Chapter 5: Seeking Beyond

Deep within the Farplane, the fayth were still convening.

"I know that it is necessary that Lesca develop her own strength as well as her skills as a summoner," said Shiva's fayth. "The question is, when should one of us give her a second aeon, and who should it be?"

Bahamut's fayth thought. "She should probably be a good bit into her training. She needs all of her strength for now. We will keep an eye on her, as for who... any volunteers?"

The fayth of Ixion stepped forward. "I will."

"Good. Then it's settled," said the fayth of Bahamut.

The next two weeks were mostly the same. Wake up, go out into the woods, fight fiends until she was tired and sore, and fall asleep, only to wake up the next day. Lesca grew stronger by the day, and was soon catching up to Paine in regards to fighting fiends.

"Okay," Paine said, "You've come a long way from when we first started. Very far. Very, very far."

"All right. I get the point," Lesca grumbled. "I never really needed to know how to fight back home. There weren't that many fiends, and those were always taken care of by the machina."

"So, now that you've gotten the use of sharp implements down, perhaps we should move on to magic."

"Sounds good."

"I must admit, I'm not the best mage. I'm decent, but I really prefer using a sword."

"Okay..."

"Now, switch to the Black Mage dressphere."

Lesca did so. "Wait..." the Zanarkand girl said suddenly. "Why didn't you spherechange?"

"Dresspheres can enhance your abilities... but sometimes you can learn the more basic abilities permanently. I can use first-level magic without the dressphere. That will be enough to demonstrate technique."

A Blue Elemental drifting lazily through the woods happened to pass near Paine and Lesca. "Ah," Paine said, "Here's the perfect target. You know about opposing elements, right?"

Lesca stared back blankly.

"Do they teach you anything in Zanarkand?" Paine asked.

"Well, no one really uses magic..."

Paine sighed. "Fire and ice are opposites. So are lightning and water. A fiend aligned with fire is often weak to ice, and vice versa. Same goes for lightning and water. There are also non-elemental magics, but I won't go into those just yet. Now, that fiend is water-aligned, so..."

"I use lightning?"

"Yes. Now, focus on the target."

"Okay..."

"Gather up your energy. Let it build up inside you."

"Okay..."

"Now, release it!"

A small fountain of water erupted from the ground. It can be difficult to read the emotions of an elemental-type fiend, but Paine could have sworn that this one looked smug.

"Lesca..."

"Sorry! I was just looking at the fiend, and it made me think of water, and..."

Paine sighed even deeper. "Okay," she said, keeping her exasperation in check, "Try that again."

This time, a jet of flame spouted forth.

Paine turned slowly to face her student.

"I'm sorry! It's just that lightning is hot, and that made me think of fire, and..."

"Can you please try and focus?" Paine said, massaging her temples.

This time, a bolt of magical lightning struck.

"Hey! I did it!"

Despite the beginning difficulties, it turned out that Lesca had a natural talent for magic... when she could focus on what she was doing. She'd mastered the first level magic by the end of one week, and second level by the second.

After two months of training with Paine, Lesca had become a rather formidable fighter. Her skill with a blade was decent, but she was exceptional with magic.

They were also running somewhat low on gil. O'aka had given them a reduced price due to a favor done him by the Gullwings, but all the same, they couldn't stay forever.

"So... where to next?" Lesca asked.

"Maybe we should..."

An old man stood in the path. "Hello, Lesca."

"Um..." Lesca said, "are you another one of those fayth?"

The old man chuckled. "Yes, I am. Are you ready?"

Lesca nodded. Paine backed up a few steps. The fayth flew forward and into Lesca, who dropped to her knees.

"Lesca? Are you all right?" Paine asked.

Lesca grunted. "Uh-huh."

Paine helped her up. "Come on. Let's go." Lesca leaned on Paine, and they made their way slowly out of the woods.

Jecht crept through the room which held city records. He'd found nothing interesting, and...

Wait!

A file folder nearby was labeled, "Do not read. Authorized personnel only. Classified information."

Jecht grinned. Score!

It was locked, but Jecht just put his hand through the lock and disabled it. Oh, the advantages of having a body made of pyreflies! He pulled out a folder and started to read. "Ooh... very interesting..."

Lesca woke up in a richly furnished room. On one wall was a paper painstakingly inscribed with flowery print. Lesca found it difficult to read, but they appeared to be proverbs of some sort.

"Do... not... mock... what... you... do... not... understand..." Lesca read laboriously. "Huh."

A knock came at the door.

"Come in," Lesca called.

Paine stepped in, followed by a man with bluish-white hair. The hair didn't appear to be white due to age; the man seemed rather young.

"This is Baralai. He is the praetor of New Yevon," Paine explained. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all right," Lesca replied. "But... what's New Yevon?"

"You mean you don't know?" Baralai said.

"Um..." Lesca mumbled. She looked questioningly at Paine.

"I trust him," the warrior said.

"Okay, do you mind closing the door first?"

Baralai did so, and Lesca gave him a brief summary of her adventures.

"Hm," said the praetor after Lesca had finished.

"I can prove it, if you want," Lesca offered. "I mean, if there's somewhere no one will see us."

"We could try the Via Infinito," said Baralai. "We could teleport in and teleport out easily, as long as we stay on the first floor."

"All right," said the young summoner.

Lesca, who was feeling much better, got up. "Lead the way!" she said cheerily.

Baralai nodded, and did so.

Heh. She's almost like Rikku, Paine thought, following.

In the Via Infinito, Lesca's confidence lessened somewhat. "This place... is kinda creepy."

"You'll be fine," said Paine. "I've been to the hundredth floor before, and I'm still alive. You can surely handle the first."

Lesca nodded. Hm, she thought, who to summon? I guess I'll try the new aeon... Hey! That guy never told me his aeon's name!

However, as Lesca reached for the fayth-essence inside, the name sprung into her mind:

Ixion.

A portal appeared, crackling with electricity. The tip of the aeon's horn poked out. Lesca beckoned, and the aeon emerged with a whinny.

"Okay. I believe you," said Baralai.

Lesca grinned, and dismissed Ixion.

Jecht strolled over to where Auron and Braska were standing.

"Did you get the information?" Auron asked.

"Yup, sure did. So, Braska, hand over the gil you owe me from our little bet."

Braska turned to face Jecht. "Actually, Paine didn't 'crack' at all."

"She showed admirable self-restraint, in my opinion," Auron added.

"So..." Jecht said, "I guess this means we both get to keep our gil."

"Actually," said Auron, a devious smile (totally out of character for Auron) creeping onto his face, "You both owe me 1000 gil."

"Hey! Waddaya mean?" Jecht protested.

"Braska bet that Paine would crack in a week. You bet three days. I did not state that I thought she would crack at all, in essence saying that I believed she would remain perfectly sane. Therefore, I win the bet."

"That has to be against the rules," Jecht grumbled as he handed Auron the gil.

Braska chuckled, and did the same.

Lesca, Paine, and Baralai returned to the room where Lesca had woken up.

"You said you were from a different world, right?" Baralai asked.

"Yeah, kinda. I think it's pretty much like your Spira, except Sin never came," Lesca replied.

"It's funny," said Paine, "how one thing can change... everything."

"Yeah," said Lesca.

"I mean," Paine continued, "what if there are infinite Spiras? There could be thousands of me, thousands of you... what if for every choice we made, one of our twins on another Spira chose the opposite?"

"You could be right," said Baralai solemnly, gazing out a window. "I would think that your world would be perfect, Lesca. No Machina War, no Sin, no Vegnagun. But, from what you've said..." He shook his head. "Magic all but forbidden. Secrets kept from the populace."

"Yevon kept secrets, too," Paine broke in.

"True," Baralai said. "But now that time is ending."

"Maybe I can help end it in my world, too," Lesca said.

The fayth of Bahamut chose this moment to stop by.

"Hello," he said. "I would like to speak with Lesca alone, if you don't mind."

Paine and Baralai slipped quietly out of the room.

"What is it?" Lesca asked.

"Jecht has discovered where the fayth in your world is. Come to the Farplane when you are ready."

Lesca nodded.

The fayth disappeared.