Gnothi Se Auton

-Act I-

The Trine Prophecy

A Final Fantasy IV Story

by SpacemanSpiff

Chapter III

The Prayer

Scene 1 – Land of the Summons, Throne Room

Blessed be the angel

that has fallen from her path,

for it is the will of her fate,

her destiny that beckons

through the night...

Rydia stepped with utmost care through the sacred portal, hidden deep in the bowels of the library. As quietly, and as cautiously as she walked, she still felt as though she was disrupting a world of peace, as though her aura was shattering a holy tranquility. As soon as her foot touched the hallowed floor of the Royal Chamber she wanted to turn around and go back, pretend the thought had never even crossed her mind. She sank a bit into the soft webbing beneath her as her mind continued to race over whether or not she should have come, but she was startled to find that she had been expected.

"Rydia, my dear child, I was beginning to worry that you would not make it," the softest voice she had ever heard filled her ears, and a being of everlasting light fell slowly from above. Rydia's bright green eyes sparkled in her beauty, and she couldn't help but smile. The elegant Queen Asura set her graceful foot upon the floor, and took a step towards the bedazzled girl before her, a hand extended with her warmest welcome. "Come, child."

Asura was the embodiment of grace, with her flowing satin robes, the face of an angel, and hair that fell like a delicate golden rain over her shoulders. It didn't matter that underneath it all she was simply another underworld creature, a being that was anything but human. The Queen knew that Rydia preferred her human form, for it was how she had first come to see her when she woke up in this alien land. It always brought some sort of comfort to the green-haired summoner, and if there was ever a time that she needed it, it was now.

"How did you—?"

"Shh," the hush rushed from the Queen's lips, and Rydia dared not break whatever silence she requested. Asura's hand beckoned the girl's company once more as she spoke. "We will talk. There are questions and answers awaiting us both."

Rydia had no choice, for the siren had lured this mind to its whim. Her pale, tender hand fell into that of the Queen, and she was led down the wide corridor with a gentle guidance. Her feet lifted ever so slightly that it felt as though she was floating beside her Queen. Rydia finally took the chance to glance around the darken path, and she wondered why they had no torches lit for them to see. It stole her breath away for a brief moment as the first two torches ignited on the walls where they once stood, following their slow trot down the way, always staying one step behind. Slowly but surely, as the Queen and her earth-born child entered the cavernous throne room, the entire area was bathed in a comfortable glow. Rydia felt like she was at home, or maybe she felt like she wanted to be at home.

...and her heart yearns

for that place it calls home,

fight it not her clouded mind,

for her heart is stronger

than any other...

Rydia thought she could hear the still flow of muffled whispers, and she looked to her Queen in hopes for an answer. But Asura simply smiled and led her further into the chamber, saving some sense of dismay behind her porcelain face. As they finally came to a leisurely stop, Rydia turned her eyes forward to see the royal thrones before her, polished into perfect gold, mirroring the heavenly essence of life that filled the room. There upon the King's throne sat none other than King Leviathan himself, and in his human form no less. He was motionless as he rested in the embrace of his gilded companion, eyes strangely closed, as though he were actually taking a nap there in front of them. But Rydia noticed, as his head tilted back to rest upon the rachis of his throne, that his lips were moving smoothly to some unheard rhythm that only he could feel. He was chanting to those above, perhaps the Goddess Bahamut herself, but Rydia still found it so unusual, for she had never seen him do anything like this before.

"For whom does he pray?" Rydia almost didn't get to finish the question as she realized Asura was no longer at her side, but was moving towards her respective throne beside the King. The Queen did stop, however, as she heard the faint voice following desperately after her. As serene as the sunrise the Queen turned with the brightest smile, filling Rydia's eyes with more light than any torch could burn. But she felt as though she knew the answer before the words ever reached across the space between.

"For you."

Even though she somehow knew those words were coming, it still left her completely awe struck. Her eyes burned of dryness for she forgot to blink, and a few tears wet them down for her, though these tears would never touch the ground. She wouldn't let them. Coming out of her state of shock, she closed her gaping mouth also dry from the warm air, glancing back and forth between the two beings she had come to call her mother and father. Asura glided delicately up to her beautiful throne, making herself quite comfortable in its gentle hands. The King finally opened his eyes, and his old and withered face did its best to seem happy. Rydia could barely make out a smile through the shimmering silver beard that washed over his lips, a gleaming curtain that trailed down his vestments of an overflowing ocean blue. But his eyes seemed quite heavy with something he had been worried of for some time, and she could see it reaching out for her. She couldn't help but see through them, and she realized why they had been expecting her. They knew.

"Rydia, it is always a pleasure to have your presence here with us," Leviathan spoke gruffly through his beard, yet still seemingly feeble in some way. He wasn't prepared for what he had to say at all, and Rydia could tell, but she couldn't possibly blame him. It was so out of the blue that she had come to decide this. With a deep breath, the King went on, "Though it seems that you may have something you wish to tell us. Do not worry, child, for though we may not fully understand, we shall nurture your will."

"Most gracious, Your Majesty." Rydia curtseyed before him, taking her time as she piled together what she thought would manage as a good explanation. Upon her eyes falling into Leviathan's apprehensive stare, the pile was scattered again, and she had to piece her story together as she spoke, "I have come here for less a reason to say 'hello'...but more to profess a formal 'goodbye'."

"Goodbye?" the Queen startled, causing Rydia to wonder if she knew what the King was hiding behind his sorrowed eyes. The look on Asura's face, that pale look of innocence dashed was more than enough to let on that Leviathan had not yet warned her of his premonitions. "Where are you going, my dear?"

Rydia turned her head to the floor for a moment, feeling so wretched under their sad, inquiring eyes. She didn't want to desert them, to leave them stranded here in the underworld without her, and if anything she would want them to go with her. Before she knew it she was fighting back the tears, though she did not have to fight hard, for they would never fall from her eyes in this place. That's the only way she knew that she had to go on, as heart-wrenching as it may be. She lifted her face with all the will she could summon and met the gaze of her underworld parents once again. But now the Queen did not seem so frightened through her eyes, and the King had his hand entwined with hers, guiding her to understanding. His knowledgeable visage was enough to settle Rydia's troubled conscience, though his words cleared every shadow of doubt.

"Though I lament, I feel a sense of assurance in your decision," he spoke raspy but warm, and Rydia was beginning to feel a little better as he went on. "I have foreseen this since the day you began your new life here, but I cannot foresee the reason. I can only ask why."

"I...have to find something," was all that Rydia could muster up from the flux of answers cluttered in her head. Though she wasn't even sure what she was looking for, she knew what she had felt, and it was all she needed. "I lost something two years ago...and I've been losing it a bit more every day since then. I fear that if I don't find it...my soul may never be happy."

"My dear Rydia. What is it that you have lost?" Asura asked somewhat hesitantly, as if she was afraid of the answer, though she masked it with overbearing concern. "Are you sure it is not something you can recover here?"

"I wish I could say yes," Rydia began mournfully, seeing Asura's woe grow with every word. "But I've tried searching here, and unless I leave I will never truly know what I'm looking for. I have to know where I belong..."

There was a moment of serene silence as Rydia trailed off in a thought, and her eyes met the floor, wondering for a brief moment if this was what she had come here to say. Asura clutched her King's hand tight as she gazed anxiously at the summoner, hoping for something that possibly was never there. Leviathan only wanted to understand, to somehow grasp this emotion that Rydia had flowing through her veins, though a part of him wished this day had never come. As Rydia's eyes once more met the forlorn faces of those before her, she could only say what was in her heart.

"I have to find my true home."

There was an uncomfortable shiftiness on Asura's part, for that one thing she was hoping for had now been lost, and Rydia could see it in her soft-glowing white eyes. Rydia couldn't help but think that she had made those eyes just a little darker this day, though Leviathan still had yet to find the dark in this situation. He leaned forward a bit to get a deeper look into those evergreen stars that lit up so bright in Rydia's eyes, trying to find some hint of what Rydia felt. He could only fathom that her words flowed from some higher power than that of human logic.

"Is this place no longer your home, Rydia?" the King asked kindly, though a bit more soft-spoken. It was his natural misunderstanding of the human emotion that had him so lost, and yet he only wanted to know what drive welled within her. He had always envied her sense of feeling, from the depths of one's heart, for he had never experienced anything such as loneliness.

"I don't know anymore. As much as I regret having to leave you, I have to answer my heart." Rydia felt as though her soul was pouring out of her. "And it's telling me that I must go."

"Are you sure we cannot help you?" Asura pleaded. "At least let us try."

"Please, Asura, she knows more of this than we ever could. We must let her go. We would only get in the way." Leviathan calmed his overwhelmed Queen, seeing that she had yet to grasp the situation their summoner child was in, though his grip was not much better. His hand held tight to hers, assuring her that he knew what had to be done. He turned his eyes back to the jade angel before him, her face looking more astray with each passing moment. He couldn't bear to see her this way, and he knew he had no way of stopping the human heart. He could only pray for her, as he had done ever since she climbed that mountain for the first time. She had never been the same since then, losing a little bit of her cheerful soul each day. "Rydia, I could never fully understand how you feel, but I know that the human heart is stronger than any force. I can only give you my best wishes on your journey, and may Bahamut watch over you, where ever you may go."

"I...I don't know how to thank you." Rydia was a bit choked up, for she realized that this was it, her last goodbye before she left. It began to dawn on her that she may never see them again should her soul be found in a new home. That swell of angst was deep in her throat, and she pushed hard to express her gratitude. "If I find that my home is not in this place, then I want you to know...I want everybody to know...that I love you all more than I could've ever imagined."

"Come what may, dear Rydia, we will always hold you close here, and you always have the privilege to call upon us," Asura responded as she began to come around, making that shade of white in her eyes a little brighter. The Queen finally realized that no persuasion could turn this green-haired scion of the summoners away from her decision.

"Now go, child," Leviathan offered with a lighter tone of sorrow in his eyes, and his smile much more evident in his silver beard. "Your journey and your soul await."

"Thank you..." she said softly, barely able to hold back what emotions were trying to break out of her. "Thank you so much."

Rydia gave a slow and graceful curtsey before the King and Queen, each one now smiling a mixture of compassion and concern. She closed her eyes as she lowered her head, her hair raining down over her cheeks. She couldn't even feel the tear squeeze itself from the corner of her eye. Lifting her body upright, opening her eyes to the embodiments of everlasting light and peace in their grace, she wished for a moment that she could find her home here, with these loving creatures. But she turned, nevertheless, and she still could not feel the tear as it descended her lonely cheek, dripping from its steep cliff and landing peacefully on the throne room floor.

...and though she may cry,

leave not those tears before her,

but instead behind her,

so that she may soon find

the truth...