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Chapter 13

Yuna woke up to a warm day in Besaid, with the usual pain in her left shoulder

Yuna woke up to a warm day in Besaid, with the usual pain in her left shoulder. But this time, she didn't care about that; the only thing filling her mind was the words of the voice, that had finally come to her again. Since the first time she had heard it, she had already been in the hospital for one more week, then some more days in a boat back to Besaid, then several days on the island without any more words from the voice.

That was the impulse she needed. She was about to give up, to admit that the voice was just a weird dream, but now that she had heard it again, she was sure that it was real. "Or at least... part of the voice..."

It was once a real person, some sort of dream of the Faith, and it seems that there are two of them. The voice's words were still echoing on her head... "I will return, I just will".

She got up slowly to the morning routine at Lulu's hut. By this time, she could already walk and she didn't have those unbearable pains anymore. After lunch she got out of the hut, not without being intercepted by the black mage...

- Where are you going?

- To the temple...

- Just wait a minute, I'll go with you. - Lulu said, as she walked towards the hut's door, getting ready to get out.

- No, there's no need... - Yuna didn't want Lulu to go with her; actually, she didn't want Lulu to know what she was going to do at the temple. She didn't tell anyone about the voice she heard, and she didn't want her guardians to find out about it. - It's something I want to do by myself...

- What do you mean? - asked Lulu, with both voice and face filled with confusion.

- It's just something... I want to go alone, that's all. To see if I can begin to live by myself again.

Lulu wasn't sure if she should let Yuna go alone as she was still injured: she couldn't move her left arm, and she still looked weak, but...

- Well, take care then.

- I will. - And said this, Yuna walked to the outside of the hut, feeling the warm breeze and the hot Sun of Besaid invading her body. She walked through the village, that was becoming bigger since Sin's death. It wasn't the village that existed two years ago anymore; now it had probably twice huts as it used to have before, and there were more people living there. "People don't fear that Sin will attack the island anymore." Indeed, it was funny how she remembered a dialogue she had several years ago, shortly after she had arrived to Besaid, when she was only a little child and Chappu was still alive...

" - You know, if it wasn't for Sin, the village would be muuuch bigger!

- Yeah, but people are so scared that Sin will come, that they don't come for the island.

- But, my father already killed Sin, didn't he?

- Well, yeah, but he will come back again.

- Then, someone must kill him again..."

She thought that that was the first time she had considered to become a Summoner, so she could kill Sin again, so the people didn't have afraid of coming to the island "It's funny how that doesn't matter anymore..." She stopped at the doors of the temple, feeling a little nervous. During the last months, she had come to the temple many times; not to pray of course (since she didn't believe in Yevon anymore), but to attend to people or to talk to priests. That was the first time she was entering a temple to try to find her own answers. She decided to finally get in. Inside the temple seemed like nothing had changed, like time had stopped inside those once sacred walls. There was still that dark environment, every stone had a shadow, inside of her head, she could still hear the Hymn of the Faith; there were some priests walking around and some elders that couldn't leave old habits behind still populated the temple. She looked at the statues, the ones that represented the High Summoners before her, and wondered how it would be if she had died like them, would that be a statue of her, maybe right next to her father's? When she was just an apprentice, she dreamed about the day when she would have her place on the temples; not because of the fame or prestige, but because that would mean that she could bring a new calm to Spira. And now, she had brought the calm and she was alive; she had made history, more than those Summoners had ever made. But still, she wasn't happy, still she cried for what she really wanted, for who she lost while making history...

- I bet he would be proud.

She suddenly woke up from her thoughts hearing the words of someone behind her, and turned around quickly.

- Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Lady Summoner.

- T-that's alright.

She looked to the man trying to remember who he was, but then he realized she had never seen him before. He was tall, had a well build body, slightly pale, short dark hair and one of his green and deep eyes had a little scar. His face was strong, severe, angular, but mysterious at the same time.

- May I ask who are you?

- I'm just someone who carries the truth behind many of Yevon's lies. - He said that with a small mysterious smile of his face, and then turned to Lord Braska's statue. - That's your father's statue, right? I bet he would be proud of you.

"Oh, no..." She thought that the man was just another Truth Seeker trying to make her support their cause. It was strange the fact that the man didn't tell his name, though; usually Truth Seekers were people seeking not only truth, but fame and prestige too.

- I guess... I'll have to ask you to excuse me, I have something I have to do right now. - the last thing she wanted right now was to chat with some one about her pilgrimage, Sin or something related to that.

- Sure. I may leave you alone then. - and said this the man turned around and looked to the temple, like if he was examining it.

"That was too easy..." In fact, Yuna was expecting the man to try to stop her, to start talking about "how great was their cause" or about "the things she could do with the truth seekers"; but not this man, this one actually left her alone. "Thank Yevon..." It was funny the way she still said "thank Yevon". "I guess is one of those old habits you can't get rid of..."

She walked towards the stairway that lead to the Cloister of Trials. At every step of the stairway that she gave, she thought if she should do that: return to the Chamber of the Faith, to try to speak to the Faith... "Bah! What the hell!" There was no Sin anymore, Yevon's religion was dead to her, so there should be no problem. She entered to the Cloister of Trials, the very first one she had ever entered. She still remembered that day, walking in that same stone ground with Lulu and Kimahri.

" - Are you sure you want to do this? - Lulu asked after she gave her first steps at the Cloister.

- Yes, I am. - she simply answered.

- You can go back at any time, you know that?

- Yes. But I won't. I've made my decision already."

It was funny how Lulu and Wakka tried to stop her from becoming a Summoner until the very last moment. "But I guess it's not funny at all... They just wanted to save me..."

Shaking her head and her memories away, Yuna continued to walk trough the path that would lead to the Chamber. She passed by the glyphs, the many words craved with magic on the walls, the shining spheres... she passed by a partially destroyed wall, with an opened chest behind it; on the floor there was a pile of broken rocks and a shining red sphere. "The destruction sphere..."

She had always wondered why should there be treasures in every Cloister of Trials, and why did the spheres required to find them were called "destruction spheres".

"I guess this was what Yevon was all about. Destroy something to gain something valuable; kill Sin to gain peace; sacrifice a live to bring a calm..."

She continued her way to the elevator and went down; on the lower floor, she walked trough the corridor, until she reached a small room. She walked to the stairway that lead to the Chamber, and right before she entered it, she looked back. Again, she remembered that day when she became a Summoner...

When she got out of the Chamber of the Faith, feeling weak. She looked around, watching Lulu and Wakka as they watched her with preoccupation. She thought that it was weird that Wakka was there since he didn't go with her, Lulu and Kimahri during the Cloister of Trials... "Why did he come now?" And there was also this blonde man dressed in strange clothes, looking at her with a confused face; "who is he?" He was not a guardian for sure. But that didn't matter then; she made it.

"I've done it. I have become a summoner!"

Now that she thought about that, she realized that that day must have been one of the days that most marked her life; it was the day when she become a Summoner, it was the day when she summoned her first Aeon, it was the day when she met him. After that day, everything changed.

She stepped in to the Chamber, without knowing what to expect; just hoping she could find some answers.

--

Sitting on the small stairway outside the temple, her right arm resting on her knee while her injured arm was just fallen, her hand touching the cold rock. The Sun was now high, burning the skin of the people who weren't careful enough to walk in the shadows, and burning Yuna's hope. She found nothing. No Faith, no clues, no answers. "What was I expecting anyway?" She let out a desperate sigh. "Now what?" Was she going to stay weeks waiting to hear the voice again? No way, she had to do something! "But what?..." The only thing she could think of, was to search somewhere else, but again, where? What did she know about that voice that could lead her to somewhere? The only clue about that was that she knew the voice was a dream of the Faith (whatever that might be) and was once a human. She decided she had to find out what a "dream of the Faith" was. "How can a person be like an Aeon?... That makes no sense at all."

She felt someone behind her.

- Are you okay, lady? - it was the same tall pale guy that had approached her before she entered in the Cloister of Trials.

- Yes... yes, I am. - she tried, unsuccessfully, to sound confident as she got up.

- You sure? You seem a little disturbed. - he asked, as he looked to the young Summoner, like if he was inspecting her.

- Yeah, don't worry about me please.

- Very well. - and said this the man walked away, towards the huts of the village. "That was too easy again. This is no ordinary Truth Seeker..." Wait, Truth Seeker? That gave Yuna an idea.

- Wait, sir! - she called for the mysterious man and tried to walk in his direction, but that sudden movement made a wave of pain rush trough her arm. The man turned around and walked in the direction of Yuna, without caring about her pain; his face completely emotionless.

- You called, lady?

- Y-yes. - she said as she tried to regain her posture. - You are... a Truth Seeker, right?

The man remained some seconds silent, until he answered.

- Well, yes I am... Can I help you in any way?

- Maybe.

End of Chapter 13

I've been writing at a very slow pace due to the school exams I have in 2 or 3 weeks... So, gotta study hard! Which means I have very few time to write :-( ... But I still write! So, you can expect a new chapter in... 2 or 3 weeks. Yeah, it's a long time, but school comes first, If I don't have good grades my mom cuts the Internet off (and with no Internet, there is no new chapters here) :P

And as for Sanchez' question (about Yuna summoning Tidus), I can't say because I don't wanna spoil the story. And I won't even say if Tidus is going to be back in Spira! Ehehe... don't worry, Tidus is in there, somewhere... I'll just say that he'll become more present (alive or "dead") in future chapters.

Anyway, enjoy! ;-)