Lulu hugged what was left of her moogle doll to her chest, staring out to the ocean. She was standing on the beach, watching, as the remaining villagers threw lilies into the water to represent the souls lost in the Sinspawn's devastating attack. Summoner Braska closed his eyes and began the dance that was a crucial part of the Sending ceremony. He danced to ensure that all the lost souls would be sent to the Farplane, to ensure that the spirits of their loved ones wouldn't be transformed into fiends. Chappu wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. Lulu leaned her head against his shoulder and tried to hold back the tears that had never stopped flowing since her mother's death. Braska paused for a moment to take a breath, then continued the dance, trying to keep back tears of his own. Lulu watched him intently, remembering something he had told her on one of those  visits to the temple, before her life had been shattered...

"You'll be learning lots of different things, in addition to magic, Lulu. When a person dies, there's a

ceremony you must perform called the Sending, which includes a special dance. If you don't perform the Sending, then the souls of the dead will become fiends." Lulu blinked innocently.

"Will I have to learn the Sending dance?" Braska nodded.

"Yes, although you may never use it. The custom is for a summoner or a White mage to perform the ceremony, because they are the bringers of light and peace. A Black mage like you is a bringer of death and destruction, so Black mages don't perform the ceremony very often. But, as a last resort, you will have to dance the Sending, so it will be required of you to learn it."

Lulu squeezed her eyes shut and whispered to herself, "I will never do that dance... Not for anyone... I will never, ever, dance..." The setting sun left a gold-plated sea behind it, gold decorated with hundreds of pearl-white lilies. It was a sight that was both beautiful and hideous.

Lulu tightened her grip on the older woman in front of her as she bounced up and down on the back of a chocobo. Without any family left in Besaid, and no one able to care for her, she had been sent to Macalania ten years early. Sent away from her home. Away from her friends. Away from Chappu. He had given her a parting gift and promised to come see her when he was old enough to travel by himself. Lulu glanced down, watching the gold and silver chains swing from side to side on her chest. It had been one of her mother's most precious possessions- a finely wrought, gold necklace, with a tiny charm in the shape of a sun dangling from it. One of the villagers had noticed it when they'd retrieved Anama's body, and it was only fair for the little girl to have something to remember her mother by. Chappu's mother also had a charm necklace, this one of silver, with a silver moon hanging from it. Wakka still cried when anything reminded him of their parents, so Chappu had given the necklace to her, for safekeeping.

"Someday, when the pain isn't so strong, you can give it back to me," he'd told her as he gave her one last hug. Lulu felt a dull ache in her chest when she thought about him. Only two days' travel from Besaid, she missed Chappu terribly.

"We're finally here!" The Chocobo Knight in front of Lulu pointed in front of them and smiled in relief.

There was Macalania temple, surrounded by a barren landscape of snow and ice. Lulu's new home. A stark contrast from the sunny, balmy climate of Besaid. The Chocobo Knight stopped in front of the temple and swung down from her mount, pausing to set Lulu on her feet. There were no bags for the older woman to carry. Her passenger owned nothing. The great, heavy doors groaned as they opened, and Lulu ran into the temple, accompanied by a biting wind. It was a little warmer inside, with torches casting their light and heat about the room. Lulu slumped against a wall and shivered, trying to fend off the cold.

"Are you Lulu, from Besaid?" Lulu glanced up and swallowed nervously as a short, balding man glared down at her.

"Y-yes..."

"You will address me as sir, young lady," the man replied angrily. Lulu nodded meekly and stared at the stone floor.

"Yes sir." The man wrinkled his nose in distaste and jerked her chin up to make her look at him.

"Hard to believe some simpering little girl like you could have the kind of talent that Braska reported. Of course, that man has always been somewhat of an idiot." Lulu jerked her chin back indignantly and folded her arms in fury.

"You're a bad man to talk about Mr. Braska like that! He's a good man, and a summoner too, and he's going to beat Sin!" The balding one seemed taken aback, before his eyes narrowed and he raised his hand to slap her.

"Why you little-"

"May I ask why you are making Lulu's arrival so unpleasant?" The bald one straightened quickly, his

face flushed.

"Sir, this child was being very rude to me, her superior. With an attitude like that, she won't make a

proper mage." A slim, much younger man, with sandy hair and cobalt eyes stepped up to the older one and glared down at him.

"I will be the judge of that. Besides, you're supposed to be leading the second level classes, are you not?" The shorter man stuttered for a few seconds before lowering his eyes and slinking off.

"Forgive me, Sir." The younger one nodded his head and smirked.

"I thought so." He then turned to Lulu and knelt down so that he was at her eye-level.

"I'm sorry Priest Yanka was giving you such a hard time. You are Lulu from Besaid, aren't you?" Lulu relaxed and allowed herself a small smile.

"Yes sir." The young man smiled, and somehow it extended all the way to his eyes, giving him a startling resemblance to Braska.

"Please, don't call me sir. I am High Priest Oneron, the one in charge of this temple. I, and a few other priests, will be training you these next few years. Today, however, I think we'll let you rest. We can start acquainting you with the temple and your lessons tomorrow." Lulu heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe life as a mage wouldn't be so bad after all.

Lulu pressed her nose to the window and stared outside at the empty, glittering landscape that surrounded the temple, before finally giving into the dense forest that isolated Macalania from the rest of the world. This was so different from her home… In Besaid, if you climbed to the top of the cliffs, you could see all the way to Luca, and the warm, fragrant breeze would blow your hair around and the world would seem so peaceful… Lulu glanced up and the empty void in her heart grew larger as she realized that she couldn't see the sun any longer. Thick, grey clouds covered the sun, allowing only a few golden rays to shine through, and even those were weak and dull. Lulu began to wonder if she would ever feel that gentle warmth on her face again, but the door opened behind her and she spun around.

"Hey, you're Lulu, right?" Lulu nodded, staring in admiration at the older girl that had just entered the room. She was tall, with shining auburn hair that fell nearly to her waist, emerald green eyes, and she wore a flowing, light blue robe with a white sash tied around her waist, fur-lined boots that nearly reached her knee, and a silver bracelet adorned with sapphires.

"Nice to meet you Lulu," the girl said, smiling and holding out her hand.

"My name is Neela. I'll be your roommate, and I'll be showing you the ropes around here." Lulu's eyes widened.

"I get to share a room with you?!" Neela nodded.

"Yup. And I'll be helping you find your lessons and stuff for the next week or so, but after that, you're on your own. We won't be sharing too many lessons." Lulu felt slightly disappointed that she couldn't be with Neela all the time. They hadn't known each other too long, but Lulu already felt a strong bond of friendship with her.

"Why won't you be with me?" Neela smiled again and put her hand on Lulu's shoulder, guiding her out of the room and down a hall.

"Well, we will be sharing some classes, like Scriptures, Zoology, and stuff like that, but most of them will be different. You're a lot younger than me, so you'll be starting off in the first level magic classes, while I'm at the second level. We might get to share practice sessions every now and then though." They turned and came into a room that was full of clothing. Robes, tunics, and coats of every size and color were piled higher than Lulu's head, while baskets of thread and needles sat next to them. Several huge, iron cauldrons stood in a depression in the stone floor, near the back of the room. There was a large drain in the center of the pit, and a number of metal tongs lying beside a huge pile of firewood up against the wall.

"This is, as you've probably guessed, the laundry and sewing room." Neela wove her way through the heaps of clothing, to a small shelf  near the cauldrons. She pulled down a wicker basket and looked at Lulu.

"What are you training for? I don't think you've told me." Lulu shook her head.

"I didn't, sorry. I'm supposed to learn to be a Black mage." Neela nodded.

"That's right, I think I heard someone mention we were going to get another Black mage soon. The last one finished her training months ago and left." After digging through the basket for a little bit, Neela pulled out another bracelet, also of silver, but this one was decorated with pieces of a black, glassy stone that Lulu didn't recognize.

"These bracelets identify us as either a White or a Black mage. White mages get a bracelet with sapphires, like this one," Neela explained, holding up her wrist.

"Black mages get a bracelet like this," she continued, sliding it onto Lulu's wrist.

"The stone is called obsidian. It's a volcanic rock, and it looks a lot like black glass." Lulu frowned as the silver band dangled off her wrist, threatening to fall off.

"Neela, this is too big. I think I need a different-" Lulu jumped as the silver suddenly contracted to fit tightly around her wrist, as though it were alive. Neela smiled, amused, as Lulu started pulling at the bracelet.

"It's enchanted silver, Lulu. Once you put it on, it adjusts to fit the wearer. It won't come off until you finish your training." Lulu blinked as she began to think about this.

"What if it gets all crusty, or what if it breaks?" Neela shook her head and stood up, taking Lulu's hand and pulling back across the room.

"It can't break, and it can't get tarnished, if that's what you mean. That's part of the enchantment. Now, let's see if we can find you some clothes." Neela pushed aside one of the larger piles of clothes to reveal a door, muttering curses under her breath.

"Stupid people… always blocking this damn door…" Finally, Neela was able to shove the door open, revealing a small, dimly lit room, with robes dyed every shade of blue and purple hanging on the walls.

"Alright, so you're a Black mage, first level…" Neela walked over to a group of lavender robes, flipping through them and wrinkling her nose as dust began to cloud the air.

"Here we are!" Neela turned around and handed Lulu several of the smaller garments and two black sashes, then directed her out of the room.

"Those should be enough for you. Every few days, everyone comes in here after dinner and we all do our laundry. You're responsible for your own things, so make sure you get all your clothes washed. If it's not laundry night, we come in here and repair the priests' robes, or some of our old ones that have been damaged. I think tonight's a laundry night, so you'll be able to get the dust out of those robes before you wear them." Lulu opened her mouth to tell Neela that she didn't know how to wash clothes, but Neela seemed to know her problem without being told.

"I'll help you with it tonight, don't worry. I'll try to show you all your instructors at dinner, and if we have time, I'll introduce you." Neela opened another door and Lulu realized with a start that they were back in the room she'd been waiting in.

"These dorm rooms are really cramped, but neither of us have too much junk, so we'll probably have a little more room than the other girls." Cramped was an understatement. Lulu had been too depressed to notice her surroundings before, but now that she was feeling somewhat better, she glanced around the room and took it all in. It was reasonably long, but very narrow, with smooth stone forming the walls and the floor, and a single window providing light. There were small mattresses on either side of the room, covered in heavy blankets and furs, and two rickety, wooden writing desks, each with its own wobbly stool, to the side of the window. A jar of ink and an old, bent quill lay on top of a small pile of thin papers on both desks, and a candle sat on a small nightstand next to each mattress.

"Not exactly the lap of luxury," Neela commented dryly, "but you'll get used to it. It does start to feel like home after a while." She relaxed on her mattress and smiled at Lulu.

"I'm just glad to finally have some company. It gets really lonely, having a room to yourself." Lulu deposited her new clothes on the mattress that Neela wasn't occupying and looked around.

"You stayed in here alone? How long?" Neela stared up at the ceiling and her brow wrinkled as she tried to think.

"I think its been about… oh, three years now."

Lulu looked at her curiously and asked, "How old were you when you came here?" Neela sighed and continued to stare at the ceiling.

"I'd just turned seven."

Lulu squinted and counted on her fingers, then looked back up at her friend and exclaimed, "You're ten?! Wow! That's really old!" Neela laughed and cocked an eyebrow at Lulu.

"You think so, eh? Well, by the time I'm finished training, I'll probably be turning 18." Lulu scratched her head.

"How old will I be when I finish?" Neela frowned and crossed her arms.

"That's a hard question Lulu. You see, you were sent here very early. Earlier than me, even. Usually, a girl doesn't come here until she's ten. Training usually takes 11 years, so most mages are 21 by the time they're fully trained. However, you were reported to have incredible potential, so you might be able to finish your training faster than the others. It also depends on how much you train. You're technically finished with your training when you learn all the third level spells, and each level takes a little over three years to complete. However, if you want to train more, you can stay behind as an assistant instructor and study the fourth and fifth level spells in your free time. It's really hard to say when you'll become a full Black mage." Lulu was about to ask another question, when someone began to ring what sounded like a huge bell. Neela's eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.

"That means dinner's ready! We'd better go wash, or else everyone will get in line before us!" Before Lulu could protest, Neela had grabbed her hand and was practically dragging her down the hall. They skidded to a stop near an alcove that had a small fountain in it.

"Quick," Neela panted, "wash your hands! And your face too!" Lulu gave Neela a questioning look, to which she replied, "The priests have a thing for cleanliness. Don't ask questions. Nobody knows the answers." As soon as Lulu had splashed water on her face and rubbed her hands clean of dirt, Neela grabbed her wrist again and sped down the hall. They came to a stop in an arched stone doorway, and Neela heaved a sigh of relief.

"Whew, we made it!" Lulu peeked into the room and frowned when she saw that there were only a few old men in the room.

"Where's everybody else?" Neela turned around and pointed down the hall at another 13 or 14 girls that were sprinting down the hall, pushing and shoving each other and shouting insults.

"Everybody else is right there."