Grandfather's Oral History
A FFVI fanfic, by Suzume, written March 8-9, 2007
"Let me start from the beginning. ...No, let me start with my wife," said my grandfather.
He was so old, so very old, the whole time I knew him. His hair was gray and white, each strand a different hue, and the creases of his rough, olive face were so many and so deep. He had once been very sad they said, but now he just remembered. I was twelve that day when he decided that though we had not been there we should remember too, and my mother had agreed, although she had not stayed. My mother had business in South Figaro's markets that day- she had some or she made some. She had heard it all before and heard it all again and her heart could not bear to hear it all one more time. So it was just the three of us and Grandfather.
Perhaps it was because I was twelve that he told us. That was the age of his son when he died. I had a puffy ponytail full of wavy, golden hair and an interest in the things my grandfather did because he kept wanting to teach me about swords and techniques and honor. My mother told me to let him teach me because for so many years he had kept all these things to himself, but now he was so old and maybe a little afraid that he would die and no one would remember Doma and their way with the blade. But my mother didn't have to tell me that. I wanted to learn. I wanted to be strong like my grandfather and skilled like my grandfather.
My younger brothers listened too as Grandfather spoke. "My wife, Elayne, was six years younger than I, but when we met, we were both still young and I liked the way she laughed and she liked the way I talked. Her hair was gold as wheat and her eyes were a gentle brown. Though she wore her dresses long, she wouldst climb the trees to watch the goings on of Doma.
"'What dost thou see up there?' I asked her and she replied to me, 'Everything in Doma, but most importantly, you.' She was but sixteen, and I was twenty-two and I began to think of her. At meals and at night in my room and my mind was filled. So I spoke to the king. This was the father of the past king, a noble man and wise, who favored Elayne for her sense of humor amidst the young women of the castle. He ascertained that my feelings were reciprocated and we were wed."
Grandfather's expression was cal and indiscernible as usual. His bushy mustached twitched along with a small tremor in his upper lip. He did not wear armor anymore. It was nicked and worn but shining, hanging in his little house. The soft ticking of the grandfather clock, tall and stern as him, echoed off its metallic curves. Now he wore a robe, of a color so subdued, gray or teal or blue. And the sash around his waist was tight and thick. Physically he was a much more imposing man than my father. I suppose he was more imposing all around.
Despite this talk of romance, my brothers were still listening quite intently. In later years, Tion confessed that he was only six and barely understood what Grandfather was talking about. It was just the mood of the moment that kept him still and concentrating.
Edwin, who was ten, said he was amazed that Grandfather was going to tell his story. Though he was never so drawn to the way of the sword as I, he also trained with Grandfather. It was Edwin who put the tale to paper as well as he could remember it a few months after Grandfather died. We often wondered why the story had begun were it did and why Grandfather said nothing of his parents or childhood, but we were young and respectful and lacked the nerve to ask.
"My days were well divided between my wife and my duty to the king and the training involved in it. The empire's stance was rather antagonistic so we at Doma were always struggling to remain in top shape. I was intense in this and focused. With diligence I gained strength and stamina, becoming one of the foremost warriors in the castle. And Elayne ever encouraged me, though she laughed at my mustache at first. We were gladdened by each other's company, but still we had no children."
"The king had sickened over the years, his life withering slowly away. There were no struggles for the succession. His son was crowned and I swore fealty to him as I had to his father. The new king was a decade younger than I and oft had I been in his company prior to his coronation. We had a strong relationship and I went on many missions specially for him. Elayne was not pleased at my more frequent departures. I felt similarly, but I couldst not neglect my duty. As a warrior, and perhaps moreso as simply myself, I have always fond it hard to directly voice my gentler feelings in words."
"But as pressure mounted twixt Gestahl's empire and Doma, I stayed home to aid in the increase of defenses. And finally after false hopes and disappointments, our son, Owain was born. I didst not- I think neither of us knew how becoming parents would change our lives." Grandfather paused and smiled his narrow-eyed, wily smile. I knew that next he was going to say something he found amusing. "I think most do not," he added with chuckle.
At that point in my life, this observation was entirely outside my sphere of experience, but I am sure my parents, had they been present, would have appreciated the remark.
Grandfather looked down at his folded hands and so I gazed at them as well. They were large and rough, calloused from years of the sword. There were times when he still held my hand and made me feel so small. Even though I felt grown up, I was really still so small. Though my grandfather was large, he had a peculiar awareness of small folk and small things. There was a wooden box at his house my brothers and I would move about as we needed to use as a stepping stool.
When Grandfather spoke again, the focus had switched to his only real child. We were only his loosely adopted grandchildren. Our parents and their comrades who we called aunt and uncles had given him a family because they loved him and did not want him to grow old all alone. This meant a lot to him.
"Owain was very precious to both of us. He was attentive to his studied and applied himself to all aspects of his warrior training with vigor. He had inherited most of Elayne's look, with dark blond hair and wide, brown eyes. He was thin and sweet, but he could be rather mischievous. Until I told him that learning patience was part of his training, he disliked fishing, and-"
"I love fishing, Grandfather!" squeaked Tion.
"Indeed," Grandfather agreed, "And thou hast quite a knack for discovering the best fishing spots."
"I was proud of Owain and he gladdened Elayne's spirits as well. Those were good years, perhaps the best in my life. And then, at last, the empire attacked. We fought honorable battle against the troops of General Leo, and though we could defend our walls, we could not detach the Gestahlian parasite from our side. The struggle continued and lives were lost, but when we remained behind the walls, casualties were kept to a minimum. However, leadership of the army changed when Leo was summoned back to Vector for reasons unknown. The madman Kefka had a sly and sinister stratagem for taking Doma and he put it into effect almost immediately. It was cruel beyond our imaginings and thus it was never suspected until it was too late."
I had squeezed my nervous hands into tight fists. This was were it was going to get bad. My parents had spoken of Kefka before and I tried to strengthen my frightened heart with the knowledge that he had been killed before I was even born. Edwin and Tion also seemed nervous, anxious over what would come next. We knew that somewhere in the course of the tale, Grandfather's real family would die.
"I saw a man, appearing healthy but minutes before, turn pale and tumble to the ground from his post on the wall. In horror, I looked about to see a similar fate had befallen the greater portion of the men on duty. The sun glinted off a river stained sickly purple and my chest tightened as the possibility of poison resonated within me. I rushed first to the king, but found myself too late to do anything to save him. I was horribly shaken and knew not what to do. But with his last breaths my liege murmured to me words that rang with a terror still greater. He urged me to go to my family. And I ran. I found Elayne and Owain both dead in our quarters."
I let out a long, low breath that I had been holding back without even thinking about it. I though he might pause here to compose himself, for Grandfather's voice had acquired a subtle trembling and he clutched one hand to stop the other's shaking, or to let the calamity at Doma sink into our minds, but he barely took a breath before rushing his narrative along. Where before it had been winding and slow with bits and pieces of the years broken up and sprinkled about like dry leaves in an autumn wind, it became sharp, linear, and fierce.
"Where there was sorrow, I found there was also rage. My blood boiled over this murderous injustice and I rushed from the castle to the imperial army's camp, meaning firmly in my fury to take Kefka's head. I mercilessly cut down the soldiers in my way and strangely enough found an assassin and a man of muscles who shared my hate for Kefka, if not my uncomely rage. ...But Kefka had escaped and these men, the martial artist Sabin in particular, tore me away from notions of immediate vengeance. Sir Sabin, it turned out, was the younger brother of King Edgar of Figaro and a member of the Returners on his way back to Narshe. The ninja was called Shadow. In all my travels with these rebels, I never came to know much more about him."
"The only path unblocked to us led south to the Veldt and so we followed it, venturing into a ghastly forest. And oddly enough, in this forest we found a train. It was not until we were aboard this train that I saw the true nature of the workers and passengers: ghosts! It was the train that taketh the spirits of the dead to the next world. We fought our way to the engine room, but when we pulled the switch, the engine itself turned on us and we were forced to defeat this most strange ghoul to escape. I thought we were free, but this was not all fate had in store for me that day. With mine own eyes I saw the people of Doma boarding the train, my wife and son among them, and riding that phantom train away into the mists of the night."
Now Grandfather stopped. He heaved a heavy sigh.
"Then you went down the falls and met a wild boy on the Veldt," Edwin continued for him. "We know about that, just like we know Uncle Sabin."
"Yes, yes," Grandfather nodded, seeming glad for having a small part of the tale summarized for him. "In Mobliz, Sir Sabin and I mailed some letters for a wounded soldier to Lola, his girlfriend in Maranda. We were able to make it through the underwater Serpent's Pass to Nikeah because of Sir Gau's treasure, a collection of diving helmets. From Nikeah we took the ferry to South Figaro and had a clear journey northward to Narshe. I saw many things in the company of the Returners that your parents and others could likely tell you better, but the mystifying Espers, magicite, and the Triad on the floating continent were overshadowed in my mind by doubt and despair over my failure to protect those most important to me."
"Now, to keep the story moving, you see, Emperor Gestahl's talk of peace was all a ruse. But on the floating continent, Kefka defeated Gestahl and ruined the alignment of the statues, sending a destructive calamity to the land below. Our airship was blasted to bits and after I recovered from injuries sustained in the changing of the land I went to Mt. Zozo to be alone. I wrote letters to Lola in place of the soldier who had died and sent her silk flowers I made. I wanted her to not give up hope, but truthfully, I was telling myself this as well. Though I was embarrassed to be found out, I was glad my comrades came for me so once again I could lend my blade to their cause. ...And 'twas like a spark in the night to see they lived and cared. But by this point, Wrexsoul, an evil creature, had wrapped its way around my soul and tormented me in haunting dreams made up of truths and lies and memories. That I am alive today, I owe to your parents and their friends, for saving my soul from that monster I had drawn to myself through mine own sorrow and confusion."
"And everybody went to the big tower an' fought Kefka an' won!" Tion concluded with a cheer. "The end!"
Grandfather smiled just a little, but his eyes were still serious. "It was not so easy as that, but yes, that is what happened. I returned for a time to the lands of Doma to see how the remnants of our people fared, but your parents feared for my loneliness and sent Sir Locke and Sir Sabin to bring me back closer to them. So here I am, in a little, blue house outside South Figaro where I practice my swordsmanship each day."
"I love you, Grandfather," Edwin declared into the silence. Edwin was always the best at knowing what to say.
"I love you too!" I hastened to add.
"Me too!" mimicked Tion.
It was as if we all could see how Grandfather was at that moment and knew that if we did not reinforce him, he would collapse like an old house after many storms. He got up from his chair and gathered up up in those strong, protective arms. We hugged him back and I felt as though I might burst into tears.
"I love all of thee," he told us in a soft but sure voice.