A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2
Last Time:
"Hopefully," Kiron added, "we'll see you again before you attempt the Cheribum's test."
Lenne nodded and turned to Kiron's other guardian. "Don't worry, I'll miss you too, Zaon. Good luck with your wedding."
Zaon grunted, and everyone laughed.
Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, Takoire frowned. "I'm no good at good-byes. Probably why I ran away." He paused. "Zaon." The former Zanarkand officer only nodded his head. "Seru…"
"Don't say anything. I'm not accepting any apologies."
"But-"
"No buts," Seru continued. "Just relish in the fact that you were a horrible fiancé." She approached him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "I like you better just as a friend."
"Works for me," Takoire responded.
"We better be off," Kiron said, his voice filled with regret.
"Right…" Lenne somewhat agreed.
And with a small, sad smile, Lenne and Takoire watched their friends Kiron, Seru and Zaon board the airship for the city called Zanarkand.
Leaning over a balcony ledge, Lenne viewed Bevelle. Unlike the rest of the cities that Lenne had been to in this time, where guessing was the most accurate technique of identifying where you were, Bevelle remained unchanged. A holy city.
There were no fayth in Lenne's time, and therefore, no aeons and no reason for Bevelle to remain a holy city. But in spirit, Spira still thought of the city as the heart of the land. Thanks to her father, the temples remained intact in each city to stand as a testament to the high summoners and guardians who gave their lives for Spira. Both of her grandfathers died for that. They were famous. Legends. Her parents were beyond famous. Their names would never be forgotten. And Lenne, Lenne had joined their ranks in a way, and there was no doubt she would become famous when she returned home. Wasn't that what she always wanted? To step out from her parents' shadow? Was that still what she wanted? No, there was only one thing she wanted now, but deep down, she knew she shouldn't have it.
There were differences of course, between her Bevelle and this one. First, there was double the amount of people Lenne was used to seeing… then again, that was true everywhere Lenne had been in this Spira. Instead of Yevon's symbolism everywhere, she saw representations of the four aeons. But the Cheribum, the Cheribum was what was revered in the city, and the prophecy of the summoner of yore was what was anticipated. How could such an advanced civilization be bound by such old legends?
Three days had passed since Kiron, Seru, and Zaon left, and almost a week since their arrival in Bevelle. Everything seemed slightly emptier without her three friends around. Gone was the down to earth prince who was created by assassins. Lenne didn't have anyone to turn to for advice with her surrogate big sister fighting to keep her right as Kiron's guardian. She even missed the silent guardian Zaon, whose presence could be easily missed if you weren't specifically looking for him. Now Takoire was running around alone, ensuring her safety, and at the same time, trying to get to the bottom of the attacks, finding no answers.
Thinking about him, Lenne couldn't help but smile softly. She brushed a lock of hair from her face as she remembered the night of the feast. He looked so handsome in his guardian uniform, his hair neat and combed. The way he looked at her with his stormy gray eyes right after he had answered her question about his relationship with Seru. The way he held her when they danced, like he never wanted to let her go…
"Hey."
A familiar voice brought Lenne back to reality but caused her smile to grow even wider.
"Hi."
Moving to stand beside her, Takoire peered down into the city. "I knocked and didn't get an answer, so… I just came in. Hope you don't mind."
She shook her head. "No."
Twiddling with his silver ring on his fingers, Takoire spoke, "Hey, you wanna go somewhere?"
Lenne turned to him and nodded brightly. "Sure."
"Where are we?"
Looking around, Lenne stood on an evenly laid cobblestone path that wound its way through what was far from a simple garden. Flowers of every color and shape resided on the land and brightened it. Statues of Suzaku, Byakko, Genbu, and Seiryu decorated the path, just as they did the rest of the garden; vines growing on them gave them a touch of distinction. A small stream ran along the left side of the path, its cool water nourishing the bright flowers growing on its banks. The trees were placed strategically to make the garden even more beautiful and even offered shade for anyone who was walking through. How it served its second person, Lenne couldn't see. The only people in the lush garden were herself, Takoire, and a few gardeners.
"The royal gardens," Takoire answered simply.
Lenne looked around wearily. "Are you sure we're supposed to be here? I only see a few gardeners here, besides us."
He laughed. "Don't worry about it. You're a high summoner, remember?" Takoire paused. "You know, this used to be my favorite place as a kid. It's so calm and peaceful. It's where I could escape my parents and their expectations. Even Arkon didn't know I came here. Only the gardeners, but they never told. And there used to be this old man I'd talk to, Phalan. I could tell him things I couldn't even tell Arkon, and he was always there when I needed him. I looked for him after we both got better. I found out that he died about two years ago."
"Takoire," Lenne said, stopping to look into her guardian's eyes, her guardian's gray, stormy eyes, "no more secrets. Talk to me. I want to know everything about you."
Looking at his summoner, Takoire swallowed hard, at a loss of words. There was that feeling again. Looking back into her eyes, it felt like the night of the feast when he had almost kissed her. Cheribum, what was he thinking? He could have hit himself for it now. But Lenne had acted exactly like he did afterwards, like it had never happened. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?
What was it about her that Takoire had been so attracted to when they first met? Was it the fact that she had jumped from the stands into the blitzball sphere to help? What made him feel so protective of her when he knew full well that she hated being protected? What made him give up his blitzball career and his life in Zanarkand for her?
Takoire had no idea.
But in a bold move on his part, Takoire reached down and laced his hand with Lenne's. He managed a weak smile. "Ask me anything. I'll tell you anything you want."
Lenne's mouth went dry, and she prayed Takoire didn't hear how fast and how hard her heart was beating. What did it mean? Biting her lip, Lenne tried not to take notice of her guardian's features. Did he look as nervous as she felt? Or was she projecting her feelings onto him? And then there were those feelings again. The feelings she sometimes shared but weren't hers. Where they were coming from, Lenne couldn't even begin to guess.
She softly squeezed his hand and smiled, resuming their walk. "Your family. You've never talked about them."
Takoire bit the inside of his cheek as they walked and shrugged. "Okay. You met my father, Lord Marshal Takoire I. My mother is Lady Kaira, and you've met my brother, Lord Marshal Apprentice Sareth."
"What were you like?" Lenne asked. "As a family, I mean."
"Nothing like yours, I can assure you. My father was always busy with his work; I never saw him. My mother always had to represent my father at dinners of state so I didn't see her much, either. Sareth and I pretty much took care of ourselves." Takoire sighed heavily. "I wasn't the best brother, either. Sure, I made sure he was taken care of, but then I was either with Arkon or by myself. He's changed so much since I left… He used to be so unsure of himself, and he was always compared to me. I felt bad, but there wasn't anything I could do about it." He took a breath and continued. "When I was ten, my father sent me off to get military training while Arkon left for his summoner training. Sareth was left alone in Bevelle."
"That's why you can fight so well," Lenne commented. "What you did to that soldier at the feast… pinning him up against the wall by his sleeves? And your knowledge of the aeons and how to summon them in order to take the tests?"
He nodded. "I learned to fight better than anyone. I learned strategies for the battlefield, and the only peer I had was my father. I was even taught assassins' tricks, how to hide weapons and use them in the most efficient manner. For four years, I was trained to be the ultimate soldier. That was what I was training to be, the eventual lord marshal. I came back just after I turned fourteen, just like my father did. I'd barely hit puberty and I was more competent in war and fighting than my father's generals."
"So what happened?" Lenne continued.
"Once I was back in the city, I was given the title of lord marshal apprentice and the rank of one of the highest officers in the army. I began to carry out my duties, including welcoming summoners into the city. That's how I met Yunalesca."
Lenne raised an eyebrow. "High Summoner Yunalesca? Kiron's sister?"
"Do you remember how she said she owed me?"
"Vaguely."
"She came to Bevelle once. Something happened that made her want to take the Cheribum's test about six months after she had been made a high summoner, I went out to meet her. Somehow she had been able to lose her guardians in Zanarkand and got to Bevelle on her own. It took me a few hours, but I was able to convince her to go back. She wasn't ready to take test. I made some arrangements, and she left for Zanarkand. We both agreed to pretend she had never come, and I covered everything up. I broke the law. I didn't record it."
"Kiron said Yunalesca was the one who convinced Maester Yevon to let you stay in Zanarkand."
"I learned that day that citizens of Zanarkand weren't all my family had made them out to be. They weren't uncultured, rude and egotistical… well, maybe Kiron before he was nearly killed four times…" Takoire added jokingly. "But the high summoner was a normal person. She acted just as nervous as I was, and she was the heir to the throne of Zanarkand. If a person that honest would eventually rule, what did we have to fear from a person like her?"
Leaning against Takoire, Lenne spoke, "And then what happened?"
"I began to question my family's beliefs openly. What was wrong with Zanarkand? Why did I have to be heir to the legacy of the ages if some prophesized summoner came along? Why? I told you I didn't like royalty because they didn't have choices. Then they had me engaged to Seru. I had no idea who she was. I had seen her at banquets, but I had never talked to her. She only talked to Ryak." Takoire let out a deep breath that sounded as if the burden of the world was being lifted off his shoulders. "About three months after Yunalesca came to Bevelle and five months after I had finished my training, I ran away. I figured, no city was safe, especially the temple-cities, they were controlled by Bevelle. Luca was under Zanarkand's jurisdiction, but I knew my family had contacts there. So, I decided on Zanarkand, and I cashed in my favor. I didn't like it, but I didn't think I had a choice."
The high summoner Lenne listened carefully as she gazed at the flowers and trees. The sound of the gentle stream running somewhere helped calm her even more. It was so much to digest. Everything her guardian had kept hidden from the world, he was telling her openly. He was telling her almost his entire life story. But that was a fair price; he seemed to remember everything she had told him about her.
"So that's me," Takoire finished. "I joined the Abes soon after I gained Maester Yevon's permission and made a career playing blitzball until you came."
"I'm sorry," Lenne said bluntly. "I messed everything up. You ran away from home so you wouldn't have to deal with things in Bevelle, and I made you come back."
Stopping under the shade of a cherry tree, Takoire took Lenne's other hand and looked her in the eye. "I'd do it all again in a heartbeat." He smiled as he brushed a lock of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I told you I liked the quiet life and would eventually take that route. I just had a little detour."
Lenne couldn't help but smile at Takoire's cheery expression. "Quiet life? We've had four assassin attacks, aeons' tests, and weird headaches that I can't block from you…"
He held up a finger. "I said detour. It's mostly Kiron's fault we had to deal with those attacks."
"And now that Kiron, Seru, and Zaon are gone?"
Takoire cocked his head and wore his usual devil-may-care attitude. "The peace and quiet factor has gone up considerably."
Hesitantly, he placed a hand on her face and looked on at her gently. Smiling softly, he placed a gentle kiss on Lenne's forehead.
She quickly looked up at him in surprise, but he only continued to smile at her. "This was my favorite tree in the whole garden," Takoire said.
Recovering from the sudden shock, Lenne put on the smile that only seemed to come out at Takoire's coaxing. "Why?"
"Honestly… I don't know."
"Well then," Lenne responded, settling herself at the bottom of the trunk, "it seems a comfy enough spot."
Without another thought, Takoire sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her.
Lenne looked around at the breath-taking surroundings in awe. Birds of every color were perched in branches, serenading them with their songs. She toyed with a flower by her foot, its petals the lightest shade of orange that reminded Lenne of the sunsets and sunrises Takoire loved so much. Glancing up, Lenne saw texts etched into the walls. The one in the center was raised above the other two on each side, and vines grew around them.
"Takoire," Lenne said, pointing up at them, "what are those?"
"Those," he answered, "are the prophecies of lore: the prophecy of the summoner of yore, the guardian of the ages' prophecy, and the divination of the destructor of the ages. My ancestors thought it would never change if they etched it into a stone wall in the royal gardens."
Looking up from under the tree, Lenne could read the prophecies. The centermost attracted the sort of attention that said if someone was going to read them, they should start with that.
The Prophecy of the Summoner of Yore
A side of the symmetry will be revealed
Then shall the other, yet things will not yet come to balance
One, the summoner of yore, bringer of peace to Spira
The other, guardian of the ages, protector of all
At a time when Spira falls into chaos at the arrival of old friends
A summoner of yore shall spring forth
Born from two who brought the end of a self-destructive force
A gifted magus and yet an omnipotent warrior
Upon their arrival in the city that never sleeps
The summoner extricated strangers from danger and gained an ally
Becoming their guardian and guardian of ages
Together they embarked on a journey
Learning of ways long gone
Bringing forth creatures the like of which had never been seen
And discovering old legends
Forgotten by the mouth of man
Their eyes will remain closed to what is the future as their world crumbles around them
Leaving them in the thickest of fogs
Their journey ending in the realm of the Cheribum
And returning from whence they came
The summoner of yore will rectify that which has been forgotten
And most all will come into balance
Except the summoner of yore
Before all things can be made right
An enemy will emerge
One who will determine the balance in Spira
Tranquility
Chaos
The ocean, an unending presence
The sun, to watch over it
And the moon, to keep it steady
Cocking her head, Lenne looked to Takoire for answers. "That's not what I remember Genbu reciting in Djose."
"Don't worry about it. We were both too busy with the pain to remember that clearly. I'm sure we missed a few parts, and we probably both heard different things."
"That guardian of the ages…" Lenne muttered.
Takoire nodded. "I had to memorize all three of these things when I was a kid, but I'd come over here sometimes just to read them over. Try to understand."
Lenne couldn't help but be curious about what legacy her guardian had inherited by blood.
The Guardian of the Age's Prophecy
A side of the symmetry will be revealed
Then shall the other, yet things will not yet come to balance
One, the summoner of yore, bringer of peace to Spira
The other, guardian of the ages, protector of all
Given all they could want at the moment of birth
But what was given, was not what the guardian of ages hoped for
And so they led a life too small for their destiny
Watching from afar
Discovering the forgotten
Learning of ways that have not yet been
Fulfilling their role in the universe
Overcoming obstacles once thought gone
The guardian of the ages must face their past
The future and past crashing together
Determining their path
Loneliness, expectations, ignorance
All the guardian of the ages has ever known
Except for a small glimpse of true happiness
But must be taken away
Searching for something that should not be found
Defying the ways of the natural order
The guardian of the ages wants something other than what they have known
But knows they should not have it
Inner turmoil will confuse them
Two ideas colliding within them
A choice must be made
Only through free will can the right path be selected
Finishing, Lenne looked up at Takoire, who looked calmer than she had ever seen him in Bevelle. He calmly stroked her hair as they sat together, and she wondered if he could fit that prophecy. "Sounds like this guardian of the ages is pretty depressing."
"Very. I didn't like the idea of it at all…"
Sensing his discomfort at the subject, Lenne looked to read the last of the prophecies on the left of the summoner of yore's.
The Divination of the Destructor of Ages
The summoner of lore, the bringer of peace to Spira
The guardian of the ages, protector of all
The destructor of the ages, the executioner of a virtuous Spira
One piece will fit with either
Two choices will be left:
Tranquility
Chaos
For most of their life, second to another's shadow
Time passes, and the destructor of the ages succeeds and yet fails
Demanding to have what is not theirs
Those bound to the ancient cannot see past the divine
The destructor of the ages will drown in pride and an endless pool of greed
Destruction will over take Spira by their command
Through means of subtle inducement and persuasion
Blood shall spill by their hands, setting forth unchangeable events
But it will never be enough
The destructor of the ages wants what is not theirs
For the second time, they will step within another's shadow
Using the means to attain what they have always wanted
The destructor of ages will create beings not natural to the world
Forcing them to become slaves to all who beckon
Enslaved for generations to come
Although the guardian of the ages and the destructor of the ages oppose each other
They share common ground
Both hold within their grasps an object of immense power
Given to them both without knowing their power
The destructor of the ages, the one to destroy the balance
The guardian of the ages, the one to keep the balance
Destruction or peace
Guardian of the Ages or Destructor of the Ages
The choice is for the summoner of yore
And no one else
"Wow…" Lenne finished.
"My ancestor, the first maester, Bevle, said the Cheribum gave him those after he had passed the test. His descendants would supposedly have seen this come to pass," Takoire said, apparently having finished reading them as well. "Scholars interpret that the summoner of yore is some kind of savior, the guardian of the ages is supposed to be from the royal blood line, and they think the destructor of the ages is someone from Zanarkand, probably a royal."
"What do you think?"
"I have absolutely no idea," he answered truthfully. "The three prophecies are way over my head. Especially the guardian of the ages' prophecy. Either me or one of my descendants is supposed to be it? Thank you, but no. I make my own destiny."
She laughed. "And there are rumors I'm the summoner of yore? Sounds like whoever this person is, they're in a world of trouble."
"Don't worry," he answered, "whether or not you are the summoner of yore, I will always be there for you."
And for the second time that day, Takoire kissed her on the forehead.
Author's Notes:
Final Revision