Chapter Two:

The Baaj Mystery

All three, Tidalesca, Vidina, and Sasuno made it to the Baaj Temple, where there was a small bridge standing before them. Tidalesca ran up and dived into the water. Same with Vidina and Sasuno. Tidalesca then swam up to the surface to catch her breath.

"Been a while since I had to go in the water like this," Vidina said.

Tidalesca then swam around, moving her head sideways.

"What are you looking for?" Sasuno asked.

"I heard rumors that a Sinspawn is nearby," Tidalesca said. "After Sin's defeat, its Sinspawns are scattered to various places where people had no chance at looking. I heard there's one right at the Baaj Temple."

"Good point," Sasuno said. "Well, we'll have to take it down."

"Right," Tidalesca shrugs. "But we got to be careful; Sinspawns are stronger than they look."

Tidalesca then took a deep breath as she goes underwater. Same with Sasuno and Vidina. They then swam to the bottom and saw a huge opening between two statues of High Summoners who had defeated Sin. Tidalesca then swam to the entrance way as she saw a huge tentacle piercing out of it. She swam back to her two friends as they saw the Sinspawn Echuilles. Tidalesca took out her microphone-like staff as she swam around, until finally, its face was covered with a black cloud. Vidina then took out his Moogle doll, as he waved his hand up. Then, a thunderbolt came crashing down on the Sinspawn. Sasuno then turned around as she grabbed two Electro Marbles from one of her pockets. She then quickly formed them together as she threw it at the Echuilles. Then, the item had done multiple thunder attacks. Tidalesca then swam up to the surface to catch more breath, followed by Sasuno and Vidina.

"What's all those thunder-based attacks for?" she asked.

"That Sinspawn's a water-type fiend, right?" Sasuno asked.

"And lightning and water are opposed like fire and ice," Vidina finishes.

"That explains a lot," Tidalesca said. "Come on. We got a job to finish!"

She then took a big breath as she dived into the water. Sasuno and Vidina dived in after her as they finally came face-to-face once again with the Echuilles. Tidalesca swam behind the sinspawn when it wasn't looking as she stabs it in the back with the end of her microphone staff. It then started to bleed as it started to shook. Then, it slowly fades away, leaving nothing but pyreflies behind. The trio then shrugged as they swam for the entrance. They then found a stairway as they swam out of the water. They then walked up to the stairs as they stared directly at an entry way.

"I wonder where that leads," Tidalesca said, crossing her arms.

"Let's find out," Sasuno said.

Vidina nodded in a reply. The trio then walked through the entry as they spotted six statues and a strange doorway.

"No way," Tidalesca said.

"What is it?" Sasuno asked.

"Our parents said that there was a Fayth once here," Vidina explained. "Sadly, it disappeared along with the others when Sin was finally gone."

"My mom told me in a bedtime story once," Tidalesca explains. "When I was little, that this Fayth has suffered through pain and sorrow, because this Fayth was Maester Seymour's mother."

"Wow," Sasuno said. "Wonder why my mom never told me about this."

"They said that as a boy," Vidina explained. "Seymour's Mother volunteers to be the Fayth for The Final Summoning, known as Anima, but Seymour refused and left his mother behind, while she became the Fayth for the Baaj Temple, since the last fayth was said to be stolen. So Seymour agrees and had obtained his mother's Aeon, but soon after, he began craving for more power, and thought that death was the only way to release Spira from its pain. Soon after he left, Sin came and destroyed this island. They said that only the temple remained."

"Dryd ec zicd duu knayd," Sasuno mutters.

Tidalesca then stepped forward.

"Come on," she said. "We got a sphere to find."

"Hey, check this out," Sasuno said, walking up to one of the statues.

Under the statue was a red sphere as Sasuno picks it up.

"This must be one of those Destruction Spheres they used to obtain treasures in those Cloister of Trials," Vidina pointed out.

"A Destruction Sphere?" Tidalesca asked. "Think it'll play anything?"

"It can't hurt to take it back with us," Sasuno said. "I say this is a Secceuh Lusbmada, people."

The trio then made it back to the Celsius, as Sasuno placed the sphere in the computers.

"How's the scanning?" Zana asked.

"Still analyzing," Sasuno said. "Dang Destruction Spheres. Don't even know if it'll play it. Oh, wait, wait. Got it! Wanna take a look?

There in the sphere shown a young Seymour and his mother, in the middle of a room decorated with flowers and carpets.

"But Mom," Seymour said. "Why would I travel to Zanarkand?"

"You are a Summoner, don't you see? We will travel to Zanarkand so you may obtain the Final Aeon, and with it, to defeat Sin. You will bring happiness and joy to both Human and Guado alike. Your father, Lord Jyscal, would ever be so proud of you."

"Will we come back to Guadosalam after I defeat Sin?" Seymour asked.

But his mother was silent.

"Mom?"

"Sure," Seymour's mother nodded. "You think of it while we travel to Zanarkand."

"Mom, you sure it's all ruins?" Seymour asked.

"Of course."

"Then how come the Fayth for the Final Summoning would be there if no one else is there?"

"That, my son, is a mystery."

Seymour's mother then clutches her chest.

"Mom? You okay?" Seymour asked.

The mother then had a smile across her face.

"I'm alright," she said. "Now go and prepare. We leave tomorrow."

"Okay, Mom," Seymour replied with a nod.

Seymour then walks out of the room, as the recorder walks toward Seymour's mother.

"You alright?" a female voice asked. "You sound sick."

"I'm afraid that the worst is yet to bestow us," Seymour's Mother sadly said. "Please, don't tell Seymour about my health. I will...tell him when the time comes, once we reach Zanarkand. I sense something so deep in his heart, something so sinister, it's making me lose my energy. But I won't let it get the better of me..."

"Wow, this'll surprise New Yevon," Vidina said.

"Who was that?" Zana asked.

"I think that was Maester Seymour," Tidalesca answered.

"But wasn't he an adult when your mother and her guardians met him?" Zina asked.

"This must've been recorded when he was still a kid," Tidalesca explained. "This is truly shocking."

"Think it's a dud?" Sasuno asked.

"No," Tidalesca said. "I think it's best if we report this to New Yevon. Maybe they can figure this out."

"Whatever you say," Vidina said, taking control of the wheel. "Next stop, Bevelle!"

--

Bevelle, the Heart of Yevon. The biggest city in all of Spira. Zana doesn't mind living here, but Zina seemed really upset about it. So she decided to hang back at the Celsius while the four of us report to New Yevon.

The foursome walks through the courtyards of Bevelle, as they were quickly greeted by a man.

"The Besaid Warriors," he said. "How kind of you to visit."

"Baralai," Tidalesca said.

"Hey, Dad!" Zana said.

"Nice to see you again, Zana," Baralai said. "You know, your mother was worried. You should think twice about visiting every now and then."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Zana said, rubbing the back of his head. "We were busy with sphere-hunting and all."

"Where's your sister?" Baralai asked.

"She's back at the airship," Zana explained. "She wanted to keep an eye on things while we're gone. She sends her regards, though."

"Come in this way, Besaid Warriors," Baralai said.

They then walked through a courtroom, where they were greeted also by Paine.

"Well, The Besaid Warriors," she mumbled.

"Hey, Mom," Zana said. "Zina sends her regards."

"As it seems," Paine said, with her arms crossed. "What brings you all here?"

Tidalesca then took out the sphere they had found at the Baaj Temple.

"This," she said. "My mom once told me if I find anything suspicious, I would come here or the Youth League. I thought that I'd come here."

"What's in this sphere, anyway?" Paine asked.

Tidalesca then played back the sphere at them. by the time it was done, they just stood there, still thinking it over.

"Well?" Vidina asked.

"I'll have to report this to the Yevonites," Baralai explains. "And the other New Yevon leaders. But for now, keep the sphere in case of anything related to this recording."

Tidalesca nodded.

"Yes, we'll do that," she said.

Sasuno then nudged Tidalesca's arm.

"Can we please go?" she whined. "As leader, I say it's time we go!"

She then walked to the exit in a fast speed.

"You all should go," Paine insisted. "We were hoping you would all stay for the night, but we have very important business meetings with the New Yevon counsel. We're still in the talks of banning Machina from Bevelle."

"But wasn't that years ago?" Tidalesca asked.

"We're still in the talks," Paine said. "We'll let you know of any reports."

"Got it," Zana said. "See ya, mom! Dad!"

With that, the trio followed Sasuno out of the courtroom into the courtyards for the exit.

"Sasuno, why do you have this sudden urge to leave so sudden?" Tidalesca asked.

"You know what those Yevonites do to Al Bhed like us," Sasuno explained. "It's something you guys would never understand."

It's true. Even after Sin's defeat, some of the Yevonites still hate Al Bhed, for they fear that if they created more powerful machina, they fear that Sin would return. I doubt that much, since Sin is gone for good. But still, a lot of people fear for the worst to come.

Back at the Celsius later on, Sasuno was looking through the computers as she had found a file.

"Hey guys!" she called out. "I found something! Remember that recording of Seymour Guado? I checked through Shinra's old files when I suddenly found this!"

Tidalesca then came from behind Sasuno's chair as she reads outloud:

"Seymour was half human half Guado, who both races thought was a disgrace. When he returned to Guadosalam when he was still a young adult, Lord Jyscal, former maester of Yevon, feared for the worst for Spira. It was revealed that Seymour had killed his own father just so he could be Maester, and that he wants to end all of life of Spira just to free them all from pain and sorrow. But thanks to the help of Lady Yuna, he has now gone off to the Farplane."

Tidalesca then sighed.

"But that was 22 years ago. I doubt that would be good help for us in the future. Anything from the sphere we found in the Thunder Plains?"

"All I found were some junk about the Machina War," Sasuno said. "There are more files, but it's gonna take a while for the scanning to be done."

Then, the alarms suddenly went off.

"We're getting some more sphere waves, guys," Vidina reported. "And it's...Oh boy."

"What? What is it?" Zana asked.

"These sphere waves are coming from Besaid," Vidina explained. "If three of us goes, we all go."

"No worries," Zina said. "I updated the security system with Sasuno's help. It wouldn't hurt to take a break from all this sphere hunting time."

"After all, it has been a while since we last seen our parents," Tidalesca said, as she nudges Vidina. "We did took off without giving them a warning, first."

Vidina then did a long sigh.

"Fine," Vidina said. "We're gonna be grounded by the time we lay one foot at the Besaid Village."

And with that, The Celsius takes off in a greater speed...

End of Chapter Two...