Thanks DUDE for reviewing…. I'm glad that you've read my fic! I hope that you'll also draw my characters for me…. grins widely with a hopefully look
Also, Xmaster I know that thing about Luzzu or Gatta dying depending on your conversation. Like, I disagree with you though (no offense). I think Gatta should live because he has his entire life ahead of him and Luzzu (who I think is cool and all) shouldn't have to live knowing that he was partially responsible for another young boy's death….
Anyway, so sorry that it took me sooooo long to update, you see I went for away for a weekend at an island beach resort with my cousins and their was a typhoon!!! This left us stranded there for a day and I could not write at all since I left my laptop at home….
So I hope you all like this chapter. If there are any errors do forgive me… I'm a tad bit rusty from not writing for three days…
CHAPTER 7
The caravan was already half way to Djose. At the Travel Agency, which was their only stop on the way, a fierce battle had occurred. According to the witnesses, it involved two guardians, one a swordsman of great skill and the other a powerful black mage, and their Summoner. From what he heard, the summoner had a peculiar scar on his face and was seasoned in terms of battling fiends.
According to a female temple cleric named Shelinda, the Summoner had single-handedly defeated a powerful fiend that had plagued the area for some time. ' Very interesting…' were Elohim's thoughts as he heard these tales. He was very impressed with this Summoner and his guardians, and was hoping to somehow meet them.
'Perhaps they will still be by the gates…' analyzed the valet as he mounted his chocobo. 'Yes, they must be.' He reasoned as he led the convoy toward Mushroom Rock.
…
'Will I ever see her again?' wondered Olin silently as he waited for them to resume movement in his calash. Ever since he'd met his 'goddess', interacting with other people became a flustering task for him. The once sociable man was now reclusive, preferring to dream of his beautiful goddess rather than relating with other individuals.
"Call Elohim, please." Requested the merchant of one of the armed escorts. "My lord, he is still speaking to one of the…" before the hired hand could finish, a loud voice exclaimed, "No! This is not fair."
"What is that?" asked Olin as he craned his neck to see what all the commotion was about. What he saw almost made him shout in jubilation. It was his goddess! She was standing right behind the blonde man who had just shouted. He immediately jumped of the transport and scrambled to grab the blue Besaid cloak from his pack while he pushed through the convoy.
-…-
"Please, excuse my companion," began a black-haired man, who was slightly shorter than his blonde companion. His face or rather, his scar had caught Elohim's attention when he first stepped out from behind some unused cages. 'He must be the Summoner that the people at the Travel Agency had spoke about.' Concluded the valet as he surveyed the young man.
Something about this summoner made Elohim's heart flutter with excitement. He could not fully comprehend this feeling. All he knew was that something was about to happen, he could fell in his gut.
"He is merely frustrated from our journey. And I apologize for him. We will be on our way now." Elaborated the summoner as he began to turn away to join his already departing companions. This made the valet's heart beat faster. 'No, not yet.' Implored a voice inside his head. "Wait!" called out Elohim before he could stop himself.
The summoner and his guardians stopped to look back. "Yes, Sir." Said the summoner humbly as he bowed once more. Elohim approached the dark-haired man. "Are you the Summoner that fought at the Travel Agency?" he inquired, looking into the shorter man's gray eyes. He saw the soul of a man who saw very little in himself and felt that he had to prove his worth to those around him. There was pain as well, enough in fact for a man trice his age. He knew this because these same eyes belonged to him.
'You and I have much in common, my friend. We live lives that expect too much from us.' Mused Elohim.
-…-
"Yes, Sir." Said Landien as bowed to the silver-haired man. 'What could he want from us…' wondered the summoner. "Are you the Summoner that fought at the Travel Agency?" asked the resplendent, taller man as he met Landien's eyes. 'He's heard of me…' thought the summoner, his heart beating faster from the elation he felt upon hearing this.
But the elation disappeared when he noticed something about the taller man's eyes. But before he could identify anything, a voice came from behind him, knocking him out of his reverie and abruptly ending his eye contact with the other man.
-…-
"Wait!" called out the silver-haired man. Lydia immediately turned at this, hoping that he had called out to her. But he had not. His obsidian eyes were locked on Landien. "Yes, Sir." Said her older brother as he bowed to the ravishing stranger.
"Are you the Summoner that fought at the Travel Agency?" asked the man as he neared her black-haired brother. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw their eyes meet. The taller stranger intently studied her sibling's eyes. She could not see whether Landien stared into the other man's eyes as intensely, but she knew in her gut that black met gray.
"Goddess!" shouted someone from her right.
-…-
"Wait!" came the stranger's voice. Ilised turned, ready for a fight. His muscles were tense, prepared to spring into action. "Yes, Sir." Said Landien, bowing to the silver-haired man, in a voice that clearly had no anxiety in it. This confused the guardian slightly.
He has always known Landien to be apprehensive when it came to strangers, but from the vibes that his younger friend exuded at the moment, he felt no trepidation at all. 'How can you feel so at ease with this clearly untrustworthy individual?' pondered the swordsman, never letting his guard down. The stranger neared his strangely untroubled friend. This made the guardian's heart skip a beat, unsure of what was to happen next.
"Goddess!" yelled a man from his right.
-…-
'Please don't go…' beseeched Olin silently as he pushed through the press. The man's normally pale skin seemed a shade lighter as he hustled his way toward his blonde goddess. 'I'll finally get to see you again.' he thought, his green eyes glistening with euphoria. His heart beat faster and faster with each step he took. Unbeknownst to him, the fine sheen of cold sweat that glazed his forehead was a sign that his fragile health was tittering over the edge.
'Just a little more and then…' thought Olin expectantly as he saw Elohim's silver head of hair over the last of the hired men's heads. "Goddess!" he screamed as he broke through the last of the throng. Heads had turned, including that of his goddess. This made the man's heart skip a beat; his breath hitch and his joints stiffen.
'What in the…' contemplated the chocolate-haired man, his pallid, trembling hand clutching his chest. "Eloh…" gasped Olin as he fell to his knees, struggling to catch his breath. "Olin!" was the last thing he heard before he fell into unconsciousness; it was his loyal valet that had called out to him.
…
They had arrived in Djose just as the sun had set. Olin's condition had finally stabilized, he was still unconscious though. 'Thank Yevon for having us meet Landien.' Thought Elohim gratefully as he fetched a towel to wipe his sleeping master's brow. The older man had collapsed earlier at Mushroom Rock, for what reason, the valet knew not.
-…-
In one of the rooms at Djose temple was Ilised. His companions were outside wandering about, leaving him to do inventory of their supplies alone. 'I know that we're here because of them, but I still do not trust them.' Mused the guardian as his thoughts wandered to Olin and Elohim.
This distrust of others is to be expected of him though. Even in his youth. He had always had trouble trusting others. He had very little faith in the goodness of others because of his experiences while he lived with Filus, his first adoptive father. The other villagers had treated him very badly because of his heritage. Their mistreatment had not been a good for the young boy's impression of Spira.
-…-
Outside at one of the bridges that overlooked the beaches of Mushroom Rock, stood Lydia. Her hair was untied and flying about her as the cool night winds caught it and threw it around. She had removed her leather bodice, revealing that her white dress was extremely loose. It made the mage look like a small child wearing her one of her father's over-sized shirts that was meant for sleeping in, rather than wearing out. Everything about her made her seem more like a visiting specter than a living, breathing person.
'I suppose things are finally turning up for us.' Ruminated Lydia hopefully as the events of the afternoon replayed in her head. After Elohim had rushed to Olin's side, Landien had followed, clearly worried. Thanks to the hours their father had spent teaching the young summoner the skills of an apothecary, Landien was able to treat the fallen man easily with the herbs he always carried with him. The silver-haired steward had repaid them by negotiating their passage to Djose with the merchant caravan.
'If not for that, we would still be in that Travel Agency…' thought the young woman, her eyebrows furrowing at the idea. 'But that would have meant that Landien could have recuperated for a few days.' Argued a voice in her head. The female guardian was still disturbed by the events that took place in Kilika temple only a day ago. 'I hope nothing goes wrong this time.' Prayed the blonde mage as she made her way to the temple.
-…-
On the bridge farthest from the Djose temple was the brooding Landien. He was staring out into the vast darkness. 'I pray that I come out of this unharmed…' thought the summoner, his body shuddering from the malevolent wind and his own anxiety.
NOTES:
The timeline is still the same.