Cloister Six

Maybe there was something in the air that made Beclem restless over the next couple of days, but whatever it was, he found that he couldn't focus on anything. Every time he and Isaaru passed one another in the hallways they both lowered their gazes, unable to look each other in the eyes.

Beclem had not returned to Via Infinito, but Isaaru continued to explore its depths, and was barely seen on the outside during daylight hours. Each time he emerged, he looked more and more weary and damaged.

Beclem returned to his room on the second afternoon after his fights with Isaaru and the Elder Drake to find a couple of extra inhabitants in his room.

"Hello Beclem," Isaaru said, the monkey that he held in his hands squirming around.

"Hello Isaaru."

"I found this in Via Infinito," Isaaru said, looking at the animal in his arms. "I thought I would bring it to you since you seem to like them so much."

There was a pointed look at the creature that was currently sitting on Beclem's bed as Isaaru spoke. Beclem frowned at this reaction, and then shrugged. For some reason, he had found that himself attached to the small animal. There was now a small tray of dirt in one corner of the room, and monkeys ate almost anything, so feeding it hadn't been a problem. He supposed looking after two couldn't be much more difficult.

"I see you've kept the other one," Isaaru observed with a sly grin. "If that one is Isaaru, then maybe this one can be Beclem?"

"Very funny," Beclem commented, taking his namesake from the other man and placing it on the bed next to Isaaru the monkey.

The two animals seemed to regard one another for a moment, as if trying to work out what to make of each other, before they pounced on one another. At first Beclem thought they were fighting, then on closer inspection he realised that the two monkeys were engaged in much more friendly activities. Much more friendly activities.

"Oh dear," Isaaru exclaimed, a blush quickly spreading across his cheeks. "I didn't realise Beclem was err… female."

Beclem quickly grabbed his namesake by the scruff of the neck, pulling her away from her new friend before the situation became any more embarrassing, if that was possible. He was, right now, infinitely glad that his own blushed cheeks couldn't be seen behind his mask.

"Don't you have any standards whatsoever?" he asked the monkey. She just regarded him with an air of curiosity, before jumping from his hands and landing back on the bed beside Isaaru the monkey.

Beclem and Isaaru were both glad when the animals didn't get quite as friendly as they had the last time.

"That wasn't actually why I came to see you," Isaaru commented. "I came to ask for your help."

"My help?"

"Via Infinito is beginning to become more dangerous," Isaaru explained. "Too dangerous for one person to explore by themselves. I was hoping you might…"

"You were hoping we could forget our differences and work as a team to get further into Via Infinito?"

"Yes; I was."

Beclem sighed. Isaaru looked disappointed already, and Beclem hadn't even declined his offer yet.

"I don't see why not," Beclem answered. Isaaru's face lit up with pleasant surprise.

"Provided," Beclem continued, "that I can tell my superiors back at Youth League headquarters about Via Infinito."

"That should be fine," Isaaru agreed. "But please ensure that they keep the information to themselves. We don't want to start widespread panic."

Beclem nodded.

"I will leave you to make your report then," Isaaru said. "We will begin exploring Via Infinito together tomorrow then, if that is fine by you."

"That's fine," Beclem assured him.

"Right," Isaaru said again. "I will see you around the Palace then."

With that Isaaru left the room. Beclem couldn't help but think that his reaction made the ex-Summoner seem a little too nervous. Perhaps that had something to do with the two monkeys in the room, who were beginning to cosy up to one another again.

"The two of you are not staying in here if you're going to keep doing that," Beclem said, pushing the two overly-friendly monkeys off his bed.

Beclem turned the Commsphere on, and with a click and then a long buzzing noise, it came alive. He peered into its staticy blue depths and frowned. These were a brand new invention, and they were quickly proving to be extremely useful.

"Commander Lucil," Beclem greeted his superior.

"Beclem," she returned with a sigh. "I hope you've got something worth reporting to me today."

"I have," Beclem answered. "The current Praetor of New Yevon has requested that it be kept secret though."

"Whether we will agree to that condition depends on what the information is," Lucil said.

Beclem took a deep breath. This was going to be an interesting report.

"Lady Yuna and some children of Bevelle have discovered a series of underground chambers in part of the palace. Lady Yuna and Praetor Isaaru have been exploring these chambers. There is no knowledge of how deep they run. It is thought that some of New Yevon's secrets may be hidden in their depths. The chambers are also infested with incredibly powerful fiends."

"How large are these chambers?" Lucil asked.

"Each room is around a couple of hundred metres long from what I've seen," Beclem answered. "And there are more than sixty-four chambers."

The look of shock that Lucil shared with her second-in-command Elma told Beclem exactly what she thought of this news.

"I have been asked to help explore Via Infinito, as it is currently being called," Beclem continued. "I will of course, keep you updated on any progress that is being made in these daily reports."

Lucil just nodded, as though she was still too busy thinking about his previous words to pay much attention to his new ones.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell everyone," Lucil commented.

"Then don't tell them anything," Beclem suggested. "It would be better if we didn't do anything to upset New Yevon. The last thing we want is for the old rivalries to spark back up again."

"You're right," Lucil agreed. "But if you report anything to me which makes me suspect that this Via Infinito may be dangerous then I will not have any problems in letting the Youth League or the rest of Spira know what New Yevon is hiding from everyone, regardless of whether Praetor Isaaru would approve or not."

There was a look in Elma's eyes as Lucil spoke then; probably only admiration for what was undeniably a rather brave and well-spoken conviction, but Beclem couldn't help but wonder. Wasn't that the exact same look he used to give Chappu? Then again, it was more than likely that he was just searching for someone else to project his own problems on in some sort of crazy, subconscious attempt to make himself feel less alone in the world. What was the real chance of there being more than one freak in the Youth League?

"So you will do as Isaaru wishes for now?" Beclem asked Lucil.

"Yes; for now," Lucil responded. "Via Infinito will stay a secret for at least a short time."

Beclem nodded farewell. The gesture was returned by the two women before Beclem turned the sphere off. Beclem placed it back on its place on his desk, nudging away one of the monkeys as it sniffed at the sphere in curiosity.

He began to wonder what he was going to do with himself for the rest of the afternoon, when he heard a scuffling noise just outside of his door.

He opened the door to his room to discover Isaaru running towards him, a limp and bloodied body in his arms.

He stepped back from his door just in time for Isaaru to come running inside his room. Isaaru placed the body on Beclem's bed without an explanation, and began healing it.

Beclem peered over Isaaru's shoulder as he worked. The victim was a woman, probably a few years younger than the both of them, with long green hair tied back into several small braids and exceptionally long fingers and nails. She wore the clothes of a Yevonite, but had the smooth pale skin of an Al Bhed and the slanted features of a Guado. There were bruises all over her face and arms, and probably in other areas that Beclem could not see as well.

"Who is she?" Beclem asked Isaaru.

"I found her on the street," Isaaru said. "She looks to be half Guado. I think she may have become the victim of a Guado bashing attack."

"Attacking her just because she's part Guado?" Beclem asked.

"I am afraid incidents such as these are becoming more and more frequent these days," Isaaru said as a sad look crept onto his face. He brushed a strand of hair away from the woman's face, and moved to stand so that he was facing Beclem once more. "It seems so strange that one bad incident could change Bevelle's opinion of a race that was once regarded as being very noble and wise. Only three years ago it was the Al Bhed that were being punished, and now it is the Guado."

"People always need someone to blame for their problems," Beclem commented. "I find that who they blame is often very illogical, especially when there are rapists and murderers living in the world. It's one of the reasons I dislike Yevon."

Isaaru nodded sadly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise," Beclem said, glancing at the woman now lying on his bed. "You're not as bad as the rest of them."

"How do you know that?" Isaaru asked, his eyes full of sorrow.

Beclem merely looked at the Guado and smiled.

"You didn't leave her lying on the streets."

Keekah opened her eyes very slowly; afraid that anything more would be enough to bring back the enormous headache that had been assailing her senses before she had passed out. Miraculously however, nearly all the pain that she had felt last night had disappeared. She moved one hand to where a particularly nasty wound had been on her arm, and was surprised to find that her hand came away with no blood. All that was left of the wound now was a pale scar.

She looked over from the bed on which she lay to discover two men. She lay there and observed them for a while as they spoke, her attention not on their words, but on the way they interacted. There was something about these two; they weren't friendly or comfortable around each other enough to be friends, but neither was there any hatred or bitterness. They certainly weren't just acquaintances either. They were too familiar with one another for that.

How very interesting, Keekah thought to herself. The taller of the two men said something, and the gentlest of smiles settled on the other man's face. Keekah knew that if she could see behind the shorter man's mask his eyes would probably be shining in appreciation, and quite possibly admiration.

A similar look soon appeared on the taller man's face, and he turned to look towards Keekah.

"Oh," he exclaimed. "You are awake."

He moved over to kneel beside Keekah's bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Fine," Keekah answered, finding her voice was a little more raw than she was expecting. "Thank you."

"What's your name?" the other man asked.

"Keekah," she whispered.

"My name is Isaaru," the man kneeling at her side said. "And this is Beclem."

"Don't thank me Keekah," the man that had been introduced as Beclem said. "Isaaru here did all the saving."

"But she is lying on your bed," Isaaru pointed out.

Beclem shrugged at this.

Keekah felt something moving around near her feet, and looked to the bottom of the bed to find that a couple of squatter monkeys had jumped up to join her.

Keekah giggled as the two animals scrambled up her legs.

Isaaru just frowned and reached out for the nearest monkey.

"Be nice to our guest," Isaaru told it.

Beclem watched as Isaaru chastised his namesake. The monkey, of course, couldn't care less about what Isaaru was telling it. Beclem smiled at the two of them, but then found his smile slipping as he caught sight of something a little more disturbing.

Isaaru's sleeve had slipped only an inch further up his arm than normal, leaving just a sliver more of his arm to be seen than was usual. There on Isaaru's skin were several long pale scars. Beclem only caught sight of them for a moment, before Isaaru's sleeve slipped back into place once more.

Not all scars on people's wrists came from one thing, Beclem thought to himself. He hoped that they had just come from some sort of accident. Isaaru surely wasn't the sort of person that would do that to himself. He had far too much responsibility. But perhaps that was part of the problem.

Beclem shook away that worrying thought and turned his attention back to Keekah, who was still giggling over Isaaru's argument with the monkey of the same name. He found his attention immediately drawn to her eyes, and it was only when he took a closer look at them that he realised why. Her eyes had the black spirals of an Al Bhed.

"You're half Al Bhed," Beclem observed.

"Yeah," Keekah said with a surprisingly sincere smile. "Half Al Bhed and half Guado."

"How did that happen?" Isaaru gasped.

"Well, my father was an Al Bhed and he fell in love with my Guado mother, obviously," Keekah answered.

"I'm sorry," Isaaru apologised. "It was fairly obvious. I have just never met anyone with that combination of nationalities before."

"You must have the worst luck of anyone in Spira," Beclem commented bitterly. "The Al Bhed bashings finally stop and then the Guado bashings begin."

"Yeah," Keekah said with a nervous giggle and a smile that must have been hard to summon. "But I'm used to it by now. It's just how life is for me. And I have relatives and friends in both Guadosalam and Bikanel if I ever find myself in trouble. There are people in the world that have it far worse than I do."

"How could she say that?" Isaaru said quietly when Keekah had fallen asleep almost an hour later. In sleep she looked so peaceful; it was hard to imagine how difficult her waking life was.

"She's a very brave woman," Beclem answered, even though he was fairly sure that Isaaru wasn't expecting an answer. "That's how. You have to be, when you're different from the rest of the world."

Isaaru glanced over at Beclem, sure that there was hidden meaning behind Beclem's words that he was missing. Who knew what it was though. Beclem was probably full of secrets.