Blessings of Eos
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy.
Aerith sipped at Her iced tea as She sat under the umbrella with Cid, watching Cindy show off the garage to Prompto. The nine year old Cindy didn't have any problems hanging out with Prompto, between being used to playing with whatever kids passed through Hammerhead and the starry-eyed look Prompto gave the machinery. They had spent the night at Longwythe after leaving Galdin Quay, before going on to Hammerhead. While the encounter with the tonberry was random chance, that didn't mean She was willing to push it by traveling at night, even on a chocobo that could turn invisible.
"Bit unusual to be takin' someone to Insomnia, ain't it?" Cid asked. While he had perfected the grumpy old man routine since She had last seen him, She had known him too long to be fooled.
"Maybe. Just because you've only known Me to take people practically everywhere but Insomnia doesn't make it unusual. It's just been a while." She answered, tracing random lines in the condensation on Her glass. "So did you two patch things up?"
"Yeah, by phone." He admitted.
"You know that's not the same as doing it in person." She chided him.
"Ain't nothing stoppin' him from visiting in person." He protested stubbornly.
Rolling Her eyes, She nonetheless dropped the line of conversation.
"…Something's goin' to be happen soon?" He questioned after a few minutes of silence.
"If you consider within twenty years soon, then yes."
"Doesn't take long for twenty years to pass by." He pointed out.
"True." Staring up into the interior of the umbrella, She finally gave a straight answer. "Regis's son has been Chosen by the Crystal. He will be the True King, a blood sacrifice to bring the return of Dawn."
"Blood sacrifice to the Astrals maybe, but not to You." He commented, refilling their glasses.
"No. But as the darkness was created by an Astral, so too must the light. Perhaps if I had acted sooner…" She interlaced Her fingers on Her stomach.
"Not like You to be havin' regrets." It was as much a comment as a question.
"It's been pointed out that I've ignored the forest for the trees. I have no excuse for My inaction. But since saving Prompto, and knowing the hardships to come…I can't help finding regret upon regret." She found Herself admitting.
"Well, ain't no point on wishin' the past to change. Just gotta go with what you got now, and it'll all work out." Aerith knew he was telling himself this as much as he telling Her.
Wanting to get away from the heavy topic they wandered into, She asked, "I thought the plan was to name her after you?"
"Evidently, it didn't sit well with the son-in-law to be namin' a girl after me. So they went with 'Cindy'." He shook his head. "What the problem was with 'Cidney' exactly I don't know."
"They kind of sound the same when you say them. Maybe you'll have better luck with her children?" She pointed out.
"If I find another boy willin' to put up with a girl more interested in cars than people."
"You know the trick is to find a boy that's just as interested in cars. You've got time." She reminded him.
"…that ain't a roundabout way of sayin' something cryptic, is it?" Cid eyed Her suspiciously.
She just gave him Her best innocent look, one perfected on the unsavory sorts that frequented the slums in Her youth. It was surprising just how many hardened criminals fell for it, to the point where She and Elmyra could go anywhere, and purchase anything, with no trouble.
Cid, however, wasn't buying it. Instead of calling Her on it, he just snorted, turning back to the spreadsheets on the table.
She turned to the photos She had asked Coctuna's staff to take and develop of the beach day. Despite the difficulty of avoiding the reflected light off the water in some angles, there were some pretty good ones. One of them had managed to catch Prompto in the act of pouncing on the fish he had tried to catch barehanded. Another had them posing with Angelgard in the background. One of the best, in Her opinion, was a shot of them in profile, sitting side by side on the edge of the pier taking in the sunset. There was one of Her in profile solo watching the sunrise before She woke him up, so they must have started early.
Prompto ran over when he noticed that She was looking at photos. "Are these at the beach? I didn't notice any cameras, aside from when we posed in front of that island."
"I asked Coctuna's staff to take pictures throughout the day and develop them that evening, so we'd have them before we left. I was picking out My favorites." She told him, spreading them out so he could take in all the photos.
He made a face when he realized someone had preserved his attempt at hand fishing. "Did they really have to take a photo of that?"
Cid and Cindy both had to look at the picture with that statement, and grandfather and granddaughter burst out laughing. "It could be worse; they could've gotten it on video. Then we'd have the whole event recorded for posterity." She reminded him, as his response to the laughter was to cross his arms and pout.
Dinner was Takka's bean special, before they followed Cid and Cindy up into the upper level of the garage, where the pair of them lived and Her and Prompto would be spending the night. Cid just had a shower, so no there was no chance of another splash fight. She still wound up wet, as Prompto begged Her to wash his hair for him. Knowing what would happen tomorrow, plus his puppy dog eyes, left Her no choice in the matter.
"There's several checkpoints between Hammerhead and Insomnia. We shouldn't have too much trouble passing them."
"…which one will you have to leave at?"
"The sixth one. There's one other past that one, but it's for people leaving Insomnia."
While Prompto had been pretty perky throughout the day, he was drooping now, knowing they only had a few hours left.
Cid's guest room only had one bed, so it was a tight fit when She joined him under the covers after Her own shower. He sprawled on top of Her, not meeting Her eyes. "There's something I want to show you, before the story tonight." She had told him about Cait Sith and Vincent on the rides between Galdin Quay, Longwythe, and Hammerhead, so the only ones left were Cloud and Tifa. And Hers.
"Huh?" He looked up at that, before suddenly realizing they were no longer in the guest room. Rising off of Her, he turned in a circle, taking in the endless expanse of flowers. "Where are we?"
"This space doesn't really have a name, but I guess you could it a meeting place."
"Meeting place?" He plopped back down on the ground next to Her.
"While after tomorrow it will be a long time before we meet in person again, we can meet here, when you're asleep." Aerith told him, fingering one of Her flowers.
"…really?" His voice was full of disbelief.
"You won't end up here every time you dream, but whenever you end up here-" The field shifted to Her church "-or here, you'll see me."
Prompto started at the shift between the field and the church. "So…you won't really be leaving me? Since you have this place?"
"Yup. The special thing here, is that instead of just telling the stories, I can show you." To demonstrate, She flashed the images of Zack's story before them.
"Woah…" Blinking, Prompto started again when he realized they had returned to the guest room. "Hey, you can't just show off something that cool and then just leave!"
"Considering the point of the stories is to get you to sleep, watching them now would defeat that purpose. Think of it as something to look forward to." She told him, rolling so they were laying on their sides facing each other. "So, tonight's story is about Cloud and Tifa."
"What about your story? The parts where you're in the stories are the bits I like the best." He asked, snuggling in.
"Don't worry, you'll see my story one day. Have to save the best for last as a treat, right?" Smiling down at him.
She could tell he was pouting, but he didn't say anything.
"Cloud and Tifa grew up together in Nibelhiem. While Tifa was the daughter of the town's mayor, Cloud was the latest in a family best termed 'eccentric' when the townspeople were feeling polite. It was just Cloud and his mother, so while he wanted friends, he didn't really know how to make them, with the other children hearing of his family's eccentricities from their parents. Tifa was friendly to Cloud, and he was drawn to her as a result. Tifa's mother died after a long illness, and not really knowing what death was, she thought she could find her by crossing Mount Nibel…"
She returned to the church to prepare the files She would give Regis. One copy of the magitek trooper data, and two copies of Prompto's file. One day, She wanted him to have this information, with a genuine birth certificate and the names of his genetic parents and the details of his life there. It would be a long time until he saw his file, however, so it was best to leave it in Regis's keeping for the time being. That task done, She let Her mind drift.
She dreamed of that distant Chance again, the slightest degree more in focus from before. The King's Mind and Body, more in focus, encountering Her on the road trip to come. The Oracle, pushing herself to the limit for the sake of destiny and duty. The King, waking up to the reality of his destiny.
And finally, of three children. Siblings sprung from the same womb, following different yet compatible paths. There were two other children at their side, even blurrier than the first trio, following the path of their fathers.
The sight of the children gave Her hope. Hope that this gamble She was taking would pay off.
Instead of guiding Opal directly to the first checkpoint, Aerith directed her to a cliff that gave a view of the Insomnian skyline. "So that's Insomnia?" Prompto asked. "What's the ripple-y thing in the sky? I can see it even without the Sight."
"That's the Wall. It protects Insomnia from attacks by Niflhiem. Initially, when the Wall was raised for the first time, it covered all of Lucis. Successive kings have pulled the Wall closer and closer to the Crown City, trading the amount of area covered for increased strength. The king generates it using the Crystal, an artifact gifted to the Lucian Kings ages ago by the Astrals." The wind seemed cold as it blew past. "Prompto…there's something I have to tell you."
He looked up at Her, worry on his face. "Did they do something else?"
She crouched down to look him in the eye. "I didn't tell you earlier because I didn't want you to worry…but when you were smaller, they put something inside you. It's not doing anything now, but…when you cross the Wall, the Wall will…disable it in a way that is safest for the city…but not for you."
"Will it hurt? When I cross the Wall because of it?" He asked.
"I honestly can't tell you, but…I imagine so. It will start as an ache in your belly, if it does. I've let people inside the city know about it, so once you're across, they'll be able to take it out."
"I'm not gonna be awake during it, right? Not like with my leg?" There were traces of panic in his voice at the prospect.
She shook Her head violently. "No. You'll fall asleep before they start, and you'll wake up when it's over. You'll have to answer questions, but I've asked that they be put to you while you're still out of it from the medicine that made you sleep, so hopefully it won't be too hard for you."
"...There was no way for you to take care of it?" He asked, fiddling with his wristband.
"No. I'm not a doctor, and with how it was inserted, I didn't dare to chance anything by simply banishing it, like when I got rid of the fawn's carcass. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't want the knowledge to take away from the experiences you had, and give you more reasons to dread arriving in Insomnia." She hugged him tight to Her, and he returned the hug with equal tightness.
Finally and with great reluctance they ended the hug. "So you'll be brave?" She asked, sniffing a little as She wiped away tears.
He nodded firmly, his eyes watery. "I will see you again one day, right? I mean in person, not in the field or that building, right?"
"Yes. It will be a long time from now, and things may not be so great when we do meet in person again, but we will meet in person again." Her eyes dry, Aerith stood back up.
Prompto leaned his head back to look at Her. Smiling down to him, She leaned down to kiss his forehead, as She had that night She saved him and other nights after. Feeling the Lifestream humming around Her, She invoked Her Power.
"May My Blessings be with you Always."
Okay new plan. 'Blessings of Eos' will go up to the start of the game, when the chocobros leave Insomnia. The sequel, 'Those Chosen By The Planet' will cover the game events and be the 'fix-it' part of the story.