"So, your father is Maester?" asked Behel, her blue eyes watching Seymour intently as they wandered round the idyllic unadulterated beauty of the city. He smiled warmly at her. "No, not yet, though he hopes to be ordained very soon. My father is Lord Jyscal, a great man by anyone's standards. He is one of the only Guado's ever to venture outside of Salam."

 "My Father Orikhua left Ronso many years back. Met my mother Lihiara. Could not think of anything but her."

He turned and faced her. Her sparkling blue eyes seemed to shine with tears. "What's wrong, Behel?"

She wiped her eyes with her furred hands. "Did they not think, Seymour? Too selfish to think of life as… outcast. Lonesome, frightened outcast…"

She paused and looked down at her hand. "I… I am ugly, Seymour Guado! Pathetic, weakling Ronso, ugly, disfigured human. Did they not think of this? Of me?"

He thought about his own father… his own mother. "They did not think of the consequences, Behel. They loved each other. They believed that love could conquer everything, even the hearts of others-"

"They were wrong!" she snapped at him, "I shunned by Ronso, shunned by humans. I not beast, not man, then what?"

He paused and looked at her angry, tear-stained face. He could not believe he had found her…

"I thank Yevon that I have found someone who can understand, Behelkhia."

She looked up at him, gulping back her tears. "Understand?"

"Someone who understands the pain of being outcasted. The daily struggle of not having anyone there. You know what it's like, Behel."

They arrived at the inn and paused. "You know" started Seymour facing her. "You need not stay here. We have much room in our house, and father would be glad to receive a Summoner in his home."

Behel's face broke into a large, toothy smile. "Truly we welcome?"

He smiled back. "Truly"

Seymour ushered in the guests to the main hallway. "If you would wait here, Lady Belgemine, I shall call my father"

He made his way up the staircase to his father's private quarters. Cautiously he knocked on the door, pausing to look at his hand… talons. They were, at least, more subtle than blue and black claws.

"Son? What is it?"

He looked up to see his father. He was so gentle, so wise. A credit to their race… "Sir, I have invited a travelling party of a Summoner and her three guardians to stay with us. I wished to see that it was not inconvenient for you."

Jyscal's face formed an excited smile. "Why, of course it is fine! How wonderful… we have not had visitors since-"

Jyscal stopped mid-sentence, but Seymour knew what he was about to say. Not since the death of his mother. It had been a long time, but the pain was still fresh…

"Why don't we go welcome our new friends, hmm?" spoke Jyscal softly, stepping in front of his son. "Perhaps you would care to show them the Zanarkand Sphere?"

He followed him down the stairs smiling. It had been a long time since he had had anything to smile about.

"So Lady Belgemine, how far along are you on your pilgrimage?" asked Lord Jyscal as they sat down to eat.

She smiled warmly, sipping Sake from her goblet. "We plan to journey to Zanarkand shortly. I need only Shiva to complete my pilgrimage. Then I shall receive the final Aeon and face Sin"

Seymour looked around the table. They seemed so unshaken… here they were, sitting over the dinner table discussing their undeniable paths to death. He could not imagine how they could be so accepting of their fates…

"You are thinking that it is strange, are you not, Seymour Guado?" sighed Belgemine, noticing his confused expression. "That we can sit and discuss our fates like this. But you must understand we have known of this from the day we became what you see here before you. I am proud to die for Spira"

"I agree" spoke out Averus. "If I shall die, I shall die a hero for the good of our people. That way, I will never really die, you know?"

"It's an odd thing to say, but it's true" added Touka. "Either we die at the hands of Sin, or we can try and save others from the same fate. When you look at it like that, facing Sin seems like the best option."

Seymour looked to Behel, waiting for her to contribute to the conversation. She said nothing.

"And what are your views on the subject, Lady Behelkhia?" enquired his father as all eyes focused on her.

She did not look up from her meal. "I am lone Ronso-human" she said gruffly, taking another bite. "I live, I die. It is nothing to me. I am nothing. There is nothing to lose."

Seymour had been thinking about what she had said. Nothing to lose… did she really value herself so little as to not care whether she lived or died?  Seymour could not imagine it. Even he with all his hatred could not be so careless with a life that, although not perfect, had been granted to him by Yevon.

He rose out of bed and put on his robe. Surely she did not really feel this way…

The thoughts stayed with him as he started to leave his chamber and journey down the stairs… "I live, I die. It is nothing to me…"

He pushed open the doors to the dining room. Empty. He walked up to the table and drank copiously from the remaining goblet of Sake…

"You will regret come morning"

He turned round to see Behel standing by the doorway. Embarrassed, he wiped the excess liquid from round his mouth. "Behel! You… you frightened me! I thought you were a fiend!"

He could see her face sink. "Oh, no, Behel, I did not mean it like that…

She smiled slightly and took the goblet from his hands and finished it off. "Leave drinking to experienced."

He followed her as she sat down at the table. "What are you doing up? Can you not sleep?"

"Cannot sleep. Cannot think. Mind is swarming with matters that pain me…"

"What is wrong?"

He sat opposite her and took her hand. She pulled it away from him. "What was said. I believe it. But I do not want Belgemine to die."

She stood and walked away from Seymour, so as to hide the pain on her face. "I left all to follow her. She is great woman. I do not want Belgemine to die. I sacrificed much to follow her."

"But… I thought you said you had nothing to lose?"

"Nothing to lose now. That is true. I gave up everything."

She turned to face him once more, smiling softly. "My buck serves Lord Braska. He disgraced long ago. He younger than me by years. He have life after I am gone."

She came up closer to him again and took the hand which he had offered her earlier. "Mother is gone. Father is dead. Nothing to lose, see?"

She dropped his hand and moved towards the exit.

"No! You have me, Behelkhia."

She said nothing.