Meaning
I read Xenolord's 'As Time Goes By', and I was suddenly struck with a great plot bunny. Don't worry Xenolord, it's not as bad as you think. Anyways, here it is, and I hope you enjoy.
The bus rolled away, leaving its two passengers at the bus stop. They were both of the same height, and of the same pale skin. One had seafoam-green hair, and crimson red eyes. The other, had bright, glowing golden-hued orbs; they contrasted against her long raven tresses.
"So we're finally here again..." The red eyed one muttered to the other, staring at the sign stating 'Welcome to Babylon'
"A lot has changed." She murmured back in her naturally regal tone.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to the Guardian Tower's shadow not being there." The green haired woman said, looking to the exact spot where a tower had loomed, many years ago. What the brunette has said had been true; a lot had changed in the town...no. Not a town anymore. A city.
"Remember the good times we had there?"
"Like it was yesterday."
They went back to silence, as they picked up their items- a few carry-on cases of luggage and a large duffel bag- and caught a cab to their hotel.
The pair shared a mournful laugh, as they saw the name of the place that they were to stay the night. A Yulgar's Inn. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't a 12-story building. No, it had been built in the same homey style that the original inn had been built. The front had even been designed to look like it was made out of logs. "Things have changed, but I guess some things stay, too." One piped up.
"Too true." Said the other. They took up their items once again, and stepped into the building. Though on the outside it was rustic, the inside was completely modern.
They approached the front desk. The woman sitting there didn't even realize they were there, until one cleared her throat. The woman at the desk looked up and scrambled to stand up. Once she was up, she plastered on a smile. "Hello. Would you like a room?"
"Yes please." The dark-haired woman said politely. The woman sat back down in her chair, and typed something into the computer on the desk. "How long will you be staying?"
"About 5 days."
The lady typed something else into it.
"And your names?"
The green haired one spoke this time. "Maria and Safiria Despair."
Settled in the hotel room, Maria and Safiria lay awake in bed.
"You know, just seeing how different it all is now, I've forgotten what we're doing here in the first place." Maria said, staring up at the ceiling.
"We're here to give a speech about the Battle-Babylon forces to some of the local high schools, and the college." Safiria reminded, her eyes fixated above her like Maria's were.
"Ah."
Silence reigned.
"Kitten?"
"Yeah?"
The ex-vampire queen rolled over onto her side, looking at Maria's back. "Would...would you like to check around the city this week? Because, we've only seen the main road, and we haven't been here, ever since..." Safiria trailed off, both knowing hat she meant. Neither of them had been within the city ever since Gale had died. Maria didn't say anything, and Safiria had feared that she has said something wrong, until...
"Sure." Maria rolled over onto her side also...just facing away from Safiria. "Good night, Safiria.
Stunned that she had even received an answer, Safiria laid in silence for a few minutes. "Good night, Maria." She finally whispered.
Day 1
"...and that's how it works. Any other questions?" Safiria smiled cheerfully at the young men and women attending the school.
Someone's fist shot up into the air. "Yes?" She called out. "You, in the back."
A male voice shouted out to them, "What do you eat while you're out there?"
"Good question." Maria responded. "Well, we usually carry some non-perishable foods with us. Something packaged usually, and for other things, we usually add some water to it."
Another person's hand raised. Maria nodded towards them. "Yes?"
"Why do people even join the army, when they're only training for war? War doesn't do anything but bring sorrow, pain, and harm to us all. When they join the army, they're basically sending themselves straight into Death's lair, and it's only a matter of time until Death will swoop down and get them all. So why? Especially now, with the troubles in Paxia?"
Maria and Safiria looked between themselves, trying to find a proper answer for her question.
"People have different reasons. Some people join to serve their country. Some do it for the pure pleasure of taking orders. Some do it because they want to follow their romantic fantasies of what they think is war." Safiria explained. "And for some..."
"It's a family thing." Maria said softly, closing her eyes. Behind her closed lids, she could see Gale, clearly as ever. The quiet murmur of a few students disappeared, replaced with the sound of long-lost family's voice whispering into her ears.
Day 2
"And how do you like this, Maria?" Safiria asked, modeling a light dress for the half-vampire. The white light glowed harshly down upon them. It caught upon the small gold amulet that was draped around Safiria's neck, probably one of the only real magical items left on Lore.
"It's nice." Maria said simply, not bothering to even look at her. Safiria scowled. "Yes, well, I think that I'll just take this dress off and run down the street in the nude, you know. Then, I'll probably hit it off with some sleazy alcoholic, and we'll elope, leaving you all by your lonesome. What do you think?"
"That's nice too."
"Creator help me." Safiria sighed. She went back into the change room, and came out with her normal clothes again. Walking forward, she grasped Maria's chin, and turned her head, forcing Maria to look her straight in the eye.
"Maria, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Maria said. If anyone had just listened to her voice, they would have been convinced that everything was alright. But Safiria wasn't just 'anyone.' She knew that you had to look Maria in the eyes at time like this to see the truth. And staring Maria straight in the eye, she knew that something definitely was wrong.
Safiria sighed, and dropped Maria's chin. Going over to the salesgirl, the vampire thanked her politely, before she grabbed onto Maria's arm, and marched her out of the store. "Safiria, what, pray tell, are you doing?"
"We're going to go see it Maria. I know you've been thinking about it, and looking at where it used to be all day."
Maria stiffened, and tried to protest. "We can't!" She spluttered. "We...we haven't got enough time before we give our next speech. And, I-I don't remember where it is!" Safiria stopped suddenly, right in the middle of the sidewalk they were on. Her vice grip on Maria's arm made sure that she stopped too.
"Maria Setsuna Despair." Safiria hissed. "Don't even try to deny it. And if you don't remember, we're giving our talk to a night school Maria. NIGHT school. It's only 1 PM." Safiria maneuvered herself over to a nearby park bench, with Maria having no choice but to follow. As soon as they sat, Maria averted her eyes, and looked away from Safiria. All her sire did was grasp Maria's fingers, and gently intertwine them with her own.
Safiria's eyes softened and she continued, in a much quieter tone.
"Maria, I know it hurts. I was there when it happened too, you know. Don't make this harder than it already is." Safiria used her other hand to cup Maria's cheek. She once again turned Maria's face towards her. Maria made eye contact with Safiria, but it wasn't forced this time. "If we visit where the tower used to be, it will be better for the both of us. We can't run away from the past, Kitten."
Maria finally nodded. "You're right. I shouldn't avoid it." She managed to truly smile. "Let's go."
Safiria grinned. The couple stood back up, fingers still laced together. Inwardly, Safiria was ecstatic; they hadn't held hands in years.
"Oh, and Maria?"
"Yes?"
"How can you, of all people, use 'I don't remember where it is?' as an excuse? We lived there for years, and visited those who still did on a daily basis after we moved out."
"..."
Safiria and Maria stared at the land where the Guardian Tower used to be. Upon its grounds, they were laying the foundation for another building. A little farther away, the land was being flattened for what was most likely a parking lot.
"What could they be making now? Some sort of ritzy hotel? No, no, I bet they're making a shopping mall." Maria seethed, every word dripping with venom. Very close by there was a poster, announcing what it was going to be. Unfortunately, some vandals had torn part of it down, and obviously it hadn't been replaced yet.
"They could at least show respect to this place. Some of the greatest heroes on Lore lived here...if it wasn't for them, Lore probably would be in ashes." Maria grumbled, her eyes trained on the building site.
A man reading a newspaper walked by all of a sudden. Safiria's eyes lit up with an idea. She tapped Maria's shoulder, catching her attention, before she tapped on the man's. "Excuse me sir?"
"Yes?" he averted his eyes from the paper to Safiria.
'Do you know what they're building here?"
"Oh..." He stared at them, surprised. "You don't know? Elemental Lords, I thought that everyone knew. Here." He folded his paper closed, and pointed to the bolded headline.
NEW MUSEUM TO BE BUILT ON THE GROUNDS OF ANCIENT TOWER
"They're building a museum, dedicated to the Golden Age here. Apparently, also in the Golden Age, Babylon- known as Battleon then- had a 'Guardian Tower' where the best adventurers in all of Lore resided. Cool, huh?" He smiled. "Even cooler, they're building this museum in the same way that the tower supposedly looked like, based on a painting from that time." The man walked away after his little explanation.
Maria and Safiria stood there quietly. Maria finally broke their silence, by throwing her head back, and staring up at the sky.
"Looks like we'll finally get some commemoration after all, guys..."
Day 3
"Thank you for speaking to our students." The teacher beamed, shaking Maria's hand quite vigorously.
"It was nothing. Just doing my job...or at least, part of it."
"Well, thank you anyways, Ms. Despair." Maria nodded, and exited through the doors of the school. As she left, the bell rang, signaling to the students that their day was over.
For some reason, there was something different about the school. It wasn't just that there were moglin and water elf teachers (those two, along with Drakels were the only creatures that weren't wiped out completely, as far as she had seen). There was a certain quality to the place that made it rather familiar to the woman. Why? She wasn't sure. But she would soon find out.
The vampire stood outside the school, waiting for the cab she had called to pull up, when she heard voices. Maria usually didn't care too much about voices; she was never good at memorizing them within a short period of time. Plus, what was the use? With the knowledge that someday, they would be gone, and never heard again, there was no good reason for Maria to memorize anyone's voice. There were only a handful of people she could identify by voice only.
The voices she heard, sounded the exact same as the voices of the people who she had memorized.
"Hurry up damn it!"
"I'm trying my best, okay?"
"Well your best isn't good enough then!"
Maria turned, to stare at the source of the squabbling. She gasped, and her eyes bugged. Raising a hand up, she rubbed furiously at each eye, before looking back. Sure enough, the owners of both voices were still there.
"Stop fighting you two!"
"Fighting doesn't get you anywhere in life, you know!"
"Yes it does!"
"Was I asking your opinion?"
More people joined in. Maria just kept staring. How was this possible?
Maria thought that nothing else could surprise her. But, of course, something did.
"Hey, now cut it out. All of you."
Maria would have kept on staring, had her cab not pulled up. Even after she got in, she pressed her face against the glass, keeping whoever she was staring at in sight, until she was too far away.
Click
A picture came onto the hotel computer screen.
Click
A window popped up, displaying various names arranged in a tree.
Click click
The window closed, and another appeared, displaying more names, this time arranged into a long list
Click
A tab was opened from the same window.
Click
A handful of names came up.
Maria smiled.
"I knew it."
Day 4
"Maria, where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"A school? Maria, we've spent almost all of our time this week at schools, do we really need to see another one?"
"This one's different."
"Really. How?"
RRRRINNNGGG
"There."
"You've taken me to see high school students? As nice as I'm sure they may be, I'd rather not get arrested for ogling jail bait."
"No! There!"
"Oh come-"
"See?"
"Oh...my..."
"I told you this one was different."
Day 5
The grounds of the Battleon cemetery (the oldest recorded burial grounds in Lore history) were almost empty that day. Only a couple of mourners were there, far less than usual. Then again, on that day, the grounds were stepped upon by people who hadn't been to the cemetery for over a thousand years.
The Despairs stood at the gates to the cemetery.
"Do you remember where they are?" Maria asked, more to herself then to her companion.
Safiria swallowed thickly. "Always." She murmured.
"So do I."
They began to walk, past the rows and rows of graves, past the resting bodies underneath the ground, past so many people who had lived the course of their own lives, once upon a time.
They walked on for an indeterminable amount of time. It could have been days for all they knew. They walked deep into the resting grounds, until they reached a certain spot.
Plenty of tombstone stood, silently lined up in a row. The difference between all these and the other graves, was that all of these graves seemed a little, just a little closer together than the others. That, and these grave markers were older, crumbling, the names chiseled upon them barely visible. Yet those names still managed to jump out at Maria and Safiria.
Natalya Despair. Serras Nerra-Despair. Sage Despair. Saya Hitai. Aria Hitai. Alexis Hitai-Despair. Rayne Anasi. Elizabeth Miura-Anasi. Kira Anasi-Despair.
And so many more. But right in the middle, of them all, stood one in particular.
Gale Despair
Both Maria and Safiria had been carrying numerous amounts of arranged flower bunches in their arms. They both began to place flowers at each and every grave, starting from opposite ends, until they reached Gale's where they both knelt, side by side.
Maria smiled sadly, long-forgotten memories coming back. "Hi guys. It's us. Sorry we haven't visited in such a long time."
"It's been hard getting along without you all. Especially you Gale." Safiria murmured, as she traced the capital 'G' on the marker. "It was just so painful to be staying here when everyone was gone. And then when Gale died...we had to get away. I'm sorry we didn't visit earlier."
"You all should have had more time. Every single one. Even a brat like you, Rayne." Maria grinned ruefully at her old friend's resting place, situated right next to Lizzie's. She looked over to Blaze's tomb. Even though Lizzie had been executed, that Drakels had left her body hanging outside of the city. Blaze (who had still been alive at the time) had traveled all the way to the Drakel city and taken them back to Battleon, where they had held a proper burial for her.
"But...I know that even if you can't be with us, here...you can all be with each other." Safiria's voice cracked, and she bit her lip, trying not to cry.
Maria patted Safiria soothingly on her back, before pulling her into a hug.
"I have some good news for everyone." Maria said, looking over Safiria's shoulder, at the tombstones.
"Looks like history is repeating itself. I went to a school a couple of days ago, and you wouldn't believe who I saw." Maria closed her eyes, enhancing the image in her mind.
"I happened to see us. Some young high school kids, who looked, walked, acted, talked, and dressed (well, like we probably would) exactly like us. There were even two that were Safiria and I. Hell, they even sounded like us. The way we used to squabble..."
Safiria pulled herself away from Maria, and rubbed at her eyes. "She even did a background check on them. It seems that they are all descendants of us."
"So, in a way, we're all getting a second chance at life." Maria opened her eyes again. They were glistening with what was left of the tears she hadn't managed to push back. "And who knows? Maybe even you four..." She gestured towards her invisible audience to Gale, Kay, Sage, and Alex's graves, "might even be born again in the future. Somehow."
"But whatever happens..." Safiria managed to smile through the tears, along with Maria. The finished, in unison;
"I hope you're all happy."
"Come on Felix! You're so slow!" Rayne Anasi yelled.
"I'm trying!" Felix whined back, struggling to put her arm through the straps on her backpack.
"Well try a little harder!" The brunette retorted, as she ran out of the doors of Battleon High. Being the oldest high school in Lore (it had seen many a renovation), stretching back to the Golden Age, it hadn't changed it's name, just like some of the other 'oldest' places in Lore, such as the Battleon Cemetery. Thanks to the name not being changed, the people at the school had begun to refer their town, and most things to do with it, as Battleon.
Maria Despair smiled at Rayne, as she saw the younger student approach her. "Felix being slow again, Rayne?"
Rayne sighed. "I swear, if she was any slower, she'd be going backwards." Rayne surveyed her surroundings for a moment. "Where are Lizzie and Safiria?"
" They went to go talk to Miss Kellpp about something. Why?"
Rayne shrugged. "They're usually here by the time I'm here, by the school doors. Anyways, you won't believe what someone did in class today..."
Maria listened to Rayne's tale for a bit, before her attention drifted elsewhere, as something caught her eye.
Maria had had a feeling that someone was watching her for the past couple of days. In fact, she had a feeling that someone was watching her, and all of her friends. She had merely waved it off the first two times, but something caused her to turn around and look where it was coming from. Rayne didn't notice; Trip and Aria had appeared before the younger girl could notice.
What, or rather who, she saw, was quite surprising.
There stood herself. Every single trait she could see, even from a distance, were the same. Identical in every way. Except for...
Maria tilted her head. Her eyes. There was a quality to her look-alike's eyes, that made her look older, much older than her physical self. That woman's eyes just screamed to Maria that she had seen things that most people never will, lived through many events that most people never will...and should.
Maria felt a rush of emotion suddenly, as she met eyes with the other woman. The same crimson-red hues met. For some, odd reason, Maria raised her hand, and waved at her doppelganger.
Her doppelganger hesitated for a moment, then waved back. From what Maria could see, a sad smile appeared on her face. A minute later, someone who looked like Safiria appeared by her side, with the same, worn look on her face. And, if she squinted, she swore, she could see translucent images of all her friends, standing beside the two look-alikes.
A car passed, and they were gone.
"Maria?" Safiria's voice came to her. Maria blinked, and looked back at her girlfriend. "Yeah?"
"Are you okay? You sort've...spaced out for a minute."
"...I'm fine." Maria answered, after a brief pause. "I was just thinking."
"About what?"
The rest of her friends had came by then, and they had formed a little cluster, with Maria and Safiria in the back. Maria slipped her hand into Safiria's, and squeezed it tightly.
"Just about how I want to make every moment last, with you, and the rest of our friends."
The end
So there you have it, Yes, by the end, it ties in a bit with Battleon High. Of course, this doesn't mean that this is canon.