Scratching The Surface
We managed to set up camp far away from Bevelle; Lulu said that we were closer to the Calm Lands than the capital now. Weapons for fighting were still a concern as we hadn't passed any merchants as we fled so we would have to rely on magic and fist-fighting until we passed someone who we could buy stuff from. It was a worry, since the Calm Lands were huge and shops were going to be sparse, not even counting in the fact that we were branded traitors.
Lulu and Auron were heading the plans for tomorrow, Wakka was out scouting the area to make sure it was clear. Yuna wanted to be alone and had went off into the forest, Kimahri not far behind her. The rest of us were quiet, stewing in the moment and the events that just happened. It was a shock to everyone but Yuna was taking it the hardest. Me, I didn't know what to think. All I was aware of was that we were branded traitors and sent to die. But we were here, we were alive, and we were probably going to finish the Pilgrimage.
Why wasn't I happy? I should be relieved at all of this. So why don't I feel happy?
I kept trying to sleep but my thoughts were keeping me up. The niggling in the back of my head over Yevon, over the way they betrayed Spira. Not only that but my death, Lysander and Grace's too, how we lived, what kept us alive, what Oblivion said about telling us the truth. He said he would explain after we reunited with Lysander but he's said nothing. He wasn't even sitting near Angel, though she had moved away from him purposefully. What was going on between the two? Why couldn't he just tell us the truth?
Tidus got up suddenly, saying he was going to check on Yuna. Even though she was safe with Kimahri we backed the idea since she had been gone for a while now. Grace had went on watch on the outskirts of camp with Lysander, both sitting on a fallen tree trunk. Considering I couldn't sleep I got up and went over to them, sitting next to Grace quietly. Grace looked as if she was in another world and Lysander was trying to be alert for any people passing by but his mind was elsewhere. We all just sat in silence for such a long time I don't think any of us knew what to say.
So the silence went on. I watched the woods glisten in the darkness. The crystals in the trees and the forest floor glowed softly, lighting the paths of the woods, nothing too bright to prevent sleep. It was also cold, really cold. The fire at camp was strong but my desire for warmth was overrun by wanting the company of Grace and Lysander. I needed to be beside them, even if we just sat in quiet. We had to stay together we had to.
"I want to go home," I finally said, breaking the silence.
"I want to go home, too," Grace said.
"Yeah. Me too," Lysander said. "And we can't. Not until the Pilgrimage is over apparently."
"Do you think Oblivion did it?" Grace asked us. "That he was the one who brought us here?"
"After everything that's happened I wouldn't be surprised," Lysander scoffed. "Why would he do it though? What does he have to fucking gain out of it?"
"I don't know," I said. If it was the case, that Oblivion was behind it, then why would he pick us? Out of all the people in the world why us specifically? Was it specifically? It could have been a random, blind pick. Just, just why? "Do you think he'd tell us if we asked?"
"He'd fucking better," Lysander said. "Really I want to kick his head in. He might be able to get us home but he's not going to? So what, does he not give a shit about us? What he's putting our families through?" Neither Grace or I responded to that, bringing back the silence. Our families were suffering so much; their son or daughter went missing without a trace almost a year ago. No explanation, no trace of their survival or if they were alive. We are alive just... not on the same world.
"I miss them," I said in a whisper. I missed my dad and my sister and my brother. I missed them so much.
"I... never made my bed before I left my mum's," Lysander spoke, the guilt hitting his voice. "I don't think she'll have went into my room. I wouldn't be surprised if both my rooms looked exactly the same when I go back."
"Both?" I asked.
"My parents split up about a year before this happened," he told us. "I live with my mum mainly but I go to my dad's every other weekend. My brother lives with my dad and he comes over to my mum's too. He keeps talking about how he'll move out soon, just to get his own space. He's nineteen; Dad keeps saying he'd better wait til he's over twenty before thinking about it."
"What does he do?" Grace asked.
"He's a mechanic, I'd go down after school sometimes to his work and just watch him fix cars and mod them," Lysander said. "He was showing me how to fix cars and stuff like that, helped with the driving tests, he said. I really want a bike though."
"I don't have any brothers or sisters," Grace said. "I guess I'm a little spoiled; Mom and Dad would get me anything I wanted but I never took them for granted, they taught me that from the start. I was their special little girl, their princess, their dancer. They were so driven when I danced. They'd drive me across States for contests. They always told me how proud of me they were and... I miss them so much, I..." Grace couldn't get any more words out. She didn't cry, she just lost all words. She took a moment and breathed in to calm herself. "I've missed my mom's birthday. We always go to this Italian place for her birthday, the three of us. My aunts and uncles and cousins come round a few days after, they usually deal with the cake and stuff and her friends come over and we always have a party. I... really hope they did all that."
"I'm the middle kid," I said. "We're pretty close in age; Bethany's two years younger then me and Andrew's a year and half older. We barely fought with each other, they were my best friends actually. I... I just wanted to protect them, I felt like I had to since mum died and dad raised us by himself. It was just after the funeral I could see how upset he was and I kept thinking to myself that I had to be strong and grow up and help him. Dad told me a few times: Christie, you're not meant to look after me, I'm meant to look after you, Andrew and Bethany. It's weird, Andrew and I were really hit by mum dying but because Bethany was too young to really remember mum she's been fine. She misses mum but she's not hurt by it the way the rest of us are and... I got jealous sometimes, that she was too young to remember or understand. Andrew's a great guy, he's really funny and he was always up hanging with both of us. He showed us how to make scones after he made them in school and Bethany's just dived right into baking and cooking since. He just did it because it was life skills and Dad's been showing him how to make things that involve more than oven chips and pizza."
"What's your dad like?" Grace asked.
"He's great," I replied. "He'd do anything for us and, if he could, he'd probably give us the world. Dad's like... he's always there and he'd sit with us, listen to all our crap, hug us and tell us he loves us and that he's always going to be there. He's a great dad, like there was nothing he wouldn't do for us." I looked back to the camp for a moment, seeing everyone trying to settle down to sleep. Yuna, Tidus and Kimahri hadn't come back yet but if they were any longer one of us would have to go out to find them. "Maybe we should ask now."
"Yeah, let's ask him," Grace said.
We went back to the camp, heading over to Oblivion. He was trying to sort out the camp to be comfortable for sleeping as we pretty much had nothing but a bit of gil and the clothes on our back. He stopped what he was doing the moment he saw us, knowing already the topic of conversation.
"I understand you want answers, and you've been more than patient," he began. "Sit down and I'll explain." We sat down and he looked around, seeing if anyone was listening though I think they were preoccupied, then spoke in a quieter voice to be sure. "There is a reason why you three specifically were brought from your own world and into this one. At a very young age, the three of you became interlinked with people who lived and died in this world. That connection only became stronger with time and has developed in different ways for each of you."
"Wait, that's crap, I didn't get any weird flashbacks until after I arrived in Spira," Grace said. I gave her a weird look of surprise and she realised that she hadn't explained it. "There have been times where I've had really vivid flashbacks of things that happened ten years ago."
"Things that happened on Pilgrimages? Pyre's perspective to be specific?" Oblivion asked and it made Grace's eyes widen in surprise of how dead on he was. "When she died it was her that you interlinked with. Hence the vast knowledge you have of Spira and Yevon and the Pilgrimage itself," he then looked to Lysander. "As with you and Gynsey; how else do you think that you picked up Al Bhed so easily, combined with your skill around Al Bhed equipment?" Then he faced me. "I believe that Sin's Toxin interfered with your connection to Siren, but it is still there and surely you feel it?"
"So it's pure coincidence that Siren and I look alike?"
"Possibly," he answered a little quickly. "But everything else for all of you: your ability to fight, the knowledge of this place. It didn't all come from chance, it came from the memories and experiences of these people."
"Why them? Why us?" Lysander demanded. Oblivion remained silent for a moment. "No, fucking tell us: why us?"
"The three of you are built for something far greater," the look on Lysander's face as Oblivion said that made me think he was going to punch him. "You all possess a strength that is rare and, when nurtured, is a force to be reckoned with. I'm surprised I found not one but three in your kind."
"You're not human, I fucking knew it," Lysander growled. "What the fuck are you?"
"I am Death's embodiment," the answer was so straight and sounded so honest but... the way he just admitted it made it difficult to believe. "The Grim Reaper, so to speak. I'm sure I don't need to explain my role to you all."
"Wait that's... how can you be Death?" I asked.
"It runs in my family," Oblivion said. "Even beyond recorded history, my family had a power no other race possessed. We were granted a great power and have been the keepers of that power ever since."
"So you're like a god?" Grace asked.
"I dislike that term," he said with a furrowed brow.
"So how are we connected to them? You haven't explained that," I said.
"It is a difficult thing to explain," he said. Load of crap, I thought. "Other people just wouldn't make a connection with the three. Human, non-human, Earth, Spira, no matter where they came from they didn't link, never made that connection. The fact that you three, three children at that, were able to make such a connection with spirits from the past and interlink with them is completely random. There is no rhyme and reason as to why you are able, only that you can. I can only assume that it means that you are meant for something more."
"So you picked us because you had no choice," Grace said, scoffing. "What about us?"
"I don't expect you to be completely understanding or forgive me for this," Oblivion replied. "All I ask is that you help me. The moment the Pilgrimage is over I will send you all home, I give you my word and swear on my life that I will."
"I still see the reason why you've done this," Lysander narrowed his eyes. "This has nothing to do with the Pilgrimage, does it?" We started to hear footsteps returning to the camp. Oblivion had turned his head, looking over to Angel who was completely disinterested and staring into the fire. Lysander groaned and got up, heading over to the other end of the camp and lying down to go to sleep. Yuna informed everyone that we would be leaving in the morning for the Calm Lands. I'll admit that I felt frustrated like Lysander; we were given information but none it of made a whole lot of sense without full context. Even still Oblivion said that he would explain and he should hold true to that promise. We're not letting him only explain half the story.
