears again.

He'd never seen Lenne angry before—annoyed, yes, but not really angry. He felt her pain, but he was too bruised and exhausted to put energy into that anger right now. "The only people I've been finding were already dead, so I decided to wait until daylight and try again."

Lenne nodded in understanding of the dark conditions. "You made a difference to those you found, at least. Thank you for trying." Still crying, she pulled away and tried to wipe away the tears. "We can find a place to rest after the meeting Lord Yevon called for all summoners and their guardians. He's urging people to seek shelter in the open plains for the night, away from the unstable buildings."

"It's too bad my tent is at the bottom of the ocean with my boat," he muttered.

She sadly nodded, though the loss of the tent was the least of their worries.

Shuyin held her close and kissed the top of her head as she buried her face into his wet uniform and continued to cry. "We'll survive this, okay? We still have each other." He wanted to tell her everything would be all right. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Hating Bevelle, he looked up to find peace among the stars, but on this night, destruction had rained down from the sky. She was his only peace now.

))((

High Summoner Yu Yevon entered the room where most of his surviving summoners and their chosen guardians gathered for the emergency meeting, and as he stepped onto the podium, whispers silenced to a hush. He was sad but calm. However, his strange lavender eyes now bore the chilling look of someone with his back against the wall and only one option out. "First, let me say I am thankful that so many of you have not only survived this barbaric attack but also come to my aid in this time of need. The shield that drove the warships away would not have been possible without each and every one of you. This attack wasn't intended to be a warning. It was meant to obliterate. And since they failed to wipe us out completely, they will likely come back. That is why I have called all of you together. We must be vigilant in not allowing them to kick us while we're down."

Lenne sat quietly on the floor with her hands folded together in a prayerful gesture at the tip of her nose, but she was not praying. She was trying to cope. Seated beside her, Shuyin placed an arm across her shoulders and drew her near, still trying to comfort her.

"I knew this would happen if we declared our independence from the Founders!" one of Yu Yevon's advisers angrily proclaimed. "I warned you! This never would have happened if you had listened to us and made some kind of consensus with Bevelle, rather than touting it in their faces that we would do as we pleased!"

"Zanarkand will not be bullied into complying with the Founders when their ultimate goal is to destroy Spira!" The high summoner met his advisor's discontent with a piercing gaze. "The Founders want to destroy the magic that sustains life on this world because, in their eyes, Spira is not a real world. To Earth, we are nothing but a colony ship that has become an unpredictable threat. They fear us because souls on Spira continue to live in a different state of consciousness even after our bodies die. They don't understand aeons or fiends, so they accuse us of summoning demons. They say we are cursed! And they fear that our magic will curse them, eventually conquering all. But Spira is not like Earth! We should not have to restrict our lives according to their archaic beliefs and fears! They have no right to govern us when they do not understand us! And we certainly don't deserve to die because of who we have become."

"Declaring independence only raised their hackles more!" the adviser argued. "Over half of the city was destroyed! Hundreds of thousands of people died for that declaration! The people of this city trusted you to make good decisions that would protect them!"

"I have not failed my city!" Yevon fired back. "We were all caught by surprise, but we will not take this lying down! Bevelle will be punished for this atrocity, believe me. Zanarkand will be saved, whatever the cost." Yevon stepped aside from the podium, but still leaned on it as he addressed the gathering, rather than his political opponents. "The warships' primary targets were quite clear. They took out all of our airships to restrict us to ground-based operations. They hit the east water gardens, where I was building my aeons toward the city's defenses. They took out the communications networks to keep us from getting organized enough to send new orders. And they took out the stadium, the bridges, and every city block on the floating isles and waterfront, which means they didn't care who they killed as long as they took out as many of us as possible. If the shield had not held them off, the temple and everything around it would have been finished, as well. That doesn't leave us much … but we will fight with all that we have left. We still have our ground defense machina, and we have you—Zanarkand's finest summoners and guardians. We will march on Bevelle and demand justice for the sins they have committed here today."

Lenne looked at Shuyin with alarm. Shuyin's heart skipped a beat. War ... He expected as much, but actually hearing it made it harder to swallow. He knew he shouldn't say anything, but he couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Excuse me, Lord High Summoner, ... Sir." He held up a hand to draw his attention but wasn't sure how to address the man. "If the water gardens were destroyed, does that mean all the aeons were destroyed, too?"

"All of the Fayth in the water gardens were destroyed," Yevon confirmed, as anxious whispers went around the room. "I have no idea how Bevelle knew that the souls of our aeons resided there, though. I strongly suspect there is a traitor among us, and that matter will be investigated and dealt with as soon as the more immediate concerns are no longer a problem."

"But, if summoners can't call aeons to fight, you're sending them into battle unarmed."

"Summoners are not unarmed as long as they have their guardians."

Shuyin frowned. "With all due respect, Sir, guardians aren't enough to take on Bevelle's army. This isn't a fiend cornered in an alley of the southern district. Without aeons, you're sending us out there to die."

"Shu ..." Anxious about his bold confrontation with the high summoner, Lenne reached for his hand, a plea for him to not push his luck.

"Machina and warriors will do most of the fighting. Mages with offensive, elemental magic will be among their ranks, as well. But they will be shielded by the defensive magic of our summoners, who will be shielded by their guardians." Yevon addressed the gathering once more, rather than the one who interrupted him. "You will march on Bevelle and secure the temple. Then my daughter, Lady Yunalesca, will present my demands for retribution to Bevelle's governing council. My demands are simple. The Founders must leave Spira for good. All machina weaponry, including our own, must be banned so that no city is ever attacked like this again. And the magic of the Farplane must be left to all levels of existence and use without restrictions. If they do not meet our demands, they will get a taste of Zanarkand's power first-hand."

Shuyin didn't like the sound of that. "Sometimes in blitzball, we set up a play to draw the other team's defense forward, so that we can slip a shooter behind their backs, closer to their goal. What if they're doing that to us? If you take our machina weapons and our summoners to Bevelle, there's nobody left to defend Zanarkand."

"This is not a game!" Yevon hit the podium with a fist, and his gaze darkened on the blitzball player. "And you are not in a position to question me, guardian!"

Shuyin rose in quick confrontation. "I'm in a position to protect my summoner! And taking the summoners into battle without aeons is not protecting them! Leaving Zanarkand without its summoners' defenses is not protecting it! While you're trying to prove your political power, you'll be sending more people to their deaths!" His protest sparked a widespread murmur of agreement among the other guardians and summoners gathered.

"Sit down and hold your insolent tongue before I have you thrown into the garrison!"

"Shuyin, please!" Lenne tugged his hand to sit back down, but he stubbornly folded his arms and remained standing.

Yevon descended from the podium to stand directly before the obstinate protestor. His intense, purple eyes and stern demeanor tightened in silent anger before he spoke loud enough for all to hear. "I said Zanarkand's aeons were destroyed. I never said there wouldn't be aeons to help them fight." He turned to his daughter. "Yunalesca, would you please demonstrate to this guardian that we have nothing to fear on the front lines?"

Lady Yunalesca, a high ranking summoner in her own right, left her golden-armor-clad husband and guardian, Zaon, to stride toward Shuyin with a cold, haughty glare. "Each of the temples has been fitted with a new aeon—each temple, except Bevelle. It has been defenseless because the one chosen to be its guardian has been reluctant to leave Zanarkand." Yunalesca cut a glance toward Lenne before returning her attention to Shuyin. "Now that all our eggs are no longer in one basket, so to speak, if one aeon falls, another from a safer location may be called upon."

Despite Yunalesca's alluring, barely-there attire and long, silver-white hair, Shuyin's eyes never left her face. They were obviously still intent upon having Lenne take that position, but if she accepted it now, she would be at even more risk than before. He felt no guilt whatsoever about being the obstacle to Lenne's acceptance if it meant keeping her alive.

"Our summoners here in Zanarkand have not had the chance to travel to the other temples and pray to the new Fayth yet, so, unfortunately, they will not be able to call upon them. However, I can." Yunalesca backed up and summoned her magical staff. Giving it a twirl, she drew glyphs of fire that would open a gateway to the plane of magic at her feet. "Ifrit, guardian of the flames of Kilika! Come to me!"

The glyphs on the floor burst apart, and a giant, canine-faced, multi-horned beast with a flaming mouth materialized at her side, making all the other summoners in the room quickly clear the floor space for it. The aeon shook out its flame-orange mane and pounded its large clawed hands on the ground, ready to pounce at the given command, but Yunalesca patted his muscle-defined neck and shoulders as if it were a docile lamb. Then, she smiled proudly to the rest of the summoners and tipped her head toward Shuyin, hoping that was enough to make him eat his words.

Most of the summoners in the room were low-ranking and had no knowledge of how to summon any aeons yet. So, they were awed beyond words at its presence. Lenne knew what kind of trust and magical strength were required to call upon one of the Fayth, so she bowed reverently to the new aeon.

Yevon lifted his chin with confidence toward Shuyin, then looked over his shoulder at the argumentative adviser who also spoke out against him. "Now then, if the two of you think you can be quiet long enough to listen, I'll tell you the plan." The high summoner returned to his podium and addressed his congregation. "At daybreak, my daughter and her husband will lead most of our survivors away from the city to some hidden caverns in the mountains. They will inform Elder Kinan what has happened here, although, with his vantage point on Gagazet, I'm sure he already saw it. The rest of you will have one day to prepare for your mission … which is to destroy Bevelle's machina and secure the temple there. Yunalesca will send aeons to help you fight, and I will protect Zanarkand myself." He faced the roomful of summoners with a grave expression. "My decision is final. Use tomorrow to take care of any business at home."

Shuyin sat back down in a huff. "You mean if you're one of the lucky ones to still have a home," he grumbled.

Lenne gave him a reprimanding scowl and hooked his arm to prevent him from confronting the high summoner like that again. "What were you thinking! Do you want to end up in jail?"

"He can't jail me when the entire city's in ruins. We probably don't even have a jail anymore."

"Excuse me, my lord," another adviser spoke up. "But ... what should we do about the rumors regarding Bevelle's development of an ultimate weapon? If the rumors are true about an intelligent weapon with the power to obliterate an entire army, how could our ordinary machina compare to that?"

"Our aeons are far more intelligent and powerful than anything Bevelle could screw together out of nuts and bolts. That weapon is only a rumor. No one has actually seen such a thing to prove it exists. Either way, it is of no concern. If Bevelle has dared to produce the ultimate machina, then I will send them the ultimate aeon."

))((

Zanarkand was eerily silent that night, except for the sound of people mourning their lost loved ones. The City That Never Sleeps was cold, dark, and mostly gone. The air smelled of smoke, and the ocean waves lapped against the debris, bumping anything loose until it found a new permanent place to wedge and settle. Survivors kept coming to the temple for aid. Summoners worked through the night, sending as many dead souls as they could. But pyreflies were already rising around the city and its surrounding bay, giving it an otherworldly appearance.

Lenne met her brother in the summoning chamber after the meeting, and the four friends left the city limits for the broken road toward the plains for the night. It was only a few hours before dawn by the time they settled. Though they were all exhausted, the tension was too high to sleep. Instead, they pitched a campfire to dry out wet clothing and stay warm as they kept a nervous eye on the sky beyond the mountains toward Bevelle. None of them had anything to say for a long time until the ronso spoke.

"Zen fight with Shuyin as Lenne's guardian tomorrow."

His offer to join her entourage touched her, but she sadly shook her head and declined. "Thank you, Zen. But I can't let you do that. You need to help your tribe build the teleportation gates. Zanarkand is in shambles now, but if the mountain pass can stay open, we can rebuild someday."

"If Zen cannot go as guardian, then go as friend. If cannot go as friend, then go as ronso. But Zen will go," he angrily insisted.

"I want to go, too." Bahamut's quiet little voice was sad but determined.

This time Lenne vehemently shook her head. "Absolutely not! You're not even a full-fledged summoner yet. And you don't have a guardian."

"Shuyin and Zen can be my guardians."

"NO!" Lenne clutched his thin arms in her hands. "You are a little boy! For god's sake, act like one for once! The battlefield is no place for you."

"I'm good with magic, too," he argued. "Everyone should be allowed to help if they can."

"Then, help here. We need good summoners here as well, where people are wounded and homeless. Please, please stay here. Promise me you'll stay here."

Bahamut shook his head in refusal. "I have the heart of a dragon! I'm not afraid!"

Shuyin abruptly snatched the boy's shirt, startling both the boy and his sister. "I don't care if you have a dragon's ass! Promise your sister, you'll stay here! The front lines of battle are no place for a kid, and she can't afford to be worrying about you!"

Bahamut trembled slightly under the blitz player's anger, but it wasn't because he was afraid of Shuyin. It was because Shuyin's anger revealed his fear. "I promise," he tearfully agreed.

Shuyin released the boy but remained irritated at his and Zen's heroic offers. Standing, he left the campfire to seek solitude for a moment on a rock hill facing what was left of the city. Lenne hugged her brother close to comfort him, but her attention followed her upset guardian. After a moment, she dried her little brother's tears, then stood and climbed the top of the rise where Shuyin's blank gaze stared out over the burning ruins of their homeland.

"We don't have to go to Bevelle," he suggested, knowing she was near.

She sat down at his side, wrapping her arms around her knees. "You know that we do."

He laced his fingers through hers. "We could go someplace far away. I hear Kilika is always sunny. We could have a little beach-front place with palm fruit trees … pet monkeys." He gave her a small smile.

His smile made her sad. He was such a dreamer thinking he could escape all of this and start over someplace else, but she had to admit she liked the sound of his dream. "I can't not go, Shu," she told him before he could continue and make her long for something she knew she couldn't have. "People are counting on me—on us. If we run away, the other summoners and guardians will be short on defense. And if they lose, Bevelle might hurt another city. But if we fight, maybe we can destroy their weapons, so fewer people are hurt in the long run." She tried to offer him a hopeful smile.

"There's no way to talk you out of this ... is there."

She shook her head and entwined her arms under his, leaning closer.

As they sat in silence for a long moment, he sighed and looked back toward the sea. "Do you intend to take the position at the temple as soon as we get there?"

"I think I should." She averted her eyes with regret and shame. "If I had accepted the position before Bevelle had the chance to attack, I might have been able to warn Zanarkand about the warships. If I accept the position now, we could at least have another aeon at our disposal. And I think we're going to need all the aeons we can get."

"How do they make those things anyway?"

"Well, I don't know exactly, but to summon an aeon, you have to pray to its Fayth."

"Faith?"

"The Fayth are spirits who willingly gave their lives to defend Zanarkand. Summoners must pray to each Fayth and be judged worthy before we can ask for their help. It's the only chance the Fayth has to deny its service because once the bond is made, it cannot be broken. If the Fayth chooses to bond with a summoner, its soul comes through the summoning magic back into reality as an aeon. That's why they look so much like fiends. They're both made of spirit magic that has manifested as a solid illusion—new bodies for old souls. So far, only the high summoner and his daughter know how to create an aeon, but I'm sure they will train others someday. Right now, they're just concerned with teaching others how to summon them."

"A lifetime of bondage to fight at someone else's call?"

"It's quite a sacrifice … which is why we revere the Fayth so. It's probably also why there aren't many of them."

Shuyin cast her a wary side glance. "How exactly did they willingly give their lives?"

Lenne gave a light shrug. "I'm not really sure. I suppose they died in the line of duty while fighting fiends or something."

Shuyin's brows drew together in uncertainty. "Or maybe they were sacrificed?"

Lenne frowned and sat up, pulling away from him. "Oh, come on!"

"They can't volunteer after they're dead."

"Human sacrifice?"

"If nobody knows how they died –"

"If that was the case, don't you think one of the spirits would have said something about it?"

"Maybe they can't … for some reason. None of the aeons you summoned could talk."

"Shuyin, stop." She waved her hands in irritation. "I know you don't want me taking that position in Bevelle. And, I know you don't like Lord Yevon—for whatever reason. But accusations of human sacrifice are totally uncalled for. How can you say something like that about him when his teachings have always been about protecting and helping people? He's prepared to defend what's left of Zanarkand all by himself while the survivors escape."

"Okay, I'm sorry," he quietly apologized. Drawing Lenne into his arms again, he kissed her temple and sighed. "It's just … I'll never forgive myself if I let anything bad happen to you, and I still don't understand how a summoner could be a guardian using only defensive magic. Don't be mad at me."

"What's there to understand? Guarding someone means defending them, right? This shield over the city is guarding us by just being there. It doesn't have to fight." Lenne wrapped her arms around his waist once more and snuggled into him as close as possible, using him as a buffer against the chilly breeze coming off of the desolate ocean. "Lord Yevon needs our support right now, not arguments. Lady Yunalesca's aeon looked proud to be at her side. The Bevelle aeon is probably just as eager to help, but no one's there to pull it through." She pouted slightly and placed a hand over his heart, able to feel it beating. "I'll be fine as long as you're there with me."

"I will always be there for you," he promised, hooking her pinky finger with his own.

))((

At daybreak, Bahamut kept his promise and joined Lady Yunalesca and Lord Zaon when they gathered the refugees. Lenne kissed her little brother and waved a tearful goodbye as she watched him follow the exodus from the ruins of Zanarkand up the mountain pass to the safety of the ronso caverns.

Yunalesca noted the boy's reluctance to leave his sister's group that would be fighting, and she was well aware of his reputation as a precocious apprentice summoner. The fact that he was leaving instead of staying made her wonder. "You want to fight with them, don't you?" she asked, taking him under her wing as they walked across the plains. "You can, if you wish, you know. They could probably use your help. You may be an apprentice, but my father has said great things about your potential."

"I promised I would stay behind."

"But your heart wishes to defend them."

"Yes." The boy marched alongside her without expression … without complaint … without further explanation. He was still shedding tears over his lost family, and he was tired from lack of sleep. But his small face was set in determination to keep his promise since he could do nothing else.

Yunalesca nodded thoughtfully to herself as an idea came to her that perhaps her father had overlooked.

))((

Lenne spent the rest of the day alternating between healing the injured, helping to perform sendings with other summoners, and joining the effort to keep the city shielded.

Shuyin and Zen swam to his houseboat to inspect the damage and found it pinned under the massive concrete piers at the bottom of the ocean floor. There was a big hole punctured in the hull, so he swam through it to the lower bedroom and drew his father's sword from the closet. He would need it tomorrow, but there was no point in trying to salvage anything else yet.

))((

Dawn over Zanarkand the following morning was bleak. Lenne had not been able to sleep a wink on the cold, hard ground during the night, and she found herself longing for the comfort—yes, comfort—of those two, thin sleeping bags and blankets they had used up on Mt. Gagazet. Hearing the warriors' preparations to take their armored machina over the mountain pass, she gave up on sleep and sat up, drawing her knees to her chin. She tried to think of something to distract herself from her worries, and looked to her sleeping guardians. Zen could not be shaken from wanting to join them, so she accepted his offer and took comfort knowing she now had two very capable guardians at her side. Lightly stroking the back of Shuyin's hair, she considered how much he had changed since they first met. It made her sad but proud.

Shuyin felt a tear fall on his cheek and woke with a stretch. He didn't need to ask why she was crying again. Any number of reasons could be cited. "What are you trying to do, drown me?" he softly quipped.

She gave a light laugh and dried her eyes. "Sorry."

With a mild groan, he pushed himself up to a seated position and put a hand to his stomach.

"You're not feeling sick, are you?" she asked with concern.

"No. Just hungry."

She lifted her eyes to the horizon of broken buildings and smoke plumes. "I'm afraid your bottomless pit will have to do without breakfast. I don't think any stores are open for take-out." It would have sounded funny, instead of sad, if he had said it.

"Maybe our big plushie over here can hunt something on the mountain trail on our way to Bevelle." He reached for the tuft of fur on the end of Zen's tail, intending to give it a playful yank, but his wrist was abruptly caught in the ronso's vice-like grip.

"No touch tail." The ronso opened one pale green eye.

"I ... was not ... going to," Shuyin lied ... badly.

Lenne smiled as the ronso released him and stood. However, when the calls went out for all summoners to gather their guardians and take their places in the march formation, her smile faded.

"Are you sure you don't want to just ... walk away from this?" He tried one more time to convince her she didn't have to do it.

"I'm sure," she answered without hesitation. "I'm just ... scared," she admitted. "I'm used to fighting a few fiends here and there. But I've never had to fight other people before."

"You're not the only one," he assured her. "But, if we're going out there, we need to stay focused on winning. Okay? Don't think about anything else. If you let your concentration slip, then you make careless mistakes," he coached her as if she was now a member of his blitzball team.

"Guardians not leave Lenne's side," the ronso added.

Lenne gave each of them a hug and a kiss for their attempts to encourage her.

"And don't make a habit of kissing him, okay?" Shuyin continued. "I might get jealous. And you might get fur in your mouth … which is kinda nasty just thinking about it."

She chuckled lightly and took his hand to pull him along. Then, she summoned her magical staff and clutched it tightly in her free hand as she walked between her two guardians toward the gathering of Zanarkand's armed forces.

))((

Organization had to be quick and thorough if Zanarkand were to pull off this maneuver, so as soon as summoners arrived at the formation, they were assigned a small unit of warriors to defend. Lenne made a point of meeting each warrior in her troop, learning their faces and shaking their hands. Their lives were dependent upon her, so she wanted to make sure she knew each of them well. After that, mobilization was swift despite the large machina leading the way.

Shuyin took one last look over his shoulder at the city of his birth—his home. A small, robed figure stood alone on the steps of the ruined temple, watching them leave. He still had strong misgivings about Yevon's way of handling the situation, but the time for debate was over. All he could do now was slip an arm around Lenne's shoulders and move forward with her.

Lenne did fine going up the long hike to the mountain summit, but as soon as they came to the narrow crossroads again, Shuyin hoisted her onto his back and told her to close her eyes. It was a good thing they had done this before, so he knew what to expect and do this time. The only time Shuyin became nervous about the crossing was when one of the tall, robotic machina nearly slipped. The warriors used other machina to brace it and pull it back on track. But there was fear among everyone for a moment that the fragile overpasses would not be able to support their weight if one of the machina fell with enough force to cause a stress fracture in the rock beneath them. Shuyin decided against informing Lenne of what was happening when she asked why they had stopped. Instead, he muttered something about scouting for fiends.

When Zanarkand's army reached the ronso village, Elder Kinan was already present to meet them. Lady Yunalesca and Lord Zaon stood beside him. Yunalesca, still dressed in her favored scant attire, appeared to be miserable standing in all that snow, but her flesh sparkled slightly with the glow of magic—a spell designed to warm her, Shuyin supposed. He shivered in his own blitzball vest and shorts, wishing he had a spell like that at a time like this. Lord Zaon appeared to have the right idea wearing full body armor. Shuyin nudged Lenne and whispered in her ear. "When this is over, I want a pay raise so I can get one of those tin can suits and look like a real guardian."

Lenne smiled at his suggestion, but she was cold and shivering, too. "I hope my brother and the other refugees are okay. But I also hope this little stop-over won't take long," she whispered back.

"Our survivors are safely hidden!" Yunalesca announced to the army. "Do not fear for them! Instead, remove the threat that prevents them from returning home! Summoners and warriors, we fight for those who perished without mercy in this unprovoked attack! We defend those who cannot defend themselves!" She raised her summoning staff high above her head and twirled it to open a portal to the plane of magic. "Valefor! On wings of light! Come to our aid!"

The sky opened from another realm, and a very large, brightly colored, bird-like aeon swooped over their heads to hover above them. The Zanarkand summoners were awed by their new fighting companion and bowed reverently to her.

"Ronso see destruction from afar!" Elder Kinan stepped forward. "Ronso not let Bevelle's army cross mountains second time," he growled. "Ronso protect Zanarkand until Zanarkand tribe returns!"

Seeing a throng of ronso warriors come from the various ledges and caverns to stand behind their elder was just the boost of the morale the summoners and warriors needed. They cheered their gratitude both to their ronso allies and their new aeon.

As the army moved again, ready to go through the mountain pass and down the other side, Zen pulled Lenne and Shuyin out of march formation to meet with his uncle one more time. "Zen go with Summoner Lenne. Fight for ronso friends." He produced a memory sphere and pressed it into his uncle's large hands. "Last of temple magic lessons. Put teleport gates in mountain for Zanarkand tribe to return."

The elder ronso nodded in solemn agreement and braced his nephew's shoulder, then watched as Zen and his human friends filtered back into the army's ranks.

Shuyin looked up at the aeon flying ahead of them, but as he stared at the city in the plains below the precipice, all he could think of was what they were leaving behind.