The Birth of Pain
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
A/N: Sorry for the wait, I don't have internet access so I can only post when I'm at work. Also, I had a chapter done which I was planning on posting for a while but then I realized it was too much of fast-forward and that I needed something in the middle. This chapter is twice as long as usual but a bit more hurried and therefore not as good (in my opinion) I promise that the story will pick up after this.
Despite Commander Ralleth's threat that squad 27 would be resuming all of its duties, including long-range patrol, their assignment the next day was the relatively simple rounds of the city. City-guard was usually the warrior-monks duty of choice. Bevelle's atmosphere was always subdued, weighted down by its own grandeur as well as the watchful eye of Yevon, made palpable by the shadow of the temple which touched every part of Bevelle at some point in the day like a colossal sundial. There was only one time that most warrior-monks wished for another duty, any duty, even a backwater island in the most Yevon-forsaken corner of Spira rather than the uneventful rounds of the Bevelle streets.
The steeple of St. Bevelle was a visible symbol of the city's vulnerability. Like a lightening rod attracts the fury of the storm, the great capital of Bevelle was an attractor for the most volatile force Spira: Sin.
Using Yevon-endorsed machina, the warrior-monks of the city were on constant lookout for signs of Sin, ready to give the order that would recall every warrior-monk within two days of the capital to defend the city. Yet no matter how many defenders there were it was never enough to prevent damage to Bevelle. Even the guardian wyrm, Evrae, could do little to lower the death toll for with all its power, the entity was little match against Sin. The price to defending the city during those times was always great, but it was a price they were forced to pay, again and again, with only the too brief respite of the Calm to allow them to go on with their lives.
However, today was not one of those days. The sun shone brightly, casting the illusion that Sin was far away, if not some bad dream and for once Auron's thoughts were not on the defense of Bevelle.
Rather it was the perplexing black mage that had so recently joined their ranks. They had not been more than 20 feet apart the entire day yet she had not said a word except to him except for "yes, sir" or "no, sir". It was as if they had never met. Once he had tried to instigate a conversation himself but she had waved him away, saying only that they could talk later.
Sure enough, as the changing of the guard brought the squad 27 back to the barracks, Leyla gave him no time to do more than return his katana to the armory before dragging him back outside. He briefly wondered why he was doing this but decided with a mental shrug that it wasn't as if he had anything else to do. Kinoc would invariably be on his way to one of the bars in the lower city, a pastime that Auron had never developed a fondness for, and Braska was away on one of his frequent trips to the Al Bhed Home. All that left was showing the new recruit around the city and it was not as if that were a particularly odious task, he thought to himself, once more sizing up the undeniably attractive mage.
"We have a few hours of daylight left," Leyla observed, tugging at the brim of her huge hat as she gazed up at the afternoon sky. "That should be enough time to get to know each other."
"Get to know each other?" Auron remarked, "I thought I was giving you a tour of the city."
"There's that too, but Commander Ralleth didn't tell me much about the squad except for your names and things like "Damn good fighter, but always has his head in the clouds," she finished in a gruff voice.
Auron humph-ed. That sounded like Serrid, the cadet who had replaced Dumoc who had fallen to the flans at Macalania. "We can start the south end. Warrior-monks spend most of their time off-duty there. I assume you're already familiar with the temple?" She nodded and he began to walk towards the lift that would take them to the lower part of the city.
For a while they hardly spoke, the silence punctuated only by comments from Auron as he pointed out the various bars and shops frequented by the officials of Bevelle. Just ahead he saw Kinoc entering a door to one of the bars and Leyla noticed it only a moment after he did. "I know him. Kinoc, isn't it? Commander Ralleth said he was the second-best man in the squad."
"Do you want to go inside?" Auron asked. They had been walking for more than an hour with nothing to drink after a full day's patrol. Though he would never admit it he was beginning to feel a little worn out himself and he could only imagine what it was like for someone unaccustomed to the rigors of the warrior-monks duties.
Leyla looked up at him from under the brim of her hat, her lips upturned in the tiniest of smiles. "Let's."
It was still light out so the bar was nowhere close to its maximum capacity. Dotted around the large common room was a fair number of warrior- monks who were either already off duty or taking a break. Stretching across the wall closest to the door was a long bar where Kinoc was talking animatedly to Serrid. Above it was a large sphere screen that could be seen from all corners of the room. During the blitzball season the noise from the screen drowned all but the loudest conversations and those were usually cheers or bets on the various favorites. Since Bevelle did not have its own team, the warrior-monks were a diverse lot of fans, some cheering for their home team, others for whichever one struck their fancy at the time.
At the moment the screen was blessedly silent and Auron led Leyla to a small booth in the corner of the common room. On his way there Kinoc spotted him out of the corner of his eye. "Auron, my friend! What do we have here?" Auron waved Leyla off towards the table and turned back to Kinoc. "You could have given us some time to try our own luck, Auron," Kinoc said, winking suggestively. "Hardly fair for you to snatch her up before giving us a chance."
"Try away. I'm only showing her around the city." Auron said frankly.
"Of course you are," Kinoc said. "But she is a pretty one, isn't she? Truly Yevon must be smiling on us," He did a quick prayer but there was a hint of sacrilege about the way the grin stayed on the corner of his lips. "Well, best not to keep your lady waiting," Kinoc said nodding toward the table. Auron turned and found himself face to face with Leyla, who was now openly grinning.
"I-I thought..." Auron began but Leyla only shrugged and went to sit down.
"I apologize for Kinoc," Auron said, catching up to her.
"For what? I'll have just have water, thank you," she said to the bartender. Auron ordered the same, more interested in quenching his thirst than anything else.
Leyla pressed the cool glass against her forehead for a moment before taking a sip. "Mmm, that's better. So tell me, Auron, do you have any family in Bevelle?"
Auron stared into his glass for a moment, observing the magnified grain of the wood through the bottom. "My parents died a few years ago. Natural causes, strangely enough. I have an older brother who's with the Crusaders but I haven't heard from him in some time. I'm sure I would have heard something if he was dead."
She took another sip, "That's nice," Auron gave her a somewhat startled look, "To hear about a family who has not lost someone to Sin. It's so rare these days," Leyla explained. She folded her hands on the table and lowered her lids as if lost in thought. Auron wondered if he was supposed to say something in return. He had never been one for small talk but perhaps she was waiting for him to ask after her family for some reason.
"Have you lost family to Sin?" he asked and as soon as the words left his mouth he cursed his own stupidity. No matter how common, the loss of loved- ones to Sin was always painful.
"Yes," she said, her voice soft and emotionless. Auron opened his mouth to tell her he hadn't meant to bring up a painful subject but she went on. "My oldest sister was living on Besaid with my parents and her family when Sin attacked last month. They say that the Crusaders used Yevon-sanctioned flame-throwing machina to drive Sin away... but that, combined with the wind," she closed her eyes, as if she could see the scene playing itself out in her mind, "set the village afire. Those who were not killed by Sin were forced to flee their homes. Some did not make it out, including my family. Only my little niece, Lulu, survived. She said that all she could remember was coming home to find the village under attack. She tried to get inside her house, where she would have been burned alive, but a boy stopped her and brought her to the temple," Auron watched in horror as a tear slid down Leyla's cheek. She sniffed and wiped it away with a long gold- embroidered sleeve.
"I was still in Kilika when I heard of Sin's attack. It took a week for any ships to dare the voyage so I could not make it for the sending. I was going to offer to take my niece in but then I got word of your black mage's death. I had been a reserve for over a year so I had no choice but to come. The temple said that Lulu would be in good hands," She wiped away the last remnant of her tears and offered a shaky smile, "Which is why I was so shamefully late. You see there were still some matters that my sister and I had to attend to. I came as quickly as I could after that."
She feels guilty because after most of her family died she couldn't make it on time? Auron wondered, aghast. He had known some warrior-monks to give up their profession entirely after such a disaster struck. That she had come at all was wonder.
"My other sister, Nuada, was afraid that the temples might tempt Lulu away from becoming a black mage. But I doubt she has anything to worry about. Lulu's only five but she already plays with moogles as if they were dolls," she smiled.
"Another black mage?" Auron asked leaping at a chance to get off the terrible subject of her family's deaths.
"My family comes from a long line of black mages. It's a tradition to train the girls in black magic, as well as name them some variation of our most famous ancestor, Lilium," Leyla said.
"Lilium?" Auron said, trying to recall where had had heard the name when suddenly it struck him, "You mean Summoner Ohalland's guardian? You're descended from her?"
"Not directly. She was my many-times over great-aunt. You could say she left quite an impression with us," Leyla reminisced, "It was said that she was Lord Ohalland's lover as well as his guardian. She died alongside him, during their final battle with Sin. In addition to being black mages, we are encouraged to take on the guardianship of summoners, or to become warrior-monks."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Auron wondered aloud. It was fascinating, easily the most fascinating family history he had ever heard but that along with the death of her family seemed a very private thing to be telling a near-stranger. Come to think of it, he too had told her a great deal more about himself than he had told, say, Kinoc on his first day.
Leyla paused, not the least bit taken aback. "I'm not sure. Perhaps soon we will find out," and with that she stood and kissed him on the cheek. "I think I can find my own way back. Until tomorrow."
For a long time after she had left he sat there with his hand pressed against his cheek. The next day he showed her more of Bevelle yet despite Kinoc's insinuations, none of the other warrior-monks made any move on the black mage. If he hadn't known any better, he would say that with that parting kiss she had marked him as her own.
But of course that was ridiculous.
A/N: I really don't like this chapter but it was necessary for transition and to understand some background. Leyla is not related to Lulu for any other reason than to make a connection between the fact that both Lulu and Paine have crimson eyes.