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year 5, quarter 3
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When Seven did not respond to her, she gave a slight frown at being given the cold shoulder. But that frown turned into a smug grin, “Seems like the coeurl got your tongue. Very well, I will let you keep to yourself.” With that Cissnei pushed herself off the table and into the busy tavern crowd, more so that she could listen to Denzel more closely. There was a slight dim roar as others formed small groups to tell their story. It made it hard to filter out the quiet boy.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Denzel. My name is Cissnei. At least one of my names, but it should do for now. Please. Finish your story. You are among friends in this tavern. I think anyway….” Cissnei gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. However, Denzel’s story seemed to turn grim. “I am sorry to hear that about Ruvie. Her memory lives on inside you.” Cissnei understood the Lifestream…but Geostigma was not something she was familiar with.
Cissnei raised her hand for another glass of bourbon. A woman in a dark blouse and heavy skirt took her order before leaving to go get it. It seemed the other two was not familiar with this Geostigma either. “The Lifestream is the essence of life itself. It is a living entity that moves the earth. From our world, everyone is born from this essence. Plants and animals as well. When one passes away, they return to the Lifestream and become part of the collective conscious until they are reborn again from it. It is, for all intents and purposes, the cycle of life.”
She eyed Denzel for a moment, “Is that an accurate description, Denzel?” She asked the boy, her head tilted to the side. “However, I am afraid I am not familiar with Geostigma. This phenomenon is new to me knowledge…Can you explain that more Denzel? What did Geostigma have to do with your story? And please…don’t be shy. Tell us as much as you can remember about your story.”
However, after waiting a moment more and seeing him remain silent, she wondered if he was just nervous with all these eyes on him. He was just a kid after all. So instead, she decided to tell her story to maybe alleviate some of the pressure. She stood up more fully and accepted her bourbon. She gave a pregnant pause as she took a sip from her bourbon. The crowd seemed to spurn her on at this wait, the silence killing them slowly.
Cissnei looked over the crowd, before nodding to Caius. “Let me try again, with my story?" She gave him a soft smile, before lowering her eyes to her bourbon. "For a long time, we never heard from Veld or sighted him. This caused tensions to grow. The Vice President finally ratted to the President about Veld’s defection. Tseng had taken over in Veld’s stead, and I wanted to do what I could to ease his burdens as we began to get accused of treason and colluding with Veld. The only way to prove our innocence to the company, it seemed, was to bring in Veld. Dead or alive… Then one day it happened…”
----Imagination Dialogue Story Time----
“……”
Tseng had ordered her to capture and bring in the two specimens that escaped the ShinRa manor. But she was beginning to question those orders. Now that she realized one of them was someone she thought long gone with the other FIRST CLASS SOLDIERs and the other was a lower-ranked infantry man, how could she follow them? She could hear FIRST CLASS SOLDIER pleading with her to let him go and to give him his freedom. It was striking a chord with her. Her silence was unnerving the raven-haired male.
Since she was nine years old, she never once questioned the orders ShinRa gave her. She faithfully carried them out, almost robotically, and was always blessed with Veld’s comforting hand patting her head in approval. But with recent events, everything seemed to be shattering down around her.
The crack began with Veld blackmailing the current President ShinRa. Veld’s intentions had been to protect and regain control of the Turks, as well as to liberate Upper Junon. However, the threat never sat well with the President after that. You could hear the creaking of the glass as events were further strained with the President’s own son raging against his father and paying AVALANCHE to bring him down. However, the President kept insisting that Turks were useless and slow if they could not secure the mole in ShinRa and stop AVALANCHE’s pre-emptive strikes.
Yet still, the glass continued to etch those spider-webbed tendrils when Veld did capture the mole. The AVALANCHE leader was the daughter he thought he killed in the freak accident at Kalm. Veld defected on the spot, giving his last order to protect Rufus, the Vice-President and discovered mole, at all costs. In spite, the Vice President told his father about the defection of Veld, forcing Tseng and the rest of the Turks into a tight spot in the company. It was then the executives began to question the power the Turks held over them. They began to fear what the Turks could do to them with the information they held. The Turks were ordered to find and kill Veld on the spot, as well as to watch their steps along the cracking glass.
All these events began to creep into Cissnei’s mind. She thought emotions were never supposed to compromise the mission, and yet here Veld left the company for the love of his daughter. This confused her after he taught her for so many years to never use her emotions.
And now here she stood in front of the pleading SOLDIER. She already tried fighting him twice, but whatever experiments they did to him, made him much stronger and faster than the average person. There was no way she could reign him in by force alone. And there was no way she could convince him to come willing with his frantic mindset and his teeth bared to protect his comrade.
Yet something else stirred inside her. She sympathized with him. All those years ago, she wanted to leave the orphanage so that she could avoid be experimented on. She escaped to the Turks figuring if she could get in, then the company would take good care of her if she was faithful and hardworking. She thought ShinRa took care of its good employees.
She thought…
Zack had been faithful to the company this entire time. Sure, he was concerned about his other First Class SOLDIER allies, but he did not leave the company…or at least did not attempt to until now. And even now, the company did not consider him a person – just a science specimen. Cissnei could not blame him for trying to escape his fate of being in the laboratory or death. How could she? She had once followed the same path he did when she was a young girl. Unfortunately, the scientist caught him before he could make his escape.
So, what on Gaia happened after the Nibelheim incident? Veld encouraged his Turks to not help by finding them other to prioritize while he, and Tseng, took on the burden.
With Zack’s blue eyes burrowing into her, she silently pulled out her PHS cellphone from her breast pocket. She was tired of being jerked around and left in the dark by the executives and her own comrades. No longer could she blindly follow orders. Veld was no longer here to guide her and the orders the executives were giving seemed to be harming ShinRa rather than doing good. No longer would she stand by like a mindless drone and watch as innocent bystanders got caught up in some of ShinRa’s darker shadows. She believed that ShinRa did more good than bad, but she could no longer justify having a hand at harming one of their exemplary employees. At least, she could not do that without knowing the full situation and why. The mother hen in her would not allow that.
“Tseng, the targets got away.” There seemed to be both surprise and relief in the eyes of Zack. She studied him for a moment before darting her eyes to the bushes. It was the most she could do for him. He was enthusiastic and stupid, but he did not deserve the treatment he was receiving from ShinRa.
“Tell me what happened,” came Tseng’s stern voice. She explained the mission to him and he coldly stated, “I know that…”
Cissnei continued on, “One of the specimens is Zack.” When all she got from the other end of the phone was silence, “Tseng, you know the day you were ordered to help carry the victims in Nibelheim to the manor?”
“The mission has been compromised. Return to headquarters.”
However, Cissnei stubbornly pressed on.
No longer…
“Listen to me Tseng! I am going to the manor. I want to know what happened there.” Before Tseng could put in another word, she hung up on him. Never before had she so openly defied a superior. But she had the fire burning in her veins now. “That’s the way it has to be.”
“Take care, Zack.” Before even Zack could stop her, she was already running through the woods to the mansion. She carefully laid out her steps so that she avoided the ShinRa military. Even now, with her heart throbbing in her chest from running, she tried to quiet her breathing as she looked up at the intimidating mansion. It was dark and the shadows seemed so long. She felt a presence here and it unnerved her.
‘The archives here. They must contain some answers,’ she thought to herself before rushing inside and through the corridors. But her heart stop and she felt like she was slapped with a bucket of cold water. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the silhouetted male figure looking along the bookcase. As if the clouds parted for the moon, the silvery moonlight illuminated the figure at the bookcase.
“V…Veld! Sir!” The father of the Turks. No. Her only father figure. The man she admired and looked up to faithfully all these years. He stood before her and he turned around, throwing his arms out to his side, and burrowing his gaze into her. Did he see through her? Could he tell what she was thinking just by looking at her?
“Oh. It’s you Cissnei. It has been a long time. Have you come to kill me?” His voice held no emotion, nor judgement. It was simply a question, as he knew the consequences of his actions.
She felt the cold steel in her hands. Now she found herself looking down the barrel of it at him. Her palms suddenly felt sweaty and she was shaking from the complications of her emotions. How could she shoot one of her Turks? How could she kill the only father-figure in her life? The only man that took her in and taught her everything she knew? All the Turks respected him and put their faith in him. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she continued to shake. The visage of him blurred. Veld patiently stood there waiting for her decision. He made no effort to stop her or change her mind. Instead he kept his cool, calm gaze on her. The decision was her own to make.
---- End Story Sequence ----
Cissnei had been making grandiose gestures as she told her story. But as she drew to this stopping point, she was shaking slightly and stared into the reflection of her glass. Perhaps, she was trying to figure out who she was back then. Or who she was now. Her hand clasped the glass too tightly it seemed, and she fell into silence.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Feb 18, 2019 14:25:27 GMT -6
Suppose this world isn't so terra-ble.
@blacksuit @denzel @seven Word Count: OOC: Dialogue Color: 196fd1 Party Sprites Credit
It looked like Denzel still needed some time to answer his question, and the other girl was still being stubborn. Which probably meant that the other girl was probably going to finish her own story seeing as she had started. Caius knew his story would probably be long, he was a storyteller after all. So he didn't mind going last. So he rounded himself another drink and took a seat to hear the next story. These were certainly interesting, to say the least. The woman was able to explain what the Lifestream was, but not Geostigma. It seemed that would be the job of the boy.
But now... Back to the story of defection.
After the whole big revelation of the guy's late daughter being the leader of some terrorists or something like that, it seemed that there was just defection after defection, WOW-EE! But she said a name that struck a chord. Zack, Zack... He'd heard the name before. But he wasn't sure from where. Mentioned by something that was a faint memory, perhaps? He'd keep it in mind for later, but for now he was engrossed in her story, taking light to heavier drinks along the way. But the more the story went on, the more clear it was that this Shinra was no good. The girl herself had even betrayed them, letting Zack get away. She wanted to seek the truth... A worthy cause, he decided.
In the end, she found the man she looked up to, and was faced with a choice. But... She didn't seem to be able to finish it. The story was clearly painful for her. What had been the decision she had made? Caius wanted to know, but... Perhaps he would ask later. When she was calmed down. It was clear she was unable to go on.
The room felt heavy when she "finished" her story, and Caius found himself staring into his glass a bit, unsure of what to say. But eventually, when he realized it was clear she could no longer continue, Caius decided to change the subject.
"Guess I'll get to mine" Caius spoke calmly as he cleared his throat. Staring around the room, Caius knew he needed to do something big. Something to lighten the room. But his own story... It was sad too. He'd decided on it, it was only fair after the young lady and the child here had gotten so personal... That he spoke of his own. He had already told it to Yuna once, or well, part of it... It couldn't hurt to open up. But maybe, just maybe... He could spice it up a little? In some places, anyway. Something to lighten the mood.
And since a happy ending was clearly needed... Well, it looked like Caius would have to go the extra mile and tell the next part.
That was alright with him. He had accepted all that had happened. Better to get it off his chest now.
So with that, he drowned the rest of his mug and cleared his throat again as he took a moment to ponder things before speaking.
"So, I'm gonna be honest with you lot. Some of these things I'm about to say aren't going to be easy for me to say. But you two have bore your souls, opened up, spoken with your hearts. I don't think it'd be fair for me to not deliver. Just hope you can, y'know, bear with me, yeah? And uh, yeah. I'd buckle up, get some drinks, get some food... This story's gonna be long. Gonna have some scene setting, some background, some alternations between fable and my own... Defining moment, I guess you could say."
Caius took a deep breath, then.
"My world..." He trailed off. "... Well, my world became a hellhole, to say the least. See, there was prophecy of a monster, a daemon from long ago... Who bore the Starscourge, before being sealed away by the Founder King Somnus. This monster re-appeared in our time in the form of a man named Ardyn Izunia, once a Chancellor of the Niflheim Empire, and with that, he brought the Starscourge down on us once again. Or at least that's how I've heard it went down. I was very young, maybe about ten or so when the light was lost. Imagine for a moment, never seeing the sun again. Every day greets you with the blackest of nights, neverending. Never knowing when the day begins or ends.
There are these things called daemons. Monsters of varying shapes and sizes. While we had monsters in the day... They were generally nowhere near as powerful or as horrifying as these daemons. They came out at night, seemingly fueled by the approach of the Starscourge, and would attack anyone in their path. Those that fell were dragged down with them, and rumors state that the humanoid daemons that attacked folks as well were once those that fell. Though evidence of the Empire artificially creating them for use as infantry also exists. When the Starscourge came, night was all we knew... And the more that the light was blighted out, the stronger the daemons became. By the time there was no daylight left... We didn't stand a chance.
The Chosen King, Noctis, the only one who could stop this eternal darkness... He was gone. He had disappeared into the crystal, we were told he would return one day, but..."
Caius took a deep breath. It wasn't the easiest story to tell, but this lot had earned the right he felt, to know all.
"Civilizations were destroyed, nature decayed and the world felt more like a wasteland than the Kingdom of Lucis that I grew up in. People were ran out of their homes, and it wasn't long before there was only one city left that wasn't overrun with daemons, one city left that we were able to keep lit in order to keep them at bay.
... But not everyone decided to flee to the cities. Some tried to keep to their homes, out of the way, with preparation to flee if need be but otherwise hoping the daemons would not find them. Others decided to take advantage of the chaos, becoming bandits, looters... Waylaying supplies, or homes that were staying hidden from the daemons."
Caius let out a deep exhale. He'd ordered a new drink long ago and when it came to this next part, he drowned a good portion of it before continuing. This was never going to be easy. Not this part. Caius was still not used to opening up, but people like Celes... She had taught him the value of opening up. Of being yourself, even when you were afraid.
"My... Family, was in the former category. Bandits attacked our home when I was about 12, and my father and I attempted but failed to ward them off. We were given an ultimatum. Work with them... Or they'd do terrible things to, and then kill my mother and sister, as well as kill my father and I. And that kicked off probably the worst year of my life, to say the least. Doing things that... Will probably haunt me forever."
Caius drowned a good portion more of the drink, giving a moment for any sorts of questions while he regained his bearings. Thank the Astrals he had something to drink. Something strong, something numbing. It made it ever so slightly easier.
He didn't like continuing the dismal state these stories had rendered everyone, but there was good to come, if he could manage to get there.
Cissnei stared hard into her glass. Her thoughts lost to trying to remember the past. She had believed that maybe story time here would help her remember, so she participated. But how did she know if these hazy memories were truly what happened? There was no way to prove her disprove it. But it seemed real to her. It felt like it was a part of her. Certainly, she could not make up such a story unless there was some truth to it. She could tell the other guests wanted her to press on, but instead she raised her glass to her lips. She sipped as Caius spun his tale, and she patiently listened. She was absorbed in his words.
She was absorbed in his world without light. It felt unfathomable to her. Then, hearing that things went bump in the night felt something come to life out of a storybook. As she studied him, she knew he was not pulling these ideas out of a hat. It felt like it was a big part of him. Too much a part of him that it was the truth. As Caius neared the ending of his story, Cissnei shook her head. She tilted her head to the side as she put the glass on the table and leaned slightly forward to show her interest. “Your world sounds like a living hell.” She stated blatantly, a frown forming on her lips.
“You do not have to continue, but I am interested in what happens next. But I want you to know, that there is no judgement. We all do what we have to, to survive and protect those that we care for.” She then cracked a little bit of a smile and gave a bitter laugh. “Hell, I’m sure my job made me do things that would make an average lady’s blood curdle. If only I could remember it. But I digress. What happened to your family? What happened to you? And more importantly, tell me those bandits had what was coming to them.” The last part was stated teasingly, a coy grin on her face. “Did you want me to get you another drink while you talk? Seems you are about finished with that.”
Denzel found himself being gripped with terror at the mention of the red-haired man's name: Ardyn Izunia. The very same man who had given him Geogstigma once more, but according to the blonde-haired man, he brought about another world catastrophe called The Starscourge. At least, for where Caius came from. Denzel maintained most of his memories from back in Midgar so he was sure that the Starscourge did not exist where he came from.
But, if that were the case, how would it explain the darkened scar re-appearing on his forehead?
Instinctively, Denzel shrank inwards and moved closer to where Cissnei was, finding comfort in her presence. She spoke of things he was more familiar with than anyone else here.
"Mister, how do the daemons come about? Is it because of the Starscourge?" he asked, his voice shaky. To the others, he might have seemed scared from the story alone, but little did they know, it was because he had already been touched by the man named Ardyn Izunia, the one who had been looking for Cloud, and it seemed that this man had a vendetta against him as well.
Denzel had to know: what was going to happen to him?
Before that, he raised his hand, some cash in hand.
"Can I have orange juice or soda please?"
TAGGED // @blacksuit Caius Dragelion @seven NOTES // There you go.
Caius needed a minute before he continued, though he did listen to Cissnei and Denzel asking questions. Taking a deep breath as he recomposed himself, he nodded his head to affirm he'd keep going, as well as to Cissnei indicating he'd appreciate another drink. "Of course, thank you" He spoke softly toward her.
"That's what's always been assumed. Daemons have come out at night for as long as I can remember, and it's generally always been attributed to the Starscourge. And when it got worse, thanks to what that monster did... Whatever it was... Well, there wasn't exactly any daylight left to ward them off. And the longer the night went, the stronger they seemed to get" Caius first answered to Denzel. "Darkness rose with no light to meet it, so to speak. It's no wonder we were overwhelmed."
Returning to the story in order to answer Cissnei's questions, Caius let out a sigh as he steeled himself for it. "I hurt people. Robbed people. Killed people. I didn't want to do it. We were outnumbered, outgunned... Scared for our lives. It was kill, or be killed ourselves. Not just us, but... The things they threatened to do to my mother, and my sister..."
There was a gleam in his eyes that indicated a shift in emotion. Caius hadn't told this part of the story before, and he hadn't realized just how much pent up anger there was in revisiting it. Taking a deep breath to center his focus again, he continued.
"Eventually, my father and I couldn't take it anymore. Hoping to get to our family and escape, we snuck out of the looter's camp and tried to make it back home. Unfortunately... We were on foot, they weren't. They knew where we'd go. They were already there when we got there."
Caius lowered his head, not able to meet their eyes as he stared down at his own reflection in what was left of his drink. "I was the closest one to any possible means of getting away. So... They told my father and I to run. I didn't want to do it, but I knew I wouldn't survive otherwise. I ran as fast as I could. My father died taking a shot in my stead in order to ensure I got away. I... Don't think he ever intended on surviving. I think all that he was ever thinking about was making sure I did."
He let out an exhale, unsure of why he was speaking of something this personal. But... Perhaps it would do him some good, he thought. He had been carrying this burden for too long by himself. Just... Holding it all in. Maybe talking about it would help him move on, he wasn't sure. But... It just felt right to do it here and now.
"My mother and my younger sister, they... Well."
He cleared his throat.
"... They didn't die quickly. Everything they said they'd do, I'm pretty sure they did. I didn't see it, but... I could hear their screams even from where I was. That's... Something that's haunted me for a very long time. I wanted to go back, but... I was scared. I was scared of dying. But all that fear had done was take away what meant the most to me.
I was alone after that. Alone, disgraced, nothing but a coward in a world who was too busy trying to survive themselves to take in another mouth to feed. I did what I had to do to survive from then on, tossing away my fear... Doing what was necessary. I lied to the hunting organization about my age in order to be able to take paid work as a hunter in the years that followed. I operated alone for the most part, too ashamed of myself to risk ever leaving someone to die as I did ever again. Fighting monsters, daemons... Anything that had a bounty, anything that would put even just a bit of food in my mouth. With how little there was in resources now, I was forced to take on daemons far above my own skill level in order to eat. I didn't know any trades, and I didn't have enough time to learn. All I knew how to do was fight. So... That's what I did. For years and years, I fought for my life, constantly coming back from jobs limping, hobbling, barely clinging to life. But most importantly, I survived... And the daemons did not. That.. That was what was important.
But I had no purpose, all those years. Not until the day that he came. We'd been told for ten years that the Chosen King would come and deliver our star from it's scourge... But I didn't believe in it. And the people's hopes dimmed by the day.
And then he came.
The Chosen King. Noctis Lucis Caelum. Appearing like a hero from all the stories I grew up with. I was in Insomnia, the capital at the time which had been besieged by the daemons ten years earlier after the Empire conquered it. The Kingsglaive, a group that served the King and borrowed his powers to carry out his will, had established a base there in order to try and keep the daemons there from getting out into the outside world and causing more havoc. At this point, there were only a few safe points left in my world. The city of Lestallum, Hammerhead which had been turned from a garage into an outpost for the hunters... And the smallest of bunkers at the bottom of Insomnia.
It was there, at that little bunker... Where I was stationed in order to try and make a living out of helping the Kingsglaive. Thought maybe it'd help me stock up a bit more on food, as I'd only been living with up to a few day's worth of food at a time, if I ate at all. It was there that the Chosen King gave a speech to the people... The ones that had been keeping the Kingdom of Lucis safe for all the time he'd been away."
With that, he closed his eyes, reciting a speech he'd taken to heart... And one he now knew by heart.
"Brothers and sisters, brave warriors of Lucis... You've done well these ten years. And I thank you. You've done so much, all for my sake... Even as the darkness overcame our world, we kept the light in our hearts. We've all lost friends and loved ones along the way, but the one thing we never lost was hope. Brothers and sisters, I ask you to stand by me and fight by my side - for the light and for the future of our world."
They were words that had kept him going even in this world... And words he would not forget. The humility of the King kept Caius himself humble. It kept him determined.
"Those words inspired me to think of something more than myself, and my own survival... To pledge myself to something bigger than myself. To help people... To bring peace to our world. So that's how I found myself amongst them... A member of the venerable Kingsglaive.
Together... Led by the Chosen King, we finally stormed Insomnia once and for all, where that monster awaited.... And we took back our world."
Taking a deep breath, it was a memory he looked back on fondly. It was one of his few moments of happiness, seeing that light return...
"I served for the Kingsglaive for some time after that, honing my abilities and acting on behalf of the Chosen King while we began the process of rebuilding. Unfortunately... It wouldn't last."
Cissnei let Denzel near closer to her. A child in this place was definitely strange, but now she grew concerned. Now that he was closer she could see him better. Was the blackness spreading across his brow Geostigma? He said something about it not being contagious, so was it a sickness? A condition? He never did elaborate.
However, Caius, now composed, drew her attention back to him. She gave him nod and ordered him another drink. The same as he had before. She did not know what he most enjoyed, as she did not know him. But drinks always had a way of helping break the ice. As he answered Denzel’s question she listened quietly. There was no reason to interrupt. However, she shook her head at the story. Home is the first-place people check. People like looters…or people like her. Why did people return to them then? Did they not know better? Where had she given this warning before. She felt at the edge of another memory.
She shook her head. One could not be pensive and listen. Once he reached a stopping point, she walked over to him and took his used glass, before pressing the new drink she got him in his hand. She met his gaze, “I wonder. Perhaps you fought for survival…but I feel that maybe you also put yourself in danger because you could not forgive yourself for what had happened….” She took a step back, before looking away. He felt bad for hurting people, but she knew she had done worse things than he did with less reason.
“Or perhaps to feel something again?” In a world of numbing darkness, she wondered if his traumatic experiences left him numb for some time. She did not expect him to answer. Perhaps she was speaking out of turn. She was not sure.
“Regardless,” she continued so he did not have to feel like he needed to respond to such sensitive questions, “It seems you found your purpose again once the King returned." She asked for the next part of the story. “And what would not last? Your time in the Kingsglaive? Rebuilding? Did the King with his small entourage really push back the entire world of darkness filled with an army of these daemons? It sounds too fantastical to be true.”
Caius spoke of his tales, spoke of the loss of his family, which reminded Denzel of his own. In a way, he was fortunate to not have physically witnessed his parents die right in front of him, but he had seen his once-home fall right before his very eyes on television.
He had not wanted to believe it himself but when his parents didn't come home, he knew that it was a permanent arrangement. Loss of his loved ones was something he understood far too well.
The older man then spoke that everything wouldn't last. He, too, wondered what had happened. However, the questions came spilling forth before he could even stop it.
"How did the King do it?" Denzel inquired, curiosity piqued by the regal yet heartbreaking experiences Caius had gone through. It felt as though he needed to let this out and while he was young, working at The Seventh Heaven gave him a rough idea of what people there often did. They, too, did the same whenever they came for a drink or something; a means to escape from the harsh realities that came with living in The Midgar Slums.
If the King could do it, maybe Denzel could set off to find him.
"Is he cool? Do we get to meet him?" the boy asked further, disguising the blackness lurking in his blood, reflecting on his skin. He didn't move from Cissnei, not an inch, but his eyes were wide with wonder and, possibly, awe.
TAGGED //Caius Dragelion @blacksuit @seven NOTES // Sorry for the late reply.
Post by Caius Dragelion on Mar 30, 2019 12:20:28 GMT -6
Suppose this world isn't so terra-ble.
@dustin @denzel @blacksuit Word Count: 2'020 OOC: THE STORY HAS COME TO AN END Dialogue Color: 196fd1 Party Sprites Credit
Despite the content of the story, Caius was finally beginning to get a little more comfortable with telling it, and he seemed to visibly relax a little. He gave a gentle, appreciative smile to Cissnei when the girl would get him a new drink. Taking a long swig so as to whet his tongue and numb his senses enough to continue to relax himself, he would first answer their questions.
"I'm not entirely sure myself" He admitted toward Cissnei would she would note the possibilities of his motivations to become a Kingsglaive. There were plenty of possibilities. Ones that he wasn't sure mattered anymore. She asked why it would not all last, citing the likelihood of stopping the daemons by the Chosen King's lonesome to be unlikely and fantastical at best. Caius would shake his head then, but decided to save her last question for the rest of the story. When it came to Denzel's question A, he pondered it a moment.
"Even I don't know" He spoke up. "I do know that he forged covenants with the Astrals, the Gods of our world, had the aid of the Crystal and the power of the ancient Lucian kings before him... And then he stopped that monster, wiped out any trace, apparently."
Or so they had thought. But here he was, walking amongst them here and now. But he didn't have the heart to tell them that.
He chuckled lightly at Denzel's second question. "The coolest" He remarked with a grin. "But I don't think His Majesty came here with me, unfortunately. I suppose it's for the best, I'm just one of many Kingsglaive, after all. He is the Chosen King. If anyone needed to stay there and ensure they were able to rebuild, it was him."
Yet Caius still had access to his powers, and had never actually lost them. He had wondered for awhile if Noctis may have come along, but... No. After so long, it was an unlikely possibility. The kingdom of Lucis had moved on without him. That was all there was to it. And it was a fact that Caius was admittedly still struggling to accept.
"As for how it didn't last... Well... It all started with an assassin in the palace, after his Highness. I diverted him from his target, but something otherworldly pulled me away and when I woke up... Well, here I was" Caius spoke, taking a deep breath. "I've been here for... I'm not sure, honestly. A year, maybe two? But since then, I've needed to carve out a life here. I had been robbed of everything. My... Family, so to speak, my kingdom, my home... My belonging. I was here, with nothing, right when I was finally beginning to accept that I had a place I belonged."
Which was a bitter pill to swallow. One that was made clear in his tone as he shook the glass around a bit in thought.
"Thing is... I don't really have much knowledge in trade. I can build a decent weapon..."
He would hold out a hand and a shortsword would materialize in it. Putting down his glass, he would tug at both ends as the blade would split into two daggers with triggers on both. Gunblades.
"... But at the time, I didn't have any experience with any of the tools in the part of the world I ended up in, so that was out."
The blades would disappear almost as quickly as they had appeared.
"So there was only one thing I knew how to do, in order to survive. And that was fight. So I became a mercenary again. Kind of bittersweet, returning to my roots, but only to survive, and when I didn't even want to. But it was what it was. Sorry if the story's running a little long, this applies to the defining moments deal, I swear... So I mostly worked alone, aside from with the Kingsglaive, I wasn't used to working with other people and I sank back into that lone wolf, isolated state again when I came here. But... I ended up meeting a woman, by the name of Celes. She ended up becoming a regular partner of mine on my jobs, and I grew to trust her just as well as with my former companions.
During one of our jobs, we ended up investigating the sight of strange undead in a cave. It turned out they weren't undead at all... But the very daemons that had plagued my entire life up until now. Was horrifying as that was... It didn't compare to the sight we found when we got to the end of the cave.
Because commanding them was the very assassin that led me here to start with."
He held out his hand again and a longsword, a gunblade, would appear in his hands next.
"This sword, it belonged to my family and was thought lost. This man... He was after Noctis, yes, but he was just looking for another thrall to turn into a daemon. It turned out that, and while I won't get too heavily into detail as that would take me all night... While he did want to use that army of daemons to seize control, to get people to see that his way of thinking is the right one or something like that... His biggest target was my family. My family had... Apparently wronged him in some way. And he was the one that killed them. When he found out I still lived..."
He took a deep breath.
"... He was the one who sent those looters our way, promising them they'd find a great bounty there. He is the reason I lost my family, and my adopted family. He is the reason for much of the suffering I've gone through. And this sword... While he had sent it anonymously before, he revealed he was the one to give me it. He wanted me to wield it when he snuffed me out."
The sword disappeared then.
"He toyed with me. He's spent all this time toying with me, making me suffer because I am the last one. He feels as though with his goal almost being reached... He wants to hurt me. And hurt me he did. With every one of my family members he had killed... Each of them he daemonified to summon and use at his command."
Caius couldn't help but look and sound very bitter at the thought of it, his brows twitching into a scowl as he just stared down at the glass.
"My birth brother, I had to put down once more. It was hard, but... I managed. But all these walls I'd put in front of myself to protect myself after all that's happened, everything I'd done, all that I was... Everything just... Ahh. I don't know how to describe it. It felt like... It felt like everything that I was, everything that I am was just breaking apart at the seams.
And then of course, he brought out my adopted little sister. The one that to this day, I... Still regret not being able to save. She depended on me, she looked up to me... And it was because of her that I'd repressed all those memories a long time ago to keep myself going with all that was happening around me."
It was probably clear at this point that Caius had repressed all of that trauma and closed his heart and emotions in a sense, to survive in the state the world had become. This daemon commander though, had torn those walls down and forced Caius to relive it all again.
"Unlike my brother, she recognized me. She was in pain, and... Once again I couldn't do a damn thing."
Another hard exhale. It was pretty clear as well he hadn't told this one before. But again, with what the others had said... It only felt fair. And this was something he needed to accept regardless.
"I couldn't bring her harm. And that monster preyed on it. Pretending he was giving me... Mercy, of some kind. He put her under more pain before he killed her in front of me, screaming, crying... I suppose I should take solace in the fact that her soul is free now, but..."
Just like that, the rest of the large drink had been downed in seconds.
"I just... Ahh... I don't know" He spoke quietly. "I broke, I guess you could say. Everything about me had been destroyed. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do. We survived... He wanted to toy with me more. But... There wasn't much left of me. And I'd used all my magic in the fight, overused it even, to the point that I wasn't going to be able to cast or even use the Power of Kings for awhile... If I ever got it back at all, I thought at the time.
I was bitter. I was angry. I was feeling all these emotions swirling around in a vortex that I didn't know what to do with. All I could think about was hunting him down and killing him. All I could feel was that obsession with putting my blade in his neck... It was what I wanted more than anything, and I know now that if I'd let that continue to fester, I... I don't know what I would be, but I know full well it would have consumed me and I may very well have not gone on the right path to do so. By myself... I couldn't get out of that without turning in a direction I know I wouldn't have been proud of.
But Celes... Well..."
He chuckled slightly, taking a breath, seeming to cheer up a bit at the mention. He was almost a bit flustered when he thought about how to put all this.
"She... Oh man. Heh. I guess let's just say she's a wonderful woman. She may be a bit to deal with, but... She's kind. She's understanding. She's stubborn and while it took some fighting and arguing... She's the reason I'm here now, the way that I am. With the worldviews that I have, the way I handle things now, all that I see and all that I know... That's all because of her. That's all because Celes refused to let me do this alone. She told me I didn't have to do this, or any of it, alone anymore. This wasn't the old world anymore, I didn't have to be who I was... Or what I was becoming.
I uh... I can't speak enough on how incredible she is. She saved me. She helped me accept that I can move on from who I was, and be who I want to be. And it's with her that I've formed a partnership with... To create the Dragonblades. A mercenary unit that specializes in helping people who need it. There are a lot of monsters and horrible people like that daemon summoner... And someone needs to be willing to do something.
With her... I have a purpose again. With her, I have belonging again. With her, with the Dragonblades... I am whole again. And these are the events that have defined me and made me who I am now."
He let out an exhale, and grinned cheekily as he seemed to realize something. "As for why the name Dragonblades... Well, we got blades... But on one of my jobs, I ended up stumbling on a friend who hatched that same night when we formed the guild."
He would open up his jacket then, to reveal the very thing that the captain had noticed before, the cause of that lump. A small blue dragon, napping in the large pocket of the jacket.
"His name is Vordun. And the three of us proudly serve the Dragonblades, with purpose."
Cissnei could see that Caius was on an emotional roller-coaster with his story. He had his ups and downs, and she only went back to sit on a stool to listen quietly as he finished his story. “You aren’t the only that lost everything with the transition here.” She gestured to the room to the many people who were in the same boat. “The most we can do is try to settle in and make the best of it.” Cissnei said this, but she wondered if they should get comfortable. Whatever force brought them here, could as easily take them back…right? At least, it was a possibility.
She shook her head as if to get rid of her thoughts. “Your work is impressive. And who’s to say you can’t learn the new tools here to help forge more weapons. Maybe with the Dragonblades you can make funds on the side to make it a hobby, then eventually a trade. I am sure someone is willing to train.” However, she thought over the heavier subjects he held. “I am sorry you had to go through such trauma a second time. It must have been difficult. However, Celes is right you do not have to go through it alone. I do have talents in…” She almost said man hunting. Stalking? Not the right word either. “finding people of interest. If you need such skills, you may find me again. And I am sure you may find someone in this bar suitable for your mercenary group. There are many fine men and women here.”
She lowered her gaze to the small dragon and she found the color going to her face in pleasant surprise. “Oh! I’ve never seen one before.” She seemed unsure if it was real. She stepped forward as if she wanted to touch it, but then held back, knowing it was rude to both owner and creature. “Well, Vordun, it is a pleasure to meet you too.” She gave a soft smile.
However, she began to transition back to her thoughts and story. “I suppose I never finished my story. I am sorry to keep you wondering on whether I shot Veld or not.” The talk of losing his family made her think of all that she had lost too.
----Imagination Dialogue Story Time----
She felt Veld’s gaze burrow into her. The temperature in the room suddenly felt unbearably hot, and yet Cissnei’s hands were cold.
No longer…
The tendrils in the fragile glass she mentally stood on etched deeper and wider.
She found herself disobeying yet another order tonight. She could not kill Veld for defecting to save his daughter – his only family. Even more she was an orphan. She could never harm what she considered her only family – the Turks. Perhaps his feelings for the child of his blood ran even deeper than that.
She lowered her gun and looked up at him. “It’s true. We’ve been ordered to carry out your assassination, but I…” She bit her lip to keep her voice from trembling. How she loathed conflicting emotions. “I can’t, sir.”
“You would betray the Turks and the ShinRa company?”
“…” Cissnei silently regarded him and he could see the turmoil showing visibly on her face. “..Not the Turks.” She was certain none of the Turks wanted him dead. Tseng kept putting off the search for Veld after all for ‘higher priority’ missions. It was beginning to make the President impatient with him. But she would defy the company to save her own Turk family when she felt the assassination was unjustified.
Veld regarded her silently. The older ex-Turk did not need Cissnei to speak for him to know what was running through her mind. She was already breaking the training he drilled into her after all this time. Perhaps, that was for the better.
“Sir, ShinRa believes the end justifies the means, no matter the cost. But the truth is a lot of people would suffer without the ShinRa company and the good it has done. They could not achieve this without the Turks. No. They could not achieve this without you making the Turks the way they are today. I wish to remain a Turk because of what you have made me. In order to thank you for guiding us, I am going to help you.” Cissnei left no room for questions.
Veld knew how stubborn she could be, “I am glad you are here with me.” Cissnei felt a familiar sense of pride rush through her. Veld explained he was looking for a way to save his daughter, Elfe, from the Zirconiade summon materia fused into her. The summon was literally eating away at Elfe’s life force. If they could summon Zirconiade, it would spare Elfe’s life. But the summon was of such immense power, the support materia was needed to complete the summon. The issue was Zirconiade was the most powerful summon in Gaia, known as the World Burner. Summoning it, and not defeating it, could spell out the end of the world. It must be defeated in its transition phase for this to work. But the Turks must find the support materia first, because AVALANCHE was also searching for it. The current leader, Fuhito, wanted to summon the support materia to raze everything living on Gaia’s surface in order to save the Gaia. Eco-terrorism madness at its finest.
Despite the odds, Cissnei agreed to help him look through the archives and they soon discovered the answers they were seeking. Veld needed the Turks help to find the support materia and he already had one in his possession.
Unfortunately, an AVALANCHE member interrupted the research and stole it. Veld and Cissnei gave chase, only to watch as Fuhito ran away with it at the front door of the manor.
Cissnei felt herself burning. AVALANCHE was drawing a line here. Prickling, she growled and began to run down the porch and the cobblestone path to give pursuit.
The suddenly she felt a sudden pressure and darkness haze her vision.
To her surprise, she found Veld’s robotic fist digging into her abdomen. With the wind knocked out of her, Cissnei crumbled to her knees before falling to her side along the dirty path. Her vision blurred but she watched as the shadowy figure of Veld walked away. Underneath her laid a balled-up note. However, she did not move as she heard an infantry man catch sight of her and alert the others.
Veld…
She began gasping for air as she tried to shake off the punch. She unrolled the note and focused on the words. “Ask Reeve for assistance in locating the other support materia. I’m counting on you.”
She could almost hear the glass shattering beneath each step she took. Should she show this to the other Turks? Would they agree to help? She had no doubt that they would.
Little did she know that the infantry man that spotted her already reported Scarlet, the Head of Weapons Development, that Cissnei was aiding Veld. It seemed Veld’s faux assault did not fool the infantry. That would set in motion a letter from Scarlet to the President regarding the Turks defying his orders and assisting Veld. Scarlet would demand the President to let her take charge of securing Veld.
Since when did serving the ShinRa company become so complicated?
The glass finally shatters.
It suddenly became an all-out war between the ShinRa company/AVALANCHE against the Turks. And the Turks were outgunned and outmanned.
---- End Story Sequence ----
Cissnei seemed to have a vacant look in her eyes. “I will not bore you all with the details of obtaining all of the support materia. It got…complicated. To say the least. AVALANCHE kidnapped Elena, the sister of the Turk known as Gun, forcing our hand in turning the materia over to them in exchange for her life. Veld was also caught by Scarlet and held hostage by the ShinRa executives. In turn, Tseng force his hand by kidnapping the President’s son, Vice President Rufus ShinRa as a bargaining chip for Veld.”
One can see the conflict on Cissnei’s face. It had truly been a tumultuous time. “So, the Turks split up. Reno, Rude and Tseng took the lead to save Veld as negotiations turned south. The rest of us moved to fight Fuhito and save Elfe from him. However, during the fight, the support materia on Fuhito reacted to Elfe’s embedded materia. The Turk’s first objective was solved as the materia materialized out of her body. But we had no time to strike the materia down before Fuhito could start the summon. The process corrupted him into a twisted creature, and despite defeating him the summon was already being called forth into our realm.”
“Zirconiade was truly terrifying. He opened the rifts and time and space to pull monsters in our paths as we climbed the skies to reach him. But we were Gaia’s last hope. We were Elfe and Veld’s last hope. And I would tear the skies apart and strike down gods if it meant saving Elfe and Veld…or any of the Turks.”
“United we stood. We took massive damage. We dodged, we rolled on the limited platform given to us to fight. However, the strength of a Turk is that we work in unison together, playing on the strengths of our partners. None of us backed down. We would fight with teeth bared. There was no other choice.”
----Imagination Dialogue Story Time----
“We did it,” were Cissnei’s thoughts as she collapsed to one knee, thrusting Rekka into the ground to support her body weight. “We saved both Elfe and the Planet.” Scattered all around were men and women in black suits. Each one fought with all they had before collapsing from injuries and exhaustion.
The structures brought forth by Zirconiade were being pulled back to their original plane of existence. The ground broke way into ribbons of pale blue-green mako. Cissnei felt her heart leap into her throat and there was a sudden rush of feeling lighter. Hands shot out to grasp anything stable, but there was only a handful of mako. She felt a rush of energy emanating off Zirconiade, which caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up.
Instinctively, she tucked her chin and crossed her arms over her head. Then, there was a sudden rush of energy, as if she was hit by a wall that broke away around her. The wind was knocked out of her. The sheer amount of energy caused her copper hair to sizzle and singe. Dazed, she blearily saw other bodies falling from the sky – much like fallen angels exiled for their defiance against a higher power.
The edges of her vision began to fade out. Her body arced weakly, succumbing to gravity and the force of the explosion.
She no longer felt fear. Instead, she felt a mixture of accomplishment, satisfaction, and acceptance of the inevitable. There would be no better way to go than to die by the side of her fellow partners.
“Mission complete.”
The ground came spiraling up toward her, but she does not remember the impact. ---- End Story Sequence ----
“And this is where tonight’s story ends. Afterwards, I woke up in a hospital bed with injuries. I have no recollection of how I got there. I do remember getting the news that I was exiled from the ShinRa company. Tseng and Rufus were able to fake our deaths to spare our lives from the executives.” You would think this would have been a moment of relief. But Cissnei remembered receiving that news, and it was the hardest moment she ever had to take in. Agony fell over her face for a split second before straightening up. They did not to hear that part of the story. Hell, most of the ShinRa company and Gaia did not know what good the Turks did that day. It was another classified secret.
She turned to give Denzel a soft smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. He had not left her side all night, "Shall we find you a more proper venue to rest?" She could no longer hear the pattering of the rain. "The storm has passed, it seems."
