A/N: For some reason, Cid of the Lufaine simply would not leave my mind. The idea that he talks to the spirit Shinryu is based on the FF wiki page on him. "The Cycle," is a Dissidia reference for the battles between 'Chaos' and 'Harmony.' If anyone is OOC, I apologize, I have never actually played Dissidia.
Disclaimer: No Cid is not mine, in any of his forms
-Youth and radiance be damned, he always seemed to be pushing 40 before anything happened-
He should have guessed the dragon would have its own plans when granting him the ability to pass on a legacy.
"It will ensure the cycle," he had assured it.
Shinryu had consented and allowed him to watch his successors. He hadn't been given the option of choosing who would be the parents of his re-incarnates, only the promise that they would, in fact, help continue the cycle.
As merely a spirit, he watched young knights, beautiful maidens, gifted fighters, and brave mages fight the evil wrought form the mere existence of Chaos.
It was grueling to watch so many youth get injured and many times nearly die, but his disappointment outweighed his empathy. His "legacy" was definitely not what he had expected. He guessed the dragon was enjoying this much more than him. The men were far from young when they were finally spun into the action of saving their worlds. Many times they were close to 40, or even older.
"This is my legacy?" he would ask no one in particular. His answer was always the same: a breathy chuckle from the damn dragon.
Were there one advantage to the men who succeeded him, it was their knowledge. Inventors, engineers, scientists, aged but brilliant. They were usually quite loyal too. He'd watched more than one of them sacrifice themselves for the young heroes. There were other times though; they reminded him far too much of whom he once was.
A man building weapons for a corrupt empire, a father raising the tools a misguided war, the leader of a resistance hoping to fix too many wrong decisions.
It seemed a bit of a shock when he watched a man barely 28 or so get caught in the action of the heroes. Shinryu had grown tired of his complaints it seemed and this man was the apology. He nearly felt giddy when the man seemed so heroic. Apparently, his success was short-lived. He fought the heroes as only one other had before him. He later sacrificed himself, or perhaps took a coward's way out when he saw his revolution begin to crumble around him.
"You are cruel, Shinryu." The dragon chuckled in response. He turned his spirit away from the worlds, perhaps Cosmos would feel like talking.
She could always sense his presence as a smile would come to her face.
"Hello, Cid. Your legacy still hasn't panned out well?" Even for a disembodied voice, he remained easy to read.
