I'm finally back! My flu lingered for several weeks (I thank God it wasn't COVID) AND I got in a car accident. Then back to back holidays...Wooh.
Anyway, I guess...Happy Holidays? LOL
ACT II: CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Chapter Ten
Despite events, Ceres still agreed to enter the temple once her fit was over. Bergho requested privacy from the priests as they paid their respects. While they were weary of her presence, they agreed figuring she hadn't become violent yet.
Keyword, 'yet'.
Bergho chose a corner away from seeing eyes and just watched her as she stood before the first statue. Feeling the attention, Ceres rolled her eyes.
"I said I was fine."
"Hmm," he replied, crossing his arms. "You said that."
"And it's still true. I'm okay!" When he didn't respond, she glanced over to see his arms crossed. "Look, I don't wanna talk about it."
"You know you're safe with me, right? With me and mom?"
The question made her stop.
"I know you've been through a lot, a lot more than you've led on." At her panicked look, he answered, "You talk in your sleep."
She didn't know that.
"Sometimes it's Sin, some science mumbo-jumbo...but lately it's your uncle."
Mikal. Her sweet uncle.
She often missed his rigid posture and tentative hand that would caress her jawline with a tenderness he held for no one else. He who took her in when her parents died. He refused to let her call him 'father', in preservation of the memory of his brother-in-law. They'd never had the conversation about who her father was before he died, just that he was her father and could never be replaced.
"You don't know anything."
"You're right. We know nothing about this weird girl that drifted into the harbor one stormy night..." He stepped closer to her. "But for whatever reason, we care about her. Like she's our own."
Ceres kept her back turned from him, pretending to study the statue. But her heart warmed at his words.
"You're safe here, okay? And don't worry about it, tell me when you're ready."
And so Ceres was pulled from statue to statue, given a comprehensive history of each story, which was a part of the bigger story. But she was never good at retaining these things, though she supposed she got the gist.
Sin, a massive and always evolving creature, reappears; summoners go on pilgrimages to become more powerful by praying; when powerful enough, the High Summoner defeats Sin and everything's peachy until it reappears yet again after another 10 years.
She had so many questions but so many eyes were on her already.
People are so nosy.
"But I thought the High Summoner defeated Sin? What do you mean it reappeared? ...Is someone not doing their job?"
Her tone was a little harsh, but now all she could think about was her world and how the monster had swallowed it up. Could this have been avoided?
Bergho sighed, unsure of how to answer. "The ten years are a blessing..."
"If you're lucky enough to see ten years..."
"Well aren't you an optimist?"
"Sorry if that's how I feel. What's the point of it all?"
"You don't know how lucky you are. You escaped Sin once already, that should be enough."
"Twice."
"W-What...?"
"I escaped twice," she reaffirmed, turning her back to him again. "Once on land, and once again by water."
For once, Bergho was quiet. The silence could've been nice except her housemate was thinking God-knows- what. Probably thought she was a lost cause at this point.
"Hey-" he suddenly spoke up. "I have an idea, if you're up for it. Why don't you try praying?" He heard more than felt her grimace. "It might help you to remember. Or maybe improve your anxiety."
Glare.
"There's hoping-" he muttered to himself. "You can pray for whatever you want."
Hmm.
She was never a religious woman. It often took a backseat to science and innovation. It interrupted progress, as her uncle often said.
Would she...? Pray?
She glanced up at the statue before her now. High Summoner Braska, the last savior of Spira, the peace bringer of this Calm. There was something about this man. Something comforting.
"I have to get back for my shift on the docks soon."
When she didn't move or look away from the statue, he scratched his head. She continued examining the statue.
"...I'd like to stay, if you don't mind."
When he looked unsure, she smiled and reassured him. "I won't be long, and I know the way back. It'll be fine.
"Well, okay. Just don't make me hike back up this mountain to come get you," he joked.
"Don't worry, they'll probably kick me out for having another meltdown anyway."
"Right...see ya later!" he called back. "She's so negative," he muttered to himself, walking away.
Ceres stared back up at the statue and searched the summoner's eyes.
"Surely, you know why I'm here?"
No response.
"...Yeah, as I thought."
Days went by and Ceres' past persisted to mock her.
Instead of lucid dreams about her life before, she often woke from nightmares; many of which came from her ramped imaginations. That her uncle got trapped under one of his transformers, or the mansion crushed him slowly to death. Or monsters invaded the estate and swallowed up her poor handmaiden, Nysa.
In each of these nightmares, Ceres was bubbled in excitement knowing she would leave that place, that her marriage to that empty, attention- seeking man would never come to pass. Because she would be in Kilika fishing for fishes with Bergho. But then Sin and its monsters would appear, wreaking all sorts of havoc, leaving her alone again.
And in the stands, she knows she was only spared because she chose to leave.
She feared for her uncle and all those innocent people she left behind. The worry evident in her dreamscapes as a shadow swallowed up Zanarkand and she could only just watch. And every time, the little boy floated off to the side and watched her cry in anguish.
Doing nothing.
Elida says it would help to talk about it, but Ceres knew that wasn't really an option. She doubted there was a licensed therapist present on the island to listen to all her woes of a forgotten civilization. She could be altering another reality with the information she had!
And of course, there was the nature of the nightmares. They became more violent. Dark. Extremely self-loathing. All powered from her old pastime of consuming horror literature and her own pessimistic imagination.
She couldn't let anyone listen to all that. These people had their own problems.
A seagull chirped and she smiled, watching it soar, before letting her expression drop again.
There was a small part of her that yearned for her old life back.
The security of her name. A nice, sensible dress. Automobiles. Curling up in the library with a good book. The head chef preparing her favorite four-course meal, even though she could never eat it all.
As if any of that was even still there on the other side. Was there another side?
"Watch out!" a young voice called out.
Sensing no immediate danger, Ceres slowly turned toward the voice and found a blue thing flying through the sky. It caused a seagull to move as other children ducked across the pier. The object hit the back of a head.
A familiar head.
"You ingrates…"
The kids ran off screaming as a pissed off Qiluah marched after them. Ceres did all she could not to laugh. She settled for a satisfactory smirk.
The prick.
She could now see that the object was a ball. One of the men picked it up and tossed it to another guy, initiating a game of catch. The faint sound of children's laughter, good times, and waves calmed her as she settled her feet back into the water.
Times like this reminded her of her home. And how these moments were almost nonexistent. Everything was business and fake smiles. Fake 'n all, she still missed it.
"I don't suppose you'll join us in a quick game?" a villager asked her, his thumb pointing back toward the game she was watching.
As with many of the Kilikans, she didn't know his name but she knew his face. She declined and watched him run back before jumping into the water. The rest of the players jumped into the water after him and swam off a bit from the pier.
They were going to play blitzball!
Excitedly, she followed after the few villagers that moved to see better. She watched as they swam around in loose formation, warming up before starting. They were all halfway in the water, but they made it work.
"Hey, I actually know this game!"
An older woman standing nearby smiled encouragingly. "Well of course! All of Spira knows about Blitzball!"
Blitzball!
How could she have forgotten?!
She turned back to the players, lazily watching as memories resurfaced.
...
"What do you mean a thousand years ago?"
Ceres and Tidus shared identical looks of bewilderment.
"We," Ceres pointed between the two, "saw it destroyed just days ago."
"I...don't know what else I could say to help you guys.
They drifted into silence, Rikku not knowing what else to say. Tidus ran his hand through his hair, frustrated and all-around confused. Ceres just closed her eyes and allowed the breeze to come in…
"You could try going to Luca? Maybe someone will recognize you."
Tidus looked at Ceres, she was already looking at him. Ceres shrugged. "Not like we have a bunch of options..."
"Hey!" Rikku jolted up with energy. "We'll get you to Luca no problem. Leave it to me!"
Tidus still hadn't said anything for a moment.
"We don't have many other options, Tidus," Ceres said, trying to reason with him.
He had the same look of despair Ceres held, but he seemed so sighed. "Yeah, alright," he finally conceded.
Rikku cheered, motivated for the new plan. Ceres went back to staring at the ocean.
...
"Are you okay?" the old woman asked in concern.
Ceres just hummed in response, deep in thought. "Excuse me."
Don't worry, Tidus. I didn't forget. Just got side-tracked...
Somehow, she needed to get to Luca.