Path of a Summoner

“I want to apologize again,” said Fennel, Twill’s mother. “I received word that someone had spotted you here, working in the kitchen, and that they had restrained you where you stood, completely without warning. I gave the order for them to release you, but the damage was done. I had no intention of us meeting again like this. I am deeply sorry.”

“Well, I am a known deserter,” said Twill bitterly, sitting on the cushion across from her. “I guess that means you weren’t the one who gave the order to restrain me.”

The room they were all seated in was a nice little meeting place, with a low table in the center. The five of them sat around it in a circle, but it looked like it could seat twice that. It was mostly used as the Guard’s break room, but it cleared out for special occasions, as it was originally meant for diplomatic discussions. Such talks were more uncommon as the Guado had considerably loosened its grip on Spiran politics, between the establishment of the Council,  and Yevon becoming less popular. Fennel considered this to be a special occasion.

“No, I wasn’t. We are no longer seeking deserters of the previous era,” she said, shaking her head. “There is no room for leftover ideals from Seymour’s brief regime. You and any others have been cleared of the accusation some time ago. I will find whoever did give the order.”

Twill pinched their forehead with one hand, frowning. “I know you will, but I doubt you can make up for what just happened just with a stern talking-to. I don’t need whoever was responsible to be punished, I just need to know it won’t happen again.”

“Of course.”

“So what have you called us here for? After they stopped treating me like a criminal for escaping the rule of a man unfit to lead, they brought me here,” said Twill.

“I’m sorry for that too,” said Fennel, sighing. “There are a few who still believe in Seymour’s ways, even after our exile from Guadosalam. I’ll take care of it.”

“First, please introduce me to your friends,” she said, looking between the faces of the group. “I recognize Tana, but I don’t believe I’ve met these two.”

“This is Wren, a sphere recorder from Luca, and Merris,” they answered, gesturing to each of them. “I’ve been journeying with them for a short while now, but it’s very important that we leave here as quickly as possible, Mother. I don’t have time to catch up.”

“I have to say that I’m a little hurt,” said Fennel. “I know that our relationship has been strained for a number of years, but I’m quite surprised you would come back here without seeing me for even a moment.”

“It’s… very complicated,” said Twill. “But you can’t say that you expect me to be very happy after being kidnapped, anyway, we aren’t sure of the details, but I really don’t want to involve anyone else. Not even you.”

Fennel glanced at the others again, as if looking for an answer, but they seemed uncertain they should answer, between her and Twill.

Tana spoke up. “Mobius is up to something. I shouldn’t say anything that will endanger anyone here, but we’re on our way to Bevelle, and it’s very important that we get there before he does. If he reaches Bevelle first, we might all be in a lot of trouble.”

“Mobius?” asked Fennel. “I’ve never met the man myself, but I have heard of him and his group. Guadosalam has been… distrustful, of the old ways, since the start of the Eternal Calm, so it doesn’t really surprise me to hear that a group affiliated with Yevon could be causing trouble.”

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I have the highest authority under Lord Tromell. If there is something to be investigated, I can see that it’s done,” she said, her voice lowering.

“I didn’t know that,” said Twill, cutting their eyes to the side, staring at the wall past Fennel. “But I can’t stress how dangerous this situation might be. Right now, we need to act as covertly as possible. Please don’t get involved.”

Fennel pursed her lips into a line, but sighed. “I shouldn’t look the other way, if it’s truly that important.”

“Would it help to consider this a chance to make up for forgetting how to behave like family once I became eligible to enroll in the guard?” they asked. “I need you to forget your duties for just a moment. If you act on your own, you might endanger my friends and me, and that might endanger you and everyone here.”

“Twill…” she sighed. “I’m sorry I put so much responsibility on you, but you must know what this sounds like to me. I haven’t seen you in years--you tell me that everyone here could be in great danger, but I’m supposed to ignore it? And you aren’t even sure of the situation you’re in?”

Wren opened her mouth to interject. “Um… I don’t really know about your history, so I don’t want to get involved and step out of line, or anything, but… Ma’am? It really is important that we leave. The reason we stayed for breakfast is because we couldn’t afford the night here, and had to pay it off somehow. If we are being followed, we could lose a lot of time here. It’s really risky, but we need things to stay quiet, so we can get to Bevelle before Mobius even realizes what we’re up to.”

“I know there must be no way to guarantee your safety, but couldn’t I at least convince any of you to tell me what it is you’re up against?” said Fennel, looking at Wren.

“It’s… hard to say,” said Wren. Neither she nor Merris seemed to want to step on Twill’s toes by telling Fennel more than they should.

Twill glanced away for a moment again, then sighed. “We don’t know exactly, yet. But we’ve found out that Mobius is planning to somehow undo the Eternal Calm and revive Sin.”

The look on Fennel’s face went from shock to horror. She glanced over her shoulder the closed door, as if she was glad that she had dismissed the guards only minutes earlier.

“Please tell me why I shouldn’t get involved in this,” she said, suddenly quiet again. “If someone stops him before he makes his attempt, then there will be nothing to worry about.”

“You can’t,” said Wren, shaking her head. “Even if you imprisoned him, he’s been creating his own Fayth. I saw the Fayth stones under his home myself, there were about seven of them. It would be too dangerous…”

Fennel’s mouth hung open for a moment while she thought. “How will you handle it, then? What will you do that my guard cannot?”

“We will cut him off. If he wants to revive Sin, he needs to collect a number of unusual Pyreflies, which he has absorbed into himself. We don’t know exactly why this is, but Wren and I both have one of them within us already. We can collect them before he gets to them, and then he won’t be able to finish what he started,” said Tana.

“We think,” echoed Wren, though she was doubtful about the nature of Tana’s pyreflies. “I don’t know much about it myself… We’re trying to piece all of this together.”

“I… suppose I will keep this to myself, then,” said Fennel, frowning deeply. Her lips were pursed into a tight line. “I wish that I could try to stop him when he arrives here, but if it will endanger you, then my best attempt isn’t enough.”

“Thank you,” said Twill, bowing their head in relief. Their shoulders relaxed considerably, as if they had only realized just how tense their posture had been.

“This is a heavy secret to keep,” she said, rubbing her neck with one hand tenderly. “Perhaps if I had raised you differently…”

“Now isn’t the time, Mother,” they said, folding their hands together. “We could talk about this after things calm down, but right now we really have to go.”

Twill got to their feet, stretching their shoulders for a moment. They still seemed troubled on some level, but also somehow relieved that this discussion was overwith.

“If you let us go now, do we still have to finish our kitchen duty before we can leave?” asked Merris.

“It was clearing out when we left, and I sure don’t want to lose anymore time,” said Twill in agreement, shrugging.

“I don’t know how happy that woman will be about it,” said Fennel, shaking her head. “But honestly, I doubt she will try to stop you from leaving. The worst she could do is blacklist you from the inn until you pay your fee. I’ll take care of the fee myself, of course.”

“Thank you,” said Twill, sighing.

“It’s really the least I can do,” she said, getting to her feet.

When she stood, the others rose to their feet as well, looking a little uncertain.

“Please notify me at once if you need anything. I will offer whatever aid I can,” said Fennel.

“Will do,” said Merris, stretching. “I’m not sure if we’re going to need help, but we barely know what we’re getting into. It’s not a very short trip through the Thunder Plains, either. You don’t think you could slow Mobius down if he comes after us, do you?”

“He could always travel by boat,” said Fennel, frowning. “Though the trip wouldn’t be much shorter… If he does come this way, I doubt I will be able to do anything without arousing his suspicion. I’ve never seen the man myself, as I said before. It would be more suspicious if I did interfere with him.”

“If Mobius does come this way, please act like nothing is different,” said Tana, firmly. “Don’t tell anyone else to even be on the lookout for him. It’s too dangerous to try to stop him.”

“We’ll let you know if anything changes.” Twill nodded as well. “We should be going.”

Fennel stepped aside, pushing the door open to let them out. She led them once again, past the gathering hall and to the main entryway of the mansion. Wren took a moment to gaze at the many paintings that decorated the stairways on either side of the curving room. Each one appeared to be the leader of the Guado, from the time the painting was placed on the wall. It felt weird, having all of those eyes on her, and some of the later ones had particularly unsettling eyes. Somehow this room managed to stay intact, even after it was taken over and the Guado had abandoned it, it appeared.

“Please be safe,” said Fennel, as the doors were opened before them. “The Thunder Plains have been under control lately, but that’s not to say it’s completely safe. And there is the nature of your journey…”

Twill nodded. “I think we’ll be alright. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Will you come home after this, just for a visit?” asked Fennel. “We can discuss things then. What you’re doing is far more important, I agree… but afterwards, I would like to see you again on better terms.”

“Probably,” they said, starting to pass the threshold of the door. “But for now we really have to go. I’ll… see you then, I guess.”

The group collected their things from the inn, then made their way to the edge of the town.

“Oh, I think I left my scarves in the kitchen,” said Twill, turning around to look in the direction they had come from.

“Do you want to go back?” asked Merris. “I can run back and get them for you myself, if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. I guess I don’t really need them, since I know I’m not in any trouble,” they said, frowning. “I just want to leave here as quickly as possible.”

“That’s fair,” said Tana, patting them on the shoulder as she passed. “Maybe someone will hold onto them for you. At least now you’ll be able to move a lot more freely without them.”

Twill laughed as they walked. “It’s been some time since I’ve used my spear as a spear. I might be a little rusty with it, but I’m confident that it’s better than my black mage skills. I doubt I’ll be abandoning my magic completely, though.”

“That’s a lot of people to worry about hitting,” murmured Wren, blinking for a moment. “I only know one type of offensive spell, too.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten,” said Twill. “I can teach you water magic, if you’d like. We’ll probably need it, in the Thunder Plains.”

Indeed, as they were walking through the increasingly thinning woods, Wren could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance. “I’ll need more than just water if we run into Mobius…”

“I have a basic knowledge of the different elements, so I can teach you those as well, but let’s just focus on what we need for now,” they said.

“And,” they added, gesturing to Merris and Tana. “If you’re so worried about the rest of us, maybe we should teach these two how to use magic too. With more range, you won’t have to worry about hitting anyone.”

“I can use a little?” offered Merris, shrugging. “But I mostly use it to make myself a little more resilient during a fight. I bet you might have noticed I almost never take a hit from bigger, slower fiends. I don’t think I can do anything like shooting lightning out of my hands, though.”

“No way,” said Tana, shaking her head. “I know how to wound a fiend badly enough to make it easy for others to take out, but I’ve never been any good when it comes to magic. I don’t need it.”

“You can’t use any magic?” asked Wren, blinking.

Tana shrugged. “Well, you know. All I’ve ever needed is my sword. I’ve never spent a lot of time around any mages, so it’s not like anyone could show me. Besides, I can use special gems set in my sword to deal extra elemental damage to special fiends.”

“Wait, really?” asked Merris, leaning over to look at the hilt of her sword tucked into its sheath. “I thought those were for decoration. I would have asked for special gauntlets or something a long time ago if I’d known I could be hitting harder with fancy crystals.”

“Nah, the gems are pretty hard to get, except from certain fiends,” said Tana. “They’re some kind of natural magic. I’ve only got a few of them myself, I couldn’t make anything for you without them.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find more,” said Merris, pretending to be offended. “Then you can make up for it.”

“Sure, if we can spare the time. Once we get to Bevelle we won’t be in nearly as much of a hurry,” said Tana, snorting. “The trick is to get the gems before the fiend fades away.”

“How do you do that?” asked Merris, blinking.

“With practice,” she said, shoving him. “I know what I’m doing.”

While they teased each other, Wren found herself thinking about other things. She was happy for Twill, but at the same time she was worried about what they had imparted to Fennel as well. As long as Fennel kept her word, there shouldn’t be any trouble, but that wasn’t quite what worried her either. Ever since Djose, those dreams had been weirder, and she didn’t know what connected them to the current situation with Mobius. Tana said she never had dreams like that, but Mobius did. It wasn’t a coincidence, she knew that, but she had no idea what it meant for her.

What were they going to do about him, anyway? Gather the pyreflies, but then what? Was that enough to stop Mobius? She would have to talk it over with the others once they knew more. Their first order of business seemed to be to take care of the airship.