Part II
Chapter 14
He thought about his encounter with the High Summoner as he walked towards his small tent outside the village
He thought about his encounter with the High Summoner as he walked towards his small tent outside the village. It surely didn't go as he was expecting. Actually, he thought that it was extremely awkward, he didn't know what to think about the young Summoner after the events that took place during the day. Well, he wasn't expecting anything in concrete for his meeting, but he surely wasn't expecting her to ignore him or to think he was a Truth Seeker.
He arrived to the small improvised camp and checked that it was everything as he had left; he picked a bottle of sake from his backpack and sited under a tree, his back resting on the trunk. He thought again about that day as he drank a mouthful of the sake; he closed his eyes enjoying his drink and reflecting over what the Summoned had said to him.
"Dreams of the Fayth eh? Where did that come from?..." Dreams of the Fayth. That was what the High Summoner asked him to search for during their conversation a while ago. He didn't know what was weirder: the fact that she wanted to know more about the subject, or the way she completely avoided saying the reasons for her curiosity. "It's just something I have to figure out..." she had simply answered."How can she know about it? And what was she doing at the temple? I thought she didn't follow the New Yevon party." He drank another mouthful of the bottle of sake as he tried to understand the Summoner's actions.
"Maybe I shouldn't trust so much in what some people say..." Before he went to Besaid, he tried to collect as many information about Yuna as he could, so he could be prepared. He heard that she refused to support any group or party, and that she was always available to attend to anyone that wanted to meet her. "But she was at a temple... going to the Cloister of Trials... and she asked for my help thinking I was a Truth Seeker... what's she up to? Also, when I was going to talk to her, she asked me to leave... so much for the "always available" thing."
And again, that "dream of the Fayth" thing came to his mind; although that was a constant part of his life, he didn't think a lot about it. But now that the Summoner talked about it, he wondered what could have happened for her to even think about "dreams of the Fayth" ..."Maybe I should continue to pretend I'm a Truth Seeker... This is going to be more fun than I had imagined!"
He heard steps coming in his direction and immediately opened his eyes.
- We finally found you!
He smiled as he saw his two partners arriving at his small camp.
- What are you guys doin' here? I thought you thought I was crazy!
- We do. - the woman answered - I guess we are just as crazy as you are, Marckus.
- No you're not! I came first! Ah! - he let out a big laugh and got up. He looked to the two people in front of him, confirming that they had no tents - Hmm... You didn't bring tents to sleep?
- Well, we thought about sleeping in the crusader's hut- this time it was the man talking.
- Too bad; I was expecting you guys to sleep on a tent like we used to do in the old times, remember?
- Wait, you were expecting us to come? - Celia inquired as she raised an eyebrow.
- Of course! I must be like a drug to you, don't I? - he crouched next to his backpack and inserted the bottle of sake in one of the many pockets.
- What? - Josh's inquired, as he tried to understand what Marckus had said.
- You know... - Marckus got up and laughed - I'm a bad influence to you guys, and you know it; but you keep following me.
- How funny,... - Celia's voice was filled with sarcasm - We came after you because... well, it seems that we are really as crazy as you are. This thing with the Summoner might be fun after all...
- Yeah. - Josh continued - That thing you said about being sited doing nothing... well, I decided we didn't want that! And, talking about the Summoner, have you already seen her around?
- Yes, I did. - he was with a playful smile on his face - and it seems to me that we'll have to do a change on our plans...
- What do you mean?
Marckus sited heavily on the same spot he was before, and made a gesture to his companions to sit down too.
- Come on, are you going to stay the whole day standing up like that?
With this the two looked at each other, and then sited in the ground.
- So, our initial plan was to tell the Summoner what we know, right?
The other two adventurers nodded in agreement.
- But, after our little chat today, I think we should leave that for later...
- Your little chat? You mean you've already talked to her? - Josh's voice was slightly exited.
- Yep! And it got me a little confused, I must say...
- I thought you were never confused - Celia joked.
- Well, that girl really got me gazed. She was nothing like I expected.
- Really? - Josh and Celia asked simultaneously.
- Well, you know she just had this accident that almost killed her. Maybe she is altered, recovering from it. - Celia said.
- Maybe... But I don't think it's that... I thought that she was just a shy girl, spending her life attending to those stupid people day after day... but I must say that I gained some respect for her after today.
This last sentence made both Josh and Celia very confused. Marckus was the kind of person who respected a very small number of people; not that he was rude to the other people, but it was very hard to gain his true respect.
- She is, how should I say?... Not an average person. I look forward to meet her again sometime.
- Hhmm... so, what was that about changing the plans? - Josh asked.
- Oh, right. So let's start in the beginning... - Marckus told them the dialogue in the temple, and the small conversation they had outside the temple: how she thought he was a Truth Seeker and asked if he knew something about the "dreams of the Fayth". - As you can see, there are some things I find very awkward in all this.
- Yeah... That is all very weird. How the hell does she know about the "dreams of the Fayth"? - Celia leant back on another tree as she thought about what Marckus had just said.
- She thought you were a Truth Seeker? Why should she think that?
- No idea. Maybe because I told her I "knew the truth"... Anyway, she didn't really know anything about the dreams of the Fayth, she just asked me if I knew something about it... at least I think she doesn't know nothing...
- You told her anything? – Josh seemed worried.
- Of course not! You think I'm crazy? – Marckus gave him a ironic look.
- You think it might be related to Sin's death? I mean, the fact that she says it's the definitive Sin's death?... – Celia interrupted, hoping that the two men didn't start to argue with each other.
- I don't know... I still don't believe that Sin is dead for good; but it could be related. The weird thing is that the Summoner seemed like she didn't have a clue about what a dream of the Faith was, but she must have heard about it somewhere...
The group was silenced during some seconds, until Josh talked.
- So, what do we do now?...
- If the Summoner thinks Marckus is a Truth Seeker, I think we could take advantage of that, to find out more...
- Yes. I'll say we stick around, maybe I can get to talk to the Summoner again; maybe you get to talk with her too.
--
- Are... you sure about this?
- Yes. And I had already said before that I intended to leave Besaid...
- I know, but...
- "But" nothing. - the black mage looked at her impressed, not expecting this interruption - I'm going to leave. Period. And there is nothing you can say or do that would change my mind.
She had made her decision; she didn't care about where she was going or what she was going to do, she just wanted to leave Besaid, to break the routine, to start again. And Rikku's proposal seemed the best way to do it. A few days ago the young Al-Bhed went to the island with a proposal that pissed off Lulu, but Yuna found it to be the best way to break away from her boring life.
- A Past Hunter - Rikku explained - is someone that searches for any kind of stuff that could reveal more about Spira's past.
- But, isn't that what the Truth Seekers already do? - Wakka asked.
- More or less... Well, Truth Seekers search for the same stuff, and try to discover the World's history... We just hunt that stuff, and then sell it to whoever gives more Gil for it. We don't worry about the content of what we find, we just discover and sell. That's all! And it's funny that Truth Seekers now rarely find things for themselves... they prefer to buy them from people like us... from Past Hunters!
- Seems interesting... and how does it really work? - Yuna was beginning to feel interested.
- Well... it's kinda random, you see? We just roam around and search... sometimes we are asked to find something, sometimes we follow hints from people... Well, we have this airship that I and Brother found,... we use it to travel around Spira; that is where we live too. It has some vacant rooms, so...
So she invited Yuna to be part of the crew. First Yuna reflected about the subject, until she decided that she was going to accept. Actually, she thought that it was perfect, it was exactly what she had been looking for. She could finally break the cycle of boredom that was again invading her life... and maybe find out more about "dreams of the Faith".
- Lulu, Wakka - she directed her look to the guardians as she said their names - I appreciate everything. And I mean really everything; your company when we were children, the strength you gave while in the Pilgrimage, all the dedication... and you will always be like my older brother and sister. But I can't stay here forever, I have to begin living my own life.
--
"So, this is what it feels like..."
Funny, that wasn't the first time she said that. She remembered saying that months ago; months? Almost a year! But she remembered saying that while recording that sphere, the one that he recorded to his guardians and friends, to say goodbye.
"... Freedom."
Freedom. Love. Those were the situations when she said that short sentence, when she discovered new and fantastic feelings. And all because of him. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have known what love was all about, nor she had survived to know what freedom is about. But now, standing there in the airship's deck, feeling the wind in her face, she knew, that was how it felt like.
"Thank you."
She was happy... Was she? Well, at least she wasn't so sad, so depressed. Joining Rikku and the rest of the Past Hunters gave her a new life, a new occupation, and a new view on the world. Actually, being there was probably the best thing that had happened to her; or at least the best thing after him. That was how she saw him now: as the best thing that had ever happened to her. She still thought about him every day, wishing he was there with them, but now, instead thinking that she should be miserable because he wasn't there, she thought that she should be happy because she had him with her, even if it was for a short time... she felt blessed.
Unfortunately, "the voice" hasn't talked to her lately, and she didn't make any progresses to find out more about "dreams of the Fayth". But she was having a good time with her cousin and the rest of the crew. She had participated in some activities, or "hunts", as Rikku liked to call them; they were always fun and somewhat dangerous, but they never got in any serious trouble yet. When not "in action", they spent their times in the airship doing some minor tasks or just enjoying the free time (this was what Yuna tried to avoid, since she usually got sad when she had nothing to do, when her mind had time to think about the past...).
- Hey! You there! - a cheerful voice pierced trough the air, waking up Yuna from his thoughts. - Buddy's calling, we must have another hunt beginning!
- Alright! - she turned around and left the airship's deck with Rikku.
- So, what were you doin' up there?
- Nothing in special, just enjoying the wind...
- Watch out, Brother sometimes gets a little crazy with the ship. If he makes some brusque movement...
- Don't worry, I promise I won't fall of. - Yuna said, joking.
- Yeah, yeah, we don't want anyone dying in this ship! It would be baaaad publicity to us! – she said with a giggle.
- Publicity?
Rikku and Yuna entered in the elevator that would take them to the down floor.
- Yeah. Buddy says that we are becoming famous hunters, so we might need some more people in the group.
- I see... - now that she thought about it, Buddy was probably right. There were some situations when an extra help would be very appreciated.
The elevator's door opened and the two women walked to the ship's control room.
- What's up?
- Trouble at the temple. - it was Shinra who answered.
- What temple? - Yuna asked.
- Djose.
- Seems that two guys entered in the Cloister Of Trials. - Buddy informed.
- So what? - Rikku wasn't understanding why was that a problem.
- So, the priests didn't like that and asked for our help.
- And why should we help them? That's not our problem...
- Well... - Buddy looked at Yuna. - They say that only a Summoner can enter in the Cloister.
She couldn't believe. They were calling her because she was a Summoner?!
- Well, I'm a Summoner no more. That times are over, Sin is dead. There should be no problem if some one else entered in the Cloister.
- That's not how they see things... They almost begged for help. They must be really desperate.
"Unbelievable." Yuna sighed. The fact that some people couldn't get over the past, couldn't realize that those habits were now pointless, annoyed her a lot, revolted her. She fought against Sin, defeated it, defeated Yevon and she lost Tidus in this fight! And there were people still worshipping Yevon?
- Well,... - despite all the revolt she felt about it, she still had that part of her that didn't let her refuse someone's help calls, that part of her that was always ready to help the others... - let's do it, then. We don't have any hunt or anything like that right now, right?
- Hmm... yeah, I guess... But I still don't agree with this Cloister/Summoner thing. It's kinda retarded.
- Don't say that... I mean... We must give them time to get used to this, you know, Sin being dead?
- Oh, come on! That was almost a year ago already!
- But what's a year compared to a thousand years with Sin here? - this time it was Buddy talking
- You decide fast! I must know where to go! - Brother was starting to get impatient.
- To Djose! - Buddy shouted.
- LET'S GO DJOSE!
- There he goes again... see, Yuna, this is one of those moments when no one should be in the deck!
--
- So, there are really more new-comers, eh?
"What?"
"Who's there?"
- Oh, yeah, you are really there...
"Who are you? What are you talking about?"
- Me? Just someone, unlike you.
"Ah?"
- Isn't it what you are? Some piece of nothing, roaming around nowhere? hmm...
"Wait, are you a Fayth?"
- A Fayth? No, no,... I'm...
"Are you in Mi'hen too?!"
- Mi'hen?
"Just shut up, boy! Let him talk!"
"Oh, now you believe that someone is there uh?!"
"I..."
"See, you never believe me! But I was right this time!"
"Just calm down, okay? You said you heard a woman. And this voice is definitely a man, and I don't believe he is human, that's impossible."
- Not human, you say? Well, surprise yourself, I really am.
"No, that's..."
"Impossible? Just let him talk, old man!"
"Hey, you were the one who interrupted him first!"
- Now, now, calm down; you are two?
'Yes"
"Yeah"
- Strange... All the other times there was only one survivor. You are lucky.
"Lucky, are you kidding me?"
"Survivors? Of what?"
- Wait, first things first. I guess you already know what you are...
"What do you mean?"
- A dream of the Fayth.
"Oh, that, yeah... Wait, how do you know that?!"
- I know many things, including turning dreams into reality.
"Ah?..."
"You can get us out if here?!"
- Yeah, I know a way to do it...
End of Chapter 14
Here you have it, 14th chapter; it's the biggest so far. It's funny the way I write more when under pressure (the pressure from the school! Ugh!). I thought about turning this one to two chapters, but then... naahh... big chapters are cool xD At least that's what I think; I prefer reading one big chapter than two small chapters... I prefer to wait for a bigger chapter than have two small chapters in two days.
Anyway, hope you like it ;)