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She stood in the back watching quietly as the teacher explained, a day of mourning, a day of healing for all of those who have gone before, who gave their lives for the sake of others, the unnamed ones the famous ones, the defeated ones, all listed in one place as a reminder to what had happened so that it would never be forgotten, never be repeated.
The project had started out as a conversation, a maudlin commentary on a happy anniversary that the rest of the world celebrated with abandon. Yet she never did, always in the back of her mind was the sacrifice of her father and those whose names were never remembered, their pilgrimages unfinished or their bond with the final aeon not strong enough to bring the calm. Why they were never honored? What about the unnumbered victims, where was their monument?
It would take work, they reasoned, research at the abandoned temples, even then there was no guarantee that all the names would be found, but perhaps enough would be recovered that would make it worth the effort. As for the victims, there were so many, there would not be a surface that could list them all how would we ever find a surface large enough? Perhaps, the names and dated of villages destroyed during the rampages in honor of the fallen? Would that be enough?
So the call went out, temples were searched for records names were listed some known others long forgotten, Belgamine and Ginnem topped the list. Guardians were listed as well, those nameless faceless protectors who would in the end be transformed for the final battle. Some whose summoners were known to have called the final aeon were listed as transformed, others were merely listed as lost, sacrificed along the way in hopes bringing an end to the endless spiral of death.
In the end, the names were overwhelming, the list long and painful, the surviving summoners and guardians had taken it upon themselves to fight on last fight for their fallen brethren, creating a memorial that would honor them for all time. Yet what about those unnamed?
The memorial in its final form was breathtaking, a strangely androgynous statue of a person wearing an outfit created from the traditional clothing of all the people of Spira, blending together into one strangely harmonious outfit. At their feet were the traditional statues of the high summoners and below, the list of endless names ending with the words “and those whose names were forgotten shall be remembered in spirit”. Standing next to the summoner was their guardian, no less important for the undertaking yet normally a forgotten portion of the ritual, less names were listed under this statue, Auron, Ject and a few others that history had preserved over time , inscribed below was a simple eulogy for the brave ones who had given everything yet were forgotten in the process, “for those who gave us our strength, we thank you”. Finally, the last portion, honoring the victims of the rampages a simple list of attacks and dates listed on a scroll beside the figures, date after date village after village all honoring the thousand who could not be saved.
In the end the teacher explained, Lady Yuna requested, once the memorial was unveiled that a portion of the day of Sin’s final defeat be used to honor the unnamed and the fallen as well as celebrating the new life that was gained. Over the years, it became a high holiday of remembrance, not just of that terrible time, but for all of those who died over the years.
In the back of the room the woman smiled as she was embraced. Among the students a young girl sitting in the back corner stiffened for a second and slowly turned her curious bicolored gaze toward the back of the room. The figures standing there were transparent, the girl realized, a young woman wearing a pleated skirt and wrapped top with an ancient Beville style sash around her waist. The man wearing short overalls and a crop top with the insignia of a legendary guardian around his neck. For a second, the figures met her eyes bicolored gaze to bicolored gaze before the figures smiled nodded once and faded away.