Chapter 7

I met him again after several weeks.
The one I'd puzzled over and over again the whole time. Which concerned me not less but more and more.
Who sent for me as we crossed the woods near the moonflow.
We were summoned to Guadosalam. Now that we had to cross the thundering steppe anyway, it was on our way anyway.

Yet I felt the strangest when an envoy from the Guado informed me that Lord Seymour wished to see me. What could this powerful man want from me, what did he have to tell me? Who have i been A medium like many. And yet he had apparently taken care of me and helped me and my Guardians more than once. The moments when I had seen him, like Luca, appeared in my memory. Or the Toran on Mushroom Rock Road when we talked. Most present to me, however, was the conversation on the beach, after the terrible outcome of the Miihen offensive.I had doubted for days, had questioned his words. I remembered the strength, the calm, the warmth and the sovereignty that he radiated. He was right to reprimand me, and yet I thought he would understand. As if he had looked inside me and saw my worry and fear. That, in turn, plunged me into emotional chaos out of new worry, because he seemed to know me better than I did myself.

On the other hand, I was grateful to have found someone to share my dark thoughts with. Who understood my fear that I might fail.
Then there was his undeniable physical presence. It attracted me and that was completely new to me. On the beach, I almost wished I could take refuge in his embrace, crying, smell his body warmth and smell of forest, and find it comforting. But I deliberately held back, because these new feelings and thoughts would undoubtedly make me doubt my task.It couldn't be, for the sake of Spira, so I closed my heart and my mind and concentrated on what I had to do. To end my pilgrimage successfully and finally to summon the Final Aeon to bring Spira a new time of silence, as my father once did. And yet ..... I waved that thought aside with an angry gesture.

We reached Guadosalam after a strenuous journey for a few days. We were already expected, and the young maester's secretary, an elderly Guado named Twamel, received us at the entrance to the city. It lay underground between the roots of the world trees and was incredibly beautiful. And old. It seemed like she'd always been there.

I remembered the content of my teaching as a budding medium, what my teacher had told me about the Guado underground settlement. Guadosalam housed an entrance to the farplane. To the place that received the souls of the blessed.The place where we could get in touch with our family members, with the loved ones who had left us. It lay here peacefully, giving the illusion of a Spira without SIN.

We learned from Twamel that he had already served the late Lord Jyskal.
A loss that had badly struck the Guado people, it was Lord Jyskal who had brought them the teachings of Yevon. Who disregarded all prejudices and prohibitions and took a human wife. Who had placed love above old traditions and fathered a son with it. A halfling. The present lord. Seymour.

It was very difficult for them, the half-breed and his mother. Cast out and despised by both peoples, Jyskal had brought them with a heavy heart to the temple of Baaj,
where they could live without the disdainful looks of people AND Guado.
Seymour lost his mother as a child and he learned to hold his own.
He went his own way, became a medium when his talent was recognized, then a priest, and finally rose to head the Guado and Maestes dey Yevon after the death of Jyskal.Thanks to his intelligence and wise conduct, the Guado finally accepted him, and relations between the secluded forest people and the other tribes of Spiras improved. He carried on what his father had started and meanwhile the Guado worshiped their young, strong and mighty lord. I felt sorry for Seymour, and realized how easy my childhood had been compared to the resistances and obstacles he had to overcome. It explained a lot. I saw him in a new light. But that didn't make it easier for me to close myself off from him.

Twamel led us to the residence and told us to wait in the lobby.
I looked at the pictures of the past Guado guides on the walls.
They were all there. Seymour's picture hung next to his father's, and I had to admit that the mix of Guado and human inheritance made him a handsome man. His distinguished demeanor, his calm and sovereignty made this mixture perfect.Yuna! I called myself to rest. Hold back, you have a duty to do. No space, no time for feelings or inappropriate, superfluous romantic impulses. I hoped this would also work if I faced him in person.

Then Twamel led us into a kind of salon. Refreshments had been provided for us, and Twamel said how much he appreciated being able to look after guests again after Jyskal died. My guardians also helped themselves to the food on offer and seemed grateful for the pleasant rest, with the exception of Auron, who was suspiciously aloof, and Khimari, who had told me in a quiet minute that he did not like Seymour or the situation. I reassured the stubborn Ronso, begging him for patience and consideration. He nodded, but remained attentive.

I liked old Guado and we talked until we were interrupted by Seymour himself. I hadn't noticed his entrance.While Twamel was talking extravagantly about the future of the Guado and the people of Spiras, he had entered the room through a door on the opposite side.
I only noticed that he was in the same room with us at all when I heard his voice reproaching his secretary and confidante for his exuberant hymn of praise for the young lord. It seemed to displease him to be so praised in front of strangers and he expressed this clearly. Twamel bowed, apologized, and then left the room. He didn't seem to mind having been reprimanded like a child in front of everyone in the room. I, on the other hand, found the complaint unnecessary. It wasn't that bad. The nature of the reaction was too violent. I didn't like seeing that trait in Seymour at all. But there was no time to worry about it any further.