Chapter 19: Guadosalam
Of all the strange places and things Charlene had seen during her time in Spira, the city of Guadosalam was definitely near the top of the list. It was located entirely underground, but looked more like the inside of a giant tree than any sort of cave, and was preternaturally quiet, as if the inhabitants had long ago discovered another means of communication other than talking. Of course, the silence may have also stemmed from the fact that it was late in the evening and most of the inhabitants had already sought their beds. Fortunately, there was an inn just inside the entrance to the city, so the group decided to stay there for the night, before setting out again in the morning.
Charlie awoke late the next morning, having spent most of the night practicing her Al Bhed with Rikku, and the rest of it tossing and turning from bad dreams ranging anywhere from the aftermath of Operation Mi'ihen to dreams of being trapped in the middle of a bridge with Seymour on one end and Sin on the other. The young woman stepped outside the inn, and found the rest of the group waiting for her. "Sleep well?" Wakka asked, smiling brightly.
"No, I kept having nightmares all night long," Charlie sighed.
Before anyone could say anything else, an elderly Guado dressed in green and red walked up to them and bowed deeply. "We have been expecting you, Lady Yuna," he said as he finished his bow. "Welcome to Guadosalam. This way, my lady, this way."
The strange Guado reached out to take Yuna's arm, but Wakka stopped him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Wakka said, eyeing the stranger suspiciously. "What do you think you're doing?"
The Guado, taken aback, stared at the blitzer for a moment, and then said, "Oh, I beg your pardon. I am called Tromell Guado, and I am in the direct service of our leader, the great Seymour Guado. Lord Seymour has very important business with Lady Yuna."
"Business with me? Whatever could it be, I wonder?" Yuna wanted to know.
"Please come inside the manor and all will be explained," Tromell told her. Then he gave the rest of the party a long look, and added, "Of course, your friends are also welcome."
With that, the Guado walked away, and everyone, save Charlie and Rikku, followed him. "Twist our arms, why don't ya?" the Al Bhed muttered under her breath. Then she turned around and noticed that Charlie stood frozen in place, her face pale and eyes wide with fear. "Uh…Charlie? Are you feeling okay?"
"Oh dear God, NO! Me? Go inside Seymour's house? I'd rather die! But Yuna's going in there, and I'm her guardian, so I have to go, too." Finally, Charlie realized that Rikku was staring at her, and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little ill, that's all." "Boy, that's the understatement of the century! I feel like I'm gonna be very sick before long…"
…
Charlene and Rikku joined the others in the front lobby of Seymour's mansion, and joined them in their silent waiting. "Kimahri not like Maester Seymour," Kimahri rumbled.
"Shh!" Yuna hissed, horrified at her guardian's blunt dismissal of the maester.
After that, the Ronso did not speak again, so Charlie wandered around the room, desperately trying to shake the feeling of unease that hung over her head like a curse. She found Lulu standing on one of the two sets of stairs, looking at some old portraits of various Guado, including one of Seymour. All of them had the same twisted blue "hair" that looked like tree roots, in Charlie's opinion, and pale blue eyes. "They all look the same, don't they?" Charlie commented, curiously studying the paintings.
"Yeah, but Maester Seymour doesn't look like them at all," Wakka said, joining them.
"Didn't you know? The last maester, Lord Jyscal, wed a human woman, and she was Seymour's mother," Lulu replied.
"So Seymour's only half Guado? It must have sucked being him when he was a kid!" Charlie thought, walking back down the stairs. "It doesn't really matter, though, human or Guado, that bastard still gives me the heebie-jeebies every time I see him!"
She had just reached the bottom of the stairs when a door leading into the back of the house opened, and Tromell stepped out. "This way, please," he said, beckoning to the party with an inhumanly long finger. They followed the Guado through the door, and into a room filled with tables of various foods and drinks. "I will go inform Lord Seymour that you have arrived, so please wait here."
With that, Tromell left again, and Charlie looked around for a long moment, suppressed the urge to run screaming out of the house, and then turned to talk to Auron. "Stay on your guard," he told her.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" she exclaimed. "Something about this place just doesn't feel right, but I can't tell what it is." She paused, noticing that Auron was watching her carefully, and then continued. "Auron, do you think I'm overreacting? I mean, Seymour's just a priest…isn't he?"
"Those with power use that power," Auron replied. "Maesters have power."
Charlie nodded, turned, and walked away, toward Lulu. "There's no temple in Guadosalam, see?" the black mage said. "Summoners usually just pass through on their way elsewhere."
Charlie blinked for a moment, and then laughed. "Lulu, you should be a teacher, you know?"
"What?"
"You're always explaining things, even when I haven't asked a question!"
"You'd rather I say nothing, then?" Lulu asked, her voice taking an edge.
"No, that's not it!" Charlie protested. "I just mean that you'd be a great teacher, that's all. And…maybe you finally believe what I said about not being from Spira."
"Well…there are many things I do not know, and your home is one of those things. I suppose I can't say what I think either way, but you shouldn't go around telling other people."
"I won't." "I haven't told that many people to begin with, but somehow, Seymour managed to find out about it. Hell, one of the priests in Besaid probably sent a message ahead of us somehow and that's how that weirdo knew of it."
Charlene shook off her thoughts with a heavy sigh, and eyed the table filled with various fruits, some familiar and some not. Although Rikku happily munched away on what appeared to be an apple, Charlie didn't have much of an appetite, so she settled for a glass of water instead. The young woman then turned her attention to the ceiling, where three crystal spheres gently pulsed, emitting a peculiar white light. "What do those things do?" she wondered, taking a sip of water. "Do they do anything special, or are they just a bunch of glorified disco-balls?"
Just then, Tromell reentered the room, alone, and beamed at everyone. "Truly, it is good to have guests again. Since Lord Jyscal passed away, these halls have been too quiet."
"The death of Lord Jyscal was a great loss for all of Spira," Yuna sadly replied.
Curious, Charlie scooted over to Wakka and asked, "Was this Lord Jyscal person really all that?"
"He brought the teachings of Yevon to the Guado," the blitzer replied. "Yep, he truly was a great man."
Tromell turned and looked at them. "Truly a loss for us all," he said, his eyes briefly shadowed by something dark. "But now a new leader, Lord Seymour, has come before us. Lord Seymour is the child of a Guado and a human, and will be the tie that binds our two races together, but that's not all, I think. Lord Seymour…he will surely become the shining star that lights the way for all the peoples of Spira."
"That is enough, Tromell. Must I always endure such praise?"
Barely stifling a yelp, Charlie jumped, accidentally dropping her now-empty glass as Seymour sauntered into the room. "Holy mother of God! How the hell did he sneak up on us like that? Oh wait, there IS a door back there, you paranoid idiot!" Suddenly, Charlie realized that everyone was staring at her, and she sheepishly said, "Oops…sorry about that."
Fortunately, the glass didn't break when it hit the floor, so she simply picked it up and set it back on the table. "That is quite all right," Seymour told her, before turning and performing the prayer to everyone. "Welcome!"
"You…wanted to see me?" Yuna asked, sounding unsure of herself.
"Please, make yourselves at home," the Guado smoothly replied. "There's no rush."
"Please keep this short," Auron said, his tone a step away from outright rudeness. "Yuna must rush."
"Pardon me," Seymour said, taking no notice of the guardian's brusque manner. "It has been a long time since I had guests."
"No shit, Sherlock! I wonder why?" Charlie nastily thought.
The maester stepped to one side of the dais and said, "Lady Yuna, this way, please."
Everyone stepped onto the platform, and suddenly, the room disappeared, replaced by the endless depths of space. "Holy cow!" Charlie breathed, her eyes full of wonder as pyreflies streamed by toward a distant galaxy.
The rest of the group, save Kimahri and Auron, made similar fascinated sounds, as Seymour sidled closer to Yuna and said, "This sphere is a reconstruction created from the thoughts of the dead that wander the Farplane."
Suddenly, the scenery changed, transforming from deep space to a huge city filled with people walking the streets. "It's Zanarkand!" Charlie exclaimed as the illusory people passed through her.
"Correct," Seymour replied, thankfully not looking at her. "Zanarkand…as it looked one thousand years ago." As everyone watched the scenery with awe, he continued. "The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand. She once lived in this metropolis."
"She who?" Yuna was confused.
Seymour remained silent as the scenery changed yet again, and the party stood inside a richly decorated bedroom. Sitting on the round bed in the center of the room was a woman with long, white hair, golden eyes, and a blue string bikini made of metal. "Lady Yunalesca!" Yuna exclaimed, apparently recognizing the woman.
"Good God, she dresses like a two-dollar whore!" Charlie thought, rolling her eyes in disgust.
"She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages," Seymour said, smiling down at Yuna, "And you have inherited her name."
"It was my father who named me," Yuna modestly replied.
"Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task. He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat the undefeatable Sin…" Here, Seymour paused, and then bowed before continuing. "It took an unbreakable bond of love: the kind that binds two hearts for eternity."
Just then, a man in an outlandish blue and gold outfit similar to that of an Aztec priest appeared, walking through Yuna to reach Yunalesca. The ghostly image of the summoner stood up, and she and the strangely dressed man embraced one another as the image faded, turning the room back to normal. Once it was gone, Seymour leaned forward and whispered something into Yuna's ear. Charlie couldn't tell what it was, but knew it couldn't be anything good, judging by the chill that trickled down her spine combined with the startled look on her friend's face. "What did that creepy bastard say to her?" she wondered, as Yuna's face turned a brilliant scarlet.
As the blushing summoner grabbed a glass of water and hurriedly gulped the contents, Charlie and Rikku rushed over to check on her. "Wow! Your face is beet red!" Rikku commented.
"Yuna, are you okay?" Charlie asked. "What did he say to you?"
Yuna spluttered incoherently for a moment, then composed herself and replied, "He…he asked me to marry him!"
"WHAT?" Charlie shrieked, her expression one of horror mingled with disbelief.
"You know what Yuna must do," Auron said, giving Seymour a frosty look.
"Of course," the Guado calmly replied. "Lady Yuna...no, all summoners...are charged with bringing peace to Spira, but this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a maester of Yevon."
"Spira is no playhouse," Auron growled. "A moment's diversion may amuse the audience, but it changes nothing."
"Even so, the actors must play their parts," Seymour replied, the cold flicker in his eyes the only thing betraying his anger. Then he turned to Yuna and gave her a warm, and completely false, smile. "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over."
Yuna opened her mouth to speak, but Auron interrupted her. "We will do so, then. We leave."
With that, the swordsman turned and walked away, everyone else falling in behind him. "Wow, this is the angriest I've ever seen Auron get!" Charlie thought to herself. "The aftermath of Operation Mi'ihen didn't piss him off as much as this seems to!"
"Lady Yuna, I await your favorable reply," Seymour said, giving Yuna another fake smile. Then he turned to Auron and said, "Why are you still here, sir?" When Auron froze in his tracks, Seymour bowed, and continued, "I beg your pardon. We Guado are keen to the scent of the Farplane."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Charlie looked at Auron, who, for a moment, looked as if he'd like to cut the Guado down where he stood, but then replaced his "Guardian Mask" and stormed off. "I don't know what that meant, but I think it pissed him off more than the proposal did!" Then she realized that everyone had just left her behind, and she was standing alone in the room with Seymour, who graced her with another one of his soul-freezing, slimy looks before she turned and ran out of the room as fast as she could. "Oh God, I need to get out of here while I still can, because I REALLY don't want to be an extended recipient of Seymour's brand of 'hospitality'!"
Charlene caught up to the others outside of the mansion, where they quickly started up a conversation about Yuna and Seymour. "Yuna, the high summoner's daughter…Seymour, the leader of the Guado, married in the name of Yevon, overcoming the barriers of race," Lulu said, her wine-red eyes thoughtful. "It would give Spira something cheery to talk about, for a change."
"Sounds just like a passin' daydream, like Auron says," Wakka said.
"Let's just get on with this!" Charlie sighed, not liking the topic of discussion. "Wouldn't marriage just complicate things?"
"Jealous?" Rikku teased.
"Hell no! I'd sooner marry a Hypello than that guy!" Charlie spat. Everyone, especially Wakka, gave her another one of those horrified looks, and she added, "We have to beat Sin, so can't romance wait?"
"He sure picked a fine time to lay this one on us!" Wakka sighed, instead of answering her question.
"Maybe it is a fine time," Yuna said.
"What?" Charlie gave her friend a startled look.
"If my getting married would help Spira…if it would make people happy…if I could do that for people…maybe I should do what I can. I never imagined doing anything like this, but I won't answer till I know what's right."
"You could always quit your pilgrimage and get married," Rikku suggested brightly.
"I will…go on. I'm sure that Lord Seymour will understand."
"Um…I guess so," Rikku was doubtful.
"I am a summoner!" Yuna exclaimed, getting to her feet. "I must fight and defeat Sin."
"Like Braska before you," Auron said, finally adding his two cents to the conversation.
Charlene listened to all this, her soul filled with dread. "Yuna, you can't marry that guy! He's nothing but bad news I just know it! If only I had some kind of proof, if only I could show you, then you would see that Seymour can't be trusted! But I don't have anything, other than what my feelings tell me, but no one's going to take that seriously, so all I can do is just watch…and hopefully be able to protect you when the time comes, my friend."
"I am going to the Farplane," Yuna announced, snapping Charlie out of her thoughts. "I am going to see my father."
"Go on," Lulu told her, "We'll be right behind you."
…
A little while later, the seven of them made their way down a long, pyrefly-filled corridor and arrived in a huge room with a stairway that led up to a circular opening filled with strangely colored smoke. "Hey, I've got a question!" Charlie said, drawing varying looks from everyone. "Okay, so when a person dies, a summoner sends their soul to the Farplane, so that's like the afterlife, and Yuna's father is there, too, right?" Everyone nodded, so she continued to speak. "But if the Farplane we're going to is the same one that the dead exist on, then wouldn't that mean we'd have to die to get there, too?"
"You're thinking those funny thoughts again, ya?" Wakka asked, giving the shuddering girl a curious look. "You'll see once we get there."
With that, Wakka, Lulu, Yuna, and Kimahri turned around and walked up the steps and through the weird smoke. Charlie started to follow them, but then she noticed that Auron had sat down at the edge of the path. "Hey, aren't you coming with us, Auron?" she asked.
"I do not belong there," he replied, not looking at her.
"You're scared, aren't you?" Charlie was surprised. "I was starting to think nothing scared him!"
"Searching the past to find the future…this is all that is there. I need it not." Auron waved his hand toward the entrance, still not looking at her. "You'd better be going."
Just then, Rikku walked up and said, "You're not really going to see the dead, more like your memories of them."
"What?" Charlie was confused.
"People think of their relatives and the pyreflies react to them," the Al Bhed explained. "They take on the form of the dead person: an illusion, nothing else." She waved and then brightly said, "Well, have fun!"
"You're not coming either?"
"I keep my memories inside. Memories are nice, but that's all they are."
Charlie shrugged and then walked up the rest of the steps, stopping at the portal to study it carefully. Curious, she reached out and touched the cloud of smoke and it wobbled around her hand almost as if it were water. "This stuff…it kind of looks like a black rainbow," she mentally noted as she passed through it. The strange fog flowed around her, obscuring everything for a long moment, and then she emerged on the other side, into a world unlike anything she had ever imagined. "Holy hell!" she gasped, looking around.
Charlene now stood on a platform above a vast expanse of thick butter-yellow clouds that swirled around each other like a hurricane. Suddenly, the clouds parted, revealing a huge green field filled with flowers and pyreflies, and hemmed in on nearly all sides by rushing waterfalls. Off in the distance, columns of water rose gracefully into the sky, stretching on to infinity and framing an odd, dark hole surrounding an object that looked like a blue moon. "My God, this place is insane! It's beautiful, but creepy at the same time," she thought, not liking the oppressive feeling of countless eyes watching her every step. Then she noticed Wakka standing on her right, talking to someone with orange hair, and sadly smiled. "That must be his brother, Chappu."
"Yo, Chappu! Meant to come see you earlier, ya? Sorry!" The blitzer bowed apologetically, before continuing to speak. "I know you won't hold it against me. I gave up the game. I'm a guardian from here on, you know?" Wakka paused for a moment, then grinned. "This girl…kinda looks like you…showed up. Traveling with her, I thought, maybe…you were still alive somewhere, ya? But then again, here you are on the Farplane, so I guess your place is here. So how you been?" The ghostly image of Chappu didn't reply, and Wakka, as if just remembering, added, "Oh, that girl I told you about, I gave her your sword. She likes it."
Charlene suddenly heard a faint humming coming from the Brotherhood, so she drew it and stared at it for a moment as the crystal blade flickered from within like light at the bottom of a pool of clear water. "Wow…so I guess Chappu approves of me having this, then." Then, she noticed Lulu standing off to one side, watching Wakka and Chappu, so she put her sword away and joined her. "He is dead, and I am still alive," the black mage said to herself. "Coming here really makes that clear. I should focus more on what I have to do now."
Suddenly, Lulu laughed aloud, and Charlie said, "What is it?"
"I'm not even sure what I'm saying," Lulu sighed, shaking her head.
"Maybe what you mean is that it's time to leave Chappu behind," Charlie suggested. "I'm not saying that you should forget about him completely, just that you should let him go. I'm sure he was a great guy, but there are plenty of others out there." "As if I'm really one to talk about letting go…"
"That is a possibility," the mage conceded.
"What about Wakka?"
Lulu gaped at her for a long moment. "Me? With Wakka?"
"Why not? You two seem to get along great!" Charlie said.
"Getting along isn't enough. Not even close."
"No, but it's a start."
Lulu gave Charlie a thoughtful look, but said nothing. The two women stood in silence, watching Wakka continue to talk to his brother's spirit, but finally the black mage said, "Goodbye, Chappu. You always said I looked grumpy, but those were the happiest days of my life."
Charlene turned and walked to where Yuna stood, staring at the ghostly images of her parents. "They look really happy together." "Hey…Yuna?"
"I've decided," Yuna said, not looking at her.
"That's good, I guess."
"I remember when I was only seven years old, in Bevelle that day, my father had defeated Sin, and the whole town was out in the streets. Everyone was laughing. They all seemed so happy. If I defeated Sin, that would make everyone happy…wouldn't it? I must do what everyone wants, not just what I want."
"Well, let's go tell Seymour then."
Yuna nodded, and then said, "But first…why don't you call someone?"
"What?"
"Give it a try!"
"Okay." Charlie stared out at the lovely expanse of the Farplane and softly called, "Hey Marcus, are you out there?"
Pyreflies gathered in the air just beyond the platform, wheeling and pulsing lazily, but then the sky flickered darkly for a brief instant and they stopped. The air grew heavy as more pyreflies appeared, and suddenly, Charlie felt as if she couldn't breathe. "What's going on?" her brain screamed as the feeling of being watched pressed in on her and grew in intensity.
Then the pyreflies flared angrily, and rocketed toward her like a swarm of bees, spinning around her and filling her vision with violent rainbows.
GET OUT…GET OUT…GET OUT!
A million enraged voices roared at her, drowning out all other sounds. Charlie stopped trying to bat away the swarm of pyreflies and covered her ears in an attempt to block out the awful noise. "Stop it! Leave me alone!" she screamed, panic filling her voice.
Suddenly, some of the pyreflies stopped swarming and actually flung themselves inside her body, and she could feel their anger burning within her like tiny suns.
GET OUT…GET OUT…GET OUT!
By this time, Charlene was unaware of anything other than the alien hatred and rage and the furious prisms that shattered, lancing her mind with needles of light. Finally, she let out a long scream of terror and pain as an unseen force lifted her off the ground and hurled her out of the Farplane like a bouncer tossing a drunk out of a bar. Charlie sailed out of the dark fog of the portal, over the heads of a trio of Guado, and landed in a crumpled heap on the stairs near where Auron and Rikku waited. As they all watched, the pyreflies slowly floated out of her body, seemingly satisfied with their work, and drifted back beyond the gate.
…Flash…
Charlie stood in the empty city again, but this time Jecht was not there. Instead, the little boy in purple stood on the platform, sadly gazing at her. "We were afraid of this," he said, shaking his head.
"What the hell just happened to me?" Charlie demanded.
"The Farplane rejected you," the boy replied.
"Rejected me? Why?"
"Because of what you are," he explained. "Your world and Spira are alike enough to support your existence here, but apparently the Farplane is too different, so it rejected you."
"If you knew about this, then why didn't you tell me to stay out of there?" Charlie yelled.
"We didn't know it was going to happen! It was a possibility, but only that," the boy sighed.
Charlie wanted to pick the boy up and shake him, but fought back the urge and asked, "Well what now?"
"We have another problem. You see, now that we know that the Farplane won't accept you, we're not sure what will happen to you if you die."
"What do you mean you don't know?" she shrieked.
"Originally, we thought that if something happened to you, then you could be sent to the Farplane, just as any other person could, but since the Farplane rejected you, anything could happen. The best possible scenario is that you'll become an unsent…"
"And the worst?"
"Your soul will vanish and it will be as if you never existed. Either way, we won't be able to send you home again if you die." He watched her stunned expression for a moment before continuing. "Now that you know this, Charlie, I also have to tell you that we can send you home now, if you wish."
"They can send me home?" "Wait! If I go home now…what'll happen to the others?"
"We don't know. Charlie, you don't have to stay here if you really want to leave, but we need your help."
"Wait, you keep saying 'we', but you're the only one here! Who is 'we'?"
"The others. You've spoken with several of them already, back in the temples, remember?"
Charlie nodded, and said, "So you just speak for the group, huh?"
"Yes. So…will you stay? I have to warn you though, if you decide to stay, you'll have to see this through to the end. We won't be able to send you home before that."
"This may be my one chance to go home! But if I take it…terrible things could happen, and people could get hurt, or even killed!" Charlie shook herself out of her thoughts and said, "Yuna and the others…they're my friends. I can't just leave them if there's a chance I could help them. I'm going to stay."
The little boy nodded, and replied, "Charlie…thank you."
…Flash…
Charlene awoke, not really remembering what she just dreamt, only that it involved the little boy in purple. Blinking owlishly, she looked around and realized that she was lying on the stairs that led to the Farplane. Suddenly, she saw a moving flash of red out of the corner of her eye, and following it, she saw Auron drop to his knees, his face twisted with pain. "Auron? Auron, what's wrong?" Charlie asked, scooting over to him.
The older guardian looked at her, but did not seem to see her, his eye filled with real, gut-wrenching fear. "Oh my God! He looks like he's freaking out! What the hell is going on?" Charlie looked up at the others, but they all had their attention on something near the Farplane gate, so she turned back to Auron, who had closed his eye and ground his teeth to keep from crying out. Not knowing what else to do, Charlie leaned forward, wrapped her arms around him, and whispered, "Hey, it's all right."
Almost instinctively, Auron clung to her, as if she was the only life preserver available in a storm-tossed sea, and she let him. "I can't…" he whispered, his breath coming in ragged gasps, "I can't…not yet!"
"He can't? Can't what?" Charlie didn't ask her questions, instead continuing to hold him until he finally relaxed and pulled away from her. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, watching him carefully.
Auron blinked at her for a moment, and then gave her a strange look she couldn't identify before getting to his feet. She got to her feet, too, just as everyone turned around from their activity, and Auron barked, "Talk later. We leave now."
Wordlessly, the group followed him, Charlie trailing behind them deep in thought. "What in bloody friggin' hell happened back there? Auron looked like he was in so much pain! It scared me so much…but why? And what in the world was I thinking, holding him like that?"
"Maybe it's because you l…"
Charlene quickly slammed a mental door on that annoying little voice and snarled, "You shut the hell up! I DO NOT feel that way about him, and even if I did, it'd most likely just be some stupid infatuation! The 'L' word is NOT involved."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt you know."
With that, the little voice fell silent, and Charlie rushed to catch up to the others, muttering foul obscenities under her breath.
…
A few minutes later, the party walked back down the pyrefly-filled road and discussed the recent disturbing events. "Wh…what was that just now?" Wakka stammered, his face gone pale beneath his tan. "That really Lord Jyscal?"
"Lord Jyscal? What are you talking about?" Charlie wanted to know.
"Lord Jyscal's soul tried to escape from the Farplane!" the blitzer explained. "It happened while you were still out of it."
"I don't understand how a man like Lord Jyscal could die and not be sent," Yuna said, her two-colored eyes troubled.
"I would think he was sent once…but he stayed on Spira," Lulu replied. "Something, a powerful emotion, could have bound him to this world. Such things happen."
"That's against the rules, isn't it?" Rikku nervously asked.
"It means he died an unclean death," Auron said, with all the finality of an execution in his voice.
"You mean he was murdered?" Charlie said. "And I bet I know who did it, too."
No one answered her. A few minutes later, the party reentered Guadosalam in somber silence, disturbed by what they just witnessed. They headed back to the manor to speak with Seymour again, with Charlie resolutely ignoring the odd looks the Guado sent her way. "Did you hear about what happened to that one human in Lady Yuna's group?" a Guado woman whispered to her companion.
"Yes, apparently she went into the Farplane, and it threw her back out again," her companion replied. "I heard it from Ven right before he went to tell Lord Seymour about it!"
"What kind of monster is she, that the Farplane won't even take her?" the woman wondered aloud, knowing perfectly well that Charlie could hear her.
"Maybe that's why Lord Jyscal appeared. Maybe he threw her out of the Farplane…"
"Let them say whatever they want," Charlie told herself, resolutely ignoring the pain those words brought. "I don't care! What do a bunch of stupid elves know, anyway? The only thing that bothers me is that Seymour knows about it now."
Finally, they reached the mansion, and Yuna announced, "I will go…meet with Maester Seymour."
The summoner started to walk away, but then Auron called, "Yuna! Jyscal is the Guado's problem, not yours."
She ignored him, however, and entered the house alone. No one else made a move to follow her, so Charlie, despite her unease, didn't either and chose to talk to Lulu instead. "Hey, Lulu, what do you think of Yuna getting married?"
"As long as the pilgrimage continues, either way is fine," Lulu replied, sedately walking away.
"But what if she doesn't even like him?" Charlie countered, following her. "Is it fine if she goes off and marries someone she doesn't even love?"
"Sometimes, marriage doesn't require love, you know?" The mage stopped and faced her. "Defeat Sin, and bring joy to the people of Spira. Get married, and bring joy to the people of Spira. For Yuna, they're just two ways down the same road. All you need is determination. If you have that, you don't need love."
With that, Lulu walked away, leaving Charlie alone with her thoughts. "You don't need love? That may be true, but if you're going to marry someone, you should at least like them, I should think…and you should be able to trust them, too. I'm no mind-reader, but I think, deep down, Yuna doesn't like OR trust that creepy bastard."
Charlene wandered around Guadosalam for a while, before approaching Lulu again in front of the manor. "Listen, if Yuna gets married, I…" Here, Lulu paused. "I would want her to marry for love…but love isn't always the best answer, especially for someone in her position."
"So she should just marry someone she might not even like? That doesn't make sense!" Charlie said.
"I know."
The two women stared at each other for a long moment, and Charlie said, "Hey, Lulu…"
"I've talked enough about that," the mage waspishly replied.
"Grouchy, aren't we?"
"You'll understand one of these days. I just don't want to give it words…not yet."
Lulu walked away again, and Charlie just shook her head and sighed. "Does she always make everything more convoluted than it has to be?"
Aggravated, the young woman wandered around the city again, and ran into Shelinda as the acolyte headed down a tunnel leading out of Guadosalam. "Was the lady summoner not with you?" Shelinda asked.
"Eh…she's at Seymour's house right now," Charlie replied, barely keeping the disgust out of her voice.
"That's 'Maester Seymour', or 'Lord Seymour'," Shelinda corrected.
"Right. Sorry."
"That's quite all right." The acolyte smiled. "Maester Seymour left Guadosalam a short while ago."
"Really?" "Hot damn! The bastard ain't here!"
"I believe he went to the temple in Macalania. Maester Seymour is also the high priest of that temple, you know."
Charlie started at that, but quickly recovered and said, "Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go tell the others."
Charlie ran back to where the rest of the group, minus Yuna, waited, and said, "Hey, Seymour's not here anymore!"
"How do you know that?" Wakka wanted to know.
"I ran into that Shelinda girl as she was leaving the city, and she said that Seymour left a little while ago."
At this news, Rikku ran inside the manor, and came back a moment later with Yuna right behind her. "Yes, what is it?" the summoner asked.
"Seymour went to some temple in Macarena," Charlie told her.
"Macalania," Wakka absently corrected. "What I don't get is why would the lord maester head off with out a peep to anyone?"
"Maybe he wasn't expecting Yuna's answer so soon," Rikku theorized.
"Ah, that's probably it."
Just then, Yuna let out a short laugh, one that sounded forced and nervous. "Yuna, what is it?" Auron asked, speaking for the first time since they left the Farplane Road.
"Oh, nothing."
"Hmm…you're a poor liar," Auron replied, giving her a penetrating look.
"It's true! It's nothing!" Yuna protested, flushing slightly. Then she turned and walked away. "Come on, let's go."
If Auron was upset by Yuna's refusal to tell him anything, he did a great job of hiding it as he and the others moved to catch up to the retreating summoner. Charlie, wondering about their next destination, asked, "Hey, where are we going now?"
"The Thunder Plains!" Wakka replied, smiling broadly.
"The Thunder Plains? Why do they call them that?"
"You'll see when we get there."
Charlie shrugged and fell in step behind the others, but stopped when she heard Rikku let out a squeak similar to that of a frightened mouse. "Uh…Rikku, are you okay?"
The Al Bhed gave her a startled look and said, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
Charlene stared at Rikku as she ran away, thinking, "What's wrong with her? She looks like she's about to wet her pants or something! The Thunder Plains aren't that bad…are they?"