In the Summoner's Shadow
Part II Chapter V
Entry Word: assassin
Function: noun
Text: a person who kills another person shot down by an unknown assassin
Synonyms killer, murderer
Related Words butcher, executioner, slaughterer, slayer
Sonja sat near Rye on a porch swing, watching the outskirts of town for movement. Rye was whittling a little figurine out of red oak. Sonja watched him for a few moments, his strong, precise strokes of the blade in his hand took offclumps of wood, transfiguringit from a chunk of kindling to the makings of a small statuette of something or other… she didn't recognize it yet.
After a few moments, she became bored with that and turned her attention to the streets of Macalania. Something odd caught her eye. She stared at it until it came into focus.
"Hey, Rye, I think we found him!" She smiled. "Or, did he find us?"
Rye blinked and looked where she had her gaze set. He could see nothing.
"It amazes me, the sensitivity of your senses…" he muttered and continued to whittle. "So, plan A or plan B?" he asked.
"Um… I'm leaning towards C…"
"C?" he asked.
"Yeah… just play along…" she smirked. He shrugged and turned his attention back to his work. When the Summoner target came closer into view, Sonja giggled and ran out towards him, coming to a skidding stop infront of him.
"Lord Lucientio?" she asked happily. The Summoner before her blinked and looked down.
"Um… yes, that's me… can I help you?" he asked. His guardian almost reacted when Sonja jumped up and down happily, clapping her hands wildly and hollering like a banshee.
"This is so cool! I never thought I'd ever meet you face-to-face!" she smiled. "Wait till I tell my Grandpa!"
"Um… would you like me to come with you?" he asked, not really sure how to respond to that. She looked up at him with eyes that seemed to beg for his presence.
"You'd do that!" she asked. Lucientio nodded. She giggled and grabbed his hand before running back towards Rye. Lucientio yelped, then chuckled as he had to run hunched over to allow her to lead him by the hand. His guardian followed behind.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" she shouted. Rye looked up, figuring that was his cue.
"Grandpa! Look! It's Lord Lucientio! In person!" she panted, trying to regain her breath.
"Is it, now?" Rye smiled and put his carving aside. "Greetings, my lord," he stood and made the prayer sign. Lucientio returned it and nodded his hello.
"Remember when you said if I was a good girl, then I'd get to do something I always wanted to do?" Sonja asked Rye in her childish voice. He looked down at her and smiled. "Well, it happened!"
Rye chuckled and patted her head. "So it did… you always did think of him as your favorite Summoner, didn't you?"
"Yep! And I cleaned my room and was nice to the other kids in town, and helped Miss Bonnie down the street with her flowers and did everything you told me to! I was a good girl, wasn't I?" she asked with a wide smile.
"Yes, you were!" Rye smiled. He then looked up at Lucientio. "She always wanted to meet you… even more so; she wanted to accompany you,"
"What? Oh, no, sweet thing, a Pilgrimage is not something for a child to journey… it's for grown-ups and big girls and boys…" Lucientio knelt down to be Sonja's height. She looked at him with sad eyes.
"But… but…"
"I'm sorry… you can't do that… you can stay here, and be a good girl more, and I promise I'll defeat Sin, just for you!" he smiled. That didn't seem to do it for Sonja. She stuck out her bottom lip, and gave the firm impression that she was about to let loose a waterfall of tears. Rye sighed and put his hand on Lucientio's shoulder.
"Excuse me, my lord… may I talk to you in private?" he asked. Lucientio nodded and followed him a little ways away from the porch, where Xiv, the guardian, stood, comforting Sonja.
"My granddaughter there, the baby girl of my adopted son, is dying of an incurable illness… no one has ever seen it or heard of it, and no one knows how to fight it off. We only know she has barely enough time left. Please, if you would… help me out here…" Rye faked.
"Help you with what?" Lucientio asked.
"I can't afford to keep her anymore. Her medicines and health problems are costing so much that even the three season's pay her father left us from his Blitzing career has dwindled away to nothing but a few Gil. I can't even put enough food on the table for myself, much less a growing young lass with needs for intensive medical care…"
"I think I see where you're going with this… one less mouth to feed, shelter, and care for puts more Gil in your pocket for your own health, right? Well, old timer, if you were any younger, I would tell you to get a job, but seeing how elderly you are… what would you like me to do? I can't kill some one that young… it goes against my morals, not to mention religion."
"No, my lord! I wouldn't dream of you ever killing her! Listen, it was her dream from the day she knew what they did to become a guardian. You only have one, apparently. Another wouldn't hurt, especially not one as young and full of energy as her,"
"So, you want me to take her with me?" Lucientio asked.
"If you would be so kind as to do so…" Rye nodded.
"You said something about her having to be on medication. What about that?" he asked.
"True, she'll die quicker without them, but all the sooner to end her misery. She'd love to die at the side of her favorite Summoner…"
Lucientio looked down at his hands. He sighed a few times, thinking over this old Ronso's predicament, and the plight of this young girl crying on the porch not too far away from him.
"Fine… I'll do it…" he nodded sadly and gave Rye a determined handshake.
"Just… keep her safe, and if the illness gets too bad, don't wait for a fiend or her body to do her in. End the pain yourself, if you can bear to."
Lucientio nodded and walked back to the porch with Rye. He smiled down at Sonja. He poked her head gently. When she looked up, he laughed.
"What is this? Tears?" he asked, kneeling down and wiping wetness from her cheeks with his thumb. She blinked and looked at him, surprised.
"You're not crying are you?" he asked with a deep tone. She shook her head.
"No… big girls don't cry, and I'm a big girl!" she stomped her feet on the ground. He laughed.
"Of course not! What's your name, big girl?" he asked. She sniffed once and wiped her nose.
"My real name is Alee, but I like to jump around and sing a lot, so all my friends call me Cricket…" she told him. Rye blinked. 'Clever,' he thought. It was normal for the two to completely improvise acts to make their targets oblivious to the danger right under their noses, but he never saw such an act from the younger child, who would, as logic would denote, be less experienced in this sort of thing, yet it seemed so natural for her.
"Well, Cricket, as it would be, I'm in the market for another guardian. The roads from here on are very dangerous and I don't think just one guardian could take care of me by himself. Would you like to be my new guardian?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she nodded and clapped.
"Alright! Well, we can't wait long! Every second Sin is still out there, some one's in danger! We can't let people be in danger, can we?" he smiled and stood to his full height. Sonja smiled smugly.
"Nope! Can't be putting' people in danger!"
Rye laughed, though it was not a fake laugh, but a bona fide chortle at the irony behind what was said, and who of all Spira said it.
"Well, say good bye to your Grandpa, Cricket!" Xiv said, pushing her over to Rye. She hugged Rye and kissed his furry muzzle when he knelt down to her height.
"Bye bye, Grandpa!" she giggled and ran to Lucientio's side, who was already walking towards his next stop at the temple. Xiv put his hand on her shoulder and patted it.
"Welcome to the group, kiddo!" he smiled.
"Cricket, there isn't anything you want to bring with you first?" Lucientio asked. "Like, medicine?"
"No, we're all out, and Grandpa said we didn't have enough Gil to get anymore," she shook her head. She scratched at her ear, or more specifically, turned off a hidden communicator. Technology and machina… personally, she didn't see what was so wrong about it, but she trusted her father's teachings… somewhat… besides, it was such crappy technology she had a hard time making out what Rye said to Lucientio when they were but a mere four yards from her. That wasn't anything near serious enough to start a war like the one that supposedly happened all those years ago, was it?
The group walked for a while. Sonja kept up her veneer by slipping her small hand into Lucientio's large mitt. He looked down at her and sighed sadly before looking up at the temple before him.
"Cricket, I don't want you to go in there. It's dangerous. I'll leave you with Xiv in the entrance and he can tell you stories about all the previous Summoners and their guardians!" he explained.
"Okay!" she smiled. He looked down at her with sad eyes. She was so sweet… so trusting… so kind… so genteel… so loving… so innocent… so he thought…
"Excuse me, my lord?" she asked after a short while. He looked at her with a smile.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Have you ever met Lord Braska?" she asked. There was a feeling inside her that told her to ask of him. She could do nothing but comply.
"Lord Braska? Uh, yes… I have met him… we have this sort of rivalry race thing going on right now. We're trying to see who can defeat Sin first," he shrugged.
"That's kind of funny," she giggled childishly.
"Why do you ask?"
"Um… just curious, I suppose," she shrugged. Xiv looked down at her.
"He's a real nice guy… he just talks about his little girl too much, I think,"
"Girl? Not girls?" She asked. Xiv shook his head.
"No, he only has one," he told her, then blinked as she sighed. "Why, is something wrong?"
So he does believe I am dead… as I believed he was dead…
"N… no… I was just always told he had two daughters, that's all," she shrugged.
"You sure seem to know a lot about all the Summoners. Why is that?" Lucientio asked. "Just curious, I suppose," he added with a smile.
"Oh, nothing. I just like to know who's saving me from Sin," she smiled. Lucientio chuckled loudly and patted her head. Xiv laughed also and shook his head in hilarious despair.
"Grandpa and daddy never told me, and momma always told me not to ask, but what happens to a Summoner at the end of their Pilgrimage? Everyone always acts so sad when they talk about it, and I'm a curious kid!" she smiled. Half of this was her acting, but the other half was certified wonder. Braska never told her, Auron ignored her when she asked, and Yuna didn't seem to know, either. Not at that age, at least.
"Curiosity killed the Ronso," Xiv muttered and dropped his gaze. "You really shouldn't ask about something like that-"
"No, Xiv…" Lucientio interrupted. "It's okay… she's just trying to broaden her range of knowledge for her new job,"
"Yeah, what he said," she pointed to "her Summoner."
"I'll tell you later, and if I don't, you definitely find out…" Lucientio sighed and hung his head before smiling a fake smile and leading them into the temple. Sonja sat down against the wall. She looked up at Lucientio when he called her name.
"Cricket, come on,"
"But I thought you said you wanted me to stay here," she raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, but I'm wondering if that was the right thing to decide. I mean, I might need your help in there. You're a smart girl, and the Trials sure take a lot of brain power!" he smiled at her and held his hand out. She yawned and stretched. That definitely was not acting… she thought to herself.
"Actually, I'm really tired. I didn't get my nap today. Can I please stay here?" she asked, looking at him with tired eyes. He paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes, you may. We'll come wake you up afterwards," he told her and followed Xiv.
Sonja yawned and stretched again, popping her back. She lay down with her head on her arms while curling up in her cape. She was in the midst of drifting off when she heard a gruff voice speaking.
"Holy crap, another one of these things? How many more are there?" the voice asked. She absolutely ignored it and fluttered off into the first stages of sleep.
"Apparently several," another, younger voice replied, obviously annoyed. This voice popped Sonja out of her woozy state. She sat strait up and looked towards the entrance. A short, familiar chuckle sounded and her heart stopped mid-beat.
"Well, Jecht, good news on your part then! Only a few more after this, then its Sin itself."
"My lord," the previous voice started, but the oldest voice interrupted.
"Auron, please… drop it,"
Sonja's mouth hung open. Oh no! What if he sees me! Wait! I want him to see me! WAIT! NO! He can't see me! Not like this! Not as an assassin! She gasped when she heard footsteps coming towards her. What to do! What to do! She asked herself, but came up with no answer.
All she could do was stare at the entrance as her beloved father walked in and…
Stared…
Directly…
At her…
Daddy…
Lord, I feel so bloody evil! I love it! I guess here is where I should introduce my new muse... he's taken over the task of making sure I write on this story... Say hello, Phen...
Phen: Rammu, Phen!
If you can't tell... he's a bloody blonde haired freak of nature! Why he developed as my muse is beyond me... --'
Phen: Famm, po lusbynyceuh, E syga oui muug cusa fryd Case-hunsym...
I suppose that's true... though NO ONE is as weird as you, Phen...
Phen: Dryd'c lyica E ys BRUAHEQ, DRA SYT CLEAHDECD!
Emphasis on "mad!"
Phen: Sucd tavehydmo! E luhlin!
Anyhow... I gotta go do stuff now... Phen, be a sweet heart and give the instructions... Heh! Phen, a sweet heart! Haha! I've lost it...
Phen: Famm, Myteac yht Kahdc, ed fuimt tu TheCat y knayd taym uv bneta yht camv-acdaas du kad y najeaf! Yht, E's hud dryd knayd yd luhjehlehk ran, pid dra suna najeafc cra kadc, dra suna megamo cra ec du bucd ib y haf lrybbea, cu ev oui naymmo mega Cuhzy'c recduno, drah oy haat du najeaf! Ur, yht po dra fyo, ev oui lyh'd ihtancdyht fryd E's cyoehk, E RYDA OUI, OY PMUUTO OAJUHEDA! Pid, ihdem oui maynh drec Brah-dycdel myhkiyka, oui lyh dnyhcmyda ed yd http/ Yht, zicd yc y meddma nasehtan, bmayca najeaf! Ed fuimt pa Brah-vmebbeh'-dycdel ev oui tet... Dryhg oui, yht ryja y hela meva!