A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Twenty-Three

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

Last Time:

"Right," he replied, still sounding unsure, surprisingly, he looked to Kiron, "thanks, for saving Lenne. There was no way I could have gotten here in time."

"Don't worry about it," Kiron replied casually, "that's why we look out for each other."

Takoire smiled and looked down. "Look, Kiron, we got off on the wrong start. I just wanna say sorry for being such a jerk to you."

Kiron shook his head, "I wasn't any better. It was the first time out of Zanarkand on my own, and I was just too cocky. I thought because I was a prince, I could have anything I wanted in the way I wanted. Then after Kilika and today, I realize, that's not how life works."

The former blitzball player looked at Kiron, smiled, and held out his hand. "I'd be honored if I could call you a friend, Prince Kiron."

Looking down on Takoire's hand, Kiron returned the smile. "Kiron's just fine. I'm just a guy who's lucky enough to have some good friends to watch out for me."

And the two shook hands.

When Lenne awoke, she found herself alone in her room. Glancing out a window, she saw nothing but clouds; the rumble filling her ears told her that she was on an airship. Walking out from the room, Lenne found her female friend staring out a window close by.

"Hey," Lenne greeted, yawning in the process.

Glancing behind, Seru smiled. "Hey." She pointed outside. "We're over the Macalania Valley."

Lenne joined her and looked down past the glimpses between the clouds. She was only able to make out vast areas of land coated in ice, infrequent lakes, and cliffs surrounding everything, a barren land of ice.

"In my time, this all looks like the Calm Lands."

"Calm Lands?"

The summoner scoffed to herself. "Right, they probably don't call it that now. High Summoners would battle Sin there, that way innocent people wouldn't get hurt. They called it the Calm Lands because that was where the Calms would begin. Uh," Lenne thought hard, "how can I put this? It's the area of land that's at the base of Mt. Gagazet."

"Oh," Seru's expression became clearer, "Bevelle's outer territory."

"Outer territory?"

"Uh huh, all of that belongs to Bevelle, and the Ronso keep to themselves. After all, they are the barrier between Zanarkand and Bevelle."

Lenne rubbed the back of her neck. "This is complicated."

"Isn't it?" Seru responded sympathetically.

Trying to lighten the situation, Lenne changed the subject. "You know, I still can't believe that Kiron and Takoire finally put aside their differences."

Seru laughed. "It took long enough. Ah, but what did it eventually take?"

"A life and death situation, of course," Lenne replied, almost too naturally. "I've been meaning to ask you… at Macalania, what did Kiron do to his staff?"

Seru stopped for a moment to think. "That's the way he chose to summon; not bad for his first time. You see, he channeled an aeon or aeons' power into a weapon and used it. He can also channel it into himself and become stronger, faster, and have better reflexes, but it's very dangerous. I think he channels a small part into himself but mostly into his weapon. Did you see his eyes? Did you see how they glowed?"

"That was bothering me too."

"Well, that's killing two birds with one stone. That was channeling some of the energy into his body."

"But," Lenne continued to persist, "there's more than one way to summon?"

"Well, yeah. First, there's the way I just told you about. Wait… Let's make this easy. There are five degrees to summoning. The fifth degree is summoning an aeon's… shadow, I guess you could call it. It's not exactly the aeon; it's just a representation of it."

"Seru, you're not making much sense."

She scoffed and shook her head. "It doesn't make much sense. Let's just say it's something to take the aeon's place."

"I'm still not getting it but continue."

Seru could only roll her eyes. "The fourth degree of summoning is channeling an aeon's essence into an object. The third is channeling it into your body. The second, this is where it gets a little tricky, an aeon of the summoner's choosing possesses their body."

"Possess?"

"Yeah, don't ask me how it works, I don't know. But I do know that's the most powerful way Maester Yevon and High Summoner Yunalesca and I suspect Kiron can use, but I don't know for sure."

"And the first degree?" Lenne asked.

"The first one, that's rare. They call these people manifestors or manifest summoners because they can summon the actual aeon like Suzaku or Byakko."

"How many people can do that?"

Seru shook her head. "There hasn't been a manifestor in a couple generations, and the last one was the hand chosen summoner of Byakko."

"Wow," Lenne said, looking uneasy. "I wonder which degree I am."

Seru could only shrug. "Who knows? You don't really know until the moment comes, and it also depends on how much power the aeon gives you."

"Yeah, I guess…" Lenne drifted off. "So, Takoire and I will get off at Bevelle, and you, Kiron, and Zaon will keep going to Zanarkand?"

Seru laughed in disbelief. "You're joking. You think we're going to leave you and Takoire alone in Bevelle?"

"But Kiron is the prince of Zanarkand…"

"Like that's going to stop us. You and Takoire are our friends, and we're not just going to leave you to take the Cheribum's test. It's that simple. You're not getting rid of us."

Lenne couldn't help but smile and give her a friend a hug. "What would I do without you guys?"

"The feeling's mutual. Without you and Takoire, what would we have done about those assassins?"

Pulling away, Lenne gave a nod. "Thanks again, it really means a lot to me; but I gotta go find my guardian, he could be signing autographs if I'm not there, you know?"

"Right," Seru replied, "him and his blitzball fans."

Lenne began to walk off towards the corridors of the airship. Everything was different. Everything looked, smelled, felt different. Not that she had ever encountered this airship before. It wasn't something Lenne could explain very well; there was just a feeling. Being a high summoner just made everything different.

People would whisper to each other as she walked by, while some would bow their heads and whisper milady. Lenne would simply nod back and continue walking. How did they know she was a high summoner? She didn't wear any clothes, like Kiron, displaying her rank; all she had was her necklace, which wasn't big enough to catch the attention she was getting. Thinking on it, how did she get on the airship? And how had everyone snuck her away from the temple? The last thing she remembered was Seiryu making her a high summoner and limping out of the temple. Touching her head, she felt that her wound had been dressed and no longer hurt as much… but everything kept drawing up a blank.

Lenne rounded another corner, and an elderly woman bowed to her. She offered a smile back. Up ahead around the next corner, the high summoner heard a pair of familiar voices, but something told her not to reveal herself.

"We're going to be there soon, Takoire. It's unavoidable at this point."

"I know, I know," the former blitzer repeated. "But… I just never thought I'd have to deal with it again."

"Well, that all changed when you became Lenne's guardian. And we all know that Lenne's destiny is more than we can understand. She's from the future, her parents will be known for generations, and Lenne doesn't give herself enough credit for the things she's already accomplished. She amazes me, you know?"

"Yeah," Takoire laughed. "Lenne's always complaining that I have too much of an ego, but I think she needs one."

"You're not the only one. Maybe if we combine the spare ego we have, she might have one for the things she's done."

"Definitely, but it's been bugging me… how is she going to get back to her time?"

"Isn't that the million gil question? But like I said, from all the things I've seen come from Lenne, I wouldn't be too worried."

"You're right. But, Takoire-" the tone softening, "-if you really do consider me a friend, listen to me. You need to tell her; we're almost at Bevelle."

"Thanks, Kiron, but I thought we already solved the friend dilemma in Macalania?" Takoire finished with a friendly chuckle.

The conversation ended there, unable to continue. The airship began to rock violently back and forth. People fell while others grabbed hold of something frantically. Lenne watched as Takoire and Kiron fell and were slammed against an opposing wall. She strained to hang onto a railing and stay hidden.

"Ladies and gentleman, please stay calm. We're having a little engine trouble. We're going to try an emergency landing, hold on!"

Lenne watched as Takoire and Kiron clung to the bottom of a window.

"Emergency landing!" Takoire yelled. "There's no way they can land the ship in this condition! They'll stall out!"

"We should get to the bridge!" Kiron yelled back. "Help out anyway we can! We'll pick up the others on the way."

The two young men didn't have to try very hard to get to the lift, Kiron simply let go of his hold, and the two fell into it. Seeing the doors close, Lenne slowly made her own way to the lift. It wouldn't matter how good of piloting skills her friends, or anyone else, had. There wasn't any safe way to land the ship.

There was no way Valefor could hold up an airship this big. From what Lenne could tell, the airship spawned at least double the wingspan of her Besaid friend from the future. None of the aeons she could summon could help. The only one who could fly was Valefor, but she had already ruled that out.

In the lift, Lenne sent herself onto the deck where she barely held on from falling. Stabbing a spare dagger into the deck was the only object that kept her on the airship. There was only one possibility, only one thing left for her to try.

"Okay, Lenne, concentrate. Focus on what you need and put everything you have into it. If Kiron can channel an aeon's essence into his staff, then maybe, just maybe…"

Pulling out her sword, Lenne was thrown by a violent tip of the airship, her hand becoming raw and red from holding on. Wary of her surroundings, Lenne cautiously stood up; there was no way to tell how long the airship would stay steady like this. She held the blade between her palms and prayed. Inside, Lenne prayed that she would not fall off the airship being reckless and standing, but on the outside, Lenne prayed something different. "Suzaku! I need your help! These people need your help!"

The sky began to darken and lightening cut through it. Winds rocked the airship even more violently, and Lenne fell hard, frantically reaching for her dagger. The sun was gone from sight; in its stead was a great, flaming red ball. The size seemed comparable to the sun and out of it flew a kind of bird. It flew towards Lenne and the airship and looked as if it were a flaming torch against the dark sky.

'You called me, Lenne. I can read your thoughts, and I understand what I am needed to do.'

With its golden talons, Suzaku latched onto the airship and flapped its wings rapidly. The airship began to balance out, the bottom becoming parallel with the ground.

Lenne felt drained as she started to stand up, the airship's temperament calming more and more. She heard the lift whir louder and louder before coming to a stop. Lenne turned to see Takoire, Kiron, Seru, and Zaon. Their sight landed on Lenne and then moved to the object that was steadily lowering the airship to the ground.

Takoire looked to Lenne, his mouth gaping. "You summoned Suzaku?" His voice conveyed more than disbelief.

Lenne could only shrug. "I had to do something…"

"Okay, then," Seru said. "I guess we figured out what degree you are as a summoner Lenne…" she finished by shaking her head.

Again, Lenne could only shrug, not knowing what else to do.

"No kidding," was the only think Kiron could say.

The five of them felt a slight tremor, and then everything became still. Suzaku rested on the airship's deck with a weary look that Lenne shared. Her friends still looked at her in a slight confusion.

A voice over the airship suddenly filled everyone's ears once again, "Uh, ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have landed safely just inside Bevelle's gates. All we can do is praise the Cheribum for the summoner who summoned Suzaku."

Looking to her friends, Lenne found it impossible not to notice the sarcastic looks they wore. Kiron was shaking his head as if Lenne had committed some form of high treason. Seru stared as if layering the summoner with guilt while Zaon only raised an eyebrow. As for Lenne's own guardian, his eyes were closed and his forehead was supported with his hand as if he had been teaching a small child that refused to stop making the same mistake over and over again.

"I told you," Lenne insisted, whining like a small child, "I didn't really have a choice. Valefor wasn't big enough."

The friends all looked at each other for a moment before breaking into laughter. The burden Lenne had been feeling lately felt as if it were disappearing for a short time. Her four friends approached her and offered all their comfort.

'If I am no longer needed,' the deep voice within their minds spoke, 'I will depart. This is the realm of the Cheribum, and it would not be wise for me to stay much longer.'

Suzaku did not speak again and only unfurled its wings. The aeon tipped its head and wings in a gesture of respect before it pushed off from the airship. Suzaku flew into the sun until no human's eyes could stand it any longer. The group's gaze eventually fell on the extravagant city below.

The city of Bevelle was not completely unlike the way Lenne knew it. High maroon towers watched over the city that seemed to have never ending layers to it. In the center of the city was a building so large that the only things Lenne could compare it to were the aeons she acquired in this time, and the buildings were still larger than all the first four aeons put together. Unlike the rest of the city adorned in red, this structure took on a color scheme of darker colors. All over the walls were indistinguishable symbols and in the midsection were statues. On one side was Suzaku and Byakko while on the opposing side were the images of Genbu and Seiryu. Centered in between them was the figure of an artist's rendering of a dark blue Cheribum. Larger than all the others, different representations of the Cheribum were featured all over the city.

Cutting into Lenne's thoughts, Kiron spoke simply, "Bevelle."

"Yeah," was all Lenne could respond back.

"You ready?" her guardian asked.

"Not really."

Author's Notes:

Final Revision