A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Four

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

The twelve guardians of Besaid scouted the city and designated the areas allowed for the citizens to return to and for those who could not return home, extra city buildings were transformed to accommodate them. They were led by Vidina who had been there since the trouble began who was operating under orders given by Darka, which was suggested by Tidus and Wakka, Garren also spread the orders through the other knights in Spira and the rest of the cities followed.

The congregation of former guardians, sphere hunters, and present Crimson Knights, met inside Tidus and Yuna's home, the elders sat at the table while the younger generation stood around them, this was a challenge even the Crimson Knights had not even thought of, and so they were forced to depend on the wisdom of those who had experienced circumstances similar to those now.

"Yuna," Rikku said, her hair flowing down her modest dress, "all Bahamut said was that she was to take a pilgrimage not taken in sometime, but with creatures not seen, right? It sounds rather confusing if you ask me."

Instead, Tidus answered for her, "Yeah, that's all he said, the fayth have a bad habit of being very vague."

Darka spoke up, attempting to sound as confident as possible, "I've spoken with some of my friends in the cities, there's no trace of Lenne in any of them, and I've used some contacts to send out patrols checking out the routes in between the cities. If she was in Spira, someone would have found her by now."

It was no secret among the young generation that Darka had feelings for Lenne. Darka himself had grown up in Besaid, knowing her since childhood. But the mere thought of telling her made Darka weak in the knees.

"So where do you propose she is Darka?" Garren retorted angrily, "If she isn't in Spira anywhere, then where is she?" He tapped his finger on a table impatiently, "I don't have time for your hypotheses!"

"Wait!" Vidina said, "We shouldn't be bickering between us ya? Let's break it down. Pop, Uncle Tidus, what did the fayth exactly say they would give Lenne?"

The two old friends looked to each other for a minute before Tidus spoke, "Let's see, they said they would offer her their surfaces."

"Ya, like become her aeons." Wakka finished.

"So what your saying is," Gippal started motioning with his hands, "Lenne has become a summoner."

Darka looked around impatiently, "But that doesn't get us any closer to Lenne's present location!"

"Darka!" Garren shouted out fiercely, "you're not the only one who's worried about Lenne! That's my cousin, who knows where, I've known my entire life! Do not let your personal feelings for her cloud your judgment! You are a Crimson Knight!"

The Knight of Besaid clenched his teeth angrily and held his hand an inch away from his sword at his waist, "I allow no such things! And if I did, I would be quite aware of it, I assure you Garren!"

"Of course you're aware of it! It would be hard for you not to be, for everyone in Besaid knows what I'm talking about!"

"You pest," Darka spat, "Who decided to make you Knight of Bevelle? No wonder these creatures are plaguing us!"

Garren made a grab to his sword, as did Darka, until both saw the shimmering blue blade of Tidus between them, "Both of you, enough! As flattering as this for my daughter, its getting us nowhere along with a total of zero answers. So put away your anger for now and either help us find Lenne or go attend to the temple cities. Now choose!"

Both Garren and Darka sheathed their swords and crossed their arms as Darka retreated to a corner before Tidus continued to speak, "Let's go over this. The fayth said that they would become her aeons, and they also mentioned they would give her the wisdom of a pilgrimage never before taken, but what could that mean?"

"Yo!" Wakka called out, suddenly standing up and rubbing his hands together, "Didn't the fayth also say that these creatures were the 'natural aeons' of this world?"

"So perhaps," Baralai volunteered, "Lenne is attempting to gather these things as her aeons."

"So," Yuna said, finally speaking, all the heads turned to look at her, "if these theories are right, then Lenne will have become a summoner."

Tidus breathed out sharply, "Yuna, there was something I didn't bring up that the fayth said to her."

She looked at him with a face of concern, "What?"

He squirmed uncomfortably, "Bahamut said that she would become a summoner, like her mother before her, and her father before her. And before them the great summoner Lenne of Zanarkand."

"So it would seem," Paine returned, "that we have established that the fayth have sent Lenne on some kind of pilgrimage to gather these things as her aeons."

"But if Lenne is supposedly in Spira, then where would she be taking her pilgrimage?" Gippal asked.

Before anyone could think of a reasonable answer, a guardian posted outside of the door slightly entered bowing his head, "Milord Garren, Milord Darka, there is a young woman says she needs to see all of you immediately."

"We do not have the time," Garren waved, "have Sir Malthus look into it."

The guardian still looked hesitant, "Milord Garren, she claims to be your sister," Garren looked at him sternly, " a Miss Gaia milord."

With a defeated sigh, he motioned to the guardian, "Very well, let her in."

Not a full second had passed before Gaia came running into the room holding a sphere, her features greatly took after her father, she wore pants with a blue, threaded, sleeveless shirt. Gaia's hair was shortly cut and her mother's personality could not be missed.

"Hey bro! Sorry I haven't visited in awhile; the new division Shinra's put me in charge of has kept me on my toes. I really haven't had a moment to myself!"

Garren attempted to cough subtly, "Uh, Gaia, the guardian told me it was very important."

But Gaia, as usual, wasn't paying much attention, "Hey! I didn't know we were having a family get together! How come I wasn't invited! And where's Lenne? There's something I have to show her!"

Her brother shook his head sadly, "Gaia, this isn't just a family get together, we're discussing about our next step considering these creatures. And besides that," Garren breathed out deeply, "Lenne's missing. Something to do with a fayth and a pilgrimage."

Gaia's eyes, a swirl of green, widened as she frantically began to fidget with the sphere, "My excavation team found this in Zanarkand, as soon as I saw it I thought Lenne might wanna watch it. But, I think you guys better watch this."

She turned the sphere on, revealing a blitzball game, "Gaia? This is a blitzball game, you're wasting our time." Gaia's brother insisted.

Out of her usual character, Gaia spoke with a serious tone, "Just watch."

The Aurochs scored, tying the score when a large, yellow-green fiend appeared. All of the players tried to swim out of the sphere, except one who stayed and attempted to fight it as small fiends spread throughout the stadium. Gaia forwarded the sphere until a small image leaped from the stadium and into the water. The sphere's view zoomed in on the figure and saw them with the blitzball player swim to the bottom.

The water sphere fell apart and the sphere zoomed into the two people, one wearing what seemed to be a Zanarkand Abes uniform with black hair that was spiked up and a silver streak on the side, while the other, a young woman, with brown hair that was layered reaching past her shoulders and highlighted blonde, stood next to him.

"Lenne!" Yuna shouted out, as if trying to touch the image, Tidus rushed to her side and put his arms around her comfortingly.

The two spoke for a moment and then the young woman began to charge at the large fiend. She swung in every direction until the player threw a blitzball at her.

"That's my blitz ace!" Tidus suddenly remarked.

The fiend broke apart and as everyone began to look away, Gaia persisted. The creature began to come together again, this time, "Lenne" became surrounded in a red circle. The former summoner and guardians all became wide eyed at what came next. A great aeon flew down from the sky and destroyed the fiend. The sphere suddenly went fuzzy and that was when Gaia turned the sphere off.

Lulu sat back, being the first one to recover from watching the sphere, "There can be no mistake, Lenne, or someone, who happens just to look like her, summoned Valefor."

"But, if that was Zanarkand ya? Then, that would be ok right? They still had the fayth."

"I think the real question is Wakka," Gippal countered, "whether or not that was actually Lenne we saw in that sphere and not some look a like."

"That blitz ace," Tidus said, "Lenne and I are the only ones who know how to do that."

"Of course," Rikku scoffed, "you guys and Shuyin."

"Well," Tidus retorted, grimacing at hearing his counterpart's name, "he doesn't count."

"Why not?" Baralai asked, "Shuyin was a real person who lived in Zanarkand at one time, there's a chance he might have taught it to someone. If we throw out the possibility of Shuyin, that's one possible solution thrown away.

"Are we sure that it's Zanarkand?" Pain questioned, "Just because it was found there doesn't automatically mean it was taken in Zanarkand."

But Tidus shook his head, "No, that was the Zanarkand Blitzball stadium. I've been in there so many times it's impossible for me to make a mistake."

"Ok, ok," Rikku said, collecting her thoughts, "we know that its from Zanarkand and Zanarkand is now on the list of possibilities."

"Ya," Vidina added on, "but at what time? That sphere could be like, at least more than a thousand years old."

'Then let's figure out what timeframe it is, shall we?" Gippal suggested.

"Sis," Garren started, "do you guys have any idea who that player is, by, let's just say she's Lenne."

"We think that it's Takoire," she responded, impatiently tapping her foot, "according to the archives we found in the blitzball stadium, he was captain of the Zanarkand Abes during a winning streak for the city. But then, before the final game of one particular season, he just quit blitzball and after a few months, he just disappeared off the charts.

"Any idea what happened to him?" Tidus questioned.

"On the record it's undetermined," Gaia informed, "so that translates to that they had no idea and just needed to fill up space."

Lulu turned to Gaia, "What about his timeframe? Do we have anything?"

"Well," Gaia put on a hopeful face and then quickly lost it, "no. All we have is that his chosen successor was called," she went through her pockets as if looking for something, "I think you guys were actually talking about him earlier, hang on," finally finding what she was looking for, she unfolded a piece of paper, "Ah, here it is! Right! Takoire's chosen successor was a rising star named Shuyin. Ring a bell?"

The former sphere hunters and political leaders all proceeded to show their discomfort in one-way or another. Tidus looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, more like a gong."

"Gaia, what information do you have on Shuyin?" Baralai asked, wincing at the sound of the name.

"Not much," she responded, "while he was captain, the team was having some winning seasons, let me see what else I can get." Gaia put a finger to her ear as if listening for something before continuing, "Eiser's telling me pretty much what I told you just now." She shrugged, "Wait, on the news record when we cross-referenced his name, it says about two years after he became captain, he began seeing a rising singer," she paused for a moment, "huh, whaddya know, her name was Lenne."

After a prolonged silence, Darka began to speak, "Could that be our Lenne?"

Instead, Yuna shook her head, "That person is Lenne's namesake."

"Oh! That's so cool! You guys knew about her! Maybe you can help fill some of the gaps in the spheres!"

"Gaia," Rikku said to her daughter, "you have no idea how much we know."

"Hey Baralai," Gippal elbowed, "what about you? You ever hear of anyone named Shuyin?"

"Me?" He asked, "Let me think for a moment," Baralai turned to his wife, "ring a few bells yet?"

"A fair few," she retuned with a smile.

"Yo pop!" Vidina said, "What's up?"

"Vidina my son, this is something you do not want to get into."

Gippal gave a laugh ass he counted on his fingers, "Let's see, so that puts Lenne in the timeframe of…."

"The prequel or beginning of the Zanarkand-Bevelle war and thus the age of Sin is born." Baralai finished.

"But why?" Yuna suddenly asked, "Why would the fayth send my daughter to that time out of all of history?"

"There's only so much information we can get from historical spheres," Lulu pointed out, "it seems, we've reached a dead end."

"Not necessarily," Rikku said simply.

"Rikku," Paine said in a warnful tone, "what are you planning?"

She smiled, "Maechen."

"Maechen?" Tidus asked.

"Gave speeches that were seven minutes long and he wouldn't take a breath and sometimes had trouble remembering things?" His wife returned, her spirits being raised slightly.

"Ah," he said, "Maechen."

"I take it we're seeing Maechen." Gippal pointed out.

"I think we've just confirmed that," Baralai answered.

"I'm thinking Farplane," Tidus said.

"All right," Gippal responded, rubbing his hands together, "we'll work out the details later?"

Baralai nodded, "I suppose it's all right."

All of the elders stood up from the table and exited from the dwelling, leaving Garren, Gaia, Vidina, and Darka.

"Don't you hate that when they do that?" Garren asked.

Vidina nodded, "Ya, it happens every time we're around."

"Should we do the usual sis?"

"Yeah, let's grab a bite to eat. How 'bout it Vidina?"

"Sounds good to me ya?"

The trio exited the tent leaving Darka still standing shaking his head, "Ugh, family issues."

Final Revision.