"I've had many names over the years, but you may call me Erk. Now, let's hurry so I can go somewhere and sit. These sandals weren't meant for traipsing into damp basements." Erk threw open the cloister doors and entered with something between a shuffle and a stride.

Alright then Erk, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope that you can hold up on our journey ahead. We have a long road ahead of us. Oh, I have two other guardians, neither of which is too fond of the temple, you'll meet them later. For now though, we should navigate this cloister.

As Shinu stood in the center of a room, three walls seemed blank and the one behind him was the way back out of the door. Not knowing what to do, Shinu figured a summoner or their guardians must be strong, so he tried to push in the eastern wall. He pushed every inch of it up and down and side to side, still no good.

Well Erk, that was the only plan I had in mind. Your turn!

Shinu was embarrassed, but he hoped that his excitement would be enough to keep Erk from walking back out of the cloisters.

Erk half-strode into the center of the room and looked around.

". . . there..." Erk pointed to a marking etched and faded into the wall.

Out loud, he said, "There, Shinu. Doesn't that seem slightly suspicious?" Erk made his way to it, and lightly traced it's design...

And it began to glow. Erk hurriedly began to back up as best as his bones and robes would allow. Then.... the wall began to fade.

"So the glyphs are the keys..." to Shinu again, "Keep a look out for designs resembling these. They're doubtless appear again, and are probably our path through the Cloister." Erk passed through the now vanished wall.

"Hi, I'm Tif, it's real nice to meet you, but I've got to find someone, and quick!" Tif was obviously faster than the other girl and ran around her. She passed through the gates and into the village. She shifted her run to fast-paced walk. She twisted and turned, looking for Shinu in every spot of the home to many. She stopped in the middle of a brownish-yellow circle. By now she knew Shinu was in the temple, and she didn't want to step inside because of a previous experience.

Tif sighed and looked at the ground as her fellow traveler and the strangers from the beach approched her.

Mieli was feeling just a little bitter after having to chase Tif completely across Besaid. He finally caught up to Tif and caught his breath for a second before he shook his head back and forth and focused his disgustful glare at the ground near Tif's feet.

"What's so frightening Tif?"

Mieli sensed Tif was not pleased with him joking around with her and intuited what had just happened with a little bit more effort putting everything into context.

"I hope you don't feel decieved. I don't believe I lied to you as much as I simply didn't inform you. If you have questions, I've got more answers for you...but you're going to have to wait to ask me or deal with others knowing our business. I owe you that choice."

Mieli light up a new smoke in anticipation of dealing with an awful lot of impulses from many people around him. He just wanted to remove himself into a lonely nirvana where he wouldn't feel under so much pressure, but it wasn't his right to decide that.

Was Shinu embarrassed? Probably so. It was just him and Erk though, and Erk didn't seem like he was going to give up on Shinu, so he figured he may as well keep these slip ups to himself. He tried to stay focused, but even again he messed up on his first attempt to handle himself. After rubbing along each wall for a while, Erk finally rolled his eyes and instructed Shinu to use the spheres.

There was a shining blue sphere, no more than five inches in diameter resting in a small shelf like holder. It was blue in color, and Erk told him it was Besaid sphere, which made no impact on Shinu at the time. Pretty unoriginal name if it was up to him to be the judge, but oh well, time to move on. Shinu was pretty excited that the door opened when he put the Besaid sphere in its empty spot. Seemed pretty simple, open spot equals put in a sphere. Got it.

Moving on into an L shaped hallway, Shinu ran through to rub his hand along the wall and did manage to find a few rooms by activating some glyphs. It may not have been the prettiest method, but Shinu was going to get out of this cloister one way or another. Shinu found a spot to put the Besaid sphere he was holding into and that raised yet another section. Things seemed to be going well, and Shinu was starting to understand what was going on. Erk taught him that the pedestal also had an affect on things when a sphere was in it. Shinu found one to put in there, well he had to find a different one after Erk taught him not to use the Destruction sphere unless you thought it would lead to something. Shinu found another Besaid sphere in a room that a glyph revealed and put it into the pedestal. Shinu got a bit excited when Erk told him he could put the Destruction sphere where he found that Besaid sphere.

Shinu raced to the purple Destruction sphere and sprinted back out to where he found his newest Besaid sphere. Erk seemed to be entertained by Shinu's enthusiasm, and was playing it up as much as he could. He showed Shinu where the Destruction sphere would cause the damage and Shinu definitely was willing to try to set the sphere in its slot and race to see the wall blow up. He almost made it too, hearing the wall explode and seeing some of the dust and smoke clear was cool, but he made a note to get faster so that he could see it next time. What Erk didn't tell Shinu was that the Destruction sphere brings you presents. With any luck, he'd find something for Tiffany so he could make it up to her the shock of becoming a summoner. He should have waited for the smoke to clear, but he closed his eyes and opened the treasure chest of anxiousness. When he pulled his head back out and finished coughing, he cleared what felt like a ring off on his shirt. Sure enough, it was a bright shining ring, with a crystal blue diamond in the middle.

Erk told him that it was a magic enhancer, and that made Shinu just a little sad. Tiffany didn't seem like the magic casting type, but he guessed he may as well keep it in case it ever became useful. Erk refused to take it because it clashed with his hair or something of the sort. Shinu finally pushed the pedestal into place in the remaining room and a staircase was open, the chamber of the fayth awaited him within. Before he walked in, Shinu turned to Erk.

I'll be back shortly. Thanks for everything.

Shinu turned and took his steps up the stairs, and in to the illustrious and hallowed chamber of the fayth.

". . . and alone again. . . " Erk gathered his robes about him and shivered in the damp. He settled himself down into a nook in the wall, and resolved to keep a watch from there... but he was so tired after all this traipsing around in temple basements and walking across the island, and..........
He was asleep in the next moment, his chin resting on his chest as he snored in the nasally way of old men.

Tif looked up from the ground, which forcefully made her look at the temple. It was beautiful. She never seen that shade of blue anywhere before. She remembered when she just was 12 years old. It was at Lake Macalania. The only place in Spira she's ever been to besides Bikanel and Besaid. She ran away and across the lake, towards the temple, while the other Al Bhed were at the Travel Agency, spread all throughout Spira, ran by the Al Bhed themselves. Tif ran to the temple, but she was disturbingly turned away by the Yevonites. With no where else to go, she went back with the Al Bhed, whom never noticed she had left.

She took in a deep breath and tuned around to take a look at the village. One-room huts filled the the village with families inside of them. People were out and about, some chatting amongst themselves while others took in the beauty of Mother Nature. It was quiet.

"Well, looks like there's really nothing here. Well, at least for you and me, Mieli."

"Finally i have saved up the ten thousand gil thats needed for the renevations of the temple" i said softly to myself. Being an old templs priest this was about the extent of what i could do any more. I ran my hand over my mustash and down my short white beard, I was always cleaning and doing small repair to the temple but it didnt do much good, now i had the money to pay profesionaly to come and renevate for real. I was sitting in a small chamber inside the besaid temple now counting the gil again to make sure i really had finaaly made the amount nessisary...

The dreams came to Erk again, and the pain they brought was in no way dulled by the hallowed nook he had taken for his bed.

Erk stood in the air, looking down from above upon waves crashing onto the breakers. Dashed upon the rocks lay the remains of ships, a great fleet, all in ruin, while red-throated gulls and black kites feasted on what the water spared of the crew.

Then all shifted again, and Erk stood upon a single, floating point of ground, and all else was void. Shining, bright void. He stood somewhere in the Farplain, where he had devoted his life before he was forced to flee. From the depths of the void all about came even brighter points of light among the glittering riot he found himself in the midst of. The souls of his teachers came to him yet again.

He shrank back from one and threw up warding hands... but it was no avail. They were too many. Concussions wracked his frame as he was battered back and forth, and the ground he stood upon was shattered...

Just as he had upturned the ground of so many others.

He plummeted into the swirling, empty chaos below, and then....

He was nothing.