Chapter 2: The Boy and the Dragon

Lesca walked home, thoughts whirling through her head.

I wish I could have seen those long ago times... it just seemed so magical.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she nearly tripped over a little boy standing on the pathway.

"Oh! Excuse me," Lesca exclaimed.

"It's quite all right," said the boy. He was rather oddly attired-- he wore a purple robe with a hood which obscured his face.

"You're different," the boy said suddenly.

"Huh?" Lesca said, confused.

"You... think about things. You don't always just accept things at face value."

"Oh... um, thanks, I guess..."

"You have the potential."

"The potential to what?"

"To set things right in your world. To reveal the truth. To become a summoner."

"What are you talking about?" Lesca was shocked. "There...there are no fayth anymore! Summoners are of the past; this is the Age of Machina!"

"You don't truly believe that, do you?" the boy asked. "You long for days long gone."

"You... you really shouldn't be talking about that," Lesca said, looking around nervously. However, no one was paying any attention to them.

"Why are you afraid?" the boy asked.

"I'm not!" Lesca protested.

"What is it that you fear?"

"I...I fear nothing!"

"Think about these things. We will meet again," the boy said as he walked away.

Troubled, Lesca trudged home.

At dinner that night, Juno said, "Lesca, is something wrong?"

"Nothing, Mom. I'm just thinking."

"I know your father hasn't been around much lately," Juno said, incorrectly diagnosing the source of Lesca's troubled demeanor "but you have to understand that he's busy. There's a big project going on at the Zanarkand Machina Company, and he's been needing to put in extra hours."

"I know, Mom. I'm fine!" said Lesca, annoyed. "May I please be excused?"

Lesca's mother refrained from commenting on how little Lesca had eaten, and merely nodded.

As Lesca lay in bed that night, she couldn't stop thinking about the strange boy. His words spun in her head.

You have the potential.

What do you fear?

She tossed and turned, and finally fell into a fitful sleep.

But the boy appeared in her dreams.

"What are you doing here!" Lesca yelled at him. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

The boy just stared back.

"There are no summoners! There are no aeons! None!"

"Seek the truth, Lesca," the boy said. "Don't just repeat what you've been told."

"That is the truth!" Lesca cried. "As much as I wish it, the old days will never come back!"

"You're right," the boy said, "you can never bring back the old days."

"But," he continued, "There may come a time when you will need an aeon's strength. There are things that have been hidden from you, and you need to find the out the truth."

Suddenly, a great beast swooped down from the heavens and crashed down behind the boy. It was shimmering dark blue, and bird-like wings extended from its back. Strangest of all, a gold wheel hovered just behind the creature's back.

"Think about what I've told you, Lesca," the boy said. "If you want to help set things right, come talk to me.

You'll know where to find me," the boy said, and then Lesca woke up.

The light of morning shone in from her bedroom window. Lesca got up, put on a blue tank top shirt and teal capri pants, and walked downstairs.

"Lesca!" Juno cried. "Come look!"

Lesca rushed over into the living room. The spherescreen was set to a news channel. Her eyes widened as she realized what was on the screen...

Hovering above the Zanarkand council building was the creature from Lesca's dream.

The view switched to show a reporter. "We're reporting live from near the Zanarkand council building, which is currently threatened by a enormous fiend. Although the fiend has made no move to attack as of yet, it is likely only a matter of time. This fiend is considered to be a great threat to citizens, and it is advised that you remain within your homes. The Zanarkand Machina Company has generously volunteered the use of some of their security machina in order to deal with the threat and..." The woman seemed to be listening to her earphone, "the machina should be here shortly."

Lesca darted to the door.

"Lesca, what are you..." Juno asked. "Lesca, no!"

But the girl paid no heed to her mother's cry as she burst out into the street.

Fortunately, Lesca's home was situated relatively near to the council building, because Lesca doubted that any taxi would have driven her there, what with the reports about the 'fiend'. She ran as fast as she could, dodging the crowds, and got there in about five minutes, out of breath. The machina weapons from the ZMC were just being unloaded.

Suddenly, everything froze.

Lesca, stunned, looked around her. Nothing appeared to be moving except Lesca, the huge creature, and...

"You came," said the boy.

Lesca turned around to see the purple-hooded boy. She nodded.

"Is... is that an aeon?" she asked.

"Yes," said the boy, "That is an aeon."

"Then... are the rumors of a remaining fayth true?"

"They are," the boy said. "But this is not the aeon of that fayth."

Anticipating Lesca's next question, the strange boy continued. "This aeon is from a different Spira."

"A different Spira? What are you talking about?"

"There are many worlds out there, Lesca. There is more than one Spira. You see, in the Spira I come from, Yu Yevon never made peace with Bevelle. There was a great machina war, and Zanarkand was defeated." Lesca gasped, and the boy went on. "Yu Yevon was angry, and he was unwilling to let his Zanarkand fade into a mere memory. So he created a great fayth of Zanarkand's survivors in order to summon a Dream Zanarkand for all eternity. In order to protect this Dream Zanarkand, and protect himself as he summoned, he crafted a monstrous armor out of pyreflies. This we called, 'Sin'. Sin killed many of Spira's people, and Yu Yevon's daughter, Yunalesca, helped her father by ensuring that Sin's reign of terror would continue.

You see, Yunalesca knew that her father could always build a new Sin. The cycle could only be broken if Yu Yevon himself was destroyed. So she devised a way to destroy the armor without harming her father. This was called the Final Summoning.

The leaders of Spira were desperate. Yunalesca offered her knowledge of the Final Summoning, if the leaders would ensure her father's continued glory. They agreed, for although they knew that the Final Summoning would never destroy Sin permanently, surely a brief respite was better than none.

A religion was created around Yu Yevon. It forbade the use of machina, and taught that the Final Summoning was the only way to truly defeat Sin. It also taught that only through full atonement could Spira be truly freed of the menace. For 1000 years, Spira was caught in a spiral of death-- Sin killed people, and summoners trained to defeat Sin with the Final Summoning. But the Final Summoning caused the death of the summoner, and someone the summoner was close to would have to sacrifice themselves in order to create a fayth for the Final Summoning. But Sin always returned, and the spiral began anew. Until, one day, a summoner called Yuna broke all tradition and found a way to defeat Sin permanently. But she would never have thought to do something so radical without the guidance of a boy from the Dream Zanarkand... but that is another story. Sin was defeated, but Yu Yevon, desperate, tried to take refuge by possessing each of Yuna's aeons in turn. Yuna and her friends defeated the aeons and Yu Yevon, and Sin's reign of terror ended.

The fayth faded, and passed on to the Farplane."

"Oh," Lesca said. "That's... a pretty far-fetched story. But after seeing that," she gestured at the aeon, "I think I could believe anything. But can I ask how you got to this world?"

"The Farplane is what connects our worlds. Only those who no longer live are capable of establishing a path from one reality to another, although the living can pass through."

"Okay, I get it."

"Good. However, you have a mission to complete."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember your dream, Lesca. There are deceptions surrounding your world that have the potential to become as dangerous as the lies that Yunalesca started."

"I don't like the idea that my namesake or her father could do something like that, even in another Spira."

"Yuna was also named for Yunalesca. A name is just a name.

But that is not important right now. The question is, are you willing to seek the truth?"

Lesca paused. "Yes."

The boy smiled. "Then I will lend you the strength of my aeon, Bahamut."

"Your aeon? Then you're a..."

"Yes. I am a fayth," said the boy.

"Oh, before I do this," the boy continued, "there's a few things you should know.

First, when I give you my aeon, you will find it a draining experience. I want you to be prepared.

Second, when you obtain my aeon, the aeon overhead will disappear. This will likely cause much confusion. I recommend you get home quickly.

Third, I may not always be able to help you. I lend you my aeon's strength in order to help you save your world, but I am weary and long to rest. When your world is safe, I will return to the Farplane."

"Okay," Lesca said.

"One last thing," the fayth said. "Do not summon Bahamut unless you have true need. There are those who would not hesitate to kill you if they knew you could summon aeons. Be careful."

"I will be," Lesca assured him.

"All right then." The fayth flew forward and into Lesca. She grunted and fell to her knees.

Suddenly, the world started to move again. People gasped as they realized that the great beast flying above the council building had suddenly disappeared. Remembering the fayth's advice, Lesca staggered to her feet and headed home.