(no subject)
"What are you doing?"
The voice behind Shuyin was calm, collected, and light as it carried through the breeze without seeming to weigh it down. It sent a tingle up his spine, and across his shoulders.
He had, in fact, been playing with Materia. Shuyin had been doing such since he had stopped travelling, settling quietly between the mountains just south of the shattered metropolis. How long he had been there was a question. Turning, he found himself looking up at a dark haired rail of a woman. Her sympathetic eyes and passive gaze drifted to the red marble that he held into his hand. She repeated her question in earnest.
"I'm...summoning..."
There was something odd about her, and he couldn't place his finger on it. Not just yet. After another long stare, he finally lowered his materia and turned away from the woman.
This shouldn't be a problem for him. "How did you get here?" He didn't hear anyone approaching, and Shuyin wanted to believe that he had instincts that wouldn't allow for anyone to sneak up on him.
He wasn't necessarily incorrect. The woman did not change her position, but her beloved Anima now loomed over the man, several times his size. She sidestepped as he fell backwards, knowing that even if she was whole, she would not be able to catch him properly.
Shuyin looked up at the woman, comprehending who, and more importantly, what, she was in a panicked daze. The Fayth found him and were going to send him back now, correct?
"That is not the case. I come on my own regard." It wasn't that she could read his thoughts. Isabel only knew the situation. She had been following it all too closely. Kneeling beside him, she stroked his face with a near invisible hand as she glanced back at her Aeon, fondly. "I found, that once she was manifested, my soul became lighter."
The young man shied away from her touch, which wasn't a surprise. His focus was still turned to the writhing Aeon above. How could it have ever come from this woman's soul? As a matter of fact, beyond the physical likenesses, he couldn't figure out how HIS Aeon had ever been a part of him.
But, the Fayth wasn't finished yet. "Aeons are not always a perfected essence of a person. In my case, my Anima reflected the sorrow I felt, in having to leave my son to provide a strong summon for him. She represents my will to make Spira a better world, as a result of the reflection of the people and their pain. Fortunately, she is not as needed as she used to be, but I take joy in her connection to me."
What? Shuyin fairly shook as he hopped to his feet. He had enough of this for now. "Why are you here?" He demanded.
"You remind me of Seymour. I wish to see that what happened to him, does not happen to another soul." With a smooth look back at Anima, the Aeon quietly disappeared back into the dream plane. "Leave this world. The Fayth are counting on you to change. They wish for you to learn from your mistakes, which is why they haven't thrown you back into the darkness."
The man's eyes widened. "They..."
"Did you think that they wouldn't be able to find you?" A fist curled as the woman looked hurt. "You are one of them. We can always find each other. We always know each other." Her eyes shook. Being a Fayth was a matter of great pride, regardless of the corruption that was wrapped around them. Intentions were pure, and to Isabel, that was what mattered.
Seymour? That...blue haired psycho? Again, there were times that it took Shuyin's mind some time to catch up to things. Staring at the woman, he nodded evenly. It was apparent that the Fayth didn't mess around. And, where had his attempts at destroying them, gotten him?
"You are lucky that we did not choose to reflect our curses onto you."
"Why didn't you?"
"We had...faith that you would learn." The woman turned to leave. "But, it is always an option if you do not. You have much to think about."
And, then, she disappeared.
Shuyin dropped the materia that he had been carrying with him. Red and green stones bounced on the earth and were slowly sucked into the ground. But, Shuyin didn't notice this. He was too busy making his way back to the same shattered city, towards the bar that would take him home.
To Spira.