Chapter 11

Are You Aeon Or Ashley?

The Shoopuf ride was relaxing. I fell asleep actually. It was a bizarre dream.

I seemed to recall that large battle underneath Bevelle between everybody and me. It was after I equipped the Dark Knight dressphere and I lost control over my will, thoughts, and body. The fact everybody had to fight an evil me wasn't the problem.

"What brought him out?" I muttered under my breath waking up slowly.

Was Aeon a part of my mind who really was somebody that I wanted to be? Is it possible that he was some sort of fantasy I created for myself deep in my mind, but the Dark Knight brought it out in me?

He really was dissimilar from myself. I'm normally a shy kid, but since I took the name of Aeon I was able to start over life differently and try and shape who I wanted to be rather than just accept that I'm a kid named Ashely who is shy and not very good around people. I became nervous now. Everybody I've met so far knew me as Aeon and not as Ashley MacNielle.

"Will I be able to face Cora?" I asked myself.

"Who are you talking to kid?" A traveling merchant asked me.

"Nobody. Sorry." I apologized without making eye contact.

"No need to say sorry lad. O'aka the Twenty-Third! At your service!" He introduced.

"My name is Ashley." I said faintly.

"You seem like a shy type." He said to me.

"Yeah. Pretty obvious." I answered.

Normally I don't talk much, but if you talk to me I'll say things back. It's just making conversation that I find hard.

"You know something lad? You should just bite the bullet and speak up to people. Not very difficult when you look at it." He told me.

"To some people."

"Did something happen to you?" He asked me.

"I used to be a talker until I realized it was all a lie I made about myself. I was just pretending. Now I'm back to being me." I explained.

"You know I think that maybe you're running from that part of you." O'aka explained.

"What do you mean? It was never a part of me to begin with."

"You might think that, but I believe that this part of you that you created was just a part of yourself you never knew you had, and now you seem to think that it was just some story you made. I think that this part of you is waiting to be released." He told me.

A small silence passed for a few moments before I spoke up again.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard." I said looking at him.

"Well, I'm a merchant for a reason. If you wanted some sort of motivational speaker I'm afraid that was all I'm good for." He explained to me.

"Thanks anyway. Maybe you helped a little." I told him as the Shoopuf reached the destination.

I walked the rest of the way towards Luca. It was nightfall already and walking along Mushroom Rock Road was scary after dark. I could barely see in front of me, let alone a fiend waiting to lunge at me.

A big yellow bird walked by me, turned around, and then stopped in front of me.

"You're a pretty thing." I told it. It seemed to smile, in its own way, at me. It had a very shiny set of feathers. "You mind if I ride?" I asked it.

It bent down as if waiting for me to mount up. I tried, but fell right off onto the road. Three attempts later and I still couldn't do it.

"Sorry, I guess I'm not good enough for this. Never thought riding a Chocobo would be so hard." I told him. I continued walking and the bird followed by my side anyway.

"I like you. Probably the only person I can talk to without feeling shy. Maybe because you can't talk back to me."

It made a wark sound at me.

"Well at least not in a way I could understand." I told him laughing as another Chocobo came up along my other side.

A woman was riding it, she looked lovely, but she seemed to prove that Spira lets you get away with walking around half naked.

"You're out late. Where are you headed?" she asked me.

"Luca, how much further is it?" I asked her. Odd, I didn't expect this much courage for talking.

"On foot you'd reach it in the morning. If you were to go by Chocobo it would be much faster, you'd probably make it in around 10 minutes." She informed me.

"Sure, but I don't know how to get on this guy here." I said motioning to the bird by my side.

"I'll help." She said dismounting. She grabbed my around the waist and lifted me up to its back. I blushed a little.

"I'll lead the way." She said marching ahead on her ride, but was close enough to carry on a conversation with me.

We talked the entire time. I told her about me being involved in the Leblanc Syndicate. She seemed happy to hear that because she was in the Youth League and Leblanc was sided with them too. She seemed to have the biggest crush on their leader. A man named Nooj.

We reached Luca and were almost sad to see her leave. I never spoke to someone like that before. Maybe all that jazz about me being shy because I was being Ashley, not Aeon, was a bunch of bullshit. I'm who I am, no matter what you call me. I'm as verbose and outgoing being Ashley as I was being Aeon.

"My name is Lucil. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself first. What is your name?" She asked me.

"My name…my name is Ashley." I said with a big smile.

"Well it was nice to make your acquaintance." Lucil said extending her hand.

I just dashed up and hugged her tight. She seemed confused.

"I'm sorry. You just helped me realize something during out trip here and I'm glad I understand now." I said waving goodbye as she took her Chocobo and the one I rode back to the Youth League.

"Cora might still be in the hotel. I'll have a look." I said heading into the heart of Luca.

Luca was very bright at the night and still had people around, not as many as in the day, but it was a very healthy balance. The wind blew through my hair and felt very comforting. I was still very tired having not slept yet so I picked up the pace.

I went inside and managed to make it up to the room and knocked on the door.