Speculum

hoyhom2 Chapter 2 Sion woke before the sun rose the next morning. Going about his daily routine, he expected to see his father awake by the time he was clean and dressed for the day. Surprised, his father’s room was left untouched from the night before... which meant that Seymour and Yuna were both still in the temple. He walked outside and looked around as the people of Besaid began their daily business of prayer and practice. The crusaders were already out, patrolling the small island, getting rid of whatever fiends they found. Sion ran over to Wakka’s small hut and peeked in, only to catch part of a conversation that he and Lulu were having. “I don’t like this, Lu’... not one bit. She should have come out by now, eh?” Wakka had his arms folded across his chest. “I’ll go, you have to practice.” Lulu sighed, “I hope she is all right.” “Hey, Seymour will take care of her, ya’?” Wakka shrugged, then turned and saw Sion peeking in at them. “Hey! Good mornin’, kiddo’!” “Good morning. What’s wrong?” Sion asked. “Ah, nothin’ you should be worryin’ about! C’mon, I promised we’d play blitzball today, right?” Wakka grinned, tossing a blitzball at Sion. Sion grinned as he caught the ball, “all right!” “Lu’, don’t worry so much. Seymour is already in there... I’m sure everything is fine... at least I hope so.” Wakka tried to comfort Lulu again. “Either way, I’m going. You two be careful... fiends do like to come out, especially after little boys.” She smiled softly at Sion. “Well, then, you shouldn’t worry... I’m not a little boy.” Sion stated boldly. Lulu grinned, “Good luck today.” “Thanks. I think we’ll stop by the temple and pray for victory. What do you say, eh, Sion?” Wakka asked him. “I don’t need to pray.” Sion shook his head. “You’re father’s not lookin’... so if you want to pray, now’d be a good time, ya’?” Wakka insisted. “I’ll just wait for you outside the temple. I don’t like going in there.” Sion argued. “I dunno what your dad’s been teachin’ ya’... but it don’t sound to good.” Wakka criticized. “Well to me it’s my dad. To you it’s Sir Seymour.” Sion nagged as he walked out. After Wakka finished praying at the temple, the two set off towards the shore by the docks with no interruptions by any fiend. Upon reaching the shore, Wakka greeted his blitzball players, one by one telling them what to work on in preparation for the next tournament at Luca. Blitzball season was to start within three days, and the Aurochs were simply not up to par. Every year they’d go to Luca and every year they’d lose. Last place. Sion wondered if Chappu hadn’t died, if it would have made a difference in the way the Aurochs played. Part of him doubted it, the cynical part of the boy, yet the other part kept faith in Wakka, simply because he was a dedicated player, and one of Sion’s best friends. Even at the age of ten, Sion showed exceptional athletic potential, even battling fiends beside his fathHe tHe trained with the Aurochs, despite their less then honorable reputation, in hopes that he could become an all-star blitzball player, like the man his father told him about. The Aurochs began practice as they normally would, warming up and bouncing the ball back and forth between each other. Wakka started teaching Sion how to get a good punch into the ball when Botta called out to Wakka. “Cap’n Wakka... you see that?” he nudged Wakka’s arm gently. “Whoa...” Wakka paused, staring off at a body, visibly floating in the water close to shore. “You think he’s dead?” Wakka asked Botta. “Only one way to find out.” Sion tossed the ball up in the air and hit it as hard as he could. Strangely enough, the ball slapped the floating body on the flat of his back and, with a startle, the body thrashed about and looked around. The blitzball floated past him and the blonde grabbed it and spun around at the sound of Wakka’s voice calling to him. “Hey! You okay?” “Yeah!” the blonde called out before whipping the ball back towards Wakka. The ball zoomed past Wakka, nearly slapping his head. “Whoa...” Wakka chuckled a bit, impressed by the stranger’s skill. “Come to shore!” Sion called. Soon enough, the dripping-wet stranger was standing in front of the Aurochs and the young ten year-old. “Hey, where you from?” Sion interjected before anyone of them could speak. “Who you play for, eh?” Wakka asked. “The Zanarkand Abes!” the blonde said proudly. The silence that followed obviously embarrassed the boy. Wakka approached him and pat him on the shoulder. “You okay, buddy? What’s your name?” Wakka raised his eyebrows. “I, uh, got to close to Sin’s... toxin.” the boy said nervously. The resounding “oh” that muttered from the team had the lad looking about him, seemingly thankful for the reaction. Sion stared up at the stranger, hesitant to ask: “What’s your name?” “I’m Tidus... uh... hiya.” Tidus scratched the back of his head as he spoke softly. “Tidus, eh? You’re lucky you’re still alive. Praise be to Yevon.” Wakka said, performing the traditional bow. The Aurochs followed Wakka’s example... all except for Sion. “Wakka, we should gck.&ck.” Sion nudged at Wakka’s arm, suddenly remembering Yuna and Seymour were still in the cloister since this morning. He was also concerned about Lulu’s reaction to seeing this boy... he did after all, resemble Chappu a little too much. “Probably... Hey Aurochs! Keep practicin’, ya’?” “Cap’n!” “Hey, Tidus, come with me, ya’?” Wakka grabbed the blonde and tugged him along whether he wanted to come or not. Sion walked ahead of them calmly, listening in to their conversation, catching bits and pieces of Tidus’ story. Wakka was convincing him to play for the Aurochs... hoping that Sion paused and looked ahead, spotting two familiar faces not too far ahead. “Gatta! Luzzu!” Sion waved. The crusaders came up to the trio and smiled. “Wakka, good to see you. Be on the look out, the fiends are on the loose today.” Luzzu stepped forward and nodded. “Who is this with you?” “This is Tidus, come to play for the Aurochs.” “Well... good luck to you. We better get back on our rounds and report to base, sir.” Gatta commented. “Yeah, thanks boys. Good luck to you to, ya’!” Wakka smiled at the crusaders as they left. “What’s a crusader?” Tidus asked. “They’re people who work under Yevon. Guardians of the people and all that.” Sion nodded. “I can see Besaid from here! I hope they’re back by now.” “Hey, don’t run to far ahead! Your dad’ll have my head if he sees a bruise on you!” Wakka screamed after Sion, running ahead. Tidus, confused, followed. Sion walked into his house, then right back out, sighing. “What’s going on?” Tidus asked, looking around. “Nothin’ you gotta concern yourself with right now... my hut’s right over there. You take a nap now, ya’?” Wakka encouraged Tidus towards his hut. “You’re probably hungry, too. Just nap and I’ll make us some lunch.” “Okay... what aboum?&#m?” Tidus asked pointing to Sion. “He’ll be fine in the village.” Wakka nodded, “Just stay out of trouble, ya’?” “I miss my dad. I haven’t seen him in the past day.” Sion sighed. Meanwhile, Seymour leaned against a wall, his eyes were heavy with grief, but he stayed awake, listening to the sounds around him. Across the room, Lulu stood, her arms folded across her stomach. Silence had been their only conversation since Lulu arrived in the chamber. Seymour did not speak, nor did he look happy when Lulu walked in. “I do hope she’s all right.” she sighed, shaking her head back and forth. “She will be fine.” Seymour brushed the lock of blue hair that strayed in front of his face. “Aren’t you worried about Sion?” Lulu asked. “Why should I be worried? I left him in your care and you passed him along to Wakka. I can depend on Wakka.” Seymour turned towards Lulu, sending her a vicious glare. “I was worried about Yuna!” Lulu snapped. “As if I couldn’t take care of her... of this? I have twice the experience you have, yet you put no faith, not one ounce of confidence in my abilities.” Seymour turned his head, “You should not have come.” “Yuna shouldn’t even be here! It was because of you that she’s here!” Lulu yelled. “Yuna follows her heart, like her father did. I promised Braska I would help and support Yuna in whatever she did. And here I am.” “It’s no usguinguing...” Lulu sighed. “I wasn’t arguing.” Seymour retorted. Silence accompanied them again. Seymour’s words had gotten to Lulu, which was understandable, given Seymour’s condition and experiences. Before long, Tidus ran in followed by Sion and Wakka. “Sion, what are you doing in here? Who is this?” Seymour demanded, picking Sion up and kissing him gently on the cheek. “Who? Who are you?” Lulu gasped at Tidus. Before anyone could answer the door to the fayth opened, and Yuna emerged, sweat dripping off her forehead. Seymour set Sion down and looked up at Yuna. She stumbled towards the steps and fell forward as if to fall. Before she could, Seymour ran up the stairs and caught her, steadying her on her feet. Yuna stood, silently thanking her guardian and brushed her haiom hom her sweat-covered forehead. “I’ve done it. I’ve become a summoner.” she smiled. “Are you well, Yuna?” Seymour asked. “Yes, I am sorry for worrying you, please... forgive me.” Yuna sighed. “Do not apologize, you have done nothing wrong.” “Yunie!” Sion called running to her, “I’m glad you’re okay.” Yuna smiled as Sion wrapped his arms around her waist, then looked up to the blonde standing before her.