Where dreams end...
2. Summoner Basics
"Can you explain the Summoners to me?" Buffy asked hopefully. She was travelling with a Summoner for the moment, right? It only made sense that she asked about the Summoners first, in order to better understand the people she was travelling with. "Why do they travel? Why do they need guardians? Is it because of fiends?"
"You truly are unfamiliar with our ways," the Priest said, a look of understanding on his face. "Very well, I shall attempt to explain the Summoner's pilgrimage."
"A Summoner and her guardians journey to the sacred city of Zanarkand, where she may receive the Final Aeon with which to defeat Sin," said the priest.
Buffy nodded. In her head she had an image of Sin as some kind of massive monstrosity, a larger version of Geneaux maybe. It had to be huge, whatever it was, and something that big couldn't possibly be stopped by any means other than magic. So that meant Yuna was some kind of magician. "And the guardians?"
"Her guardians keep the Summoner safe along the way; it is their duty to protect her from anything that would threaten her pilgrimage," the priest said. "Along her pilgrimage, Yuna will stop at the Temples of Yevon, as all Summoners do, where she may pray to the fayth to strengthen her powers."
"What's a fayth?" Buffy asked.
"The fayth are people who gave their lives to battle Sin. Yevon took their souls, willingly given from their still-living bodies," said the priest solemnly. "Now they live forever trapped in stone."
"That sounds kinda… dark," Buffy admitted. "Even if they did give their souls up willingly."
"You have to understand," said the priest. "Sin must be stopped for the people of Spira to live in peace."
"So you'd sacrifice people's lives to stop Sin?" Buffy asked. She had to admit that she was a little shocked. "Lulu told me that those statues outside are statues of Summoners who already defeated Sin. How does it keep coming back if they beat it?"
"Sin is our punishment from Yevon for our vanity," the priest intoned solemnly. "It will not disappear until we atone for our sins."
"And the fayth help you do that? How?" Buffy asked.
"When a Summoner calls to them, the souls of the fayth emerge once again. That's what we call an aeon," said the priest. "The aeons are our allies in the fight against Sin."
"Okay, so let me get this straight. Sin's this Yevon guy's idea of punishment, but the same Yevon also gave you the fayth to help beat it?"
The priest nodded. Buffy shook her head. That didn't really make sense to her. This Yevon guy was obviously some kind of god, that much she was certain of, but more than that she had no idea about. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you with all my questions."
"That is alright," said the priest.
"I'm new to this whole Summoner-Yevon-Sin thing," Buffy said, shaking
her head.
It was true. I was new to the idea of Summoners saving the world
– Spira – from the destruction that Sin apparently represented, but the
idea of one person taking the weight of the world on her shoulders… That
was an intimately familiar idea to me. That's when I started to see Yuna
in a new light.
Half a day passed, in which Buffy didn't see any sign of her new companions. The Temple priest had been kind enough to answer all her questions, even though some of them drew some concerned reactions from the man.
She learned a lot. For example, some subjects, she learned, were taboo,
and people didn't like answering her questions about them.
The young girl got in trouble when she decided that she wanted to go
looking for Yuna and her guardians, so she mostly busied herself doing
small chores around the Temple.
Anything to pass the time. At one point she even thought of trying one of those meditative routines that Giles was always going on about, "honing" her inner Slayer or something.
Thankfully, Yuna interrupted her, just as she was settling down to try. "Did you learn all you wanted to learn?" She asked, smiling.
Buffy opened her eyes again, looking up at the smiling Summoner standing over her. Yuna looked a little exhausted, but no worse for wear. Buffy wondered what it was like, praying to the fayth; she wondered why it was so exhausting.
"Yes," said the young girl, answering Yuna's question. "This world's really different from mine, but I think I can deal. At least, until I find a way back to where I belong."
Yuna sat down next to Buffy. "Tell me about it. Your world, I mean."
"It's blue. Uh, we have big cities, and, uh, cars, jets, and computers. Haven't seen any of that stuff here." Buffy shook her head, offering Yuna a brief, apologetic, smile. "I'm sorry. I'm not really sure what to say. I've never been asked to describe a planet before."
"No, I meant Sunnydale, California," said Yuna.
"Sunnydale? It's a one-Starbucks kinda town," said Buffy, giving her a shrug. "It's built over a, uh, mystical convergence of energies called the Hellmouth. I guess that's like the most defining feature of where I live."
"What does that mean?" Yuna asked.
"That's kinda tough to explain," Buffy said uneasily. That wasn't really true. It was really easy to explain, but Buffy wasn't really sure how Yuna would react, and she didn't want to lose her only friends in this world. "Let's just leave it at it's a very bad thing."
"Okay," said Yuna, nodding and giving Buffy a smile. She stood up again. "We're leaving soon. Are you ready?"
Buffy kick-flipped herself to her feet. Yuna took a step back, surprised by the display of athleticism. "You bet," she said, smiling at Yuna. Yuna nodded, and turned to leave the room, Buffy following her out.
Yuna's guardians were waiting for them in the main foyer. "We all set then?" Wakka asked giving both girls a questioning look. Buffy and Yuna nodded.
"It's off to Luca!" Yuna said cheerfully.
"Alright!" Tidus said, pumping his fist into the air. As a whole, the group started for the exit. It took Buffy a moment to get used to the brilliant light outside, after having spent half a day inside the comparatively gloomy Temple.
Yuna was immediately swamped by about a dozen people. She was inundated with their curious questions. Buffy glanced around at her guardians, to see if this was a normal occurrence. Only Tidus looked surprised, and strangely distant. After a moment, he turned and walked towards the stairs.
Buffy followed him. "So, like, you're from another world too, huh?" She asked, startling the young man from his thoughts.
"Seems that way sometimes," he said, with an indifferent shrug. She could see the homesickness in his eyes, though, no matter how much he tried to hide it in nonchalance. "I got pulled here by Sin. How 'bout you?"
"I… don't know how I ended up here," Buffy admitted. She turned her attention out towards the jungle. "Like I said before. I went to sleep, found myself here when I woke up."
"Hey." Both of them turned around, to see Yuna standing there. Buffy saw the way she was looking at Tidus, and the way he was looking back, and quietly excused herself, joining the rest of the group. "Are… are you okay?"
"I… I don't know," Tidus answered.
"What do you want to do?" Yuna asked, a little hesitantly.
"To scream out loud," Tidus answered with a shrug. Without warning,
the young man started yelling. It would have been funny, if Buffy hadn't
jumped, so surprised by the sudden outburst.
I understood how he felt. I felt the same way… but screaming about it wouldn't have changed anything. I was stuck in Spira, and I needed to find a way home.