Heehee! I don't own Final Fantasy. Thank you, Nef, for stating the obvious.
Anything in * * is thoughts or telepathy.
The demise of a menace has tremendous positive effects on a formerly oppressed world. Such was the way for Spira. After the defeat of Sin, the people of Spira were no longer focused on whether they would live to see tomorrow, but how they could improve the world today. The Yevonites abandoned their hatred... and welcomed the Al Bhed to the mainland. Most of the Temples were torn down... to make way for cities. Many new machina were invented... to facilitate this new life... but not everyone rejoiced, for some things, some beloved things, had been lost.
At the center of the new life were two cousins, an Al Bhed and a Summoner. In a matter of three years, these two had with the help of their friends rebuilt the shattered Spira. Yet they were not happy. They had lost something... someone... someones upon defeating Sin. The Al Bhed tried her hardest to be strong, but how could she console her when her own heart lay in shards strewn across a thousand leagues? What help could she be to Yuna? Rikku thought often of this, but never asked herself why. She had never bothered with the reason. What good would that have been? It would plunge both her and Yuna into despair and that would be the end of it.
Rikku stepped out onto her balcony at the former Temple of Bevelle. The people of Spira had built it into a sort of governmental residence, intended for their Queen or President or whatever sort of ruler they would have. Not long after, they established a democratic monarchy, and elected Yuna to be their Queen. Yuna had invited Rikku to stay in Bevelle for a while and she accepted. This balcony attatched to Rikku's room, and she had spent many evenings watching the city lights of Bevelle go out and the stars take up their watch. The night wind was a balance between balmy and cool... it was perfect, perfect for a bit of contemplation.
Rikku did not wish to contemplate, but the atmosphere facilitated it. It got Rikku thinking about love, especially lost love. Yuna was upset that she had lost Tidus, and Rikku didn't suppose that pain would ever completely go away. What bothered Rikku was that she felt exactly what her cousin felt, but not for Tidus. In fact, she wasn't even quite sure who. Wakka? Naw, he annoyed her more than anything else. Lulu? Oh, Yevon, she hoped not. Kimahri? Naw, he was only cute in a fuzzy-thing sort of way. Exasperated, she sighed and began to sing to the night sky...
"Whenever sang my songs/ On the stage, on my own,/ Whenever said my words,/ Wishing they would be heard,/ I saw you smiling at me/ Was it real or just my fantasy/ You'd always be there in the corner/ Of this tiny little bar..." She only got through the first verse when her cousin found her. "Yunie! What's up?" she asked, startled.
"Well, I was just reminding you of the party tomorrow..." The anniversary of Sin's final demise! How could she have forgotten? "You might want to get some sleep. The party goes all night." Rikku could see the worry in Yuna's eyes when she did not respond to the idea of the party with her usual amount of elation. She just nodded and left the balcony. Yuna gave her a stern, but concerned, look and left the room. Sighing once more, Rikku lay down on her bed and fell asleep.
*Who am I? What is this place?* A boy, about nineteen years of age knelt in front of a large pool of water in a crystal forest. He knew he had been here before... many times... with different people. One person stood out particularly in his memory, but when he tried to remember her name, a sharp pain in his head forced him back. This forest had three exits/entrances, if the young man remembered correctly. One led to a city, another to a Temple, and the last led to a plain. The plain... beyond the plain, he had lost someone, but the sharp pain stood as a barrier blocking the name of that person as well. It upset him that he could remember so little, and he brooded on this for some time before deciding to follow the path that led to the city. Perhaps there he would find some answers.
Rikku had a strange dream. She dreamed that she was on the Final Pilgirmage with Yuna again. She was in the Macalania Woods where they had camped that one night. Strange as her dreams usually were, nothing compared with this one. She was seeing the dream unfold from someone else's perspective. She saw herself laying up in the tree where she had slept that night and glanced around the camp. She saw Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, herself, Tidus and Yuna... six? But there had been seven of them! Where was the last one?
Rikku looked around the camp again. Before she was through, however, her correct perspective was restored. She glanced up at where she had seen everything from only moments before. Silhouetted against the moon was yet another guardian, wearing a scarlet coat. Rikku could also discern the outline of a pair of sunglasses and a collar obscuring the guardian's face. Emotions flooded her soul with no identifiable cause. Amidst all the chaos, the last guardian's name floated to the surface... but Rikku awoke before she could capture the new information...
The boy buckled his scarlet trenchcoat in place over his right arm only and secured a large jug to his belt before leaving for the city. On his way through the forest, he saw a small, sparkling shadow flicker in and out of existence. He decided to follow it. It led him to a campsite he recognized. He climbed up to a ledge high above the campsite. It felt strangely familiar. He looked down at the campsite again... and this time, he saw several people now gathered around a small fire. One was a woman wearing a dress made partly from belts; another was a young man with spiky orange hair. There was a Ronso, a girl wearing an obi and a boy with messy blond hair. That was... five... shouldn't there be six others?
The boy with the red trenchcoat looked around some more. A smaller girl was sleeping up in a tree near by. She was the one person he remembered, even if her name still eluded him. As he watched her, the memory became clearer. He and the other people had been accompanying the girl with the obi to a ruined city to vanquish evil. He remembered having thought this might be the last night for any one of them... this memory triggered yet another, only this one seemed not to have relevance to much of anything...
The shadow reappeared, but this time the boy with the red trenchcoat was not in the forest. He could see the sparkling shadow standing not far off from where he was. Come to think of it, he was in a very strange place. There was water and blue light everywhere. He felt this place was a fortress of life, perhaps THE fortress of life. He approached the shadow and spun her around roughly. She looked up at him with emotionless eyes. No surprise or anger registered anywhere within her. She pulsed with an ethereal power. Could she be a Fayth? What ever she was, she definitely had something to say.
"Hello, is there anything in particular that brings you here?"
*I have no idea. I can remember nothing,* the boy thought to himself.
"I know. I am Iifa, the Goddess of Life... I know of everything that lives... or dies..."
*Why do I remember nothing?!*
"Sometimes it is better."
*What does that mean?!*
"It means that knowledge both ameliorates and destroys. I locked your memory with that of another individual. Perhaps if you two find each other, I would be willing to grant you access to your lost memories."
*You make it sound simple. How impossible is it?*
"Oh, not at all. I will even point you in the right direction. So, do you still seek your lost memory?"
*...Yes...*
"Alright then, close your eyes and open your mind..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heehee! What'd y'all think? I love suggestions... REVIEWS, especially...
Anything in * * is thoughts or telepathy.
The demise of a menace has tremendous positive effects on a formerly oppressed world. Such was the way for Spira. After the defeat of Sin, the people of Spira were no longer focused on whether they would live to see tomorrow, but how they could improve the world today. The Yevonites abandoned their hatred... and welcomed the Al Bhed to the mainland. Most of the Temples were torn down... to make way for cities. Many new machina were invented... to facilitate this new life... but not everyone rejoiced, for some things, some beloved things, had been lost.
At the center of the new life were two cousins, an Al Bhed and a Summoner. In a matter of three years, these two had with the help of their friends rebuilt the shattered Spira. Yet they were not happy. They had lost something... someone... someones upon defeating Sin. The Al Bhed tried her hardest to be strong, but how could she console her when her own heart lay in shards strewn across a thousand leagues? What help could she be to Yuna? Rikku thought often of this, but never asked herself why. She had never bothered with the reason. What good would that have been? It would plunge both her and Yuna into despair and that would be the end of it.
Rikku stepped out onto her balcony at the former Temple of Bevelle. The people of Spira had built it into a sort of governmental residence, intended for their Queen or President or whatever sort of ruler they would have. Not long after, they established a democratic monarchy, and elected Yuna to be their Queen. Yuna had invited Rikku to stay in Bevelle for a while and she accepted. This balcony attatched to Rikku's room, and she had spent many evenings watching the city lights of Bevelle go out and the stars take up their watch. The night wind was a balance between balmy and cool... it was perfect, perfect for a bit of contemplation.
Rikku did not wish to contemplate, but the atmosphere facilitated it. It got Rikku thinking about love, especially lost love. Yuna was upset that she had lost Tidus, and Rikku didn't suppose that pain would ever completely go away. What bothered Rikku was that she felt exactly what her cousin felt, but not for Tidus. In fact, she wasn't even quite sure who. Wakka? Naw, he annoyed her more than anything else. Lulu? Oh, Yevon, she hoped not. Kimahri? Naw, he was only cute in a fuzzy-thing sort of way. Exasperated, she sighed and began to sing to the night sky...
"Whenever sang my songs/ On the stage, on my own,/ Whenever said my words,/ Wishing they would be heard,/ I saw you smiling at me/ Was it real or just my fantasy/ You'd always be there in the corner/ Of this tiny little bar..." She only got through the first verse when her cousin found her. "Yunie! What's up?" she asked, startled.
"Well, I was just reminding you of the party tomorrow..." The anniversary of Sin's final demise! How could she have forgotten? "You might want to get some sleep. The party goes all night." Rikku could see the worry in Yuna's eyes when she did not respond to the idea of the party with her usual amount of elation. She just nodded and left the balcony. Yuna gave her a stern, but concerned, look and left the room. Sighing once more, Rikku lay down on her bed and fell asleep.
*Who am I? What is this place?* A boy, about nineteen years of age knelt in front of a large pool of water in a crystal forest. He knew he had been here before... many times... with different people. One person stood out particularly in his memory, but when he tried to remember her name, a sharp pain in his head forced him back. This forest had three exits/entrances, if the young man remembered correctly. One led to a city, another to a Temple, and the last led to a plain. The plain... beyond the plain, he had lost someone, but the sharp pain stood as a barrier blocking the name of that person as well. It upset him that he could remember so little, and he brooded on this for some time before deciding to follow the path that led to the city. Perhaps there he would find some answers.
Rikku had a strange dream. She dreamed that she was on the Final Pilgirmage with Yuna again. She was in the Macalania Woods where they had camped that one night. Strange as her dreams usually were, nothing compared with this one. She was seeing the dream unfold from someone else's perspective. She saw herself laying up in the tree where she had slept that night and glanced around the camp. She saw Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, herself, Tidus and Yuna... six? But there had been seven of them! Where was the last one?
Rikku looked around the camp again. Before she was through, however, her correct perspective was restored. She glanced up at where she had seen everything from only moments before. Silhouetted against the moon was yet another guardian, wearing a scarlet coat. Rikku could also discern the outline of a pair of sunglasses and a collar obscuring the guardian's face. Emotions flooded her soul with no identifiable cause. Amidst all the chaos, the last guardian's name floated to the surface... but Rikku awoke before she could capture the new information...
The boy buckled his scarlet trenchcoat in place over his right arm only and secured a large jug to his belt before leaving for the city. On his way through the forest, he saw a small, sparkling shadow flicker in and out of existence. He decided to follow it. It led him to a campsite he recognized. He climbed up to a ledge high above the campsite. It felt strangely familiar. He looked down at the campsite again... and this time, he saw several people now gathered around a small fire. One was a woman wearing a dress made partly from belts; another was a young man with spiky orange hair. There was a Ronso, a girl wearing an obi and a boy with messy blond hair. That was... five... shouldn't there be six others?
The boy with the red trenchcoat looked around some more. A smaller girl was sleeping up in a tree near by. She was the one person he remembered, even if her name still eluded him. As he watched her, the memory became clearer. He and the other people had been accompanying the girl with the obi to a ruined city to vanquish evil. He remembered having thought this might be the last night for any one of them... this memory triggered yet another, only this one seemed not to have relevance to much of anything...
The shadow reappeared, but this time the boy with the red trenchcoat was not in the forest. He could see the sparkling shadow standing not far off from where he was. Come to think of it, he was in a very strange place. There was water and blue light everywhere. He felt this place was a fortress of life, perhaps THE fortress of life. He approached the shadow and spun her around roughly. She looked up at him with emotionless eyes. No surprise or anger registered anywhere within her. She pulsed with an ethereal power. Could she be a Fayth? What ever she was, she definitely had something to say.
"Hello, is there anything in particular that brings you here?"
*I have no idea. I can remember nothing,* the boy thought to himself.
"I know. I am Iifa, the Goddess of Life... I know of everything that lives... or dies..."
*Why do I remember nothing?!*
"Sometimes it is better."
*What does that mean?!*
"It means that knowledge both ameliorates and destroys. I locked your memory with that of another individual. Perhaps if you two find each other, I would be willing to grant you access to your lost memories."
*You make it sound simple. How impossible is it?*
"Oh, not at all. I will even point you in the right direction. So, do you still seek your lost memory?"
*...Yes...*
"Alright then, close your eyes and open your mind..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heehee! What'd y'all think? I love suggestions... REVIEWS, especially...