Chapter Six "Ieyui…nobomeno…"

The Hymn of the Fayth? She could hear it… where was it coming from? There was nothing around her but a blissful white light, absolute peace. Neirana slept, drifting on endless waves of nothingness. Is this the Farplane? She asked herself. Am I dead? Is this what death feels like?

"Renmiri…yojuyogo…"

The voice… it was a child, Neirana was sure of it. He couldn't be more than ten years old, why was he singing the Hymn? Was the singer dead as well?

She had a sudden vision of crystal blue eyes, stern and unyielding, yet at the same time warm and kind…a figure of light walked towards her, as if to pick her up and carry her from the mortal plane. The luminous being stretched out its hand to her…

"Hasatekanae… kutamae…"

A single pyrefly wisped past Neirana's face, brushing against her and sending chills down her spine.

"Hm?" the girl croaked out, opening her eyes. Two more of the little glowing balls drifted into the air past her, up into the sky. And then, as Neirana looked around at the wrecked blitzball stadium, everything came back to her: Sin, the battle… and the light that had washed over everything, carrying her off into blessed sleep.

Another four pyreflies floated into the air, leaving little rainbow-colored trails as they danced… they were dancing. Why were the pyreflies dancing?

She sat up and gasped as a sharp pain shot down her spine. But then she saw what was around her, and immediately forgot about any pain.

Maester Shiino was standing at the top of the stadium, in the Maesters' box, slowly swinging his staff around in wide, deliberate loops. As he danced, the pyreflies danced with him. The girl felt another stab of pain once more, but this time in her heart. There were so many pyreflies… literally thousands were spiraling into the sky, as Shiino sent them to find peace and rest on the Farplane. 'How many died today?' Neirana asked herself in despair.

Sin was gone, and it had left destruction and sorrow in its wake. How many of the survivors would come to wish that they had been fortunate enough to die in this attack? How many would thank Yevon that they had survived, yet die the next time? As tears poured down her cheeks, bitter thoughts ran through her mind.

Then, all of a sudden, the bitter hatred in her mind vanished, replaced by a vision. A dark-skinned boy smiled at her, caring and warmth in his infinitely deep eyes, then he turned and walked away. He took no more than three steps before he exploded in a shower of pyreflies. 

"Kecci…" Neirana felt an icy hand grab her heart. Was Kecci okay? Was he even alive? Or was he one of the pyreflies now circling into the sky? "Kecci!" She shouted again, louder this time. "KECCI!!" Neirana screamed frantically, praying to Yevon that her best friend was all right. Screaming as loud as she could, Neirana frantically ran around the stadium, yet she found no sign of the boy.

As she was about to give up hope, however, a soft voice spoke from behind her. "Your friend is alright, Neirana. He left about half an hour ago… he looked shaken. You should go find him." She whirled around to see Tyron Sul, looking slightly tired but on the whole, okay. "Everything here is fine, and your parents have been notified that you are okay."

As the icy sensation of fear washed away from her body, replaced with the warmth of relief, Neirana could only nod, tears welling up in her eyes. Kecci was alright… She swallowed hard, ignoring the lump in her throat. "Thank you…" she managed to squeak. "I'll go now…"

With that, she turned to flee, but Tyron spoke again to halt her. "Your sword." He said, holding her blade out to her. Feeling slightly embarrassed for forgetting it, Neirana nodded, muttered a quick thanks, took the weapon, and ran.

As the young woman ran out into the city, the first thing she noticed was the stillness. Luca was the second-largest city in Spira, and it was normally busy and bustling, with activity and noise assaulting the senses on all sides. Vendors, businesspeople, sports fans, street musicians… Luca was where everything happened.

Yet at the moment, everything was still. No one was on the streets; everyone was inside their homes. Most were unaware that Sin had been driven off, and those that knew were still too frightened to come out. As she ran through the familiar streets, Neirana saw no one.

Her mind raced… where would Kecci have gone? He wouldn't have gone home, that was for certain. He must have wanted to be alone if he was as distraught as Tyron had said, and Kecci's mother was not the type to leave her boy alone if she thought he was upset. That left only one place he would be.

* * *

The waves lapped against the shore, unending. Every time they retreated, they would just come back in full force again, to batter the sand, to slowly wear it down. The waves couldn't be stopped. 'Just like Sin…' Kecci thought bleakly.

Out beyond the waves, the sun started to sink down, below the horizon—'Has it really been that long?' Kecci thought to himself—below the waters that held their deadly secret. The young man was sitting on a small beach, which was completely deserted. He knew that normally there would be children playing in the sand, people swimming, splashing around, having fun. But not today. This beach seemed to be for mourning, now.

It was funny in a gloomy sort of way, actually. The last time he had been on this beach…his father had been killed. The younger Kecci had come here to cry, to be alone.

Now, Kecci wished he could cry. Wished he could forget everything he had seen and heard. But his prayers fell on deaf ears, as he was forced to remember it all…

Gabriel had driven Sin off. The immense blast of holy energy that had send the beast swimming away scorched the water, sending plumes of steam into the air. Mist covered the stadium, making it feel like another realm entirely. Yet the smell of the steam, the smell of the ocean, could not block out the sickening stench of human blood.

Some cried out for water, some cried for their mother, and some cried for death. The lucky ones were granted their wish immediately. Those who were not so fortunate either lingered before passing from the mortal coil, or were unlucky enough to be saved by the priests and healers. But most had their pleas answered, and were sent to peaceful, eternal rest in the Farplane. Yevon blessed their prayers, and granted the people their wishes.

Except for one boy who sobbed over his father's unmoving body, frozen forever in the embrace of death. His prayer would never be answered.

"Damn you, Sin…" he thought to himself. "Damn you…" Kecci lifted his head up, forcing himself to stare directly at the fiery orb sinking below the ocean. The ocean mocked him with its placid state. At any moment, Sin would come bursting out of there and bring nothing but death and destruction.

Try as he might, Kecci could not get the vision of the sobbing child out of his head… it stayed with him, haunting him, mocking him. It taunted him for not being able to do anything. Yuma had wept, and Kecci could do nothing. There was nothing he would have been able to do to lift the burden from the boy's shoulders; a burden that had been placed on him far too early in life.

A quiet voice spoke up from behind him. "Sin takes everything from us, doesn't it?" Kecci jumped and spun around. He hadn't heard anyone approach. Neirana was standing on the beach behind him, her colorful outfit torn and bloodstained, her hair disheveled, cuts all over her face and body, Quicksilver hanging from her belt. She kicked her sandals to the side, laid her weapon next to them, and went to sit by her best friend.

She threw a look at him. "You look like something a Behemoth stepped on… you okay?"

Turning back to look at the sunset, Kecci swallowed hard. "I don't feel much better, honestly." As he said that, his best friend moved closer to him, and slipped a slender arm around him, pulling him close to her. In his turbulent mood, Kecci found her touch soothing, constant, unchanging, and he let himself be clung to.

They stayed like that for a long time, neither saying a word, not willing to break the bond between them, watching the sunset. Kecci kept thinking about the little boy and his father… kept thinking about how powerless he had felt… and then, all of a sudden, he spoke.

"I'm going to be a summoner."

As soon as he said that, he felt Neirana tense up at his side, and he prepared to be bombarded by a flurry of arguments against his choice, yet none came. Neirana once again became relaxed in his arms… "I know." She said, as she began to tremble. "I think I've known for a long time."

Thrown off balance by her response, Kecci looked at her… and saw that tears were running down her face. "Are you crying?" he asked her softly, but she shook her head vehemently.

"N-no. I'm not crying…" she sniffed. "I just… I've known for a long time what you were going to do… just as I've known for a long time… that when you made that choice… I would decide to be your guardian."

He spun around to stare at her. "Are you crazy?" he half-shouted. "Do you know how dangerous being a guardian is? You could die out there! There is no way I'm letting you be my—"

Neirana glared at him with tear-streaked eyes. "Finish that sentence and I'll be obliged to hurt you here and now. I know you too well, Kecci Hayado. I know that once you've decided to do something, you never give up. Which means you'll either complete the pilgrimage, or die trying. And since you know as well as I do what happens to a summoner who defeats Sin… you've just signed your death sentence." Even more tears were falling from her face now. "And I think certain death is a bit more dangerous than anything I'D be doing as your guardian. And if you think I'm going to let you go anywhere without me… you're wrong. Dead wrong."

Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to keep from breaking down into sobs. "Kecci, I'm coming with you. I… I…" she tried to find the words, but they wouldn't come. Neirana clung to him, as if she were afraid he would evaporate, like a mirage. "I…"

" 'Rana-babe!" a shout came from behind the two, and Neirana immediately let go of Kecci, a blush coloring her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped her eyes and looked at the source of the voice.

Looking a bit bruised and battered, but flashing his trademark white smile, Olawa Andresen was running toward the beach. "Babe! You're okay! I was looking all over for you!" He ran onto the beach and stopped several feet away from the two. "You had me worried, babe."

Neirana didn't answer. Kecci looked at her to find that her face was beet-red and she was stammering for words. To save her embarrassment, he spoke first. "How'd you survive the attack?" he asked the blitzball star, silently cursing him inside his head.

Laughing, Olawa responded, "Me n' the other players have skills, ya know? Of course, our bodyguards helped too… throwing blitzballs at fiends can only do so much, huh?" Feigning interest, Kecci nodded, still mentally swearing at the taller man.

Climbing to her feet, Kecci's best friend finally regained her voice. "You… you were worried about… me?" she stammered, her face crimson.

Andresen laughed again, then gave the girl a hug, causing her to squeak, nervous. "Of course I was worried about you, 'Rana-babe! All my fans mean a lot to me, but you mean more than any of them!"

If he hadn't been holding her up, Neirana probably would have fainted dead away. Kecci sighed, the mood completely gone. He turned away from Andresen and Neirana, and looked out to sea.

The sun's last rays were peeking over the horizon, casting a golden glow on everything… Kecci sighed as he remembered Yuma's face… suddenly, a vision of Rikai Hayado came into his mind. "Dad, I swear to you, I will give the people of Spira something to smile about. Sin makes everyone miserable, and I swear I'll take that misery away."

Slowly, the bit of the sun that was still visible sunk from sight, leaving only the darkness of the water. The water with its frightening, deadly secret. Yet… it didn't seem so frightening anymore.

"Sin… I'm coming…"

~Fin~

End Arc One

"The Eyes of a Child…"