The two of them ran outside and began to heading quickly towards the temple.
"Remember I told you I was a Guardian?" Andre asked, as they both made their way up the long staircase to the temple.
"Yeah," Jesse replied.
"Well, Guardians are kind of like bodyguards to a Summoner," he explained, "And a Summoner has appeared here in our village!"
"Really?!" Jesse gasped excitedly, "Is that why there's going to be a celebration tonight?"
Andre nodded, "That's right!"
"Wow…" Jesse sighed in wonder.
The both of them reached the top of the stairs and stood before the temple.
Jesse looked up, analyzing the large structure.
The entire edifice was made out of glistening jade stone. It had a long pointed steeple in the center. It was fairly wide and seemed like it was very ancient due to the way the stone looked. The entrance had another set of small steps made of purple stone, and had a walkway surrounded by pillars made of the same kind of stone.
"This is the Orlami Temple of Valefor," Andre told him.
"It's amazing…" Jesse said in bewilderment.
"Oh! I keep forgetting that I'm late!!" Andre panicked as he rushed inside.
"H-Hey! Wait up!" Jesse shouted as he followed. As soon as Jesse entered the temple, the stone double doors behind him closed on their own. He looked all around him in the dim main chamber of the temple.
It looked very similar to that of the chamber where the young man and Julie were, except there were other citizens and priests inside. There was still a staircase that went up to a door.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing…" Jesse said as he looked upwards towards the ceiling, where the steeple was. It seemed spiraling and almost endless. He then searched around for Andre and then saw him at the beginning of the staircase speaking with a bald man, dressed in a one piece gown. It was orange and yellow, with many religious and symbolic markings embroidered into it.
Jesse hurried over there.
"Are they already inside Priest Chuna?" Andre asked the man.
Chuna nodded his head, "Yes. Guardian Julie accompanied the Summoner inside a while ago." His voice was very regal, and almost ancient.
"Damn it," Andre mumbled to himself, "Julie is going to kill me…"
Jesse approached him from behind, "Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah, don't worry about it," Andre replied, "Listen, I've gotta go inside and head towards the Chamber of the Fayth."
"I'll come with you," Jesse volunteered.
"Sorry, man. You can't. Only Summoners and their Guardians can enter. Just sit tight here. Oh, and while you're here, Priest Chuna can answer any questions you may have," Andre told him.
"Okay…" Jesse sighed.
"I'll be back soon," Andre smirked as he hurried up the stairs and through the door.
"Sir Andre said you had some questions?" Chuna inquired.
"Oh, yes, well…quite a few actually…" Jesse said ashamedly.
"Do not worry. I am happy to help you any way that I can," Chuna smiled graciously, "As a priest of Yevon, I feel it is my duty to assist and educate anyone who asks for it."
"Okay," Jesse agreed, "Andre told me that Summoners have to acquire…Aeons?"
Chuna nodded, "That is correct. Aeons are mystical creatures with immense magic power that are born from the dreams of the Fayth. They assist the Summoner in battle."
"Fayth?" Jesse wondered.
"Fayth are the remains of humans who have sacrificed their lives and were ultimately killed by Sin. Their bodies, their entities are kept in the Chamber of the Fayth, as holy statues, where they dream of the Aeon. The Summoner then prays to the Fayth and is given the Aeon of the temple," Chuna explained.
"So…there's a Summoner in there right now?" Jesse asked.
Chuna's face seemed much hopeful when he spoke of the Summoner, "Yes…Many have high hopes for him. He is extremely well-liked in the village, and many are pleased that he was chosen to become a Summoner. Even though, we will be saddened with his leaving."
Jesse was dying inside. All he could do was look over towards the entrance into the depths of the temple and want to go. He couldn't help but be curious. It was in his nature. He wanted desperately to go see what this was all about. He had to get rid of the priest first.
"You know…I think I understand now," Jesse said with a fake smile, "Thank you very much Priest Chuna."
"It is my pleasure," Chuna said, performing the Yevon Prayer. He bowed down, putting the palms of both of his hands facing one another in a horizontal position. He then walked away soon after.
Jesse mischievously looked around to see if anyone was watching.
Chuna was speaking with a couple, while the rest of the citizens prayed to the surrounding sacred statues.
This was his chance!
Jesse tiptoed his way to the front of the steps and then rushed up them. He quickly open the double doors and slowly, and silently, closed them. He leaned on the doors, and sighed in relief, "Phew!" His sigh of relief ended when he looked forward to see a long, blue marble hallway. He steadily made his way through.
As he slowly walked along through the passage, he noticed that on the walls were murals. They seemed to tell a story. First, there was a depiction of the Earth. The next drawing is of the same Earth, but with black flames covering it.
It kind of frightened him.
After that, there was a portrayal of a beast chasing down villagers. The beast was a thousand times larger than the humans. It looked very similar to that of a dark gray whale, with hundreds of beady eyes and a huge mouth. It had four legs, with fin-like shapes at the end and one immense tail. It was very scaly but at the same time, jagged and coarse like a rocky mountain.
Jesse stopped to stare at the illustration. "Sin…" he spoke. He instantly had a flashback of something that occurred long ago:
The massive creature known as Sin was on a rampage, running through a large grassy plain. It was destroying and demolishing everything in its path; including people.
Many panicking and frightened families ran all around and anywhere they could to escape the menace.
One of those families was Jesse's.
Jesse was in front of his two parents, running as fast as they could. "Come on!!! Hurry!!!" he yelled to them.
Jesse's mother tripped and fell onto the floor. Her husband stopped and knelt down next to her.
"Mom!!! Dad!!!" Jesse cried.
His mother and father looked back to where Sin was. There was a sphere of dark light surrounding him. After a few more seconds, the sphere expanded rapidly and shot out like an explosive nuclear warhead.
Jesse and his family screamed as the dark light approached them ever so rapidly.
Jesse squinted his eyes and grimaced when he remembered this. "Damn you Sin…" he mumbled, banging his fist into the drawing. Jesse then stopped to notice a glowing orb on the floor a few feet in front of him.
It was the size of a baseball, and glowed the color of emeralds. It seemed very magical.
Jesse approached it, and then picked it up. "What's this?" he asked himself.
"Damn it!"
Jesse heard a familiar voice shouting from the distance. His voice echoed throughout the passage. "Andre?" he wondered. He started to pick up the pace and hurry down the hall.
"How dumb could I have been?" Andre's voice echoed.
As Jesse approached, the voice became more clear. After a few more minutes, and heading down a small stairway, Jesse arrived to Andre's location.
"I can't believe I lost it!" Andre scolded himself, leaning against a large, engraved stone door with his eyes closed, "Julie's really gonna kill me…"
"What's wrong Andre?" Jesse asked.
Andre opened his eyes so quickly as he jumped up, "Jesse?!! What are you doing here?!!"
"I followed you," Jesse replied nonchalantly.
"It's forbidden for a civilian to be here!" Andre explained, "I told you that already!"
"I couldn't help it," Jesse said apologetically, scratching his head.
"I guess it really doesn't matter anyway," Andre said.
"What's the problem?" Jesse wondered.
Andre stepped away from the door and pointed to a round slot, "The only way for Guardian's to get in is with a sphere given to them when they become a Guardian. It seems I lost mine…"
Jesse pulled out his hand and showed him the orb he found on his way there, "Like this?"
Andre's eyes lit up, "That's it!!! Thanks man!"
"Guess it wasn't a bad thing that I came along," he grinned.
"Don't get used to it. You can't be breaking the temple's rules, you know." Andre told him, taking the sphere. He placed it in the slot. The engravings began to glow the same color as the sphere as it then slowly moved upward, revealing a circular platform. "You can come with me this time," Andre said as they both walked onto the platform, "But only just this once!"
"Okay," Jesse laughed.
The platform then acted as an elevator, moving downwards.
"I'm sorry Andre," Jesse apologized as they headed down, "I was just really curious. I wanted to see what this was all about."
"I understand man. You always were curious," Andre smiled, "But just 'cause I'm so forgiving won't mean others will."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well…" Andre began, looking very insecure, "Let's just say that I'm not the only Guardian and that the other one…isn't the most patient and forgiving."
"Heh…I'll take your word for it," Jesse smirked.
After a few more moments, the elevator reached the bottom and revealed a very short passageway that led to the chamber where Julie awaited them.
Andre tiptoed his way into the main chamber, afraid of what Julie might say.
"Don't try that with me!" she yelled.
"Eesh!" Andre flinched, "Julie, really, I'm so sorry!"
Julie was at the bottom of the steps leaning on one of the statues, "You're late Andre!"
Andre began to walk towards her, "I didn't mean to be!"
"No one ever means to be late," she replied snidely.
"It's just that something came up," Andre tried to explain.
Julie stared at him, waiting for a better excuse.
"Okay. So when I was about to get ready to come here, an old friend of mine showed up! You know, the one that left five years and I thought was killed in the Plate Rip!" Andre told her.
Julie looked past him to see Jesse standing a few feet away, "You brought him here?!!"
"Heheh…" Andre tried to giggle it off, "Not helping, is it?"
Jesse took the opportunity to go and walk over to them.
"Julie, this is my best friend Jesse," Andre introduced, "Jesse, this is Julie Rhoden, Black Mage and Guardian."
Jesse reached out his hand and smiled, "It's nice to meet you. I really am sorry about all of this."
"Hmm…" Julie thought about it, "I'm sure that this is all Andre's fault, so I'll let it slide…It is very nice to meet you as well." She reached out her hand to his, as they shook. However, in that moment, Julie got a weird feeling and pulled her hand away. She tried to play it off that nothing was wrong, but she did feel something strange. "This guy…" she thought to herself.
"Are we okay now?" Andre pleaded.
Julie giggled a bit, "You know I can't stay mad for long."
"Is he inside?" Andre wondered.
Julie nodded, "Yes. He's been in there the entire morning and afternoon. I always heard that the first prayer was the most difficult and strenuous. I hope he's okay."
"I'm sure he will be," Jesse spoke up.
"How would you know that?" Julie asked.
"Well…everyone speaks very highly of him. I'm sure he'll do fine," Jesse explained.
Julie couldn't help but smile, "How can someone like you be this brute's best friend?"
"Hey!" Andre yelled at her.
That's when the rumbling of a door opening was heard above the stairs.
"Oh! It's him!" Andre gasped.
Everyone turned to face the stairs and looked up towards the door. The door opened upwards, slowly revealing someone.
The door then completely opened, presenting the Summoner.
It was the young man. He had brown colored hair and deep eyes the color of chocolate. His skin was bronzed as he wore a very distinctive outfit. He wore a black headband that lied underneath some locks of hair. On the left side of the band, there was a round jewel placed and a white bird's feather sticking diagonally upwards. The young man's top was in the style of a Japanese kimono. It was also black, with shiny and silky white borders on the edge of the sleeves, the collar, and the center of the top. The sleeves were very wide and long like a kimono's. He also wore black gloves, that did not cover his fingers. He wore a white and silver belt, similar to that of an obi. On the back of the belt were four artificial white wings sewed into it. His pants were also black, loose, and a bit wide fitting. The ends of the pants had white borders to match. To finish it off, he wore black boots that had white décor just above the ankle.
The young man stepped out of the door, leaning on the sides. His face was drenched in sweat and he seemed very weak.
"Oh no…!" Julie cried.
The Summoner made a couple more steps forward and then began to fall towards the steps.
Andre and Jesse gasped, anticipating the worst.
However, right when the Summoner was but a couple of feet from the ground, he stopped. He was kind of levitating a bit.
Julie made her way up the step, her palm in front of her. It seemed she used magic in order to catch her. She walked over to the young man and helped him back up.
The Summoner shook his head, as sweat drops flew off of his face. He looked forward.
"It's him!" Jesse thought.
"I have done it! I have become a Summoner!" Anthony smiled emphatically.
Jesse couldn't believe his eyes, "He's the Summoner…!"
"Were you successful?" Julie asked, as the both of them slowly made it down the steps. The Summoner leaned on her for support.
He nodded, "Y-Yes."
"All right!" Andre leaped up happily, "Everyone will be happy to hear it!"
The Summoner then looked up as he reached the ground to see Jesse. He was a bit shocked to see him as well, "You're…"
"Oh, sorry!" Andre said as he walked over to Jesse, "Anthony, this is my best friend Jesse!"
"I do remember you," Anthony smiled. His voice was serene, and he seemed very poised.
"Oh, you do?" Andre asked surprised.
"Why, yes. When we were all in school together, I had seen him a few times," Anthony explained.
"Yes…I remember too," Jesse smiled.
"I'm glad you have returned," Anthony smiled along with him.
Jesse would stare at him and get lost in his eyes.
"Oh, Anthony! We should get back outside!" Julie told him, "The villagers are waiting!"
"Oh, yes! You're right!" Anthony remembered, "We should hurry back outside."
Later that afternoon, as the sun was beginning to set, Summoner Anthony, his Guardians, and Jesse stood in front of the Orlami Temple facing the entire village who watched.
An elderly man dressed in a blue jacket, and pants spoke as he stood next to them, "My fellow villagers! We have wonderful news for you all! Our Summoner, our greatest hope…has finished his first prayer and has already begun his journey!"
The entire crowd rooted and cheered.
Jesse could immediately tell how important Anthony was to this village.
"And now, before we begin our celebration and as mayor of this village, we first give a gift to Lord Anthony," the mayor spoke. He took out a special staff.
The top of it was made of gold and black metal. It was round, but had a hollow space in the center to make it appear like an upside down crescent moon. It had a golden ball at the peak. At the bottom of the crescent moon shape, was another golden sphere that led to a piece of black décor. The long handle was gold, just as the final gold sphere at the bottom. At the end was a black sash connected to that ball, with a gold line running through the center.
"Orlami Village presents to you milord…Le Claire de Lune!" the mayor shouted, "The Moonlight!"
The crowd cheered once more.
Anthony performed the Yevon prayer and graciously accepted the staff, "Thank you."
"Now, we ask of you Lord Anthony…show us your power! Demonstrate to us the power of the Aeon, and the hope that you have given us!" the mayor asked of him.
Anthony nodded in agreement. He walked down the steps and towards the center of the crowd.
"Come on, I'll get you a front row seat!" Andre whispered to Jesse. The two of them followed Anthony and Julie.
The entire village created a circle around the Summoner. Julie, Andre, and Jesse stood in the front line of the crowd.
"What's happening?" Jesse asked.
"The first Summoning," Julie whispered in reply.
Anthony looked back to his dear friends and Guardians, who gave him an encouraging nod. He then looked towards Jesse, and gave a gentle smile.
Anthony held the staff, with both hands, in front of him, as he closed his eyes. He then pulled his arms separately away from another; the arm with the staff held it high into the air as the other pointed forward. In that instant, four round violet colored magic circles appeared around him, rotating around him. Magic was emitting from the ground below him. Out of the four circles, four comets shot up straight into the sky, coming together as it hit the clouds. They created an opening in the clouds, where something flew downward.
It was the Aeon!
The Aeon had two massive wings with curving points at the ends. The top edges of the wings were violet and the actual wings were of an orange tint. The bird-like creature had spiky crimson hair and a sharp silver beak. It had three curving points on each side of its chest, one that held golden rings. It's pelvis was covered with the same red hair. The Aeon also had purples colored legs, with golden claws, and a long purple tail
The Aeon flew down, swerved around the village people as they awed and stared, and then landed a few feet away from its Summoner.
Jesse couldn't believe what he was seeing standing before him. The creature was marvelous!
Anthony was very hesitant and apprehensive to approach the Aeon. He made a couple of steps forward, but then stopped. He wasn't sure he should continue.
That's when a deep male voice spoke in his head, "Do not be afraid. I shan't hurt you."
"Eh…?" Anthony wondered as he first looked around, and then looked forward to realize that it was the voice of the Aeon, "Was that you?" Anthony felt more at ease and comfortably approached the Aeon. He petted the Aeon's neck, as it returned a warm smile.
"I am Valefor," he said, "I am here to assist you Summoner."
"Valefor…" Anthony said as he smiled.
His Guardians and Jesse couldn't help but smile as well. It was amazing what they were seeing.
"I will help you in battle. However, don't feel that this is all that I am here for. Our bond does not have to be that of just Summoner and Aeon…but, friends as well," Valefor explained.
Anthony smiled even more, "I would like that."
Valefor then flapped his wings and floated into the air, "I shall see you then…my friend." The Aeon swiftly flew off back into the sky.
Anthony looked up towards the blue sky and watched the Aeon ascend to the heavens. He then turned towards all of the village people who were still in awe what they witnessed, "Let the celebration begin!"
The crowd went wild and cheered loudly as the music began to play.
