A response to one of SasukeBlade's challenges under the topic "A Challenge to Fandom" in my forum The Moogle Nest.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles or any characters or locations within, only my caravanners from Tipa.
What Say You?
"Tor-gu-aash ne po-may aash, et los cay thuun-daray," Lydia tried to repeat the song, still fumbling over the strange tongue. She spoke ordinarily in translation: "Over the bridges to nowhere and across the stormy sea…"
"Un-domila sei le-tu ve, anaїs nom-ee dei," sang Anaїs Nin in answer, smiling encouragingly at her friend. "When one of the chosen goes there, a sign of Revival will be. It's part of a song my mother used to sing to me when I was a child—she said the 'sign of Revival' meant a sign that the miasma would be gone."
Lydia nodded in understanding as she continued, "I knew for sure that 'anaїs' meant 'revival' given that your name is Old Selkic for 'daughter of the revival.' I still wouldn't pass for a Selkie in Leuda, though."
"Maybe not now," Anaїs Nin agreed, "at present your accent, and your coloring, would still tell everyone there that you're a Clavat. But you're learning quickly, just keep practicing and give it another year or two."
Khetala looked up from her book, surprising both of the other women when she remarked in the Selkic language, "Practice is the path to mastery of every art, but most especially the path to eloquence of tongue." Anaїs Nin beamed with pleasure; she loved her race's language, and she enjoyed teaching it, especially with Khetala and Lydia as her eager students. Khetala had already learned a good deal of the tongue from Fen Del, who had been Anaїs Nin's uncle, when he was the leader of Tipa's caravan, and Lydia proved to be equally as eager to learn.
Dimo Nor, however, always became suspicious when the women spoke Old Selkic instead of the Continental tongue common to all races. Khetala seldom spoke in the Selkic tongue with Anaїs Nin except to call on her to translate certain texts of ancient lore, but now that Lydia was quickly learning the tongue, she and Anaїs Nin would frequently carry on whole conversations in Old Selkic. It bothered the young Lilty often that neither he nor David, Lydia's older brother, could understand more than broken words of what the women said.
"If you're going to bend our ears, at least speak a language everyone here understands!" Dimo Nor had shouted at Anaїs Nin once in irritation. To this, Lydia gave him a scandalized look before turning to her Selkie friend with a can-you-believe-him expression on her face.
Anaїs Nin leaned toward Dimo Nor, telling him in the Continental tongue with a significant glance, "We have our reasons," before turning back to Lydia and Khetala and speaking Old Selkic again.
"And what reasons might those be?" Dimo Nor demanded to know sourly.
"I know exactly why," answered David, pulling the Lilty a few feet away from the women. To his friend's inquisitive look he explained, "They're all girls, and they speak Old Selkic when they want to talk about female matters."
"Really?" Dimo Nor arched a brow suspiciously.
David nodded. "I hardly know any of the language myself, but I know my sister better than anyone. She's the only girl squeezed between five brothers and she gets embarrassed easily. Anaїs Nin started teaching her Old Selkic to spare her the embarrassment inherent in talking about girly things in front of men like us—not being able to move much in the chalice's aura kind of makes that a problem.
Dimo Nor's expression changed from suspicious to uncomfortable. "Well, I guess that makes sense," he reasoned, giving the women an apologetic glance.