Masque slips back to following him, a silent shadow.

It takes most of the afternoon, but eventually, from a vantage spot high on the path, Zanarkand sprawls beneath them.  

Zveran can’t feel anything from it. 

Aten, on the other hand, can feel what's down there. And he's terrified.

Zveran feels a flash of it, that terror-

"Aten? Aten, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"This is- She's- I can't- she'll- I don't-"

"Masque, is there anywhere we can take shelter for now?" 

To Aten: "Aten, darling thing, talk to me, what is calling you?"

"Over here," Masque says, pointing towards what looks like the mouth of a cave.

"I don't. She's going to- she'll she'll kill you and-"

Zveran heads for the cave, coaxing Aten along. "Who? Who's going to kill me?" 

"Ah. It's-" Aten stops for a moment, doing whatever his equivalent of a calming breath is. Then, whisper quiet and almost lost in the crackle of his fire: "Yunalesca."

At first, Zveran thinks he's misheard. Or perhaps Aten is confused. Or- 

"Yunalesca? Truly?" 

"She- doesn't want to die. She never wanted to."

"Well, not many truly wish to die, but I suppose you mean something else entirely." 

Zveran runs a hand through his hair. "Fuck. The first summoner herself." 

"I'm going to assume that isn't good."

"You're Sinspawn. You know what happens to dead things who will not die."

"Ouch. But yes."

Zveran goes back to stroking through Aten's flames. "I suppose Yevon knew of this. Knew of her lingering soul. I wonder why they go against that most very basic of tenants."

"Because Yevon have proven so good at following their own rules."

"But this? This goes against everything the summoners are for! Our purpose is to send souls on, to the Farplane, and they're just letting her live?" 

"Hard to. Make her go."

"Wait, Aten, the other summoners who..." Zveran grimaces. "The ones who made it this far. Did they know? She...hurts you?"

"Don't know. Wouldn't have cared."

Zveran looks back, as if he can see the pool in Macalania where he found Aten's fayth. Like he could go back there in that instant, to every instant someone unworthy took him, and kill them. 

He slumps against the cave wall. "I suppose I should've expected things to be more complicated."

"As if anything in life is ever simple."

Zveran laughs, bitterly. "Right. Yevon forgive me for wanting one thing to make sense."