Dissidia Dawns
By Alex Damien
This is a Dissidia AU. It is based off the original scenes, but the middle and end are all so different, I can't say it's a novelization of the game.
It's mainly FirionxWoL, but has many other pairings like: 5x8x9, WoLxGarland, WoLxEmperor, FirionxCecil, CecilxGolbez, KujaxKefka (later on), and others as I see fit.
The # sign indicates a change in scene.
Any comments are greatly appreciated :) (Also, cookies. Send over some cookies please!)
--
The Beginning
To the Warrior of Light, it felt like falling into a dream. But if asked, he would say it was more like drowning. Falling deep into a liquid dream.
He blinked, cold water seeping under his armor. Again, he was back. The cycle of battle, death and rebirth started again, but he found no more comfort in the thought that at least Chaos hadn't won.
He got up and looked around.
"I must find Cosmos." He thought, looking at the endless space around him. The Goddess' land extended as far as his eyes could see. He looked down to the wet floor. If he stared at all that space for too long, a heavy weight started to descend on couldn't understand it, but he was a Warrior, so didn't need to.
One step, then another, towards the dim light shining on the horizon.
If he didn't think about it, the memories of the last battle started to fade, along with the growing weight inside him and his strength came back, slowly.
Rebirth wasn't as poetic or as simple as he'd heard in old tales. But he was a Warrior, he lived tales, he did not tell them.
Besides, by now even those simple memories came back to him weakly. He could not remember when or where he'd heard tales about rebirth. He couldn't even remember what the tale had been about.
A figure moved in front of him, and before another thought, he'd already readied his sword and lfted his shield. The figure walked towards the warrior with proud steps, showing it's shield and sword, identical to the Warrior's
"What is this-?" started the Warrior, and fell silent when he realized it was a perfect copy of him.
Perfect.
Armor, shield, sword, a proud stance; and...and...
Transparent. The figure was made of some kind of semi transparent crystal. The light shone on it's edges, making it shine.
And yet there was nothing else in it. It was empty.
A perfect copy.
The heavy weight inside the Warrior flared, and he realized it was light. A heavier, warmer light than the one shining on the horizon. The Warrior touched his chest , and for a moment could almost feel it, dripping like liquid fire from his finger tips.
"The light is always with me." he whispered, his words echoing in the emptyness around them.
Before it had a moment to react, the copy fell apart under the Warrior's blade. The pieces tinkled as they fell to the ground, and the Warrior crushed them with the heel of his boot.
It looked like he wasn't perfect after all.
But he was still a Warrior.
A Warrior of Light.
#
"How can you not know what this is?" asked Firion, with more bitterness in his voice than he'd meant. The Goddess Cosmos gave him a sad smile which showed that she'd heard all he hadn't said.
"I am the goddess of Harmony. I know only the things that guard ballance between them. The things that you bring with yourself, your hopes and dreams, are beyond my grasp."
Firion looked at the rose in his hand, and words formed on the tip of his tongue.
"The Wild Rose." he said, unable to stop himself. Cosmos smiled, but her glow dimmed.
"Fool. Caring about a rose in a moment like this, what kind of warrior are you?" he thought. But his eyes kept going back to the rose, so he put it away.
"It is important for you, Firion...," the Goddess said, and he head lowered as she tried to hide her pain. Firion reached towards her, but the light coming from her burned his hands. "And...and you are important for me Firion. Do not think you are small. I need you...I need all...all of you." She started to fade. "My warriors...please...take care of them. You have a dream. I cannot see it, but I feel the strenght it gives you. Please, be their courage...Those who cannot dream, share your dream with them. I must...I must..."
She faded.
Firion took a step forward, but her warmth was gone.
The warriors. How many lives had they fought together? How many times had Firion found himself awakening to life next to someone whose name he could barely remember?
He would hold them together. Even if that was the only thing he could do.
#
Warrior reached the Goddess, and felt that her light had changed. Cosmos looked at him.
"I could not save the world." she said.
The heavy light swirling in the Warrior's chest flared up again at the feeling of the Goddess' presence.
The Warrior tried to say something, but the way Cosmos' eyes shone told him that she already knew what he was thinking.
She could not protect the world. Because she hadn't even been trying. The world was not her main concern. Balance one thing was created, another had to be destroyed. Death and Rebirth. She was to keep the cycles of existance in place.
"I'm...sorry" she told him, and the Warrior wondered if she would destroy him now that he'd refused to let go of the heavy light weighing him down.
"Have I betrayed you?" he asked, and the Goddess looked down.
"Yes."
"Will this go on?"
"...It has, for ages. But, there is another way. If we lose-"
"We cannot lose. I might betray you, but I cannot betray the world."
"It will be reborn. He cannot exist without me. There would be nothing for him to destroy."
"No. I won't let this existance be destroyed. Protect us."
"Give me...one more battle. We will lose it, but there is a way to win the war."
#
Forgetting.
A cycle of not only death and rebirth, but of purification, and corruption. Forgetting was easy, and there was nothing simpler than letting yourself go into the flow of death and purification.
The worst was the battle.
Warrior dared not think too much while on it. Not think about how every hit he landed dirtied him, slowly.
Corruption. Selfcorruption.
The light is always with me.
It had to be, to get through the constant war. Dying in battle, being reborn for battle. There came a moment when, looking at Garland's eyes, he saw himself.
The light is always with me.
The clouds dispersed, and Cosmos' light shone down on them. He would fall, just to be purified again.
But he didn't know if he had the strenght to face the corruption of his self again.
And even worse. There was always the danger...of letting go too much into the white current of forgetting.
And just...letting go, away...away...away...
#
Find the light, that even in the darkest times will never fade.
#
"Do you really think, that you can save this world?" something in Garland's words, and in the way his eyes reflected his own gaze, made Warrior feel that he had forgotten something.
"That is precisely our mission. Our hopes have not been crushed yet." His own words felt odd, stiff.
"What a fool. What you hope for is nothing but an illusion. Pursue it and it will run. You may draw near, but never obtain it."
"What?"
"Eventually, you will see...the truth behind this conflict. And the world will betray you."
Betrayal. The word made something heavy stir in Warrior's heart. And suddenly, tinkling like stars in a black sky, memories started coming back to him.
"No matter what becomes of the world. The light will always be with us."
#
Days of battling, nights of walking; and short, restless sleep. The trip started to take its toll on all of them.
"Can somebody tell me what the heck these crystals are?" asked Tidus, tiredness clouding his smiling face.
"Once we obtain them, will we be able to defeat chaos?" asked Cecil.
Firion clenched his fist. He knew this time would come, but couldn't find any way to keep them all together.
"If that is what Cosmos wishes, it's up to us to fulfill it." he said, ashamed to not be of any help. If they found the crystals soon, then he might not have to do anything, but-
"But what are we- What exactly are we fighting for?"
Firion looked at Cloud along with the others. Looking at how things got harder with each passing day, he knew he'd have to keep the moral of the group up. But he was not ready for a question like this.
"What do you mean? Isn't it to defeat Chaos? And bring back peace to the world?" he said, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He sounded like some cheap fairy tale book.
"Cosmos only said, that we had to get the crystals. There is no guarantee that defeating Chaos will bring peace. Nobody knows for sure what's going to happen to the world."
If we could at least keep the world in one piece, that would be enough. He was going to snap at him, when he remembered that the others had no knowledge of their past battles, or of their endless war. He himself was just starting to piece back the bits of memories he still had.
"I think we just have to keep faith!" said Tidus. Firion sighed. They were already running on faith alone.
"We don't have to know much in order to fight, do we?" said Cecil, and Firion decided that he loved the man.
Stay together. Stay together. he thought.
"I just...need some convincing. I don't want to find myself swept into more battles, without knowing why I'm there."
"Cloud..."
"Can any of you guys tell me? If there is a good reason, to be here fighting, I wanna hear it."
"A reason to fight...I suppose I've never thought about that before."
"I'm settling things with my old man! But, that's a personal issue, I know..." said Tidus. Cloud loked at him with something that was almost a glare.
"Good for you, Tidus."
Tension filled the air around them, so thick, Firion could almost feel it brushing around him. He stepped forward.
"Could you give me some time?" he asked "I want to come up with an answer, that will convince you."
Cloud looked at him, and Firion saw into his eyes, seeing inside them for the first time.
There was nothing in there.