Path of a Summoner

“Why are we going away from Djose?” asked Merris, keeping his eyes on the path in front of his chocobo. “If our goal is to stop Mobius, we should be going back into town.”

“Even if we stop Mobius here, without proof we’re gonna make a lot of people upset, and we’d be in a lot of trouble,” said Tana, who was squarely in front of the group.

“I don’t like the word ‘stop,’” said Wren. “But I don’t think we can take him on right now anyway. He’s got a lot of aeons, I don’t know if we’re strong enough…”

“It's too dangerous to take that gamble right now either way,” said Tana.

“Yeah. And if we go after these pyreflies, we can cut him off. Stop anyone else from ever trying this again in the future,” said Wren, murmuring mostly to herself.

As they were nearing the end of the ravine path, she huffed softly, a twisted expression on her face. “This all sounds crazy. I only came all this way to record as much of Spira’s history as I could find, I didn’t think I’d get caught up in all this…”

“A sane person would probably quit your company once they heard mention of Sin,” said Twill. “But I feel a sense of duty. I couldn’t leave you to handle this without any help, knowing what we might be up against.”

“I might have left after we found Tana, but she’s got her own ideas,” said Merris, laughing. “So it looks like you’re stuck with me. I want to get back at Mobius, too.”

Tana hummed in agreement. “You’d be wrong if you thought I was going to let him get away with what he did to me. Not that preventing a crisis isn’t enough motivation, though.”

By the time they were making their way down the trail to the Moonflow, the sun was already starting to fall in the sky. It was still light out, but the sky was turning a familiar rose color already.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it across the Moonflow today,” said Twill. “They stop running the Shoopuf crossing after dark.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Tana. “But even if we don’t make it, we have a head start against Mobius. Pretty sure he’ll be in a hurry to leave, if he figures out what we’re doing. And if he makes it to Bevelle before us…”

“What’s in Bevelle?” asked Wren.

“Apart from a mountain of secrets? He’s got an airship that he keeps there,” said Tana. “The geography around Djose is too rocky, so he keeps it in Bevelle, where it was manufactured. But to be honest, I think it was just an indulgence. He’s got too much money to blow. But if he finds out we plan to cut him off, he’ll definitely be in a hurry to find the rest of the rogue pyreflies.”

“We won’t be able to keep up with him if he gets to the airship first,” said Wren, nodding her head. “So… we’ll have to do something about that too?”

“I’ve got something in mind,” said Tana, grinning. “But for now, we’d better keep up our current pace, if we wanna beat him.”

As the banks of the Moonflow finally came into view, they came upon a sight Wren had only seen once before. As the sun dimmed in the sky, more pyreflies became visible, gathering, naturally attracted to bodies of water. The river itself was no longer visible, the only proof of its existence the sound of gently lapping water slapping against the reeds and the rocks of the banks. Instead, the river was a stream of the souls of the dead, brightly illuminated by their celestial shimmer.

“I never get used to the Moonflow at night,” said Twill. “In part because of the inconvenience of stopping here at night, but of all the places I could possibly be stuck until morning, this isn’t so bad."

“We’re not stuck yet ,” huffed Tana, dismounting her chocobo. “Let me talk to the ferryman.”

She passed her reins to Merris as he dismounted, leaving him standing between two birds eager to return to a comfortable stable. At once, they started attempting to wander off, forcing him to guide them along before he had really processed the task he had been given.

Twill and Wren watched Tana as she spoke to the hypello, who waved his hands in protest as he spoke. The conversation was just barely inaudible over the ambient sounds of the riverbank around them. Leaving Tana to handle her negotiations, they followed behind Merris, laughing softly at his plight as he led both birds to an empty stall in the station.

When their chocobos were safe inside the stable, waiting for the next set of travelers in need of a mount, they rejoined Tana, who seemed to be reaching an agreement. She turned to the rest of the group.

“He’ll take us across, but it’s going to cost double the usual fee,” said Tana. “I’d take it, if I were you-- if we got here any later, he would have been long gone. We’re lucky he just got back to this side of the river.”

“That’s a little steep…” mumbled Wren, thinking.

The ferryman huffed, muttering something incomprehensible.

“Hey, he’s doing this as a special favor to me as it is,” said Tana, shaking her head. “I’ve got some money on me, I can cover anyone who needs it. Are we good to go, or not?”

“We don’t have much choice,” said Twill, nodding. They began fiddling around in their bag for their money. “We have to get ahead while we still can.”

“I can pay for myself,” said Wren, glancing apologetically at the ferryman as she reached for her bag.

They exchanged a small coin purse worth of gil for their passage, and the ferryman was surprisingly accommodating, for someone eager to return home for the night. One by one, the lift was operated, allowing each of them onto the shoopuf’s carriage on its back. It was a tedious process, as they balanced their seating in the carriage, slowly maneuvering around each other and their bags, but they were soon on their way.

“The shoopuf must be tired too,” said Wren, glancing out the side of the carriage to see the back of the creature’s head. “I think this is the same one from when I was little. I feel a little bad for it for making it run so late.”

“I guess you can’t really explain the needs of the greater good to a shoopuf,” said Merris, folding his arms while he thought about it. “But at least it’ll get to turn in for the night once we’re gone.”

“We’re running a little low on gil, after that,” said Twill, frowning just a little. “I’m more concerned about how we have to proceed, of course, but we might have to take on hunting jobs on our way through Guadosalam…”

“We don’t have time for that,” said Tana, shaking her head. “But I know where we can stay for the night. There’s a new business where the inn used to be. They’ll let you stay the night for free if you help out. We’ll lose a little bit of time there, but all we have to do is help with breakfast.”

“It must be new,” said Twill, yawning. “I’ve never heard of such a place.”

“It’s a fairly recent venture,” she confirmed. “There’s been a shuffling around of establishments, since the town was overrun a few years ago.”

“Oh yes, I did hear that,” they said, making a face behind their scarves. “Sphere hunters, weren’t they?”

“Yep, after that big craze between the factions scrambling for movie spheres,” said Tana, nodding. “The town was basically abandoned, so they moved in. Now that all that’s over, there’s finally some order again. They even reopened the Farplane entrance there.”

“So the Guado have it back under control,” hummed Twill. “Which means the guard has been reestablished…”

“Oh, yeah, I think so?” she said. “The sphere hunters backed down without much fuss once the Guado came back. I think it was because they were the only ones who could restore the Farplane entrance to the way it used to be, but the fact that the Guado actually had a claim to their homes might have had something to do with it too.”

Twill shook their head slightly, rolling their eyes. “I can imagine. But that isn’t what bothers me.”

“You were in the guard before, right?” asked Wren.

“Yes… I can’t really complain too much about my time spent there, but…”

“Seymour?”

“Uh, no, apart from that,” said Twill, frowning deeply. “I had another reason for wanting to leave before that, that was just the point where I knew I didn’t have a choice anymore.”

“C’mon, you can tell us,” nudged Merris gently.

“Well, it was just my mother,” they said after a moment, tugging at one of their long sleeves. “She’s… a fine parent. But it feels like she forgets there’s a line between her duties and her home life. Um, she was a high ranking member of the guard.”

“Is that why you joined?” asked Wren, leaning forward to wrest her elbows on her knees.

“A little. There was a lot of pressure on me when I was little to join the guard when I got older. So of course I did, but I was happy to do it,” said Twill. “Things changed after that. My mother started to see me more as a young recruit with a legacy to live up to, rather than her child.”

“Somehow the pressure to succeed and climb the ranks got heavier. I should have left sooner, but… I think I was waiting for an excuse.” They swallowed, then gave a small short as they shook their head again. “Well, not that Seymour’s arrival wasn’t a good enough reason. If I hadn’t been considering leaving before, I certainly was then, but I waited until things got worse before I made up my mind.”

“It’s good you got out when you did,” said Tana, nodding her head. “I can’t imagine what goes through the heads of people like him, or any other person in power who abuses their position. Neither of us were at Home when it was attacked, but every Al Bhed in Spira got the message.”

“That the attack even happened is unforgivable,” said Twill, looking to her. “Although… I heard that after the initial attack, the one who ordered the Al Bhed Home to be destroyed was Cid himself. I have never understood this. Is that true?”

Tana muttered under her breath, shaking her head. “Yes, it was. They took as many people as they possibly could on that airship they brought back, but the risk was way too high. The whole thing is a travesty. I don’t know what he was thinking either. I hope I’m never that kind of leader to Djose. I won’t put people’s lives at stake for anything.”

“You’re already better off than either of them,” said Twill. “Lives shouldn’t have to be lost in order to save them. You have the resolve, and you’ve got the people’s best interest in mind. You personally helped my people too. I think that says a lot about what kind of leader you are.”

“I sure hope so,” said Tana. “I never want this town getting tangled up in anything like Yevon politics. But it looks like it’s already too late for that.”

“That’s why we’re going to stop Mobius,” said Merris, speaking up. “We’ll take your town back. I don’t care what his money is worth.”

“The town is well enough off to support itself now,” she said, grinning. “It might be a little harder at first, since we’re still expanding, but we’ve got everything we need to stand on our own. Besides, I’m in good enough with old man Tromell to discuss our options when the time comes.”

“Tromell?” asked Twill, blinking. “The… the royal steward?”

“Oh yeah, obviously there was no one to take over after Seymour disappeared,” she said. “I guess he was the natural choice after that. I don’t really know, I only started getting involved after Guadosalam started getting back on its feet.”

“Tromell…” mumbled Twill, shaking their head. “You’re right, I guess there probably wasn’t anyone else.”

The discussion was making Wren’s head spin a little as she tried to organize the facts in her head, but she was listening intently. Somewhere along the line, she had started taking notes, using what little light was left to quickly scrawl them down.

The ride was coming to an end, the shoopuf settling into the opposite riverbank for the last trip of the day. Wren our her book away, looking out over the Moonflow. She took out her sphere camera, starting to record what she could, though she suspected the picture would be a little fuzzy.

“Going ashores?” called the ferryman. The platform to disboard the carriage was already raised for them to exit. In fact, her friends were already moving onto said platform.

Wren shuffled her bag around her camera carefully, moving beside them while still filming.

“Guadosalam isn’t far from here,” said Tana. “The walk isn’t very long, but it gets dark inside the woods.”

“I can light the way,” said Wren, putting her camera away. “But if we run into any fiends…”

Tana patted the hilt of her sword on her hip. “We’ll protect you, little bird. Just keep the path lit for us.”