Path of a Summoner

This time, when Wren visited that city once again, it was full of life. The people she had wondered about were now bustling in all directions, even though it was dark out. She could hear them chattering happily about their lives and the night they were having. It was all idle, but it made her feel at ease to see the previously empty city with its inhabitants accounted for.

She weaved through the crowd with no real idea of where she was going. Just like real life, the people in the dream seemed to be more or less gravitating towards the Blitzball stadium. Wren didn’t feel particularly compelled to sway with them, instead opting to find the other half of the nightlife. Where were people spending their nights for fun? Apart from Blitzball, a culture which she was all too familiar with already.

Wren found her way to a less crowded street than the one that seemed to cut the city in two, though it was still quite busy. There was one building she could see that seemed to have the largest number of people passing in and out of it from the street every so often, and she made her way towards it.

Inside, it appeared to be a regular bar, something that didn’t really surprise her after she thought about it. She wasn’t old enough to drink, but she took a seat at a table away from the bar by herself, the table empty because of the larger groups people seemed to be traveling in.

The walls were decorated with many draping fabrics of varying patterns, the colors ranging on the warm side. There was a small flower vase resting on the dark wood table, which seemed to be well used. At one point, it seemed to have some kind of varnish applied, but when could only see traces of it left, it was worn down from use. All in all, a very lived in look, but not decrepit looking at all.

What was she doing here…?

The last thing she remembered was being told that the Pyreflies she had picked up in Kilika Temple were still residing within her, and that Mobius, for whatever reason, needed them to revive Sin. She must have fallen asleep after her head started hurting.

Tana had also said that the presence of another soul could cause strange dreams, she recalled. It was like she was the receiver for the images played on a sphere. The sphere was a conduit, channeling information and consciousnesses--essentially capturing the souls of those who appeared in the recording. Now she was doing the same, playing the scene in her head, but this scene seemed to be alive, much like the recordings of Blitzball games in Luca.

If this really was a dream, though… Wren closed her eyes for a moment, spreading her hands apart from each other, as if holding something between them. After a moment of concentrating, something popped into existence in the empty space, cold and slightly damp. A glass of water. She wasn’t very good at that sort of trick, willing things to happen in her dreams, but these dreams seemed to be a special case.

She focused on the plant this time, attempting to make it disappear, just as a test, but nothing happened. The thought came into her head that she could probably really only change things that affected herself here, if this was someone else’s dream. It was more control than she had over her current situation, though. She was unable to do much about things in the real world, where she was trapped in the Farplane.

“The Farplane?” asked a voice, softly, just in her ear.

Wren turned her head to see who had spoken, but there was no one there.

She set the glass down on the table, leaning back in her seat suspiciously, still looking around the room with her eyes.

“I don’t have a physical form right now,” the voice said. “I don’t mean to frighten you, but you won’t find me by looking.”

Wren frowned at that. “Are you reading my mind?”

“A little bit. Sorry. I can only do it in this space, though. This is your dream, after all.”

“Who are you?” asked Wren.

“A wandering spirit, these days,” the voice said wryly. Wren decided the voice was a woman’s. “I don’t mean you any harm, in case you were wondering.”

“I’m still a little suspicious,” she admitted. “Not that you’re dangerous, just of this whole thing.”

“That is understandable,” the voice said, this time giving a laugh. “I probably wouldn’t like it very much if a spirit without any visible form started reading my mind, when I was alive, either.”

So she was dead? Wren guessed that’s technically what it meant to be a spirit, anyway, but… That was… creepy.

“It happens to us all eventually.  But I can’t say I’m really at peace with it yet, either,” said the voice. “But… you mentioned the Farplane. You’re trapped?”

“In the real world, yes…” said Wren, frowning. “We’re in the lowest part of the valley. At least, from what we can see… It’s so big. A person could get lost there forever. It’s kind of scary, when you think about it. But there might be an exit none of us have found yet that we can reach.”

“I wouldn’t rule this world out as a fake, but I understand what you mean,” it answered. “Can you show me where you are?”

“Show you?” asked Wren. “I… don’t know. Sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”

“Try to shut out the rest of the dream for a few moments,” it said, guiding her. “Try to imagine the place, and recreate it as best as you can. It…  doesn’t have to be exact, of course, but try.”

Hesitantly, Wren decided to trust the spirit’s advice, having no real reason not to. As she shut out the surrounding noise, the room around her started to go dark, as if fading out of existence, but she could still feel the worn finish of the table in front of her, still sitting at the chair in that bar.

“This is weird.”

“That’s alright. You’ve got it. Just keep focusing on the Farplane,” it said. “Pyreflies are malleable reflections of consciousness and memories, you should have an easier time here. They’re a little like a recording on a sphere. The reason you can beckon a lost soul to you in the Farplane, they react to your conscious thoughts. It’s a lot like a dream, wouldn’t you say?”

“Hold on, let me concentrate.”

Slowly, the valley came into focus, some twenty or so feet above where she was in reality. She and the whole table appeared to be floating in the sky. Looking down, she could see where she had fallen asleep, and the other three were sitting around Tana’s makeshift shelter. They were speaking, but even if Wren could hear them from here, she had a feeling it would be nothing but nonsense, if this was a dream. Seeing herself lying in the grass while she slept… was pretty weird.

“I only have this kind of power in the Farplane, so don’t expect me to grant any wishes,” said the voice. “But I’m going to open a door for you and your friends to leave.”

“So we can go back to Djose Temple?” asked Wren, out loud now.

“If that’s where you want to go back to.”

“How?”

“The Farplane is also shaped by the wills of those around it, but only unconsciously. Sometimes, people like me… choose to leave. If our will is strong enough,” it said. “I’m a little different from most spirits, and I can’t call myself Unsent, either, but I am not living. I have a little more power here than most.”

“Sorry, this is a little bit over my head,” said Wren, still looking around. “I’m listening, though. I understand that you’re trying to help me, so I guess how doesn’t matter, but I don’t understand why.”

“As I said, I’m not Unsent, but I have an interest in the world of the living. I consider myself similar, but that’s not what I am. My point is, I want you and your friends to be allowed to leave, and I have the ability to help, so I am.”

“That’s…  a little confusing,” said Wren, sinking slightly into the chair.

“We’ll have a chance to talk some other time. I’m going to open the door now. So be sure to be ready to leave, when you wake up.”

“Right now? Okay. Thank you…”

She was aware of a shining light appearing in the scene before her as she felt a hand on her shoulder in the real world.

Her consciousness faded back to her real body, and when she looked up, she was staring into Twill’s face, uncovered by their usually layers of scarves.

“A portal out of here just appeared,” they said, shaking her slightly. “I don’t know where it will take us, but we can leave.”

She sat up, disoriented. She looked up at the sky for a moment, shaking her head slowly. “It’s… open?”

“Yes. Get up before it closes,” they said, standing up again.

She felt like she was still dreaming, as she moved, but she grabbed her bedroll and her bag and stood up. She was moving a little slower than she would have liked, but at least she was getting her senses back.

Tana and Merris were frantically packing their things. Tana hadn’t had much on her when she had fallen, but Merris had apparently gotten comfortable in the time Wren had been asleep.

Wren looked in the direction Twill was facing, seeing a shining arch in front of them. It was impossible to see where it would lead, but Wren knew without a doubt that this would at least take them back to Spira.

“You’re the expert, right?” asked Tana. “Where’s that thing going to take us if we go through it?”

“Djose,” said Wren, without thinking.

“What… uh… makes you say that?” asked Twill, turning around.

Merris finally finished packing, tying his bag shut quickly as he followed them.

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. She recalled the dream’s events, mostly, but she still couldn’t know for sure if she was right until they walked through it. She still couldn’t be completely sure she could trust the spirit.

She was the first one to step forward, reaching a hand through the portal. “Nevermind. We need to move, if we want to get out of here.”

Twill murmured in agreement, following her. The other two rallied behind them as well, stepping across the threshold one behind the other.

---

They were standing outside the temple.

“Huh…” grunted Wren, looking up at the floating boulders far above them.

“How did you know it would take us here?” asked Twill, looking at her.

“I, uh… I had a weird dream?” she offered. “There was someone talking to me, who said they were a spirit, and… they said they’d open a door. I mentioned Djose because it was the first thing that came to mind, but if I’d known it would really work, I might have said something more useful…”

“This happened because of a dream?” asked Twill, blinking.

“Because of the Pyreflies…” said Tana. “Mobius has been having these dreams for a while, from what I can tell. What else can a dream do?”

“It wasn’t the dream, it was because of the spirit, who spoke to me in the dream,” said Wren. “And… she said she could only do it because we were inside the Farplane. I don’t think she has that much power outside of it.”

“So we shouldn’t worry about Mobius teleporting wherever he feels like it,” said Tana, snorting. “Anyway, we should get going. I have a feeling I’m probably not supposed to be here.”

“Do you want us to get anything from your house?” asked Merris. “You’ll probably need some supplies if you’re going to have to travel with us.”

“No time,” she said, shaking her head. “If anyone sees me here, word will spread. For right now, I don’t want Mobius to know where I am. I sure don’t want to start anything here. I’ve got a little money on me, I can buy supplies at the next stop. Until then, I've got my sword, and... way more woven grass bracelets than I need.”

“The next real stop won’t be until we reach Guadosalam,” said Twill, securing their scarves over their head once again.

Tana started walking anyway. “Sure, and we can travel by chocobo to the Moonflow. Is there a problem?”

The rest of the group followed, heading down the trail away from town. “Well… I’m not exactly sure I’m welcome there anymore, but I only meant that it will be a while before we can get some real supplies. We still have to cross the river, and then it’s still a bit of a walk from there.”

“I’ve made the trip before, don’t worry about me,” said Tana. “What do you mean you’re not welcome, though? Are you in trouble.”

Twill briefly explained their history in the Guard, and their sudden, unsanctioned departure from Guadosalam.

“Yeah, I can see how that might be a problem,” said Tana, frowning. “If you’re still going anyway, all we can do is find out for ourselves, but the Guado have been through a lot since then. I bet things will be different from what you expect.”

“Well, I hope so,” said Twill. “If I really believed I was going to be in trouble when I arrived, without any doubt, I wouldn’t go. I’ve heard some talk about what’s been happening, so I’ve been hoping that I would be allowed to pass, with the confusion going around until relatively recently.”

“We’ll be alright,” said Tana, nodding enthusiastically. “I’ll put in a good word for you. I'm in pretty good with their leader, since Guadosalam trades with us.”

As the others chatted, something else bothered Wren. She hadn’t gotten a straight answer from the spirit who freed them about her identity. She had no idea who or what the spirit was, only that they had been alive at one point and weren’t Unsent.

And, she realized, she’d forgotten to ask if it had anything to do with the dream that kept playing in her head. In her heart, she felt she could guess the name of that city on the sea, but she almost didn’t want to think it. Exciting, but a little frightening. It was too strange, and in the confusion as the spirit tried to explain itself, she’d lost her head for a minute.

When she next had a chance, she would remember to try to get some real answers out of her, if she could. If she reappeared, that is.