Cape. 1

I often think back to those days, to that time.
To my companions, to all that we have experienced and suffered together. Have endured. Have won AND lost. To those who live their lives today and to those who have lost it. To my friends and companions. To Auron, to Tidus. My loyal, beloved Guardians.
And I still think of him a lot - and I'm still sad every time I do it. Today I understand how he became what he was.

When I first saw him, I was amazed.
I don't think anyone who was waiting in the crowd in the port of Luca for the archprima's ship had expected to see a Guado of all people walking down the ship's landing stage. The relationship between the Guado people and the people of Spiras was primarily characterized by restraint, even mistrust.
Relations had improved dramatically in the last few decades,
but these different peoples did not feel connected.Everyone reacted surprised, some even annoyed, I could tell from the murmuring around me. I couldn't quite understand it either.
I literally stared at young Guado. He might be around twenty-eight. And going down was probably not the right word for the way he moved. Despite his considerable height - and I was sure that he must be at least as tall as Auron, if not larger - he moved with the sleek elegance of a large big cat, similar to those that live on the Calmlands.

He looked calmly and with serenity at the waiting, whispering crowd, but seemed unimpressed by the many eyes that watched him curiously, waiting or even disdainfully. His appearance was extraordinary. He had the colored hair so typical of the Guado people, an interesting blue. It reminded me of the color of the water in Besaid Bay when, on a cloudless day, the sky is reflected in the calm waters of the lagoon.It was shoulder-length and largely disappeared into the collar of the gray-blue robe, except for two seemingly gravity-defying and almost hip-length strands on each side, and one more that fell from his forehead in an elegant curve, a well-cut face with high cheekbones.

What I found most exotic, however, was the drawing of the Guado on his face, a distinctive feature of his tribe. It was only pale and not as pronounced as other members of his people, but it clearly showed the Guadoran heritage in him. But she did not disfigure him. It just seemed to belong in that face.

I heard two Lucas residents whisper in front of me. From their low whispers I gathered that the man was apparently a mixed breed. A descendant of a relationship between a Guado and a human. I focused again on the young man, who turned away with a flowing gesture and then, with his face on the ship, knelt on his knees in front of the jetty.I looked at his back as my mind raced. A Guado halfling on Mika's ship… ..why? The whole thing was really puzzling.

Then the Arch-Primate of the Yevonite Order, the spiritual leader of Spira, appeared at the railing. Archprimas Mika strode down the landing stage, accompanied by two monks and two guards. He urged both the young Guado and the crowd, which had sunk in awe, to rise.
Then he succinctly solved some of the puzzles that occupied the waiting people around me and myself.

So the halfling was Lord Jyskal's son. Lord Jyskal, leader of the Guado people, who died only a few months ago and whose loss was mourned across Spira.
Jyskal… ..I had almost forgotten the stories. Jyskal had married a human woman. It came back to me.

It had been an incomprehensible bond for Spira, and an ineradicable sin in the eyes of his own people.Yet he had achieved what he had always fought for. He had brought the teachings of Yevon to his people. And through his marriage to a human woman, the Guado advanced the rapprochement of the other tribes of Spiras. But he had paid dearly for this dream. He had had to comply with the wishes of his people to have his wife and child from Guadosalam moved to Baaj, since the Guado did not accept the woman and the halfling for long in Guadosalam.

His death had been a major blow to diplomatic relations.
I heard Mika's words. Lord the Guado was now this exotic-looking, so distinguished-looking man. And not only that - he was also a maester of the Yevonite order. Such a young man - a maester? That had to mean he had to have extraordinary skills. My gaze fell again searchingly on the halfling.

Mika gave him the floor and the young lord turned to the waiting people.
His voice surprised me again, for it was as velvety as a starry night and soft as the feathers of a chocobo, clear as the water of the streams that flowed down from the Gagazet mountain range.She tied me up. I couldn't say why. I only know that I hung on his lips as if spellbound. He mentioned his name, his origins, his goals as Guadolord and Maester des Yevon.

Lord Seymour Guado, maester of Yevon. His words echoed in my mind. The man was a mystery to me. I just couldn't take my eyes off. Instead, I kept staring at him - how rude - and then he stopped talking. I was still staring at him and trying to figure out his words, his arrival with Mika, even him. Mika said goodbye to the crowd and walked off towards the stadium.

The guado looked into the crowd. Let his eyes wander over it.
Then our eyes met, and unconsciously I widened my eyes as his eyes met
aimed at my face. I took a startled breath but was unable to look down.
An amused smile crossed his face. I unconsciously held my breath, too scared to breathe.All my senses were focused on him. I had never seen eyes like this before. And never before had anyone looked at me so brazenly appraisingly, as if they wanted to find out everything about me with that look. Without realizing it, I took a step back and clenched a fist, which deepened the amused smile. The look from his blue-violet eyes burned my face. It was impossible for me to avoid him. He was questioning, curious and demanding at the same time.

The thoughts in my head were racing, racing. I couldn't understand anyone clearly.
He nodded apologetically and shrugged his shoulders briefly. Then he turned away.
I let out a breath of relief, though I felt an incomprehensible, unwelcome pang of slight disappointment as he turned away. Relieved that his intense gaze no longer seemed to pierce me when my inappropriate and incomprehensible nervousness subsided and I calmed down.

Until Wakka, in his inimitably direct manner, made a comment to tease me.Wakka, who was like a big brother to me. "That seems to really turn you on," he teased me. The blood shot to my face. The worst part was ... I knew he was right, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself.
There was something strange going on about the maester, something that attracted and at the same time put me off. Something that somehow didn't go together. Who was this charismatic man and what significance did his appearance have for our world?

I didn't know then, and now I can understand his motives, even if they are still unacceptable. "Stupid stuff" I grumbled, but the flaming blush on my face belied my words - and Wakka knew it. His roaring laughter can still be heard in my ears today, but it doesn't bother me anymore.

After that, events rolled over in Luca.