Path of a Summoner

Wren wasn’t quite as eager to get moving as she thought she’d be. Thankfully, she’d slept pretty heavily at night since her accident, but she had a few things on her mind. Confronting Mushroom Rock’s coast was one of them. Even if they crossed the trail when the tide was in, and the beach was nowhere to be seen, Wren would be able to feel its chill as she passed the site of Operation Mi’ihen. She put it out of her mind for the time being; they wouldn’t reach Mi’ihen for at least a day, so she really had no reason to worry, at least for now. She came back to reality once she started moving about in the inn, without time to linger.

She packed her things, taking extra care to make sure the CommSphere that Lady Yuna had gifted her was kept safe inside her bag. It would come in handy once they reached Djose, but Wren was hopeful that she would have good news to relay to Yuna, if only to ease her fears. Mobius had seemed nice, at the time, but without knowing much about him, the words of the others who had spoken of him cast a lot of doubt on his character. She needed to know more.

Merris got her attention as they started to leave the inn. He nudged her towards the village’s entrance gently, pointing at someone ahead.

Yuna was standing at the gate, waving her arms gently to get their attention. Apart from those with business at the docks, it seemed the town wasn’t full of early risers, but she had come to see them off herself.

Wren’s mood lightened as they walked out to greet her.

“Lady Yuna, you’re seeing us off?” asked Wren.

“It’s really the least I can do, since I asked so much of you,” said Yuna, shaking her head. “I’d love to walk with you to the beach, at least.”

“You mean the CommSphere?” asked Wren. “We were going to Djose already, of course. It’s no trouble.”

Yuna smiled softly, then gestured for the others to continue walking with her towards the beach. “I don’t know about that. It sounds like you might end up with your hands full, if you get involved with Respira. I only hope you don’t get into trouble because of me.”

Merris shrugged his shoulders just a little. “Well, as long as I have to find my sister. She has a shop in Djose, where she sells, ah… jewelry, and her own art.. But, since I haven’t heard from her recently, that’s part of why I’m here. I think they might have something to do with it.”

Yuna looked up at him as they walked, concern on her face. “Do you think she’s in danger?”

Merris frowned. “I… don’t know. The thing about Djose, Respira, and the former machine faction is that we coincide with each other, but we don’t really mix. Respira is… another kind of Yevonism, basically. Of course, there are Al Bhed Yevonites, but… My sister isn’t that kind of person.”

“She’s pretty crafty, so does repair work as well. Tune-ups, trinkets, even helping out with construction at times, so she has a reason to mingle with them,” said Merris, shaking his head. “But I’m not worried about her doing anything like laying down her life to offer them power. I don’t know what to expect.”

“I’m sorry,” said Yuna, frowning. “I really hope she’s doing alright.”

“Yeah, I do too,” said Merris. “I just wanted to say that if anything happens, it won’t be on your shoulders. It sounds like we’re plenty good at getting into trouble on our own.”

“Oh, I see,” she said, nodding.

“It seems that way, doesn’t it?” agreed Twill, with a nervous laugh. “I think we’ll be just fine.”

From that point the conversation turned lighter, putting them at ease. Yuna was doing more listening than talking, but she did seem to enjoy their company. At least, Wren hoped so.

When they reached the dock, the boat was already there. There were a few other passengers boarding the ferry, a couple of the tourists from the previous day among them, but it was still a quiet morning.

Yuna waved goodbye to them. “Please call me if you find anything. Or, if you need anything. I can’t do much from here, but I’ll do my best to offer support.”

“Thank you!” called Wren, nodding to her from the deck. “This is more than I could have asked for. I hope I have good news to give you, but I’ll be sure to let you know if anything happens.”

“I wish you well on your journey,” said Yuna, smiling. “Good luck!”

The ship’s horn sounded as they started to move, and Wren grinned, waving frantically at Yuna as the ship started to pull out of the docks to keep from shouting "you too!" back.

She waved back at Yuna until they were several meters away, sailing away from the port. She could see Yuna start to turn away at last, and they all did the same. Once again, they found themselves split between their preferred seating aboard the ferry.

---

Between travel, Wren got a little practice with Twill in Kilika, showing how her magic had improved. It was like it suddenly made sense to her, but she still only knew her basic spells. Twill was teaching her other elemental magic, and was very happy to do so. It seemed that with a proper conduit, she was almost a natural. Almost. She did lack discipline, and at times it led to her not having full control over her magic, but that was something that could be taught with time.

When they reached Luca, Wren didn’t want to stop by her home on the way through. She had packed all she needed, and Twill was used to travel as it was. Merris, she had learned, also lived in Luca, but had been staying at the inn, earning his keep doing odd jobs. He had no difficulty leaving for the Highroad, either.

The crowd thinned as they stood at the stairs carved into the cliffs, that lead into the grassy lanes of the Mi’ihen Highroad. Besaid had been small and sleepy, but Luca at midday was loud, rough, and busy. Less so, with no events happening, but it was funny how there were so many fewer people so close to the town.

“The hover isn’t running right now,” said Merris, pursing his lips as he came back to the other two, shaking his head. He gestured over his shoulder at the inoperable machina. There was no one around, but nearby was a sign detailing the times rides back and forth across the Highroad were available. The sun was sinking in the sky. Soon, nightfall would bring its share of problems.

“I’m glad they’re serious about rebuilding the chocobo population,” said Wren, frowning a little. “I don’t think we have time to wait here… If we can just make it to the Travel Agency in the middle of the Highroad, we can stop for the night…”

“It isn’t far,” agreed Twill. “At least, not by chocobo.”

“It’s too bad I don’t have room for all of us to sleep at my home,” mumbled Wren, shaking her head. “But I wanted to make a little more progress anyway. If we rent some chocobos, we can make it there just after the sun sets.”

“It’s already setting,” said Merris, pointing at the sky. “We’d better hurry, if we want to rent. There’s a stable nearby the Travel Agency too, but I don’t want to walk all that way on foot. Not at night.”

The kiosk wasn’t too far from the hover. They spoke to the woman at the stable, who brought out a bird for each of them, supplied by Clasko’s Chocobo Ranch, she’d said. She made sure they knew how to ride before sending them on their way.

Merris’ bird had a tiny bit of an attitude, the woman had warned. He hadn’t been concerned before, but now that she’d said that… His posture was odd as he approached the bird, and the chocobo seemed to notice this immediately. A low gurgle sounded in the chocobo’s throat as he approached, tilting her head at him, her neck feathers ruffled.

“Good girl… Come on…” He stroked the chocobo’s side, cooing softly in an attempt to calm her, then her neck, then placed a hand on her beak, a ballsy move for someone who was likely to be bitten.

“If you like, we could trade,” offered Twill, watching him from their own chocobo.

Luckily, the bird gave a noise that almost seemed like a sigh of surrender, as if she realized he had no idea what he was doing, and she lowered herself for him to climb onto her back.

“I think she’s warmed up to me,” said Merris, grinning as he mounted the bird.

“I think she knows you don’t know how to handle rowdy animals,” said Twill, shaking their head with a laugh. “You’re lucky to still have all your fingers. She was definitely about to bite you before you started talking.”

“Hey, is it so hard to believe she could like me?” he said. “Look, we’re friends now.”

He stroked her neck, prompting a disgruntled croak from the bird, who apparently had resigned itself to an incompetent handler.

“Do you know how to ride?” asked Wren.

“Of course I do,” said Merris, frowning. “That’s the easy part. It’s just… been a while.”

When they finally got settled and started down the road, the sky was already dark.

“I think I misjudged how much time this would take,” admitted Wren.

“It’s alright. I think all of us have been through here at least once,” Merris said. “I think we all misjudged it.”

“It’s been a while for me too,” she said, nodding. “I haven’t really left Luca since my mother died.”

They were walking at a somewhat leisurely pace now that the sun had already set. Most fiends would be warded off by the presence of the chocobos, which could become vicious if attacked by smaller creatures that got a little too brave. Wren wasn’t eager to run into another fiend like the one she’d seen in Kilika, but there were supposed to be fewer chocobo eaters around. The populations were being tightly controlled, but at least the fiends were being kept off the trails, and away from the travelers.

“What about you, Twill?” asked Wren. “You talked about yourself a little when we met, but…”

Twill looked surprised, glancing up for a second at the other two, who were looking at them expectantly between watching the path.

“Oh, well…” Twill trailed off, shrugging a little. “I don’t know, I guess I could talk a little, but it’s not a particularly happy story.”

“We’re full of unhappy stories lately,” offered Merris. “I don’t know if you told me anything, besides where you came from.”

Twill tilted their head a little, shrugging in surrender. “Yes, I think you’re right. I did make a point to bring it up to Wren, but I don’t think I’ve said much about myself to you. There isn’t much to say, though.”

“To start with, I’m considered a deserter,” said Twill, frowning. “Or at least, I was, when Seymour took over his father’s leadership role. Everyone adjusted so quickly, even though there was a lot of talk about Lord Jyscal’s half blood son. Admittedly, at the time, I was against the idea of someone other than a Guado leading the Guado, but that wasn’t all, of course.”

“His father’s murder, right?” asked Merris.

“Yes, exactly. It was supposed to be kept under wraps, but I believe Yevon was aware of his betrayal,” they said. “And all of us knew. The Farplane guard, that is. How could we not? We were proud, but we are horrible gossips. When your duty is to stand quietly and follow orders, you learn to listen, and news travels quickly.”

“Knowing that, and the darkness in Seymour’s heart, I chose to desert,” said Twill, shrugging. “There are things that cannot be hidden from the Guado.”

“The mark of an unsent is one of them,” they said. “Even without training, we are more in tune with the Farplane than most of Spira. It comes with living so near to it. Jyscal was not among their numbers, but we could tell who within Yevon that passed through Guadosalam was. And when Seymour returned to us with that mark, we knew.”

“After he took over?” asked Wren. “Is that why you left?”

“Um… sort of. I’m not very proud of it,” said Twill, nodding despite their words. “But it isn’t just that. No, just being unsent is hardly considered a crime. All that means is that one has such a strong tie to the realm of the living that they retain a corporeal form. Of course, that tie is usually anger, so that’s usually where the issue lies. Those with nothing left to lose aren’t exactly the best judges of right and wrong.”

“No, it was just… fear. Yevon has had shady dealings for years. Much longer than I’ve been alive,” said Twill. “I had no idea what was going on in Bevelle. I didn’t want to. And I didn’t want to be responsible for Seymour’s decisions.”

Twill stopped talking for a few moments, and was now using the light of the moon to guide them across the trail. It was lucky the moon was so bright even though it was low in the sky, or else they would need much better lighting to guide them. The stars looked like they were following a trail of their own, spread out in swirling patterns across the sky, if one connected them with their mind’s eye.

“Though, it has been some time since I’ve actually been home,” said Twill. “I have heard different things, and avoided Guadosalam entirely when passing through, so… I don’t know much about my current standings, although I’m not eager to test them. I’ve heard that the palace was taken by a sphere hunter who opened a shelter of sorts, and I’ve also heard that the palace has fallen back into the hands of the Guado.”

“Should we avoid going through Guadosalam?” asked Wren, tilting her head. “They’re not looking for you, are they?”

“I don’t know what would happen if I returned,” said Twill, frowning. “That is probably the best idea. I know the way around, but it would take us through the forest. It would probably be easier for all three of us to go through, since the city is underground, it bypasses the forest entirely, but…”

“I don’t want to risk it, if we don’t have to,” said Wren. “We’ll have to make do with the safest choice.”

The light of the Travel Agency was a welcome sight. The moon was climbing higher in the night sky now, and they could tell they’d stayed out much later than they’d meant to, unfortunately. They took the chocobos to the stable themselves, then went inside.

Inside, there was only one person sitting in a chair behind the counter, looking as if she’d fall asleep any second herself. They were directed to their room, and they fell into the beds, Twill and Wren in one, Merris in the other.

“Let’s sleep in tomorrow,” said Merris, groaning just a little. “I’m all for early rising, but we need to get our rest too.”

“Sounds good to me,” agreed Wren, lying face down in her pillow. She lifted her head. “I really thought the Travel Agency was closer to Luca than that.”

“We all did,” said Twill. “At least we made it.”

“Yeah, if it was any farther, we might have had to camp outside tonight,” said Wren, snuggling into her pillow. “I was ready for camping, but I’m glad we get to sleep in actual beds.”

“We should get to sleep, this might be the last chance we have for a while to sleep in a real bed,” said Merris, chucking a small pillow in their direction playfully. “And I’m tired.”

The three of them fell into a heavy sleep, exhausted after staying out longer than they anticipated after spending the day traveling.

Wren was still thinking about what her companions had said, between Merris and his sister, and Twill’s past. They definitely needed to take care of Merris’ sister first, then they would worry about how to avoid the underground city. She didn’t have time to dwell on it though, finding herself falling asleep before she realized it.