Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own anything Final Fantasy related.  So quit asking!

Author Note:  I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story.  A lot has been going on with starting a new college and frankly, I'd just lost interest in the story.  However, I've since come across my notes and rough drafts and figured what the heck.  I'm not sure how consistent I'll be with the updates.  So I need you, my dear readers to keep me going.

// = translated from Al Bhed.

* = telepathy or any thoughts being heard by Ceres.

Song of the Wanderer: Chapter 4

         &nb sp;  Ceres slide down from Ixion's back and gazed at the ruins before her.  It looked as if it was once a massive temple complex, but now resembled a stone skeleton; crumbling and overgrown with vines.  The stone columns that lined either side of a partially visible walkway leaned heavily against one another; giant dominos that hadn't completed their fall.  The Wanderer moved towards the main building in a trance.  As she ascended the steps of the forgotten temple, Ifirit suddenly called out to her.

         &nb sp;  "Where Ceres go?"

         &nb sp;  Dazed, she turned to find that the Aeons hadn't followed her down the path.  Confused, Ceres paused and considered the fire beast's question.

         &nb sp;  "Someone's…..calling me," she replied.  Then she turned and started towards the temple once more.

         &nb sp;  "Who?"  Ixion's voice sliced through to her fogged mind.  Ceres cocked her head to the side, as if listening for something.  A slow smile spread across her face, the kind you give an old friend who has been gone for a long time. 

         &nb sp;  "Leviathan," she simply replied and entered the temple.

The temple interior was in worse shape then the outside had been.  Part of the roof had caved in; blocking the entrance to what was once the Cloister of Trials.  Ignoring this, Ceres crossed the debris strewn floor to the wall on the far right.  A glyph appeared at her approach.  Without any hesitation, Ceres reached out and touched the magical symbol.  The glyph dissolved and formed a portal.  Still in a dream-like state, she stepped through and was plunged downwards towards the Fayth's Chamber. 

         &nb sp;  Ceres landed on a small sandbar in the middle of an underground lagoon.  She stood in a daze before the entrance to the chamber.  The door opened and Ceres snapped out of her eerie trance.  She blinked a few times and calmly took in her new surroundings.  The first time this happened it had scared the lnyb out of her, not knowing where she was or how she'd gotten there.  But the same thing happened again at Ifirit's Temple, so Ceres figured this was what always occurred when an Aeon called to a Summoner.  Although, she pondered as a tiny frown crossed her face, she wasn't a Summoner.  Ceres distinctly recalled asking Ixion that when they'd first met.  He'd chuckled and assured her that she was defiantly NOT a Summoner.  So, what did that make her?  Ceres would have given the idea more thought, when she mentally felt a tug towards the fayth's chamber just as a voice from within called out.

         &nb sp;  "Arre you going to be all day, little birrd?"  It hissed, somewhat impatiently.  Ceres smiled and entered the room; all her previous thoughts seeming frivolous.

         &nb sp;  Inside, the chamber was damp and partially flooded.  Moss clung to the walls and the air smelled of salt water and mildew.  Ceres cautiously entered the dimly light room.  Squinting, she could barely make out the large shapes that occupied the center of the chamber.

         &nb sp;  "Come closserr, my dearr.  Sso thesse old eyess can ssee you betterr," came the soft hiss of a female voice.  The Wanderer hesitated a minute before replying.

         &nb sp;  "I would like to see where I'm going, please."

         &nb sp;  "I think that can be arranged," the voice chuckled.  A few words, spoke in a language Ceres didn't understand (but felt she should), and the room was flooded with the light of a thousand candles.  Finally, Ceres got her first good look at the owner of the hissing voice and gasped.  Reclining against the remains of a once colossal statue was the largest reptile ever seen; Leviathan, the sea-dragon.  The dragon tilted her head and regarded Ceres, who had come to stand in front of the long forgotten Aeon.

         &nb sp;  "Sso, you have come at lasst.  I've been waiting forr a long time, little birrd."

         &nb sp;  Ceres frowned in confusion as she gazed in awe at the sea-dragon.  Leviathan was a long serpentine dragon (about the length of two blitzball stadiums), with short front and hind legs.  Her scales were a deep sea green, faded with a touch of gray.  The dragon's eyes were topaz yellow, which glowed in the flickering candle light.

         &nb sp;  "I don't understand….who are you?"  Ceres asked.

         &nb sp;  A dry, rumbling sound filled the cavern.  Ceres jumped in surprise, and then realized that the sea-dragon was laughing at her.  Leviathan studied the young woman before her with a satisfied smile that revealed many long, sharp teeth.  Ceres swallowed the lump in her throat as she noticed that the dragon's claws were the length of her entire arm.

         &nb sp;  "Yess, I think you'll do, child.  I've been waiting a long, long time for one ssuch asss you to come thiss farr," the dragon hissed; sounding suspiciously satisfied.  "Little birrd, with sso much rridding on yourr wingss.  Come to me and we sshall sspeak."