A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Twenty

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

Last Time:

"You miss your parents?"

"Yeah," Lenne said. "I never realized how much they meant to me until now. They saved Spira, not once, but twice, and I never thought about it. I knew what they did, but it didn't matter to me because I thought it didn't affect me, but it did. My mother would have died uselessly, my father wouldn't ever have been made real, and I would never have been born. I always wondered, after hearing all the things they'd done, why they wanted a quiet life. But now, just by going through all of this, I understand why they wanted it for me." Lenne chuckled softly to herself. "But enough about me. What about you, Takoire?"

He shrugged. "Sunrises, there are some things you want to forget and just start all over again."

A group of nine walked through the city of Djose built over the Moonflow. Three summoners and six guardians talked on the way to the airship headed to the city of Macalania; a city built in a giant gorge surrounded by walls of snow. Earlier that morning, Kiron had gotten his new clothes fitted. His clothes with not only red, white, and silver, but it seemed someone had threaded a hunter green into it.

"Hey, Seru, did you hear Genbu recite the summoner of yore's prophecy or was I just out of it?" the Zanarkand prince asked.

Seru shook her head. "No, he definitely said it."

"Yunalesca," Kiron said, "did Genbu do that when you became one of his summoners?"

The high summoner shook her head. "No, not that I recall all that well, but I'm quite sure that I'd remember if an aeon said something like that."

"What is the summoner of yore's prophecy?" Lenne suddenly interjected.

Yunalesca and her three guardians looked at Lenne with a mixture of curiosity and shock, but Kiron attempted to give them an assuring look and waved the notion away, trying to keep Lenne from noticing their strange looks. "Long story, don't really want to get into it, but it's a legend that has different parts all over Spira. Bevelle also happens to be extremely obsessive about it."

"Why?"

Takoire spoke up, "You remember how I told you there was only one maester before Yu Yevon?"

"Yeah."

"When the first maester was around, who later became the first leader of Bevelle, the Cheribum gave him the prophecies of lore. He was told that his family would inherit the guardian of ages' prophecy by blood which is directly connected to the summoner of yore's prophecy," Takoire replied simply.

Seru looked at him curiously, but he didn't return the look.

"Yeah," Kiron agreed, attempting to keep from looking at Takoire just as strangely, "like I said, Bevelle's heavy into all that. Their entire society revolves around the Cheribum and that prophecy. They think with the summoner of yore they can finally get rid of Zanarkand," he finished with a laugh, "but there's a little bit of the legend in each city."

"You know," Alor added, "I heard that on the summoner's bluff in Besaid, the wall, there's a chokin there now."

Yunalesca nodded. "We overheard the priests talking about it. Everyone's running around Besaid trying to figure it out, and Bevelle's not forgetting this either."

"Does Zanarkand have any part of the prophecy?" Lenne asked.

"A little," Kiron responded. "Father said when he became a maester, the Cheribum told him that the prophecy would pass within the next generation."

"So what does that mean?"

"Bevelle gets their hopes up in destroying Zanarkand, but they'll only get disappointed. Not that my father told Bevelle this, mind you, that would only build up their soldiers' morale, and we are not interested in starting a war."

"But what does that have to do with Zanarkand?"

"It is said that the summoner of yore's journey will start there," Alor answered.

"And what exactly is the summoner of yore?" Lenne asked. "What are they supposed to do?"

"Basically," Takoire answered, laughing in a cheerful mood, "you know how it is, save the world, bring peace. It's just a story that happens to be a huge part of Spira's culture and history."

As Takoire finished, they reached the airship dock where the two parties would separate. Seru hugged Alor good-bye as Yunalesca's other two guardians pointed and giggled. Zaon quickly held Yunalesca's hand and gave her one of his rare smiles as she smiled at him with the smallest hint of sadness. Afterwards, Yunalesca turned around and began to slowly drift off as Lenne, Kiron, and Takoire waved their good-byes and walked towards the airship. Seru grabbed Zaon by the shoulder.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

Seru glared at him. "Your fiancée's leaving and that's all you're going to do?"

"Something wrong with that?"

"Go on already! You can't even kiss her on the cheek? How can you expect to marry her if you're like that all the time?"

"Huh?"

Getting behind the Zanarkand hero, Seru pushed him as hard as she could in the direction in which Yunalesca was walking. He looked back at her unsure, but she waved him forward. "Go on already."

"Yunalesca!" The high summoner and heir to Zanarkand quickly turned and found Zaon kissing her softly. As they broke away, Yunalesca's face flushed, the warrior grazed her skin with his fingertips. "I'll see you soon."

Yunalesca could only nod dumbstruck while Alor chuckled nearby at Seru's little stunt. Takoire, Lenne, and Kiron watched equally dumbfounded as Seru rubbed her hands together with a satisfied look in her eyes. "My work here is done."

The ride to Macalania was rather relaxed. Zaon kept to himself while Seru and Kiron were off somewhere while Takoire and Lenne played around with a blitzball on deck. It was soon over, and the party found themselves walking off the airship and into the chilly wind that was Macalania. Meeting them was a group consisting of both old and young men. Standing in front of them was one particular old man.

Dressed in extravagant clothes of icy blue, his hair, white as the snow around them, was shortly cut and his skin seemed incredibly pale. "Summoner Kiron! Summoner Lenne! Seiryu welcomes you!"

Lenne glanced uneasily while behind her Takoire encouraged her on. "It's nice to meet you."

The old man looked delighted. "I am the high priest here, Kather. Djose sent word to us and told us to anticipate your arrival. I believe it is safe to assume that you will be attempting our aeon Seiryu's test and possibly becoming high summoners?"

Kiron nodded confidently. "Yes, that's right."

"Oh, it would be wonderful if you both passed!" the old priest exclaimed. "There are so few high summoners, three I believe, including your sister of course, Lord Kiron."

The prince of Zanarkand rolled his eyes inconspicuously. "Of course…"

"Only three high summoners?" Lenne asked in disbelief.

"And only six summoners to have the power of three of the aeons, including yourself and Lord Kiron, milady summoner," the old man chuckled, "and to think neither of you have had summoner's training!"

"What do you mean?" Lenne continued to ask, her stomach feeling as if it were dropping out from under her.

The High Priest Kather continued to laugh. "I believe you underestimate your importance, milady summoner. The only ones who are summoners and haven't undergone the training are the two maesters, High Summoner Yunalesca, yourself, and Lord Kiron. You're the only one who's not royalty! Well, Prince Arkon just finished his summoner's training and passed Suzaku's test, so I suppose he's on his way, but he's the prince of Bevelle!"

"Really?" Takoire asked, intrigued.

"Oh, yes," the priest responded, "it was just yesterday that he passed, but Iheard only last night."

Lenne shook her head in disbelief. "Wow, I had no idea."

"You don't seem to give yourself enough credit, milady," the old man continued, "and at the rate you and Lord Kiron are going at, Spira expects great things from you." The high priest gestured in the direction of the temple, and a young man with somewhat lengthy blonde hair dressed in sophisticated armor glared at Lenne's guardian as the party passed him into the temple.

Everyone had settled into their rooms, and Lenne and Takoire were walking through the halls of Macalania Temple. They quickened their pace as they saw Kiron, Seru, and Zaon walking in their direction. "Hey!" Kiron greeted.

"Hi," Lenne returned.

As the five met, they began to walk to the back of the temple where a door led outside to a railing and view from where people could look down at the city in the snowy gorge below.

"What's up?" Seru asked.

"Nothing really," Lenne said. "I'm just glad to get away from that High Priest Kather. He asked me so many questions."

Everyone gave each other anxious looks before Kiron spoke up, "You know, Lenne, if you pass the test tomorrow, all eyes will be on you. You will be a newly christened high summoner, and you've done it under a year. In Spira's history, only royalty's been able to accomplish that."

Lenne looked at all her friends unsurely. "So what am I going to do?"

"You'll need some kind of story," Zaon suddenly grunted.

"So, Lenne," Takoire asked casually, "what was it like growing up in Zanarkand?"

"Huh?"

"You grew up in Zanarkand, Lenne," Seru stated in a matter of fact voice. "Don't you know that?"

"I did?"

"And how'd you manage to get the captain of the Zanarkand Abes as your only guardian?" Kiron inquired.

Without a second thought, Lenne answered, "Are you kidding? Takoire and I have been friends since we were kids. When I told him about my plans to become a summoner, he offered."

"Not too bad," Zaon commented, "you're a quick thinker."

As they continued walking around the temple, they saw a man who had accompanied the high priest earlier. He was dressed rather simply and had a gun fastened to his waist, but uncomfortable, piercing indigo eyes. "Sir Takoire? Could I have a word?"

The former blitzer shrugged. "Yeah, sure I guess." The man pushed himself off the wall and began to retreat into the temple. As Takoire followed him, he gave Lenne a wink. "I'll catch you later. You just keep working out those details."

The group watched as the two men walked away and were gone completely before resuming their conversation. "Hey, Lenne," Seru said, "why did you become a summoner? I mean, I know you said that our aeons were attacking your Spira, but you're such a gifted summoner, Lenne. I get Kiron just because of his family's legacy…"

"Hey!"

"But, Lenne, why?"

Lenne couldn't help but laugh slightly. "I told you. My mom was a high summoner, and her father was a high summoner. My dad was a guardian, and his father was a guardian. I just never imagined that I'd be a summoner. I mean, there were no aeons in my time until two months ago, and they were attacking the temples."

"So you've got the bloodline too, eh?" Kiron joked.

"Yeah," Lenne agreed, "but honestly, it's the only thing that makes sense. The aeons appear in my time, and they're all considered monsters. Then I come here, and they've become my aeons, not that I've ever had to use them."

Kiron looked at her skeptically. "Sure, but with your other aeons, you saved my life."

"That was an emergency," Lenne insisted, "we were a little outnumbered."

"Ah," Seru pointed out, "but you still summoned it."

"I only summon if it's an emergency."

Seru laughed. "Aren't you the responsible one?"

The female summoner shrugged. "With a guardian like Takoire, I have to be." Everyone couldn't help but laugh at Lenne's latest remark, but afterwards she spoke again, "Kiron, after the test, what's the plan?"

The prince of Zanarkand shrugged. "Seru, Zaon, and I will probably take an airship back to Zanarkand. You and Takoire are both welcome to join us of course."

"Go back?" Lenne asked in confusion. "Isn't there another aeon in Bevelle?"

Kiron, Seru, and Zaon looked at each other with uneasy glances, and everyone seemed afraid to look at their summoner friend. "Didn't Takoire tell you?" Seru asked.

"He told me that it was called the Cheribum and only the maesters know its name. Oh, and he said that if you passed the test, you become a maester."

Kiron's voice dripped with anxiety. "Did he tell you how many maesters there are now and how many there have been in the past?"

"Well, there are two now. One's your dad, the leader of Zanarkand, and the other one is the leader of Bevelle, I don't remember his name though."

"And he told you there has only been one maester at a time before this, right?" Kiron continued to ask.

"Well, yeah."

"But did he tell you why?" Seru asked.

Lenne shrugged. "No, but I just figured that it was extremely hard and no one could pass it. Why's that a big deal? I mean, I know that if you fail a test you can never take it again, but what's the big deal?"

"Lenne," Kiron started, "in the Cheribum's case, when Takoire said you can never take it again, it's literal."

Seru looked at Lenne with a pained face. "Look, if you take the Cheribum's test and fail, Lenne, you die."

Author's Notes:

Final Revision