Tale of Moon and Sun

The white haired youth laughed and took his lover’s hand. “It wasn’t my idea to begin with, you know…” he reminded the prince, looking up to him with a smile. “It was your uncle’s.”

“Yeah, my whole family’s kinda… weird. But that’s them, and I’m used to it. I’m not exactly normal myself…”

“So I noticed,” replied Baralai as he looked up, noticing that where they were headed looked quite different than Nooj’s part of the temple. The priestesses chamber was perhaps as large as the observatory, though hexagonal in shape, and divided three ways between each woman. The first thing noticed by the group was a large pool of water that sat in the center of the three priestesses, each who sat among cushions, censers and silken draperies of one of three colors. The pool itself was raised above the ground on a triad of thick legs, and even was molded into a hexagonal shape as the room was.

The three women who greeted the group each seemed to represent different aspects of the lunar cycle, and it showed in not only their ages, but in the representative colors they wore. To one side sat a young woman, close to Baralai’s age, with silvery gray hair and stern eyes the color of blood. To her right sat a more voluptuous, slightly older female with pale skin and black hair that fell around her shoulders and down her back in thick braids supported by ornate hair sticks. Her swathes were red, and she watched the group carefully from under her bangs with her own amber toned eyes. The third and final woman was not only dressed entirely in black, but she had dark skin and a fierce gaze when she watched the group of visitors entering the chamber. She was perhaps the least inviting of the priestesses, and the power of her gaze made the young guards in the group afraid to look in her direction.

O’aka, on the other hand, did not seem to be affected by the trio as he walked past to give their guests room to enter. “Honored guests from Bevelle,” he announced cordially, “These are the Priestesses of Lunaris. The young lady in pure white is our Maiden Paine, patroness of marriage.”

Upon her introduction, Paine stood gracefully from her cushions, approaching Prince Tidus first to give her welcomes. “It is a pleasure to see you again, my Prince,” she said in greeting, however, the depth of her voice and the way she spoke made it hard to tell whether or not she was pleased to meet anyone.

O’aka beamed merrily as the second priestess was already to her feet, this maternal figure approaching slowly. “This is Mother Lulu, our lovely patroness of motherhood.” The woman greeted Tidus as Paine did, but then turned her attentions to the white haired youth of the group.

“Young man, you have quite an unusual hair color for someone from Bevelle,” she said with a hint of levity in her otherwise cool tone of voice. She turned to Paine, who nodded in agreement.

“Silver or white hair,” explained Lulu, cupping Baralai’s face with a red-nailed hand, “Is usually a mark for someone from Zanarkand, someone meant for the priesthood.”

Baralai raised a brow at the red-robed woman, then cast a sideways glance to Gippal, who seemed a bit on edge about a beautiful woman pawing his lover. “My Lady, I… I am not sure if I am originally from Bevelle. My family was lost when I was a child…”

“My, my, what a story then…” the third priestess had stood from her place by the gazing pool and approached Baralai as well, snatching the youth’s chin rather roughly in comparison to the gentle hold Lulu had. “And this mark of the Naga upon your face is a white scale… you are certainly blessed for a pauper’s child,” she said coarsely, turning to O’aka with a sneer as to his lack of her introduction.

“Ah, yes, High Mother Dona… she is the most wise among our lovely ladies of Lunaris,” fumbled O’aka, quite unnerved by the oldest woman’s gaze. “Well, ladies, you seem to all have opinions on this young man…”

Paine slipped into the group and pried Baralai out of Dona’s black-clawed grip. “He’s unusual, to say the least, but it is nothing we are perplexed by. Forgive our excitement, Baralai.”

“How did you-” he started, looking over at his friends, who seemed to unanimously shrug at the question.

“We are not seers because our eyes are sharp,” said Paine flatly, giving Baralai a small flash of a smirk that he almost mistook for a twitch of muscle.

O’aka intervened to rescue the jeweler from the priestesses, taking Baralai by the hand, explaining their reason for their presence. “Well, according to Prince Tidus, he is on a mission from King Braska of Bevelle to-”

“Investigate the death of Princess Yuna with our help. We know, O’aka,” said Mother Lulu, dismissing the bishop with a wave of her hand. “So allow us to do our duty and leave him to us. We are curious about this young man, so leave us until we summon you back.”

“Oh… well, yes, all right… don’t want to keep you from your duty,” replied O’aka sadly, a bit put off by Lulu’s discharge.

Picking up the slack quickly, Tidus made a suggestion for O’aka, brightening his sudden gloom as the prince suggested it. “Hey, O’aka, since the Ladies want time with Baralai alone, why don’t you finish up the tour with the rest of the guests? I’m sure they’d love to learn more about the temple.”

O’aka clapped his hands and looked to Baralai, who simpered and nodded, casting Gippal a quick look of desperation to not be alone with the trio.

Tidus caught the look and managed to get Gippal out of the tour with another simple suggestion. “Yes, O’aka, you show the rest of the guards around while Gippal and I discuss… ah,” however, unfortunately, the young prince did not have such a clever excuse Gippal from the temple’s tour.

“Talk about the current politics with this new scandal,” said Gippal rapidly, covering Tidus’ fumble.

“Very well, gentlemen, if you would…” began O’aka, the two human guards looking at each other with a roll of their eyes. Kimahri isolated himself and stood near Baralai.

“Kimahri stay near Baralai. Kimahri is Baralai’s guardian while jeweler is on mission,” stated the Ronso flatly, looking down at the stout older man for objection. There was none to be gained from the timid Bishop, who ushered away the other guards to the rest of the Temple.

Tidus nodded and gestured for Gippal to follow, who did so without argument. Once the other men, aside from Kimahri, were gone from the Chamber, Paine moved to the chamber double doors and shut them, followed by the Ronso taking up a guard position near the entrance to make sure no one would come in and interrupt the priestesses’ examination.

Lulu was the first to take a hold of Baralai’s hands, bringing the white haired youth closer to the gazing pool for examination. Dona stood to Lulu’s opposite of Baralai, Paine joining her sisters shortly after. Baralai looked between the three ladies with a deep blush on his face, as he was quite unused to being brought under such a thorough assessment.

“Why is it you wish to take such care to examine me, my Ladies? I am a simple man…” asked Baralai softly, intimidated by their presence and their seeming psychic abilities.

Paine was the first to speak. “As Mother Lulu stated, it is unusual to see one from outside of Zanarkand with white hair. My hair is silver, and that is even more common than the sheer white you possess.”

Baralai had just started to nod when Lulu began her part of the explanation. “Also, as I said, white hair as a birth color is also a sign of our god Lunaris. So, to have white hair…”

“In a man your age, from Zanarkand… it’s not normal,” finished Dona, running her sharp nails over Baralai’s scalp, searching for any traces of a powder application to make it such a bright, colorless shade. “You were born with this color, right?” she said harshly, expecting the color to be revealed as a fake.

Fighting the urge to protest the dark skinned priestess and her rough treatment, Baralai nodded. “Yes, I have always had white hair. I don’t know why… maybe my family was originally from Zanarkand.”

Lulu asked the next question, nodding at the reasonable suggestion of Baralai’s misplaced heritage. “Then, here is another question, Baralai: Has your skin always been so dark?”

“I… maybe…” replied the lone man, tensing when Dona placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Are you sure?” she hissed irritably.

Paine turned Baralai from Dona’s grip, resting her hands on the young man’s shoulders, being much more calm about the interrogation than either Dona or Lulu. Taking a deep breath, the red-eye priestess took a moment before looking into Baralai’s gaze.

“The reason we ask is because Lunaris is said to have white hair… pure white hair and skin.”

Baralai swallowed hard, his brows furrowing. “You’re not suggesting that I… a regular man, am relative to Lunaris?”

Lulu chuckled lightly and ran a soothing hand down Baralai’s back. “No, not at all, Baralai. We know that you are a normal young man. Besides, Maiden Paine forgets to mention, but not only were Lunaris’ hair ad skin said to be white, but his eyes as well. We just got a bit over-zealous with your appearance. Our apologies.”

Dona and Paine bowed in apology as it was offered, Baralai looked between all three women with a brow raised. “So, keeping me here wasn’t really a necessity?”

“Not especially,” said Paine with a smirk, this time holding it for Baralai to see. “But would you really have lasted on that gods-awful tour with O’aka?”

The jeweler let out a breath he seemed to be holding in, letting it go with a laugh. “I probably would not. But why make such a show of it?”

Dona spoke this time, answering with her own smug grin. “Because O’aka likes to talk, and he fears us. He fears we may predict an early demise for him, so he tries to stay on our good side.”

“But, Baralai, our keeping you here is not entirely for the sake of sparing you a few hours of boredom,” interrupted Lulu with a business-like tone. “If we are to help you with our visions, we do need to get to know your energy, as well as collect a few things from you.”

“Things?” echoed Baralai uneasily, the question being immediately fielded by the Maiden priestess.

“Information, hair, a drop of blood… these are things that help us focus.”

Baralai nodded in understanding as the threefold priestesses brought Baralai to their cushions to discuss what was needed.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Zanarkand and the second Prince of Bikanel were walking back toward the other half of the temple, toward where Oracle Nooj resided.

“…So, the temple of Lunaris is quite… impressive, to say the least,” said Gippal, trying to steer the conversation away from the morbid subject that brought them here.

“You think they’re crazy,” stated Tidus, looking up at the taller blonde with a sideways glance. “I think living too long in a temple might have been a bad career choice for O’aka’s family… O’aka the first,” he said lightheartedly, mimicking the bishop’s accent.

Gippal chuckled, walking along with his head tilted down, his hands at his waist. His thoughts were back with the priestesses, though he was trying to keep up with Tidus. “So, what’s your take on this Nooj guy?”

Tidus shook his head, scratching the back of it. “Beats me. I think the guy could use some sun and some air. Shuyin’s told me that guy’s been oracle since he was a kid.”

“Damn,” mumbled Gippal, nodding his head at the weight of such a thought. “I mean, no offense, but c’mon… how’s he supposed to tell people about the world if he doesn’t see it?” The Al Bhed dropped his voice as the scent of heavy incense filled his nostrils, indicating that they were drawing closer to the perched prophet.

“No, no, I understand the confusion about it. Shuyin’s said that’s the way it’s been done, ever since the first Emperor…” Tidus paused, leaning against a wall with a sigh. “I hoped Nooj would be the one to oversee my wedding to…” he stopped, covering his eyes with one hand. The younger blonde started shaking, trying to hold himself together.

Gippal looked around and then scooped the smaller prince into a hug. “Hey, it’s all right…” he murmured gently, understanding Tidus’ crack in emotional stability. The Prince was going through a most heartbreaking loss, and had been putting up a cheery, strong front for longer than most could have considered normal. “Shh…” whispered the Al Bhed heir, running his fingers through Tidus’ hair. “I understand…” he said soothingly, despite the small sobs from the Zanarkand Prince.

Tidus wept for another few moments into Gippal’s chest before coming back to his senses, wiping at his eyes when he pushed away from the Al Bhed. “Th-thanks, Gippal, for-”

“Hey, don’t mention it. Yuna was a special lady. Gods… I think I’d be a puddle if I lost Baralai.”

Tidus smiled up at the taller man, putting his hands on his hips and leaning in a way that reminded the Al Bhed very much of his baby sister. “So, you really love him that much? Didn’t you guys meet by chance?”

Gippal crossed his arms defensively, but there was a smug grin on his lips. “No, I intended on finding him myself… I think my heart just went from there…” he looked down, a little blush forming on his face. “I guess I’m a sucker for pretty eyes.”

Tidus shook his head and laughed. “You’re not worried about controversy?”

A solemn shake of the head was Tidus’ answer. “No way. If anyone tries to separate-”

Their conversation was cut short when a faint scraping sound came from the doorway of Nooj’s meditation chamber. Both men’s heads whipped to look and see what caused the disruption, finding the doorway to the chamber pulled open a small crack.

“Huh, that’s odd. Those doors shouldn’t open by themselves. They need someone to lean on them to open, usually. And usually servants handle the doors,” said Tidus aloud, approaching the doorway carefully to inspect the sliver of space that had mysteriously opened up.

Gippal came up behind Tidus to inspect the door as well, peering through the slit to see only an obscure view of the large room. “Maybe it’s Noojie-Woojie’s bath time.”

“’Noojie-Woojie?’” repeated the Zanarkand prince, giving Gippal a curious look as to just how the Al Bhed came up with that nickname.

Gippal defended himself with his hands on his hips. “I think I’ve seen infants who were handled more roughly than that guy. They completely baby him.”

Tidus turned to Gippal, giving the door a long last look before making eye contact with the other prince. “Even so, this door shouldn’t be open… I don’t hear anyone on the other side…”

Gippal grabbed the doors by the opened space and started to give the one that had leaned out a hard pull. “Well, then maybe we should check on his holy loftiness.”

“Hey, show a little respect…” said Tidus tiredly, figuring it pointless to ask anything of this particular man. “At least let me help…” he added, wedging his fingers in beside Gippal’s.

Both men pulled on the double doors, grunting and straining to pull it apart. The door seemed stuck on something, or something seemed jammed in the door’s pivot. Both took another few minutes to get the door open, giving up when their fingers started to burn.

“What in Bahamut’s name is keeping this thing shut? Something’s gotta be stuck in the door on purpose if this just happened to slide open…” said Gippal, shaking a finger at the door as he looked it over. “We only managed to get it a tiny bit more open… lemme see…” he said, pushing his faze against the crack in the door. The Al Bhed took a few moments to press himself in different directions before he realized that the only way he was going to get an effective view would be to have his right eye back.

“You look… this door isn’t kind to a cyclops…” grunted the taller man, letting Tidus step in and take a view.

After a few moments of searching the room as best he could, Tidus let out a surprised gasp as he discovered something that was definitely amiss.

“What?”

Tidus turned to Gippal with a stunned look on his face. “Nooj is gone! He’s not on his pillar…”