A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Forty-Eight

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

Last Time:

"High Summoner Lenne!" A female guardian ran towards them, stopping only a few inches from the high summoner. "I have Councilwoman Lucil and Sir Garren on the commsphere for you."

She gave a small smile. "Thank you." The guardian moved to leave, and Lenne followed after her.

"Wait," Darka called, "what are you going to tell them?"

"The truth," Lenne answered simply.

Gaia took a step toward her cousin. "Which is?"

Lenne turned back towards the female guardian and began to walk again. "That for the first time in over a thousand years, Spira will be at war."

Takoire stared through the window as Lenne walked away, watching Spira's last peaceful moment slip away.

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Within the home of the former high summoner Yuna and her guardian Sir Tidus, a large group of people sat in the living room, unaccustomed to meeting in such a small place. The Council of Factions each sat on a different couch, with a slightly older group surrounding them. The second, older group acted as advisors to the first, except that this particular congregation had not been consulted with in more than ten years.

The Council of New Spira, which consisted of Lucil, Nooj, Bairan, and Dona, sat together while Garren, Malthus, and Bannerd sat opposite them, representing the Council of Guardians. Sitting between the two councils was the Council of Summoners: the Head Summoner of Suzaku and Crimson Knight of Besaid Darka; Head Summoner of Byakko, Oryon; Head Summoner of Genbu and Guardian of Mushroom Rock, Kathurn; and Head Summoner of Seiryu, Jesa. The High Summoner Lenne stood standing nearby, an aggravated look on her face.

Standing around them was a different group of people, all but one from an age of destruction long gone: Yuna, Tidus, Lulu, Wakka, Baralai, Paine, Rikku, and Gippal.

Leaning alone in a dark corner of the room was a lone summoner guardian, dressed head to toe in black, with a newly embroidered summoner brand above his chest.

"This is ridiculous," Dona yelled out. "There was no reason for the Council of Factions to move here! I believe you've seriously overreacted, High Summoner Lenne! You had no right to order the evacuation of Bevelle!"

"Yes," Garren agreed, "but I do. As Crimson Knight of Bevelle, I have every right to order it if I deem the situation necessary. I exercised that right under the advisory of High Summoner Lenne."

Dona let out a dry laugh. "You're in this together. You only listen to her because you're cousins!"

"Excuse me, Councilwoman Dona," Bairan interrupted, "but because Malthus and I are brothers, does that mean we have undermined the council in any way?"

The ex-summoner opened her mouth to speak but nothing came.

Lenne exhaled a deep breath. "This is pointless. I informed Sir Garren and Councilwoman Lucil of all the details but asked them not to give full disclosure. They deemed it in the council's best interest to move it temporarily to Besaid, but it's time for all of you to know exactly what's happening."

The door to the house opened and inside came Gaia, dark shadows under her eyes. "Lenne, by the time I left the city over eighty percent of the people had been evacuated. I came with a group of refugees into Besaid."

"Did you get everything?" the high summoner asked immediately.

Gaia nodded. "Yep. I have all of my best people working on everything right next door. When Sareth gets to Bevelle, he's not going to be able to find anything."

"Good."

"Who's Sareth?" the Crimson Knight Bannerd spoke.

Lenne watched Gaia lean against a nearby wall. "The problem. I think it's time that everyone in this room really knew what happened to me when I was gone."

"I thought you told us everything there was about your journey, high summoner," Crimson Knight Malthus stated.

"I told you everything you needed to know, but I ask whatever I tell you now stays in this room." Lenne watched everyone in the room eventually nod their head before speaking. "When I first arrived in the past, I found I could summon the fayth aeons. I befriended a Zanarkand blitzball player named Takoire who told me everything I needed to know in order to become a summoner. He became my guardian in Besaid after I became a summoner and quit his blitzball career, leaving the team to Shuyin. While in Besaid, I met another summoner named Kiron, the only son of Maester Yu Yevon and brother of Lady Yunalesca."

"Yunalesca had a brother?" Lulu spoke. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"He did," Lenne confirmed. "I was friends with Lord Zaon and met Yunalesca."

"Met Lady Yunalesca?" Dona persisted. "That's preposterous."

"Why?" Nooj answered Dona. "We've seen stranger things. I'm sure as a former summoner of the fayth aeons, you would understand."

Lenne frowned. "If you want something stranger, I've met Shuyin." Nooj shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway, Kiron had two guardians: Lord Zaon and a mage called Seru. Along the way, I became friends with them, but Bevelle assassins attacked us several times before we could reach the actual city. Once there, the Bevelle lord marshal apprentice met us, Sareth. I learned that Takoire was the nephew of Bevelle's maester and was once the Bevelle lord marshal apprentice. Sareth, his younger brother, had taken his place after Takoire ran away. Seru was also once Bevelle royalty and had been engaged to Takoire. From there, things just went downhill." The high summoner took a breath. "Kiron was called back to Zanarkand by his father when Maester Yevon learned of Seru. A few days later, Takoire and I went unconscious, and when we woke up, we learned that Kiron had attempted the Cheribum's test… and failed."

"What kind of idiot just tries the Cheribum's test?" Bannerd asked.

"The kind who was in love with his guardian," Lenne said simply. "Maester Yevon wanted to take away Seru as Kiron's guardian, but they had fallen in love. Kiron thought that if he could become a maester, he would have had the power to keep Seru. From there Sareth moved to the Bevelle council and told them that I was some prophesized summoner of yore that was going to help them conquer Zanarkand. When the council challenged him," she breathed out hard, "he murdered them. He killed his entire family: his mother, father, uncle, aunt, and cousin, the heir to the throne. Takoire and I barely managed to escape; I passed the Cheribum's test, and then came home."

After a few moments of silence, Councilwoman Lucil cleared her throat loudly, as if trying to lessen the awkwardness of the situation. "Do you know what happened to Sareth after you left?"

"With Bevelle's army, Sareth demolished all the temples to the natural aeons and moved against Zanarkand. He's the one who started the war," a lone voice said calmly, stepping out from the shadows of a corner. "Because of Sareth, the fayth aeons were created and eventually Sin. He was the one who pushed Spira into the spiral of death."

Dona scoffed. "And how would you know?"

He raised his head, unintimidated. "Because I was there. My name is Takoire II. I'm Lenne's guardian. Sareth is my brother."

"Lady Lenne's guardian?" Oryon asked in disbelief.

Takoire stared at the head summoner of Byakko before speaking. "Yes, I was there when all this happened."

"Then tell us," Nooj said calmly, "why is Sareth here?"

"Simple," Takoire answered. "A thousand years ago, he failed in his conquest to conquer Spira. He believes it is his destiny to do so in the name of Bevelle, and with Lenne, he thinks he'll be unstoppable."

Garren shifted uncomfortably. "What do you think Sareth's next move is going to be?"

Takoire breathed out heavily. "Let me explain something. When something is out of place in the universe, the universe tries to destroy it. Lenne, Sareth, and I all suffer horrible migraines that will eventually kill us if we stay too long in a time that is not our own. Although Lenne is in sync with this time, she feels the effects because her summoner brand links the two of us together, so when I feel the pain, so does she. The objects that allow Sareth and I to travel forward through time are our rings." He held up his hand. "Our father gave them to us when we were young. There was a legend attached to them that said they were made out of a metal that was created by the Cheribum, and because so, the metal had special abilities. We dismissed it as just a story and forgot it. I only realized its power when I stumbled onto the Farplane approximately five years ago. My ring reacted, and I suddenly found myself fifteen years later."

"And this Sareth," Malthus said, "he suffers through the same headaches as you do?"

He nodded.

Dona scoffed, looking around. "Then what do we have to worry about? He's only going to leave or eventually die."

"Which brings me to my point," Takoire returned coolly. "Legend has it that a third object was created out of the same metal. This third object can stabilize one of the two rings, giving the ring's bearer to stay in whatever time of their choosing. That's Sareth's main objective right now, and he's going to start in Bevelle."

The room grew quiet, and Takoire retreated back into the shadows before Lucil spoke, "How much of Bevelle's artifacts do we have right now?"

Gaia smiled with her usual chirpiness. "Everything. I have my best people working on it as we speak. If there's something there, we'll find it."

"So the plan," Garren started, "is to keep Sareth from getting this third object, and after some time he'll be forced to leave."

Lenne nodded. "Yes, the least anyway. If we find this third object our best bet's to destroy it, that way, Sareth will never be able to stay on in any place for any length of time."

"Do we have any records for what the third object is?" Garren asked.

"No," his cousin answered solemnly. "That's why I have the Gullwings looking through everything that was in the Bevelle vaults. Until we find this thing, we need to mount a defense force."

"I understand Sir Garren has activated all the guardian reserves," Bairan commented.

"Yes," Lenne affirmed, nodding her head. "I've also assigned a summoner to each detail of guardians. Our main objective right now is to protect the people. Even now, there are refugees coming in from Bevelle and Luca. The main relocation spots are Besaid and Kilika, they're the most remote from Bevelle. We've also negotiated with the Ronso, and they're all accepting some refugees. We need to work out a defense for theses cities to make sure the people stay safe. There's no point in relocating them here if we can't protect them. Then we need to secure the temple cities-"

Suddenly, a timid looking young man knocked on the open door. "Uh," he looked around anxiously, "I was told that Deputy Head Gaia was here."

Gaia stepped into view. "Find something, Eiser?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. Eiser appeared to be a young Al Bhed who stood no taller than Lenne. He had thin, light brown hair with a tint of blonde that covered his green Al Bhed eyes. He pulled out a sphere. "This was one of the spheres we found. We weren't sure if it was going to be of much use to you-"

Without a thought, Gaia took it from his hand and placed it on the table between the three councils. "Does it have Sareth on it?"

Eiser seemed to struggle for a moment. "Well, yeah…"

"If it has anything remotely to do with Sareth," Gaia insisted, "then the council should probably see it."

"Yes, ma'am," the young Al Bhed answered in defeat. "If you don't mind, would it be all right for me to leave? I really don't want to see it again."

Gaia frowned but nodded. As Eiser left the room, Gaia turned to the councils. "Should I play it now?"

Her brother shrugged. "I don't see a reason not to. Would it be all right with you, Councilwoman Lucil?"

She nodded. "The only person to actually see this Sareth character is High Summoner Lenne, Sir Takoire, Sir Darka, and Deputy Head Gaia. I think it would give the council a better idea of what we're dealing with exactly."

With a nod, she turned the sphere on, and it immediately took them to an unexpected place.

It was dark and damp, a dungeon of some sorts. There was no light except the small flicker that was somewhere in the vicinity of the person recording the sphere and a small pile of glowing embers. The echoes of drops of water falling onto the cold, stone floor bounced off the walls, as well as the moaning coming from a figure the sphere seemed to be focused on.

The man's arms were being held up by two manacles, and he wore no shirt. Both old and new wounds had been inflicted onto his bare skin; some deep cuts while there were places that appeared to have been burned.

With the lack of light, it was hard to see the young man's features. His black hair was a mess, and as he lifted his head, his face appeared as if it, too, had been beaten. A thin beard and the beginnings of a mustache were on his face as a result of neglect.

He groaned and looked up with his stormy gray eyes.

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Author's Notes:

Final Revision