A Generation of Aeons
Chapter Forty-Nine

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

Last Time:

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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"Cheribum…" Lenne quickly gasped, covering her mouth.

The sound of a door opening, closing, and footsteps soon joined those of the drops of water and the moaning of the young man. Three men came into view: one dressed in the uniform of a Bevelle soldier, another dressed in robes of white, while the last of the three was the most recognizable. With deep purple hair that had grown out, he wore a complex garment of maroon with a red sash across his waist, and a silver ring on his right hand.

The last turned to the other dressed in white. "Well, what's his condition?"

Frowning, the white mage looked at the man, still hanging there painfully. "Milord Sareth, I really don't think…"

Sareth glared. "Shall I get myself a new mage?"

The mage quickly shook his head. "No, milord. The prisoner's condition seems to be acceptable. His wounds are healing and will not become infected, although they still cause a considerable amount of pain. He'll last some time yet, milord."

"Good," Sareth answered, his mouth curving into a smile. He waved his hand. "You have my leave to go." The mage turned to leave. "Wait!" the lord called. "Don't stray too far, my brother may require your services when I'm through with him." Sareth turned back to the prisoner. "Well, how are you today, brother?"

Takoire lifted his head only to glare.

"That well? I find that surprising."Tthe younger of the two went off and waved to the Bevelle guardian who disappeared behind the door. "Now, brother, as you may recall, once upon a time, I was lenient towards you. You were never forced to undergo anything such as these past few weeks, but unfortunately for you, what patience I did have for you died. I ask you again, brother, tell me where High Summoner Lenne is." Takoire remained silent. Sareth's anger grew. "Last time! Where did your whore go after you left the council chamber!"

The guardian lifted his head, spitting at Sareth's face. "No matter what you do to me, I'll never tell you where Lenne is."

Sareth clenched his teeth. "Fine, have it your way." The door opened a second time, and the Bevelle guard returned carrying a tray of obscure looking weapons. He set it next to Sareth. "Well, what shall we do today? I'll even let you choose." Takoire stayed silent. "All right then, we'll do your favorite." Instead of choosing a weapon on the tray, Sareth bent down to take a metal rod from the pile of glowing embers, its tip as red as if it were a flame. "Let's have some fun."

Takoire screamed as his brother brought the rod against his skin.

Lenne immediately felt a surge of pain at her side and looked to the corner of the room where she had seen her guardian stand only moments ago. Instead of finding him as she last saw him, Takoire was curled up in a ball on the floor shaking uncontrollably. She quickly ran to him. "Get some help!"

The screaming stopped as Sareth pulled the rod away. "Now, I ask again, where is she?"

"I won't-" the guardian coughed, bringing blood to his lips, "I won't tell you…"

Sareth grew angrier. "Fine." He grabbed a second rod and seared it into his brother's flesh.

"Shut if off!" Lenne yelled to Gaia, her cousin already frantically trying to find some way to comply although it was a simple task.

The high summoner watched in horror as Takoire continued to convulse as the sphere was finally shut off. With Garren and her father's help, they lifted her guardian onto the cleared couch the Crimson Knights were sitting on only moments ago.

She held his face with her hand. "What's wrong with him?"

Tidus touched his daughter on the shoulder. "He's reliving it. The sphere triggered his memories, and he's reliving it. Right now, he feels as if he's being tortured. Something has to reach to him with a strong mental bond. I don't know how long he'll be like this."

Lenne closed her eyes, still at her guardian's side, and squeezed her chokin necklace. It had been years since she had last felt them, but she knew they were there. The feelings that were always somewhere in the back of her mind had disappeared when she returned home, but now, she felt them again. Fighting a mental struggle within herself, she grabbed hold of the feelings with her will and found herself enveloped in feelings of pain and guilt. She called out softly, "Takoire…"

Her eyes snapped open at the same time Takoire's did.

Takoire suddenly snapped up, almost out of breath.

"Are you okay?" Tidus asked, a concerned look on his face.

The guardian jumped at the sound of his voice. "I, uh… I'm fine. It just takes me a minute to figure out where I am."

Lenne stood wearily, eyeing him almost angrily. "You didn't tell me Sareth tortured you. Why didn't you tell me?"

The room became silent as Takoire struggled for words. He let his head fall into his hands. "You didn't need to know."

She grew angrier. "Didn't need to know?" she asked, pointing a finger at him. "You're my guardian. It's my obligation to know, but more than that, you're my friend. I should have known."

He only shook his head. "You didn't need to know. You already have a lot to deal with."

"You should have told me!" Lenne yelled, all of the other people in the room forgotten.

"You didn't need to know," he repeated for a third time.

Lenne was becoming more and more agitated, and it was rising in her voice. "I want to know!"

"No, you don't!" Takoire finally yelled back, somehow finding the strength to stand on even ground with his summoner. What little restraint he had moments ago had crashed to the surface, and nothing could stop it. "You have no idea what I've been through! You don't want to! For you, it's only been three years, but it's been five years since I last saw you! Not even a full minute passed after you left that Sareth's guards caught me! The only family I had left, my brother, locked me up in his dungeon for seven months and tortured me! You don't want to hear this!"

The high summoner felt as if all the breath had been knocked from her lungs. "Takoire…"

"I was on the run from Sareth's guards for almost two years after I escaped! I couldn't live in Bevelle, and I couldn't live in Zanarkand! I had to live underground because both sides were trying to kill me! Maester Yevon got it into his head that it was my fault that Kiron took the Cheribum's test, and nothing Yunalesca or Zaon told him could make him think otherwise! You didn't have to see Shuyin, one of my few friends who knew nothing of my life in Bevelle, gain a reputation as a blitzball captain, fall in love with Lenne, and watch her be sent off to the front lines! You didn't have to hear the news reports of Shuyin disappearing days after Lenne had been dispatched! You didn't have to watch Zaon lead armies against Bevelle and see Yunalesca call the final summoning, which you knew was him!" Takoire was almost out of breath, but he turned his view to Oryon. "And you didn't have to come back from a raid… and tell Ryak's wife and daughter how he had died…" The guardian let his head fall. "For three years I traveled, and even with Sareth gone, Spira was still surrounded by death!" He paused. "And then I came to a peaceful time, a time called the Eternal Calm. But then…" he turned to where Yuna and Tidus stood, looking at them sadly, "I was at your concert, High Summoner Yuna. The concert you held on the Thunder Plains. I saw how Shuyin died… For all those people there it didn't matter, all of it happened a thousand years ago, but for me it was only a matter of years! You don't want to know this…"

The two locked eyes, and all was quiet.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks… no one knew exactly how long it was until anyone spoke.

But eventually, someone did speak.

A guardian came running into the room, panting and short of breath. "Sir Garren, we were loading the second to last ship of civilians when he attacked. He had creatures with him… One of them was huge! Bigger than the temple! It was wrapped up in chains, and one of its eyes was covered! It destroyed the Cheribum's temple with one blast!"

The council immediately found themselves on their feet, trying to find some way of helping. Garren spoke first, "How many civilians did we leave behind?"

"Sixty to seventy, sir," the guardian answered.

"Bannerd," the Crimson Knight of Bevelle quickly said.

He stepped up. "Yes, sir?"

"Get your guardians together." The Al Bhed turned to the Crimson Knight of Besaid. "Darka, can you get your guardians together and the Valefor prepped up?"

The pale blonde-haired guardian nodded. "It's done."

Lenne turned to the summoners on her council. "Kathurn, you're coming with us. Oryon, you help maintain damage control here. If anything happens to myself or Darka, you're in charge."

Collapsing back onto the couch, Takoire began to feel dizzy and cringed at what he knew was coming. He clutched his summoner's brand. "Lenne!"

The high summoner quickly turned around to see her guardian falling from the couch to the floor before a sharp pain took over her head. She quickly collapsed against a wall, but did not feel a single increment of pain as she faded into the darkness.

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"Ow… Cheribum, my head…" Lenne grunted, sitting up. A hand pushed her back down.

"No saving Spira until you're completely better, young lady."

The high summoner looked up into the smirking face of her father. "Dad…?"

He smiled. "Yep, glad you're finally awake. Your mother's been worried sick, and you know hard it is to calm her down." Tidus handed her a glass. "Here, drink this."

Lenne took it to her lips, but before tipping the liquid into her mouth, she asked, "How long have I been out?"

"Almost two days," Tidus answered. His daughter attempted to move the glass away, but he kept it at her mouth. Tipping the glass with a hand, the liquid was forced down Lenne's throat. "I know you want to know where that guardian of yours is." She blushed. "He's still unconscious. He's in your guest room. If you haven't noticed, we're in your apartment."

Lenne drank down the lat few drops from the glass, smacking her lips. "That tasted like crap. What was it?"

Tidus shrugged. "Not a clue. Your Aunt Lulu gave it to me, told me to mix it with some water, and have you and your guardian drink it once you were awake. And there is no saying no to that woman."

"How'd we do?" Lenne inquired, feeling a change of topic was in order.

The former blitzball star frowned. "Well, if the council didn't believe you before, they do now. A large part of the forces we sent were decimated. They managed to get out about twenty or so civilians, but we lost eight guardians; five Bevelle, two Besaid, and three Kilika."

Lenne shot up. "Is everyone all right?" Cheribum… she couldn't stand the thought of losing another friend. Losing another friend while she was helpless to stop it…

"Garren's fine, so is Vidina. Your friend Darka has a pair of broken ribs, but he'll be fine. Kathurn on the other hand, he broke his right arm and dislocated his shoulder. He won't be fighting for awhile."

"What about-" Lenne began to question.

"Gaia?" her father finished for her. "She hasn't found anything new yet."

She sighed. "Dad? Could you leave me alone for a little bit? I have to think about a few things."

Tidus nodded his head in understanding. "Sure."

"Could you tell me when Takoire's awake, too?" Lenne continued.

"No problem." Closing the door behind him, Tidus left Lenne in silence.

She stared up at the ceiling, a million thoughts running through her mind. One thing in particular she thought she had left behind years ago… The Prophecy of the Summoner of Yore…

When she had first returned, she had never given it a second thought. Now that it came to mind, it was never actually finished. The Cheribum had confirmed she was the Summoner of Yore. So who did the other two prophecies pertain to?

There were only two people she knew who fit those descriptions…

Thinking back on the Guardian of the Ages' Prophecy, it made sense if it was Takoire. Given all they could want at the moment of birth… But what was given, was not what the guardian of the ages hoped for…And so led a life too small for their destiny… It made sense. Takoire never wanted to be Bevelle's lord marshal but inherited it by right. The last few lines could have referred to after he ran away from Bevelle and became a blitzball player… Overcoming obstacles once thought gone… The guardian of the ages must face his past… The future and past crashing together… Determining their path… Was that when he was hiding his secret? The guardian of the ages must face his past…

Could the Divination of the Destructor of Ages apply to Sareth? It made sense…. Didn't it? For most of their life, second to another's shadow… Didn't Sareth complain of always being compared to his older brother? Was that what it meant? Demanding to have what is not theirs, those bound to the ancient cannot see past the divine… Was this the last formal council the Bevelle royal family ever had? Sareth demanding to be named Guardian of the Ages while his family agreed? Was this what the prophecy had foretold? The destructor of ages will cerate beings not natural to the world, forcing them to become slaves for all who beckon, enslaved for generations to come… The aeons…

Lenne stood up wearily and opened a window, overlooking the temple. The streets were flooded with refugees looking for shelter to stay the night, and the peace and quiet that normally engulfed the city once the sun was gone had fled.

Cheribum… had she done the right thing?

If the prophecies actually foretold the future… could she overturn destiny?

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Author's Notes:

Final Revision