Path of a Summoner

When the elevator descending into the Cloister stopped, the two were standing in the first chamber of the Trial. It was a small, stone room, lined with some sort of sphere based mechanism next to the door leading deeper into the Cloister, but the mechanism didn’t appear to be active. Everything was lifeless, and there were no spheres in sight, despite the mechanisms in place. The details of what lay inside the cloisters of the temples were meant only for summoners and their guardians, but Wren guessed that there was currently no trial in place at all, now that it had been abandoned.

Wren looked up at Mobius, who gestured to her politely.

“You don’t have to worry about taking care of me,” he said. “But I thought you might appreciate a closer look into this world.”

“Oh, wow, alright,” she laughed quietly. “I can defend myself well enough, but I’m really a beginner when it comes to magic, so I’m kind of relieved.”

“Don’t worry, I guessed as much.” He placed a hand against the moldings on the wall, tracing a few inches of the design embossed into the wall’s surface. “So, you’ve come to Kilika to do research? Are you a historian?”

“Not by profession,” admitted Wren, watching him curiously. “It’s more than a hobby to me, but I’m just a recorder from Luca stadium. I’m not a scholar or anything. And I’m not working with Yevon, either.”

“Interesting.” He turned his attention to the mechanism next to the door, which pointed down the path into the next room. As he started to walk, Wren followed behind him.

The Cloister was surprisingly well-lit. It was still dim, but they had no need for a torch as they entered the next room. The next chamber was smaller still, with more decorative carvings in the wall, but it seemed to be the sphere mechanism that held his attention the most.

“It’s a shame none of these Trials are active anymore, although it does make things simpler,” he said out loud, shaking his head. “Anyway… You decided to seek me out to aid your research?”

“One of my... friends heard a rumor around town that you were here,” said Wren. “I’ve, uh, actually never heard of you, but there was a lot of excitement around town, apparently. They said you were researching here too. I was hoping to compare notes, but it looks like we might not have time, since we’re here, and both of us have separate ferries to catch. Still, I never thought I’d be standing in the Cloister of Trials.”

“I’m actually a bit surprised I managed to get permission myself,” he murmured, passing deeper into the trial. “It took a bit of convincing. Normally, only high ranking officials of Yevon are allowed inside, besides summoners. I spoke with High Summoner Yuna in Besaid, and told her about my mission. She was reluctant, but I believe she saw some value in my research, or the two of us wouldn’t be here.”

“Of course, we’re technically here to make sure the temple doesn’t overflow with fiends,” he said. “But it is what it is.”

Wren tilted her head at him as she followed him, intrigued now. “What is your research for? I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m a little surprised you got permission to come here.”

They stood on one side of a much larger room now, which was divided by a gap in the floor, only a few feet deep, but several more across. Stairs led in and out of the pit on both sides of the gap, and looking down, the stone seemed to be scorched. What had this been for? She took the notepad from her belt and started making notes, doodling beside them on the page.

“Ah, you see. I’m conducting my own research into Yevon’s past,” said Mobius, visibly pleased with her interest. “I’m part of a small group of Yevonites who formed our own group after the church crumbled. We actually originally came from New Yevon, but that was short-lived.”

“I’ve never heard of this,” said Wren. “How long ago did this start?”

“Not too long ago, it’s only been a couple of years now, but our circle mostly keeps to itself,” he said. “Our leader had some disagreements about the way Praetor Baralai ran New Yevon... So our group relocated to Djose, actually. That’s where most of our supporters are based. I’ve done some work there, since the temple generates power to the town, but outside of our base of operations, obviously I can’t enter sacred ground so freely.”

“I heard there were more people settling down in Djose now,” said Wren. “I haven’t been since they started building. I used to travel with my mom, but after she died I stayed in Luca.”

Mobius looked at her sympathetically. “My condolences. But yes, there are new arrivals in Djose nearly every day. Construction is still being done, but it has grown quickly already. It was all thanks to the now disbanded machine faction, along with our leader, who acted as their benefactor. Since power to run the machina there is easy to come by, there have been some interesting advances in technology found only in Djose. Thanks, again, to the Al Bhed. Their work is really quite remarkable.”

“I’d like to see it sometime,” murmured Wren, smiling. “These days there are so many machina around, I feel a bit overwhelmed by what they can do now that Yevon isn’t forbidding everyone from using them.”

Mobius nodded and returned her glance, then descended the stairs to cross the gap in the room. “It’s difficult to ignore their presence now, certainly. Machina are becoming more present in our lives, and in Djose we are fairly reliant on them for help with the construction of the town. Our group can’t really afford to turn it down. Though some of us may choose not to operate the machines ourselves.”

Wren followed Mobius to the stairs leading to the final room before the Chamber of the Fayth. She looked around the lobby area, where guardians once waited for the return of their summoners from the Chamber of the Fayth, and seemed reluctant to continue on.

“Should we go inside?” she asked, almost awed. “We haven’t seen any fiends… Only summoners are allowed in the Fayth’s chamber, right?”

Mobius nodded, smiling. “There is no Fayth here anymore. If there were, the air would be filled with its song already. To those tasked with clearing fiends from the temple, the sanctity of the Fayth’s private chamber is lost, with no Fayth, and no summoners to commune with it. It is much the same in Djose.”

Wren made a small noise of compromise as her curiosity got the better of her, and when Mobius moved the sliding door to the chamber, she followed.

Inside was a gaping maw of a pit that when Wren looked inside, it seemed to lead into nothingness. A fine mist seeped out of it, filling the room and making the temperature much cooler than the trial chambers before it. “Is this where the fiends come from?”

“Exactly. Lady Yuna has told me that the pit leads to the Farplane itself, and that there is a similar pit in every temple in Spira,” he said, nodding. “This is where the Fayth’s statue once rested. Without it, there’s only the door to the realm of the pyreflies, and the dead find themselves in our world, where they become fiends. All of the temples are most likely connected in this way.”

Pyreflies floated on the mist that seemed to make the air tangible, despite remaining easy as ever to breathe, the lights illuminating their faces and the rest of the small chamber. Wren looked around the room curiously. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many in one place before.”

“The Fayth’s chamber in Djose is the same,” said Mobius. “When someone of considerable faith prays inside the chamber, the temple generates electricity. Our sect has a group of people dedicated to this duty, powering the town.”

“That’s amazing,” murmured Wren. “Even after Yevon lost so much of its following, the power of their belief is strong enough to supply power to everyone else. I can’t wait to see it when I visit Djose.”

“Ah, yes, your journey,” he said, glancing at her. “Perhaps we’ll meet there, when you arrive in Djose. I’ll extend an invitation to you personally; I have enough beds for you and your friends.”

As Wren was about to reply, the pyreflies suddenly shifted, swirling around one another. Something began to manifest before them, a weak figure appearing.

It almost looked like a person, with distinct limbs and even clothing, but it was faint, lacking a face, and continued to glow brightly with the light of the pyreflies that formed it. It became difficult to look at past the white light, and Wren had to shield her eyes to look at it. Just as it was nearly completed, its shape crumbled, unable to reform as a human.

Instead, its shape changed drastically to that of a monster, its head taking up the majority of its torso, and with great jaws filled with many, many teeth. Its shoulders were hunched at the top of its head, and a set of massive claws extended from both of its arms. Its eyes were beady and horrible, and as the light faded away, it was looking directly at the two of them with a hungry look.

Wren screamed, readying her staff even though she backed away from the beast, nearly at the door now. Mobius, however, stood his ground, revealing his own weapon: a trident that appeared almost to be made of glass.

Wren, with no proper idea of how to use her abilities, called forth fire, trying to imagine channeling it through her staff, which she directed at the beast. Her staff sparked, sending out weak flames that singed the creature’s side, causing it to screech in pain, but not causing it any noticeable harm.

The beast was backed against the edge of the pit into the Farplane, but it wasn’t budging, even as it reeled. It swiped at Mobius, then shouted, shooting powerful ice magic at him from its mouth. Mobius shielded his face from the cold, unable to see through the flurries of ice. He had to retreat out of its immediate range, sprinting around the pit.

The beast’s attacks seemed to be erratic; even as it aimed for Mobius, its screams echoing throughout the trial each time its ice magic chased the man, who was quicker than it could turn around the room. Mobius ended up behind the fiend, using this opportunity to ready his own magic.

The air felt thick as the head of Mobius’ trident started to glow. Droplets of moisture began to form from it, and the room rapidly became humid. This sudden change alarmed the beast, which whirled around to see the source of the light that was suddenly filling the room once again.

Water began to dance around Mobius now, and he drew a circle around his feet with the instrument as he channeled its magic.

“Kianpraty, I summon you!” he called, offering the trident to the ceiling.

Wren’s eyes widened as something else suddenly formed in the room with them.

It stood on four legs, and its shoulders were still taller than Mobius at full height, easily five or six feet. Its head looked much like a boar, with large tusks, it’s body like a hippopotamus, with thick, shaggy fur, like moss. Its feet ended in thick, padded claws, and its tail was long and bushy, like a mix between a horse’s and a dog’s. The creature known as Kianpraty roared, and Mobius reached out to touch its side, almost comfortingly as he stroked its fur.

The fiend, bewildered, let out a roar, throwing its claws back as it made itself appear threatening. It was ready to charge at Mobius and his creature, stepping back to gain some momentum.

Kianpraty readied magic of its own, opening its jaws. It inhaled sharply, and the humidity was suddenly sucked out of the air, the room growing dry as a bone, as a ball of energy formed between its great tusks. A blast of scalding water fired from the orb, directly hitting the beast before them, searing its flesh. The fiend let out a hideous, high pitched tone as it was blasted away, melting once more into hundreds of pyreflies which dissipated back into the mist of the Farplane.

Mobius stroked Kianpraty’s mossy hide once more, then dismissed it. Kianpraty turned its head to him, nuzzling gently with its cheek, before bursting into pyreflies once more. Mobius seemed unfrazzled by the ordeal, compared to Wren, who was very much frazzled.

“That was unexpected,” he said, almost amused.

“You-” said Wren, gesturing at him with both hands, her staff pointed directly at him. “What in the world was that?! Did you just summon?”

The man turned to look at her, almost surprised by her reaction. “I did. I am a ranking official of my sect, and I am a summoner.”

“How could you-- All of the Fayth vanished when Lady Yuna defeated Sin!” she said, waving her arms.

“It’s a trade secret, you could say. Necessary for our cause,” he said firmly. “I’m sorry to have caused you any alarm, but I didn’t have time to warn you.”

“I’m... shocked,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought it was impossible… Do Fayth really still exist? Are there more we don’t know about, like the Fayth rumored to be inside that cave near the Calmlands?”

“The stolen Fayth has vanished as well, but this Aeon is a creation of my own. Followers of Yevon willingly gave their lives for our cause, allowing new Fayth statues to be created,” said Mobius, touching the length of the trident tenderly.

“People have to die for them to be created, don’t they?” asked Wren, still shaking her head in disbelief. “What cause do you stand for? What’s going on?”

“We simply want to preserve the nature of Spira,” he said, looking at her. “We exist to protect it. If anything rises up to harm the people of Spira, we will ensure there will always be someone to defend against it. That is what we believe in.”

“Protection?” she asked, slowly calming down. At least the shaking finally stopped. “That’s still incredible… I don’t believe it.”

“That is what we have deemed necessary in order to keep Spira at peace,” he said. “Remember, an Aeon cannot be created from an unwilling soul. Kianpraty was once a member of our sect as well, and he decided this himself, to protect the people of Spira. We would never dream of forcing that on someone.”

Wren nodded. “Yeah, I understand, I think. I’m just… surprised. That’s still amazing. Your bond must have been strong, for you to have created an Aeon like that. Do you mind if I take notes?”

“No, by all means, that is part of why I invited you to come with me,” said Mobius, smiling. “Write whatever you like about anything you’ve seen here. I believe what you’re doing is important. Part of my goal is to impart knowledge that previously belonged only to Yevon to the people of Spira. Our history must be known.”

“Sounds like I have your endorsement,” she said, laughing.

Mobius laughed in agreement, then turned away from the pit, beginning to exit the chamber. “I think I’ve seen all I need to, for now. It seems just the same as Djose, but this was remarkable nonetheless. I hope this was helpful to your research in some way.”

“Absolutely,” she started to say, but stopped.

Something else rose out of the mist where the fiend had vanished, glowing a bit brighter than the other pyreflies. It seemed to be larger, like a cluster of pyreflies, but somehow, Wren had a bad feeling about it. Mobius didn’t seem to see it as he started to step through the doorway leading back into the lobby area of the Cloister.

It was looming towards Mobius, and Wren whispered at him to get his attention, unsure of what to think.

“Is it another fiend?” she asked, quietly.

Before Mobius could answer, the cluster of pyreflies suddenly charged at him, rushing towards him without warning.

“Watch out!” called Wren, dropping her staff.

She lunged at him, throwing her full weight at him and knocking him to the ground. His breath hitched, as she knocked the wind out of him, and she felt a sharp pain in her back as she took the full blast from the pyreflies flowing through her. She gasped from the pain, feeling dizzy and sick at once.

Mobius wheezed as he sat up on the temple’s floor. The pyreflies had vanished, and despite that he hadn’t seen what happened before she’d tackled him to the ground, he worked out quickly what had happened. He removed her from his person to get to his feet, rubbing his sore spots where he’d collided with the ground.

“What have you done?” he asked, looking down at her.

She didn’t respond, staring, dazed, back at him. She tried to sit up, but was too weak, succeeding only in curling up tighter. Her eyes were wide, as if she saw nothing around her, but she managed to turn her eyes towards the man. It was like her body couldn’t contain the terror she felt, a trembling mess.

He looked away, as if trying to think of what to do from here. Shaking his head in disbelief, he knelt beside her. “I’m going to carry you back to your friends. They will have to take care of you from there, but the people here in the temple should be able to help you.”

He scooped her up in his arms, something Wren only barely felt. She could feel the warmth of his cloak against her as he lifted her, and the motion as he carried her through the cloister, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. Her nerves were shot, and she could hardly keep her eyes open.

She was only barely aware of Mobius speaking to someone, and other alarmed voices calling out to her.

No sooner than she allowed her eyes to close, she was out, lying completely still in his arms.