Chapter 5: Meetings

…Flash…

Charlie opened her eyes and confusedly stared at the fluorescent light that glowed overhead. That wasn't right. She didn't have a light like that in her bedroom. Suddenly, a high-pitched beeping sound registered in her ears and she bolted upright and almost blacked out when her head started to spin. "Oh Charlie, you're finally awake!" her mother joyfully cried, her voice shaky with repressed sobs.

"Finally?" Charlene felt like she had been asleep for a long time, and her head felt foggy. "Mom, what happened? The last thing I remember was going out with Marcus to pick up a pizza… Speaking of which, where is he, anyway?"

At that question, tears filled her mother's eyes, and she softly said, "Charlie, honey, it's been five days since the accident. You were on the passenger side of the car, so you weren't hurt as badly as you could have been, but Marcus…he…"

"Mom, what is it? Where is Marcus?"

"He…didn't make it. The paramedics tried to save him, but he just couldn't hold on long enough to get to the hospital…" She broke down and cried, but managed to regain her composure. "I'm so sorry, Charlie, but Marcus is gone…"

…Flash…

Charlie awoke with a start and quickly sat up, angrily scrubbing away the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "Damn it girl, all that happened two years ago and crying about it now won't bring him back!" she bitterly thought, squashing the loneliness that always followed the dreams. "Marcus is gone, you're still here, and NOTHING will change that!"

Suddenly, she realized that she was all alone in the little hut. "Wakka?" she called aloud, wondering where the big blitzer could be

Then she smacked herself in the forehead and said, "Duh! He seems like a big religious nut, so he probably went off to the temple with that priest."

Hurrying to the temple, the young woman found Wakka and the priest standing at the bottom of the stairs in the main chamber. Upon seeing the worried look on her friend's face, she asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"The summoner hasn't returned from the trial," he somberly replied. Mistaking Charlie's blank look for unconcern, he then said, "Well, apprentice summoner, really."

"I'm sorry Wakka, but I don't have the faintest clue as to what you're talking about."

"There's a room called the Cloister of Trials, and beyond is where the apprentice summoner prays. If the prayer is heard, then the apprentice becomes a full-fledged summoner, remember?"

Charlene didn't know that to begin with, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying so. "So…someone's gone in there and hasn't come back out? How long have they been back there?" she asked.

"A whole day's already gone by," he replied.

"Is it dangerous in there?"

"Sometimes, yes."

Concern showed on the blitzer's face, and for some obscure reason, that really bothered her. "Well, can't you go in and help?"

He shook his head. "There's already guardians in there, and besides, it's forbidden."

Annoyed, Charlie shoved between him and the priest, and ran up the stone steps. "What if the summoner gets hurt, or maybe dies?" she demanded, furious that no one was doing anything to help.

The priest, silent up until now, glared up at her and said, "The precepts must be obeyed!"

"Oh, bite me!" she snapped, running through the door before anyone could try to stop her.

…

Charlene stared at corridor in front of her, and then down at the glowing green sphere in her hand. "Now what?" she wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer.

The lost girl wandered aimlessly through the silent halls of the Cloister of Trials, experimentally moving spheres around until she picked up a sky-blue one. Suddenly, in the depths of her soul, a soft female voice whispered, ::We have been waiting for you.::

Startled, Charlie jumped and looked around, searching for the source of the voice. "Who's there?" she demanded. "Hey, if this is someone's idea of a sick joke, well I'm not laughing!"

::Charlie, the road ahead will be difficult and full of sorrow, but you must not give up…::

Finally, the strange voice vanished, and Charlie was alone in the corridor again. "Congratulations, Charlene, you've finally lost your mind!" she sighed, putting the blue sphere into place and finally solving the maze. A round platform lay before her, but before she could step on it, someone grabbed her shoulder, scaring her half to death!

The frightened girl let out a shriek, but then her limited self-defense training kicked in and she grabbed her assailant's arm and pulled with all her strength. Apparently, the attacker wasn't expecting any kind of resistance, because he let out a startled yelp as Charlie continued to pull on the offending limb and flipped him onto the floor. "Holy shit!" she cried, staring at her hands in shock. "I haven't even practiced that move yet, so how in blue hell did I do it?"

Suddenly, a loud groan snapped her out of her reverie. "Hey, what you do that for?" her downed assailant demanded.

It turned out to be Wakka, and he didn't look very happy, but then, Charlie wasn't particularly pleased, either, and she quickly made that known. "Goddamn it, Wakka! You nearly scared the life out of me!"

She helped him up, and the irritated blitzer yelled, "Yeah, well, what's gotten into you, anyway?"

"I told you not to sneak up on me, that my nerves are completely shot from the past couple of days, didn't I? I'm sorry that I knocked you on your ass, and I'm sorry that I came in here without permission, but SOMEONE has to help the summoner, don't they?"

Wakka just stared at her, and she just hung her head and sighed, "Whatever. You know what? I don't even care anymore, so just arrest me or execute me or whatever the hell it is you people do here!"

The two of them stepped onto the platform, which turned out to be an elevator, and he patted her on the shoulder and said, "Hey, it's okay. Your head's just a little messed up, that's all. Anyway, only summoners, apprentice summoners, and their guardians can enter here. It's a tradition."

Charlie then shot him a sidelong glance as the elevator started its downward descent, and said, "Okay, so what category are you in, huh?"

"Me? I'm a guardian."

"Right. So…what do guardians do, then?"

"Summoners go on a pilgrimage to pray at every temple in Spira, and the guardians protect them," Wakka explained. "The guardians in there now, well…one of them has a short fuse, and who knows what the other is thinking."

The elevator came to a stop, and the blitzer/guardian sighed, "Well, we've come this far, so we might as well go all the way."

Charlie and Wakka walked into the adjacent room, where the other two guardians waited at the bottom of another set of steps. One guardian was a dark haired woman with garnet eyes and a tight-fitting, low-cut black dress with a series of belt buckles strapped across the skirt. The other was a huge beast-man who stood about seven feet tall, with blue fur, intelligent yellow eyes, a broken horn, wild clothes, and a white mane pulled back into a sort of topknot. Both guardians stared at them, and the woman finally said, "What are you doing here? Didn't think we'd be able to handle it?"

Wakka flinched and stammered, "No, it's uh…it's just…" Finally, he gave up, and to Charlie, whispered, "See, I told you she gets mad easy!"

Charlene just shook her head and turned to face the woman. "Is the summoner okay?"

The strange woman stared at her, completely surprised, but finally said, "You…who are you?"

Before anyone could say anything else, the door at the top of the stairs opened, and out of it came a young woman. She was short, with short brown hair, a white top, a pair of billowy sleeves, and a blue skirt with a yellow sash. The newcomer staggered out of the doorway, and started to fall down the stairs, but the blue beast-man rushed to her aid and caught her before she hit the floor. After what seemed like an eternity, the girl raised her head and opened her eyes. "Wow, her eyes are two different colors!" Charlie mentally noted as the new girl exhaustedly beamed at everyone in the room.

"I've done it…" she whispered as sweat beaded down her face. "I have become a summoner!"

…

A little while later, the new summoner, her guardians, and Charlie left the Cloister of Trials and emerged to the sight of the villagers performing the strange prayer in a kind of salute. The summoner returned the gesture, and everyone left the temple, leaving behind a very confused Charlie. "Oh, they're all just SO happy to see her now!" she thought bitterly. "Well, what the hell would they have done if she died? If they're anything like people back home, they'd have probably just left her corpse in there to rot, or something!"

Suddenly, she realized what she had almost said, and her face burned with shame. "That was really uncharitable of me and I shouldn't think things like that!"

Charlie continued to berate herself under her breath as she walked out of the temple, but then Wakka's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Hey, come over here!" he cried, motioning for her to join the group.

She trotted over, and the big blitzer grinned like a little kid. "Wait until you see this!"

Standing beyond the group was the summoner girl from the temple, and she looked like she was waiting for something. "What am I supposed to be seeing?" Charlie asked, when the summoner showed no signs of moving.

Wakka ignored her, and to the still-unnamed girl, shouted, "Ready!"

The summoner nodded once, and then twirled her blue and gold staff in a series of complicated patterns as a series of glowing sigils appeared around her. Then, in response to the magic, a huge birdlike creature dropped gracefully out of the sky and landed before the one who called it. It, or she, rather, had magenta feathers, a lavender tail and legs, beige wings, and strangely enough, the torso of a human female. The great bird lowered her silvery head and shut her diamond bright eyes in a lazy kind of bliss as her caller gently patted her beak. "What in the world is that?" Charlie gasped, staring in awe as the summoner continued to pet the wondrous creature.

"That is Valefor, the Aeon of the Sky," Wakka explained, chuckling at the surprised expression on her face.

"That's an aeon?"

He nodded and then joined the female guardian and the newborn summoner as she sent Valefor away. Charlie stared at the three of them, and then turned up at the sky and closed her eyes, knowing that the sight of that aeon would probably stay with her for the rest of her days. "That was absolutely incredible!"

…

Later that night, while the village was celebrating their apprentice's "graduation", Wakka finally introduced Charlie to the team. He grinned at the Aurochs, and said, "This girl here wanted in on the tournament so bad, I let her on the team. Her memory's a little fuzzy though, so don't mind her if she says anything odd!" Then he nudged her forward. "Go on, Charlie, say hi."

She nervously stared at the Aurochs, expecting them to glare at her, or leer, but their expressions were open and mildly friendly, so she said, "Um…hello."

They all gave her various polite greetings, but continued to watch her as if waiting for something. Unable to come up with anything else, she finally asked, "So, what's our goal?"

An extremely loud chorus of "TO DO OUR BEST!" nearly knocked Charlene off her feet, and Wakka shook his head and said, "Nope, we've got a new goal now. Our new goal is…" Here, he paused for dramatic effect. "Victory! To win every match, defeat every opposing team, and to bring the Crystal Cup back to our island! That's all we need to do to win! Easy, ya?"

His teammates all stared at him as if he'd lost his mind, but they warmed up to the idea soon enough. Before long, the Aurochs were chanting "Victory" at the top of their lungs, and Charlie decided that it was giving her a headache, so she went to go talk to the summoner instead. Unfortunately, the nearby villagers disliked her a lot, and they expressed that dislike quite vocally. "You heathen!" spat an old man.

"Stay away from the summoner!" shrieked an old woman.

"You're a bad lady!" yelled a little girl.

Charlene glared at them, but then the summoner stood up and approached her, while the old man shouted, "Be careful, Lady Yuna!"

"But it was really my fault to begin with," she replied, before turning back to Charlie. "I'm Yuna. Thank you so much for your help earlier."

"I'm Charlie, and I'm really sorry about that. I guess I overreacted."

"No…I was just overconfident."

"Well, I saw you summon your aeon earlier. It was incredible!"

Delight sparkled in Yuna's green and blue eyes as she said, "Really? Do you think that I can become high summoner?"

Charlie nodded, but before she could say anything else, the little girl from earlier ran up and tugged on the summoner's sleeve. "Lady Yuna, come and play with me some more!"

She nodded, but before she left, said, "So…tomorrow, then."

"What?"

"We're going on the same boat, aren't we?"

"Uh…yes?"

"We can talk more, and you can tell me about your Zanarkand."

"My Zanarkand? I never said I was from Zanarkand! Tidus was from Zanarkand, not me!" However, Yuna left before she could say so, and then Wakka walked up and tapped her on the shoulder. "She's nice, ya?" he asked.

"Yes, she is, but she looks kind of sad," she replied.

"Yuna's got a very important task ahead of her, and she takes it very seriously."

Charlie nodded, and then suppressed a huge yawn. "Look, it's getting late, so is there someplace I can sleep, or am I staying in your house again?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I had a bed made for you over at the Crusader's Lodge, so you can just go over there if you're tired."

Then, trying to be a gentleman, Wakka walked her to the Lodge, pointed out which bed was free, and left her to her own devices. Once alone, Charlie took off her shoes and flopped onto the bed, sighed, and drifted off to sleep.

…Flash…

Charlie stood in this vast meadow full of flowers in every color of the rainbow. Suddenly, Wakka pranced up on her left, and it was all she could do to keep from falling over, because he was wearing a Winnie the Pooh costume. "Wakka, what are you wearing?" she gasped between gales of laughter.

Instead of answering, Wakka the Pooh chucked a small wooden sailboat at her head and pranced away, singing, "Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me…"

The extremely confused dreamer managed to evade the flying toy, but then some random guy in an awful parody of a Valefor costume ran by, with a young version of Yuna standing on his shoulders, her arms flung out wide. Little Yuna looked the same as the real Yuna, but she was wearing one of those cutesy little angel costumes instead of her summoner outfit. "Wheeee! I'm flying!" she giggled, as "Valefor" sighed dejectedly.

After the "aeon" and Little Yuna disappeared, a black cat and a pink ferret showed up. Charlene stared down at the little animals for a long moment, wondering who they were, when the cat disdainfully flicked its tail and strutted off, while the ferret bounced around like a rubber ball on caffeine, happily chattering away. "So I guess the cat is that lady guardian, and this ferret is Rikku?"

Before she could ask, however, the ferret vanished, but then reappeared in the distance, chasing Yuna and the man in the Valefor costume. When the pink ferret finally caught the "aeon", the three of them disappeared, and Charlie was all alone in the field again. She started walking, figuring that everyone would leave her alone, but now the little boy in purple stood before her. "Sorry, but there are still some things for you to see," he told her before vanishing.

Suddenly, a huge wolf stood where the boy had been, but for some reason, Charlie wasn't afraid. It, no…he, was the size of a Great Dane, and except for some silver streaks, was completely black in color. The wolf only had one eye, but it stared at her inquiringly, as if he were trying to ask her something. The young woman slowly reached out to touch him, but stopped when he started growling and showing all his teeth. She started to back up, but then a strange hissing sound from behind told her that she wasn't what the wolf was growling at.

Charlene turned around to see what the source of the peculiar noise was, and felt her blood run cold at what saw. Coiled up not ten feet away was the largest snake she had ever seen in her life. From what she could tell, it was more than fifty feet long, with scales in a blood-streaked navy blue color, and sky blue spikes running down its spine. The thing that was most disturbing about the snake, however, was its eyes. They were a soulless, icy blue in color, and when they caught her gaze, she felt cold terror turn her blood to ice and freeze her in her tracks. The young woman tried to turn and run, but the giant snake reared up and struck her with lightning speed, its foot long fangs piercing her ribcage…

…Flash…

Charlie woke up in a cold sweat, but the dream vanished as soon as she opened her eyes, and the only thing she could remember were the cold eyes and the fear. Suddenly, a pair of voices from outside drowned out the snoring of the person two beds over, and both of them sounded familiar. Tiptoeing to the doorway and peeking through the curtain, she saw Wakka talking to the woman in the black dress. "Hmm…I wonder what they could be talking about this late at night."

"I don't know why you even brought it up! She doesn't look a thing like Chappu!" yelled the woman.

"Well, why did you stare at her like that back at the temple, then?" Wakka wanted to know.

"Hey, they're talking about me!" Charlie thought, being quiet in order to keep from giving herself away.

"I stared because she wasn't supposed to be in there!" the woman snapped, her crimson eyes flashing with anger. "You shouldn't have brought her here in the first place!"

"But, Lulu…she needed our help!" he protested.

"Excuses again?" she demanded. "That's it, no more! Enough, Wakka!"

With that, Lulu stormed off, leaving the blitzer standing alone. When Charlie saw that he was heading in her direction, she quickly closed the curtain and sat down on the bed. "So…who's Chappu?" she asked when he walked in and sat down.

"My little brother. He kinda looked like you," he told her.

"He's dead?"

"He was with the Crusaders when they fought Sin last year, but he didn't make it. I first heard about it on the day of the tournament."

"Hey Wakka, I'm sorry."

"Don't be...it's not your fault. Anyway, I became a guardian to fight Sin, ya?"

"You wanted revenge?"

"That was the idea, but now I'm more worried about a stupid game than avenging my brother." Wakka hung his head and sighed. "Well, after the next tournament, I'll be a guardian, full-time. I know that it looks like I'm kinda using you…but I'm not."

Charlie shook her head and smiled. "Hey, I owe you a lot. You've really helped me out, you know. Everyone else would've probably left me on the roadside, or something. Thanks, Wakka."

The blitzer stared at her for one long moment, as a blush slowly worked its way up his face, and he finally looked away, and with a big grin, said, "Hey, stop! You're embarrassing me!"

Then he got up and left, and Charlie lay back on the bed and quickly fell asleep again, all thoughts of the eerie dream gone for the moment.