Guided By Fayth [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

‘You need to wake up now.’

​

Alexandria Leal woke peacefully at the dawn, the memories of her dream at her fingertips. She stared at the ceiling she had called her own as it all seemed to float away from her. She grasped at images of technology that flowed like magic, and even reached up as if she might grasp it, or something that was there, just beyond sight.


As she closed her hand, though, it was gone, and she gave the ceiling a half-hearted smile. “I know.” It was to that quiet voice which spoke from a distance. Her hand fell back and landed lightly on her own chest. She wished to dwell then, in her room, but she knew it was not proper. Today was the day she had told those who agreed to accompany her to Zanarkand, that she was going to begin her journey.


Sin had shown up just a month ago, as everyone started to get used to the Calm brought about by the High Summoner Yocun, which had lasted nearly half a century. People started to think it would last forever. ‘It never does.’ And so she had begun her training when she was young, in preparation for Sin’s return. She had hoped, of course, that the Calm would last forever, but it did not. Spira had not repented enough. The Al Bhed hindered this process with their use of machine, and sometimes, Alexandria wondered, if Blitzball also hindered them.


The woman rolled out of her bed and began to move about, performing her morning rituals to clean herself up and mentally prepare herself for the trials ahead. The cloisters she knew of, but no one could truly tell her about the fayth, and what encountering the fayth of an aeon would mean. Nothing could prepare her for such an encounter, nor for binding herself so closely to one, to be able to bring its dream into reality, to give it power.


It was into that unknown that she had to walk, though. ‘But not alone.’ And she smiled, paused with the hairbrush in the middle of pulling through her auburn hair as she considered the three who were accompanying her. One she had known since childhood, and she looked forward to their company. Another was new, though she had seen him around Bevelle often. The third was someone she wished to know better, in what time she had left. Of course, she wished to know them all better…and yet she did not.


At times, she thought it might be better to be cold.


The brush was set aside, and she dressed herself in an attire given to her by a maester. The dark purple skirt flowed down to her ankles, but had slits up either end to allow easy movement. Golden stars danced along the bottom of it and rose up the left side, meeting the belt of beads she had around her waist, blues, purples, and golds, the colors of Bevelle in her mind, tied to the aeon. At that left side, they met up, and the excess beads hung down and jangled against each other with each step. She wore a white top, a v-neck which allowed a necklace to touch flesh—another gift of the maester, it was enchanted to protect her from magical harm, though she hadn’t tested it yet and hoped not to find out.


Her shoes were knee high boots, black, simple. Her newest guardian had directed her to be practical in that department for her trip, and she took his advice, even if she had thought it would be amusing to spite him.


She donned no gloves, no hats, and packed little as she wondered if she would sleep in her bed again. Her parents were not up, and she did not disturb them, knowing they would fuss over her and insist on breakfast. She was lucky they were alive. She intended to keep it that way, and would not let them delay her. They would be awake before she had the fayth, of that she was certain.


Alexandria did not look back. She left her luggage behind, though brought her staff, so she would have one excuse to see her home once more and walked in the dawning sun towards the temple.


~***~


A young man with a blond ponytail had not slept at all that night. He was going to set out of Bevelle for the first time in his life, and he was more worried than he was excited. He had risen before dawn, and now stood outside a temple that had raised him, and paced it, rather than go in.


He knew he should be there, outside, when his new charge arrived. He had never protected a summoner before. He had honestly hoped it would not be necessary again, but then, Sin showed up. All his hopes and dreams were dashed when Sin struck, and he was reminded that Spira still had a lot of repenting to do.


He lifted a hand to distractedly brush at a few strands which had escaped his ponytail, screwing up his hazel eyes in the process of trying to see them, of trying to be distracted by anything but his thoughts. He had to pause when he screwed up his vision so much that he nearly tripped over his own feet.


He sighed, and put his head into his hand. “What am I doing?” He asked aloud, and shook his head. “I’m not even sure I’m ready.” Yet he had joined, when she had asked him in the temple, saying something about how inexperienced her other two guardians were, and some other words that were eluding his memory. He had remembered feeling both humbled and flattered—he couldn’t say no.


So, he didn’t. He went and got permission immediately.


He stood in his formal attire, the red coat over armor, and questioned his sanity with a tanned hand pressed to his face. He was not sure how long he stood there, but he heard the disturbance before it ever managed to touch him. He let his hand drop and flinched away as one of the priests came close. The priest gave him a wry smile, which he did not return. “Why are you so upset, Tristan?”


“I am not upset,” he denied immediately, “I am only thinking that I have to travel an inexperienced summoner who does not know the world, and her two guardians, and I am wondering how the hell we are going to survive this.”


The priest laughed at him, “The roads to the temples are well-kept. You’ll be fine. The summoner should know the path, at least, on a map,” that smile remained on his face. “Cheer up. You’ll be a hero.”


The man didn’t smile. “How many guardians return?” There, the priest’s smile faltered. He clapped a hand on Tristan’s shoulder and stared into his hazel eyes.


“How many High Summoners return?”


It was not a question that needed answering. “Your sacrifice will also be remembered, as you help her defeat Sin. It is for the greater good.” The priest reminded him, before letting his hand slide off the man’s shoulder, and walking on into the temple. “Be sure to get drunk and enjoy yourself before then!” Tristan scowled and flushed at the same time, turned away from the temple’s entrance and stood as guard to its door with his arms folded across his chest, trying to look more intimidating than he already was at 6’4” with a great sword on his back.


‘Where is the summoner anyway?’ He glanced towards the sky as it took on the colors of the sun. 'And where are the other guardians?'

 

[Daxam]

Laying in his bed, a black-haired man was sleeping soundly, drool leaking out of his grinning mouth as he dreams, evident in the way his body twitches like a dog's. However, all of that would be interrupted by a ringing clock suddenly hitting his head. Jumping up, he groans in pain and rubs his head before turning to the blond girl sitting in a chair by the window, smirking at him. "Was that really necessary, Anna?" the man asks.


The girl nods, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. It was then the man notices she was wearing her traveling clothes: a short-sleeved shirt with armored shoulders and a breastplate, a pair of pants with armored knees, and boots. "We're leaving today?" the man asks.


Anna nods and gestures to the clothes folded on a table, as well as the armor still hanging on the rack. Sighing, the man climbs out of bed and walks over to the clothes and armor. "It's been awhile since we've worn these, huh?" he asks Anna, to which the girl nods. Without any further ado, he carries the clothes into another room. After changing into the black shirt and gray pants, he starts putting the light armor on, saying to Anna, "Well, at least we'll be travelling with Alex, so it won't be like last time..."


Pushing away the memories, he walks over to where his swords hung on the wall along with, oddly enough, quiver of arrows. Harnessing the arrows to his back and the swords to his belt, he turns to Anna and asks, "Ready to go, sis?" The blond nods and stands, holding her wooden staff in one hand before leading the way out of the house and toward the temple they agreed to meet at.

 

[Lucyfer]

Tristan does not have to wait long after his thought to see the woman he is sworn to protect, at the cost of his own life if necessary. ‘And yet she is giving hers willingly, for all of us.’ It was not a path many trod. True, there were plenty of summoners, but some had hoped they would only be necessary to send others on. That job never ended. “Lady Alexandria, are you ready?”


Her green eyes met his hazel, and he didn’t understand the touch of sorrow in them until she said, “I told you, call me Alex or Alexandria. No ‘lady’.” She had insisted on no formalities among her guardians. If they were going to travel with her, then they were going to treat her as a person, and not put her on the summoner’s pedestal. It was tiresome. “Are Anna and her brother here yet?”


He might have smirked, were he in a better mood, at the fact Alexandria did not use the brother’s name, but he did not yet know her well enough to do so. “No, I have not seen them.”


“Then I am not yet ready,” she answered Tristan, and took a seat on the stairs into Bevelle temple. The guardian sighed. “We still have time,” she reminded, “the sun hasn’t fully risen yet.” She had told them all to be there when the sun was fully risen, after all.


“Technically, that means he is not late even if it is noon.” Tristan didn’t sound amused.


She looked over her shoulder at him, a smile on her lips that he couldn’t quite read. “And?”


“We have things to do summoner, and waiting on a guardian is not on that list.”


She looked forward, “But, if I do not wait on my guardians, then how will I get to Zanarkand?” She asked him, thinking ahead to the Calm Lands, to the moments when she might want to run from her guardians to protect them, as they would protect her to that moment. “I should learn patience now.”


Tristan continued to scowl. He wanted to inform her that he was there, and he would always be on time, but did not. “You want more time in Bevelle,” he said instead.


Alexandria offered the half-truth to him in a nod of her head, and he accepted it by turning his gaze from her and off into the distance, of a home he might never see again, either.

 

[Daxam]

A few minutes later, the black-haired man, his armor clattering quietly, and Anna appear, the former grinning and the latter with a small smile on her face. Seeing Alexandria with a blonde guy, the man waves and says, "Hey, we're here!"


Jogging up to the pair, he says, "Sorry we're late, Anna was still getting ready." Anna, in answer, glances at him and shakes her head, silently saying he was lying.


Glancing down at his sister, the man shrugs and turns to the blonde man. "You must be the other guardian," he says with a friendly grin. Holding his hand out to shake his, the man says, "The name's Zac Yoxall and this is my sister, Anna. We're the ones you're waiting on."

 

[Lucyfer]

Alexandria rises at the sight of the siblings, a smile growing across her lips as she sees them. It does delight her, as much as it worries her, that the two have chosen to come with her after all that happened. She almost would have rather been left with just one of the Yevon-assigned guardians, men and women trained for the task, but…well, she couldn’t say no to the company of friends.


Zac’s lie is made apparent by Anna, and Alexandria manages to stifle her laugh, though her hand does lift to cover her lips.


Tristan just shakes his head, clearly not impressed, but seeming to believe Zac’s words. He didn’t catch the glare that Anna sent to her brother.


“It’s quite all right,” Alexandria says to the both of them.


They take notice of Tristan then, and Zac speaks for the both of them. Tristan glances to his hand, then extends his own hand to accept it, “Tristan Amets,” he answers as he shakes Zac’s hand. “Are you ready to go now?” He notices the weapons that both Anna and Zac have, questions, “What is it you can do in battle?” Deciding it would be good to get a feel for the people he would be working with. He already knew that Alexandria could summon and cast white magic.

 

[Daxam]

"Yeah, we're ready," Zac says with a grin. However, hearing Tristan ask what he and Anna could do, he says, "Well, I'm a swordsman and archer, of sorts. My sister here uses black magic and she isn't half-bad at it."


Anna glances up at her brother with a raised eyebrow, as if allowing herself a moment to be not-so-humble and silently say she was better than he was letting on. Zac chuckles and says, "Yeah, you're right, sis. In all honesty, I haven't seen anyone as good at it as she is." Looking up at the temple, he then asks, "So, does anyone know what's waiting for us in there?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Tristan takes in that information and commits it to memory. He lets them know then what he does, “I’m a swordsmen, so it seems that I’ll be on the frontlines.” He expected it. Two casters and a ranged fighter. It wasn’t a bad group, but he certainly would have liked someone else to stand at the front with him. Oh well.


‘You have to trust the summoner, as the summoner trusts you.’ He reminded himself as the auburn-haired summoner walked up the steps.


“The Cloister of Trials awaits,” she told them all from her higher standing ground, “Within, we will have to navigate through a maze and utilize spheres to access the room of the fayth. That should be all, though,” she gave the three a friendly smile, “Just a puzzle.”


Tristan nodded. He had heard about this in his orientation. Part of his job was to assist with these trials, after all. “Then let’s go.” They clearly would not need their weapons, but he wasn’t parting with his. He walked up the stairs then and took the role he knew he’d have to have as walking in front, leading them into the temple itself.

 

[Daxam]

Zac groans at the mention of a puzzle, while Anna seems to brighten up a bit more, having always enjoyed a good puzzle every once in awhile. As the two follow Tristan and Alexandria into the temple, Zac can't help but rest his hand on the pommel of one of his swords as he looks around. "This place is kinda eerie," he mutters as he looks up at the statues of past summoners. "As if it's been stuck in time for who knows how long."

 

[Lucyfer]

“Only about forty years,” Alexandria jokes, motioning up to the statue of Lady Yocan. “That was finished forty years ago and placed here in honor of her memory.” The temple was quiet in the early morning, though not empty. The priests were going about their rounds, praying to Yevon or cleaning the temple for other visitors.


Tristan walked up the steps towards the trials first and spoke with the priest there, “Lady Alexandria and her guardians wish to enter the trials.”


The priest looked over his shoulder, and gave a nod, recognizing the woman he was with. He stepped aside. “Proceed at your leisure,” he said.


Tristan called down, though kept his voice low, “We can go now.”

 

[Daxam]

Zac was still looking around at all of the statues when he felt Anna tug on his sleeve. Looking down at his sister, he sees her pointing at Tristan and Alex as they made their way to the Cloister. "Oh. Let's go, then," he says with a grin as he and Anna follow the Summoner and Guardian. "How hard are these puzzles, anyway?" he asks once he and Anna catch up.

 

[Lucyfer]

Alexandria waited outside the cloister for Anna and Zac, though Tristan went ahead. She smiled to Anna as the sibling got Zac’s attention, and turned to walk into the cloister of trials once the two of them were up the stairs.


“I don’t know how difficult they are,” Alexandria answered, “I have never had to do one,” and they did not give the summoners practice trials.


They didn’t seem to give guardians practice trials, either. Right as they got into the trial, there were stairs down, and at the bottom of those stairs stood Tristan who looked utterly confused. “What is it?”


“This is…this is machina.”


That was when Alexandria noticed it. The entirety of the trials seemed to be run not on magic, as suggested, but on machina. “What is machina doing in a temple to Yevon?” Tristan was absolutely baffled by this, and in truth, so was Alexandria, though she did not want to admit it.


“It is a trial,” she said instead, gently, as if the mystery of the trial should be enough to explain the presence of machina. It wasn’t, but Yevon had many mysteries—many that Alexandria did not fully understand herself.

 

[Daxam]

Zac looks at the machina for a few moments before tapping it. "At least they seem to be turned off," he says, turning back to the others. Although he wasn't a big follower of Yevon, he still understood that to have machina in a temple was a big no-no. Turning to Alexandria, since she was the summoner and, as far as he was concerned, de facto leader of their group, he asks, "What should we do?"

 

[Lucyfer]

“It looks like we may need to turn them on to continue,” Alexandria says as she looks ahead, and notices all the machina that seems to make up the paths before them. "But for the moment, let us see what is ahead." And with that, she walks forward to examine the path and, indeed, what is ahead more closely.


Of course, she doesn’t really know how machina works, not even in theory. Tristan doesn’t look happy as he proceeds forward, after Alexandria. There’s a pedestal before them with an orb in it, which he takes in hand and looks around. There’s a bit of the floor that stretches out from the path, shaped as a circle. In the center of it blinks a light.


Alexandria glances from the light, to the orb, to the pedestal. “Place the orb back in.” There was no else to put it, and nothing further. “Try moving the pedestal onto the light.”


Tristan’s expression shows his confusion at the direction, but he tries it anyway.


He tries with too much force at first. The pedestal falls over onto its side.

 

[Daxam]

While the three of them work on the pedestal and the orb, Anna silently looks around, searching for a way to progress. Once Zac and Tristan manage to right the pedestal again, Zac pushes the pedestal onto the circle. The pedestal suddenly melts into the circle, becoming nothing more than a blinking tile on the floor. "Huh," he says, looking down at the tile.


Suddenly, Anna begins to usher everyone onto the circle, her staff and arms speaking in her voice's stead. Once everyone was on, she touches the blinking tile with her foot. A second later, they begin descending.

 

[Lucyfer]

The group quickly moved onto the circle as Anna ushered, and let her activate it to take them all down. Alexandria’s eyes lit up as the machina came alive under the influence of the sphere. They were riding on a machina device! Heresy though it seemed, it was also amazing. Of course, all she’d ever heard of machina was that it was amazing. It had given people a life of luxury, after all.


They couldn’t afford to have that any longer.


Down the platform descended, following a track and turning. Alexandria failed to notice the arrows at the bottom of it, but Tristan did, hyper-aware and hyper-paranoid of the machina device that he was on. So, when it came to a stop, and he saw the arrow turning in many directions beneath him, he put his foot down again on that light in the center to ensure their path forward. “Where to, Lad—er, Alexandria,” he sighed, remembering he wasn’t supposed to be so formal.


“Um,” Alexandria didn’t know the path herself, but she had to make a decision. Eventually they’d figure it out, though. “Up there, to the left,” there was a branch to the left and the right. Tristan eyed the arrows, and managed to get it right so that their platform took them to the left.

 

[Daxam]

Zac stumbles a little as the platform stops and turns to the left. A moment later, the platform disappears and the pedestal returns, the sphere where it was before. In front of them, another sphere sat in an alcove. Zac walks forward and picks the second sphere up. Looking at it, he says, "Huh. Pretty."


Anna then takes the sphere from his hand and places it in the second groove in the pedestal, set on the opposite side of the first sphere. She then points back out onto the pathway. Zac, who had grown used to what she wanted just by watching her body language, nods and pushes the pedestal back onto the path. It disappears once more and the platform returns. Turning to his friends, he asks, "So, where to, next?"

 

[Lucyfer]

The group made progress through the Bevelle Trials, finding spheres and utilizing the mixture of magic and machina to come to its end. Before the Room of the Fayth was a circular waiting room, no chairs unfortunately. The Room of the Fayth was obvious, blocked off.


Alexandria walked up to it, then turned to her guardians and inclined her head, “I will try not to be long,” the process, she was told, could be long. Few took longer than a day, but there were those rare cases. She had been told some of what to expect, but also told that no words could ever explain the experience of uniting with the fayth.


Alexandria turned then to the barrier and spoke a few words softly as she performed the act of prayer and bowed before the barrier. It glinted, and then the barrier moved away, allowing her to step through. It closed immediately behind her, shielding her from the others.


Tristan walked to the steps that led into the Room of Fayth, and took a seat on them. He wasn’t looking forward to the wait, but he supposed it would be a good time to get to know these two people a bit better, “So, do you ever talk?” He asked Anna quite bluntly, looking at her for an answer and not Zac. All through the course of the Trials, she’d not said a word. The other two didn’t seem to think it odd, but Tristan did.

 

[Daxam]

Anna glances at Tristan, annoyance flashing in her eyes from the blunt way he had asked if she spoke. She then turns to Zac and, figuring it'd be best if Tristan knew, since they were going to spend a long time with him, nods. Zac sighs and says, "No, she doesn't speak. She hasn't for about ten years, now."


Looking from Anna to Tristan, he says, "Ten years ago, some fiends had somehow gotten into the city and wreaked havoc. I'm sure you remember that, if you were here." He pauses for a moment, fighting back emotions he had kept behind a thin wall for a decade, then says, "A couple of fiends broke into our house and...our parents died protecting us. Thanks to the shock, Anna hasn't said a word since then. As for how we surprised, we have Alex and her parents to thank for that. They took us in until I was old enough to get a job and provide for the both of us."

 

[Lucyfer]

Tristan kept his face a careful mask as he listened. He understood the tragedy they faced, but his thoughts were practical. The woman was not fit to be a guardian. He felt that immediately as the story was related to him. How would she deal with these trials, if she couldn’t find the strength to speak after years, if she still suffered from shock?


Of course, he couldn’t question Alexandria on this, not yet. “I see. I am sorry for your loss,” he spoke to both of them, before he looked down at the ground at his feet as if in deep thought. ‘You know you are walking Alexandria to her death, don’t you?’ He wanted to ask Anna that, but refrained. Why was the woman so willing to see another face their death? To see her brother, and all of them, face their death.


Tristan still couldn’t think of a guardian who ever returned alive.


~***~


There were many things that Alexandria had thought she would be prepared for, but a child floating above the fayth statue was apparently not on that list. Even so, she greeted it, “Hello. Are you the fayth?” That seemed strange. Bahamut was said to be a glorious and large dragon, powerful and not defined by the elements.


“Yes.” Curt. “And you are Lady Alexandria.”


“Yes,” she answered and bowed her head to it, “I…suppose you know why I am here, as well.”


“Yes.” And then the child stopped floating. Its feet touched the statue. “Most don’t start here.” He was not an easy fayth to hold, despite his appearance. It worked that way, though. As a child, he’d had a powerful imagination, and an even stronger will. It had manifested into the dragon that so many came to revere.


“I—I do not mean to offend you by doing so, I do not at all question your—”


“Sh.” And she fell silent immediately. Further, she started to drop to her knees. “Don’t do that.” And she didn’t, though she gave him a quizzical look. “It’s almost been a thousand years now, since this began,” he said softly, “All we fayth have is the Dream. It is driving some of us mad.” He tilted his head to look up at her, yellow eyes underneath his hood. “We thought, by now, certainly someone would question it, but no one has.”


“What do you mean?”


“Promise me.” He said, speaking firmly, “Promise me you’ll put an end to Sin.”


“Of course,” that was her purpose here, wasn’t it? That was why she was there. “But what do you mean, question it?”


She thought he smiled, but she couldn’t see underneath his hood. “I’m sorry. I cannot explain right now, but I will.” He offered out his hand, and she reached for it, only to feel the surge of his power, of his dream, rush through her. It was too much to take in all at once, and so she fell forward, head hitting the barrier protecting the statue, and blacked out.


In her head, she saw Bahamut’s dream, the only thing that kept him sane.


In her head, she saw a wall of bodies used as fayth, fall apart.

 

[Daxam]

Zac could see the doubt in Tristan's eyes as he related his and Anna's story and felt a surge of anger, knowing he was questioning Anna's worth as a guardian. However, before he could say anything, he feels his sister's hand on his arm and looks at her. Subtly, she shakes her head, having seen the doubt, as well, but deciding to prove herself instead of starting a fight. She then looks up at the entrance to the Chamber, silently waiting for Alex to return. Following his sister's gaze, knowing she was worried, he says, "Don't worry, Anna. I'm sure she's fine."

 

[Lucyfer]

Tristan nods at Zac’s sentiment, “It can take hours for a summoner to return. She’s hardly been there five minutes,” if that. “I should have brought a book.”


But he didn’t. At least now he understood their connection to Alexandria. She had helped them, well, her family had, anyway. It was a debt of sorts, and a longstanding friendship. Even so, he asks, “Why are you supporting her in this endeavor?” It had to be difficult, but Tristan wanted to see their resolve tested under that question, to get a sense of how reliable they would at least try to be, even if he doubted Anna.


Zac, at least, wasn’t in shock.

 

[Daxam]

"Why wouldn't I?" Zac asks, his eyes meeting Tristan's. "She's my friend. She helped Anna and me through a very tough time in our life. This is the least I could do." Looking down at his hands, he quietly chuckles and says, "She actually tried talking us out of it, but we made her take us along. Both Anna and I know what awaits at the end...that we'll lose her..." Meeting Tristan's eyes once more, he adds, "But she feels that this is her duty. As much as Anna and I don't like it, we're still willing to support her to the very end, no matter what."

 

[Lucyfer]

Zac’s answer, that Alexandria was his friend, was exactly the reason Tristan thought the man would stop her. He didn’t think that Zac could support the woman in this endeavor, considering all she and her family had done for them. It was rare to find people close to summoners, who could truly support what they were doing without holding them back. It was why people like Tristan existed. “I’m glad.”


He was sincere. He let his gaze leave Zac’s to return to the ground. “It isn’t easy. Even for me. I haven’t known her long, but I think it’d be the same with anyone…knowing that you’re leading them to their death…for the greater good or not, it isn’t a good feeling.”


Time passed in that room, and though Tristan had no way of keeping track, he was certain it was a couple of hours before the door to the Chamber of the Fayth moved. He’d heard that most summoners were disoriented upon leaving, but Alexandria held her head high, and walked without issue. Tristan rose, watching her, “Are you all right?”


“Yes,” Alexandria answered. The dream of the fayth was still in her head, but less intense now. “I have Bahamut,” that was the name it had given to her, though she had seen the name printed many different ways in the texts. It seemed almost as if the aeon gave the summoners different names each time. “We must let Bevelle know, and then set out for Besaid.”

 

[Daxam]

Anna nods while Zac walks over to Alex, grinning. Wrapping his arm around Alex's shoulders, he says happily, hiding how he really felt about this whole situation perfectly, and says, "Well, we better get going, then! I'm looking forward to those beautiful sands, the salty air, and the babes!" Anna quickly thrusts her elbow into Zac's side, making him groan. Smirking, she leads the way out of the Chamber.