A figure stood on top of the spire of the Centran ruins, the wind whipping his long silver hair which was black at the roots, his face covered by a black scarf so only his mismatched eyes, one red, one orange/yellow were visible, his body was wrapped in a cloak of some kind, one side of which was torn and fluttered around him. He had delivered the orb in this reality as he had been asked to do, his master not being too specific as to why he should do such a task. What was the point of telling this world of a past that didn't exist? But he couldn't argue with his closest friend, he must have a reason why these children needed to know these dark secrets, what would they have to face that needed such information. Or maybe there was no agenda to this, his friend may just be hoping to seek forgiveness for his sins as he grows older. Yet he was also ordered not to return, to see things through, she had been very clear on that. The young mistress was not someone you'd disobey lightly, also she had alluded to "things coming together", things technically he should know but this wasn't his world, he was disconnected from it.
I'm unsure as to how to go about healing this world, I can't use force as it will mean hatred and fear on the part of the populace against Amie. For now all that counts is to heal the physical scars on the planet surface… I'm not sure if I have the ability to do that myself and Amie is still too young yet to try. The world politics hang in the balance now as the fear of Ultimecia hanging over them all has gone and Garden is too diminished to take up their place as peacekeepers, even a year and a half after Ultimecia's fall. Tensions have grown between Trabia and Galbadia once more as Galbadia scours the Estharian continent for minerals and materials that Trabia claims are rightfully theirs.
Amie can walk now and is a precocious young girl, already talking and asking questions. She already knows what she is but I don't try to force it out of her like was done to me. My time is taken up with just stopping her getting hurt when she gets too adventurous and basically just staying hidden and surviving although this world may believe me dead now… I can only hope.
Second extract from audio journal.
'Are you still playing with that thing?' Zephyr asked huffily as he lay on the ground by the blazing fire in the centre of the chamber as stars twinkled in the sky above.
Jaymie didn't answer as he replayed that short passage again, taking in every word as the voice of his father filled his ears, a voice he hadn't heard in five years. It didn't seem to make sense, according to this his father was alive in the future somewhere, having been the lover of the most feared sorceress ever known and there was no mention of his mother. Only this girl Amie, his sister?
'You should get some sleep' Dylan said softly as he walked over.
Jaymie looked up at Dylan, his turquoise eyes unglazing as his focus came back from wherever his mind was. 'I need to know what this means…' he told the blond haired elder youth.
'It may come in a dream' Dylan said with a soft smile. 'Staying up all night listening to that won't bring answers, only questions. We'd be better off asking our parents' he added, the voice of reason.
'The reason we're here is so that we don't keep running to our parents!' Zephyr said huffily.
'Will you just shut up?' Dylan snapped, exasperated. 'That doesn't mean that we should be so stupid to not use the information sources we have available. They knew what happened with Jaymie's parents before we were born'
'Whatever' Zephyr muttered and rolled over resting his head on his folded arms.
Dylan gently prised the orb from Jaymie's hands. 'Just sleep okay? I'll take first watch then I'll wake you up for your turn.' He told him softly.
Jaymie's hand finally relaxed as his eyelids blinked in reply, his body lying down, finally unfolding from the hunched shape it had as it had crunched around the orb he had held. His back ached yet the hard ground beneath soothed, his head falling on his rolled up jacket. He could hear the soft breaths of the girls as they slept on the only two bedrolls they had brought with them. They had decided on taking it in turns to use them, getting used to sleeping rough. Jaymie's eyes closed and sleep came quickly, this was his second night sleeping on the hard floor of the room but tiredness helped in making this no ad version to slumber.
Dylan stood in the shadows of the room near the doorway, the flicker of flames casting yellow and orange specks in his blue eyes as he watched his friends sleep. He understood Jaymie's insistent need to know what was hidden in this orb, what it held about his parents. No doubt Dana understood that too, the three of them had parents missing, Jaymie's just vanishing on a mission five years ago, assumed dead, Dana's mother Fujin died in childbirth whilst he had no idea who his own father was and his mother gave no hints as to who it was as if ashamed or saddened by it all.
Zephyr just didn't get it, but then why would he? He had both his parents still alive and well, not to mention they were in charge of Garden. Life must be easy when your parents were at the top. Then again he couldn't complain, his mother Quistis was the bestInstructor in Garden, everyone loved her, though she seemed to have so much sadness in her eyes, especially when the Commander was around. Dylan guessed he only had this group of friends because of the fact that their parents were friends and had been through a lot of stuff themselves, and although Zephyr usually got on his nerves he wouldn't trade them in for anyone else, and if he never said it aloud he hoped that they knew he felt that way.
With all the thoughts running through his head it was obvious that this would come, this dream that would try and shelve all the mystery that had surrounded him into some semblance of events that could be understood. Unfortunately he was aware that it never works that way and instead the visions were bizarre amalgams of various thoughts and images that bore no meaning to the big discovery of the day. He dreamt he was running through a tunnel, the walls white and crumbling, holding a sword in bloodstained hands. That couldn't be, the rational voice whispered to himself as if he was watching himself from outside. I've never killed a human.
The vision flickered and he was confronted by an injured winged beast, one of its huge black feathered wings pouring blood from a ragged hole. The beast spiralling down from the sky at him, its red eyes locked on him as it screeched in agony.
Another flicker, another scene. A couple walking side by side, their backs to him, one with shortish brown hair, the other with long copper hair, walking towards a doorway filled with white light stepping through and devoured by it leaving him alone.
Flicker… now for something more familiar, long pale arms wrapping around his waist as blonde hair brushed his nose, a head nuzzling his chest affectionately, soothing the pain and confusion inside.
Jaymie woke, catching Dylan's hand as it came down to shake his shoulder. 'I'm awake' he said softly, the dream fading into the back of his mind, the last part just swirling away slowly, leaving a lingering sense of happiness.
Dylan had long stopped being surprised by Jaymie's sleeping reflexes. Sharing a dorm room with him had been an experience. He just wished he had such reflexes himself, Jaymie had caught him out way too many times when they were both trying out stealth as the other slept during their early training.
Jaymie sat up and passed Dylan his jacket as a pillow as he stretched, the older youth taking it with a smile and dropped it on the floor at a distance from the fire before laying down resting his cheek on it.
Jaymie brushed the dirt from his black sweater as best he could and decided against trying the same with his black jeans, the dust clinging to it like it did everything else in these ruins, like a second skin.
He cast his eyes over the three younger youths, still sleeping, his eyes resting on a head of long blonde hair for a while as he smiled at a fuzzy memory and picked up his gun-blade, a simple model with a Revolver gunstock that all gun-blade cadets got, just like Zephyr's, except Zephyr had a replica version of his father's Lionheart blade whilst Jaymie made his own, a blackened blade with a hooked point at the end and a serrated edge at the topside of the blade so he could use both sides.
In a way it was similar to his own father's blade but he felt it was nowhere near as good as Fixxer and wouldn't dishonour his father's blade by naming his own imitation after it. Instead he had called it Craven, not really wondering where the name had come from but it seemed to fit the dark twisted blade.
He doubted he would need to use it, the Centra Ruins had been pretty much deserted and there had been no monsters over the last few days other than the odd inquisitive Tonberry which seemed to toddle off after recognising Dylan, which had been odd as this was their first time here. Though maybe they could sense the Guardian Force Dylan held within, it being a Tonberry too. Wasn't there some story about the original Tonberry GF being the Tonberry King… well then that probably made Dylan's Ton a prince or something. It was funny thinking of GF's having children or clones, whatever they were. It seemed that once a GF reached a certain level it would give birth to a GF of similar form, the power of which depended on its compatibility with the one whom held it at the time of birth. No one ever suspected such a thing and they were only aware of this because of the relationship The Six had with the GFs they had come across on their big adventure. Strange how his friends were all children of The Six. He always felt that it was such a strange title for the Commander and the others but then if you didn't know who they were from that title then you had no right or need to.
He had declined a GF of his own on this training excursion or at any other time. He was seeking one out in the world, just like his father had. Destiny would have to send him a suitable Guardian rather than have one forced upon him. The others had their own GFs since they were young, Chika had a Thunder GF called Quez and an addiction for Triple Triad due to her ease of getting cards, Zephyr unsurprisingly was given Shiva's daughter whom he had named Shivani, whilst Dana had two GFs, Pandemona which had been her mother's and Ifra, son of Ifrit. These days cadets no longer have to worry about the memory loss side effects of junctioning as GFs are no longer directly attached to the mind, instead mystical ear studs were developed in Esthar which have the function of anchor between a GF and its user when worn. The colour of the gem in the stud depends on the GF type and Element. He always liked the way Dana's red and purple studs matched her eyes which usually were red though sometimes turned purple as her father's eye colouring leaked in.
Tonight was to be their last night alone, they were to be picked up in the morning and Jaymie didn't have the heart to wake any of them up to take next watch, no doubt they had plenty of things from the last few days they'd like to dream about since even if they hadn't had anything to fight, the exploration had been fun. He didn't want to sleep again tonight as the visions of his last dream had been too confusing to risk having again and the only enjoyable part he could stand and watch over while he was awake and conscious to enjoy it all the more.