Author's Note: Well... That was an unexpected break... I seriously want to apologize for my disappearance without any update or notice. I swear every person in my family (cat and bird included) had some kind of medical emergency this last few months on top of a new job and new work schedule that left me no time to think, let alone write.
I hope I haven't lost everyone completely from this story and that those who followed will be excited for a Christmas gift in the form of another chapter.
My writing will be intermittent and so will future uploads, but there shouldn't be as big a gap as this unplanned one was.
Thank you all for your patience and I hope you have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!
Markin: I'M SO SORRY! I realized that I left you on a cliff-hanger and I feel horrible! I hope you are well and that you have a great Christmas/holiday/whatever you celebrate. I also hope that this chapter starts to give you a few more pieces to the puzzle for Talin's story. Enjoy!
I do not own FF7 or any of its characters. Talin, Unit 28, and some other side characters are mine.
As always, I hope you enjoy and please R&R.
Chapter 66
Feedback travels from nerves to brain in milliseconds. So fast, that there was no way to stop sensations from registering unless the nerves were already asleep. Such a concept would have been welcome if pain was all that was felt, but this wasn't pain. Nor was it something enjoyable... It just was.
A heavy pressure weighed in lungs that wouldn't move... and then they did. Heat bloomed against unprotected skin, so much heat that it should have burned, but then it was gone, leaving only a mild warmth. Not hot, not cold, just... there. No sounds traveled in such purgatory, no scream would be heard, but somehow, it wasn't quiet either. Some sound, something moving, or shifting... but it was so soft it was hardly a noise.
A mind in that empty eternity woke slowly, groggy and fragile as it swam with fragments of thoughts. It's so... peaceful. Everything's so calm, why not stay here? There wasn't anything left to do, he could just stay...
A small, stray thought tapped at the back of that fractured mind, persistent and unwilling to be silenced till it was heard. With effort, the mind examined the thought, coaxing it to unfold and then trying to understand what it was saying.
Not finished? What isn't finished? A spark of memory jumped to join the thought and its light burned away more of the cobwebs. I was doing... something. Something I had to finish, a task... a TEST!
More memories flooded to join their light to the solitary spark and he tried to close his eyes against the flare of them all. A fight. An Amulet. Pain. Anger. Silver hair... and the green glow of Mako. The light grew brighter and with it came a warmth that poured into his chilled body that woke his sleeping limbs. It no longer mattered that his eyes were closed, it was so bright! With a jolt, the mind woke fully.
Talin had a moment of panic as his lungs filled, but it wasn't water or the Mako he remembered falling into. Air, sweet and fresh filled his lungs and breathing had never felt so good or been so easy. The eyes he'd thought were closed were suddenly able to see and he sat bolt upright, blinking furiously to ease the strain. Each sense returned to him with a staggering intensity that lasted a moment before the next woke to divert his attention. Touch came back to him with a teeth-gritting wave of static across his skin, but as it passed his eyes finally adjusted and every discomfort was forgotten.
Sun, as bright as only the height of summer could produce, shown down on the redhead as the wind played with his hair and flowers swayed to rub against his still sensitive skin.
"But I-" There was a sudden pressure against his back, too solid to be flowers and warm where a rock would've been cool. The teen, still struggling to adjust to his regained senses, almost disbelieved what they were now telling him.
"You made it..." That warm, deep voice filled his ears and vibrated the form he was leaning against as the man spoke.
"I- I did." Thoughts swirled slowly as more memories came back to Talin. It was so hard to think, but with each moment, things were slowly getting clearer. "So, what happens now? I made it and you promised me answers..." He had so many questions and every encounter had sparked more and more that remained unanswered, but where to start? Did he have time to ask them all? His fear that everything would shatter the moment he got close to the truth rose in the young fighter's mind but was allayed before it could take root.
"You can ask whatever you want, Talin. I'm not going anywhere this time." The words were accompanied by a happy chuckle and the teen realized that there was no dream-like echo to the other man's voice. In fact, the stranger sounded more real than he ever had. Talin's mind buzzed with questions, but there was one he needed the answer to before any other.
"Do I get to know who you are now?" The man laughed as he pulled away to stand up.
"Why ask when you already know? But I guess seeing is believing, isn't it?" The laughter was still there as he spoke and Talin couldn't help the small smile as he also stood, but couldn't quite convince himself to turn around right away.
"You swear you won't disappear this time?" The need to know was like an itch under his skin, but he didn't want to risk-
"I swear, Fireball, I'm not going anywhere." Talin's eyes widened at the childhood pet name, one no living person remembered but him, and he spun on his heel, almost falling as his eyes sought to confirm what his mind was screaming.
"...Dad?" Talin's mind fought for a second to comprehend what he saw, it was like looking into a mirror...
Everything that Talin was, his father had been before him. His spiked red hair was the same shade but for a single streak of white and, instead of being clean-faced, there was a scruff of red on his chin, much like Angeal. He had a strong build, well-muscled, but still lean enough for speed. An inch taller than his son, with a trim waist, and sharp sea-blue eyes, he was everything Silfra had described.
Talin could only stare till Tyris spread his arms wide. "You just gonna stand there, T?" In a single leap, Talin crashed into his father and was wrapped in a hug that he hadn't felt since he'd been little.
The redhead had never let himself consider what he'd ask if his hunch had been right but, at the moment, it didn't matter. All he could think about was that he was here and now they had time to talk.
With one extra tight squeeze, Tyris pulled away just enough to get a good look at his grown-up son. The last time he'd seen Talin, the boy had been four years old. Small, clumsy, and the dearest thing to him other than his beautiful wife. Now, as he looked over the young man that ragged little boy had become, Tyris felt his chest swell with pride.
"Gods, you got big! And your eyes..." He saw Talin's momentary distress about the changed color and ruffled the teen's hair, "I gotta say that I'll miss that storm blue you had, but this green is even better." The tension eased from the boy's shoulders and Tyris pulled him into another quick hug. "Damn, I missed you, kiddo, and there are so many things I wanna tell you, but you've got questions first."
Talin's head was still struggling to catch up as his father pulled away and led him over to a patch suddenly clear of flowers where they sat down. "Allright, ask away. I know those questions are probably burnin' a hole in your tongue by now." Talin didn't waste time thinking of what to ask first, deciding that they would get to the important ones eventually.
"So, what the heck is this place? You said it was real, but where is it?" Tyris couldn't help but laugh at the impulsive question.
"It is real, I promise. This is a good approximation of it, if you ignore the whole 'never ending' part. The real one is in the Mideel Area. Two of your Commander's hail from that region, I'm sure when the three of you put your heads together, you'll find it." It was a non-answer but it gave him a direction. The Mideel Area, while spread out over several good-sized islands, would certainly be easier to search than the whole globe.
The next question that popped into Talin's mind was far more difficult to ask. "How..." He, paused, not quite sure how to word what he wanted to know. "It was always you in my dreams..." Talin dropped his eyes to watch the grass flicker in the wind as he tried to pick his way through his thoughts. "Was it also you I heard when I found the well?" To his credit, Tyris didn't try to deny his part in that harrowing experience.
"Ya, it's always been me." Talin could hear the regret in his voice and, although he didn't need to at this point, he continued the line of questions.
"I was supposed to fall in that day, wasn't I?" Jade green eyes finally left the blades of grass and looked up to watch his father's face as he responded. He needed to know the truth of the day that had started an insane circle of events leading him right back to where it all started.
At first, Tyrus couldn't meet the teen's questioning gaze, but he owed Talin the truth, and finally looked up. "Yes... I believe you were supposed to fall in that first day. When you didn't, I thought that would be the end of it, that you would go on to have a normal life, but I was wrong." Seeing his son's hurt expression pushed the older fighter to try explaining something that had taken him years to understand and accept.
"Let me start from the beginning, I know it doesn't make the most sense, but let me at least give it a shot?" Talin's nod was small, but he was willing to listen if it led to more answers. "When I died, I was ready to go to my rest, ready to wait for your mom. I hoped it'd be a long time before I saw her. I wanted you to have as long as possible together." Talin saw honesty in Tyris's sky blue gaze, but also saw the shadows that clouded them the next moment.
"Just as I relaxed and came to that acceptance, I was pulled back. Prevented from joining the LifeStream, and found myself here. At first, I was confused, but then I heard a voice, a woman, who said that my job wasn't done." The hairs on Talin's neck rose and he fought the urge to look around as he listened to his father continue.
"She promised that one day I'd be allowed to join the LifeStream, but that I was needed to guide and shepherd my son through many trials." He chuckled softly at his remembered anger and eventual, but begrudging, acquiescence of the task given to him. "She knew I'd do anything to help my kid, even if it meant that I'd have to wait to join your mom." He paused here and Talin couldn't help but ask about his mother.
"Did you... see her at all?" Thinking of his mom made the pit of Talin's stomach burn and it was somewhat gratifying to see the same fire fill Tyris's eyes as he too remembered her passing.
"I did," Anger melted to fonder feelings as he thought of his beloved spouse, "I saw her as she passed by. She said she'd be waiting for me and that, together, we'd endure the long wait to see you again."
After a moment of silence, Talin forced them back on topic. "So, you stayed to guide me, but why did that involve the Well?" His previous frustration about the loss of his mother grew greater and the teen struggled not to show it. With a sigh, he asked the question that had been on his mind since the day he'd fallen. "Why? Why did I have to fall in? Why Rald? Why... why did any of it have to happen?!"
The line of questions ended with the young fighter shouting and his father winced. "I don't know all of the 'why' Talin, I only know that it was needed to get you this far." Seeing his son only getting more upset, Tyris tried another explanation. "Your mom told you about destiny, right? About possible ways things could go and one intended outcome for every person?" The glow in Talin's eyes dimmed slightly with the distracting switch of topics but, although he silently nodded his understanding, the older redhead could tell the boy was hardly restraining himself from more direct questions.
"There're some events in a person's life that are like a split in a river. One way will lead you down a path towards your destined fate, and the other will take you away from that path to another, lesser one. For you, the Well was an event that had to happen, but it was how you reacted to it, how you overcame it that determined what way you would go. Everything that's happened so far, has been to aim you towards an end goal and you being here now means that you did everything right."
The burn of irritation in Talin changed to anger and he sprung up to his feet as the last of his control snapped. "WHAT GOAL?! What could be so damned important-"
A sudden chill ran down the teen's spine as the sense of another presence behind him increased ten-fold. Alarmed, Talin almost turned to seek out the possible threat, but every instinct was screaming at him to remain in place... or run. A movement from his father drew his attention and the worry mixed with fear in the man's eyes had every hair on Talin's neck standing on end.
Tyris had raised his hands in a gesture for Talin to calm down. "Easy, Fireball, I said I have some answers and I will share them, just cool down a bit kiddo."
The threatening presence at his back had, at first, only made the teen angrier, but as he heard the gentle entreaty, the flames of his anger froze. Anything that might be behind him here, in a field of the afterlife, would be far, far beyond his ability to fight. A shiver ran down his spine and, with very slow and careful movements, he sat back down.
The air lightened around him as he reached the ground and the prickling chill he felt receded, but didn't disappear. "Okay, tell me whatever you can of why I went through all this. What cause would be worth that suffering?"
"Your suffering was not part of the plan!" Tyris' head fell forward, his eyes closed, and the proud old warrior looked pained as he laid bare his greatest failure to his son. "You were supposed to be cherished. Your mother and I would have given you every ounce of comfort and protection when you eventually fell into the Well. It was supposed to be upsetting, not tragic... but then I died, causing a ripple effect down the chain."
The bright ocean blue of Tyris' eyes gleamed as he looked up and his voice dropped to a quiet tone full of self-loathing. "Instead of me, Rald was there when you found the well. Instead of me training my son, you had Prishin." The disdain that accompanied the dead hunter's name rivaled Talin's own hatred of the man. What wasn't clear, was if it was on his son's account that he was angered or some other instance of Prishin's corruption and violence.
"Every key event that had to happen did, but without me there to protect and guide you it all ended up... twisted." The shadows that fell over the older man's features showed how heavily that fact weighed on his heart, but this new knowledge had sent Talin into his own tailspin.
He was stunned. It hadn't been his finding the Well that had started this nightmare of events. They were always bound to of happened, but his father's passing... The last embers of anger he'd felt before died to cold ash and he could only feel foolish for his actions.
Just to repeat what I wrote above, my writing will be intermittent and so will future uploads, but there shouldn't be as big a gap as this unplanned one was.
Thank you all for reading! Please don't forget to R&R and Favorite the story to get notified when I update!
See you next week!
