Chapter 23 – Uninvited Pilgrims
The morning came with swiftness upon Spira. The air warmed and flickers of light passed into the carriage window over Meena's eyes and awoke her from her sleep. The rustling footsteps of the chocobos pounded against the earth outside like a delicate drumbeat.
"Trommel?" Meena mumbled as she stirred, feeling at the figure sitting next to her with her hand.
"No Lady Meena, it's Adihu." He said touching her hand slightly.
"Oh…" Meena said rubbing her eyes and looking to him. "Sorry." She said looking down slightly and exhaling with disappointment.
Meena looked out the carriage window at the trees whipping by; she could smell the scent of the forest as the wind entered the window.
"We rode all night, we are about to arrive back home." Adihu said to her, his lips forming an uneasy smile.
"I apologize for making you leave Bevelle so quickly." Meena said guiltily. "But just so you know, you've done a great job taking care of me. Thank you." Meena said giving Adihu a pat on the shoulder.
Adihu looked back at Meena for a moment from behind his tall collar. His amber eyes and veins glowed slightly in the dim light and he gave her an affirming nod and looked back out the window. Meena sighed slightly, she could feel it, and he was worried for her.
"I'm fine…" she whispered as she looked out the window, watching green shadows of nature pass her by.
The flashes of light from the window slowed as the carriage came to a slow halt and a loud 'KWEH!' resonated from the Chocobos outside.
Adihu crouched and grabbed the door handle and leapt out of the carriage, his large figure unfolding as it passed out. In the square light pouring in through the carriage door Adihu's large hand appeared to help Meena out. Meena placed her comparatively tiny hand into his large hand and carefully stepped out, her eyes squinting in the light as she came out of the dark carriage. The multicolored leaves on the forest floor crunched under her feet. Meena fixed her dress carefully pushing out the deep creases in the blue fabric from sitting for so long.
"How I've missed this tree." Meena said as she looked forward at the large tree which marked the opening of Guadosalam with its gnarled twisting branches stretching towards the sky.
"Don't forget these." The Guado driver called out to Meena. Meena looked back to the carriage to see the driver holding two white boxes tied together with strings.
"Wha-but?" Meena said unbelievably, recognizing the boxes as the cakes she had ordered back in Bevelle.
"The clerk gave them to me while Adihu was getting you in the carriage." The Guado explained with a smile holding the boxes out to her.
"Thank you." Meena said reaching out and taking them. "I thought I would be coming home empty handed." She said looking down at the boxes. Meena laughed "I'm sure Trommel will like these." Meena looked up and turned back to the entrance. She looked quickly to Adihu and the driver, bowing her head to both of them. "Thank you so much, both of you."
They looked back at her and smiled. "Thank you…for taking care of our prince." Adihu said with a sad regretful smile. Both the tall Guado figures looked back at her and bowed slowly. Meena blinked and wondered to herself, how strange she thought for them to be honoring someone such as her…the daughter of a simple fisherman…a nobody.
"I…should go find Trommel." She said quickly excusing herself and turning to walk down into the great tree, the branches closing in around her as she descended into the familiar territory that was now her home. The warm green glow and the familiar scents of the wood greeted her and her footsteps echoed softly on the wooden surface as she continued.
She passed several Guados as she made her way into the city within the twisting branch like paths, the other Guados towering over her as she passed. Surrounded by the Guado she felt safe, which was ironic because most human's felt uneasy around Guado because of their link's to monstrous fiends which they could summon.
She reached the familiar engraved scarlet red door of the Guadosalam manor and entered without hesitation. Meena swiveled her head back and forth hoping to catch a glimpse of Trommel working but she saw no one. Meena headed up the stairs as she continued the golden charms on her dress jingling as she did so. She spied the portrait of Jyscal on the wall and hesitated.
"Jyscal…" she said sadly, holding her hand over her heart for a moment, tilting her head as she reminisced about her time with him in the manor. She could see his tired figure in his ornate robes holding his wooden cane delicately in his long fingers, his blue twisted hair sticking out in all directions. Meena missed his presence in the Manor. Meena bowed respectfully to Jyscal's glowing ethereal image and continued onwards into the manor.
She reached the door of the manors office. As she approached she noticed the door was half open and placed her hand upon the silver handle pushing it open to enter. Inside she saw the figure of Trommel hunched over the desk. She sighed to herself as she looked at his figure which was visibly exhausted, he must've worked late into the night she thought. As Meena approached the desk, Trommel's pointed ear twitched picking up the noise of her footsteps and his head shot up from the desk.
"Meena!" he gasped at her as his eyes came into contact with hers.
"Trommel!" Meena smiled as she made her way towards him happily.
"No!" Trommel cried his face disfigured with fear as he looked at her. "Get out!" he screamed at her.
Meena stopped in her tracks, shocked at Trommel's reaction to her. She heard the door slam shut behind her. She turned, dropping the boxes she was carrying to the floor with a hollow thud. Two hooded figures stood in the back of the room blocking the door. Suddenly she felt herself being grabbed and held tightly. A man dressed in colorful pilgrims robes decorated with Yevonscript pushed her into a vacant chair behind her. Meena screamed with surprise. She could sense malice on the man's breath.
"Do not hurt her! She is with child!" Trommel screamed angrily at the men.
The man in pilgrim's robes walked over to Trommel, who Meena now could see was tied down to his chair. The man smiled the top half of his face obscured by the headdress he wore.
"Then give us what we want!" he screamed, raking his arm violently across the desk knocking pens and papers everywhere. He raised his hand again and hit Trommel across the face; Trommel groaned and hung his head to the side, his eyes clenched in pain.
"Trommel!" Meena shrieked holding her hand out to him, her eyes full of agony beholding her love. The man in robes turned his head to Meena, his darkened face smirking at her.
"I see now." He said beginning to laugh. "Oh how amusing this is…so you are with his child?" The man said glancing back to Trommel. He walked close to Meena and grabbed her arm and leaned forward, Meena turned her head away from his as she did so and closed her eyes.
"It's curious, why someone as you is with this dried up old Guado." He said pointing to Trommel. The man bent back letting out a mocking laugh. "Oh, you really are just like your sister. You even have the same taste in men as well as looking like her twin."
"If you are looking for my sister she is dead." Meena said glaring at him and gritting her teeth angrily.
"I could care less about your sister, now where is it?" He said menacingly.
Meena glared at the man. "Where is what!" she yelled at him. The man gripped her arm with great force, digging his fingers deep into her arm.
"Ahhh!" Meena screamed with clenched eyes.
"You know well what I speak of woman, your sisters heirloom where is it!" he yelled angrily.
"No! Stop! Get away from her!" Trommel yelled as he saw Meena writhe in pain. The sight of Meena being hurt made something snap within the old Guado. Trommel gripped his hands into fists, his long claws digging into his palms and with a roar he ripped free from one of the bonds holding his hands. With one free hand he quickly held it aloft and the air hummed with energy. The two robed men jumped at him from across the room grabbing his free arm and holding it down.
"I think its time you were reminded of why the Guado were once so feared!" Trommel yelled at them, his eyes flashing darkly with rage.
The man in pilgrims robes turned and lunged at Trommel hitting him across the face.
"You idiots, you let him call forth a fiend!" he yelled at the other robed men. The air in the room began to move and multicolored pyreflies appeared with an eerie chant emanating from them. Meena looked on with fear and wide eyes. The pyreflies bonded together and formed into a monster. It shrieked and raised its grey colored head towards the men. The four legged beast had multicolored spines running down its back and its eyes glowed an unnatural shade of red. The beast leapt at the pilgrim, snarling with tenacity and knocked him down. The two robed men pulled out their staves and hit the beast knocking him off of him. The beast roared in pain and on the next strike it dissolved back into pyreflies. The multicolored pyreflies dissipated into nothing, leaving with them an eerie calm. Trommel looked to Meena sadly from across the room as he breathed heavily. "My love, I am sorry." He said to her.
Tears streaked from Meena's eyes and rolled down her face, she was petrified in fear as the man in the pilgrims robes slowly walked towards her, a wound on his mouth trickling bright red blood that dotted the floor as he did so.
"For that," he said pulling out his dagger, "you will pay dearly." He placed the silver blade up to Meena's belly. Meena stopped breathing as she looked down at it seeing the details of the ornate inlaid swirls on the blade.
"No!" Trommel screamed, going into a visible fit throwing his head back and forth as the two men held him tightly.
"I-I will tell you!" Trommel's voice cracked and screamed as he gasped at Meena. "Please don't hurt her!" He said straining against the men.
The man withdrew the blade from Meena's stomach, Meena slouching with relief and starting to sob as he did so, covering her face with her hands.
"It's not here in Guadosalam anymore…it's in the possession of Lord Seymour." Trommel said hesitantly.
"Why thank you." The man said with a sneer in his voice. "Yevon will be pleased." He said smirking. "I was hoping to find it at Baaj, with Anima, but someone had taken her off the island. I waited years before I heard news of the reappearance of Guadosalam's little abomination."
Trommel wheezed and set his head back in the ornate carved chair. "You have your information, now go."
The hooded man nodded and started to turn to leave, his multicolored robes waving with his movement. Meena looked up at the man's shrouded face. Within the blackness she saw the flash of his eye dart and look at her. His hand gripped the black hilt of his dagger menacingly and he turned and raised his arm, the gleam of the dagger blazing. Trommel's eyes went wide and he burst up from the chair knocking his captors back. As he raced across the room to Meena Trommel knew he wasn't fast enough, in desperation he reached as far as his long arms would allow trying to stop the man.
Meena's whole body locked up as it braced for the oncoming assault and she held her hands out protectively in front of her.
Suddenly the figure stopped with a grunt, Meena opened her eyes hesitantly and saw a strange light. The man stood holding the blade with both hands and looking shocked at what he saw before him. Meena looked and saw the reason for her attacker's abrupt stop.
"Anima!" Meena cried as she beheld the figure of her sister.
Before her the ghostly figure of her sister, Anima glowed, her hands holding the blade which pierced her transparent body stopping it from assaulting her sister. The hooded man quivered and his eyes grew wide in shock. Dark pyreflies began to fill the room and Anima crossed her blue sleeved sheer arms in front of her, the image of the dark Aeon flashed before them a horrifying and hideous human like creature bound in chains and shrieked in an otherworldly tone at them.
The man fell backwards and hurled himself at the door in terror trying to flee, but a bright flash and the sound of clinking metal hit him in an explosion knocking him to the floor with a thud. With screams the two hooded men tried to escape, tripping over furniture as they ran, but with a gleam from the one visible open eye of the dark Aeon they too fell to the floor motionless like their leader. The powerful Aeon shrieked, its jaws opening wide full of sharp and tusk like teeth. The men were dead with one strike.
The image of the Aeon faded and once again the familiar human figure of Anima stood before Meena, Trommel stood in the background holding his large hand over his chest in astonishment at what he had just witnessed. Anima's image turned and faced Meena and placed her hand on Meena's shoulder. Meena sniffled and looked up at her sister's transparent figure and she put her hand on top of her sister's. She looked upon her with wide eyes in wonderment, with so many thoughts going through her mind as to what to say to her long deceased beloved sister.
"You protected my child," she said in sad, otherworldly tone. "I owed you at least… this much." She said beginning to strain, her figure fading as she did so. A soft exhale was heard as Anima's figure dissipated into pyreflies, the multicolored orbs zooming off and disappearing into the air with an eerie soft tune. Meena looked on sadly as the pyreflies left, how she wished she had at least said something to her.
Trommel rushed over to Meena and scooped her up into his arms, his long red sleeves enveloping her. Meena's bright blue eyes were watery and red as more tears fell. Meena pressed her face into his green petticoat and sobbed as she clung to him not wanting to let go. Reassuringly he patted the back of her head as he rested his chin on her head, his gnarled green beard rubbing against her forehead.
"Are you alright my dear?" Trommel said turning her face up to look at him with his large hands. Their eyes met, Trommel's green tinted eyes framed with wrinkles looking down on her with extreme distress and worry. Meena sniffled and nodded looking up at him, she shivered and held his hand tightly.
"Forgive me Meena." He said leaning down and placing a kiss on her ebony haired head as she clung to him.