Path of a Summoner

It was early afternoon when Mobius was finally spotted parting the mountain pass with a cruel-looking mount beneath him. 

No chocobo could make the journey through the mountains - they were no strangers to rocky terrain, but even the hardiest breeds more suited to cooler climates, could not withstand the cold for the entire passage. It was just a fraction of what made the trip over Gagazet so perilous. No, until he got closer over the long stretch of sea between them, Wren couldn’t even make out what was coming towards them.

She was certain he was riding on top of an Aeon, and as she and the others scrambled to prepare for a fight, she felt something inside her sink, heavy with dread.

There was barely enough time to convince scrappy little Chia not to try to fight her former employer, but she promised to confine herself to the ship in time before they could make out the proper shape of the Aeon.

From a distance, it was impossible to parse - an ooze that stretched across treacherous ice and rock with more ease than anything so fluid should be able to achieve.

When at last it was visible, Mobius, sitting comfortably on its back, rose to his feet, as if he were gliding. The parts that stretched out seemed to be some form of tentacle that it used to pull itself along. The part that Mobius stood on was actually an iridescent black shell. The shine of its shell and the sheen of its eyes and limbs made the great mollusk almost seem like it was glowing, reflecting the light from the sky and sea as he made his way across.

His crossing of the great expanse between the mountain and the camp beneath the citadel was so much quicker than anyone ever anticipated. Yet at the same time, Wren felt like she was holding her breath, anticipating an impact.

Finally, though it had taken time, he had arrived.

“Ymir, stop,” he ordered, and the creature below him groaned to a halt. His voice and that of the Aeon echoed through the area, trapped by a neat arrangement of debris surrounding them that reverbated all sound just a little too well. It felt like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

He was no more than eight meters away. Wren closed her eyes as if in prayer. Though all of them were poised to attack, none seemed willing to make the first move, hesitant with the presence of the Aeon.

“How is your summoning going, Wren?” he asked at last. He stooped to lower himself down from Ymir’s shell, stroking the side of the shell soothingly as he did. The Aeon’s eye stalks dipped like a nod of its head.

Wren didn’t feel she should answer, but her eyes narrowed when they fell on him.

She had no choice. They still hadn’t come up with a solution better than sending him to the Farplane. The brief discussions they'd’ had about what to do with him, she had been too afraid to suggest a deathless alternative because she knew it wasn’t realistic. The most she had done was express that she was afraid to take a life, but she knew she may not have to be the one to do so. All they had settled on was that Twill, the only one with any expertise, would be the one to send him.

“I see you’re in no mood to chat,” said Mobius, almost amused, but there was no joy in his teasing. “If you’re ready - I really must be getting to the temple.”

“Good luck - it’s completely sealed off,” said Tana. “There’s no way you’re getting inside even if you get past us.”

A bluff. Yue had rejected their offer to sleep aboard the Hyacinth, instead returning to the temple at night. The passage was open, thanks to their preference towards the place where they’d been found, but they were no fighter. Yue was inside, and with any luck, they would stay there. There was a very real chance of endangering them if the group couldn’t hold Mobius off.

“We’ll see,” Mobius assured them.

He extended his arm, pointing his crystalline trident at the group that stood huddled together in the huge entryway, almost backed against an invisible wall.

Ymir let out a sound that was somewhere between a gurgle and a shriek, a wet sound that sent chills through Wren’s body. All four of them parted in the middle as its tentacles reached for them.

It lurched at them, slimy tendrils making contact with Merris’ leg. It was only thanks to his own agility that he had a chance to move before it could do more than graze him. “Ugh!”

The effect of its touch was almost instant, however, and a shudder wracked his figure. Even as he moved away from it, suddenly his movements looked more sluggish, like he was exerting much more energy to the same effect.

“Merris!” shouted Tana, running towards him in a long sprint. 

There wasn’t enough space to run around in the protected area that was the camp. It had become a diamond shaped arena, with Ymir smack in the center of it. As Tana crossed from one side of the diamond to the other, she discarded her sword when a second swipe of tentacles came for them. She launched herself horizontally into the air to tackle Merris to the ground before Ymir reached him again.

“Keep it together,” she urged. “What’s going on?”

He sat up slowly, rubbing his shoulder from the impact. “I don’t know! I can’t get my feet to move fast enough. Don’t let it touch you.”

“Twill! He’s slowed,” called Tana.

Twill and Wren had run the opposite direction of the siblings, but Twill was closer to them than Wren.

“Go, I’ll use my magic,” said Wren, bracing herself with her staff readied.

Twill nodded, wary to leave her alone as she was the least agile of the bunch, but they couldn’t afford to have Merris, easily the quickest, working at half speed.

They gripped their spear tightly, and used it to vault themselves over a cluster of tentacles in the middle of the field to reach Merris.

Tana made a dash to retrieve her sword from near where their fire had been extinguished while Wren readied a spell.

Once the blade was in her hand, she charged. Her eyes were far from the Aeon, though she dodged its reach expertly. No, her target was the one who had created it.

Mobius seemed to welcome the challenge as he stood beside the also advancing snail. His trident hooked in her direction in a two handed stance, he directed Ymir to protect him.

The tentacles that rushed to impede Tana’s dash were cleaved in two by her sword, opening her path.

Wren studied the beast before her as Twill departed. The logic behind which magic was most effective was generally pretty straightforward. Casting thunder magic made it easier to hit flying targets - usually. It was also the most effective against sea creatures. It was on land, but it definitely could belong in the sea just as easily, if it were a normal creature. That was her safest choice.

Twill raised their hand as if cupping something in the air, then waved their staff over Merris’ form.

Instantly, the ailment that slowed his movements dissipated, and he was back on his feet.

As Wren gathered energy in her staff, her hair began to stand on end. Sparks licked at her fingertips, and were expelled in a blinding flash from the staff. The magic lightning struck the snail head-on.

It screamed again, each of its tentacles that were occupied with Tana recoiled from both attacks as Ymir retreated into its shell.

Tana grinned triumphantly as the beast seemed much worse off with that. She was nearly upon Mobius now, but the tentacles had cost her some time.

Mobius was still in that same stance with the trident ready to take Tana on. He advanced on Tana as his Aeon recovered in its shell. He jabbed with the hooked end of the trident, and Tana moved away from it easily by swiftly turning to the side.

She laughed. “No fancy magic? You can’t keep up with my sword.”

His lips curled in frustration as he used his staff to block a blow to his head. He forced the sword away from him, but his next attack was equally as futile. “I can’t cast magic at the same time as I have an Aeon summoned,” he said through gritted teeth.

Wren gave a noise of delight when the mollusk disappeared into its shell. It looked like she’d made the right call after all. She charged up a second attack, though its fleshy body was nowhere in sight.

Twill raised their head as the sound of electricity grew. The sound was coming from Wren, wasn’t it? Of course, they were closer to the Aeon than to her, on its left-hand side. As Wren released her spell, that dull humming grew louder when the impact splashed against the side of its shell.

Mobius too stopped attacking when Twill shouted. “Everyone, get back!”

Wren wasn’t close enough to Ymir, but Tana, standing right where Mobius had been, and Merris, making a run for the shell, were too close to run away from it in time. Mobius had already absconded, knowing what would come next as a flash of light blinded all of them.

Everyone’s voices carried their terror as a wave of lightning pulsed forth from Ymir’s shell, in direct retaliation to Wren’s attack. It was as if she’d cast the second attack directly against a mirror. It was only returning the favor.

Two voices turned from fear to agony as the shock coursed through the bodies of those unlucky enough to be closest to the Aeon.

When the light subsided, Tana and Merris had been brought to their knees, both still alive, but only barely.

Twill’s expression, once their vision cleared, turned into one of horror. They had fought plenty of fiends on their journey, and even though they knew an Aeon was in a league of its own, this was far worse than any of them truly expected. They only had to use their skills in white magic a handful of times between rests.

Tana, closer still to Mobius, needed Twill more urgently, but there was too much terrain for them to cross before Mobius would have a chance to get to her.

Ymir emerged once more from its shell, tentacles open as it gave another shrill cry. They wrapped around Tana’s waist, knocking the wind out of her as she was hoisted into the air. It pulled itself forward with its remaining limbs, as the ones holding Tana hurtled through the air. It deposited her beside her brother as the distance between it and the citadel’s entrance closed.

Twill could manage this distance, especially as Ymir seemed to have lost interest in the two that were seconds away from losing consciousness.

“He only cares about getting us out of his way,” realized Twill, though they felt somewhat relieved as they ran to Tana and Merris. At least they could tend to the injured.

They wished desperately that they had taught Wren any healing skills, but they hadn’t anticipated a need for it when they set out, and it never seemed to come up.

Twill looked around the ruined campground. Where was Wren?

There was no time to answer that question, because the door to the ship was thrown open.

Chia came out, standing on the ship’s gangplank, her crossbow trained on Mobius, who was now trailing behind Ymir as it crossed into the threshold of Zanarkand’s citadel.

“Get them onboard,” she shouted to Twill, jerking her head back in the direction of the ship. “I’m not letting that asshole get away.”

She punctuated that by letting loose a few shots from the bow, only one of which hit its target: the broad side of Ymir’s shell.

“Get back inside!” Twill hiss-whispered, even as they pulled Merris to his feet. “You can’t handle him alone!”

Ymir turned slightly when it felt the impact, but Mobius placed his hand on its shell, urging it on.

“You’re hardly faring very well out here yourself, my friend,” said Mobius, a cocky twinkle in his eyes. “Consider the ship a gift, mechanic. I won’t need it where I’m going.”

Chia snorted, an impolite phlegmy noise. “Not good enough. I want the money you owe me, and after what you’ve done, I’m not afraid to take it from you.”

Mobius didn’t spare her another look. “Take your injured and leave. My quarrel isn’t with you.”

Chia puffed up with anger at being dismissed, but Twill stopped her before she could get herself into more trouble.

“They need to be taken to Bevelle for help. They’re in stable enough condition to make the trip,” said Twill, transferring Merris from their shoulder to Chia’s. “As soon as we get them onboard, I’m going to find Wren.”

Chia inhaled sharply through her teeth, but nodded. She needed to get them to safety. “I’ll come back for you.”

Twill, making their way up the gangplank with Tana in their arms, shook their head. “Do not come back until they’re alright. I can’t leave until I find Wren, or we stop Mobius. We’ll see what happens.”

Chia scowled as she turned to get Merris seated on the ship, while Twill followed close behind her.

As soon as both siblings were secure, Twill fled the ship, making a break for the dome. Wren was nowhere to be seen, but neither was Mobius. He wasn’t far though, Twill realized as they heard the sound of Ymir dragging its shell across the road above them. The trek was too long, so Twill found the pile of collapsed rubble they used to get away from the dome’s entrance. 

With their spear, they flung themself over much of the debris. The landing was rough and precarious - they skidded back down some of the rocks by a few feet. Once they regained their balance, they cleared the rest of the distance on their own. They brought themself to their full height on the winding path’s upper level.

There was Mobius, standing in front of the dome, atop Ymir once again.

He just stood there, unmoving, in front of the dome, but from where Twill stood behind the two figures, they couldn’t see why he had stopped.

“She's holed herself up inside the temple,” said Mobius, after a moment had passed.

Twill’s arrival had not been quiet. He was addressing them directly now.

“She sealed herself inside?” they asked, with wide eyes.

In the distance, Twill heard the sound of the Hyacinth’s engines taking off.

Twill ignored the monster, pushing past it to get to the dome, which appeared to have been moved by some outside force into a position that was impossible to pass, unlike its half open placement before. They placed a large hand on the metal dome. How had she moved the dome?

“If you don’t move out of my way, I’ll move you myself,” said Mobius, sliding down from Ymir’s shell. 

Twill didn’t know what to do. If they fought back, Mobius would go through them anyway. If they complied, they would live to fight another day. And they may need that day.

They hung their head in surrender, clearing themself from the path. Was Wren really inside? She must have been, or else the path they'd all blown open would still be there. Twill felt hopeless. Defeated.

On Mobius' order, Ymir began winding its tentacles around the dome's lip, getting a firm grip on the only way in. With a groaning creak, the metal dome was raised into the air, more than enough room for Mobius and his monster.

On the other side of the entrance was Wren, apparently waiting for the storm to pass. Unfortunately, as he looked into her deer-wide eyes, he had brought it directly to her.

She ran.

There was so little left between him and the temple, and Wren wasn't a strong runner. She kicked off her sandals when she stumbled through the long hallway. Even with her best effort, Ymir was faster than her, and its slimy limbs coiled around her waist, restraining her completely.

"I still need you," said Mobius, smug. "We aren't finished here yet."

She cried out, but just as Merris was, she was overcome with fatigue. Her expression was one of terror and despair, but she stopped struggling.

Ymir crawled along swiftly, even while restraining her. Wren felt desperate, but there was little she could do, being dragged along and now under this strange affliction as well.

Oh, she was tired. To move took far more effort than she could muster on a good day. Tears pricked at her eyes from frustration.

"Wren!" called Twill, running behind the three of them. "Keep your eyes open!"

It did little to console her, but for Twill's sake, she tried.

A growing feeling nagged at her and her eyes flew open as something dawned on her. Where was Yue? She had known they were inside when she had used Amalthea to seal the entrance, but she’d hoped Mobius would get discouraged and simply leave. What a stupid thought.

They were moving towards the lift, whether Wren wished it or not. They Aeon could easily fit on the huge lift with both Mobius and Wren along as well. A brief moment of curiosity had Wren wondering in the back of her mind just what this lift had been used for. Lugging the Fayth stone down, perhaps?

They descended, lower and lower, but they reached the lift long before Twill could. It was too late for them to even dare to jump.

When they reached the bottom of the lift, Wren could feel Yue nearby. Mobius must have felt them too, because he stopped before exiting the lift to look at her with suspicion.

“Why haven’t you claimed the pyreflies yourself?” he asked, swaying towards her with one step.

Wren gazed back at him sluggishly. “I didn’t find any.”

He scowled, then turned his head in the direction of the door. “Even you must be able to feel their presence.”

She shook her head. “I feel it, but that isn’t the pyreflies. The kind we’ve been looking for aren’t here.”

He tilted his chin forward while he thought, then turned away. He motioned to Ymir. “I’ll have to see for myself.”

They crossed into the empty Fayth room, and he stopped to stare down at its ancient surface.

“This stone once housed the Fayth of Lord Zaon, Lady Yunalesca’s husband and the first figure in our history to replace the original Sin,” he said to Wren, though he was largely ignoring her otherwise. “It was tradition to come here and have Yunalesca herself create the Final Aeon. That is why summoners must forge strong bonds with their guardians. Lord Gandof, Lord Ohalland, Lady Yocun, before Lord Braska was the last high summoner to put his hopes in the teachings of Yevon and lay down his life.”

Wren’s head was swimming from how her blood was rushing to her face from how she was being held in place, but she just managed to understand his words. He seemed like he was talking too fast, and she felt ill. 

“What about the teachings? You never believed in them anyway,” she asserted, bitter frustration in her voice.

Mobius waved his hand, turning to look her in the eye.

“I believe in Spira,” he said, simply. “Between these visions we share and my time as Bevelle’s record keeper, if someone is to restore order to Spira, then I’m the only one qualified to do it.”

Wren gritted her teeth in a miserable grimace. “Murder isn’t ‘order.’”

He only shrugged. “It’s tradition, and a personal sacrifice hardly counts as murder. The summoners that came all this way come here to make that decision themselves.”

Her expression grew darker. “What about Amalthea?” she asked, knowing fully that it would upset him. 

He sucked in air through his teeth, almost in a hiss, but ignored the question for several moments. He was finished talking. 

Whether or not that meant he felt guilty, she didn’t know.

A moment later, Yue’s face appeared from the dark corridor that led into the illusion room they’d been found in. They peered into the Fayth chamber around the doorway, blinking brilliant eyes at the sight before them, before wandering into the room entirely.

Mobius turned. 

“Who is this?” asked Mobius, raising his eyebrows as he approached them.

“We found them when we opened the dome,” answered Wren, though her blood went cold watching him.

Yue seemed too stupefied to move, but they lifted their head to look at the approacher, their face flickered suddenly, showing the face of a woman that Wren had seen only in depictions in illustrations or temples.

“Yunalesca?” asked Mobius, stopping in his tracks just inches from them. “No… I’ve seen your true face before. Who are you?”

“My name is Yue,” they said pleasantly, smiling.

“I’ve seen you before,” said Mobius, frowning as he began to circle Yue. “Perhaps in a sphere brought to me for disposal…”

Ymir had moved in such a way that Wren could no longer see what was happening, but she was at least fully upright now. The relief was almost instant, her breathing a little easier again.

“The way your face is constantly changing… It reacts like a pool of pyreflies - Like a sphere. You’re a reflection,” said Mobius, his first circle completed.

Yue tilted their head. “Are you a summoner? I’ve never seen an Aeon like yours before…” 

Yue didn’t appear threatened by the man making close circles around them, but Mobius was becoming visibly irritated as he tried to solve what he had deemed a puzzle.  His brows drew together, making his ocean eyes appear darker.

“No matter who you are, I know what you are,” he said, ceasing his pacing. “I can feel something pulling at me, and it’s leading me straight to you. My best guess? The memories of everyone who has ever passed through these halls imprinted on the pyreflies I seek and created you. You don’t seem to know it yourself, so I suppose I’ll never know the truth.”

Ymir shifted again, waiting patiently, and Wren turned in time to see Mobius draw back his spear.

Yue seemed to welcome it, never flinching, but Wren couldn’t bear the sight.

“No!” she shouted, but she could scarcely move.

Nevertheless, the sound startled Mobius, as if he’d forgotten about her. He fumbled when she cried out, enough that he had to stop to recompose himself before he could attempt again. 

In that time, Wren hitched her breath and mustered all of her remaining strength to make one last attempt.

She had used Amalthea earlier to move the dome - she could call her again.

A blue light washed over the whole room as Mobius wound up again.

When the light dimmed and Wren was able to see again, Yue was gone. Amalthea’s Aeon stood in the center of the room, luminous swords brandished as she faced Mobius.

The giant shellfish coiled around Wren’s torso groaned and died away as Mobius dismissed it, lowering her to the ground in a crumpled heap like it was melting.

She felt something withdraw from her, like she was somehow lighter. Pyreflies began to swarm in the high-ceilinged room above them, raining down like stars as she stood up.

When she looked up, Amalthea had ceased moving, frozen in a perfect position to slice Mobius clean in two, if she was not motionless. 

She extended one hand to catch one of the falling pyreflies in her palm as she gaped, half expecting it to melt into her skin, but it only hovered there, to her surprise. Her eyes remained wide as the room became increasingly filled with the remnants of a power she barely understood. They poured out of Mobius as well.

That strange effect still had a hold on Wren, and she couldn’t muster the strength to stand, but she still looked around for Yue. They really were gone.

“What’s happening?” she asked, her raw voice cracking when she spoke.

“You’ve done little more than save me a lot of trouble,” said Mobius, walking around Amalthea to approach the young summoner. “Collecting those remnants for me, and then delivering them to me. Tell me, how many did you collect? I gathered them from five different locations myself.”

Wren felt something icy in her stomach as he got closer. She tried to back away from him, crawling backwards like a crab, but her muscles couldn’t take her very far. Her body still felt like rubber, and as hard as she tried, she was scarcely moving at all.

“I won’t hurt you,” said Mobius, in a voice that made her almost believe him. “Let me heal you. The mucus secreted by Ymir’s Aeon has a peculiar effect on anyone who touches it, but I can cure it.”

She wanted to tell him to stay back, but her condition was causing her so much strain, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse his aid. “What did you do to Yue?”

“The person you know as Yue never existed. I returned them to their original state,” he said calmly as he knelt down beside her. He gestured to the shimmering air around them. “They were nothing more than the last remnant I needed to collect. Pyreflies that fooled themselves into taking a human form after being impressed with the many memories left behind out of particularly intense emotions.”

Wren didn’t like his answer one bit, but there was no point in pressing him on it. He would never admit his actions were cruel, if he felt his logic were sound. “And Amalthea?”

His hand glowed as he readied an esuna spell to cure her. “I’ve begun the process of reconstructing Sin already. The pyreflies that were within you are mixing with mine, and the ones gifted to us by Yue. They will use her as the foundation for my Sin.”

Wren whimpered as the magic worked its course, a strangled sob as she looked at Amalthea’s frozen form. She reached out a hand to try to banish her, but found she had no control over the Aeon at all. “Why would you do this to her - you can’t!”

He shook his head, then stood up, moving away from her as the fog lifted. “When we were a summoner and guardian, it was already inevitable. I would die by her hand, and she would be taken as compensation, to become Sin and bring a new Calm for a short time.”

“You know she didn’t want that,” said Wren, getting to her feet behind him. “She showed me everything. She depended on you.”

“And now she’s after my head,” said Mobius, moving so that Amalthea’s extended sword was at his throat, too close for Wren’s comfort. “One day, my Sin will be defeated, and like Yu Yevon before me, I will create it anew. There will always be another to replace her.”

Just listening to him made her feel sad and hopeless. “Why would you do that to yourself? You could have had a normal life, without all this.”

He stepped away from Amalthea to retrieve his trident where it had fallen. The pyreflies were coming together around the Aeon, one by one flowing into her. Wren felt a strange tug at her, different from her sensitivity to the remnants.

“If she really showed you everything, then you know I never had a future to speak of,” he said, sighing. “The monks said it themselves. No one knew what to do with us because they expected us to be shipped off to die.”

“They were wrong,” whispered Wren, hoarsely. “Just because they mistreated you didn’t mean you couldn’t grow without them.”

He shook his head again, extending the one arm with his trident, while the other pulled his dark braid loose, freeing his ridiculously long hair. “It’s already too late, Wren. I made up my mind years ago, and now I’m nearly finished. This is what I want, and now I want you to spread the word. Send word to all the great temples, take my Fayth stones to each one and start training summoners again. Maybe it will even be you who defeats my Sin, if you’re feeling determined. The officers beneath me in Respira have been instructed on how to create an Aeon - the tradition of the Final Aeon won’t die with me.”

Wren was restored to normal, and could even run and take the lift back up to Twill and escape, but she couldn’t resign herself to the future Mobius was trapping her into. She put her face in her hands. That tugging feeling wouldn’t leave.

The light show was ending, and Mobius began swaying his trident in the air as the final pyreflies filled Amalthea’s Aeon. He almost appeared to be dancing, turning the trident as he twisted across the moss and stone, treading across the cracked and ancient Fayth stone.

Wren heard the lift moving behind her, and she turned to look. It began to ascend as it was called to the top, now that Ymir wasn’t weighing it down.

A new light began, exploding out of the ensnared Aeon. It brought Mobius to his knees where he collapsed, and blinded Wren once again when she turned to find its source. The tugging feeling doubled in intensity, and when Wren felt it would tear her in two, she found herself unable to remain conscious. Something was pulling her in, she felt like her body was a thousand miles away.

She couldn’t hold on any longer. 

In the blinding light, she slipped away, and for her alone, the rest of the world went dark.