Fipp: Just in case anyone asks, I had the idea for this chapter before Vaan's second Official Quest was translated.
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Hope without Pride
Okay, despite all the grief he and Lightning had given him, Vaan had to admit that maybe sometimes Laguna was right, and that maybe when he had said not to touch that Gateway, he shouldn't have touched it.
The Gateway had taken him away from the swampy areas he was traveling with Laguna, and brought him back to the snowy mountains from which he had come from. Though, it seemed he was in a different area, as there was an ocean separating him from where he had met Laguna.
Wait, wasn't that the Gateway he left Terra at?
Anyway, he should probably find his way back to Laguna before the man found himself in too much trouble.
Maybe that Gateway over there could help him?
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"Where am I?" was the first thing Vaan asked himself upon stepping into the Gateway. He had been in this world long enough to know that Gateways held various fragments from different worlds, but he had never seen a world like this before.
Vaan found himself standing on a tall stone mountain, which stood in the center of an endless field of dead, and burning ground. Massive swords, the size of skyscrapers, were stabbed into the earth, stretching far into horizon. The skies above him were dark with ash and smoked-filled cloud, raining down large fire balls. The air around him was filled with a strong, almost overpowering smell of sulfur.
"Who are you?"
Vaan quickly turned around. Behind him, in front of the throne at the back of the level, was a man in steel armor, and a horned helm covering his face. Held in his right hand, was a metal staff with a blade on each end.
Armor, horned helm, weapon, a black cape…
"I'll ask this again, boy," the man asked, his voice echoing against the helm. "Who are you?"
Vaan snapped out of his observations, and looked the man straight in the face. "I'm Vaan," he replied, before looking round the area. "Where is this place?" he asked. "I've never seen anything like this before." He looked back to the man. "And who are you anyway?"
"Me?" the man asked, his voice lowered. "I am Judge Magister Gabranth, and I would assume that you are one of Cosmos' warriors?"
Vaan nodded. "Yeah, I am." Vaan slightly crouched, his fingers ready to summon one of his weapons. "Are you one of Chaos' warriors?"
"One of Chaos' soldiers?" Gabranth scoffed. "Once I fought for Chaos, but no longer do I hold such a title."
"What?" Vaan questioned, though not changing his stance.
"Long ago, I fought for Chaos," Gabranth explained. "Every battle I fought, I put my entire being into it. Every time an opponent was felled, and made to retreat, my pride swelled within me." His armor slightly clanked as he gripped his fists. "But I discovered that no such things mattered to the gods.
"In order to put an end to the War for good, I sought to stain my blade with Cosmos' blood."
"You tried to kill Cosmos?" Vaan's voiced raised, his tone hardening.
"Yes. I sought Cosmos' death." Gabranth lowered his head, and Vaan heard a sigh. "But in the end, I was utterly defeated by her guardian."
Vaan raised an eyebrow. Did the Warrior fight this guy?
"My defeat was absolute," Gabranth continued, looking back to Vaan. "I came to realize that I never had a chance to win, and was made to retreat. With my defeat came the loss of my pride. So I left the War, and came here. I tried to leave this cursed world, but all my paths simply brought me back here." He raised and arm, and pointed at Vaan. "What of you?"
"Me?" Vaan asked, straightening back up. "What about me?"
"Why have you come here?"
"I, um, well got lost…" Vaan answered, somewhat embarrassed.
"You've lost your way?" Gabranth's voice lowered. "How pitiful."
"Hey!" Vaan snapped back. "If you're going to be like this, I'm just going to leave now." Vaan then turned around, and made to exit via the steep staircase that spanned the height of the mountain.
"You mean to leave?" Gabranth asked, causing Vaan to pause.
"Yeah," Vaan looked back to Gabranth. "What about it?"
Gabranth said nothing, but Vaan could feel as though he was being studied.
"Very well," Gabranth raised his weapon in front of him. "I am the Judge Magister." His other hand reached up and grabbed the weapon at the center, before pulling it apart, leaving him now with two swords. "I shall judge whether or not your life is worth living!"
He then charged Vaan, leaving the Sky Pirate little time to act.
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Gabranth fell to his knee, stabbing his blade into the ground. Vaan could hear him rasp for breath, echoing beneath his helm.
"So this is your strength then?" Gabranth bitterly asked. He raised his head and glared at Vaan. "This is the strength you wish to waste in this war between the gods?"
Vaan put his weapon away. "Why does it matter to you what I do?" Vaan asked. "You said you quit, right? So why do you care if I go back to fight? If I want to fight, I'll fight!"
Gabranth then forced himself to his feet, and pointed an accusing finger at Vaan. "And what of you? Do you not care for yourself? Does it not concern you that your life has no true meaning in these battles? That when you fall, no longer to return to the battlefield, that you will simply be replaced?" He fist clenched. "Where does that leave your pride? Your honor?"
The look Vaan gave Gabranth could be best described as confused, not really understanding what the Judge was saying.
He merely shrugged, and placed both hands behind his head.
"I really have no clue what you're talking about," Vaan said, nonchalantly, confusing Gabranth. "Pride? Honor? I haven't really thought about those things?"
Slowly, Gabranth lowered his arm. "Then tell me, why do you wish to continue?"
For several moments, Vaan didn't answer, his face seeming to show as though he was thinking. Suddenly, he turned, facing the way he had intended to go.
"I made a promise to someone who didn't want to fight, that I'd try and end the fighting," Vaan said, his voice soft, full of fondness. "And the brother I made, he's too young to get involved in these things." Slightly smiling, he lowered his arms, and turned back to Gabranth. "I want to stop the fighting, so no one has to fight anymore."
Gabranth said nothing, only staring at Vaan.
He then slowly turned away, and faced the throne.
"Then go," Gabranth's voice was now filled with content, lacking the anger he had spoken with before. "Straight ahead is the exit, or rather the entrance to the battlefield. You know this, and still you would leave?"
Vaan nodded. "Yeah, I would."
Underneath his helm, Gabranth closed his eyes. "Then allow me to give you one last word.
"What must be defended is inevitably lost. You will know despair and emptiness. But remember, surrender to despair, and you will be no more than a pathetic dog. Never cast away hope, and live on with pride." Vaan then turned around to face away from Gabranth. "Don't ever become like me."
"You know," Vaan said, looking. "I think I can have hope without pride."
Vaan then walked away, leaving the Judge Magister to himself once again.
"It seems that you were able to teach that boy much," Gabranth said, when he could no longer hear Vaan walking away, "Didn't you, Basch?"
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Mrfipp