Categories > Games > Final Fantasy X > Memories of a Guardian

Day 30, Year 8 of Braska's Calm: Planning a Pilgrimage

by helluin 0 reviews

On the voyage to Kilika, Lulu and Ginnem lay out their journey.

Category: Final Fantasy X - Rating: G - Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama - Characters: Lulu, Other - Published: 2006-12-02 - Updated: 2006-12-03 - 716 words

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Our journey begins. Yevon, hear my prayer: grant me the strength and wisdom to guard Lady Ginnem and see her safely to Zanarkand.

Farewells were awkward and painful, but in the fresh air of the open ocean I could not long feel the sting of Chappu's final reproaches or Yuna's silent worries. Sea travel clears the mind! A part of me can never forget what happened to my parents, yet I understand now why sailors risk going out again and again. Freedom! Few Spirans dare to travel without good reason, for Sin and Fiends make journeys hazardous, but oh, it feels good to escape the narrow confines of village life for a while and breathe. Who knows what marvels wait beyond the horizon?

Lady Ginnem and I had a long talk today. We had already discussed our respective motives, but it's important to be honest with one another.

Ginnem has no personal ties left to anyone this side of the Farplane. Gaining the respect in death that she never received from her father in life is a small, bittersweet part of why she is doing this, but I do not think it is her driving motivation. Like Yuna, she believes that she can bring hope to Spira, and she yearns to help the common people in ways that the priesthood and the Teachings cannot. Atonement is the only thing that will end Sin's terror once and for all, but in the meantime, it is worth it to her to end sorrow even for a little while by giving Spira a respite.

Also, she feels a certain kinship with the Crusaders-- why are Summoners and Crusaders not working more closely together to defeat Sin? But she is no leader, and does not have the clout in the temple to push for changes there. At the least, she can help save a few Crusader lives by putting Sin out of the picture for a while.

Lady Ginnem respects my reasons as well. She saw a glimpse of what I see in Yuna, and is not insulted that I should choose to Guard another Summoner in order to protect my friend from the pilgrimage's dangers. On a more sober note, Ginnem acknowledged that she could fail, and she wants to help me learn all I can about the pilgrimage route and its hazards. I will thus be better prepared to serve as Yuna's Guardian, if I must.

Lady Ginnem has been preparing for this pilgrimage for some time, the moreso since she was not certain when and where she would find a Guardian. She has mapped out our route and compiled detailed notes on all the places we will be visiting: Kilika, then Djose, Bevelle, and the Calm Lands. She has chosen to bypass Macalania Temple, since the Fayth from Bevelle is so powerful that she doubts the last Fayth is really necessary. So she says, but I have a suspicion that she is really trying to avoid Guadosalam. It's a strange place, by all accounts. Fresh with fervor since Lord Jyscal converted its people to Yevon, its people's eagerness to assist passing Summoners is apparently a mixed blessing. Also, there is apparently some turmoil brewing there over the return of Jyscal's son from exile, and the mysterious death of Jyscal's wife. Some old-fashioned Guado are still not entirely reconciled to Jyscal's reforms and his unorthodox marriage, while others are siding with his son and blame Jyscal for his wife's death. In short, Guadosalam is unstable beneath the surface.

Those are reasons enough to steer clear until it's settled down, but I can't help wondering if Lady Ginnem simply doesn't wish to go near the Farplane Portal, due to her own painful loss. "Looking to the past for guidance about the future is pointless," she told me.

That may be so, but her research in the records of Djose Temple and the Crusaders' archives is impressive! She has loaned me her notes to study. There is so much to learn about Spira. We reach Kilika tomorrow, so I am absorbing everything I can about Ochu and elementals tonight! I hope my water spells will hold against the latter.

Ugh. Apparently the Kilika jungle is full of large insects.


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