Straying From the Light
Chapter Three: The Joy of Ignorance
Nearly a week ago, the young Summoner-in-training and his two Guardians were welcomed by religious leaders in Bevelle. There, he hastened to the Chamber of The Fayth where he prayed to a Guardian Aeon's spirit for a long while. A boy who looked to be not much younger than Seymour appeared before him, and bestowed upon the blunette the power to call forth his Aeon, Bahamut. The child was always left feeling drained after a Fayth's Spirit passed through his frail body. It was as if all his power was slowly stripped away from him, in turn making him need to rest up for a while afterwards.
Now, days later the cryptic message he'd received from the other still sent a chill through his spine. Bahamut's Essence wasted no time speaking a puzzling truth, his voice hollow, "It will soon be over. Are you prepared?" Those words held some hidden meaning, and Seymour had yet to figure out what that was. He had known that Sin was an eternal being, though he had no idea how the Creature could be resurrected. Having been in Baaj Temple, continents apart from others, he hadn't finished his Apprentice Summoner's studies in Guadosalam, so the true ritual that followed the Final Summoning remained a mystery to him.
How could an Aeon determine what was to come? He never had too much trouble on his journey, after all. Of course, there were always those "what if" questions that Seymour chose to ignore. What if everything was a lie, his pilgrimage not at all as pleasant as it seemed to be? More importantly, what if he couldn't put a stop to Sin forever? Would everything he did truly help the citizens of Spira? Exhaling heavily, the boy shook his head. I'm not getting anywhere fretting over this. Surely, the answers will come to me when I least expect them. With that thought in mind, he forced himself to smile brightly as he gathered his belongings before heading out of the Inn.
His mother turned around once the Inn's owner closed the doors and her son emerged looking cheery as ever. Her gray-blue orbs scanned the boy's face for a long time. She couldn't detect his uneasiness since he'd hidden it so well for once. "We must go, Seymour. We've had more than enough time to rest." Motioning for said child to follow her, the raven haired beauty led the way out of Bevelle, eventually meeting up with Tromell on the outskirts of town.
Soon, they'd made their way to the Calm Lands, the very location where High Summoners of ages past fought Sin. But the land was far from calm, as the name suggested. Many predatory fiends laid in wait, ready to strike the child and his comrades down. It wasn't until he and his party crossed through the middle of the seemingly endless grassy terrain that things were truly serene. The quiet of the afternoon remained, and neither Guardian nor their Summoner disturbed the peace.
A content sigh fell past Seymour's agape mouth as he stared past the plains and into the distance, and basked in the warm sunlight. A light breeze kissed his face and messed up his pastel blue tresses. "It feels good." He murmured, his faint voice finally breaking the silence. His mom and the wise old Guado merely looked at each other before they nodded in agreement.
The boy's lips curved upward in a genuinely happy grin, and he ambled over to the others. Bahamut's Fayth's words were quickly pushed to the back of his mind. He found joy in his ignorance, and was sure that he'd be prepared for whatever was about to end. It wasn't necessarily bad when something passed either. Certain endings signified the beginning of something more too.
Just then, a little girl with lilac tresses crashed into the boy, knocking him flat on his back. "Ow! Are oui hurt?" The child inquired, her Al Bhed accent thick. She removed her goggles and stared back at the Guado boy in awe before rising to her feet. "You're the Summoner from Guadosalam, aren't you?" Without wasting another moment, the girl offered Seymour her hand.
The blunette looked to his mother and Tromell, as if to say "what do I do now?"
His parent smiled warmly as did his guardian, showing him not to be afraid. "I saw a movie sphere of Al Bhed once." He chirped, gingerly reaching out to grasp the other child's hand. "It was brilliant! Someday, I want to learn how to dismantle Machina too!"
The stranger helped pull her new acquaintance up and giggled. "I'm Renée. Who are you?"
Seymour blushed shyly and fidgeted before answering, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Renée. My name is Seymour." He couldn't help but get lost in the girl's bright green eyes—which had the most peculiar, yet beautiful swirls in them.
"When I get older, I'm gonna play Blitzball!" The girl chirped up excitedly. "But today, I think we should play tag! What do you say?" She gently nudged her new friend with her elbow. "Please? I promise I'll go easy on you…" With a wink, Renée walked further away from him. "You're it, okay? That means you have to try to catch me. I bet you can't!"
Tromell sighed and looked to Seymour's mother. "We should let the boy have some fun. I haven't seen him smile like that in ages."
The White Mage nodded in agreement. "Let's just keep an eye on them. I don't know where Renée's parents are, but I doubt they would be happy if they knew she was wandering off alone. "
Playing tag with his new acquaintance was strange, but fun at the same time. I can't remember the last time I've chased a girl. Oh, wait!I haven't done anything like this before! The Summoner-in-training thought, giggling as he finally tagged the lilac haired child. A few more tags and sprints later, and the children had tuckered themselves out. The Guado and the Al Bhed both lay down in the grass next to each other as the sun began to set. "I had fun. Thank you, Renée."
"It's not a problem." The kid murmured out, reaching over to hug the boy. She felt much mellower while in the presence of the Summoner- mellow, and safe. "We should definitely do that again sometime!"
All too soon, though it was time to get to the Travel Agency Inn. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Seymour asked, slowly walking towards his Guardians.
"You bet! My uncle Rin owns the Agencies. I don't have to pay any Gil since I'm family. I get a whole room to myself, but… I'm afraid of the dark." The girl whispered sadly, tears forming in her eyes. She quickly put on her goggles to try and hide the fact that she was crying.
Seymour's mother slowly made her way back to Renée. "Don't worry. I have an extra night light you can borrow." Her son was also scared of darkness—probably due to an incident that happened when he was a newborn. His babysitter had left him crying, in the dark and without a blanket to keep warm. It was safe enough to say that babysitter had been fired for neglecting the child the very next day.
"Well, thank you." Renée whispered, gratefully taking the night light from her friend's parent. "I broke my last night light. See, I was trying to tweak it, but it broke." She wasn't like all the other Al Bhed who could dismantle objects, and put them back together again. "Tomorrow, I'll definitely whoop your pants when we play tag!" She wiped away the last of her tears and smiled.
Seymour nodded, "I wouldn't bet on it."