The smile vanishes. "Lord Zei is High Summoner Braska's only child, and he recently decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He's in the chamber of the fayth as we speak, praying to be granted his first aeon."

"But?"

The priest sighs and shakes his head. "Lord Zei is a bit unconventional."

"Unconventional how?"

"It is not my place. He holds some unorthodox views... but then again, so did his father. And none can doubt his devotion; not even Lord Braska had such fire in his heart."

"Buuuuuut?"

He sighs again. "He's been in the chamber for over a day. I... worry... that he may not be sufficiently spiritually aligned with Yevon to become a summoner. Or maybe just not have the ability. It would crush him, if so; it has been his dream and only purpose since he was old enough to understand what it meant."

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.