Zei is totally the protagonist, isn't he? Mysterious purple hoodie ghost child didn't answer Azym, but this dude is giving off mad protagonist vibes and Azym hasn't even met him yet. "I think... he'll be fine."

The priest raises an eyebrow.

"Call it a hunch," he shrugs. "Something tells me it will work out for him."

That gives him some pause. "I pray that you're right, mister, ah..."

"Azym," he provides.

"And I am Kahli. Our meeting may have been willed by Yevon."

Once again, not touching that one with a ten-foot pole. But, hmm... "So, uh, who or what exactly is Yevon?"

"Ah... that one is a deeper question than you realise, and I believe you should instead rest a bit before engaging with such theology."

Ominous. "Alright. You have been very informative, and I thank you. Thank you also for the food."

"As it is a summoner's duty to protect the people of Spira, so it is mine as a humble priest to offer aid and succor to the extent that I can. Think nothing of it. And if you wish, you may claim any of the rooms in the temple for sleep; all of the unlocked ones should be clean and fit for a weary traveler."

"You know, I might take you up on that. I think—"

But before he can hurt himself further by trying to think the priest looks up in the direction of the door, and at the edge of Azym's hearing he too notices the vague echoes of loud conversation, probably coming from the temple's main chamber.

"I think that might be our young summoner," is what he says instead. Not that he's been told Zei's age, but he has a hunch...

It is, indeed, the young summoner, a boy about the same age as Azym's standing in the middle of a small group of people when he and the priest return to the temple's main chamber. He seems to have come from the imposing double doors atop the imposing stairs, confirming Azym's guess that that's where the chamber of the fayth would be, and he looks...

...happy.

He's trying to not let his exhaustion show, but the way he's leaning on a tall blue humanoid lion-person for support reveals it anyway. To his other side is a black-haired woman wearing a fluffy black dress that not only defies gravity but also any conventional wisdom about the number of belts people are meant to wear, or what they're meant to be attached to. They hadn't been in the room before, so probably they were with Zei while he prayed or whatever it is they do.

Zei himself seems to break the convention of dress of the priests Azym's seen in the temple—although it's not like anyone had said the long body-covering robes with strange symbols were an actual uniform or anything—but he nevertheless seems to follow a similar fashion tradition, if much more elaborate and ceremonial-looking. His arms are covered from the biceps down by an intricate spiralling armwrap that ends in half gloves encrusted with small gems, and his legs and feet are adorned by sandals in a similar style. He's wearing a white and dark blue skirt that goes almost all the way to his knees, and his torso is bare except for a series of silver necklaces that grow in diameter until the largest one reaches the middle of his chest. He also seems to be wearing a cloth harness of some sort with a long metal staff attached to its back, a staff that somehow communicates both "weapon" and "ceremonial tool".

The boy seems to be in the middle of being congratulated by everyone, and while it's clear (at least to Azym) that he'd much rather take a minute or two to himself he's weathering the attention with dignity. His gaze moves over to Azym and Kahli when he hears the steps, and it stops on Azym for long enough to register the confusion at the new face before returning to the well-wishers.

Okay but most important of all—okay, this is not actually most important of all, but still—the three of them are really fucking hot. He's not sure which of them is hottest, the woman whose dress is somehow made indecent by how little of her boobs it covers and with the airs of someone who could set you on fire with a look, the lion dude over a head taller than Azym himself (who is pretty tall for a human, not that that sentence had ever had cause to be produced in his brain before) and who's awakening furry thoughts Azym never had before, or the quiet fit boy who nevertheless is probably the protagonist and also looks like a being of power somehow. It's probably the lion dude? Just for sheer novelty. Azym is finding himself very very curious about what he looks like without the loincloth.

He's glad he's in the back of the crowd so that he can very unobtrusively cover his dick with his hands in something he hopes looks just casual and not like he's trying to keep an erection down.

Lion dude expressionlessly stands there, arms folded in a stoic body guard stance, looking like he's ready to skewer anyone with the lance attached to his back if they push their luck.

(Which does not help.)

The summoner talks to the people around him a bit more, and beyond the congratulations the conversation moves to people wanting to see his new aeon. Eventually he agrees, and starts moving out of the building in quick strides.

"Come," says the priest, "maybe seeing a summoner in action will help you remember."

He somehow doesn't think so.

They follow after the group and eventually get to the plaza, the center of which seems to have been cleared of everyone except for the summoner himself.

The ground and the air start glowing around him, then. Faintly at first, but quickly growing bright enough to illuminate the surroundings entirely. The staff that had been attached to the harness at his back is held in his right hand, and he extends his arms to the sides, the right arm tilted diagonally up at the sky and the left arm down at the floor.

Four mystical symbols appear in the light, rotating around Zei and emiting more light, going 'round once, then twice, before stopping and sending four flashes of light into the heavens. They spiral towards each other, and when they meet, they join into a single bright source of light which takes the form of... a bird?

Not quite. The creature flies down from the light, wings hugged close to its body for extra momentum, before it extends them so it can glide and land heavily in front of Zei, the wind nearly pushing the summoner off his feet. It is twice as tall as he is, but it leans down forward until its eyes are level with his.

Zei manages to keep his composure, but by the way his fingers fidget and the corners of his lips twitch trying to become a smile it's clear he's very excited. He takes a step closer to the aeon and reaches up, slowly and tentatively at first, but more courageously when the creature leans closer, and pets the side of its neck.

"Valefor," says the priest, joining the rest of the crowd in applauding the display. "She's the aeon of the temple of Besaid. Lord Zei will be able to call upon her until the day he dies; their bond is eternal."

Azym has managed to control himself by then, and his emotions have been almost entirely replaced by pure awe. It's one thing to have a small sphere made of magic water go into him and drive the cold away, and it's a whole 'nother to see something like—like that. It's genuinely a genre shift, it's the kind of magic you can't help but be impressed by.

He really, really is not in Zanarkand anymore. He doesn't let the feelings bubble up to his head this time, but... this is somewhere else. Another world.