Braska turned back to Adain and frowned sternly.

"I think it would be best for you to spend the night in the temple. The villagers can start building you a house of your own tomorrow."

Adain brandished the bottle of liquor at Braska and snarled, "Now you listen here, you prick! I already have a house, andd I'm stayin' in it! Y'hear me?!" Braska shook his head calmly.

"No Adain. I'm afraid that I'm obligated to protect the people of this villager, and that includes your wife and daughter. I can't allow you near them." Anama blinked up at Braska in shock and disbelief.

"Sir… I…" Braska smiled soothingly and helped her to her feet.

"You can go home Anama. Do you want one of the Crusaders to escort you? Spend the night, even?" Anama swallowed the lump in her throat and bowed in thanks.

"I am very grateful for all your help." She straightened and picked up Lulu.

"Come on Lu, we're going home. And we're going to have company tonight, so I'm going to need your help cleaning up, okay?" Lulu smiled in the way that only an innocent child can.

"Okay mommy!" She looked over her mother's shoulder at the man that had once been part of her family.

"Daddy! Nikia said, 'Serves you right, you sick bastard!'" She blinked for a second, then looked back at her mother.

"Mommy, what's a bastard?"

In the six months that followed, Lulu's life was suddenly much happier. Chappu came to her house for the first time, instead of Lulu visiting his family. Every day, Lulu went to the temple to visit Braska and listened patiently as he explained what the next few years had in store for her. She could play almost any time she wanted, except when she had to do her small share of chores. Their small house, which before had been in a horrid state of disrepair, looked clan and well-kept, and there was even a small patch of flowers in front. Their sweet aroma filled the home, erasing the stench of alcohol and garbage. And, most importantly, her mother stopped crying. Even naïve Lulu could see the difference- Anama suddenly looked years younger than before. The lines of worry that had always creased her face were now smoothed out, and the gray streaks that had begun to appear in her hair had all but disappeared. Practically all of Besaid smiled as they watched the tiny, but happy, family. They smiled even more when Lulu's talent started becoming more prominent. She still had no control over the spells that she was accidentally casting, but these events only happened when fiends got too close to Lulu or any of the other villagers. Once, a garm had snuck into the village while Lulu was playing catch with Chappu. The creature had burst out of the trees and streaked towards Chappu, and a bolt of lightning had suddenly struck down from a cloudless, blue sky and killed the monster. If Lulu and Chappu had been insperable before, they might as well have been Siamese twins afterwards. They were always together.

"Now Lu, I don't want you to get this dress dirty. Mommy worked very hard to sew it." Lulu smiled and hugged her moogle doll tightly to her chest. The dress Anama made looked absolutely adorable. It was dark purple, with short sleeves, and a hem that ended just below her knees- Anama had made sure that Lulu would be able to run around the way she loved to. And she'd made a matching, smaller version of the dress for Lulu's doll.

"I won't mommy. Can I go play with Chappu now?" Anama smiled and stood up, making her long, dark hair spill over her shoulder. Now that Adain lived on the other side of the village, it was easy to see the resemblance between mother and daughter. Without the gray strands, Anama's hair was the same color as dark coffee, and her eyes were a deep chocolate, exactly like Lulu's. When she stood straight, Anama was relatively tall, and she had an attractive hourglass figure, which had been hidden by mal-nutrition until now. Her dress, a sleeve-less, summer garmet, sewn from dark blue fabric, showed off Anama's long, slim legs. If her mother was any indication, Lulu would grow into a lovely young woman. But, for now, she remained a short, chubby little girl.

"One minute honey. Mommy has something else for you." Anama pulled a circle of white flowers from behind her back and gently placed it on Lulu's head, twining a few loose braids through the blossoms to hold it in place.

"There. Now you can go play. But don't go too far, and be back at the Temple in time for the fireworks, okay?" Lulu threw her arms around Anama's legs and hugged her fiercely, then ran towards Chappu and Wakka's house.

"Thank you Mommy! Bye now!" Lulu sprinted towards the door of her friend's house, nearly colliding with Wakka as he walked out the door.

"Sheesh Lu! You might wanna slow down, before you run someone over, ya?" Lulu grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry Wa. Where's Chappu?" Wakka sighed.

"Lu, don't call me Wa. It's embarassin'." He squinted and tossed his blitzball from one hand to the other as he tried to think over the loud sound of pipes, drums, and laughter.

"Last I knew, he was playin' in there." He pointed to the woods behind his house.

"Okay Wa. Love you! Bye-bye!" Wakka sighed again and shook his head.

"Li'l kids…"

Chappu pulled on the hilt of his practice sword, hoping that he wasn't going to end up with splinters in his hands. Maybe pretending that a mass of tree roots was a fiend hadn't been the best of ideas, since his sword was now stuck in those roots.

"C'mon…" Chappu braced his foot against the tree trunk and heaved one last time, tumbling backwards as the sword came free. Chappu landed flat on his back and stayed there for a minute or two, dazed. Then, he sat up and shook the dust out of his hair, picked up his sword, and slipped it back into the sheath on his back. Chappu puffed up his chest proudly and smirked.

"I sure showed you, stupid tree. You thought you could steal my sword, but I got it back!"

"Why are you talking to the tree, Chappu?" Chappu spun around, turning pink.

"Hey! You snuck up on me!" Lulu giggled.

"You're funny!" She twirled around to show off her new dress.

"Don't I look pretty?" Chappu, being a boy, wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"How should I know? I'm not a girl!" Lulu stopped twirling and folded her arms.

"You're such a grouch!" Chappu smiled and pulled on one of Lulu's braids, not too hard, but enough to be annoying.

"And you're such a baby!" Lulu pouted and adjusted the flowers in her hair.

"I am not!" Chappu shook his head.

"Whatever you wanna think, Lu. I think we should get goin' though. Mr. Braska is gonna do the firewords soon, remember?" Lulu's fornw dissolved into a grin.

"Yup yup yup! We gotta see those! Race ya!" Chappu shouted as Lulu suddenly took off, running unbelievably fast for a five-year-old.

"Hey! That's cheatin'!" Lulu giggled and kept running, emerging from the forest, then skidding to a stop behind Chappu's house. Chappu finally caught up, panting for breath.

"What's wrong Lu?"

Lulu shivered and, as if her normal voice would be too loud, whispered, "Why's it so quiet, Chappu?" Chappu blinked, then frowned. She was right. The music and laughing that had been drifting from the temple area only minutes before had stopped completely.

Chappu adjusted his grip on his trusty blitzzball and whispered back, "I dunno Lu. I'm gonna check it out." He started to circle around the house, creeping unseen through the tall grass, but Lulu tugged at his shirt.

"I'm coming too," she whispered. Chappu nodded in agreement. He didn't want to admit that he would prefer to have Lulu with him because of her mysterious ability to kill any fiend that came near her. That would be an un-manly thin to do.

Instead, he lied, "I wouldn't wanna leave you all alone anyways." The two children fell silent, creeping through the tall grass and behind houses, until they finally reached the temple. They cautiously stepped out of the grass, then both of them gasped, as they laid eyes upon the sight before them- a sight that no child should ever see. The streamers that had been wrapped around the pillars of the temple and draped off of houses were shredded to pieces and thrown to the ground. Wilting flowers, smashed tosy, and dropped candy littered the ground… along with the bodies and the blood of half the village. Both children stared in shock and horror as their childhood innocence slowly, painfully died. Chappu was the first to move, raising his hand to cover Lulu's eyes. Lulu remained frozen, her brain still trying to process that image of death and destruction. This was worse than life with her father. It was so much worse…

"C'mon Lu… We're gonna find Mr. Braska…" Lulu grabbed Chappu's shirt as he kept covering her eyes and slowly guided her through the piles of corpses.

"Okay Chappu…" The young boy swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat and concentrated. They needed to find Braska, and soon. Lulu's abilities might offer some protection, but Braska could control the few Black Magic spells that he knew, and they were slightly stronger than Lulu's. They would only be safe with him.

"Can I open my eyes now, Chappu?"

"No Lu. Not yet. Just a little further, and then we can go find Mr. Braska together, okay?" Chappu guided Lulu around the last corpse and then around the corner, then finally removed his hand. Lulu looked back up at him with dull, unblinking eyes.

"Why is everybody sleeping, Chappu?" Chappu winced. She still sounded so innocent, but after all that they'd just seen, he knew that it was no longer so. They were young, but they were no longer children.

"I'll tell you after we find Mr. Braska, okay Lu?" Chappu started off, keeping a firm grip on Lulu's wrist. He marched through the deserted, semi-intact section of the village, trying not to stare at the smashed bu8ildings and stranged trails of putrid slime that lined the streets. Suddenly, they heard a furious shout, and a sparkling spire of ice burst through the tree-tops, before disappearing. There was a bone-chilling shriek that followed, and more yelling.

"That way!" Chappu ran forward, still hauling Lulu behind him. They plowed through the undergrowth and skidded to a stop in the clearing that surrounded the Besaid waterfalls. There was a thing clinging to the sheer cliff, attempting to climb up the rocks and to safety. Braska was standing almost at the base of the cliff, casting a series of Black Magic spells as quickly as he could. The Crusaders, and some of the surviving villagers, were throwing spears, knives, rocks, sticks, and just about anything else that they could find at the creature. Chappu felt his insides twisting into knots as he realized that he was not staring at any ordinary fiend, but one of the terrible, demonic monsters known as Sinspawn. It resembled a gnat, only much larger and mutated beyond comprehension. It had a tiny head, decorated by hundreds of glitter compound eyes, and a midsection so small that it was almost invisible, leading to a swollen abdomen that secreted a thick, noxious sludge. The Sinspawn had twelve spindly legs, ridged with sharp hooks and ending in small pincers. There was another ridge of spikes tracing down its spine- if it had one- and, as Chappu watched, the creature seemed to swell up for a second, then the spines exploded outward, almost like darts. The huge spines struck a few of the Crusaders. One man had his head crushed- there was no pain- while a woman that had been standing behind him was struck in the arm and nailed to the ground. Almost immediately, another set of spines grew out of the Sinspawn's back, while it clicked its slobbering fangs together, almost as if it were chuckling. Chappu's eyes widened in horror as the creature swelled again, and he grabbed Lulu's wrist and yanked her towards the trees.

"Run Lu! Run!" Both children sprinted as fast as they could, stumbling as one of the spikes buried itself in the ground just in front of them. Lulu's ankle caught on the spine and she tripped, but Chappu grabbed her around the waist and she was up and running again. They reached the trees and Lulu collapsed, panting, while Chappu drew his wooden sword from its sheath on his back. It was probably sharp enough to cut through those spikes, and if Chappu was enough to save a life, he was going to just that.

"Lu, I'm going to help. Stay here." Lulu started to nod, the screamed and jumped to her feet, running as fast as her legs could carry her. Chappu followed, heedless of the showers of lethal spikes.

"Lulu! What're you doin'?! Lu-" Chappu froze and let his sword slip from his hand as he realized why Lulu had left the safety of the trees. Anama was sprawled on the ground, whimpering and sobbing in agony, as her blood-smeared hands tugged at the spike that was driven through her stomach.

"Mommy…" Lulu's eyes willed up with tears, for the first time in months, and she covered her mother's hand with her own shaking one. Anama's eyes focused and she gasped weakly.

"Lulu… is that you…?" Lulu nodded, making the circlet of flowers fall out of her hair and onto the ground next to her mother.

"Oh, thank Yevon you're safe honey…" Anama's eyes slipped out of focus and her body suddenly tensed, as if she were having a seizure. Chappu's eyes widened when he noticed the greenish, pus-like fluid that leaked out of pores in the spine's surface…

"Holy Yevon…" Venom. That monster- that thing- was poisonous. Lulu reached for the poisonous spike to try and pull it out, but Chappu grabbed her around the middle and yanked her back.

"Don't touch it Lu! Don't touch it!" Anama's eyes focused again, this time on Chappu.

"Chappu, take Lulu and run… please… I'll never rest in peace if my second daughter dies like the first one…" Tears traced their way down Anama's cheeks and fell to the dirt, mixing with the blood and poison that already stained the ground.

"Run as fast as you can…" Chappu nodded, and, blinking back tears of his own, picked Lulu up by the waist and slung her over his shoulder.

"No! Put me down Chappu! Put me down! Mommy! MOMMY!!!"

Anama sobbed weakly and whispered, "Lulu, I-I love…" Her strength deserted her before she could finish her sentence.

Time seemed to grind to a halt right then, and Chappu could vaguely feel Lulu's struggles cease, as if her spirit had left her body too. Then, over the shrieks and chaos of battle, one scream echoed above everything else.

"NOOO!!! NOT YOU TOO!!!" Lulu clenched her fists so hard that her nails broke the skin of her palms, allowing a small trickle of blood to run down her arms.

"YOU'RE LEAVING ME!!! EVERYBODY LEAVES ME!!!" She threw her head back and screamed, heart-breaking cries full of rage and grief. Moments later, her screams were drowned out, as dozens of lightning bolts came raining down from the sky, each and every single one striking the Sinspawn dead on. The survivors watched in awe as the monster's grip on the cliff loosened and it began to fall through the air. Braska gathered his strength and cast one last spell. A torrent of water ripped from the sky and pummeled the already dying monster. Just before the Sinspawn hit the ground, it erupted into a swirling cloud of pyre flies and vanished. Braska collapsed to his knees, panting, and leaning on his staff for support. Those who were still living stared at Lulu and Chappu, alone in the middle of the clearing. Chappu had collapsed and Lulu had tumbled from his grasp. She now stood rigid, staring at the cliff that the Sinspawn had been clinging to only a minute before. Braska slowly straightened and limped over to the little girl, looking weary.

"Lulu? Do you feel okay?" He bent over and frowned in concern. Lulu was frozen like a statue- she didn't move, she didn't blink, she didn't even breathe. Chappu managed to stagger back to his feet and over to his friend.

"Lu… look at me Lu…" Lulu moved then, as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground. Chappu gasped and tugged on Braska's robes urgently.

"Mr. Braska! The poison! Lu tripped on one of the spikes! The poison!" Braska managed to figure out what Chappu was saying when he noticed the fetid slime that was slowly being absorbed into Lulu's leg, then suddenly stood straight again, all his fatigue forgotten.

"Everyone who touched one of those spikes, come over here right now!" Villagers came running from every direction, and Chappu suddenly found himself in one of Wakka's bear hugs.

"Chappu! Thank Yevon you still alive!" Wakka's flaming hair was messier than ever, and his cheeks were streaked with tears.

"I thought you was dead too! But you still alive, ya?" Chappu blinked, still somewhat dazed.

"Whaddya mean, you thought I was dead too?" Wakka fell silent for a second, then hugged his brother even tighter.

"Everybody's dead Chappu! Mom! Dad! Everybody!" Chappu could have sworn his heart stopped for a moment, before he was plunged into darkness.

Chappu blinked and sat up, clutching his head.

"Uhh… I feel like a shoopuf sat on my head…"

Wakka managed a half-smile and replied, "That makes two of us." Chappu looked around, finally recognizing where he was. He and his brother were lying on straw pallets in a corner of the temple's main room, next to the rest of the surviving villagers and the wounded. Chappu, suddenly forgetting his throbbing head, leapt to his feet and looked around frantically.

"Where's Lu?!" Wakka's face fell and he pointed across the room. Chappu sprinted over and fell to his knees, next to a girl that he vaguely recognized as Lulu. Her face looked pallid, especially in the flickering torchlight, her face and arms were smudged with dirt, and her swollen leg was wrapped in blood-stained bandages.

"Damn…" Chappu squeezed his eyes shut and pounded the floor with his fist, feeling absolutely helpless.

"Dammit!"

"Are you okay, Chappu?" Chappu looked over his shoulder and sighed as Yuna, Braska's four-year-old daughter, frowned at him in concern.

"Oh, hey Yuna…" Yuna kneeled down beside Chappu and clasped her hands together.

"Lulu is sick… lots of people are sick…" Chappu glanced at Yuna and noticed the dark circles under her eyes, and the way she was slumping.

"Have you been up all night?"

"No," Yuna lied.

"Of course not…" Chappu glared at her sternly and tears started squeezing their way out of Yuna's eyes.

"Daddy has been teaching me magic… and I was trying to help…" Chappu sighed and hugged Yuna gently.

"You shouldn't worry… your dad can take care of everybody…" Yuna shook her head.

"But he's busy. He's in the Oyster of Trials…" Wakka walked up behind Yuna and sat down next to her.

"She means the Cloister of Trials." Chappu stared at the door at the top of the staircase. Only summoners were supposed to go in there.

"Mr. Braska is trying to become a summoner?" Wakka and Yuna both nodded.

"Yes. That's why I've been trying to help… because daddy is too busy to help people…" Yuna stared down at her clasped hands and took a deep breath.

"I'm tired, but I'm gonna keep trying to help." Chappu opened his mouth to protest, but Wakka put his hand on his shoulder and they both watched Yuna. The little girl held her hands flat over Lulu, palms down, and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. A brilliant, white light eminated from Yuna's hands, then quickly died and Yuna flopped to the floor. Wakka helped Yuna sit up while Chappu bit his lip and stared intently at Lulu's leg. Little by little, the swelling slowly subsided. Chappu gently unwrapped the bandages, heaving a heavy sigh of relief when there was nothing but a tender red mark on Lulu's leg. Suddenly, there was a thud, and every head in the temple turned to see Braska collapsed at the top of the stairs. Yuna gasped and scrambled up the stairs, and Braska smiled and patted her head.

"I've done it, Yuna. I have become a summoner."