Disclaimer: Squaresoft owns Final Fantasy. I own the story. It's not a difficult concept, okay?
Part 2: Matthew
I looked at my window at Deling. It was springtime and trees were blooming. Caraway, my grandfather was away, as usual. He had left me with the vicious caretaker Mrs. Ashton again. I didn't like her at all. She wouldn't let me outside and she forced me to my room to study most of the day. I looked at my desk, the work was finished, but it hardly mattered. I was still stuck in this room. She kept the door locked and relaxed downstairs all day. She'd only let me out of my room if I had to go to the bathroom. If I was really hungry, she'd bring me lunch to eat. But that's it.
" When are you coming home grandpa?" I sighed. He was strict, but at least he would take me for journeys. He told me he had been hard on me studying because someday he'd hope I'd go a Garden. To be a general like him. He said he could work something out. But not until I turned fourteen. Which was in two years. I just turned twelve so it would take a while. I could have been enrolled earlier, but grandpa wanted me to take my time growing up.
I was daydreaming while I twirled the silver chain around my neck. Wondering about my mother. I knew so little about her. Caraway never seemed comfortable talking about her. I knew she died when I was around six. I had few recollections of then. I remembered when she first introduced me to the cold snow. When she told me I had a father. And strangers that supposedly care about me. When she promised to show me the world and introduce me to them.
But she wouldn't ever be able to do that. She started coughing. Then fainting.
When she got sick in her deathbed. She would scream for hours at a time. Then the exhaustion would force her to rest. Then she would wake again and shriek some more. And I overheard the Shumi saying there was no way to sustain her. That they couldn't even relieve or do much to ease her pain.
When nobody was watching, I went to the surface. I planned to run away. I didn't want to go back and see her in that agony. The concept of death was distant and confusing. Especially to a six year old who had lived in an tranquil place, almost oblivious to the rest of the planet. I was alright until it started to get darker and frigid. The ground had become icier and snowfall began. I remembered at one point, someone was calling my name and beckoning me to return. I started to head back but I was too weary.
I collapsed in the snow, trying to gather the energy to continue. Then a big hand touched my shoulder and pulled me down. My head was shoved into the snow and I struggled, but the stranger was too strong. The back of my shirt was torn. And I felt an burning tingle on my back. Pain shot through my veins. Then the figure released me and walked away.
Not too later, a Shumi scout had found me. Just in time, I guess, because I started to feel so numb. He took me back to the village and laid me down on a bed. He stared to tend to my frostbite, telling me that I should stay indoors. Then he touched my back and I flinched. He pulled the ripped shirt back and gasped. He left me and returned with the leader. They were intrigued with the mark on my back. He asked me repeatedly how I received it. And I told him all I knew. He said it was a tattoo of phoenix.
I tried desperately to recall my father. I know he had came to the Shumi village. I knew my mom and him talked. But the memory was so faded away, that his face was invisible to me. But I had a name. His first name was Seifer. But that's all I could remember.
I wanted to know him. I wanted a key to my past. He could be the key. He could tell me things. Where I was born? Who am I most like? If my stubbornness really comes from my mom, like grandpa seems to think. What type of person I am? What I'll become someday.
" MATTHEW!" Mrs. Ashton crowed as she unlocked my door.
" Yes ma'am?" I said being polite, as Caraway always told me to be towards difficult people.
" Would you like to go for a walk? Your grandfather said it would do you good," She asked. I was surprised. This was a first ever. I didn't waste time to ask her why. She would change her mind. She told me to change out of lounging clothes into something less casual then meet her downstairs. I tossed on some white shirt and worn jeans. I didn't care.
We walked down the street, slowly because she used a cane. I didn't mean the slowness. At least I was outside. We were near the Deling gates when a flash blinded me. My eyes adjusted and I looked around in confusion. I saw a woman looking curiously at me with a camera. She had short silvery hair and an eyepatch over her left eye. Her other eye was a strange red. Not from being hurt, just like it was naturally there. Maybe because she looked albino. She wore a sophiscated navy blouse with a long black skirt. Instead of high heels or sandals, she wore army boots. She took a step closer to me, glancing at as if I looked familiar.
" Who are you? Why did you take a picture of me?" I asked her.
" I.... I'm sorry. But I think I know you," she stuttered.
" Young lady! You are certainly rude! We didn't ask for a picture, so you can expect not to be paid! Matthew Damasus Caraway! Lets keep going!" Mrs. Ashton bellowed. I stood frozen in the moment. She knew me? How?
" I apologize madam. I meant no harm," the woman said, handing me a card " My name's Fujin Kazeno. Please contact me. It's important. I'll explain later."
" Leave us alone! Go fill some other child's head up with lies!" Mrs. Ashton cried irrationally. The old woman grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. I gave an apologetic look to the other woman.
Mrs. Ashton rushed me home and sent me upstairs. I looked at the card again. It read:
Fujin Kazeno, Photographer
The Esthar Post
Contact: 326-563-3747
A photographer for a newspaper. So why did she take a picture of me? Would did she say that she knew me? The way she looked at me. I wanted to know the truth. She said to get in touch with her, didn't she? I crept to my window. Could I escape to the streets? Or would I fall and get myself killed? I sat down to think of a plan. Thoughts were racing through my mind.
" Maybe she knows something about my parents," I thought out loud. The thought stuck and I became determined to find her. I opened my window and stepped out onto the ledge.
~Note: I appreciate reviews. That's what keeps the story going. No love, no story. Hehe.~
Part 2: Matthew
I looked at my window at Deling. It was springtime and trees were blooming. Caraway, my grandfather was away, as usual. He had left me with the vicious caretaker Mrs. Ashton again. I didn't like her at all. She wouldn't let me outside and she forced me to my room to study most of the day. I looked at my desk, the work was finished, but it hardly mattered. I was still stuck in this room. She kept the door locked and relaxed downstairs all day. She'd only let me out of my room if I had to go to the bathroom. If I was really hungry, she'd bring me lunch to eat. But that's it.
" When are you coming home grandpa?" I sighed. He was strict, but at least he would take me for journeys. He told me he had been hard on me studying because someday he'd hope I'd go a Garden. To be a general like him. He said he could work something out. But not until I turned fourteen. Which was in two years. I just turned twelve so it would take a while. I could have been enrolled earlier, but grandpa wanted me to take my time growing up.
I was daydreaming while I twirled the silver chain around my neck. Wondering about my mother. I knew so little about her. Caraway never seemed comfortable talking about her. I knew she died when I was around six. I had few recollections of then. I remembered when she first introduced me to the cold snow. When she told me I had a father. And strangers that supposedly care about me. When she promised to show me the world and introduce me to them.
But she wouldn't ever be able to do that. She started coughing. Then fainting.
When she got sick in her deathbed. She would scream for hours at a time. Then the exhaustion would force her to rest. Then she would wake again and shriek some more. And I overheard the Shumi saying there was no way to sustain her. That they couldn't even relieve or do much to ease her pain.
When nobody was watching, I went to the surface. I planned to run away. I didn't want to go back and see her in that agony. The concept of death was distant and confusing. Especially to a six year old who had lived in an tranquil place, almost oblivious to the rest of the planet. I was alright until it started to get darker and frigid. The ground had become icier and snowfall began. I remembered at one point, someone was calling my name and beckoning me to return. I started to head back but I was too weary.
I collapsed in the snow, trying to gather the energy to continue. Then a big hand touched my shoulder and pulled me down. My head was shoved into the snow and I struggled, but the stranger was too strong. The back of my shirt was torn. And I felt an burning tingle on my back. Pain shot through my veins. Then the figure released me and walked away.
Not too later, a Shumi scout had found me. Just in time, I guess, because I started to feel so numb. He took me back to the village and laid me down on a bed. He stared to tend to my frostbite, telling me that I should stay indoors. Then he touched my back and I flinched. He pulled the ripped shirt back and gasped. He left me and returned with the leader. They were intrigued with the mark on my back. He asked me repeatedly how I received it. And I told him all I knew. He said it was a tattoo of phoenix.
I tried desperately to recall my father. I know he had came to the Shumi village. I knew my mom and him talked. But the memory was so faded away, that his face was invisible to me. But I had a name. His first name was Seifer. But that's all I could remember.
I wanted to know him. I wanted a key to my past. He could be the key. He could tell me things. Where I was born? Who am I most like? If my stubbornness really comes from my mom, like grandpa seems to think. What type of person I am? What I'll become someday.
" MATTHEW!" Mrs. Ashton crowed as she unlocked my door.
" Yes ma'am?" I said being polite, as Caraway always told me to be towards difficult people.
" Would you like to go for a walk? Your grandfather said it would do you good," She asked. I was surprised. This was a first ever. I didn't waste time to ask her why. She would change her mind. She told me to change out of lounging clothes into something less casual then meet her downstairs. I tossed on some white shirt and worn jeans. I didn't care.
We walked down the street, slowly because she used a cane. I didn't mean the slowness. At least I was outside. We were near the Deling gates when a flash blinded me. My eyes adjusted and I looked around in confusion. I saw a woman looking curiously at me with a camera. She had short silvery hair and an eyepatch over her left eye. Her other eye was a strange red. Not from being hurt, just like it was naturally there. Maybe because she looked albino. She wore a sophiscated navy blouse with a long black skirt. Instead of high heels or sandals, she wore army boots. She took a step closer to me, glancing at as if I looked familiar.
" Who are you? Why did you take a picture of me?" I asked her.
" I.... I'm sorry. But I think I know you," she stuttered.
" Young lady! You are certainly rude! We didn't ask for a picture, so you can expect not to be paid! Matthew Damasus Caraway! Lets keep going!" Mrs. Ashton bellowed. I stood frozen in the moment. She knew me? How?
" I apologize madam. I meant no harm," the woman said, handing me a card " My name's Fujin Kazeno. Please contact me. It's important. I'll explain later."
" Leave us alone! Go fill some other child's head up with lies!" Mrs. Ashton cried irrationally. The old woman grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. I gave an apologetic look to the other woman.
Mrs. Ashton rushed me home and sent me upstairs. I looked at the card again. It read:
Fujin Kazeno, Photographer
The Esthar Post
Contact: 326-563-3747
A photographer for a newspaper. So why did she take a picture of me? Would did she say that she knew me? The way she looked at me. I wanted to know the truth. She said to get in touch with her, didn't she? I crept to my window. Could I escape to the streets? Or would I fall and get myself killed? I sat down to think of a plan. Thoughts were racing through my mind.
" Maybe she knows something about my parents," I thought out loud. The thought stuck and I became determined to find her. I opened my window and stepped out onto the ledge.
~Note: I appreciate reviews. That's what keeps the story going. No love, no story. Hehe.~