Hello everyone, umm what am I doing here well, if im honest not quiet sure. What I do know is that i've not written in a decade and I am bad at it lol. I've always loved writing and I want to improve, so maybe this can help me too.
This is my first attempt at a Final Fantasy tactics fanfiction. Its probably my favorite FF game other than FF14 (been playing it since Stormblood). Either way just wanted to introduce myself a bit I guess. Hope you enjoy and whatever critiques you have please be kind, but I do welcome it. In no way do I own FF Tactics IP.
Chapter 1: New Day Among Snow and Flame.
The first thing I perceived was the incredible pain that pervaded my existence, the white light that had enveloped my friends, my sister and me when Ultima and the arc finally sank washed over me like a tidal wave.
My hands had instinctively reached for Alma, but I found no grip. The Lucavi's blood curdling screams pierced every sound I could make for her, and so my mind reeled in the face of what I suspected was an inevitable end.
I was about to die, as were my sister, my friends, and the woman I dearly loved. I didn't have a chance to tell her how I felt because no moment was big enough or long enough to say those three little words. So many wasted moments of self-loathing and pity. I wasted too much time running away from myself to avoid fate. I let too many die so that my naivety would finally break.
Yet here, at the end, I could only focus on her. Agrais, my rock when times seemed bleak. My rock when my brothers fell to greed and the other to fierce loyalty. Agrais If I could, I'd tell you that I loved you from the moment we met, but fate is rarely so kind. I'd do many things if I could. I'd right the wrongs of my brothers. I'd find a way to avoid the incessant bloodshed that plagues my homeland. I'd expose Lucavi's plot for the world to see.
I'd never allow another Tietra. I'd protect my sister, punish Dycerdarg for his betrayal of all the tenants that our father committed, and of course I'd confess my love for Agrais. I'd do many things and more, but most of all I wouldn't run away.
I'd plunge headlong into the storm and save the sea from corruption and heal it from within. Delita tried many things and the same, but his methods... His methods were far too cruel, far too bloody. I'd do things differently. But I guess that's just my naivety. Blood will be spilled no matter how hard I try to stop it, but if I had the chance, I'd make sure that the rivers of blood spilled during the Lion War never flow again, or at least become a small puddle.
That would be my greatest wish, to bring peace, to love and marry, to see an Ivalice not littered with corpses. If only such a thing were possible. It was only a dream that developed in death.
I heard no sound, I felt no more pain, only the warmth of light, maybe life after death was true, and I had been worth it after all, so I just resigned myself to my fate...
...The embrace of my fate went from a warm feeling of acceptance to a blistering cold shockwave of confusion. When I opened my eyes, the gray sky above me had opened its splendor and unleashed a flurry of snow.
Snow?
Was there snow in the afterlife?
Why did my body feel so... heavy?
When one dies, it's believed, the soul leaves the body and passes on to its new home. Weightless and free. Could I be in the underworld ... no, probably not, Altima was practically there, and this bore no resemblance to it at all.
In fact, it looked far too normal, the way nature breathes, but not in a heavenly divine way, and the cold gnawing at my limbs felt far too real.
Where the hell was I?
As the snow fell around me, some of it was no longer pristine white, but dark in color.
Strange, black snow. The last time I saw black snow was in Ziekden Fortress when it exploded and supposedly killed Delita...
My body immediately shot up, I looked to my left as if by instinct, and my first thought was: how?
An unimaginable inferno blazed there as the once outstanding fortress of Ziekden collapsed, but that should be impossible, right?
Because that happened almost two years ago, so why is it in front of me, indeed why is it happening at all.
The snow flurry was almost forgotten until snowflakes began to gather on my forehead, I quickly took my hands to brush them off, whereupon I noticed something that made my blood run as cold as my body.
My arms were covered with a rather familiar blue fabric. A fabric that belonged to a tunic I wore when I was a young squire in the Northern Sky. A tunic with the symbol of my house that I wore with pride until the mere sight of it made me sick to my core.
My mind went blank.
"You have finally awakened, young Ramza Beoulve."
A voice as soft as the morning breeze and as melodic as a harp symphony at the end of a beautiful but heartbreaking piece echoed around me.
I don't even know if I looked to see where it was coming from, but even if I hadn't, I knew instinctively to whom, or rather what, it belonged.
"Yes, what you see now is as real as anything you've ever experienced," the symphonic voice rang out again, its tone sounding joyful as a faceless figure appeared before my eyes.
"What you see is your heart's desire, oh brave Zodiac of this era of humanity, you have fulfilled your destiny, and in return for such a noble deed and sacrifice, your last wishes have fallen on the stones," looking at the figure in front of me, practically voicing what I had already confirmed, I finally spoke my thoughts.
"I'm in the past?" it nodded.
"The Auracite?" again the figure nodded.
"Why?" I asked
The faceless figure radiated a comforting warmth amidst the icy snow. For as much as the fire in the distance might radiate warmth, where I was standing right now, it was far too little to keep me from freezing to death. At my question, the warmth brightened further.
"As I said, your wish fell on the stones, and so we tried to grant it to a soul as pure as yours, for I am sure you know their truth."
"You are a bridge between the heart of man and his desires, which grants us the connection to ... your worlds?" I asked.
"This is a simplistic answer, but still true, but yes, just as the desires of man wash around the auracite, so too does the bridge open between our worlds, allowing us to make connections with you, but unlike the Lucavi you have met and fought, we do not meet all of man's desires. Only those like you can hear our voices, let alone see us." Said it, gently moving across the stone to stand before me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Pashtarot, the Knight Star of the sign Cancer, I walk above heroism, law, loyalty, brotherhood and tactics, I have been chosen to guide you in this transition of your life."
"Pashtarot, you say you are not a Lucavi, what are you then?"
"A guide and nothing more, my time is limited young Beoulve, for we are not meant to dwell so close to the people, and I know you are confused as to why we saw fit to grant you your wishes," Pashtarot said as their hand settled on my face.
"Young hero, you have sacrificed more than any man should have, lived a life that many would need several lifetimes to understand, and yet you selflessly chose the path that led to so much pain." Pashtarot's hand left my face, the warm shape of her faceless body began to float, and the snow around us stopped. I could not see it, but I felt the simplicity in her face.
"You have lived a life of misery and will no doubt have more ahead of you, but this moment here signifies your journey towards your faith, but the world would be a far lesser one without you in it, so we have decided to give you a chance to do things differently, you just have to choose to do it." she said
"I can change things, but then wouldn't I be fighting fate again?"
Pashtarot chuckled, and if I was not so confused, I'd admit that the giggle made me all giddy.
"The funny thing about fate, my dear child, no matter what you do, the end is the same, but if you take a different path to get there, the scenery can change."
Pashtarot's light began to fade, his figure becoming less visible with each passing moment. I had so much to ask, so much I needed to know, damn it, why was not I asking better questions.
"I can not answer the questions you need to ask, because you already know the answers, you are just afraid of the path you have to take now. Your knowledge of the future will be useful only for a moment, for when you walk the new path, the landscape that lies before you will also change. Walk tall, brave Zodiac, for your new life awaits you."
And with that, Pashtarot disappeared, leaving me even more confused than before. What had I expected from a being that was probably a divine being? This was also the second time they called me a Zodiac Brave.
I give up and just let my body sink to the snow. The cold touch was forgotten as my mind began to race. As I thought back to the moment Ultima died and I thought I was about to die, I silently made many wishful thoughts without thinking for a moment that this could really happen. And yet here I am, in the past, in exactly the same place I was standing when I made the decision to run away...
Pashtarot was right, I already knew what I had to do. Soon, very soon, the church will set out to get the stones. My brother Dycedrag and Largs' plan for the princess will come true and Delita will begin his crusade. As it is, my current form is too weak. I may have the knowledge of my future/present self but not the strength I have gained, but I need more than what I have had so far, I need a strength that would help me change the scenery for the better. I need to be as strong as my father, if not stronger.
"Very well," I said into the ether, "Tietra, I am sorry I could not protect you, but I swear by the flames that carry you away that I will not allow any more of you to happen. I am no longer a lion cub. From this day forward Tietra!" I shout, standing up and raising my arms to the sky as the snow begins to fall again.
"NO MORE!"