there had been stories, rumours, and tales. yuna had heard them often. there was an aeon so powerful it could defeat anything instantly. it was not a normal summon. to earn it, you didn't speak to the fayth and summon it, but rather, you summoned yourself to it. the rumours called it many things. the great aeon. the destroyer. the gorgon. medusa. the rumours said it did not reside on spira, but in another world.

the story was that anyone who did gain the ability to summon it would be forced never to reveal the truth that they had such a summon. it could not be used to overcome sin as a result, as all would learn how when the summoner who used it still lived when all before had sacrificed themselves when they summoned the final aeon.  but it could still defeat anything else. and yuna and her guardians needed everything they could get to overcome the trials ahead. they were excommunicated from yevon, and every step to zanarkand would have those loyal to yevon in front and behind trying to stop her.

the rumour had been used to explain the dissapearnce of summoners. sometimes at night, summoners had been rumoured to vanish. officially, they had either been kidnapped or ran away, balking at the task ahead of them. some of course had indeed been kidnapped by the al bhed to save them, and some no doubt had ran. some however had vanished without a trace. it was said they had tried to earn the power of the gorgon and had failed. that was the risk. the stories always whispered that there was no garuntee one could ever return when they performed the ritual.

despite this possible risk she decided she would do it. she planned to wait until everyone was asleep and perform the rumoured ritual. it was to try and summon an aeon, but backwards. and instead of thinking of a particular aeon to summon, you thought only of sending yourself to the great aeon's realm. if it was true, she could try and earn the summon. if it was a lie, she'd lose nothing but some sleep.

she perfomed the ritual late one night, careful to do everything in reverse, willing every ounce of magical power she had to help her to reach the realm of the legendary aeon. she finished, and for a moment, wondered if she had done something wrong. and then, a bright light made her close her eyes.

***

when she opened her eyes, she was in a misty, dark place. the ground was black rock, and the air was silent and damp. what little light there was meant she could not see very far through the fog. she was about to move, when she fell to her knees. she was exhausted! summoning herself here had drained her energy.

she rested for a few moments, alert for any sound or sight. but nothing happened. when she felt ready she rose to her feet unsteady, and carefully moved through the mist. she picked her way across the uneven black rocks, the blank landscape that she could see so little of revealing nothing. for all she knew, she was going nowhere or in circles.

she walked on, until she finally saw a shape. a human figure in the fog

'hello?' she asked. was it the summon?

there was no response. yuna neared and as she did, found herself shocked to realise this was not one shape, but two. neither wasa human now, but had once been. both were now solid stone, having been petrified some time ago by their appearance. each wore clothes that had holes and tatters, damaged and by having been there for some time, years at the very least.

the first figure before her was a young woman, about her age, dressed only in tattered and disintegrating green rags. her modestey was barely preserved by scraps of the cloth, and she had a look of fright on her stone face. the second wore what was once a body-hugging orange pair of leggings and a white silken shirt, but the orange garment was now torn away from her in places, exposing grey stone skin below. the silken shirt was ripped and torn. like the woman nearly not in green beside her, she had a look of fearful surprise on her face.

yuna readied her magic, hoping to cast a spell to turn these women back and find out what had did this to them. however, even though she managed to cast the spell, it drained her. and worse, it did nothing. there was a faint glow around the statue in green, then nothing. her stone eyes still stared in shock rather than becoming full of life once more. yuna fell to her knees again, exhasted once more and full of sorrow at not being able to rescue these two women.

'she was once rydia of mist. like you, she was a powerful summoner. to her side is garnet til alexandros the 17th. she was a princess of alexandria and a summoner too. also in common with each other, they failed to defeat me.'

yuna leapt up and span round, staff at the ready, but there was no one there. in her mind the strange words echoed, and she wondered where mist or alexandria were. maybe they were towns that had existed long agon before being destroyed by sin?

'show yourself!' yuna demanded.

'i think not, daughter of braska.' the voice said

'how do you know who i am?'

'you summoned yourself here to try and win my favour.'

yuna tensed. the unseen voice was the aeon!

'you are the aeon medusa?' yuna asked the fog.

'i am no aeon. not just the summoners of spira can call on me.' medusa replied.

'what do you mean?'

'there are other worlds where there is magic and summoned monsters. this world is in a way, every world with magic. you are inside magic itself. only those worthy can summon me, those unworthy can only summon themselves.'

'what happens to the unworthy? you petrify them like these poor girls here?'

'yes. each summoner who fails becomes stone, and their magic energy and power becomes mine. for every one who fails, those who are stronger gain more of my power. some do not wish to continue after hearing that and wish to return home. others carry on and seek to save those who have went before. you face a choice now. you can find me and face me, or you can leave now. if you leave, you shall never return. the way shall be closed. but if you face me, you may then defeat me. if you do, you can choose again. choose to summon me, or choose to save one of the other summoners who have been here before.'

yuna had no hesitation.

'i will face you and do what i must to save one of your victims!' she said. the unseen medusa chuckled

'they are volunteers, not victims. like you, most of them wanted to save someone. your kind are a noble type of mage despite the power they weild.'

'will you come to me or do i have to find you?'

'i shall come to you, my guest. but you may soon wish i had not.'

yuna was ready. she would overcome her fatigue, she had to. she would defeat the creature and save one of these poor women. it was better than to save none, and better than to use this monster. she would rather spend the rest of her existence here as a statue like these women than leave them behind when she could save even one, and using the powers of the great aeon was out of the question, not when the price of that power was so high. yuna knew in her gut that these two were two among many. out there in the mist and fog somewhere, there were others. her only regret was that she would have no way to save more than one.

'you tried to revert rydia to flesh, did you not? i should warn you, that is impossible. only i can restore those i petrify.'

'soon you'll be restoring one of them!' yuna said.

'confident, aren't you. perhaps not for long.'

she walked out of the fog, or rather, slithered. she was half-snake. her hair was a writhing mass of serpents of many types and colours. her skin was green and grey with scales. she had lizard-like eyes that glowed yellow. her mouth was upturned in a grin of amusement as she looked at yuna, summoner from besaid.

'here i am, braska's daughter. i stand before you now. come, maiden of spira. try and defeat me. use your power.' she smirked. yuna obliged, and began to summon bahamut. medusa did not attack, but when yuna completed the ritual, neither did bahamut. medusa roared with laughter.

'i am sorry, but your aeons do not work here. they are from spira, and we aren't on spira. you'd need them to summon themselves here too. and i don't think they will.'

medusa made her move, leaping forth. yuna jumped back, but as medusa swung, she also looked into yuna's eyes. the summoner cried out in fear as the monster's glowing yellow eyes became a blinding amber light. she froze in place, mouth still open in her final scream. she grew cold, felt her body become stone too. she could do nothing, not even plead for mercy. she was already unable to move, unable to save herself. she was left now as she would be, staring forth in fear. a monument to her failure and the source of the power of the creature that had turned her to stone.

medusa admired her latest handiwork, pleased that such a powerful summoner had been so realtively easy to defeat. it meant those who had defeated her before had even more power to call upon. and those who would come after the newest summoner to have become a statue, would now face an even stronger creature...