Chapter XIV – Encounters

Tromell and some more Guado entered the destroyed room. "Lord Seymour!" the servant cried. "What happened here?"

"What…What have I done?" Alexander asked himself.

Tromell bent down to Seymour and then turned his head to them. "You did this?" Auron ordered Sara to send him, but Tromell covered him with his body. "No, stop! Stay away from him, traitors!" Tromell and the Guado proceeded to carry the dead body of Seymour out of the room.

"Traitors?" said Sara as if she was trying the word out.

"We're finished," mumbled Alexander.

"Let's get out of here," declared Auron in an iron voice.

As they arrived at the entrance room of the temple, Sara and her guardians were approached by Tromell and the same Guado. "Please…Give us a chance to explain," protested Sara.

"No need. I know what I'll tell the other Maesters. Lord Seymour was the leader of the Guado before becoming a Maester," said Tromell in a weird voice.

"You're not letting us go," said Cid.

Much to their surprise, Tromell laughed out loud. "Let you go? Lord Seymour would never forgive us if we did." Helena offered to show them Jyscal's sphere. Again, Tromell shocked them as he held it in one hand. "You mean this?" He threw it on to the floor. The sphere shattered into a thousand pieces. "The Guado take care of Guado affairs."

"Away!" shouted Edgar, breaking through Tromell's group. The others followed closely behind. Luckily, the Guado had not noticed that their ice sleds were still there. Sara and Cid took one and zoomed ahead. Lulu took the one with Alexander while Edgar had one to himself, as before. Auron had the accompaniment of Helena on his. As they approached the large ice flats where they had encountered the machina before, the ice had mysteriously vanished. It was too late to stop. The last thing Cid remembered before blacking out was falling through the air with a cold wind brushing against his face.

Cid groaned as his eyes flickered open. He felt icy cold water on his face. Getting on to hands and knees, he felt the hard ground. Cid got to his feet and began to walk around, gingerly testing if anything was broken. Luckily, he only had a few scrapes and bruises.

"We're under the lake ice, aren't we?" asked Lulu. Cid shrugged. "Look." She pointed at a sharp point. "That's the bottom of the temple. We've fallen a long way."

He then walked around and met Auron. "What now, I wonder," the man said.

"'What now?' You act first and think later, don't you? I mean, can't you be a little more responsible? We're all depending on you," said Cid, frustrated.

"A lecture?" Auron's voice was still even.

"No. No. No. Just a suggestion…"

"You should place trust in your friends. But you can't expect someone to protect you all the time. You would do well to remember that," replied the aged man.

"Is that a lecture?" questioned Cid.

Auron laughed and shook his head. "It's advice."

Cid then noticed that Alexander was coming to. He bent at his side. "Hey, Alex. You feeling okay?" The other nodded slowly. "Cheer up! We only did what we had to do."

Alex shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I've always walked the path of Yevon, but now…I'm a traitor. How could this happen? Damn…"

"It's not Helena's fault either," Cid hastily said.

"You don't know how I feel."

Helena came to Cid. "I'm sure Sara's okay. She's breathing fine and all." Sara was in a sleeping position on a wooden board. "How are Lulu and Alexander?"

"Well, Alex's in shock. Then again, you can't blame him. Lulu, well, she's just the same as always," explained Cid.

"She's so together," said Helena in a soft voice. "All grown up, I guess…Well, just give me five or six more years…"

Cid scratched the back of his head and turned his back on the Al Bhed girl. He went back to Edgar. "So, how do you think we can get out of here?"

Helena pushed Cid lightly. "Hey! Don't change the subject!"

"We climb," mumbled Edgar.

"Edgar, you too!"

Edgar shook his head. "Only those who try will become."

Helena looked at him questionably. "I think he means you have to work hard if you want to be like Lulu," suggested Cid. Helena nodded in agreement.

"I think you should stay the way you are," said Edgar.

"Are you saying I'll never be like Lulu?" asked Helena angrily. Edgar didn't respond. "Edgar!" Cid laughed in spite of himself.

Alex came over to them. "How can you laugh at a time like this?"

Sara began to stir awake. Edgar helped her up slowly, but she shrugged his arms off of her. "I wanted to confront Maester Seymour about his father, Lord Jyscal. I wanted to convince him to turn himself in to Yevon's judgment," she explained. Cid was amazed that she would say such things right after she had woken up from being unconscious.

"In exchange for marriage?" asked Lulu. Sara replied with a short nod. "So, what did he say?"

"He didn't say anything. Now, I don't even think it was worth it…I should've told you what I was planning to do," she said.

"Enough," interrupted Auron. "Dwelling on the past is futile."

"Hey!" screamed Helena. "You don't have to say it like that!"

"You want to waste time listening to her regrets?" Auron suggested sarcastically.

"You don't have to say it like that," repeated Helena, this time softer.

"Our immediate concern is Sara's pilgrimage," declared Auron in an iron voice. He turned to Sara. "Are you willing to go on?" Sara nodded. Auron read her worry on her face very easily. She was afraid if Yevon would not allow it. Even Cid could read her. I think I'm getting good at reading her, thought Cid to himself. "The Fayth are the ones that give power to the summoners. Not the temples or the teachings. If the temples try to stop us…" He trailed off for a moment. "Then we will defy Yevon if we must."

Everybody looked at him in shock. Alexander stepped away. "Count me out. We have to atone, to make up for sins we have committed." Cid sighed softly. Here he went again, ranting on about atoning and sins and a bunch of other stuff that he could never accept. "Of course…it's not like I ever liked Maester Seymour…I'll never forgive him for killing Lord Jyscal…and for trying to do us all in too! But still, us going against Yevon? No way!"

"But still," Lulu protested. "We have transgressed and must face our punishment."

Sara spoke up again. "We must go to Bevelle. We must speak with Maester Mika and explained what happened. There is no other way, I think…" Alexander and Lulu nodded in agreement. "Sir Auron, will you come with us?"

Auron laughed in a slow rumbling tone. "I am the troublemaker, after all."

Cid, too, chuckled at Auron's statement. "You can always count on Sir Auron to complicate things."

Helena joined into the discussion. "Yeah! Edgar roars, Auron runs off, and…"

The big man stepped in front of Helena. "I never asked you to follow me."

"But that's what friends are for!" commented Cid. Helena nodded and gave him a high-five.

Alexander began to talk again. "Man…How can you act like nothing's wrong? You must have nerves of steel or something…"

Lulu put a hand to her forehead. "You're too edgy. Listen to the hymn and calm down." In fact, they all decided to listen. They sat down on the floor, despite the cold water, and listened to the Hymn of the Fayth.

Noemui

Nobomenu

Lenmiri

Yojuyogo

Hasatekanae

Kutamae

They listened to the tune for some time. Nobody kept track anymore. Finally, each of them stood up as the singing stopped. Following this was an abrupt shaking of the ground.

"There's something here! The ground!" screamed Alex.

"Sin!" The voice seemed to belong to Sara.

Lulu shouted loudly so everybody could hear her. "The toxin! Watch out!" Everything seemed to turn white as Cid, Sara, Edgar, Lulu, Alexander, Helena, and Auron all fell into a splash of colors.