Path of a Summoner

Wren woke up in a bed, but she didn’t recognize the room when she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred, but after blinking a few times, the world came back into focus.

“She’s waking up,” said Merris’ voice.

Wren could hear feet shuffling around the room, and she slowly started to sit up. It wasn’t the travel agency, she realized. She was still at the temple, in one of the rooms underground that housed refugees and the sick and injured.

“How do you feel?” asked Twill, kneeling down beside the low bed she was lying on.

“Groggy,” said Wren, holding her head a little. Her eyes felt a little sore, a small headache coming over her. “Wow. How long was I out? Did we miss the boat?”

Twill shifted to the side. “Yes, unfortunately we’ve been here ever since Mobius brought you back. It’s noon, you’ve been unconscious for almost a day.”

“I’m sorry,” mumbled Wren. “I was completely in shock, I couldn’t even move or speak… That’s the last thing I remember.”

“What happened to you in the Cloister?” asked Merris, frowning. “You were already unconscious when that man brought you here, but he didn’t have much to offer when we asked what happened. He said you were attacked by something…?”

Wren shook her head slowly. “Uh, yeah, we were attacked by a fiend. There’s this big pit in the Chamber of the Fayth, where the Fayth stone used to be, apparently… He said it was connected to the Farplane, and then a huge fiend showed up, and he took care of it.”

She glanced to the cleric who was watching over the room from the doorway, deciding to keep the summoning bit to herself for now. She was having trouble thinking clearly, but she had a feeling she should assess the situation herself before saying something right in front of followers of Yevon.

“After it disappeared… the pyreflies that came from it reformed into a big blob of them, like one big floating lantern,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “It didn’t look dangerous, but it went straight for Mobius, so I pushed him out of the way, so it hit me instead. I don’t know what happened.”

Twill frowned at that, but found themself nodding anyway. “I’ve never known pyreflies to behave that way. Will you be alright?”

“I should be fine,” said Wren. “I just feel like I slept for way too long. Whatever happened down there, I feel just fine, apart from that. It’s… kind of weird, actually.”

“I’m glad you’re alright though; we weren’t sure what to do,” said Merris, nudging Twill a little. “We’ve been here watching you with help from the people at the temple.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Wren said again, smiling. “I definitely don’t want to leave you guys stranded out here. But I’m alright, and we can still catch the next ferry, right?”

She paused, looking around the room. “What happened to Mobius?”

Merris pursed his lips, shaking his head just a little. “He had his own ferry to catch. I guess he was in a hurry, because he brought you here, talked to the head priest for a few minutes about what had happened, and then told us he was leaving.”

Wren turned her body so she could stand up out of the bed, and did so a little shakily, but she managed it. Her head was spinning, but it would pass. “That’s fine, I didn’t really expect him to stay. Apparently, he’s pretty busy.”

“I’m just surprised he’s walking around on his own so far from Djose,” said Merris.

“What do you mean?” asked Twill.

“He’s the leader of that group in Djose. The one that took over after the machine faction split up,” he said, shrugging. “Respira. You’ve never heard of them?”

Twill frowned. “No, I haven't been through Djose recently myself. I passed through without stopping in the town, but I've heard of the group before. I had no idea that was him.”

“He’s their leader?” asked Wren, blinking. “He talked about it, but I didn’t realize… I don’t know much about it.”

“I don’t know that much either, just that they exist, and his name and face,” admitted Merris. “Their focus is on creating a place of respite for the people of Spira, or… something. They’re supposed to be a group dedicated to the planet and its people.”

“Mobius was friendlier than I expected him to be,” he added. “He seems to like spending time in the public eye.”

Wren was still holding her head, frowning. She was beginning to process everything that had recently happened since they arrived at the temple the day before. Getting to see the inside of the temple wasn’t quite as magical of an experience as she had thought. Of course, it was an accident, but paired with her headache, she was beginning to feel a bit negative.

“We should start moving, if Wren is feeling alright,” said Twill. “We have a bit of time before the next ferry arrives, it should be enough to get back and get our things, and get something for Wren to eat before we head out.”

“I am pretty hungry,” Wren said out loud, as if she’d just realized. “You guys are probably hungry too.”

“We had dinner here at the temple,” said Twill, a bit sheepish. “And breakfast. Since we stayed here with you overnight.”

“Oh, I get it,” she said. “I guess we’d better stop by the market then. I can make it back, don’t worry.”

 

---

 

After a few minutes of making sure Wren was really fit enough to make the journey back into town, they departed from the temple. They collected their things, explored the market one last time, then paid their fare to board the S.S. Liki.

Wren decided to stay below deck this time, still feeling a bit achy. Apart from whatever strange thing had happened to her, she had tackled a man to the ground. Her headache was clearing up, but she had earned herself a few bruises in the process of shielding Mobius from the strange pyreflies.

Twill and Merris stayed with her below deck as well. The tense air was finally lightening after that scare, but none of them were in the mood to socialize with the other passengers.

Wren sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, leaning on her knees while she thought. “...I didn’t mention it at the temple, but when Mobius defeated that monster in the temple… He used an aeon.”

“Are you sure?” asked Twill. “You didn’t hit your head, did you?”

Wren shook her head. “No, definitely not. Everything’s kinda fuzzy; I still feel a little sick, but I know what I saw. He called it… Kianpraty. It was huge, like a big stone shoopuf, all covered in moss.”

“That isn’t one of the temple aeons,” said Twill, frowning deeply. “Is he creating his own Fayth?”

“He said so himself. He said his followers dedicate their lives to the cause,” said Wren.

“Well… it’s true that you can’t force someone to become a Fayth, isn’t it?” asked Merris.

“It's true that the Fayth determine who they deem worthy to lend their power to, but... Still, what does he need such power for?” asked Twill. “What is it Respira believes they’re protecting everyone from, exactly?”

Wren didn’t have an answer. Neither did Merris. The three of them shared a few moments of perplexed silence.

“You should rest, if you still feel unwell,” said Twill. “You slept for a long time, but your body hasn’t recovered.”

Twill placed one hand on Wren’s shoulder, then smoothed her hair gently, somehow making her feel a little better. They were still only acquaintances, but Wren had heard that the Guado were sensitive to things that couldn’t be seen, like the emotions of others. Twill seemed particularly empathetic; they had been looking out for her since the two of them had met, after all.

After a moment, Twill paused, their expression a slight frown as they pulled their hand away. “...You did say it was the pyreflies that attacked you, didn’t you?”

Wren looked at them oddly. “Yes, why?”

“That explains it,” said Twill, nodding as their expression turned thoughtful. “You still have an air of the Farplane around you. I didn’t notice right away.”

“What does that mean? Is it bad?” asked Wren.

“No, no, it’s nothing. In addition to the pyreflies, you were in the innermost sanctum of the temple at the time, it’s likely that some of that energy rubbed off on you,” said Twill, shaking their head. “Once you’ve had time to fully recover, that will return to normal as well.”

Wren smiled a little. “Glad it isn’t serious.”

She couldn’t see their face, but she could see the corners of Twill’s eyes crease slightly as they returned her smile, a gesture that comforted her greatly.

“I’ll just stay here until we arrive in Besaid,” said Wren. “Thanks for looking out for me, you two.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” snorted Merris, smiling.

Wren stretched out on the floor beside the two of them, looking up at the wooden ceiling. She was still pretty worn out, despite feeling fine otherwise. She had no idea how she was going to get to sleep that night, however.

At least she could relax for awhile, before the ship docked.