☆ 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝑘 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔏𝔲𝔩𝔲 ☆

❝ If there ever was such a place, it was likely destroyed by Sin, or Yevon decreed that the knowledge held within them too dangerous and had them burned. I find myself questioning why some things were allowed to remain and others not. Like a deeper truth is being hidden. —Will this door do? ❞

As she began actively helping him in his search, checking this and that door before deeming them no good, he posed a question to her which got her thinking.

❝ The Temples have the scriptures of Yevon, but as for books being housed in one place... ❞ She shook her head to herself.

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As for Flynn's comment about using technology, and perhaps too much of it, she couldn't help but wonder if the people of Zanarkand ever felt that way before Sin came to destroy it all.

Not that any of this was getting them to a door any faster.

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Lulu nodded in response to his question before raising her right hand. Flames began to form and dance on the tips of her fingers before she turned her hand palm up and extinguished the flames.

❝ Yes, magic. I command many elements and many besides that. ❞ It was normal to her, like breathing.

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❝ ...I'm sorry, but it isn't obvious at all. You keep saying you are a librarian and work for a library... but it means little and less to me. You're looking for something, that I understand, but that's all I understand. ❞

Yevonites that wanted to keep the past buried, to deny all the truths they had uncovered. So, what did that make her? The Teachings brought her comfort, and yet she knew them to be a lie. But did she support the excavation of Machina?

Lulu wasn't so sure.

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❝ No, I know what magic is, I can use magic myself. Machina, machines... I don't know any other word for it, Machina is forbidden here. ❞

Though not strictly true, there was those now actively researching ruins such as this to learn how to move Spira forward. It was the die hard

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This was starting to remind her of things they had learned on the pilgrimage, of how the Fayth dreamed a version of Zanarkand that was untouched by Sin, how Sin itself could exist between the Spira of now and the dream the Fayth created.

Her head was starting to hurt.

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Unlike other Yevonites, Lulu wasn't so devout that even the mere mention of Machina had her clutching her pearls, but she was curious how all of this worked and who had built it.

❝ Who is it you work for? Do they often send you on wild Chocobo chases? ❞

As she began guiding them back to the ruins, pointing at this and that door as they came across them, Lulu couldn't help but ponder this 'Annex'.

❝ This place we're going to, the Annex... what kind of place is it? And how do these doors work exactly? Is it Machina? ❞

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At least he was able to tell her where they might end up, there was a moment there in which she'd been bracing herself for him telling her he had no clue and that they'd figure it out once they arrived.

She could work on a whim, but there were limits and she didn't want to reach them too quick.

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❝ Okay... so we can rule Besaid and Spira as a whole out. I've travelled a lot and don't recognise anything in your maps. So, we explore the ruins and find a door? ❞

After her suggestion, and handing the maps back to him, Lulu paused.

❝ Do you know where this door will take us? ❞

❝ This isn't the island... even taking into account natural erosion and attacks from Sin... the shape is all wrong. ❞

Rolling it back up, she looked at the second, and then the third before concluding that the maps didn't have anything familiar for the island or anywhere in Spira.

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Patience was something she had always thought herself blessed with, and it was moments like this one that she was ever more grateful for it.

Taking the maps from Flynn, she walked over to a nearby boulder and examined the first one, humming softly to herself.

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And she had been about to lead him to the nearest ruin, which would take them off of the path they were on, when he mentioned having maps.

She wanted to face-palm so badly.

❝ —I could take a look? If nothing else it might rule out the island as a place to look? ❞

❝ A door? Like the one you came through or can it be any type of door? ❞ She asked because the doors to villagers homes and even the temple itself were no more than heavy drapes.

Unless...

❝ There are ruins nearby, maybe we could look there for a door? ❞

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She wanted to ask him about the Guardian's he used to work with, what they were like and if they were different from herself and other Guardians in Spira, but it could wait.

Right now they had to find this tomb, for neither knew if not finding it first would be good or bad.

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❝ Nevermind. If this tomb you seek isn't here, then perhaps we should start looking elsewhere? Do you have any clues? Any leads as to where it could be and how we'd recognise it? ❞

❝ far worse and less capable than me. ❞ She shuddered mentally at the thought of Tidus or Wakka having found Flynn first.

❝ —Perhaps we were fated to meet, perhaps whoever sent you here thought that you needed me? Whatever it is... ❞ She shook her head, trying to stop herself from overthinking.

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Colour her deeply confused. If he was a stranger, then how would he know what a Guardian is? Unless... where he came from it meant something entirely different?

❝ Yes, at your service. I understand we don't know one another, but trust me when I say you could have easily run into someone ❞

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Which lead somewhat perfectly into her answer regarding what she normally did when she wasn't being baffled by energetic strangers.

❝ I'm a Guardian. Think of me as a personal bodyguard of sorts. ❞ Though she normally protected summoners, this wouldn't be much different.

Exciting was one way of putting it, but given she's a glass half-empty kind of girl? Lulu saw it as being troublesome and worrying. Maybe it was a good thing she'd been the one to run into Flynn?

❝ That's one way of looking at it. Very well, consider me at your service. ❞

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stxr

The tl;dr version is that she's blind in her left eye. She lost sight in it when she was with Ginnem down in the cavern of the stolen fayth. A fiend took it while she was trying to protect a dying Ginnem.

And so, despite how bizarre it all felt, Lulu found herself believing him —even if the details were a little on the hazy side.

❝ So, just to clarify... you've been sent to look for this tomb of Izunia, but you don't know why or why anyone else would be looking for it? ❞

If she didn't know any better, and by that she means , if she hadn't saw Flynn essentially pop out of nowhere, she would swear this had Tidus and Wakka written all over it.

But even they weren't as creative as all of this just to pull a silly prank at her expense.

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along a well worn path amidst sand, tall grass and tropical trees. The village and temple weren't far now.

❝ May I ask why you and these other people are looking for this tomb? I understand it is important, but why is it important? ❞

Well, that certainly changed things. Generally speaking, if multiple people were looking for a place, object or person, it usually meant there was a reason for it and from her own experience, that didn't always mean the reason was a good one.

And so, she picked up the pace, leading him

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❝ Sir, please... could you just take a breath? ❞ He was making her feel dizzy. ❝ Yes there are doors here, and we can go to the temple if you think it will help? ❞

Shaking her head to herself, Lulu began leading the way. ❝ Come on, maybe the walk will do you some good? ❞

She felt as though she were watching some sort of comedy skit. One in which the character had perhaps had too much tea, or a speed spell had gone wrong and now the poor man was stuck doing everything at a hundred miles per hour.

Weirdly, she envied him his energy.

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