Categories > Games > Final Fantasy X-2
Changes
2 ReviewsShelinda wants a change.
Shelinda sat down in the hair stylist’s chair. “I want you to cut it short,” she said.
“Sure thing,” the stylist said, “what style do you want?”
“Cut it just like Lady Yuna’s,” Shelinda said.
“That’s easy,” the girl smiled. “We get lots of requests for that.”
After seeing Yuna and Rikku and that new girl, Paine and after what they said about Shelinda not really changing, she was a little distressed. She really wanted to change, to start her life over. After she got her hair done she was going to shop a little, buy some new clothes; she was tired of these heavy robes.
It had been a big decision, coming to Luca to do the sphere-casts. A friend of a friend had told her about the position and she was excited about it, a big chance to leave the past behind her.
XxXxX
It had all started when she was little, just five years old and Papa left. Mama got angry then. When Shelinda asked her where Papa had gone, she said he’d gone to be a Summoner. That’s when Shelinda started to believe so hard in Yevon. If Papa believed so much that he would leave them, then it must be a really remarkable thing.
Then, three years later, Shelinda was in the market buying fruit and she saw him, Braska. She didn’t know anything about him then, just that he was wearing the robes of a Summoner and he was very handsome and tall and had a wonderful smile.
She didn’t always remember what her Papa looked like anymore because Mama had put away or destroyed all of the spheres and she had just been a little girl when he left. Now she was big, old enough to do all of Mama’s chores and old enough to haggle with the fruit vendor, who was a mean old lady and a cheater. She tried to charge way too much for her wares.
A big dark man was with him and a warrior monk. The dark man came over to the fruit stall and looked at the dragonfruits.
“Lookit these things, funny looking, aren’t they, how much are they, lady?”
“Fifteen gil,” the old woman said, even though she’d just sold one to Shelinda for five.
“I’ll take three,” he said, slapping some gil on the table. The old lady blinked and Shelinda laughed. The man smiled at her and ruffled her hair.
The Summoner just watched, but he was smiling too, as the dark man threw him a fruit and he caught it neatly. The monk had his fruit thrown straight at his head. He flung up his katana to fend it off, slicing it neatly in half. The two halves fell on the ground and spun for a few seconds. All of them laughed at the monk, even Shelinda, and his face got red and he frowned.
They looked like they were having fun. Shelinda wondered, could that be him? And wished he would come and visit Mama and her with his friends. She watched them leave and resolved right then and there that she was going to be a Summoner too.
XxXxX
“Your father left us for another woman, he never was a Summoner,” her mother told her, the night Shelinda left to start her training.
“What?” Shelinda said, the pride and excitement draining from her. She’d been so pleased to get away from her mother’s temper and her orders, and happy she could send her income from the Temple home so her mother wouldn’t have to weave so many blankets, with her stiff, sore fingers, which she complained of so much.
“I lied to you,” her mother said. “I thought it would be better if you didn’t know what a sneaking bastard your father really was.”
“But you said he died, on his pilgrimage,” Shelinda fought back tears. She had thought, all this time, that her father might have been Lord Braska, the handsome man with the shining blue eyes that she’d seen in the market, that he’d been a hero, and that she could be one too.
“I wish he was dead,” her mother said. For a brief moment Shelinda hated her then, but she forced herself to smile and say that it didn’t matter, to kiss her mother on the cheek and say goodbye.
XxXxX
Then Shelinda thought she ought to serve Yevon to atone for her mother’s awful lie, that someone needed to take the place of the fabricated Summoner her mother had talked so much of. But she failed.
“You’re not strong enough to commune with the faith, Shelinda, I can’t let you continue your training, it would be suicide.”
“But I have to,” she said, hands balled up at her sides, in her white novice robes.
“Perhaps you can serve us another way,” the priest said gently.
XxXxX
So many reasons Shelinda had become a priestess of Yevon, so many reasons she’d donned these uncomfortable and elaborate garments. The hair stylist showed her the back of her head with a small mirror.
“I like it,” Shelinda said. She watched them sweep up her hair from the floor and throw it away.
“Sure thing,” the stylist said, “what style do you want?”
“Cut it just like Lady Yuna’s,” Shelinda said.
“That’s easy,” the girl smiled. “We get lots of requests for that.”
After seeing Yuna and Rikku and that new girl, Paine and after what they said about Shelinda not really changing, she was a little distressed. She really wanted to change, to start her life over. After she got her hair done she was going to shop a little, buy some new clothes; she was tired of these heavy robes.
It had been a big decision, coming to Luca to do the sphere-casts. A friend of a friend had told her about the position and she was excited about it, a big chance to leave the past behind her.
XxXxX
It had all started when she was little, just five years old and Papa left. Mama got angry then. When Shelinda asked her where Papa had gone, she said he’d gone to be a Summoner. That’s when Shelinda started to believe so hard in Yevon. If Papa believed so much that he would leave them, then it must be a really remarkable thing.
Then, three years later, Shelinda was in the market buying fruit and she saw him, Braska. She didn’t know anything about him then, just that he was wearing the robes of a Summoner and he was very handsome and tall and had a wonderful smile.
She didn’t always remember what her Papa looked like anymore because Mama had put away or destroyed all of the spheres and she had just been a little girl when he left. Now she was big, old enough to do all of Mama’s chores and old enough to haggle with the fruit vendor, who was a mean old lady and a cheater. She tried to charge way too much for her wares.
A big dark man was with him and a warrior monk. The dark man came over to the fruit stall and looked at the dragonfruits.
“Lookit these things, funny looking, aren’t they, how much are they, lady?”
“Fifteen gil,” the old woman said, even though she’d just sold one to Shelinda for five.
“I’ll take three,” he said, slapping some gil on the table. The old lady blinked and Shelinda laughed. The man smiled at her and ruffled her hair.
The Summoner just watched, but he was smiling too, as the dark man threw him a fruit and he caught it neatly. The monk had his fruit thrown straight at his head. He flung up his katana to fend it off, slicing it neatly in half. The two halves fell on the ground and spun for a few seconds. All of them laughed at the monk, even Shelinda, and his face got red and he frowned.
They looked like they were having fun. Shelinda wondered, could that be him? And wished he would come and visit Mama and her with his friends. She watched them leave and resolved right then and there that she was going to be a Summoner too.
XxXxX
“Your father left us for another woman, he never was a Summoner,” her mother told her, the night Shelinda left to start her training.
“What?” Shelinda said, the pride and excitement draining from her. She’d been so pleased to get away from her mother’s temper and her orders, and happy she could send her income from the Temple home so her mother wouldn’t have to weave so many blankets, with her stiff, sore fingers, which she complained of so much.
“I lied to you,” her mother said. “I thought it would be better if you didn’t know what a sneaking bastard your father really was.”
“But you said he died, on his pilgrimage,” Shelinda fought back tears. She had thought, all this time, that her father might have been Lord Braska, the handsome man with the shining blue eyes that she’d seen in the market, that he’d been a hero, and that she could be one too.
“I wish he was dead,” her mother said. For a brief moment Shelinda hated her then, but she forced herself to smile and say that it didn’t matter, to kiss her mother on the cheek and say goodbye.
XxXxX
Then Shelinda thought she ought to serve Yevon to atone for her mother’s awful lie, that someone needed to take the place of the fabricated Summoner her mother had talked so much of. But she failed.
“You’re not strong enough to commune with the faith, Shelinda, I can’t let you continue your training, it would be suicide.”
“But I have to,” she said, hands balled up at her sides, in her white novice robes.
“Perhaps you can serve us another way,” the priest said gently.
XxXxX
So many reasons Shelinda had become a priestess of Yevon, so many reasons she’d donned these uncomfortable and elaborate garments. The hair stylist showed her the back of her head with a small mirror.
“I like it,” Shelinda said. She watched them sweep up her hair from the floor and throw it away.
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