Author's Notes- Hello, everyone! This would be the second FFX fic I'm starting. Yay for me! ^_^ Okay, I'm going to give you a couple notes (hopefully quick ones) about this story…

(Shakes head disbelievingly) Songwind, you idiot! Why on earth are you writing a story about original characters in the FFX world? Don't you realize how hard it is to make people actually read, much less like, those characters? Well, I must ask you all to please, please give these characters a chance. Besides, if you're all good you may get a few peeks (or more) at the FFX characters. Heck, you're certainly going to hear a lot of references about them!

Next, I haven't played FFX-2 yet, so I don't know what happened in it. Therefore, I shall ask you to pretend that it never happened, at least in this fic.

Okay, third thing… there will be other religions in this story, or at least different factions, especially since by now the majority of humanity (and Guado, and Ronsos) know about the "true face of Yevon." Please don't review just to tell me that these things didn't exist in the game- I know they didn't!

Finally, I hate to sound like a review lover but I can't read minds! If you want to let me know your opinion about this story (be it good or bad), then please click on the pretty button at the bottom of the screen.

Thank you all very much, and please enjoy!

~*~

Chapter One- Ceremony Gone Wrong

"Rynna, are you ready yet?" a voice demanded. "We're gonna be late if you don't hurry!"

A young woman sat next to a window, using the glass as an impromptu mirror so she could adjust the bow on her back better. Straightening her hair slightly, she retorted, "Be patient, Darian! I'm almost ready."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you said an hour ago," she heard him mumble. However, he did become silent.

Sighing, she reached back to scratch at a place where the bow rubbed against her shoulder blade. "Do I have to wear this outfit?" she complained to her reflection. Naturally, all it did in response was mirror her exasperated expression.

Then again, there was no real need to anyone to answer her question; she already knew the answer.

Rynna ran a hand through her shoulder-length black hair, eyeing the outfit she found ridiculous. Her hair hadn't been this short in years, cut only at the insistence of her parents so she could look as much like "the greatest summoner of all time" as she could. Her top was mostly a white wrap, tied tightly together at the small of her back by a large, golden bow. She didn't wear leggings, as was her usual preference; instead, she was dressed in a dark blue skirt that went down to her ankles, with white flowers embroidered down the left side. The only reason it wasn't hampering her movements was because there was a small slit in the skirt on the right side, allowing her to walk somewhat normally. Finally, she wore tall, black boots that pinched her toes every time she tried said walking.

To add insult to injury, she had to carry around an ivory staff instead of her usual weapon of defense against possible fiend attacks (i.e. her energy channeling gun).

She frowned at the image in the window, picking up the staff. "At least you could have dressed more sensibly," she muttered. Louder, she said, "Okay, I'm coming out now!" With that, she strode to the door and opened it.

A young man with long, red hair and blue eyes looked up and smiled at her. "Finally," he drawled. "I thought you'd fallen asleep in there or something. Come on, Ry- I mean, Lady Yuna," he said, giving a small mock bow.

She rolled her eyes and smacked him on the head. "Save it for the ceremony, Darian, will you?"

"As you wish, my Lady."

She reached out to smack him again. He laughed and dodged.

"Come on, then. We really are going to be late if we wait any longer," Darian said. "You remember all your lines?"

"Yup. You?"

"Uh-huh. Wonder if Amie and Brand remember theirs."

"Brand doesn't have lines. He just has to stand around and be a typical Ronso, which shouldn't be too hard for him."

"True. Amie, then."

Rynna shrugged. "Most likely. Well, shall we head out?"

"We shall!"

The two of them left the hallway in which Darian had waited for her, and eventually left the hotel to meet the crowd of people that awaited the beginning of the ages-old ceremony. Rynna swallowed, feeling suddenly nervous as they approached the ceremonial priest and waited for the other two members of their group to show up.

Brand, of course, was almost instantly by Rynna's side the moment she approached the priest. The young Ronso was still reaching up to touch the horn on his head before giving the priest a glare.

Rynna shook her head, remembering what had happened a few days ago; before the ceremony, the priest had wanted to break the horn to make things more "realistic." Brand Ronso, who was already a bit miffed about the "stupid old Ronso outfit" he had to wear, had threatened to "break priest's face" if anyone dared to touch his horn. As Rynna understood it, only the closest of friends and family members could touch it.

Amie came a little more slowly, obviously self-conscious about the oufit she had to wear. Rynna felt guilt welling up within; the poor girl, a true Lulu look-alike, had been forced into this ceremony. What was worse was that Amie was very modest about her usual dress, and Lulu, according to the priests, had been far from modest where clothing was concerned. Amie was now dressed in a black dress, with numerous belts tied around her waist and legs. The neckline was so low that it seemed Amie might pop out of the dress if she made any sudden moves. Thankfully, she was allowed to wear a scarf around her neck at her own insistence.

The people of Besaid (the small town in which the ceremony began) held their breaths. The ceremony was about to begin.

"Apprentice Summoner Yuna," the priest intoned. "You are about to embark on a long, perilous journey to defeat a creature that no man or woman other than a true summoner may even touch. There is a great chance that you shall die on this pilgrimage, and an even greater one that you shall not return from your battle with Sin itself. Do you still consent to become the light of Spira?"

Rynna made the ancient prayer to Yevon, then nodded solemnly. "With all my being do I consent to this task, my duty," her voice rang out over the crowd.

The priest nodded approvingly, and turned to the guardians. "And do you, apprentice guardians Lulu, Wakka, and…."

The dark-haired girl suddenly blanched as a great weight seemed to descend upon her shoulders, and the world suddenly became a pitch black. For a moment, she could not see nor hear a thing, and she had to fight every instinct she had to keep from screaming. A nervous knot formed in her stomach, making an unpleasant taste rise up her throat, and…

…It was gone an instant later, as though she had never felt that great fear.

"I do consent to protect my summoner, even at the cost of my life," Darian, who played Wakka, was replying.

Rynna blinked, and felt her arms and hands aching. She realized that she had been grasping the ivory staff so hard that her knuckles had turned white, and blushed slightly.

"Then the Cloister of Trials awaits you all," the priest announced. "May Yevon be with you on your journey, apprentice summoner and guardians!"

The crowd cheered as the four young men and women turned to bow or nod at them. Then, the three 'guardians' turned to watch Rynna expectantly.

"Shall we?" Darian asked, smiling.

Blinking again, Rynna regained her composure enough to reply, "We shall." With that, she turned on her heel and headed towards the old temple of Besaid, where Yuna gained her first aeon.

~*~

"I heard that the Cloister of Trials is actually gonna have a puzzle or two in it this year," Darian commented as they walked along.

"Really? I heard you just touch a wall that has the most crap painted on it and you're done," Rynna replied, sighing. "Why did I get picked to do this?"

"Same reason as me, remember?" Darian said. "Hey, it ain't my fault Wakka's my ultimate grandfather, but you don't see me complaining! Besides, we get all the free food and stuff we want while we're on this little pilgrimage!"

"Um…" Amie interjected. "Actually, I heard that you can only get what you want as long as Lady Yuna and her guardians gained it."

"Psh. Like anyone knows the details," Darian snorted.

"Brand doesn't appreciate this conversation," the quiet Ronso said. "Brand doesn't appreciate humans' way of speaking of the past."

"Look, I have nothing against my grandmother," Rynna said as they went up the stairs and into the room. "In fact, I like the idea that there's no Sin around. I like the idea that you only run across a fiend two or three times a year! What I don't appreciate is having to do this stupid ceremony!"

"It'll only be a year of our time," Darian said. "A whole year without schooling, doing whatever we want on this… er.. pilgrimage."

"True, I do like the part about being excused from a whole year at school," Rynna admitted.

Brand gave a soft snort, and decided to ignore the rest of the conversation as they entered the Cloister of Trials. The doors closed themselves once all of them had entered, and gave final sounding bang as they stopped.

Rynna glanced around the dimly lit area they stood in now. "Looks like a hallway."

"We're actually in the, uh, Cloister now, right?" Amie asked.

Rynna nodded slowly, looking about herself with a grudging amount of respect in her voice as she replied, "Guess so."

Actually, the place wasn't much to look at; the priests came in every year or so to cut away vines and shoo away any fiends that may have taken up residence within the ancient Cloister. Other than that, the only part of the temple regularly cared for was the general area of prayer.

Still, Rynna thought. Grandmother and hundreds of others walked these halls, actually gaining magical creatures that would do their bidding at any time. One fist clenched. To think… man, I thought this place would look and feel as cheesy as the rest of this will be, but… it doesn't.

Indeed, the hallway held an almost ominous feel to it, as though she wasn't supposed to be standing there…

"Hey, Ryn? You with us?" Darian asked.

"Huh? Oh!" Rynna grinned. "Shall we head in and figure out this oh-so-tough puzzle they've left for us?"

Darian nodded. Amie smiled shyly, while Brand shrugged and marched off into the surrounding blackness without a further thought.

"Hey, Brand, wait for us!" With that, the group hurried off.

~*~

"Dude, how big IS this place?" Darian complained an hour later. "It's like a maze!"

Rynna nodded. "Seriously, not one symbol or stone thingy!"

"Ronso mentioned respect for elders before, did he not?" Brand asked almost smugly.

"Oh, hush you. Amie, got any ideas?"

The other girl shook her head.

"Oi." Rynna slumped against a nearby wall, ignoring the possibility of ruining the dress she wore. "Oh well. We're not supposed to come out until tomorrow, anyway. Let's take a break."

"As my lady commands," Darian replied.

Rynna smacked him, then turned to Amie and Brand. "So… Brand, I know you're from Gagazet, but where are you from, Amie? How far did they drag you?" she asked.

"Um… I'm from Luca," the girl said.

"Luca? Seriously? You get to watch all the blitzball games all year, then?!" Darian asked.

Smiling, the young woman said, "Well, my dad's an announcer for the games, so I get some cool seats…"

"Hey, we go to Luca during this pilgrimage, right? Odds are we should be allowed to hang around long enough for one game!" Darian said. "Dude, I haven't watched anything blitz related since I was twelve!" He turned eagerly to Amie. "So will you get us cool seats?"

Amie shrank back against the wall at Darian's sudden move towards her. "Well, um…"

"Relax, he's kidding," Rynna said, giving Darian a quick glare. The young man responded with a confused look. "So are you a descendant of someone? Like Lulu, since you actually look like her?"

Amie blushed. "No. Not that I know of. People just said I looked like her."

"Oh, that's cool. Well, Darian and I have lived here forever."

"Not forever," Darian said. "You came from some new village near the Moonflow when you were three."

"Oh, yeah. Right." Rynna waved a hand. "Did you manage to bring any food?"

"Nah. I got some water pills, though."

"Water pills?" Amie asked curiously.

"Yeah, newest thing." Darian pulled out something from a pocket and showed it to the group. "Take a pill when you're thirsty. Then you can suck it like a candy for hours and be totally thirst-quenched!"

"Cool," Rynna said. "We'll probably need it if this place gets any bigger." She stood up straight and stretched. "Well, I 'spose we ought to get going. Most of our time in here should be spent with you guys waiting and me in the Chamber, right?"

"Summoner praying while guardians wait outside," Brand said with a nod. "We should go, like Rynna says."

"Indeed, indeed! Follow me and you won't have any problems," Rynna declared cheerfully, twirling the staff about. "Let's go!"

~*~

"Finally, we're here!"

The group stood before a door that had nothing in the way of ancient symbols or holes nearby in the walls. The door itself had once been intricately carved, and lovingly painted and polished. Now, the paint was old and chipped away, and the only polished things in the room were the boots Rynna wore.

"Well, wish me luck," Rynna joked. She walked up to the door, and did the ancient prayer to Yevon.

"Good luck," Darian said, smiling.

"Mm," Amie added.

Brand merely nodded.

For a moment, all was quiet. Then, Rynna heard an odd rumbling noise as the door lifted to grant her, and only her, entrance. Once again, Rynna felt a wave of respect, reverence… even fear reach out to brush against her, if only for a moment. Then, the feeling was gone, and she stepped in. The door closed behind her.

"So, uh," Darian said. "Anyone up for 'let's count the tiles on the wall'?"

~*~

Rynna looked around the room she stood in, unable to help but feel a little closed in from the smallness of it.

The room seemed a lot newer than the hallways she and her companions had just trudged through; it seemed almost as though it had been cleaned up for today. Yet, the priests had claimed that no one had been in here except for the 'summoners' of the ceremony. Besides, the girl who'd last done this had said the place had looked older than…

…Well, what exactly it was older than, Rynna didn't feel like repeating, even to herself.

Her eyes travelled down to the floor, where a large, glass, half sphere was protecting something that glowed brightly. Her eyes widened, and she lost her breath for a moment.

"Wow," she whispered.

The glowing thing looked like a giant bird curled in on itself, resting. It glowed like embers in a fire, and it looked like the slumbering… er, bird… was actually alive.

Rynna took a breath, shaking her head. "No, it's not," she told herself. "Not alive. Just… good special effects."

With that, she knelt before the glowing… thing… and proceeded to do the ancient prayer to Yevon.

As was expected, nothing really happened. Rynna let out a sigh of relief she hadn't noticed she was holding.

Then, she heard the faint beginnings of a song.

"Darian?" she turned around to look at the door. No, the sound wasn't coming from there… "What, a sound sphere? How would it get in here?" she wondered aloud, and turned back to the glowing bird thing.

She gaped.

A small figure stood above the glowing half-sphere, transparent, with what looked to be pyreflies floating about his head. He was dressed in blue and green robes, with his hair done longer than her hair and Darian's combined. He wore sandals, too, and had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her.

She swallowed. "Um, hi."

"Young summoner," the being intoned quietly.

She shivered at that voice. It was smooth, and quiet, yet it filled the room more than a normal movie sphere or person should have been able to do.

"Young summoner," he repeated. "Why hast thou interrupted mine slumber? Who art thou, to enter my chamber and disturb me so?"

She looked up and stared. "Um." Then she shook her head. This must be part of the script you skipped over. Just play it cool, she thought. "I am Apprentice Summoner Yuna, come to ask aid from you."

The being watched her thoughtfully for a moment. Then, he said, "You lie."

"Summoner Yuna came to me two centuries ago, willing to give her life for all of Spira. She came asking for mine aid. Thou… look like her, and thou doth share her blood faintly, yet thou art not her. Once again, I ask ye- who art thou?"

"Um… I'm Rynna."

The being nodded. "I am the fayth known as Valefor. What is thy purpose for coming to me, young Rynna?"

"Er…" This is definitely not in the script! Someone's either playing a big joke or something's gone wrong! she thought.

The fayth frowned. "Why dost thou not reply?" He drew closer, peering into her eyes. Then he drew back, as though burned. "Thou art no summoner!" he accused. "Not even an apprentice!"

Oh, dear God… "No," she admitted. "I'm just Yuna's distant relation."

"Why art thou in my chambers?!"

"Do you raise a fuss over every girl coming in here? We've been doing this since Lady Yuna brought the eternal calm, two hundred years ago."

The being looked taken aback. "What?"

So Rynna explained quickly to the fayth- if that was, indeed, what it was- about the ceremony, the 'pilgrimage' she was to take.

The fayth looked even more disturbed than before. "So this.. is naught more than a formality? A mere mockery of its prime?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, not a mockery! Just a celebration. It's a way of honoring my grandmother."

"Yet, thou seemest not so honored as thou should be."

"No. I wasn't really… prepared to undertake this." She bowed her head. "Look, if you're really a fayth… weren't you all dispatched two hundred years ago, so Yevon wouldn't return?"

"Yevon? He left as pyreflies centuries ago. No." The fayth shook his head. "I have horrible news for thee, descendant of Lady Yuna."

"Wh-what is that?" she asked, blinking.

"Eternity is not truly forever. And this… eternal calm. It is not forever, either."

A chill ran down her spine. "What are you getting at?" she demanded. "Speak English!"

The fayth looked to the doorway. "Listen."

"But, what are you-"

A transparent hand reached out to touch an index finger to her lips, instantly silencing her. His eyes commanding, the fayth ordered her to listen. And Rynna did.

At first, she heard nothing but her own breathing. Then, slowly, she began to hear…

"Why are people screaming?" she whispered.

"Listen again," the fayth replied.

The chill slowly grew, entering the rest of her muscles as she tensed and listened more.

Her eyes widened as she began to register what, exactly, she was hearing from the outside world.

"Sin?!" she asked.

The fayth looked sad. "He is not the original Sin, no. But he is a Sinspawn."

"A fiend? Why would anyone be scared over a puny little…"

"You didn't hear me. This is one of Sin's true spawn. A young duplicate, finally formed."

"You're… you're lying!"

"Am I?"

Suddenly someone began pounding on the door to the Chamber. "Ryn! Ryn!" she heard Darian scream. "Something big's attacking the village! We gotta help!"

"But the ceremony-" Amie protested.

"@#)%& the ceremony! My folks are out there! RYN?!"

Rynna looked at the fayth, who removed the finger from her lips. "Sin?" she whispered. She tried to stand, but merely stumbled and fell back against a wall.

"Yes, descendant of Lady Yuna. Sin has returned."

"Oh my God…"

~*~

People are wondering who plays Tidus and when he comes in, correct? Well, more about him and the others shall be explained next time. Until then, please lemme know what you thought! Thanks!