A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Thirty-Seven

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

Last Time:

"Whaddya plan on tellin' the council?" he continued.

The summoner leaned her head against the wall. "I'm working on that…"

"Well, Sir Darka wanted me to tell you that you can hitch a ride on the Valefor to Bevelle if you want."

"Tell him I said thanks," Lenne replied.

Her male friend frowned uneasily. "And those things… they were aeons, ya?"

"Yep…" she countered simply.

"And you plan on buildin' a new temple for the one in Bevelle, ya?"

"Yep…"

"How do ya plan to do that?"

Lenne shook her head. "Still working on that, too…"

-------------------

"You ready?" Darka asked.

Lenne stood with her friend, the Crimson Knight of Besaid, just outside the doors leading to the council chamber. Council chamber… that word made her slightly nervous. She definitely didn't enjoy the prospect of going back into one for a second time.

"No, not really…" she answered.

The young man raised an eyebrow. "Lenne…"

She waved a hand towards the door. "Just do it… now or never."

He shrugged. "Good luck."

Darka stepped in front of her, took in a deep breath, and opened the doors. It was a large room but nowhere near as extravagant as the one once built in the temple-palace. Elevated onto two high platforms were seven people; the room filled with people standing below.

Lenne nearly toppled over at the sight.

"Presenting the High Summoner Lenne," Darka yelled over the crowd.

Presenting the High Summoner Lenne…. Takoire had said the same thing just before she had entered into the hall of the temple-palace. The night when she and Takoire had made up…

The Crimson Knight stepped off, and Lenne hesitantly followed. They walked on a plush red carpet that divided the crowd into two parts, eventually leading to a small space before the two factions that made up the Council of New Spira. Lenne felt her anxiety grow as people whispered to each other as she passed or as they peered over dozens of others to get a glance at her.

Sphere recorders scrutinized her every movement, her image being broadcasted all over Spira.

"Darka…" Lenne said under her breath, taking care so only her friend would hear her, "you didn't tell me there was going to be this many people…"

"I'm not a big fan of crowds either, remember?" he answered back. "I have to be here every month." Darka paused. "Don't ever remember it being this crowded before though…"

"Thanks…"

Reaching the two platforms, Darka stopped and saluted towards Garren. "Sir Garren, Councilwoman Lucil, permission to rejoin this council?"

The room suddenly became silent.

Garren nodded. "Granted."

Lenne let out a deep breath and looked up at the eight people now sitting above her. On the left platform was Nooj, a friend of her parents Lenne saw on occasion; Bairan, Baralai and Paine's son that she saw at every family get together; former summoner Dona, another acquaintance of her parents; and the head of the Council of New Spira, Lucil.

Sitting at the opposite platform, Lenne saw the Council of Guardians. Garren sat first as Crimson Knight of Bevelle. Malthus, Bairan's brother, sat next to Garren as Crimson Knight of Luca. Darka had taken his place next to Malthus, third-in-command as Crimson Knight of Besaid. The last of the four Crimson Knights was Bannerd, a black-haired young man who represented Kilika. All four of them wore the traditional uniform of the Crimson Knight, a weave of purple and navy blue. A patch on each knight's arm designated where each person came from, not that all dissimilar from a summoner's brand.

"High Summoner Lenne," Lucil said in a clear, loud voice that echoed across the room, "why do you have the need to address this council?"

Lenne closed her eyes and breathed out deeply, trying to imagine that only the council of eight was watching her. She opened her eyes. "I'm the only person who can properly address the events that have happened in Spira in the past few months." She paused. "First, the creatures that attacked the temples are aeons. They are the natural aeons."

Dona raised an eyebrow. "Natural aeons? What do you mean by that?"

"They…" Lenne started, "they existed long before Bahamut and the others did. The only reason they left was because Zanarkand and Bevelle pitted them against each other."

"Why haven't we heard of them before?" Nooj asked.

She shrugged. "Why don't we know anything that happened before the Zanarkand-Bevelle war? The Department Head of Historical Spheres and I believe that the leader of Bevelle during the war erased everything in order to strengthen his position."

"Then where do Ifrit and the other comes from?" Dona continued.

"They were based off the natural aeons. That's where they got the idea to make Ifrit and the others…"

"And do you know who created them?" Nooj continued.

Lenne shook her head. "No."

Dona frowned in disapproval. "Do you know anything of the old aeons you summoned?"

"Begging your pardon," she argued, "but the fayth gave me their power for the past two months."

"You could summon the aeons?" Councilwoman Dona asked skeptically. "I find that hard to believe considering they were destroyed over twenty years ago."

Lenne nodded her head. "Yes, I was able to summon them on a few occasions."

"Which were?" Sir Malthus asked, finally speaking.

She frowned. "I summoned Valefor when a fiend attacked a blitzball stadium filled with helpless people; I summoned Ifrit when my friend and I were attacked; and I summoned Bahamut when my friends and I were attacked a second time."

"You summoned Bahamut?" a shocked Lucil asked.

She nodded her head.

"And can you still summon them?" Dona inquired.

"No," Lenne answered simply. "I can't summon them anymore."

"Why not?" the Crimson Knight Bannerd questioned.

"I don't know," she responded. "The fayth told me they wouldn't be able to help me much longer when I became a high summoner. I lost that power when I was sent home."

"I believe we need to get back on track," Bairan said. "High Summoner Lenne, tell us of these new aeons."

She nodded her head. "The aeon of Besaid is called Suzaku and controls air. In Kilika, there is Byakko, aeon of fire. Genbu is the aeon of Djose and controls earth. Seiryu is the aeon of water and resides in Macalania."

"You only mentioned four," Malthus said. "What of the creature in Bevelle?"

"It's called the Cheribum," Lenne answered. "I suppose you could say it leads the four aeons."

"And this Cheribum," Nooj continued to query, "does it have a name? Do you just simply call it the Cheribum?"

"Traditionally, only maesters knew the name of the Cheribum."

"Maester?" Lucil sounded out.

Lenne sighed. "Perhaps I should go into the different kinds of summoners? There are three kinds: the first are just summoners; they can be summoners of Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu. Most summoner's take Suzaku's test first, but there are a few who are hand chosen by each aeon to be their personal summoner. High Summoners have been given all of that power as well as Seiryu's. Maesters on the other hand have done all that and passed the Cheribum's test."

Garren thought hard for a moment before speaking for the first time. "High Summoner Lenne, I, and I'm sure the rest of the council, was under the impression that you passed the Cheribum's test."

She nodded. "I did."

"Then why not carry the title of maester?" Councilwoman Dona gulled. "Why stay a simple high summoner?"

"The last two maesters before me don't exactly give me happy thoughts. Maester Yu Yevon created Sin out of desperation and threw Spira into a whirlpool of death for a thousand years. Maester Arheist couldn't keep the loyalty of his own army and was killed by his nephew," Lenne spoke the last words bitterly. "I also know the older generations are slightly uncomfortable with the title as well, seeing as the last people to hold the title were mostly dead. Thank you, but I like the title of high summoner just fine."

Garren cough uncomfortably. "Moving on to other subjects."

"I also neglected to mention there's more than one way to summon an aeon," Lenne continued. "They're called degrees."

"And what are they exactly?" Lucil asked.

"The fifth degree is summoning the aeon's representation. It only has a fraction of the actual aeon's power."

Sir Malthus cocked his head. "Do you know exactly what it is?"

Lenne shook her head. "No, I've never seen it." She took another breath before continuing. "The fourth degree of summoning is channeling an aeon's power into an object or a weapon while the third degree is channeling it into your body. The second degree is slightly confusing; I've never seen it myself."

"What is it?" Darka asked.

She frowned slightly. "An aeon of the summoner's choosing possesses their body."

"Possesses?" Sir Malthus said in a confused tone. "What do you mean?"

High Summoner Lenne could only shrug. "Like I said, I've never seen it before. I was told it was the highest degree Maester Yevon and High Summoner Yunalesca could summon."

"Then what is the first degree?" the Crimson Knight Bannerd spoke.

"Summoning the actual aeon. Summoners who can do that are called manifest summoners. They're very rare," she finished.

"While you were in the past," Darka said hesitantly, "how many of these manifest summoners were there?"

Lenne bit her lip and answered, equally as hesitant, "I was the only one in a couple generations…"

Nooj turned to the fellow council members with an intrigued look on his face. "From everything you have told us, what do you propose it is that we do?"

She stood thoughtful before answering. "First, we should construct a new temple in Bevelle for the Cheribum."

"You would supervise the construction of this project?" Lucil questioned.

"I would," she answered.

"And what of these other aeons?" Councilwoman Dona persisted. "Will they also require new temples in their name? Keep in mind, high summoner, Spira may not have the funds for such a large scale project."

Lenne shook her head. "I only suggested we build a new temple for the Cheribum considering the old one has been destroyed. I happen to know for a fact that the fayth respect the natural aeons and recognize them as the original aeons. The Cheribum and the others also respect what we've held sacred; I'm sure the other aeons wouldn't be bothered if we used it as their own and left the statues of the high summoners inside."

"What about the temple at Macalania?" Nooj said. "It's underwater."

"In that case, I recommend something be built on one of the surrounding cliffs. The original temple was built on one of the cliffs but was destroyed during the war. The ruins under the lake are those of the original temple."

"Hm…" Lucil thought hard for a moment, "is there anything else you recommend, High Summoner Lenne?"

Lenne heeded the councilwoman's words before speaking. "Although I did not go through it, there was once summoner's training."

"If you did not undergo it, what do you propose we do?" Bairan asked.

"I know enough of what the aeons look for to construct a program," Lenne answered.

The council became quiet, pondering all Lenne had said.

Lenne stood in front of them biting her lip and twiddling her thumbs. She had told them everything she knew to the full extent of the truth. So what were they thinking about? The council members began to whisper to each other, covering their microphones. Lenne became even more nervous. What was it that was taking so long?

"High Summoner Lenne," Lucil spoke, "what is the criteria to become a summoner?"

She cocked her head. Was that all? If it was then she had nothing to worry about. "Anyone can be a summoner who wants to be, with or without training; as long as they pass an aeon's test. Although, once you fail, you can never take it again."

Councilwoman Dona remained firm. "And what of guardians?"

Lenne frowned and swallowed hard. "All summoners must have at least one guardian except the summoners that are hand chosen by the aeons."

Lucil nodded and appeared to write something down. Lenne sighed in relief. It was almost over.

"And what about you?" Nooj asked innocently. "Do you have a guardian?"

She hesitated. How was she going to answer this? She didn't want to. She would have answered any question they asked except this one. Cheribum… she missed him….

"I did," Lenne answered bitterly, "I only had one… he couldn't come with me…"

A few of the council members nodded, and the Crimson Knights chatted amongst themselves while Lenne remained solemn at the thought of her guardian.

"You have presented this council with much, High Summoner Lenne," Councilwoman Lucil acknowledged, "and this council has decided to follow through with all you have suggested. You will be depended on throughout these changes."

Lenne nodded. "I understand."

Garren looked down at his cousin. It was obvious she had changed in the past two months she had been gone. She now shied away from any attention given to her. All of his childhood memories somehow had Gaia, Vidina, and Lenne in them. Through all the people he had encountered as a guardian and Crimson Knight, and through all the friends he had made, those three were the three he remembered the most. He could see it in her eyes. All Lenne wanted was to help Spira change, go back to Besaid, and lead as normal of a life as possible.

It hurt him to speak.

"High Summoner Lenne, both the Council of New Spira and the Council of Guardians have decided that once this new system has been created, we must add a Council of Summoners to the Council of Factions. You will head this new council."

The high summoner was speechless. A new council? She would head it? What was going on? She didn't say anything about adding another council, let alone have her leading it!

"Wh-Why?"

Lucil nodded her head in understanding. "Spira is about to undergo enormous changes, and we need someone who knows what they're doing to lead us there."

She dropped her head in defeat. Here it was again. Cheribum… she hated the attention now. She would have been happy never to be noticed again after today.

But Lenne knew that was never going to happen.

"How long would I supposedly keep this position?"

Garren couldn't look at her and turned away. "As long as necessary. In all likelihood, at least five years."

"Five years…" Lenne muttered to herself.

'No, Takoire… I can't do it without you. I need you.'

'Your Spira needs you. The people you left behind in your Spira need you.'

"Very well, then," Lenne sighed. "Once a structure of summoners has been established, I will create a council of summoners to represent Spira and lead them."

-------------------
Author's Notes:

Final Revision