Author's note: As promised, here is the one shot that I made for Jade's birthday. This one focused on characters of his choice, albeit they are still very relevant to AUS2 in general. If you like the Esper lore, you will especially enjoy this chapter! Without further ado, here it is!
An Unfinished Scrapbook
The Second Picture
Call of the Dreadwyrm
September 11th, 19 AR
As he sat on a bench on the garden of the Branford household, Ciro recalled the slightly overwhelming events that had lead him here.
He had, for once, overslept, after spending some blank hours trying to think of ways to cover up his best friend Tina's most current mess. In truth, he didn't really blame her for stalking a guy after having discovered he had done the very same to her. The claw marks at the end were a bit much however, and stalking was still, for all intents and purposes, illegal, so some cover up was in order if she was to keep her family reputation.
While Ciro cared for her, he couldn't help but wish she had at least SOME reigns on her emotions.
By this point, the young man was as aware of his own self as a shambling corpse, the claws of the realm of sleep trying to pry him back into bed. That was until, very abruptly, he was blasted into the waking world by a maelstrom… one tends to exaggerate in their sleep.
Now fully awoken, Ciro shook his head and rummaged through his hair to dry some of it, all the while trying to focus his gaze past the blinding light of the sun, peering through his window.
"You have slept well enough for someone your age. Next time, take your health into account and not that cub's messes," he sighed inwardly at the slightly high pitched voice coming from his right side.
"I should lock you two into a room until you solve that grudge match," Ciro stated, not even acknowledging his summoned Esper with a look. He knew for a fact she was holding the bucket still dripping with the water used to splash him. Min was a fairy Esper, no taller than Ciro's knee. She possessed four wings and dressed in a short, very fairy like black dress that ended in a tiny star-shaped skirt. Her wings were a shade of orange on the outside, while on the inside they were light blue, much like her hair, that was tied in two buns. Her eyes glowed in a shade of red that was more welcoming than one would assume given the color.
"I'm so sorry Master, you just weren't waking up!" Ciro's other Esper, a fairy by the name of Nim, exclaimed desperately, visibly shaken by what had happened to her summoner. Nim was a fairy Esper, much like her sister, which shared most of the same body. Her colors differed, with white being the dominating color in her body and dress, red markings coloring her wings, and green hair cascading in bangs and flowing through her back. She shared the same, red eyes as her sister. Ciro didn't think much of it. He had been stuck with this pair ever since he summoned them five years ago and one of them. Nim always tried to clean up after Min's… problematic pathing, sometimes successful, sometimes just a bit too late. Funnily enough, the two of them reminded him of him of someone else in a way.
What really surprised him was that it was Nim that was holding the bucket, not her sister. Being around Tina too much may have been a bad influence on her after all.
"Don't sweat it Nim. I'm more interested in knowing the why of this than how it happened," Ciro pointed out, having finished putting on his casual clothing. He was not one to care much about his clothing, a simple pair of clear blue pants and jacket, along with a white T-shirt, made his apparel.
In light of his inquiry,Nim didn't waste any time, pulling on Ciro's wrist with all the strength an Esper her size could muster. This was surprisingly a lot. Enough to drag Ciro against his will out of his room and halfway through the corridor as she delivered the vague explanation of:
"You got some visitors!" ignoring any and all further explanations, she lobbed him into the living room, where he stumbled through the first half of it, finding himself nearly losing balance and falling to the sofa.
He would've never lived that down. You see, on the couch on the left were his parents, his dad Sol barely even shaken by the peculiar entrance of his son while his mother, Luna, was giving Min the true meaning of a death glare. However, on the couch to the right, the one he had just barely avoided crashing into were…
"Greetings Ciro Adamas, I do believe we have already met," the seemingly middle aged woman of long, violet hair dressed in beige regal gowns greeted. It didn't take more than a second for Ciro to realize that he was being addressed by Asura, Queen of the Feymarch and all Esperkind, a small smile on her face belying her bemusement with the situation. Her husband, Leviathan, was much less subtle about it, the seeming elder in blue robes chuckling to his heart's content in the back. By now, Ciro was freaking out. Looking at everyone around him for aid, he soon found out that he was, indeed, shit out of luck. The apathetic look of his father, the annoyed look of his mother, the enjoying-this-more-than-I-should-look of his own summon Min, and Nim was just panicking as hard, if not harder than him. Swallowing the pill, he took a deep breath and tried to keep the conversation rolling.
"Y-yes Miss… I mean Madam… I mean your Majesty!" Ciro stumbled, feeling ashamed of how his usual skillful weaving of words had left him at a whim. Of all the times to go socially inept, this had to be the one. In his defense, if only the one the only being he trusted to be on his side at any occasion hadn't set him up, he'd have been fine. He only needed to know who he was about to meet. "What brings you here? Are you looking for my cousin?" he questioned, remembering the time that the same pair had come to meet with his cousin Fay due to her summoning skills.
"Oh, we did check up on her dear boy, but you are mistaken. We are here for you!" Leviathan pointed out heartily, chuckling at Ciro's expression as it all settled in.
"Y-you want me to visit the Feymarch?!" he blurted out, forgetting all of his worries and just giving in to the shock and excitement. He would've never, in his wildest dreams, thought that someone like him, who was capable of a grand total of two possible summons, would be invited to do so. "But why? I mean, I can barely summon a chocobo! My best exploits is summoning two minor espers…"
"Must I remind you of the times this "minor" esper has come to your aid?" Min grunted from behind, pulling on his hair. Ciro loved Min, but he knew of the hierarchy of Esperkind, at least the baseline, and two young fairies were all but respected in it.
"You are cordially invited to visit the Feymarch yes," Asura confirmed, smiling in reassurance. None in the room knew of how much the queen had changed ever since she had met Rydia, but now the Esper felt herself quite liking the interaction with the other species. "As for why… I cannot say. I am not against calling you to the Feymarch, but your benefactor was someone else,"
"There is someone else with that kind of power that wants Master? Who is it?" Nim questioned, apparently not filled in on the whole story herself. From how Min had stopped ravaging Ciro's hairline, he deduced she knew neither.
"You'll know soon enough!" Leviathan exclaimed, laughing heartily, a phantom serpent tail appearing out of nowhere from beneath his robes and patting Ciro in the back.
With that said, a few moments passed as the room calmed down, leaving Asura to be assured her message had been delivered. The King and Queen of the Feymarch then stood, mana starting to flow out of their physical forms.
"We are grateful for having us, but due to the still differing timeline on the Feymarch, we'd best not tarry. Every minute here is the better half of a day on our Kingdom," Asura explained, Ciro and the others nodding in understanding.
"We will be awaiting your visit!" Leviathan exclaimed, vanishing into another time and place with his mate.
"Well… that just happened," Sol said after a full minute of silence. He looked at his wife, who, by this point, had calmed down. Shrugging, Ciro's mom stood up and went to get her phone.
"We need to find you a guide. Know anyone?" Luna questioned, to which Ciro easily responded with:
"I know a few…"
And here he was. Barking at the last of those few trees. He wasn't against asking the Branfords for help. His family and this particular family of heroes had been nearly inseparable ever since they had moved back into Mobliz. He had just felt that people as hardworking as them should not be bothered with his own predicament.
As he sat there, wondering how the conversation between his father and Terra was going, his inner reflection was interrupted when he felt his cranium be enveloped by a giant beak. He chuckled and went to pet the attacker.
Starlight, whose name was a true testament to Terra's amazing naming skills, was the eldest son of Stardust, a distinction that seemed to have made him and Tina connect through their experience as the "eldest ones". Stardust didn't fit into any previously established breeds of chocobos however. For one, he was large. Far larger than his mother and father, to the point that he dwarfed any chocobo in the barn and even managed to look at Caelum eye to eye. He wasn't quite twice as large as his mother, but he was at least halfway into it. Secondly, his plumage was, surprisingly, of mixed coloration. Most of its body was covered in a darker and dirtier yellow than Choby, but what really made him stand apart were how halfway into his wings and tail feathers they became of a glimmering white coloration, reflecting light in such a way that while below the a dimmer light source, like say the moon, Starlight looked to be part for its name.
Tina was amazingly proud of this chocobo, and cared for it as her number one possession. Well, possession is a harsh name, she saw him nearly like a brother… far more than Kefka at least. The feeling was twofold, and Starlight was just a really happy bird every time Tina was near him.
Conversely, Stardust had also taken a liking of the young man, mostly because of his fairies. Even now, with Nim trying to pry its beak off of Ciro's head while Min took it upon herself to shine a bright light into the bird's large, chocolate eyes. He found them entertaining, you could see it in his eyes.
"Light! Light?! Where are ya boy?!" a voice exclaimed in the distance. Ciro's ears perked up, along with the bird.
"Joyous… it's the cub," Min said dismissively at the sight of Tina. The girl was wearing far more casual clothing than the usual school uniform Ciro found her in. Instead she was wearing a red trench coat that only served to accentuate her features, her sleeves rolled up possibly due to her having been working at the barn. Beneath the trench coat were a pair white pants and a matching white shirt with golden borders, one that didn't even try to hide Tina's most eye-catching trait. "Must she consistently… put herself on display so?," Min added, Nim riposting as:
"We don't exactly wear any clothes, we shouldn't judge," Nim immediately covered her hands when she said that. It was sort of taboo for the Espers to acknowledge that. It made for some of the less "clothed" Espers to be more awkward.
"There you are!" Tina exclaimed as Starlight ran into her, happy kwehs sailing through the air. "Huh…Ciro? What brings you here so early in the afternoon?" she questioned, her eyes briefly colliding with Min. They both scoffed and looked on in different directions.
"Well, it's a long story…" the gaze Ciro got was more than enough info that he had to spit it out.
"So you need a guide to the Feymarch?" Tina asked, crossing her arms, apparently in deep thought.
"Yeah, your parent's are my last choice. You see, Cuore is making a speech in Migdar and-" Ciro found himself brutally interrupted as he was lobbed through the air by the massively power-full hybrid, landing on the front of Starlight's saddle almost perfectly, much to his confusion.
"Hey! What are you doing to our Master cub?" Min questioned harshly, being all but ignored by the girl, which had proceeded to jump onto the saddle behind Ciro, silencing him immediately as she leaned on him, pressing her body into his back, to reach the reigns. Ciro knew she was fully aware of what she was pressing on his back. That's just how Tina is.
"I'm hijacking my mother's operation! Be a doll and tell Kefka to clean the barn for me, 'aight?!" and with that and a taunting smile, Tina quite literally kidnapped the twin esper's summoner, soaring through the air with Stardust at speeds that would make even Sylphs weary.
"Did she just leave us behind?!" Min grunted, gritting her teeth. If looks could murder, Tina would have fallen right out of the sky. She didn't show it, but she was seething from the inside out at the act of defiance.
"Min, please calm down. What's important is that Master got a guide. He'll resummon us when he's at the cave to the Feymarch, I'm sure of it!" Nim exclaimed, flying around her sister in an attempt to calm her down. After a few moments, Min regained her composure, mentally admonishing herself for losing it and promising herself it would not happen in the foreseeable future.
"I suppose you are right… we best inform Master's parent's quickly and return to the Feymarch, even for Master's immense reserves, keeping us in this plane at large distances is certainly too much," Min stated, Nim nodding as the two fairyhurried to the house.
Soaring through the skies of Fantasia, it did not take long until Tina found herself bored from the flight. The cave to the Feymach was still situated in the Dwarf ruled Underworld, meaning they had to get to Argart to even access the lower half of the crust, and even then they'd have to fly towards the cave. Even at Starlight's breakneck speeds, ones that had even surpassed his mother, this would take a couple of hours.
With that, she decided to act upon the advantages of not having that nagging fairy by Ciro's side. She could actually talk to him without any worry of snide remarks.
"So, Ciro, why were you invited to the Feymarch? I mean, I've heard Fay was as well, and I know for a fact that Cuore's brother Kaze had the same deal, but I never understood why it happens," she asked, having to raise her voice quite loudly for Ciro to hear. After a few failed attempts, Ciro made himself useful, using his knowledge of barrier magic to create a barrier around them, filtering the wind and making Star even faster due to the diminishing of resistance. "Thanks Ciro, you got my question?"
"Yeah, after the fourth time… anyway, there's not much to it really. As far as I know skilled and/or potential filled Summoners are semi-often called for a one-day visit to the Feymarch. The goal for this, beside fostering interactivity between the two species, is often to have Summoners be able to meet all the creatures he had summoned over the years, maybe forge new bonds, maybe strengthen old ones. Learning Esper culture seems to also be something of note according to Fay. It acts as sort of a prize that tells you the Espers have placed great faith on you as a Summoner… precisely why I have no idea why I was called there," Ciro explained, a bit self-deprecating, but, just as truthful. He really had no idea why they would call him of all people.
"Don't be like that Ciro! You're the only summoner I know that keeps two summons out at all times! Even Rydia doesn't do that! Granted one of them is a major pain in my ass, but that's beside the point," Tina stated, rubbing Ciro's head playfully, only making him shrivel even more at her lack of shame.
"All I got to my name are huge mana reserves. I can summon two Espers and keep them summoned, but two Espers isn't exactly a large roster," Ciro explained, again, not wallowing in self-depreciation, just a confused from a logical standpoint. "I just find the timing odd. I think this may be too early,"
"Well, whoever called you will probably just straight up tell you why you were summoned. For now, just enjoy the trip…and me," Tina purred, causing the atmosphere to crash down on Ciro once again. In mere moments, she was laughing out so much she nearly slipped of Starlight. "Oh, you're just so easy to play with!"
"You would think that of all the things that changed with the world, the Feymarch being in a cave in the middle of a sea of lava would be one of them," Tina sneered, wiping the sweat from her brow. The last ten minutes had been spent flying over the molten rock substance, something that wasn't pleasant, even for someone with her anatomy.
"Just take a break Tina. I have to summon Min and Nim back," Ciro said, the girl turning her eyes in response to it. She knew what she had coming.
As soon as the incantation finished, two bright budding lights appeared from the gylphs surrounding Ciro. One of them was especially frantic in flying around the young man, assessing its state of being. "You seem to be unharmed Master. I am glad, if there was even a scratch on, you, I'd have to severely punish the cub's rash behavior," she stated, passing a dissenting glare at Tina, like one would give a dog that had just eaten half of your sock. Her plan to pay Tina back with wordsmithing, was however, ill-conceived and ill-fated however, as the inevitable happened. The fairy soon fell into Tina's unrelenting grip.
"Who says I would even take punishment from an over-glorified butterfly like you?" Tina groaned, squeezing Min just enough to cause her the same amount of annoyance she had been dealt.
"If you weren't an uncivilized brute, you would learn to respect the wills of some that are old enough to be your ancestors!" Min replied, reacting to none of the actions Tina performed, from shaking her to squeezing her to even ruffling her hair. She was not going to give her any pleasure.
"Oh, right, so that's why you tattle on like a granny! You are that old!" Tina knew which buttons to press, and if the murderous look on the tiny Esper's face was any indicative of the matters, she had hit bullseye.
"You two coming or not?!" the two females suddenly found themselves turning their heads to see Ciro and the other fairy looking on from inside the cave, Ciro's look of exasperation signifying that he wasn't about to put up with their shit, even if Nim begged him to.
The two's glares clashed once more for a second before Tina resigned herself to releasing Min, who made sure to drop a sassy grin before flying back towards her master's side.
This cave was the reason Ciro needed a guide. He didn't worry about getting lost in it, he was pretty sure his fairies could lead the way. However, the cave to the Feymarch was so chockfull of mana that it attracted, and mutated, far more monsters than Ciro could bear to account for. For that reason, and the natural obstacles of a cave full of lava he wanted a guide.
To combat the monsters, Ciro had brought his own personal safety measures. His father was a Lunarian scientist, and as such, had his fair share of gadgets and own inventions. A favorite of Ciro's was his ADS 3.0 model. A direct upgrade from the usual Lunarian orb tech, there wasn't much different the orb from the usual ones. The base design was the same, however, Sol had effectively cut down its size to a tenth of its usual self, them being no bigger than tennis balls as it stood. Some minor aesthetical changes were done too, what with the strange red patterns being replaced by neon blue lines, which transported pure mana. Mana the orbs used to fire simple, but destructive magic, like the Ruin line. That being said, only one of the orbs had to be used, and as nothing more than a flashlight, lightning the way in the darkest depths of the cave, Tina turned out to be more than adequate, despite her less-than-usual "hire".
"How come we're not being attacked by any monster?" Nim questioned, as she had heard of many Summoners which reached the Feymarch mauled by the wildlife. The cavern itself was known to be a test to the Summoner's care and preparedness.
"They know better," Tina said with a large amount of pride. She was not lying or being cocky. Ciro had seen them, the eyes in the dark that gazed upon the intruders, but immediately vanished if they locked eyes with the part-Esper girl. "I've been visiting the Feymarch since I was a little girl, these monsters have had more than their fair share of troubles with my family. Lately, they just sorta gave up," she explained, easing Ciro's worry.
"Thank goodness, here I was praying that you actually knew the way," he joked, Tina chuckling alongside him.
"Oh, come on, give me some credit, I got you to the cavern fine," she said, sneaking a look at Min. "Overgrown butterfly and her sweet sister notwithstanding,"
"That's the point Tina, Master always gets in trouble around you…" Nim echoed Ciro's thoughts, immediately covering her mouth after realizing what she just said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"Nah, it's fine, just take it as some forceful injection of excitement in your Master's life," she said, stretching herself just in front of them. Ciro at first thought this was another one of Tina's teasing moments, but he soon realized why she had stopped. A giant river of lava covered the rest of the cavern. "Now, Ciro, hop on!" Tina exclaimed, putting herself in position for a piggyback ride. They had left Starlight to wait on the opening to the cave, it was safer that way and considering how time passed in the Feymarch, the bird wasn't gonna wait for more than an hour, two tops.
"I don't need to be babied Tina. Float!" Ciro exclaimed, his feet leaving the ground as a heavenly light lifted him into the air.
"See, cub? Our master has not spent his time idly, he has no further need of your services," Min proclaimed, crossing her arms and closing her eyes haughtily, sure that Tina would be kicking herself right now. Tina instead laughed as she pointed at Ciro's feet.
"You lifted yourself ten centimeters from the ground?! What, do you want to lose a leg every time the lava stirs?" she asked, Ciro gulping inwardly at the question. He could indeed go higher, but it was hard to control. Float was not the spell he had the most use of. "Look, just stop being stubborn and get on my back. I'll teach you to fly when you have the free time to," she said with a wink. Ciro, defeated, had to accept. Grabbing onto Tina's back, Min made no comment during the entire trip. She was too busy gnawing at her own teeth. During the flight, Tina soon asked for something of the fairies however.
"Hey, you two. Remember there being this large a lava river?" she asked, Nim being the one able to talk back to Tina without trying to rip her hair off.
"We don't usually visit but… no. This one doesn't seem natural either," Nim said, Ciro's eyebrow being raised in response.
"Natural?" he asked, Min taking the reins of the conversation.
"Yes Master, if you would avert your eyes away from the transportation you have found yourself on and payed attention to the walls, you would see that lava is flowing out of them through some unnatural gashes," Min spat, being merciless to anyone but her sister. Ciro was honestly used to it however, and only took the important part from the conversation to heart. He looked around and saw them; strange, large cut-like flaws on the rock bed, from which flowed the lava that seemed to occupy the entire lower half of the cavern now.
"I'll bring up the issue to Baha when we arrive," Tina said, Ciro still being weirded out at how casually the Branfords were able to talk about the God of Espers. "Oh, by the way, we're probably arriving at the Bridge of Proving. Don't worry though, the Behemoth there knows that I need no proving,"
"For as much as you open your maw you must love the sounds of your own speech," Min didn't ask, she stated it. There weren't any buts about it.
"Why wouldn't I? It's lovely," Tina replied. Min looked at Ciro for help, but she got none. Ciro merely shrugged, he wasn't about to argue.
"Traitor…" Min sneered, shaking her head and flying onward.
They reached an opening on the cave after a few minutes, the so-called Bridge of Proving. It didn't take much for Ciro to see that, I mean, it was a bridge made of stone that connected two parts of the cavern, only magma below. What he didn't quite expect was there being a pseudo arena in the center of the bridge, with the stone opening up in a circular shape into a circle of a good twenty meters in diameter.
"Something's not right…" Nim said, Tina and Min nodding in response. While Ciro didn't understand why, he was still mostly human after all, but after a quick scan of the area, he found no Behemoth on the bridge. At first, he thought that was what they meant, but then he felt a strange flow of mana. He had felt the Feymarch's mana signature approaching closer and closer the more they dived into the Cavern, however, this one was not that. It was far more primal. Far more violent.
The group slowly made their way across the bridge, ending up on the edge of the arena-like structure before they understood what was going on. Standing atop the shredded remains of the Behemoth, was a being like none they had seen before.
It was a humanoid bug, thrice the size of Ciro. Its blood red shell formed something akin to Eastern Samurai armor, with its prominent golden antennae looking like the horns to its helm-like head. A pair of two azure wings sprouted from its back, stained in what he could only think to be the blood of the beast.
"'tis feeble attempts at resistance bore me so. Is the prize glittering at the end one worth conquering?" it spoke, apparently to itself. Ciro was still confused as to what he was bearing witness to. Was that an Esper? It didn't look like any of the ones he had read about. Then again, he had found out about Nim and Min on accident. Then again, the way Tina and the fairies were looking, they were as baffled as he was.
"Oh, so that is what was bugging us," Nim said, Ciro nearly facepalmed at that. That fairy could NOT hold her tongue. Or not pun when she saw one. With a creak, the insectoid creature looked back at them.
"More rabble? Away cretins, I have no interest in minions," it said, clearly unimpressed with the prey he had encountered after killing that Behemoth.
"To hell with you! You just killed Bahamut's child!" Tina said, her fangs showing and gritting. This seemed to catch the monster's attention, as it turned to the group.
"Bahamut? Most interesting. Very well, you shall serve me and lead me to him!"it exclaimed, bearing all four of its arms towards them, releasing a shockwave. Tina and the others were hit head on by it. Surprisingly, Ciro felt only some minor wind pressure coming from. Although he couldn't shake the feeling that something had stirred inside him if only for a moment.
"What is wrong with you! Stop trying to steal our Master!" Min blared back, confusing Ciro to no end.
"What do you mean Min?" he asked.
"We don't know what he tried to do, but it felt like he was trying to rip out your essence," Nim said, explaining the feeling she got the best she could. They all looked at Tina immediately, seeing if the spell had had any adverse effect on the hybrid. She trembled… in rage.
"I have no idea what you tried to do with me, but fuck did it hurt!" she blurted, more affected than any of the members there. "Was like it was tearing me apart!" this outburst had the complete opposite effect Ciro expected on the beast. It seemed… excited.
"Thou resist tempering? You show promise!" it exclaimed, opening all four arms. From a torrent of swirling flames above him, four shamshirs came down, landing on the ground around the thing. Their blades mirrored the wings of the creature, with its grips matching the wielder's carapace. "To live is to fight! Wilt thou answer to mine challenge for glorious combat?"
Ciro directly looked at Tina, who had unpacked from her waist a mechanical grip that he knew all too well. He didn't know how she had put her hands on that, but with one swing in the air, the Ultima Weapon activated, a blue ray of light flashing into its master's hand, capable of slicing the very fabric of the world.
"Tina, I know what you're thinking, but we should think this thr-"
"Too late Master," Nim stated, being a herald of the obvious. By this time, Tina had already charged. She had been angered. Tina didn't handle anger. At all.
"Very well! I, Ravana, fourfold master of the blade will be thine opponent!" it uttered, crossing all four blades and slicing the air in front of it, causing an X-shaped shockwave. While uncertain of its nature, Tina didn't think twice in avoiding it by sliding beneath it. As she reached Ravana, still on her knees, she swung the blade at its feet, only to be quickly blocked by one of the being's blades. Sliding to the left to dodge the incoming strike, Tina tried to flank her opponent, however she was met again with another one of the four blades, this one reaching square into the back of the being.
"Impenetrable is my defense!" it boasted, knocking Tina back. She didn't relent however, taking this opportunity to pounce on Ravana's outstretched shamshir, running through it and into the torso of the monster. While she hadn't spent her life in training, her deft swordsmanship was enough to ensure Ciro that this had won her the battle. Instead, each and every of her successive strikes was met with a point blank parry, some of which came before the attack even commenced. Even whist fighting on top of the opponent's sword, Tina was being pushed back.
Seeing as she was not going to win a sword battle, she charged up a powerful lightning spell onto her free hand, unleashing it in full force moments after Ravana had parried her blade from what she assumed to be a blind spot.
"Thundaga!" she cried out, a miniature storm assaulting Ravana's helm-like head. The lightning had not even stopped when Tina felt her stomach being nearly sliced open and her entire body thrown back like a ragdoll.
"I… am invincible!" Ravana proclaimed, emerging from the attack with the barest of scratches.
"Tina!" Ciro exclaimed, running to her side. The wound wasn't as deep as he feared, but he still needed help. Looking at Min and Nim, Nim nodded, Min was already midcast. Casting their Embrace spell along with Ciro's Physick, they managed to fix the wound nearly instantaneously.
"Thanks Ciro," she said, hopping back onto her feet. Ravana had surprisingly given them time to recover.
"Art thou warrior or craven boy? Come, face me, all of you!" it told Ciro, awaiting in the same position.
"Normally, I try to avoid this kind of thing but…" Ciro said, sighing heavily before removing a number of orbs from his pockets. "ADS 1 and 2, form up!" he commanded, both of his orbs taking formation around his shoulders. "Tina, you're up!" he assured with a nod.
"Against our better judgement, we will cover your rear cub. Don't let our master down!" Min pointed out, surging with mana.
"Just try and keep up with me. I'm not gonna be holding back anymore!" Tina exclaimed, immediately dropping on all fours. Ciro was at first confused, as were the fairies, but, moments later, it became clear. In a storm of mana and lightning, Tina's clothes and even skin exploded, her hair untied and fur sprouted from the turquoise shell beneath all of it, claws and fangs growing out. Ciro had only seen Tina trance once. It was as fascinating as the first time, if only he had more time to admire it.
And by that I mean Tina had already bolted towards Ravana. With that, Ciro commanded all eight of its orbs to start shooting Ruin spells at Ravana. He either avoided them or gave Tina some time or he took damage. Or so he thought. Using a single of his swords, he was able to constantly parry the barrage of blasts, leaving him with three blades for Tina.
However, while three blades had been more than enough for human Tina, Esper Tina was a whole different bargain. Dodging Ravana's first strike, Tina again climbed up another of his blades, only to stop right before reaching its head. Instead she jumped high up into the air, avoiding both of Ravana's blades. At the same time, Min shouted:
"Dia!" a ray of light hitting Ravana straight in the face, doing minor damage, but most importantly, blinding him for just enough time for Tina to unleash her fury.
"Riot Blade!" she blared out, unleashing her full force right from the get go. Her mother's spell echoed through the halls, slicing through the air and even through parts of Ravana's armor. It meant much less than Tina expected however, her blades had barely cut through the surface of her opponent's exoskeleton. Annoyed, she tried to charge up for one more, successfully may I add. However, Ravana did the unthinkable. He dismissed his swords and lowered his body, adopting a horse stance.
"Unyielding as the earth!" he cried out, glimmering lights covering his armor. The second wave of Riot Blades impacted upon it, doing negligible damage this time, if any. To make things worse, Ciro saw Tina still in mid-attack stance while Ravana had been readying some sword of counter attack all along. Dropping his concentration on the orbs, he chanted for a more defensive spell.
"Adloquium!" the relatively advanced healing spell combined a barrier with a healing effect. And while Tina was barely benefited by the healing component, the green shell around her was able to abate the damage from Ravana's swift and engulfing mana laser. Ciro was relieved that he listened to his guts, even if he thought laser shooting was beyond Ravana.
Tina was however, not out of the woods yet. The blast had knocked her senses haywire, shield or no shield, and she was now freefalling into the lava.
"Tina, wake up!" Nim pleaded, flying to her side and casting an Embrace spell. It didn't work, she was still stunned. It was obvious to Nim she needed more firepower. "I can't do this often but… Whispering Dawn!" with her cry, all of her allies were enveloped in a phantasmagorical light, one that revitalized the core of their very beings. Tina's mind snapped back into coherence from this, silently thanking Nim with a nod before shooting back into the arena.
When there, she found herself faced with Ciro doing his best to dodge all of Ravana's blows, having taken more than one glancing strike already. If she had any caution, it was long gone, she committed herself in a swift rush towards the bug, one that didn't go unanswered. She could feel him smile inwardly at such a brazen approach. He swatted Ciro away with his reclaimed shamshir and turned to face her.
"How my blood doth quicken! Take wing, ye souls of war!" he exclaimed, various lights of blue and red rising to the ceiling while he somehow combining each pair of two shamshir into one, larger, greatsword. Tina knew he wasn't living a blow from that. "Fall before me!" he roared, bringing down both blades towards Tina. His speed however, for the first time failed him, Tina being able to close the gap faster than his blades dropped, jumping into his torso and blasting him with a pair of supercharged double casted Thundaga. The blast was enough to catapult him over the edge, leaving him to fall aimlessly towards the lava. "I-Impossible!" he cried out as he fell.
"Great job Tina!" Ciro exclaimed, Min having finished to heal him. Tina knew, however, the victory hadn't been earned by her.
"You slowed him, didn't you Ciro?" she asked with her hands on her waist.
"Well, supportive spells is what I do!" he exclaimed, congratulating himself on a job well done.
"Why would you two celebrate so soon? On guard!" Min ordered, much to the two's surprise. It was only then that they noticed that a strange kind of butterfly had taken over the arena. Their colors mirrored the lights Ravana had released just before being struck by Tina. He couldn't possibly be able to fly…
He was flying.
"Now that's just bullshit! With those wings?!" Tina cursed, getting ready to go back into action.
"You are worthy of mine full power!" he proclaimed, and with that, all butterflies erupted in red light, forming a giant blade for each one of them still flying. The ground was filled in dark miasma, giving Ciro just enough time to chant for his group version of Adloquium, Succor. The larger wave of shields hit the group just before they all got shot into the air by an unknown force, along with the blades. "Rejoice… in the glory of combat!" with that, he grabbed two of the blades and charged through them, the shields barely holding on. Reaching the other side of the arena, he picked two more and did it once more, destroying the shield. Ravana charged twice more, and only the continuous effect of Nim's Whispering Dawn was able to make the wounds non-fatal. All hope seemed lost when Ravana grabbed the remaining two blades and landed in-between Ciro and Tina, combining them by the hilts into a monstrous two sided blade.
"Red bloometh the rose of conquest!" with a final battle cry, Ravana prepared to finish the job.
In a flash, all of that changed. Its motions all stopped and Ravana looked downward, seeing its legs lying down on the ground, only its wings sustaining it. His blade had likewise been cleaved in half. Turning back, it met face to face with an Esper that Ciro did recognize. Odin, the Reaver.
"Whilst I abhor treachery in combat, it feels my body with joy that there is battle to be had in this cavern. You may live, children of man. I shall return in time!" Ravana said, with its final echoing words leaving the group to fall softly on the ground.
"I trust you are safe?" Odin questioned, approaching the four in his steed Sleipnir.
"Safe? Well, yeah, sure, but I think that the fact I am all cut up should make more of an impression on you Odin!" Tina scuffed before coughing up blood. Odin merely handed both her and Ciro a golden phial. "Megaelixirs? How thoughtful,"
"We sensed a disturbance unlike any other in these past decades. I don't think it is strange for us to prepare for the worst," Odin pointed out. Tina just sucked it up and drank all of it, Ciro mirroring her, knowing that the drink's revitalizing effects would extend to his fairies. It was unlike any potion he had ever drank that's for sure. His body glowed as if he had been born again, and he hadn't felt this full of energy in years. Part of him understood why some people got so addicted to elixir. "Now, shall we take this young man into his promised land?" he asked, a surprising gentle adorning him when he addressed the summoner.
"We would appreciate that Lord Odin, but could you please enlighten us on what has just transpired?" Min questioned, doing her best to be proper in the face of the Esper Lord while still in her adrenaline filled state.
"Ride on, I'll try my best to summarize it," Odin assured, gaining the respect of all which took his offer to ride on Sleipnir for the rest of the journey. "As of late, strange happenings have plagued the Feymarch, something you two may not know due to your extended stay in the human world," Min and Nim were a bit ashamed of the fact, but Odin did not appear to bear any grudge, hence they just nodded. "Many Summoners have reported that, when calling upon us, strange beings that call themselves the very same names as us emerge, intent on not helping, but slaughtering and feasting on mana. They closely resemble us, the false Ifrit commands flames and Hellfire and it is the body between beast and man. In light of that, many novice Summoners cannot tell the difference until it is too late. We have attributed this to a strange new sea of mana found beyond the edge of the Feymarch, one much like our own, but in many ways not. We suspect these creatures originate from it. The one you met was one of them, albeit it seems to care not about taking the form of our own,"
"You brought this up with Rydia?" Tina questioned, Odin nodding in return.
"The child of the High Summoner tracked a similar disturbance to the Crystal Tower. She should be investigating it as we speak," he explained, Ciro being the one nodding right now. It all made sense. That's why Cuore had left her job so eagerly. "Do not worry yourselves. As of right now, this is a problem we as a race must are working hard in solving. For now, just take pleasure in the visit to our realm,"
It was a bit hard for any of them to just forget this had happened, but they figured they could at least put it off for a good couple of hours more. Especially because the now less-metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel was fast approaching. Sleipnir took into a dash, leaping towards the thinly veiled portal to the Feymarch, the group felt the aftershock of changing realms for an instant as their vision went blank. When the six legged horse landed, they were in a whole new world.
The Feymarch had remained much the same, across its entire existence, it was a strange and quaint medieval town divided into tiered floors on a vacuum of a plane. While Tina and the fairies were accustomed to it, Ciro was marveled at it. He had heard tales of it, but the vision of a small town where beings like Shiva were buying what he could only think it to be groceries from a talking Cactuar was something that his Summoner heart skipped beats at witnessing.
"Very well, where do you wish for me to leave you at?" Odin questioned. Ciro didn't want to take too much of an advantage of the Esper Lord's kindness, but Min had another idea.
"If you could kindly escort us to our home we would be most grateful," she requested of Odin, who nodded gently.
"Yes, we have to show us our house!" Nim said excitedly as the horse galloped through the Feymarch. Ciro smiled at the notion. They were so proud of their house every time they talked about it, he couldn't wait but see it on the inside.
"Hope it has a good couch," Tina said, stretching out her muscles from the horse ride.
"Oh, it does! You may not like it too much though," Nim said, Ciro and Tina being left wondering just what that meant. It came to them fairly quickly, as Odin stopped in front of their house.
"We are here. May the Feymarch welcome you with open arms Summoner!" Odin said, signaling the duo to jump off Sleipnir. Ciro did so, but not before asking Odin one thing:
"Were you the one that called for me Lord Odin?" he questioned, Odin shaking his head and turning his horse.
"I have not the power to do so myself! Meet with Leviathan when you are able to, he'll give you the answer you seek!" Odin exclaimed before riding into the distance, leaving Ciro to ponder on his words. Who could it be…?
"The hell is up with your house?!" he heard Tina yell, turning to see her absolutely pale, Min smiled smugly and Nim breaking eye-contact whilst saying:
"Well… I did mean the show part especially…" she said. And then Ciro understood why. Their house was beautiful. Like something out of a fairy tale. A marriage of architecture and nature, it had all a fairy house should have, from the vines the bejeweled doorways and windows, to the… well, size.
Tina was as tall as the house.
"I should have guessed…" Tina said, defeated. Leaving herself to fall back on the pavement below. She was not above sitting on the ground.
"Sorry Master, we sorta forgot to mention it," Nim said with a guilty look on her face. Ciro smiled warmly and gently pet her.
"Nonsense, it's your house and it's beautiful. You can still show me the inside, right?" he asked, brimming with happiness once both fairies lit up in joy and jumped into the house, opening windows and doors so that Ciro could see inside. Even Tina had to smile at the happiness the trio was engaged in.
Part of her did wish she could make someone smile like that.
That was all interrupted however, when another fairy esper, one that was more familiar to her, Sylph, landed on the ground to her side. She thought about just greeting him and moving on, but the Esper had clearly some ulterior motive. Its greeting was shaky, and he had a hastily scribbled paper on his trembling hand. It was then that Tina realized what this was all about. And at the very same moment, she sighed.
"T-Tina Branford Verus, I, Sylph of the Gale, hereby present you with my request for your hand as a mate," if Ciro had a drink when Sylph pronounced those words, he would have spit it out. His eyes bulged in shock and despair as he saw the small green fairy proposing to his… well, to Tina.
The shock wore off quickly though, as he realized that there was a storm brewing. Tina was either going to shred Sylph or shred Ciro's dreams. He was even divided on if he should try and save the Esper if the answer was "no". Tina hated being asked for dates, for reasons he should know better about. Much less MATING!
"Sylph I…" Ciro's heart nearly went into cardiac arrest at that pause, but the answer would come to surprise him. "I don't want this to be an insult towards you, but I am not really looking for a mate as of now. It's not your fault, it's mine,"
Shock and awe. Tina had been nice. This was honestly almost as unheard of as an Esper just walking up to Tina and proposing.
"Ah yes, we should have foreseen that this would occur," Min said exasperatedly, Nim jumping to cover her mouth. It was too late.
"Min, talk. Now." Ciro said, determination and command filling his voice. Min was taken aback by his tone, but she knew she had it coming. So, while Tina comforted a crying Sylph, she broke down and explained.
"Tina is… one of the High Mates. The High Mate all things considered, you must remember that Nimbus is otherwise engaged and thus can't be considered for a mate," confessed Min, Ciro nearly falling off his feet. He didn't know what "high mate" meant, but it wasn't hard to discern.
"One, why didn't you tell me, two, what the hell is a High Mate?!"he blared, for a once angry at his two companions for keeping something from him.
"Well Master, as you see, she's not the most accepting of the role, so we didn't really feel like you'd need that weight on your conscience…" Nim explained, Min nodding back in the same way. "If she had embraced it, we would've told you,"
This was getting unbearable for Ciro, but, before he snapped, he had to at least know what the situation at hand was. And why Tina had been so… strangely nice about it. Had this been going on for a while? And if yes, how long?!
"I sense you want answers my child," a large, elderly looking Esper said as he approached the trio, a long flowing majestic beard, blue robe and staff tipping Ciro of that this was the Lord of Levin, Ramuh himself.
"Papa Ramuh?!" Nim squealed, running up to him and hugging him. Min did the same, albeit less childishly. Ramuh wasn't their father so-to-say, but it was very close to a father figure for the two, something that made Ciro happy he had met him, if not in this situation.
"I knew you two were bringing your summoner to the Feymarch, so I hurried to visit," he explained, before turning to Ciro. "It would take some time to explain this and I would rather do it where we can talk without much of a worry. Meet me at the library once you are done seeing the Feymarch," Ramuh told him, assuring him with his soft tone that everything would turn out fine.
"Will do," Ciro said, taking several deep breaths to shake off the stress.
"Very well my boy. See you soon," Ramuh said, leaving them in a flash of Levin. Moments later, Tina touched Ciro's shoulder, pointing him towards the still watery eyed Sylph.
"The little guy wants to ask you something," Tina said, her motherly edge working on full force right now. It almost made Ciro forget this guy had proposed to her moments before. Almost.
"I am just here to ask, would you add me to your repertoire of summons? Min and Nim talk very highly of you," Sylph asked. Now, Ciro would have thought this would be easy saying no to the guy. Instead, he came to feel pity for him, he was already so depressed as it stood.
"Sorry Sylph, I'm already with my hands tied keeping these two up all the time in the real world. I'm sure you already have lots of Summoners that want to summon you, don't you?" he asked, doing his best to hamper the sense of loss. Sylph looked up and, with a small smile said:
"Yeah, you're right. I understand why they like you so much Ciro, just know, the offer still stands!" Sylph exclaimed, winding up his wings and waving as he flew away.
"You're good with kids," Tina said, to which Ciro chuckled:
"You're better… somehow," he said, Tina puffing her cheeks in return.
"Why so surprised?!" she questioned, somewhat insulted. Ciro took this as his cue to take his fairies and run! "Come back here you!"
The next few hours were all Ciro expected from the Feymarch. Traveling across all corners of the quaint town, the rustic nature of it encapsulated his interest more than he thought it would. Many Espers he had heard about and seen previously approached him, eager to partner up with him, Espers like Ifrit and Shiva, it was a pity he had to say no to all of them. He wasn't like most Summoners, but they appeared to know that. They just wanted to make him feel welcomed into the community.
Tina was also a magnet for Espers, the one thing Ciro didn't like about this trip. She managed to somehow hold it together, driving them all back with her posture intact. Honestly, this felt like Ciro and Tina were back in school. He just didn't expect to see it in in beings such as a Malboro or freakin' Titan.
While running away from a particularly Tina-adoring crowd, Ciro and Tina caught view of the library. Knowing that Ramuh promised them a safe haven, he lead Tina towards it, closing the door and being relieved when the ones that touched the door from the other side seemed to be electrocuted. Lightning was on his side.
"Thanks Ramuh," Tina told the elderly Esper as he approached them.
"Think none of it. I know how you feel about your position," Ramuh replied. Tina seemed reticent to talk about it in front of Ciro, but she did say:
"Just give me some time you all. I need to go downstairs and have a talk with Levi. This has to at least calm down around here!" she told them all before jumping down a ladder.
"The throne is down there?" Ciro asked, the trio nodding.
"A few flights below, but yes," Ramuh told them before turning his back and showing them sweats for them, even for the fairies. "Now, want to know the story behind Tina's status?"
"It'd take a load of me yes," Ciro agreed, Ramuh nodding.
"Well, first, do you know how our society works?" Ramuh questioned. Ciro shook his head. The inner workings of the Esper society had never come up. "I don't blame you, but it is quite simple to grasp, although the quirks are not quite so obvious," he explained, starting to wind up for the long haul. "In resume, our society is vaguely hierarchical and most of it comes from how much power and respect an Esper commands," Ciro nodded, having had a hunch that was how it worked. "Reason I said vaguely is because we have no real ranks outside of our King, Queen and God. Our town is small enough we are able to know where everyone stands and choose how to act with it,"
"I see, so, how are you all, just for reference?" he questioned. The proud Min bit her tongue, but agreed to spit it out.
"Ramuh is above the midpoint if I had to guess. He's reasonably strong and was granted the librarian task. Us… we are among the youngest of the Espers. It doesn't help we are not exactly battle ready. While we are not bottom of the barrel, we sadly don't have much to show when it comes to status. However, should you need reminding of my and mine sister's powers I need only refer you to the skirmish earlier and there you will see proof of our invaluable service," she explained, Ciro smiling and petting her. He had guessed it, and he knew Min didn't really like having to straight up say it.
"Don't get me wrong, this is interesting to hear, but how does this tie in to Tina?" Ciro asked, Ramuh nodding in return.
"You see, our society, as you can guess, values strength very highly. Not to an obsessive degree, but power belies dedication and the capability to lead us, at least in a general sense. We judge those that we deem too dangerous for power, don't worry," he assured, Ciro accepting this as true, he had no reason to deny it. "With that being said, that does mean that, in our society, mates are often found not by infatuation, but by our view of what will make our line stronger," the pieces of the puzzle all clicked for Ciro now.
"So basically, since Terra's probably the most powerful Esper and she married and equally powerful creature… her children are four-of-a-kind promotional tickets to a great lineage?" he deduced, and, much to his chagrin, he deduced right. "Can't say I like that line of thinking"
"To you humans, maybe it is is strange, maybe even despicable to an extent. Our cultures and societies differ in more ways than one. We, for example, don't value gender. And we could say your society's over glorification of males over the centuries was the same," he pointed out, Ciro retorting with:
"We're actually trying to move out of that though," he said, Ramuh nodding back but saying:
"Yes, and some of us are too, see, myself. However, you cannot blame people for following a culture that is not inherently wrong. We don't treat our mates as objects. Asura and Leviathan very much came to love one another, even though Asura at first approached Leviathan for finding him a good mate. She always wore the pants in that relationship, hoho!" Ramuh said, chuckling heartily at one of his oldest memories.
"I… see. Sorry for overreacting," Ciro told Ramuh.
"Think nothing of it. It is things like this that make Lord Bahamut tell us that we need to slowly adapt to your society before living outside the Feymarch," he explained, Ciro slowly gaining an understanding of the fairies fascination with the outside world.
"Was Tina always this good at handling it?" Ciro asked. Ramuh bellowed a laugh, so did the fairies.
"Oh lord no!" they all exclaimed in harmony. Even Ciro had to laugh at that. Figures. It's Tina after all.
"The first time this happened was when Fenrir, a quite respected member of our society, went to Terra to ask the then ten year old Tina for her hand," Ramuh began, still chuckling. "Terra had to hold Shin back, but even she was unprepared for the request, so her denial was so strict and swift, that it came of as an insult to many of us," Ciro furred an eyebrow, clearly questioning why. "You see, when you turn down a mate without having another one in mind, in our society that is one of two things. You either believe he is too weak for what you want in a mate, or you simply do not respect him. Fenrir disliked both options. As such, he went behind her back to ask Tina directly. I saw the request. Tina was clearly refusing, but Fenrir was slightly on edge from what he perceived to be an insult. When he tried to sweet talk her, and called her… kitten… Tina somewhat broke one of his fangs and bore him a scar on his right eye. Of course, I had to step in before anything worse could happen, as Fenrir was to sure shred Tina if he lost his mind, but the incident was enough to have our rulers have to sit down and explain what was happening to her family, apologize, and triggered Bahamut's want to change our culture,"
"And since then Tina has tried to be less… abrasive?" Ciro asked, the three of them nodding.
"To varying results mind you, a beast such as she can't control every impulse. Although I may have obtained something of great value from this conversation," Min said somewhat evilly. Ciro thought it best to just not ask.
"She really has to handle a lot of weight, doesn't she?" Ciro sighed, feeling somewhat sorry for his friend.
"I'm back. Ramuh, tell the others outside that they aren't to touch me for the next five visits!" Tina proclaimed, feeling victorious. Seeing as they were all sat together, she put two and two together.
"We'll be back soon," Ramuh told everyone, whisking the fairies away, much to Min's anger.
"You got it bad, huh?" Ciro questioned, the duo not maintaining eye contact for more than a moment.
"Could be worse really, I'm kinda used to it by now," Tina replied, suddenly finding the floor a very interesting sight.
"I bet, it's basically a really strange parallel of what happens at school, except, ya know, less normal," he said, trying to crack a joke. It worked in a weird way.
"It's mostly the same for me," she replied, taking Ciro by surprise.
"You consider Espers as valid as humans?" he asked, unknowingly distraught by the thought.
"Ciro, I don't value looks when it comes to relationships. If I did, one of the Espers here could just make a human form just like the man of my dreams and bam, I'd be done," she explained, which made sense in a weird way. Ciro was aware that the most powerful Espers could take human form… he just didn't expect Tina of all people to not care about looks. I mean, she was the definition of a looker herself.
"Why do you reject them then?" he asked, and he could swear he heard palms colliding with faces on the background.
"It's… well… they aren't exactly my type, you know? I-I'm not sure what is, well, I know what is but… look, I know them and none of them appeals to me that way, alright?!" she explained, her pace quickening with each passing word. With this, Ciro gained a state of peace of mind, and felt no real reason to go on.
"I understand. Well, just tell me if you do, I'll be your best man if you want to!" he said, trying to clear the mood. Okay, now he was sure he heard facepalming. Tina blushed at the reaction, muttered something under breath, but decided to just nod in return.
"Yeah, I don't want to think that far into the future. Levi and Asura want to meet you, you ready?" she asked, shaking off her blush.
"Sure, I'll just get Min and Nim and meet you there!" he told her. With that, Tina took the lead. Moments later, Ciro found himself face first on the floor, Min flying above him, seething.
"Your brain is on par with a cockatrice at times," she told him before swiftly going down the ladder. Nim went to Ciro and puffed her cheeks before following her sister. Ramuh only laughed at Ciro's confusing. He would learn with time.
Considering he had met with Leviathan and Asura earlier that day, it wasn't that hard for Ciro to grasp the idea of talking to the rulers of Espers, but he was still nervous as he entered the audience chamber.
"Well met Ciro!" Leviathan greeted, Ciro bowing in return.
"It is an honor your Majesty," he spoke back, Leviathan getting a kick out of it.
"You should be more like him Tina," he told the girl, who scoffed in return. "Has your visit to the Feymarch been pleasant Ciro?"
"More than pleasant! The Espers welcomed me with open arms and the town is beautiful!" Ciro exclaimed, meaning all he said.
"That is wonderful news Ciro," Asura told him, treading looks with her husband. "With that in mind, we are a bit late. Do you know why you were summoned here Ciro?" the young man questioned himself before asking:
"Is this about refusing to be the Summoner to every Esper? I'm so sorry about that, is just that, me, Min and Nim have-"
"Hoho, calm down there dear boy. We are not here to punish you," Leviathan said, more than bemused. He could only imagine how much Ciro had been pestered for this to be his reaction.
"We are here to bestow upon you a great honor," Ciro, Tina, and even the twins looked on, confused. What could be a great honor even in the eyes of those two...
"No way," Tina said as soon as it came up to her mind. "The one that called for Ciro was…"
"The Hallowed Father himself," Asura confirmed. "Not only that, but he has requested an audience with Ciro on his own accord," Blasting Ciro's mind into oblivion, this news shocked everyone in the room except the rulers.
"Bah-Bahamut? The Dragon King?! The God of all Espers?! What could he possibly want with me?!" he gagged, even Min and Nim were speechless.
"No clue honestly," Leviathan told him with a shrug. "Find out yourself! Just go through that door in the back and you'll be at Lair of the Father," the wise but perky old Esper told him, pointing at the door behind him.
"Y-you sure?" Ciro asked, receiving nods in return.
"I'm curious myself Ciro. Shall we?" Tina asked him, grabbing his shoulder.
"Tina, he requested an audience with Ciro, not Ciro and his guide. You, me and my husband will stay behind. Him and his partners have to go in alone," Asura said, making sure to cast a silence spell on Tina immediately. "Go now, you wouldn't want to make Father Bahamut wait, would you?" Asura asked. Ciro swallowed dry, looked at his fairies, which could only shakily nod back.
They made their way past the door, and into the dark reaches of a large cavern. Walking for a full minute, Ciro wondered if his was the right place. All before a dark, menacing voice boomed:
"Ciro Adamas. I have been awaiting you…" the voice called, a shadow creeping through the shadows of stalactites past Ciro through the barely lit caverns.
"Lord Bahamut?" Min questioned, somewhat estranged by the dragon's behavior.
"Yes little fairy. I am He. But who is this Master you serve?" Bahamut questioned, the shaking ground and the ever growing shadowy figure heralding his coming, circling around Ciro like he was his prey.
"Our Master is… our summoner," Nim pointed out.
"Or is he? Tell me then Ciro. Why must you, and no other Summoner, keep my children tied to your world? Why must you deny any other Esper? Are they your beloved Espers? Or do you presume yourself as someone that can call himself their owner?!" At this point, the shadow was no longer circling around Ciro. It had engulfed him. They could see the light from above slowly vanish, as Bahamut's brilliant eyes shone above him, the Dragon King sizing his prey. "Tell me human, what makes you worthy of taking my children away? What makes you different from the Maenads that enslaved our race?"
Ciro froze. Was Bahamut really thinking of him as an enemy? Had this all been an elaborate ruse to get him to come here? Was he lied to?! All of these questions threatened to consume him, if not for the doorway to the Lair exploding, the shining form of Tina's Esper form standing between him and Bahamut, crouched like a tiger ready to strike at a dragon.
"You're not Bahamut…" she hissed, stalking at the beast. "The Bahamut I know is kind, compassionate. What beast are you?"
"Tina, begone. If he cannot answer this correctly, he has no right to be a Summoner!" he boomed. "And watch your tongue. I am a father defending my children. Nothing more, nothing less! You'd do well to remember that, as you are in my realm!" There was something in that that snapped Ciro out of it.
"Tina, let me handle this," he told her resolutely. The girl looked back at him, and saw in those eyes someone that needed no help. Begrudgingly, she landed near him and handed him of his ADS.
"I used the transmitter function to spy on you," she confessed. Ciro had to admit, she was clever when she wanted to.
"Bahamut, you ask me why they call me their Master? I once asked myself the same thing," he began, looking at his faeries in the eye, who nodded back. "I summoned them out of a mistake. I had no idea they even existed before I flunked my Sylph summoning. They were shocked that I was even able to summon both of them. Let alone maintain them,"
"If there was one thing this child had it was an abundance of mana. He didn't have much else to his name, but that was the one thing we required," Min continued, staring at her lord in the face. "Lord Bahamut, I know that you would have us avoid war by not interact with human kind just yet, but some of us are desperate to see the world outside. When Master summoned us I saw him as my sister and I's only shot at viewing the human world. I may have found him lacking and unrefined then, and to be honest he still has much progress to make, he had the tools to help me obtain my goal,"
"We talked to him about what he wanted with being a summoner. He… said he just wanted to try it out. Knowing that he was our one chance, I begged of him to let us stay with him in the human world. Min even started calling him Master for it. She was far more polite than me, and explained that we wanted to see the world out, and we'd do our best to help him whatever he wanted in return," Nim proclaimed, looking back to Ciro.
"...Lord Bahamut, as you can see, they want to see more of my world just as much as I wanted to see more of theirs. As long as they want me to, I'll be their bridge to the human world," Tina nearly let her jaw hit the floor. It took balls to go against Bahamut's in his own realm. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to do it herself. Sure, Ciro's knees looked like they were about to give in, but he had stood up to the Platinum Dragon himself. Tina didn't care he was afraid, his actions spoke louder than his fears.
The cavern went silent for a few moments. Then, the large figure vanished, letting the light reenter it. Bahamut's human form, a man in his mid-thirties of platinum hair, dressed in a black cloak, now stood before them. He silently walked up to Ciro before putting his hands on his shoulders:
"I am glad that you were the one to summon them," he told the young boy. With that, everyone calmed down. "I was testing you Ciro," he began, pacing back into the light. "You see, I wanted proof. Proof that Espers could be more to Summoners than just partners in battle. Rydia was one piece of proof. Terra was another. However, at no point in time was there ever a summoner that kept Espers by his side like you do. I observed you. And in it I saw a solution to our plight,"
"You mean, how the Espers cannot leave the Feymarch easily do the culture differences?" Ciro asked, Ramuh's conversation about the worries of Bahamut still ringing in his mind.
"You are sharp. I expected so. Yes. Espers cannot leave the Feymarch easily without understanding human culture. But how could we do that? How could we accustom ourselves without causing outrages?" he asked, then pointed to Ciro. "You Ciro, are my solution. And you proved yourself worthy of it. I don't ask much of you. Live as you have. Be the living proof this kind of bond can exist. We Espers will do the rest,"
"I… I won't let you down Lord Bahamut!" Ciro replied, his pride swelling, alongside his fairies.
"Very well, take this, a gift!" Bahamut exclaimed, creating a small sphere of light, in it burning the flames of his dragon form. It slowly floated towards Ciro, who wondered for a moment if he should grab it. The sphere answered that itself, as it bolted into his chest, vanishing into the boy's torso, just above his heart. He felt no change come upon his body, yet Bahamut knew of this, coming to explain. "That is a seed, a seed of great power. A seed of my power. Take this as a proof of our pact. You may not be able to summon me, especially whilst maintain Min and Nim, but with enough effort, you may channel my power without needing to do so. I have bestowed this power to no other human, not even my High Summoner. Be proud Ciro Adamas, you are the first human to possess the Seed of the Dreadwyrm!"
By now, Ciro was thinking this was way too much, but who was he to deny a request of the God of Espers? Even Tina was proud of her friend. Especially Tina. So much so in fact, that she swiped one other thing from him. A camera he had brought into the Feymarch.
"This is history in the making! We gotta immortalize it!" she exclaimed, momentarily wondering who could take the picture. Then, a lone ADS orb floated in front of her, Ciro had an idea. Tina balanced the camera on top of the orb, setting a timer for it. "Ready?" she asked. Even Bahamut was in on it. When everyone nodded, she set the timer to ten, ran over to the group, and pulled Ciro into a hug, their bizarre adventure to the Feymarch being recorded in a picture with the Dragon King himself.
Post-Author's Note: So yeah, a more meaty chapter this time around. Both in size and content. For the more attentive of you, you can start to see hints at how AUS2 will work. You won't be able to straight up guess it yet though. You gotta wait for that. Hope you enjoyed this one shot and this large peer into the mindsets of Tina, another one of the protagonists of AUS2, along with Ciro, which won't have a small role either. As always, let me know how you liked it!
Happy Birthday Jade!