Return of Light
"I'VE BEEN WHAT?!"
Aliciantae cringed and backed away from Tida, whose magic began to flicker around her in a steadily rising power. Blue and silver flames licked at Tida's body as rage began to fill her burning sapphire and emerald eyes.
"You've—you've been Chosen."
"And what the hell does that mean?" Tida demanded in a cold, livid voice.
"Tida, please. Calm down so that I can explain," Aliciantae implored, suddenly sounding tired. She ran a hand through her long hair wearily, sighing.
Tida released her source and folded her legs to her as she sat docilely on the grass, her eyes still smoldering. "Then start explaining. I want to know."
Aliciantae lowered herself into a soft seat of clovers. "Give me… give me a moment to collect my thoughts. This will… this will be difficult to explain. But please, have an open mind when I do."
Tida crossed her arms. "I'm waiting."
Hours passed with very little improvement if any at all. Sleep finally managed to lay its entitlement on Tida's being, both her body and her mind. Slowly, she began to slump down to the ground with the wondrous music surrounding her on all sides, lulling her to rest like a lullaby. Tida's eyelids commenced lowering millimeter-by-millimeter until her lashes fluttered shut as she lay out on the soft bed of clover, which quickly transformed into delicate roses. Tida let out a sigh of contentment as one hand came to rest by her face and the other lay across her stomach gently. Her knees bent to one side only slightly and then… slumber.
* * *
Tida awoke some hours later and waited a moment to smile and listen to the harmonies around her before sitting up and curling her legs to the side. She glanced around with flickering eyes until she located Aliciantae standing ankle-deep in a small still pool by the brook, holding her skirts up.
Tida pushed herself up to her feet and stretched luxuriously, letting out a sigh. She clapped her hands together once in a motion swinging her arms forward. Tida stepped lightly over the grass toward the Light, wondering if she finally had her answer.
Aliciantae turned as Tida approached, a worried frown flashing across her bright features before she hurriedly replaced it with a calming smile. Aliciantae walked smoothly and gracefully out of the water, stepping up onto the bank and strolling onto the grass.
Tida halted just as Aliciantae reached her.
A moment of silence passed, with the two women simply looking at each other, Tida with confusion and questions written clearly in her bi-colored orbs and Aliciantae with wisdom and answers inscribed in her silver eyes.
"Do you… do you have an answer? Have you found the words you were seeking?" Tida asked quietly, breaking the stillness between them.
The Light nodded. "I have. Tida, please, sit." Aliciantae motioned to the grass and the clover with one hand, imploring the younger woman to be seated.
Tida sat, gathering her skirt around her. She gazed up at Aliciantae expectantly, waiting.
Aliciantae sighed, but knew she had to go on. "I shall start at the beginning, for that, I believe, is a start to understanding this story."
Tida nodded. "Yes."
Aliciantae turned away to the side, clasping her hands behind her back and looking up at the clouds floating overhead in the shining, bright blue sky.
"Eons upon eons ago, the Light was born, and I was created in its image. I would be the Light, with all its wonders bestowed within me. I became the Light. At that time, the Shadow already existed within time and I fought it back after a few thousand years of subsistence. As a result, Spira was somehow born and its people along with it. Zanarkand, Bevelle, Luca… all of them flourished.
"I watched all the time, in awe of such normal beings. Everything fell into place; I was not really needed so I feel into an enchanted sleep of some sort. It was then that summoners began being born. Yu Yevon wanted power; he became Sin. The summoners took it upon themselves to pray for the fayths that had appeared resting within the temples the peoples of Spira had built.
"Summoners journeyed on their pilgrimages to defeat Sin, some losing their way and others, their very lives. Yunalesca was the first. A part of me allowed her to become a fayth after her death and so she existed within Zanarkand, the remnants of the real Zanarkand, not the dream that was." Aliciantae paused for a few moments before continuing.
"Flash forward a thousand years in time. Still I slept as somehow, an Unsent traveled back in time to seek out and watch over a young boy. Years passed and the Unsent was able to take the boy back to the present-day Spira. It was there he met a young summoner, the daughter of the last summoner to bring the Calm.
"The boy and the girl grew to love each other, but this boy was a dream of the fayth though neither knew until it was too late to turn back. He hid his secret and the summoner and her guardians went on to defeat Sin, forever. Yu Yevon's never-ending threat to Spira was over; the Eternal Calm reigned on this time.
"But the boy vanished, much to the disenchantment of many. But the girl discovered a precious secret: he had left with her a most wonderful gift, a child growing within her womb. There was something special about this unborn child. She was born… of a dream. How could that be? The young summoner didn't dare to ponder; she was far too excited about the birth.
"Something about the child sparked my awakening. This child was different from anything ever to be born to a person of Spira. When the child was born, I was brought along with it, fully alive for the first time. It was an incredible birth; the young summoner had never been happier in all her short years.
"But the Shadow began gaining power. It wanted this child destroyed. It could feel the Light within this baby. It despised it. The Shadow reached its long arms into the Farplane and took the one person who could understand the need to obliterate this baby. The man summoned to him a second, live being, and gave him the orders the Shadow wanted carried out.
"But this could not happen. I used my influence to still this man's heart and he knew he couldn't kill the baby. Instead, he waited until she was seven and stole into her room, taking her silently from the safety of her bedroom and stealing away into the night. He took her to the far south—to Besaid Island.
"Her memory gone, the young girl was forced to fend for herself, becoming a thief with an uncertain name. For the next nine years, she grew until a retelling of the High Summoner's story allowed her a dream into which her father slipped. She remembered and became… the first summoner despite the fact that the fayth were gone."
Aliciantae paused a second time, sighing.
"In summary, she reunited with her mother and father, defeated the Shadow, and… died. She was put to rest. Her family and friends all grieved for her for three years until the Shadow regained power and came back with an even greater threat to Spira. She would have to become alive again. And so she was, but now, with her final attack, she has been Chosen."
Aliciantae looked down fixedly at Tida. "There are even higher powers than the Light and the Shadow, Tida. They have decided that my reign as the Light is over. They have Chosen you as my successor. It is you who will be the Light now in my place. That is why you cannot return to your life."
Tida shook her head, springing to her feet, eyes filled with disbelief. She stumbled over words, "No! No, I can't! I promised—I promised!"
The Light shook her head. "No, Tida. You have to accept your fate. You can't fight this." Aliciantae reached out a hand to Tida, palm up.
Tida backed away, furiously shaking her head in refusal. "I will not accept! I have to stay with my family! Chappu and I are going to get married! We're going to finish life together… start a family together… grow old together… die together…" Tears sprang into Tida's eyes and a sob escaped her body. She tripped and fell to her knees, one hand covering her mouth as the other rested on the ground, supporting her upper body.
Pity filled Aliciantae's eyes and she gazed upon Tida with sadness. "Oh, child, I wish it were different. But I can't change it."
"Yes, you can! You're the Light! You have to do something!" Tida cried desperately. She had to return! She had to go back to Spira!
"No, I can't. The Higher Powers have made their decision. I cannot change what those greater than I choose. I'm sorry, Tida," Aliciantae said, pleading for Tida to understand.
Salty tears continued to flow from Tida's bi-colored orbs. "It isn't fair… it isn't fair…" Tida choked back sobs and tilted her head back to face the sky. Rage marred her features and she screamed, "How dare you?! This isn't right! I'm the good guy; remember? I'm supposed to get the happy ending!"
Aliciantae looked alarm and seized Tida, pulling the girl to her. "Shh…" she tried to sooth her, rubbing a hand on Tida's back. The Light rested her cheek on Tida's hair as the girl sobbed.
"Isn't right… isn't fair… Chappu…" Tida murmured, burying her face in her hands.
Disclaimer: All belongs to Square Enix. You people know what's mine, okay?