The Path to Sin (Ikken Isshu + Griselda Banks)

[Griselda Banks]

(( xd Nice save. This could actually be really fun and challenging, "discovering" why the aeons are antsy.))

When Luseik mentioned that he was Al Bhed, Eddora immediately stiffened - or she would have, if she was not already as stiff as a summoner's staff. An Al Bhed...a summoner?! Yevon help us all, Eddora thought. Her heart pounded faster as she saw this summoner in a new light than before. If an Al Bhed had the audacity to come over to the Yevonite side - and was accepted, no less - he was truly an adversary to be feared.

Swallowing hard, Eddora forced her fists to unclench and to pay attention to the introductions of his guardians. Clearing her throat of the obstruction that had appeared there, she patted Calaman's shoulder and said, "This is my guardian, Calaman. And that," she added, jabbing her thumb somewhat disgustedly at Aer, "is Aer."

Once the introductions were over, Luseik went on to caution her on the state of the fayth. Eddora's brows drew together as she listened to his words, forgetting for a moment that he was Al Bhed. Her frown deepened as she concentrated on everyone's words. Why were the aeons filled with unrest? Surely, it wasn't simply because of Sin? After all, Sin had been reborn hundreds of times over the centuries, and every time the fayth had willingly given summoners the aeons to battle it. Why should this time be any different?

"What do you think, Eddora?" Aer asked, and Ed was shaken from her thoughts.

Looking up, Ed saw that everyone's eyes were on her. Still frowning, she said, "I don't pretend to know what any of this means, Aer. All I know is that I must gain possession of every aeon if I am to complete my pilgrimage and conquer Sin. And if that means overpowering them in battle, so be it. But...." She clicked her tongue in irritation, looking up at the temple above them. "It wasn't meant to be like this," she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((*light-bulb, fist-pump* D'you think the fayth might, essentially, be pissed off because there is a summoner summoning fiends?))

Calaman felt a cold sensation growing in his stomach as he gazed up at the temple. He barely noticed when, with a prayer gesture, Luseik excused himself and left with his guardians.

Suddenly, the pilgrimage had acquired a much more ominous sense. But, if he could kill men, he could certainly kill a monster, even if it was an aeon.

"Over...power...?" Aer murmured. "Gee. Sounds fun." He closed his eyes and tapped on his forehead, mentally thumbing through the spells he knew - and could cast. He'd overextended himself during the battle on the ship, and though he was physically in top shape, he would hardly be capable of performing any more 'feats' like his water-trick any time soon.

A soft laugh from behind them caused Calaman to lift his sword and turn, but he lowered it again upon seeing Oebr flanked by his two silver-haired guardians.

"No, summoner..." Yachesa began, to be continued by her brother.

"...what happened, happened..."

"...and couldn't have happened..."

"...any other way."

What is it with these twins? Calaman thought to himself. What kind of connection would cause them to...?

Oebr performed something of a prayer gesture, using only his hands. Calaman bristled at the irreverence.

"Lady Eddora," Oebr said. "I see that you and your guardians have all recovered from the ordeal aboard the ship."

"Are you going..."

"...to undergo..."

"...the trial, or..."

"...shall we go on..."

"...ahead of you?"

"Please," Oebr said to his guardians, but his expression belied the scold, "such rudeness is unbecoming of guardians. I shall be perfectly content to explore Besaid in the... ample... time while the Lady Eddora and her guardians undergo the trial." With the same oily smile as usual, he performed another half-assed prayer gesture and absented himself before anything further could be said.

Calaman's fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword, and his eyes narrowed; he teetered on the edge of his fighting 'mindset'. Then, with a soft snarl, he slammed the sword back into its sheathe and whirled to face the temple.

Slime. Irreverant, disrespectful slime. Oebr is not a summoner: Oebr is one step down from a blasphemer.

What he didn't know, of course, was that Oebr had in fact taken a few steps up from mere blasphemy.

((EDIT: Spot the "Matrix: Reloaded" quote. razz ))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Ooh! As in...dun da daaaa...a certain character controlled by yourself? xp Sounds good to me.

ninja *hasn't seen Matrix: Reloaded* *is an uncultured swine* stare ))

Eddora bowed absent-mindedly as Luseik took his leave. Still lost in her thoughts, she stared into space, chewing on her thumbnail and not really listening to what the others said. A laugh that sounded somewhat familiar brought her back to earth, and she turned around to discover - to her displeasure - that Oebr and his unnerving guardians were approaching.

Ed bristled at the prayer (If that's what that lame attempt is supposed to be, she said to herself) Oebr gave her, and frowned down at his two guardians. Perhaps it was just the strange way they finished each other's sentences, but their words gave her a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach and a tingling along her spine. So it couldn't have happened any other way, could it? she wanted to say. So you're saying it's a good thing the fayth - the ultimate saviors of all Spira - are upset?

But she didn't say it. She was determined, once faced with Oebr's near-rudeness, to be as polite as possible. She would show that scum what a real summoner was like! That decided, she forced as pleasant a smile as she could manage onto her face. "Do excuse me," she said sweetly, with a small bow to the three of them. "I was on the verge of entering the Trials when you arrived. If you don't mind, I shall be heading that way now. Thank you for your concern; we are all quite well. Good day to you all; I shall be back shortly." She performed the prayer, sweeping her arms in a wide, graceful curve and bowing low.

The irony was not lost on her that she was showing the most respect to the man she truly respected least of all, and this brought a small smile to her face as she straightened up, spun on her heel, and strode quickly into the temple. Once within the cool, dark interior, however, she ground her teeth fiercely and muttered under her breath, "Stupid, pig-headed, puffed-up...." She continued muttering names that grew increasingly fouler as she marched up the stairs to the Cloister door and wrenched it open.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Ye haven't seen the Matrix Reloaded? Le gasp! It was the line, "No, what happened happened, and couldn't have happened any other way." I watch the Matrix and sequels way too much. Except for Revolutions; I didn't really like Revolutions. Most of the movie takes place outside of the Matrix, and most of what takes place inside the Matrix is computer animated, so there are no really good genuine fight scenes in that movie. Which is a big part of why I like the Matrix to begin with: Cool fight scenes. razz

Anywayz, my take on the Cloister is mostly based on faqs, and partly on memory, so it might not be completely reliable.

Rather short post, but there you have it...))

Calaman and Eddora marched right along, privately infuriated, while Aer trailed behind them, bemused and, to be frank, mildly amused as well, though he kept his opinions to himself. When they first entered the Cloister, however, both Aer and Calaman stopped dead in their tracks.

They stood in a rectangular room... with no exits.

"By Sin's biggest boil," Aer muttered. "What do we do now?"  

[Griselda Banks]

((Yes, le gasp! I've only seen the first Matrix (my first R-rated movie, but that's beside the point); I liked it a lot and all, but I've just never got around to watching the others. And you're right; the fight scenes were really cool cool

Well, you were right about the first room, anyway XP *is a FFX nerd*))

Eddora flounced into the room, at first not realizing that it was a dead-end. Once she saw that there were no exits, she stomped her foot. "I don't have time for this!" she grumbled, slamming her fist against the wall.

To everyone's surprise, when her fist collided with the stone wall (eliciting several bruised knuckles), a shining magical glyph appeared momentarily in the air before her. A corresponding glyph of the same shape appeared over the right wall, which slid up into the ceiling. Both glyphs disappeared, and Ed looked around in bewilderment until she spotted the staircase behind the wall that had just disappeared.

"Oh," she said into the silence, her voice echoing hollowly around the room. Beckoning to the others, she made her way down the stairs.  

[Ikken Isshu]

Calaman had drawn his sword in alarm, but then realized that they'd done exactly what they were meant to do. Satisfied, he propped the blade against his shoulder and grinned. "Nice trick," he said, with uncharacteristic boldness.

"Onward and up... er, downward," Aer said, marching on after Eddora.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the staircase, the Cloister took on a distinctly unusual chill.

"...out," a distant voice echoed from up ahead. Calaman tightened his grip on his sword, but didn't move it.

"What," Aer murmured, wide-eyed, "was that?"  

[Griselda Banks]

Eddora snorted at Calaman's remark and continued on to the first landing. The stairs continued on to a closed door at the bottom, and on the landing was a sphere-shaped recess in which a glowing blue orb rested. Spotting a similarly-shaped recess in the door at the foot of the stairs, Ed reached out to grab the sphere. "Aha!" she said softly.

Her fingers closed around the cool blue sphere, which glowed faintly at her touch, and the three of them continued on down to the door. Placing the sphere into the recess, she stepped back as the door slowly swung open. Beyond it was a hallway that curved out of sight, but before any of them could set foot inside it, they heard a faint voice coming from the deepest reaches of the temple.

"...out."

Was it only the natural chill of an underground stone structure that made such a violent shiver run down Eddora's spine? Ed furiously tried to still her trembling, but it would not go away. Hugging her arms to herself, she mumbled, "That'll be the aeon, then, probably."  

[Ikken Isshu]

As soon as the word 'aeon' escaped Eddora's lips, a dim fiery aura sprang up around Aer's hands. His expression was tense, and his eyes flitted from shadow to shadow. Calaman gave Aer a light whack in the belly with the flat of his short sword.

"Calm down," he said quietly. "You won't guard anything if you're jumping at shadows like that."

With a sour face, Aer forced himself to calm down. Eventually, the aura around his hands faded.

Much as he advised Aer to keep calm, though, Calaman was himself very unnerved. He'd never heard of anything like this. Aeons attacking summoners? Aeons speaking?

"...s near..."

Aer whirled, sure that the words had come from behind them, but Calaman's gaze snapped upward. Clearly, it had come from the cavernous space above their heads. "What are you doing?" Calaman murmured. "It's above us. Valefor flies, don't you know that?"

"What are you talking about? It's behind us! Didn't you hear that?"

The two growled at each other, but each refused to turn his attention away from where the 'threat' was obviously lurking. And as soon as each of them glanced away from the summoner, a wall directly before her slid soundlessly open, and a pair of ghostly blue eyes regarded her from the shadows.

Ed, something whispered for her ears alone. Ed, don't leave me here. Have you forgotten about me? So many years have passed. It isn't fair. It wasn't fair. But now you can save me, Ed. Ed, please. Help me, Ed. It's so cold here, in the Farplane... Ed, please, I'm so cold, so afraid. Ed, please...

((Clearly, something sinister is at work here... I'll leave it up to you to decide who is being impersonated. smile ))  

[Griselda Banks]

((*totally glomps you* You're the best!! Providing an opportunity for me to add something to my character's story... heart xd ))

Eddora was oblivious to the movements of her guardians ('guardian and tagalong,' she would have insisted, had she thought of it). She didn't whip her head around, frantically trying to spot the source of the voice, for she could see exactly where it was coming from. Part of the wall slid silently away, with an almost matter-of-fact manner, as if to say that such things were common in the Cloister of Trials.

Blue eyes gazed out at her from the darkness of this new passage, but they were not filled with malice as one might have expected. No, these eyes were sad...pleading...plaintive.... Ed's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she heard the voice echo through her mind, bypassing her ears and even her skull, to speak directly into her heart.

Ed... She was fleeting back through fifteen long, hard years - years of pain, both physical and mental. Years of searching, of seeking, of striving towards the goal she feared she would never reach. She soared back through the years of training, of honing her body, mind, and soul in preparation for the arduous task of surviving a summoner's pilgrimage. She raced back to the time before all that began, to the time she had been happy, carefree, naught but a girl with nothing to fret over except how to get that handsome boy across the way to notice her. She had forgotten what it was like.

Don't leave me here. That voice.... She knew it well. She saw again the cheerful child, all smiles and laughter, daisy chains and afternoons in the sun. The long black hair, plaited into what seemed a thousand braids, all cascading down her back, where they dangled and clicked as the beads that held them knocked against each other, forming the percussion for the melody of her voice. But now this melody was discordant with fear, sorrow, and long-suffering pain.

Have you forgotten about me? So many years have passed.... Ed wanted to scream, "No! Never! I would never forget you, not in a thousand years!" But she could not find her voice. It seemed lost amongst the clutter of old memories left too long untouched. She had left these memories to collect dust for fifteen years, for to brush them off would be to expose her heart to unquenchable pain. But now this voice blew away the dust, disregarding how carefully she had let it fall and muffle her heart till she could hardly hear it beating. And she supposed, as she heard this voice, that in a way she had forgotten it.

It isn't fair. It wasn't fair. Ed's heart shouted agreement. So much had been taken from her! What terrible sin had she committed, to merit such retribution? This world had swallowed her whole, chewed her to bits, then spat her back up to lie destitute on the shore, leaving her with nothing but an unrelenting hatred. Had she lost even more than she had originally thought?

But now you can save me, Ed. Ed, please. Help me, Ed. It's so cold here, in the Farplane.... Ed, please, I'm so cold, so afraid. Ed, please.... With every word, her heart seemed to tear a little more away from her chest, groping out with invisible fingers for that voice. She wanted to help that voice, she wanted to save it, to protect it, to hold it in her arms and lend it the warmth of life. She could hear it crying, and every sob seemed like a knife stabbing again and again into her mangled mess of a heart.

Letting out a strange, longing sound that was halfway between a grunt and a moan, Eddora started towards the source of the voice, reaching out a hand as if expecting a smaller one to reach out for hers, to grasp it and never let go. And as soon as she had taken three steps forward, Valefor sprang from the shadows.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Awh. I try. whee ))

At the distinctive rustling of feathers that heralded Valefor's appearance, both Aer and Calaman whirled, eyes wide with horror. Even with the despairing knowledge that he was too far to reach Eddora in time, Calaman lunged forward. Aer, however, gritted his teeth and, with almost unnatural speed, called up a bar of white-hot flame, just as he had summoned the water aboard the ship. Valefor cried out in what almost sounded like annoyance as it jerked to the side, away from the fire and, incidentally, Eddora. Aer couldn't sustain the fire, though; with a bitten-off curse, he released the flame, and it dissipated in an instant. Aer sucked in a deep breath and fumbled around in his robe, eventually coming up with a small vial of ether.

Calaman, face screwed up with bloodlust and fury - at himself, or at Valefor, it was difficult to tell - raced after Valefor, hounding it with his sword with enough zeal to put something of an expression of astonishment into the aeon's eyes.

Just then, Aer seemed to appear at Eddora's side. "Are you all right?" he said. His voice sounded forced and pained; the ether, it seemed, wasn't a very effective solution to his fatigue, even if it did allow him to cast more spells.  

[Griselda Banks]

The blast of magic and the rush of running feet broke into Eddora's almost trance-like state, and her arm dropped down to her side. She looked around herself in bewilderment, seeing Calaman racing after - no, was that? It couldn't- But...it was. It was Valefor.

Ed stood there, blinking, not even seeming to hear Aer. She felt...betrayed, somehow. Hadn't she heard...? Was Valefor...? But no, of course not. Valefor was a woman who had willingly given her soul to Yevon, almost a hundred years ago. Then where did that voice come from? Had Valefor been imitating it somehow? How would an aeon know something like that?

Ed's gaze focused on the aeon, who was now snapping at Calaman, her beak jabbing in and out, leaving no opening for an attack. All of Ed's insides seemed to twist with anger. She was confused, and she hated being confused. This wasn't the way the pilgrimage was supposed to go! A guardian was not supposed to fight an aeon! Gritting her teeth, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Valefor! Stop!"

The great bird aeon jerked back, away from Calaman, then opened her wings. With a shrill shriek, she shot forward, straight at Eddora. Ed wasn't sure whether she pushed Aer or he pulled her, but in any case they dove out of the way, landing hard on the stone floor. Ed landed on top of Aer, but there was no time to apologize. Valefor had barely caught herself in time to keep from slamming into the wall, and now swiveled around to attack again.

Ed wasn't sure what she planned on doing, but she leapt to her feet and started running towards Valefor. Valefor began to charge as well, and Ed caught sight of a hooked claw on one wing. As Valefor flapped her wing to propel herself further, Ed grasped this claw and swung from it onto the aeon's back. She gripped the rough feathers of Valefor's neck as the aeon tried to shake her off. Clinging on for dear life, she wondered, Now what?  

[Ikken Isshu]

Aer scrambled out of the way as soon as Eddora got up off him, and mentally fumbled through the spells he knew. The ether had rejuvenated him enough to cast most of them, but any of the more powerful ones might well knock him out if he tried to cast it, and he wouldn't be any good in a fight if he was unconscious. He muttered obscenities under his breath as he pondered, and finally settled on a spell.

The moment Eddora mounted the aeon, Calaman fell back, and he gained an unsettling awareness of his situation. What had happened? He remembered hearing the aeon, turning, seeing Eddora... And the rest was strange, as if remembered through a haze. He knew, though, that he had been furious with his own idiocy, turning away from Eddora so blithely. Now Valefor was hopping around the room, trying to unseat Eddora. It might have been funny, if lives hadn't been on the line. Gritting his teeth, Calaman tried to recall the few spells that he knew. There was an impressive ability called Spellblade that he had seen his teacher in Bevelle perform, but he'd never been able to use it effectively. He knew he wouldn't be able to use it to do anything amazing; that was for knights and mages and summoners. But he thought he might be able to use it for a first-level spell. Maybe.

He ran toward Valefor with his sword raised, praying that the spell would work properly. It appeared to be going smoothly; he feinted to the left, causing Valefor to jump right to avoid him (in addition to its mad flailing on Eddora's account), and then he whipped the sword around the opposite direction. He felt the magic flowing into his body and down the blade, and when the iron hit Valefor's wing, gouging out a shallow chunk of flesh, he felt it discharge into the aeon.

Nothing happened, except of course for the bird's furious shriek of pain. Disheartened at the failure, he ducked Valefor's claw and stabbed upward, but missed by about a foot. He rolled away from the aeon and glanced, ever so briefly, in Aer's direction. The mage's eyes were closed, and he was deep in concentration. It occurred to Calaman that Aer was almost definitely not in any state to be casting powerful spells, but he hadn't the time to worry about that now. Looking with a deep frown up at Eddora, Calaman growled. "Damnable bird," he muttered. "Fat lot of good you're doing the world, you perverse beast!" He went back to his task of hacking at Valefor, only periodically landing a good hit.

((Great, Calaman just got over being bedridden, and now Aer's going to take his place. stare ))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Ah well. That's the pilgrimage for you, eh?

Hey, I meant to ask you before, but I keep on forgetting: What other Final Fantasy games have you played, besides X? I've played I, II, IV, and VI.))

As Eddora held on to Valefor's feathers, teeth rattling against each other as the great aeon flailed about, she wondered what in the world she had thought she would be able to accomplish in her new position. It was all she could do just to hold onto the feathers and keep from being thrown off, let alone help in the battle at all. For a moment, she regretted not learning at least a black magic spell or two. But she had been too impatient at the time, certain that her guardian would most likely have a reasonable arsenal of spells.

Ed was brought back to the present by a keening shriek from Valefor as Calaman struck her in the wing. "Come on, Valefor!" she grunted, tightening her grip as the aeon shook even harder than before. "I'm a summoner! I don't want to be your enemy; my enemy is Sin! You vowed when you gave your soul to Yevon that you would give aid to every summoner who undertook the pilgrimage! Honor that vow, Valefor! Yevon commands it!"

For a moment, Ed thought Valefor was going to stop. Her flailings slowed somewhat, and she seemed to pause for a moment. Suddenly she zoomed back against a wall, smashing Eddora against it. Ed felt the breath knocked out of her in a gush, and her grip on Valefor's feathers slipped. The aeon jerked away from her again, and Ed fell to the floor, gasping desperately for breath that wouldn't come.  

[Ikken Isshu]

What happened in the next minute happened, for Calaman, slowly, as if underwater.

He saw the aeon hit the wall, knew what would have happened to Eddora. He hesitated for an instant, and then swung around between Valefor and Eddora, who had already crumpled. Valefor was backing away, whether by accident or chance, Calaman didn't know; and in that infinitesimal instant, Calaman's actions were reduced to pure instinct. He saw a flash of light from behind Valefor; he saw the bird jerk as if struck from behind. The aeon began to move forward, and, seeing that it was approaching Calaman and Eddora, lifted both talons to make use of the momentum and strike. Calaman improvised; he put one foot against the wall, raised his blade, and launched himself forward with all of his might. He slipped, miraculously, between the grasping talons. The tip of his blade hit the aeon's chest dead center, and with a cracking that brought to Calaman's mind the battle aboard the ship, began to slide into Valefor's body. He tightened his grip on the sword, pushed harder, and shut his eyes and prayed.

His knees hit the ground, and both he and Valefor fell lifelessly. After a second, he rose, swaying, wrenched his blade out of the aeon's body, and stared at it.

He had impaled the bird again before he realized that it had moved; this time however, it grew still, and didn't move again. He drew his blade, exhausted now that the adrenaline was wearing off, and started to turn toward Eddora. Then he noticed Aer, lying motionless on the ground. He glanced back at Eddora, and then, uncertain of what to do, fell to one knee, panting.

It was just as Eddora had said: It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not like this.

((Erm... Let me think. I've played I, II, III, IV, V, Mystic Quest, VI, VII, X, X-2, and Crystal Chronicles, although I only actually beat I, IV, X, X-2, and Crystal Chronicles.))  

[Griselda Banks]

For several moments that stretched into eternity, Eddora lay on the ground, panting and gasping as her lungs seemed to stick together, refusing to take in air. Gradually, however, her gasps brought precious oxygen into her body, and the pain in her chest subsided somewhat. She cracked open her eyes, which had squeezed shut of their own accord, and took stock of the situation. Aer lay lifeless at the other end of the room; Calaman crouched a short distance away, panting just like her. And Valefor lay defeated in between them.

Trying to control her breathing, Ed closed her eyes again and wiped the sweat from her brow. After a moment, she started to push herself up, but a sharp sting of pain danced across her side and she fell back down. Clutching what she suspected was a broken rib, she glared over at Valefor's body, muttering over and over again under her breath, "Not supposed...to be...like this...."

Pyreflies began to rise from the body, and it seemed to Ed that these pyreflies took on the form of a young woman, wearing Yevonite robes. She looked over at Ed, then bowed her head. "I apologize," she said, in a voice that echoed around Eddora's head, though it didn't penetrate any farther into the room. Ed's eyes widened as the pyreflies suddenly shot towards her. They disappeared into her chest, and Ed gasped, her eyes rolling up into her head.

She was Valefor. She spread her wings and rose up into the sky above Besaid, letting out a keening shriek as she swooped over the forests and hills, the sea and the freshwater springs. She soared over the tiny village, where the townsfolk cried out and pointed up at her, gaping in awe as she swooped low, nearly hitting them with her wings. Then a sudden draft of wind carried her up into the tropical blue sky, and she soared up into the clouds, higher and higher. She let out a joyful shriek as she felt the wind whistle through her feathers. She was Valefor.

Eddora came back to herself with a jerk, then sat up swiftly, looking around herself at the stone room. For a couple moments, she couldn't remember where she was - or even who she was. Then she caught sight of Calaman, still on one knee, and everything came rushing back to her. Passing a hand over her eyes, she murmured, "We should get out of here."

As she pushed herself onto her feet, Ed realized (to her confusion) that her side no longer hurt. Even the bruises on her knuckles were gone. She frowned for a moment, then shrugged this away and barked out to Calaman, "Well, come on! Unless Aer decides to wake up, we're going to have to carry him between us."