Draco: Walked into the local department store for the express purpose of purchasing regular Coca-Cola. Regular Coca-Cola completely sold out. No bottles, no cans, nothing. I wish I was making that up. Root beer is something you drink with your throat.
Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.
Crystal Tower: Confessions
Onion was atop the Crystal Tower when Terra found him. He had changed into his Ninja garb, and was twirling a shuriken in hand. His crimson katana was trapped between his arm and his side, and his Onion Sword was nowhere to be seen; his cowl was lowered from his face, trapped against his chin.
"That wasn't the Scholar talking, was it."
A light chuckle emerged from the ninja perched there. "I appreciate you keeping us separate," he admitted, not turning, "but 'the Scholar' is still me. He's just... me with an attitude. Focused on the teaching you're looking for."
He closed his fist; the shuriken seemed to vanish as he opened his palm, and his white onion appeared there.
"That being said... no, it wasn't."
He turned as Terra hovered forward, setting one hand against the spire he was leaned against and pressing her feet against the tower as she stepped towards him. "What do you mean, you're not an Onion Knight?" she asked of him. "You said it to me straight - fighting through the challenges, not getting a reward, not needing a reward because the challenge is rewarding enough on its own."
The youngling began to lower the hand that held his symbol, but Terra only stepped forward, closing her hand on his and setting her other hand upon the vegetable as she swept around to look him in the eye.
"What happened to the boy I fought the war with?" she demanded. "The boy who promised to protect me, no matter what? You never questioned your heart before, so why now? What is it that makes you say you don't deserve that title?"
The boy only turned away.
"A knight protects the weak," the Esperkin insisted. "That holds true in all the worlds. Cecil says Paladin, but it's the same thing. Lightning won't admit it, but she was doing it in her valkyrie armour. Garland even told me not to call him a knight because he stopped doing that in his world. Why isn't that enough for you?"
"...Hell's training."
Terra blinked when she realized he had given her a response. "What-?"
"Hell's training, heaven's reward," the boy quoted. "That is the battle vow of an Onion Knight. That is what earns that helmet. And I..." He shook his head. "I was never willing to go through that. Any of me. That's why my bursts in this world are the Sage and the Ninja. It didn't matter what kind of heaven was waiting on the other end, I wasn't willing to go through hell for... for a vegetable!"
He pulled his hand out from between Terra's, raising the onion in front of him; the skin had yet to be pierced, yet tears were welling in his eyes.
"I knew it would be worth it," he protested. "I knew nothing would compare to that. Magic with forces beyond a Sage. Power that no number of Ninja's swings could match. I knew it, I wanted it, but I didn't want to fight for it. I can put on the armour, I can pick up the sword, but if I don't earn it, then..." He scoffed. "Then it's not worth shit!"
He slammed the vegetable to the roof beneath him, crushing the onion against the crystal with all the force of the Meteors he had used to slay Mateus.
Terra shook her head. "How do you know?" she asked, trying to be gentle with him. "You said you only remember the scriptures, the legends. You said the actual events were just... fragments. How can you say you didn't earn it? You can't possibly remember all of you failing that kind of trial, or you wouldn't be here."
The boy raised one hand at the side of his head, like he wanted to punch something. "I can see... all of me... reading that vow," he insisted, the tears flowing freely now. "And I... I can see, on each face... the agreement. We can't pull that off. We don't have the time. We don't have the strength. We don't have the patience. How can I do what four of me couldn't? How can I...?"
He gave up at this point; he drove his face into his arms before him and curled up, letting the tears flow.
Terra was quiet for a long moment, floating back to sit at his side. Slowly, she picked up the crushed onion at his side, holding it before her; exposed to the air, the vegetable stung her eyes, but she refused to let the tears come.
For every kid... an onion symbolizes 'challenge'. It means an obstacle that just doesn't stop. Layer upon layer of... of suffering, tears, trying to end it. And you keep pushing through it, because you figure, there's gotta be something good at the end, right?
Slowly, she pulled apart, the pieces, looking carefully as the child's words back on the train echoed in her mind - until she found the core of the produce.
Then you get to the core, the end of the trials - and that's it. There's nothing. No fanfare, no congratulations. No reward.
At that point did the Esperkin pile the pieces in one hand, magic flowing from her fingertips as the tide of healing draped the vegetable - and slowly, the onion began to repair itself.
"So you'll stop without trying?" she asked. "Just because it's daunting? There's a reward waiting, and you won't even go for it?"
The boy raised his gaze up, seeing Terra holding his onion, now sparking with Regen. "Wh-wha...?"
But that's when you realize - you don't need a prize.
The Esperkin turned to him. "Maybe we're stuck like this," she admitted. "Maybe our homeworlds had us as good as we can get. Maybe we can't improve on what we came here with.
She tapped the onion pieces, and a flash of Cura magic consumed the produce; when it faded, the vegetable was in her hand, as though it had been freshly picked.
The trials give you new skills, new ways to look at things, new experiences for your trouble.
"But you know what? Maybe we can. Sure, the four of you couldn't get at it. But that doesn't mean you-" and here she reached forward with her empty hand, tapping him in the chest, "-here, can't do it. You say you didn't have the time? We don't have anything else. You say you didn't have the strength? Work at it, and you'll fix that soon enough. You say you didn't have the patience? Then what do you call training me?"
The boy glanced at the vegetable. "But..."
"You're going through memories of four people," Terra insisted. "That's hell enough on its own, isn't it? You keep that up, heaven'll grant you prize soon enough. And if that doesn't work, you can just go at it the old-fashioned way."
The observation caused him to turn to her, raising an eyebrow. "Old-fashioned way?"
A flare of light caused him to reach back to brace himself as Ragnarok appeared in Terra's hands empty hand, flat against his chest. With a smirk, the Esperkin swiped it up, catching a lock of hair as she set the blade against her lap.
"Fighting until we earn it."
A laugh from the youth as he pulled himself upright. His crimson katana nearly fell from the roof, but he only grabbed that in his sword hand, raising it before him.
The challenge... is its own reward.
"You know what, yeah," he agreed, setting his blade against Terra's. "Fighting until we earn it."
Terra smiled. "And don't worry," she insisted, holding out the vegetable to him. "Even if we're chasing a pipe dream... you're an Onion Knight as far as I care."
At this point did the smile she so well knew appear on the youth's face.
"Thanks, Terra."
He reached forward and closed his hand on the vegetable himself.
+x+x+x+
"Ah, Terra."
The Esperkin was slightly surprised to hear Ultimecia greet her by first name as she made her way up the Crystal Tower. Onion Knight was outside, cleaning himself up a bit, and so she was on her own as the sorceress approached her. "Something wrong?"
"Yes," Ultimecia admitted. "I... I want to apologize. For what happened with Mateus."
"Don't worry about it," Terra insisted. "It wasn't your fault."
Ultimecia was astonished. "Wha... you're not upset?"
Terra shook her head. "You didn't realize he was still trying his plans from the war. You brought him here because you thought he would be willing to coexist like the rest of us." Remembering Kefka and Exdeath, she corrected herself, "Most of the rest of us."
"How..." Ultimecia shook her head. "How do you get away with being so... forgiving?" she asked. "I had a slave crown. Mateus gave it to me."
"Yes, he did," Terra admitted, "but you didn't use it against me. You gave it to Onion so he could use it to protect me. I'm not going to get mad at you for that."
The sorceress was quiet for a long moment. "I swear," she mused, "give you a way to cross over into other worlds, you'd have foiled everyone in this war back at home. All you need is spiky hair and something that doesn't look like a weapon."
"Isn't gold too soft to make a blade?" Terra mused.
"Maybe normal gold," Ultimecia mused, "but most weapons you find with golden blades are enhanced in some way."
Terra only shrugged and turned away, flying the rest of the way up the tower; after a few moments, Ultimecia's expression contorted into one of confusion.
"Wait, how... is that... relevant?"
+x+x+x+
When Terra arrived at the World of Darkness, she was surprised to find Lucent Storm waiting at the main battlefield. Upon the Esperkin's decent, the wraith only turned to face her. "How have things occurred?"
"Not to be rude," Terra prompted, "but where were you when the Emperor was attacking?"
"We were in far darkness, observing through the Void," she replied.
Terra raised one eyebrow. "You sat back and watched as he tried to take over Onion, steal the slave crown, and put me under control?"
Lucent shook her head. "We would have intervened if it appeared he would claim the crown," she insisted. "But if the child was incapable of defending you from him, he would stand no chance against that harlequin. We presume... you have reinforced his resolve?"
"Yes," Terra insisted. "He's... back."
"Good," Lucent mused. "He puts on a display of bravado beyond his own certainty. If left unchecked, he will fall to despair - and that will make him an easy target for Palazzo's magic."
"Did Kefka really teach all of you how to do his control magic?" the Esperkin asked.
Lucent shook her head. "Only us, and him. Emperor Palamecia thought it best to expand his repertoire of magic; he never had any intention of using it against you. We, however, aided his performance in the thirteenth cycle - as you are well aware."
Terra nodded. "I see. I was just... Exdeath is another one who isn't exactly going to be friendly. I didn't know who to worry about."
"Wise, child."
+x+x+x+
"What... is wrong with me?"
Prishe could see that her snaps about Odin weren't exactly kind to what Lightning was remembering from her homeworld. "Hey, Lightning, ease up," she insisted. When the flash turned to her; "Just don't think about it too hard, okay? From what I can tell, you were pretty new to the war. Maybe this world's just bein' screwy to your memories. The more you get, the clearer things'll be, 'kay?"
Lightning lowered her gaze, the arced blades she called Zantetsuken fading from her hand.
"Er... Lightning?"
"...Light," the flash murmured.
Prishe blinked. "Sorry?"
"I..." Lightning took a deep breath. "I said... call me Light."
A smile broke out on the monk's face. "Alright." She turned to Cosmos' throne. "So, Light... how does this warp work?"
The flash shook her head. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I just sat down, closed my eyes... kind of wished I could get back to the battlefields... and I ended up in front of the Crystal Tower."
"Huh," Prishe mused. With a hop, she landed on the seat. "So I just sit here, and-"
"Don't just jump to things," Lightning reprimanded. "I think that was random, where I landed. I'm lucky I didn't end up back in Orphan's Cradle."
Prishe sighed, crossing her legs. "Well, it's better than nothin'," she insisted. "Maybe if I focus on the Chaos Shrine, I'll end up there."
Light shook her head. "Or you'll end up at Chaos," she murmured.
"Hey, don't sweat it," Prishe insisted. "Worst case, I'll run into Garland and kick his ass again."
"Again?"
At that moment the sound of rapid blazes prompted Lightning to leap straight skyward, her fingers snapping to trigger her Grav-Con Unit as she left the waters. Prishe quickly leapt to the side as a Hyperdrive blast consumed Cosmos' throne. Fortunately, the throne was undamaged. Unfortunately, the fact that Lightning now knew that said a lot about what the situation was turning into.
She slowly rotated until she was upside down, catching sight of Kefka - who had his shirt burned off and did not have wings yet.
"Look," he snapped, pointing at Lightning. "I don't have a problem with you hating me. Everyone hates me. My clothes hate me. But you do not get to burn me! ONLY SHE GETS TO BURN ME!"
Lightning sighed, snapping her fingers again to turn off her Grav-Con and falling to the waters on all fours. "We don't have the same problems as normal people, do we?" she asked, raising her gaze to Prishe.
Prishe was gone.
"What the- Oh, screw this with a knife," Lightning muttered, turning to face Kefka again and drawing her Blazefire Saber.
The clown raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" he asked. "No protests, no witty comments? Come on, you gotta give me one line! It's a fight, Goddess damn it! There's no manikins involved! You've gotta give me one line!"
"I have absolutely nothing sober to say to you."
Draco: Let's be honest, III-ers. Who actually has the patience to grind the ninety-something levels needed to use an Onion Knight, huh?
I've started searching Texts from FFXIII for Lightning lines. That blog did something to my brain cells and I want to pry it out but at the same time I love it. I need Coca-Cola. This was finished writing a few minutes after midnight on the day I started, which kind of shoots that idea down on its own.
