Despair and duty

In the Badlands Invi was sitting before Gula's tent. He was still sound asleep, and the others were still away on their errands. Night was approaching, and Invi was piling small sticks and logs to a small pit dug in the middle of their camp. Once she had enough she pointed her palm towards the pile of wood.

"Fire." She said in a low voice. A small flash of flame erupted and shortly after a lively fire was crackling.

She gave a pleased sigh. During the day the badlands could be uncomfortably hot, but at night it could get freezing cold. She was grateful to have a source of warmth close at hand. And it served another function as well. It might be and imagination, but the entity in her heart always seemed to wax a little stronger when the world around her was dark. Having a source of illumination seemed to help with that.

She briefly considered the light vials in her pockets, but then she decided to leave them be. She was feeling reasonably good at the moment, she could do without another dose for a while longer. And they had expended quite a few vials lately. It was wise to ration the remaining ones until their supply situation had been normalized. Maybe when the others returned and the next batch was processed it would be time to take another one.

…And if there was one thing that all the Foretellers could agree on it was their distaste for this method of survival. Even Luxu, who had orchestrated it all and had never once protested openly, clearly found the whole business distasteful.

Aced was becoming angrier and more frustrated as time went by, full of bitterness. And he had been so upset when their true purpose had been revealed to them, furious at how they had been deceived. It was not in his nature to go quietly. He found their intended fate to be unfair, their past sins something forced upon them, and had not been shy about saying it out loud. She was quite concerned about him truth to be told. His behavior reminded her too much of how it had been in the days leading to the Keyblade War. It was frightening. She only hoped he could keep it together until the end.

Ira had gone in the opposite direction from Aced, ever more quiet and introspective. When he spoke it seemed to only be about their duty. Responsibility was the shield he hid behind, to insulate himself from his pain. A characteristic response, though Invi at times thought he was trying too hard to be a machine programmed to do what he was told. On the other hand, if that was what worked for him, then… so be it. Very little else mattered now. And then again, it was not so far from the way she coped...

And Gula, well… they had all seen what his reaction to all this had been.

If only there was some other way. Whenever she had had a moment to do so she had tried to search for one. She had conducted her research as best she could, though she had been hampered by the lack of proper equipment. Still, she had been scouring the worlds, hunting down every lead that offered even the slightest chance of an alternative. But all her inquiries had arrived to the same endpoint. The light they needed only existed within hearts. And given how this darkness seemed to just burn through light… they might not be saving anyone by going the old fashioned way and building connections with other hearts. And trying to do so would take time, which they certainly did not have to spare. And the ravenous hunger of the darkness meant they would need ever more. Supply could not possibly meet demand that way, which made that option unusable.

Honestly, she too was starting to accept that there was no other solution. The more she spent time doing her research the more she came to believe it was just busywork, her way of coping with things. And to give herself the comfort of being able to say she had tried her hardest. *There was no other way* was the favorite excuse of the sloppy and the indifferent. She did not intend to be counted among those. She would turn every rock in her search for as long as she still retained control of herself. And no one would be able to say that she had been too callous or hasty to find a better option.

Invi was lost in her thoughts, starting to nod off, when she heard a rasping cough coming from behind her. She immediately picked herself up and entered Gula's tent. Once there she saw Gula was moving around starting to wake up. She watched him and listened with her heart, looking for signs that the Darkness within him was resurfacing. But to her relief she did not notice anything alarming.

"Gula, can you hear me? How are you feeling?" She asked once his eyes opened.

"W-water…" He croaked in response.

"Of course. Here." She said, retrieving a bottle she had stashed close by. She knelt down and helped Gula sit up so he could drink. The first few gulps he coughed as the liquid poured into his parched throat. He then drank eagerly, emptying nearly half the bottle in one go. Afterwards he gasped for air, taking in several deep breaths.

"Thank you." He breathed.

"It's good to see you awake again. How are you?" She asked as he plopped back down.

"Not that good." He replied, giving a quiet groan.

"It's like there is a shard of ice in me, radiating cold everywhere." He continued, rubbing his chest.

"Do you need light? You can have a few of mine." She offered, reaching for her pockets.

"No, no, I'm… I'm ok." He said.

"How did I end up here? What happened?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"I was about to ask you that." Invi replied. "You don't remember?"

Gula put a hand on his forehead, thinking hard. "I remember… going into the Dwarf Woodlands, looking for the mirror there. I wanted to use it to find out where Ava was. But when I got there… the mirror had already been destroyed."

"Destroyed? By whom?" She asked.

"By whom indeed. I used magic to answer that very question. And who did I find? The bloody girl you brought to our tower! The one you all but raised." Gula spat with unexpected venom.

"Elrena!? She was there?" Invi gasped.

"She sure was. Her and a lad with pink hair." He continued.

"Lauriam." Invi guessed.

"Another one of yours I take it?" Gula asked.

Invi nodded. "I cannot claim to know every wielder in my union. But that one I recall. One of my finest wielders. And I did see him with the Guardians along with Elrena, so I know it's most likely him you're talking about."

"And I remember him particularly well because he was recruited into the Dandelions by Ava, and I caught wind of it." She explained.

Their recruitment had prompted her to confront Ava about the whole thing. At the time it had felt like it was a step too far, upsetting an already delicate situation by drafting wielders from other Unions to build a private force of her own. Though of course Invi had learned from Ava that recruiting them was the role the Master had bestowed upon her. And from Elrena she had learned their intended function, enough to quietly approve of the Dandelions. And now… now it seemed Ava's role carried further, hidden purposes, reaching fruition a thousand years after the fact.

"…They owe their continued existence to her. And this is how they repay her. They destroyed the mirror, and with it the last, best hope of me finding her. She is lost to us now. Lost to the great silence. Or may as well be. I might never get to see her again now. They stole from me… the one thing that I wanted to have for myself before the end." He complained sourly.

"So that's why. No wonder that you fell." Invi mused.

A startled pause from Gula. "I… fell? You mean it… took control of me?"

"Just about. Or that's what Luxu and Aced claimed. They were the ones that found you." She replied.

He shook his head slowly, his hand still on his forehead. "I don't remember that at all. Just a big gap where memory should be. Must be a side effect of the turning. Merciful, considering."

"But you obviously you managed to turn me back this time. How badly did things end up in other respects?" He asked.

"The effect was noticeable all the way over here. As for the world you were in… it was very nearly overrun Gula. The Guardians were alerted too and tried to respond to the situation and, well… Ira and I had to step in to make sure none of them were killed. We are very fortunate that none of them did. And according to Luxu and Aced if they had not found you when they did control might have been lost altogether. Needless to say it would have been far too soon. I'll be honest with you: We might have lost it all in that moment." She detailed. She tried, but she couldn't entirely keep the accusation out of her voice. Gula had very nearly undermined a thousand years of effort and sacrifice, almost turning it all into a sad joke. Even if it was an accident it was kind of hard to take that one in stride.

She had expected Gula to show repentance, perhaps even offer an apology. A consoling response was on her tongue, an acknowledgement that this was an unfortunate chain of events that was now behind them. But to her surprise he merely harrumphed.

"You can blame your students for that. I may have lost control, but it was only because what those two did was too much to bear on top of everything else. It would not have happened otherwise. If anyone should answer for this it's them. Or the Master maybe, since we are all just puppets dancing on his strings anyway." He said.

"But I suppose it doesn't even matter whose fault this is. I can't get justice for any of this. It's not like I could make demands of the Master even if he was here right now. And as for those two blundering fools… I suppose they are thought to be important for what's to come. So I can't touch them. You and the others would never stand for it." He said.

"You're right, I wouldn't. And for more reasons than just that. They are to live. Besides, I don't for a moment think this was meant as a deliberate attack on you. There is no way they could have known you were looking for her. I don't know why they did what they did. I don't have all the facts. But I'm certain it wasn't to hurt you." She replied.

"But even if that is true the result is the same. There is nothing left for me know. It's just waiting for the end at this point." He said in melancholy. He turned to lay on his side and curled up into a ball.

Invi was at a loss for words and Gula seemed to be done talking. Silence reigned.

"Gula, I… I hate to impose on you so soon and after all this, but… we need your help. Someone has stolen the black box. We don't know who, but you could find that out for us. We need the spell you used to find out about Lauriam and Elrena. Please." She finally said.

Gula did not respond. She wondered if he had heard her, or if he was too caught in his own thoughts to pay any attention to her.

"…Why?" He suddenly asked.

"Why? Why what?" She asked, not understanding.

"Why should I help you? Why should I bother with any of this anymore? What's in it for me?" He demanded.

"…You still have a duty, Gula. The box is not something to leave in the hands of thieves." Invi replied.

"You say that, when you don't even know what's in it." He countered.

"That's true. But this much I believe. And Luxu seems to think so." She said.

Gula scoffed. "So it all comes back to the Master's plans, then."

"I don't know, Invi. I realize this might be important. But the more time passes the less I can muster the energy to care about any of his plans. He fooled me into being a trap to something horrible. And now he expects me to perish. And I suppose I shall, one way or another. But I don't see why I should volunteer anything further. I dedicated my life to his service. As did we all. Here, at the end, I wanted so little in return, and I was deprived. So what more do I owe him, or this world?" He continued.

Invi sighed heavily. "…For those in our situation, our legacy is what matters. You claim we haven't got much to hope for, and you're right. Not for ourselves. But the one dream left is the world we wish to leave behind. The hope that this will all be worth something in the end. That's what keeps me going. It's what I fight for. And honestly I think it would do you good to embrace the same. Duty can console you, give you meaning where little else can. Now, I regret that things didn't work out for you in finding Ava. I know it mattered to you. All the same, I ask you to help us. Help us keep hope for the future alive. Protecting it is the one meaningful thing you can still do. And I believe it is what she would want you to do."

"Don't claim to know her wishes! Even I don't know it now. She was always loyal to the Master, but this…" He countered.

A pause, after which he gave an annoyed sigh. "Fine. I'll do it, if it gets you to leave me alone. But not now. I need to rest."

With that he laid his head down, signaling his refusal to speak another word. After a while Invi went back to the campfire, returning to her own thoughts.