A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2

Last Time:

"Lenne! I don't want to hear another word out of you!"

But before Lenne could retort once more, a soft voice broke through. "Lenne, daughter to High Summoner Yuna and the dream of the fayth Tidus, the fayth have a gift for you."

"What? Dad, what's that little kid talking about?" Lenne asked, pointing to what appeared to be a small boy, his face hidden underneath a purple hood. "What fayth?"

"What?" Tidus and Wakka turned to see the fayth Bahamut standing there. "Yevon…"

"Uh… man, is that who I think it is?" Wakka asked, nervously scratching his head; his eyes wide as he stared at the seemingly young boy.

Tidus didn't answer his friend. Instead, he directed his attention toward the newcomer. "Bahamut, what are you doing here? Do you all have something to do with this? Are they aeons too?"

From what they could tell, Bahamut nodded under his purple hood. "Indeed, they are aeons, but these aeons existed long before our time. They are the aeons of Zanarkand and Bevelle."

Lenne stood nearby, listening intently, learning what she could about this fayth; trying to determine what it had meant in its cryptic message.

"So… these aeons, Zanarkand and Bevelle used them? What happened to them? Did you guys replace them or something?" Tidus continued.

"These aeons are the natural aeons of this world. We were imprisoned into stone by Yevon rites, and we come only when summoned; but the natural aeons come and go as they see fit. And they see fit to return now," Bahamut said, his tale slowly unfolding. "At one time, they worked together with the citizens of Spira, until Zanarkand and Bevelle began their war. They used the natural aeons against each other. They took it as an insult to their kind and left us. With nothing left to fight with, Yevon rites took less than a handful of us and imprisoned us to do their bidding, giving us only the choice of those who were christened summoners."

Tidus looked at Bahamut, attempting to take it all in. "But, Bahamut, you still haven't told us why they decided to come back now."

"From what I understand, because the fayth have passed on to the Farplane, and Spira has begun to rebuild itself, the natural aeons have presented you with a test."

"Uh… Bahamut, sir?" Wakka scratched his head nervously. "You probably don't know who I am, but…"

Bahamut nodded again. "Sir Wakka, a former guardian to High Summoner Yuna."

"Uh, yeah, right… I was wondering if you could tell us what this test's for, ya?" Wakka questioned tensely.

The former fayth of Bevelle continued to show no signs of emotion and answered his question. "This test is to see your worthiness of gaining the allied help of the natural aeons."

"But," Tidus insisted, "what do we have to do in order to pass this test?"

The fayth gave an unnoticeable smile from under his hood and pointed towards a forgotten Lenne. "And that is why we, the fayth, have decided to present your daughter with a gift."

Tidus turned around, shocked, looking at his daughter in a completely different light. "Lenne?"

But she appeared just as confused as her father. "Me? What do I have to do with this?"

"The fayth wish to give the daughter of High Summoner Yuna and the dream of the fayth Tidus, a gift… a gift to help you pass the test of the natural aeons."

"Gift?"

"First, we offer our services to you, Lenne. You alone will be able to yield our power."

"Services?" Lenne looked around at her father, the man who had always given her the answers she sought, but for the first time, he had no answers to give her. "You're not making any sense. And how is this kid supposed to be one of the mightiest aeons?"

Tidus' eyes widened in alarm. "Lenne! You should give Bahamut the proper respect he deserves! For more than a thousand years, he gave his help to summoners."

"Ya, your dad's right, Lenne. Without Bahamut, Sin could still be here, and you're parents wouldn't."

"Okay… Okay… Bahamut? What are these services you're talking about?" Lenne asked.

"As a collective, we, the fayth, have decided that we shall become your aeons to aid you."

"Become my aeons? What?" Lenne's eyes no longer bothered to hide the confusion and turmoil boiling underneath.

"We ask only when questioned to say, These are free spirits who have chosen to aid me, by no right have I forced them to become my slaves." Bahamut paused. "Today is your seventeenth year, is it not, Lenne?" She nodded. "And your mother, she became a summoner at seventeen, yes?"

"I guess…"

"As a warrior, you have inherited your father's talent. As a mage, you have inherited your mother's talent. As a summoner, you have inherited your namesake's talent. That of unimaginable power is underneath your surface."

Tidus looked to his daughter, still in disbelief. "Lenne?" Tidus and Yuna had always hoped she'd have the quiet and peaceful life that they were never truly allowed to have, and yet, Bahamut, the former fayth of Bevelle, seemed to be taking that away from her. But then again… maybe Lenne was never meant for that life, or maybe… she wasn't ready for it.

"You shall be a summoner, Lenne, like your mother before you, and her father before her, and before them, the great summoner Lenne of Zanarkand. But you, Lenne, you shall be greater than all of them, for the fayth shall give you something none of them ever had."

She swallowed hard. "What?"

"The wisdom of a pilgrimage not taken in more than a thousand years." And with the simple statement, a great, white light seemed to engulf the young woman. "We offer our best wishes to you, Lenne." As Tidus and Wakka shielded their eyes, Bahamut faded away from sight with Lenne into an unknown place.

Recovering his sense of sight, Tidus was quickly sent into a panic. "Lenne! Lenne!" He ran through the empty city, but his search had turned up nothing. The former guardian had joined his friend's search immediately, but they had already run through the city twice.

"Tidus, she must have disappeared when the fayth did," Wakka said sympathetically. "I don't think we're going to find Lenne anywhere."

In return, Tidus angrily pinned him against a nearby wall. "What are you trying to say, Wakka!"

Wakka put up his hands in defense. "Tidus, you're not going to find Lenne if you're all steamed, ya? I don't know what I'd do if Vidina just disappeared like that, but you're not going to help Lenne like this."

Wakka's words somehow reached his friend, and Tidus released his grip. "You're right," he admitted, lowering his head in defeat. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"I said don't worry about it, ya? But I don't think we can find her on our own. Let's meet everyone back at the beach."

Night had fallen again on the beach of Besaid. A large campfire had been started in the middle of the sand while Wakka, Tidus and Vidina stayed up, guarding the people from fiends. All slept well, except Yuna. Upon reaching the beach, Tidus and Wakka somberly explained what had had happened within the city, and Wakka's stubborn son Vidina insisted on doing his own search of the city, but the results were the same. Yuna did not fall asleep until hours later, but even in sleep she couldn't rest.

Her dreams were plagued by nightmares, and Tidus would periodically spend a few minutes by her side until she finally calmed back down. Returning to the entrance to the beach, Wakka and Vidina waited for him. The father and son gave him an encouraging nod while Tidus fell onto the sand, his sword falling next to him. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Tidus." He groaned as someone shook him gently. "Tidus," a woman's voice repeated. He irritatedly groaned and waved the woman away, but she persisted. "Tidus, get up, Lenne ran off again."

"She's probably sleeping at the ruins. She'll come back before breakfast's ready, you worry too much, Yuna."

"You have to bring her back, remember? This is the third time I've tried to wake you up! Everyone's here except Lenne!"

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Lenne's fine, as always… she knows how to take care of herself," he mumbled.

Yuna glared at him with a mixture of shock and expectancy. "Have you heard a word I said?"

Tidus continued to grumble. "Just because Lenne turns seventeen today doesn't mean that she's going to get into even more trouble that she already does."

Yuna looked at him sternly as her husband peeked one eye open. "If you don't go and get Lenne right now, you're not getting any breakfast or lunch from me."

The words seemed to have caught Tidus' attention and groaned as he pulled a pillow over his face. "Fine, fine, give me about fifteen minutes, and I'll go see of I can get her. Our friends can afford to wait another fifteen minutes, right?"

It wasn't really their job, Tidus and Wakka, guarding the entrance to the beach. It was more Vidina's job than theirs. After all, Vidina was a guardian. Not the guardians that Wakka and Tidus once were, but a guardian to the city and its people. Not even a full generation had passed and fiends no longer bothered people; that was one of the functions of a guardian, to protect them.

Each city was given a group of guardians for its defenses, and to watch over the guardians would be one Crimson Knight. The Crimson Knights were few in number, only one placed in each city, and with nine cities throughout all of Spira, there were nine christened knights. The head of the Crimson Knights happened to be a friend to Wakka, Tidus, and Vidina; particularly since they had known him since birth. He was Gippal and Rikku's son.

Years before, just after Tidus and Yuna's wedding in Besaid, Gippal had soon after proposed to Rikku, and two years following resulted in the head of the Crimson Knights.

Garren was a headstrong, pure Al Bhed with the important stature of his father, his father's cool intellect, as well as the ability to think things through in difficult situations.

The young man also inherited a few things from his mother, including her curiosity.

He had joined the guardians not long after they had formed at thirteen, and given the lowest position available, the only position available to someone his age, a guardian-in-training. His mother's impatience caused the young man to ascend through the ranks quickly, eventually gaining an undisputable reputation.

Although, Garren hadn't grown up alone, he had his twin sister. Gaia led a division of the Gullwings, but she was no sphere hunter. The group known as the Gullwings were keepers of all the historical spheres and acted as record keeper for all of Spira.

Garren's second-in-command, knight of Luca, also happened to be a very good family friend. The two had known each other since they were children. Malthus, a year younger than Garren, tended to speak more with his staff than with words. He was never much of a conversationalist, but fighting was a full time hobby. Growing up in Bevelle because of his father's position, Malthus would walk out to the Calm Lands' edge and train with his father's staff. But when need be, Malthus had enough logic to decide when things could be determined through other instances, leading him to Bairan, his brother who preferred the political field rather than the battlefield.

Spira was controlled by two separate groups: the political affairs and the guardian affairs.

The citizens of Spira had decided that they would not repeat themselves regarding their world and chosen leaders. Instead, six representatives made up each side and met in the Council of Factions. A wise former Chocobo Knight, who dealt delicately with matters of economy, Lucil, led the Council of New Spira, which guided Spira's political affairs, as Garren represented the matters of the Crimson Knights. On Lucil's right hand was her eager young assistant, Bairan, which at meetings of council, sometimes proved awkward for both brothers. Bairan and Malthus were no doubt an interesting combination of their parents, Baralai and Paine.

The sun had just begun to shine down on Besaid when a low rumbling noise began to sound from the distance, waking those asleep. Tidus quickly climbed up the ruins yelling down to Wakka and Vidina below. "It's the Valefor! It looks like it's coming in pretty quick!"

A few days before, a majority of the guardians were taken from each city due to a problem with fiends at the city of Mushroom Rock. For some unbeknownst reason, an unusual amount had been taken from Besaid, and Darka, knight of Besaid, had asked Vidina to stay behind and protect the city, although the city was known for its fiend defenses. Vidina was far from being weak, in fact, he was Darka's top guardian and right hand.

Darka himself was twenty-one, older than Garren, but had stayed at the position of guardian for some time, declining the position of Crimson Knight of Besaid several times before finally accepting it. He often told Vidina that being a Crimson Knight gave more freedom but at the same time more restrictions.

"When do you think it's going to hit the beach, Uncle Tidus?" Vidina yelled back.

Each city had its own airship, and those who had temples within their city walls named their guardian airship after their former aeon protectors. "At the rate it's going at, you should get ready to brief Darka of the situation the minute he gets off, which seems to be any second."

"Got it, Uncle Tidus, thanks." Vidina ran off, weaving through the sleeping forms of people as they continued to wake. A red and white airship had barely come to a stop as it reached the Besaid beach before Darka jumped out. His clothes were that of a Crimson Knight, a light blue color that showed the title of guardian weaved in with the purple that displayed knighthood. His pale blonde hair was messily kept in a simple ponytail. His pale red eyes as well as rumpled clothing revealed he had not gotten much sleep in the past few hours. Wakka's son quickly rendered the former Crusader/Youth League salute, briefing him of all the events that had occurred in his absence.

Before letting him continue, Darka's deep rich voice cut him short. "Tell me the whole thing when Sir Garren gets down. There's no point in repeating yourself."

"Yes, sir."

Nearby, Tidus had climbed his way down from the ruins as Garren exited from the Valefor and gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Vidina, long time no see. Although I wish it were under better circumstances." Garren stepped towards Wakka and Tidus. "Sir Tidus, Sir Wakka, an honor, as always."

"Garren," Tidus said, "how many times do we have to tell you that the title really isn't necessary?"

"What are ya doing here?"

The Crimson Knight motioned to the ship. "I thought it'd been too long since our last family reunion."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, Rikku, Gippal, Paine, and Baralai exited from the Valefor.

"Yeah… Vidina," Tidus agreed, patting Vidina on the shoulder, "why don't you wait so you don't have to repeat yourself in front of everyone?"

Her head ached, and her body felt drained. Lenne awoke and looked around in utter confusion. "Where am I?"

Author's Notes:

Final Revision