Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
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year 5, quarter 3
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Suddenly I'm overcome, dissolving like the setting sun.
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Someone help her get out of her funk. ;(
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Tak, tak, tak.
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She jumped lightly between the walls of two buildings before her. Then she found a ledge in the brick. It was just enough for her small fingers to cling to. She climbed up the brick of the taller building as if it was effortless. Her white dress blowing around her and her bag slung over one shoulder. She felt the wind in her hair. She pulled herself over the ledge and onto the slats of the roof.
[break][break]
To safety.
[break][break]
She exhaled slowly, standing up to her full height. She turned and inched up to the edge. Teal eyes looking down at the white streets washed red from the sunset. The people looked like ants from this height. Each one going about their life mindlessly. Were they any different from the empty vessels called genomes? They swathed themselves in their own distractions. Everything their heart desired could be gotten within these city limits. But did they have a purpose to serve? They seemed content in such distractions, that perhaps they have lost their own purposes. Or perhaps it did not matter to them anymore.
[break][break]
But who was she to judge when she lost her own purpose?
[break][break]
Her mood had dipped as the light faded from the sky. She went into the living city determined. But the more interaction she had, the more her energy waned. Though her interactions were mostly positive, there was one particularly that dropped her mood.
[break][break]
She was long passed when she should have returned to him.
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But she had much to process after the last interaction. She even severed her open connection with him. Not wanting him to be bothered with feelings even she didn’t want to be bothered by.
[break][break]
Zidane’s woman ran toward her with a brief look of disappointment. Then, there was the hostility against Kuja and Garland. But the woman gave her enough to ponder on, bringing up old wounds that still had not quite healed. Mikoto took a seat. Her eyes drifted off to the scarlet sunset that danced it’s colors along the water.
[break][break]
Terra.
[break][break]
She remembered the souls going up in flames in the distance. Pandemonium falling apart. She did not have to guess what was happening. It was over. Terra’s long fight for survival had been brought to the end. Garland had opened the way for Zidane and in doing so all the Gaians that followed him. Mikoto had thought it was some part of Garland’s master plan. She had been sorely mistaken.
[break][break]
She was more than happy to sink with the planet. The man she served and the home in which she offered herself all taken from her in one fell swoop. She was ruthless in her actions towards the genomes. The empty vessels would amount to nothing now. Her existence had been in vain. The angel’s wish to bestow life to those patiently waiting for it would never be granted.
[break][break]
She walked through the soulless village. The genomes still oblivious to her and their surroundings. Some still stared up at the crystals in hope. Some mindlessly stil wandering the village. Mikoto would tell them nothing as she quietly padded to the laboratory. She felt her skin itching. She felt a numbness in her chest. Pointless. Pointless. Pointless. Life had been pointless.
[break][break]
Why had she returned to this steely laboratory, lit with painful blue light throughout. She found herself in her last moments tapping through the datalogs. Her only connection to the outside world. Just a final attempt at something. A routine. She wanted badly to reach out for Garland. Badly wanted to think this was not reality. But she could no longer feel his presence. He felt so far from her now. Nothing was there but a distant echo of what once was.
[break][break]
Her eyes turned back to the tubes in which she was given a vessel. Where she had started. Where she found other similar faces staring at her with the same emptiness. Her peers. All being poked and prodded for improvement and enhancements.
[break][break]
To end where she began.
[break][break]
She was not strong enough to stop this. There was no way to continue once the damage was done. All that was left was to yield to death. To die with her purpose.
[break][break]
She took a deep breath and held it in her chest. She closed her eyes.
[break][break]
Then, there was a voice.
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“What are you doing here?! We need to evacuate!”
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She opened her eyes, her breath released. “What’s the point? They’re only empty vessels...”
[break][break]
“Stop talking like that! Do you really believe what you just said?”
[break][break]
She did.
[break][break]
But something stirred in her. Why was he fighting so hard for her? Why did he ask her name? He had no answers and yet she willingly left with him.
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That day she lost her home and her meaning.
[break][break]
That day she also gained a new home. Welcomed by the black mages created by the one who took everything from her. Created for war. They too had been pawns of Terra. To wreak havoc and speed up the soul cycle so that Gaian souls could be stripped from it. They were created similarly to the genomes.
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And yet, their conditions had allowed them to gain their own awareness. Was this an equivalent to a soul? They prized their individuality and worked together. Kept themselves safe.
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They had cut their ties from masters and drew their own fate with the time they had left.
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Isn’t that what Kuja had done for the genomes? Cut ties with their master and what enslaved them? Could they develop on their own like the Black Mages in these conditions?
[break][break]
She grew comfortable in the life she had paved there. Taking care of the genomes and satisfying the Black Mages.
[break][break]
Then, just as suddenly as she lost Terra, she lost the Black Mage Village. Some force had snatched her from this little bit of peace she found. Another home had been taken from her too.
[break][break]
Something hot streaked down her cheek. She pressed a hand to the moisture and found another streak down the otherside. She stared at her fingers confused for a moment, before pulling her knees to her chest and looking out over the horizon. Her tail curled tightly around her.
[break][break]
The ships cast long shadows at the sinking sun. In the near distance she saw sparks of fire light the sky. Hues of green, blues, whites….almost every shade she could imagine. They seemed like falling stars in the distance. Given sudden life before fading out into the darkness. The thundering pops seemed to break her of her reverie. When she realized nothing was under attack, she seemed to watch with a renewed interest. She tried to shake her dour mood. Or perhaps avoid these emotions that touched her.
[break][break]
She wiped her face, trying to get the tears to stop.
Cecil trudged back down the streets of the only city he knew. His venture to Sonora had been nothing more than a disaster. He still didn’t know why the soldiers had turned on him, but once they had he’d been given only two choices -- fight or submit to a crime he hadn’t committed. If he had chosen the latter then many men would still live this day. Yet he had not. His strange companion had made the choice for him, and Cecil would fight to the death to protect any man who stood beside him.
Still, he could not wash the blood from his hands. The stain of his needless violence would never fully wash away.
”Excuse me.” Cecil approached a merchant standing by the streetside, selling strange tropical fruits from a wooden cart. ”Could you direct me towards the Wyvern’s Rest?”
The Dragonblades. His only real anchor in this new world. He had no reason to see them, exactly, except for the lingering hope that they might have found some lead towards his old companions. Perhaps he would claim some task from them while he was there. He was no hired sword, but he knew to repay his debts. He owed them more than one favor.
”Ah, one of those types,” the man said. His eyes wrinkled behind thin, wireframe glasses. ”That’ll be about twenty blocks south of here. Just keep asking around, and I’m sure you’ll find it.”
”Thank you.” Cecil nodded his gratitude and continued on. After Sonora, it was nice to not draw quite so many eyes. He still heard whispers about his armor and “fairytale knights,” but they weren’t nearly as hostile, and he gave thanks for that. There were also no roving hover cars ready to strike him down in the streets. He gave thanks for that too.
He came across a small crowd, whispering amongst each other and pointed towards the top of a building. Cecil slowed, frowning. They sounded urgent. Perhaps a little scared. He caught the words, ’climbed,’ ‘girl,’ and ’fall.’
”Is something wrong?” Cecil approached a group of three women who were deep in worried conversation.
One of them nodded, looking towards the roof. ”We saw a girl climb up there,” she said, and Cecil followed her gaze. The building seemed rather steep for climbing. He couldn’t imagine it. ”We think she might jump.”
”Jump?” Cecil recoiled, looking between the woman and the roof. ”But why…?” His frown deepened. ”Is there a way to the top?”
The woman shook her head. ”There are stairs, but they don’t go that far. No one can reach her.”
Cecil watched the building for a moment more. Then he steeled himself and started forward. He must have looked authoritative because the crowd parted for him. There was no way that he could climb after her, but he could make it as far as he could. After that, there was nothing he could do but his best.
He entered the building to find a series of apartments linked together by a spiral staircase going up in sharp, rectangular angles. He took the stairs as quickly as he could, his armor clinking as he went. The exercise was nothing to him, but in the heat, it was unbearable. Already, his under armor was damp with sweat. The metal layered on top did nothing but trap it into his full-body clothes. He considered briefly if he would need to find something else to wear so long as he stayed within this hot and sun-graced city. Then he remembered that he carried little money, and decided that he would have to bear it for a while longer.
The stairs leveled out to the top floor. Cecil frowned as he paced forward, looking between the apartment and the narrow hallway between them. There was nothing here but doors and numbered plates and a window at the end of the hall. Cecil stopped, thinking for only a moment, before he started towards the window.
The shutters were open, and a cool breeze drifted inside. Cecil leaned out and peaked towards the ground. He was high. Several stories high, and the height was almost dizzying. Would he die if he fell? He didn’t know, but the roof was only an arm’s length away. Cecil let out a slow breath and climbed backwards onto the window’s edge. There were gasps below him. More voices that he could hardly hear. He kept his focus on the roof, gripping it carefully with both hands.
This was like a training exercise, he thought. Nothing more than one of his morning sessions with Kain. He let his body move of its own accord, pushing himself up in one single, confident motion. He felt his legs dangle for only a moment before he hefted himself over the side, and his knee found solid ground. He stood slowly, holding out his arms for balance.
The girl was there.
She sat with her knees pulled to her chest and her toes over the edge. Her back was towards him as she faced the setting sun. Cecil approached her slowly, caution in his voice as he asked, ”Are you alright?”
SUDDENLY I'M OVERCOME, DISSOLVING LIKE THE SETTING SUN.
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Oops. This couldn’t look any worse to the worried citizens of Torensten. @cecil
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There were noises below her and it grew louder with time. She had not noticed at first as she had been so focused on the past. Tears blurred her vision, but it seemed there was a small gathering of Zephonians at the foot of the building. Many were pointing up at her direction. So that she wouldn’t have to see them, she pushed away from the edge. Her brows scrunched. Didn’t she come up here to avoid all the attention? It seemed these people were bent on paying her too much mind. The attention made her uncomfortable and she was unsure how to remedy the situation. If she went back down, they’d likely accost her.
[break][break] She pulled her legs tighter to her chest. Well, they couldn’t get up here it appeared. They were probably incapable of climbing as they stupidly looked up at. Perhaps if she waited long enough they’d grow bored and leave...
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Her mind went back to the past and what she had lost. The tears were starting to slow, but there seemed to be a knot in her chest. What did she have left? Zidane’s woman had not been pleased with Mikoto’s choice with Kuja, but she expressed some form of understanding. Something that she would have done the same for her ‘mother’, whatever that term meant.
[break][break] She realized Kuja was the only part of home she had left in this world. If she lost him…
[break][break] The tears seemed to swell again. Garnet had tried to dissuade her to turn away from what was left of home. To turn away from Kuja and search only for Zidane - who may not exist here. The Gaian seemed obsessed about it. But how could Mikoto favor one genome over another when both were very important to her?
[break][break] Then she heard a noise. A rustling of not much unlike the sound of armor she saw Zidane’s clunky Gaian wear. Then she heard footsteps and she felt a little startled at his words. Not because the words were startling, but because of the fact that someone else made it up here to speak them. Did the humans below send him? What did they want with her?
[break][break] The young genome was on her feet in surprise, her fists down by her side. Her dress rustled in the wind as she turned to him. Cheeks were still streaked wet, though her eyes had not turned red from the crying. “I’m physically well.” A hand pressed to her eyes to rid her lashes of the excess water. “My optics are just malfunctioning.”
[break][break] He took another step towards her. Instinctively she took a step back. Her foot slipped on the ledge and found her balance lost. She found gravity begin its pull on her and the sound of surprised people below her. She was not afraid, but her basic survival instinct was to reach out to grasp at anything to stabilize herself.
Cecil tensed as the girl rose to her feet, turning to face him. She stood at the edge -- far too close for comfort. Could she lose her balance? Had he surprised her out of her thoughts?
(and what if she jumped?)
”I’m physically well.” The girl pressed a hand to the back of her tear-streaked eyes. ”My optics are just malfunctioning.”
Cecil didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he knew that no matter what she claimed, this girl was not alright. She was on a roof, after all, and a high one at that. She was clearly distraught. Cecil stepped forward on instinct, his brow knit together in concern. He reached a hand towards her.
And she took a step back. Off the ledge.
He saw it as though in slow motion -- the girl’s eyes widening, her arms flailing outwards to keep her balance -- and in that moment he knew, already, the outcome. He moved on instinct. It all happened so fast that she would have died if he hadn’t.
But he did, rushing forward without hesitation. It didn’t matter that his weight shifted beneath an unsteady roof, rocking with the momentum of his own weight. It didn’t matter the odds because she was falling, and his own safety meant nothing in comparison.
He grasped the front of her shirt, dug in his heels, and pulled hard. For a moment he thought that he might topple over as well, but then she was in his arms, and he was holding her tight. He let the shock clear from his system.
If he’d moved a second slower…
”Be careful.” Cecil shifted his grip and physically lifted her into the air. He carried her back to the roof’s more stable center and planted her there, making sure she’d found her balance as he did so. ”You worried a lot of people,” he said. ”Whatever it is, we can talk it out.”
You can keep the last of me . I don’t care . I am obsolete.
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@cecil Well this sounds awful, especially in these circumstances.
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It was almost as if the ground had fallen away from her. She wondered for a moment if she would die from this height or simply give the humans below a good startle. Garland built them for endurance and did not want his creations easily broken before their fated times. The sky was in full view now with its now violet hues. It was strange now, knowing that neither Terra nor Gaia’s moon filled the sky, as it had for so long.
[break][break] Just as she thought she saw the prick of stars, she felt a hand grip into the front of her white dress. Then, the man came into full view as he forced her into the opposite direction. Her toes found the solid roof again and for a split-second she glimpsed that expression on his face. It’s appearance was similar to Kuja’s but the concern reminded her of Zidane. Then it was out of view. She fell into his chest, and she could faintly hear his heart racing. The musty scent of his efforts was a haze around her.
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Then, a moment of stillness as both tried to process what happened. He held her as Garnet had, but she felt less uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the shock that bit into her. A hug, Garnet had called it. It was a strange gesture that was supposed to make one of the people feel better. She turned her cheek up to try to look up at him in quiet curiosity but could not get her glance to quite shift.
[break][break] He moved first, lifting her up, and her tail tucked beneath her in distress. Though her gaze was much like an annoyed cat that didn’t see what the issue was here. The typical genome resting face. He gave her a warning then she was placed at the roofs center. She sat, her legs folded on either side of her. She studied him as she absorbed his warnings. His concern and expressions made her chest ache again and her head felt foggy with confusion. Fresh tears dirtied her face again.
[break][break]
“I don’t understand. Why do you worry? Why do the people below care?” Why did Zidane care to save her after he sided with the Gaians? Why did Kuja help her in the forest when he destroyed their home? Why did non-Terrans care what happened to such a genome that was worthless to them?
[break][break]
“I have nothing to offer them or you. Why do you care if I exist? I’m obsolete in this world.” She shook her head. Zidane had no answers on what the purpose of continuing life was. The Gaians were too dumb to understand. “The home I offered myself is gone along with my purpose.” The Terran souls were destroyed. The empty vessels of Bran Bal had vanished. She had no idea where Zidane was. And… ”And the only person I have left of home, she implied that I should abandon him.” She couldn’t do it. It didn’t matter how much ‘wrong’ he may have done, she just wanted to understand him. Her predecessor was all she had left of home and the only one who understood what their home was.
[break][break] She looked up at him, her teal gaze was oddly glazed and hard, even if her face seemed like an immovable statue.
The girl had strange eyes. They were a bright, vivid blue, and while they were wide, they were also somehow vacant. They reminded him of still pools of clear ocean water. He didn’t know what to make of them as he carried her to safety. They were expressionless but for the tears which still trailed heedless down her cheeks.
She sat again on the roof tiles. Cecil did the same. It was an awkward transition with his full body armor, but he managed all the same. It would have been rude to stand over her no matter how much more it would have suited him. She was his priority. He would speak to her on equal ground.
”I don’t understand,” she said. Her words were as vacant as her eyes, but her renewed tears told him that they might not have been so empty as they seemed. ”Why do you care if I exist? I’m obsolete in this world.”
’Obsolete?’ Cecil frowned.
”Your life has meaning in itself,” he said though it felt somehow hollow. Was he not likewise missing his home and purpose? A knight of Baron. That was all he had ever been and all he ever would be. Lost to his kingdom...Lost to the planet he had sworn to protect…
Cecil gave her a weak smile. ”And we will return again,” he said. This sounded much more genuine. ”Once we do, there will be people waiting. We mustn’t lose hope.”
Was he speaking to her or himself? No. He needed no such advice. He would never lose hope. Not so long as he drew breath.
”I don’t know what you’ve been told, but if you have a friend then you should stand by him. No matter what anyone says of it.” Cecil shook his head. ”I believe that you know your feelings best.”
Far better than he did. Beyond her words, he couldn’t guess.
”My name is Cecil,” he said. He gave her another small smile. ”What can I call you?”
@cecil Poor Cecil =( Dealing with awkward genomes.
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She silently watched as he awkwardly made his way to her level. Why did he go through so much effort for her? It was odd to be listened to. Even more peculiar to be talking like this. But, she had a feeling he would not leave her alone, until he reached whatever goal he was aiming for with her. He was almost as beautiful as her origin model. Almost. [break][break] “And what is my life’s meaning?” Emotionless, yet demanding. Certainly fearlessly said as she stared right at him. With Garland, understanding her purpose had been easy. But now that he was no longer with her, no one had an answer for her. Even this man did not seem so certain of his answers. [break][break] He passed her the same expression Garnet did when she was trying to get a point across to Mikoto. [break][break] Mikoto looked out over the darkened water. Almost as if staring into the abyss. What would she return to? Empty vessels. Ironic how the Gaian’s had hoped to save the Terrans, but they saved the least important aspects of their world. Vessels could always be remade. Even Kuja had created them out of foreign ingredients. But the shells were nothing without the soul and souls were simply an element that could not be created. [break][break] What else was there? The black mages that would eventually stop functioning as she continued to live on. The Gaians held friction with the genomes, even if they hoped one day they would get along. And she had been created to be Zidane’s companion only to find he already had many. Would he be waiting for her? [break][break] And despite all the cons, there were the pros. [break][break] The genomes may not notice her missing, but she could take care of them. She had watched their interactions with the black mages start changing in them. Even she felt her own growing pains to change the moment she stepped foot on Gaia. Where Kuja seemed to hold disdain for Gaians, Mikoto found them curious. Not just that. They fascinated her in a way. [break][break]
But, didn’t she have someone waiting for her here? If she returned home, who would wait for her predecessor? [break][break]
“My home is in ruins. I cannot return to it.” She said softly, knowing the Black Mage Village was but a makeshift home where she crafted some form of temporary peace. Would the genomes really stay in the quiet forest forever? She did not even know anything beyond the bounds of the village. Her world had been so small, then in a blink of an eye it expanded before her. Were the Terran ruins all dead like the Iifa tree? Could they be renovated and repaired? There was only one person that really had an answer for her here. “I have someone waiting for me here.” He always lingered near, despite the distance he kept between them. [break][break] She pulled her knees back to her chest, and lowered her eyes. Did she know her feelings best? She had not been allowed to use or think about them until recently. The Gaians, Jessie, and even Kuja kept pushing her to think about them. It was odd to no longer be in such a completely numb state. “I don’t know what I feel. He destroyed my home, but he is the only part of home I have left.” Garnet stated he took things from her. Things she felt were important to her. But she didn’t really understand what was taken. She only had felt it was necessary for Gaians to lose these things for Terra to survive. But he also took Mikoto's purpose, home, and master. Shouldn't she feel something negative like the Gaian? Yet, she couldn't. His actions forced her to wake up in a sense. It made her see a world beyond her own and to be treated less oppressively. She also understood his origin and wanted to understand what led him on his path. Could she resolve her mind on the matter then? [break][break] ... [break][break] Why did this person care and make her think on this? Why did she bother to say anything at all? [break][break] She looked back up at him as he introduced himself. That same warm expression on his face. Mikoto looked away again, unsure why it gave her a small amount of warmth. “My name is Mikoto.”
Cecil’s eyebrows knit together. It was an earnest question -- one layered with sadness. He’d thought that she must have had somewhere to go, something to return to, but it seemed that he’d been wrong. He could never understand the mentality of one who would stand at a cliff’s edge, but he caught an inkling of it now. Her life did not matter, he thought. At least not to her.
He said nothing and listened.
”And what do you have here? Is it your friend?”
The one that she had been told to abandon. He wondered as to the reason. Who was this mysterious ’she’ who had warned it, and why? He could think of several reasons, and he sympathized with them all. He too would never leave his friends’ sides. No matter their actions or no matter the thoughts of those around him. Trust, he thought, was a valuable thing. He would rather trust in foolishness than denounce in wisdom.
”It is good to meet you, Mikoto.” He nodded without acknowledging the circumstances. They weren’t ideal -- it was true -- but it would do nothing to remind her of such.
There was a hard breeze this far from the ground. It mixed with the humidity with a kind of oppressive bite. He could see the sky, the harbor, the distant castle rising above the surrounding towers. The sight of it struck him with a deep longing. Castle Baron. He would return to it someday.
”I can’t tell you your life’s meaning,” he said. ”That is a question that many go their entire lives without answering. Mine is to uphold my duty to my kingdom. There are people I must protect. The friends who stand beside me.”
He looked at her. ”Do you think you could stand beside this friend? No matter what others say, if you feel loyalty to another then that has its own meaning.”
[attr=class,bottomlyric] Circles, in circles, I go around [break] Looking for something that can't be found
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@cecil Looks like he's getting to her.
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It seemed the people of this planet and those of Gaia, were eager for this word ‘friend’. She remained silent as she mulled over what she did have here. Was he a friend? She did not quite understand this concept beyond Quina’s basic explanation. There was a strange friction between her and Kuja that she had not seen with the other genomes. Much like rubbing two pieces of cloth together and there was an uncomfortable static that held it together. [break][break] Quina said something about it starts with someone not wanting to kill you. Even if you don’t quite get along, they protect and help each other. They shared food and stories with the other. [break][break] Is that what she and Kuja did? Back then, wanted to end all of existence, but he protected her in the forest. So how did that contradiction process in Quina’s logic? Was she simply in the way of his destruction and not the target then? He was certainly helping her despite their friction. No food was shared between them, but snippets of information were. [break][break] She didn’t know. She stared blankly at nothing in particular. An uncomfortable amount of time passed. After being stuck on his question of what did she have here, she simply responded. “He’s my prototype.” It was simply stated. Facts were easier to deal with. “He’s a genome like me. One of the last three with a soul.” More facts. She was positive on facts. [break][break] She looked up at him when he said her name. The hard breeze didn’t bother her. [break][break] It seemed this man couldn’t state what her life’s meaning was either. She listened to what he listed for his. She could no longer uphold her duty to Terra. But, she could protect what was left of it. She could protect Zidane and Kuja. If she returned she could protect the other genomes and the ruins left on the planet. [break][break] He turned to meet her gaze and she tilted her head to the side. So many questions about herself. This planet really prioritize an individual’s internal processes. Could she stand beside him? No matter what? She looked up at the sky with its unusual one white moon. “Yes.” He was a genome was he not? After talking with Zidane’s woman, she wanted nothing more than to understand him and keep him safe. And if what Garnet said about him being afraid or angry was true, then maybe, just maybe, Mikoto wanted him to find peace. If that is what he wanted. [break][break] “I want to protect what is left of us.” Similar words she echoed to Kuja. “We’re created to aid one another. Is this part of a meaning?” She thought maybe she was starting to understand.
Once again, Cecil had no idea what Mikoto was saying. He thought that maybe she was correcting him about her friend, but he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t know what a “prototype” was or a “genome” or what she meant about souls, but he tried not to let it bother him. He cared more about the big picture than the details, and if this person was as important to her as she claimed then that was all that mattered.
She would stand by him. That was something.
”Then you have a reason to live.” Cecil nodded, touching at his chest. ”It’s important to protect those we care for most. That is, perhaps, the most important thing we can do.”
He would give his life to save even one other. He would stand by anyone who chose to stand by him, and he would shed his blood for the good of his kingdom. He knew better than most what it was to protect those around him. He could think of no better reason to face the morning.
”We’re all born to help each other.” He smiled at her. ”No matter who we are. No matter where we started.” He heard the continued conversation of the people below. What did they think of the events on the roof? Could they see the two of them sitting as they were? Cecil had led her away from the ledge, but he still had a little more work to do.
Cecil stood and extended a hand down to her. He had no doubts that her balance was impeccable if she’d found her way this far above the ground, but he would take no chances. He had come for a reason. They were not so different, he thought. Or perhaps, they had the potential to be.
”You should come with me,” he said. ”The people were worried you might fall.” A worry too nearly realized. He tried not to linger on what could have been had he moved only a second slower. ”I can help you down.”
