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.
at adventu, we believe that colorful story and plots far outweigh the need for a battle system. rp should be about the writing, the fun, and the creativity. you will see that the only system on our site is the encouragement to create amazing adventures with other members. welcome to adventu... how will you arrive?
year 5, quarter 3
Welcome one and all to our beautiful new skin! This marks the visual era of Adventu 4.0, our 4th and by far best design we've had. 3.0 suited our needs for a very long time, but as things are evolving around the site (and all for the better thanks to all of you), it was time for a new, sleek change. The Resource Site celebrity Pharaoh Leep was the amazing mastermind behind this with minor collaborations from your resident moogle. It's one-of-a-kind and suited specifically for Adventu. Click the image for a super easy new skin guide for a visual tour!
Final Fantasy Adventu is a roleplaying forum inspired by the Final Fantasy series. Images on the site are edited by KUPO of FF:A with all source material belonging to their respective artists (i.e. Square Enix, Pixiv Fantasia, etc). The board lyrics are from the Final Fantasy song "Otherworld" composed by Nobuo Uematsu and arranged by The Black Mages II.
The current skin was made by Pharaoh Leap of Pixel Perfect. Outside of that, individual posts and characters belong to their creators, and we claim no ownership to what which is not ours. Thank you for stopping by.
Post by Garnet Til Alexandros XVII on Oct 11, 2023 14:42:13 GMT -6
[attr="class,beacont"]
[attr="class,beatext"]
"And you were?" Garnet shot back, without missing a beat, when Kuja tried to claim Garland was neither 'fair nor just'. She shook her head firmly as she looked at him. "You placed yourself in the exact same position as Garland, and you did exactly as he did. You cannot condemn Garland for his actions, and then expect to repeat them and be free of blame. You are as awful as Garland ever was," she stated firmly. "Except, at least he sought to save lives, even if he did it in the most corrupt, foul way possible. You sought only to destroy," she pointed out.
Of course, it was then that Garnet realised perhaps she had gone too far, for Kuja spoke back to her, stating that she had become like her mother. That hurt Garnet. It cut into her like a wound, and the flinch was visible on her face. Was he correct? Was this fierce hatred she felt for him, this belief that she had to stop him through any means necessary, the type of war mongering belief that had led her mother down her path? Or instead, was she right to feel the way she did? Had she really changed? She didn't like to think so. She thought that her compassion was what caused this hatred; her compassion for those he had killed.
He shoved her aside easily, and she stumbled back as he snatched the box. She felt her face burn with irritation, at his disregarding her. Even after all of her adventures, to him, she was still the weak, helpless princess, who couldn't stand up for herself. Even here, with them both deprived of their magic, she was useless and unable to resist him. She felt her fists clench.
"You're wrong," she finally said. "My kindness never led me astray," she replied firmly. "And do you know what that kindness tells me now? It tells me if I let you go, you'll hurt somebody. Maybe not today. Maybe not even tomorrow. Maybe all you want to do right now is go back and read your book. But if I let you go, one day, you'll hurt somebody again. Whether it's some new scheme to stop you from dying, or just your latest power grab, somebody will suffer because I did not try to stop you here and now," she stated, the words pouring out as her decision solidified.
From her back, she drew her staff, holding it in her fighting position.
And then, after a moment staring at Kuja, she threw it to the ground. And she looked back at him, her eyes wide. "I cannot defeat you in a fight. Even if I were to somehow triumph, you would only return to plague me again and again. So instead, I am going to try something I suspect nobody as ever truly tried," she said. "I am going to talk to you."
"All the pain and suffering you brought to Terra, your attempts to end all life on Gaia, it was because you were afraid of dying. But... the fear of death simply means that you are alive. That's what you've never understood. So, you'll die one day? Guess what, so shall I. And Zidane. And Steiner. And Eiko. And Amarant. And Beatrix. And Quina. We shall all die some day. And part of being alive is never knowing when it'll come. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps fifty years from now, but one day, we shall all die," Garnet said simply.
"And here is the thing that I think you have never understood. That's okay. Dying is okay. Life is not precious because it never ends. It is precious because it does. Every day matters, because you know that one day, you shall not see another one. Garland was a monster, but he gave you the gift of being truly alive. Free will, mortality, it's what makes us who we are. And it's okay to be scared of death! We all are. Do you know how many times I thought I was going to die, foiling your schemes? And every time, I was terrified. But afterwards, I knew to appreciate that extra day of life just a little more. Because I knew how close it had come to ending. And had I not been able to die, I'd never have felt that fear, or that joy." Even Garnet wasn't too sure what she was doing. Using diplomacy instead of weapons? What was the point? Kuja would never listen. But at least she could say she tried. So she spoke from her heart, and tried to show him that she wasn't as cold as he thought. To show him that she was something else.
"If you're so afraid of dying, instead of being angry, instead of wanting to use that to destroy, why don't you try to use that to understand?" she asked, pleadingly. "Because all the fact that you are dying means is that you are in the same situation as all of us. So, instead of using it to end lives early, why don't you use it to understand why every life is precious. Why people should be allowed to live, for as long as they can? Why should you take their lives away early? Why should your fear of death mean you bring it to everybody else? Why not, instead, do what you can to preserve life? To give people the gift of living longer. Why twist your fear into something that causes you to destroy? When you could use it to make such a difference," she suggested.
"Because you're right. One day you will be gone. All that will exist of you is your memory. Perhaps you should ask yourself, how you wish to be remembered? Because that is the only immortality any of us will ever achieve. The memory of us. Would you not rather it was a good one?"
[attr=class,bulk] Had the princess always been quite so self-righteous? He supposed so, if he’d ever listened to her. In truth, while the girl had always been integral to his plans, he’d never really spoken to her. Not exactly. She was but a pawn to move from one side of the board to the other and hopefully to land in her the greedy hands of her loathsome mother.
How that woman could have raised a daughter like this was beyond him. But so was the question of nature versus nurture.
Kuja didn’t bat an eye as she defended Garland of all people, presumably out of some hateful instinct against him. He was finished with their oh so predictable verbal sparring. Even when he revealed the true object of his scheming – a playbook – she simply couldn’t stop herself from launching into another speech.
A speech about kindness of all things. It would have taken great effort not to roll his eyes. So he did. His derision only grew as she pulled out her staff, going on about stopping him at this very moment. In an anti-magic field. At the back of an antique store in a despotic dictatorship that hated them both. Did she plan to bludgeon him to death with that little stick of hers? He certainly hoped that she had a plan for her time in a Sonoran prison, or so he would have told her, until a conflicted look crossed her eyes and she threw down her staff at his feet.
Kuja’s eyebrows raised. He did love a good show of dramatics.
I cannot defeat you in a fight,” she said as though that were not completely and utterly self-evident. But her next words surprised him, if only a little. She intended to try what she suspected no one else truly had. She would talk to him.
The obvious retort rose unbidden to his tongue. That obviously he had spoken to others in his time. It was, of course, his main motive of operation. His primary weapon was, after all, his silver tongue. However, it seemed she had something else in mind that was indeed quite novel. She would not speak to him so much as give a speech. It was an attempt to reason with him or perhaps to reach some long closed off part of his heart which might hold some withered empathy for his future victims.
It was…intriguing if nothing else. He decided to listen. He watched her impassively, head tilted slightly as she went on about the nature of life and death. She spoke as though she understood him simply because she knew of his origins. It was only when she mentioned Garland’s gift of life that he openly sneered, but he kept his retorts to himself. At least until the speech was finished because he wished to see its end.
It was as though she were performing her own improvised soliloquy on a stage of her own making. He knew his place in this little play of theirs. He was and always had been the villain.
No matter his derision, no matter his irritation, no matter the true offense he felt at her implications that he sought to end lives for its own sake, he listened. He listened and he waited until she was quite done before he mulled over his response. This was a different game than they’d engaged in before. He didn’t know the rules of his game, exactly, but he thought he’d give it a try.
”Do you know what irks me the most about you?” he asked, his eyes landing lazily on hers. ”You seem to think that you have me entirely figured out. You caught a glimpse of my birthplace. You faced my creator. You saw me in my lowest moment. And from this you think that there’s nothing more to know. You make your assumptions and you treat them as fact and then you throw them back in my face, but you’re so hopelessly and utterly wrong.”
He turned from her, crossing his arms with the playbook in hand as he looked up to examine the ceiling tiles. ”Do you not understand? I was not gifted with life. A gift is an offering which one does not expect returned. From the moment that my nascent soul awoke within the vessel which he had sculpted for me, it was clear that life was a privilege one must earn. If I were to step a toe out of line, if I were to perform even a point below expectation then it was a privilege he would revoke.”
A dry smirk touched his lips, cold and humorless. ”You have seen Terra in its eternal, unflinching stasis. What did you think of it? How could you, royalty by technicality if not by birth, possibly understand? You, who lived safely loved and cherished by all within your halls of luxury in a world alive with natural wonders? Zidane understood, I think. He could imagine that alternate future where I had not defied our creator to rid myself of him. Where he had grown not in the streets of Lindblum with his little band of misfits, but had continued at my side, both of us at the mercy of our dear Master Garland.”
The very words made his tongue sour. The title he was expected to use, the only one he’d known for twelve years of life and which he had spoken without irony. Garland. His creator. His master. The one who he could never quite please no matter how he tried. The one he was never meant to. For he was merely a prototype to be tested and examined and thrown away. Defective no matter his drive for perfection.
Kuja turned to her again, his eyes cooler this time. ”You speak as though I expected immortality. As though death was not an ever-present blade swinging precariously over my neck. Do you still not understand? After my banishment, I was still expected to perform, and to him that meant destruction. If I did not perform to his expectations, I would be discarded. He expected a certain number of souls to feed the Iifa Tree, and my very life depended on it. Yet every soul I sent to fuel his ambitions brought Terra one step closer to its inevitable assimilation, and upon that assimilation, I would be deemed irrelevant. Death if I did not perform. Death if I did. Do you see now why I sought power?”
He laughed scathingly. ”I set my plans in motion, balancing on a knife’s edge, providing him with more souls than he could possibly expect of me, all the while assembling the shards of crystal needed to summon Alexander and steal its power for myself. For only such a power as this could defeat a master who could, at a thought, wrench away my consciousness. Unfortunately, he saw through my plans. He destroyed Alexander and thus your city of Alexandria. And so I sought new methods of power and found it in the secrets of Trance.
”Trance. The one ability I lacked. I was unable to harness its destructive power and so I was deemed irrelevant and Garland created a replacement in my stead. Ironic, isn’t it? That I was capable after all? More capable than he could possibly have imagined.”
Kuja let his scowl fade into a heavy sigh. ”But you won’t understand any of this, will you? Gaian as you are? I was forced to learn your ways, and yet none have ever known an inkling of mine. You’ll go on about the power of kindness and love and the value of life. You, who have never had every day defined by the very struggle for your own. I will admit to one mistake. I should have never meddled with Memoria. But can you imagine it? Standing finally at the cusp of your impossible victory, your life secured at last, only to learn that it was all for nothing? That your adversary had won the game before it had even begun? That he was right and you were never anything more than his tool? Imagine it with the power of worlds at your fingertips.
”I destroyed Terra in vengeance. It was all he had ever cared for and I destroyed it. You should be thanking me, really. Gaia’s remaining time was short and its destruction was all but secured. I exterminated its parasite and then found myself on the edge of despair. A foolish, desperate thought whispered in my ear, and I followed it to the edge of all creation. If I was to die then I would take the rest of life with me.
”Needless to say, I was not in my right mind.” Kuja waved his free hand almost dismissively. ”It was a mistake,” he repeated, ”One fueled by twenty-four years of fear and frustration. I would not make it again – not that I could without the Invincible. I have killed on this new planet we share. At times, in self-defense. At others, simply to further my own agenda. But that agenda is not mass eradication. It never was, really. At the moment, I seek pleasure, safety, isolation, and the satisfaction of my own curiosity. I have taken to excavating the ruins of an ancient civilization in an attempt to rebuild their technology and, hopefully, to cure my ailment before it claims my life.
”You are free to condemn me or to consider this all a lie. It matters little to me.” Kuja uncrossed his arms, carefully turning over the playbook in his hands. So fragile. So full of passion. ”But I came for this book. Nothing more. I had it on reserve, and once I return to my hideaway, I will read it reverently as a reminder of Gaia in all its best qualities. I’ve always loved the theater, you know. Its art, its expression, its indulgences, all an antithesis to what I was meant to become. You played an adequate Cornelia, you know. You could call me impressed.”
He hummed in laughter. Truly, that had been a performance to remember.
Post by Garnet Til Alexandros XVII on Oct 12, 2023 10:53:38 GMT -6
[attr="class,beacont"]
[attr="class,beatext"]
Garnet wasn't sure what she had expected in response from Kuja. She certainly hadn't been naïve enough to expect him to, what, accept her points and apologise? To somehow change his ways? Of course not. But while she had no idea what she expected, she was fairly certain his response wasn't it. An accusation that she didn't understand him? As if he was just some misunderstood good and honest soul who had stolen a loaf of bread to survive? As if he was a thief with a secret heart of gold? Her lips tightened a little as she tried to take this in, as she tried to remain objective and not simply snap back with her anger and wrath that she felt towards him. "If I believe that I understand you, it is only because of the plethora of evidence you have provided," Garnet replied calmly instead, even if her tightened expression said that she felt otherwise. "Perhaps the fault is mine. Perhaps in between your rampant murder and chaos, your raising an entire magic army, your attempts to steal my Eidolons, your attempts to kill me and all of my friends, to annihilate my kingdom and destroy my world, I should have also taken the time to consider your hobbies and habits," she replied. Sarcasm was not particularly befitting a queen, and truthfully, Garnet wasn't too certain where she had picked that particular habit up from on her travels, but it seemed rather useful in this scenario.
Of course, as she looked at Kuja, she knew logically that he could not be all evil, all the time. She knew Kuja's schedule was not the likes of 'wake up at 9am, eat a baby, get dressed, kill some orphans, break for lunch'. Obviously he must have interests, hobbies, and a life outside of murder and destruction. Just his appearance said that much. Nobody was that good at make-up without dedicated practice. He put more time and effort into his appearance than she did, and she was royalty. It was just that... it had never seemed worth considering. Not in comparison to the evil acts he had done. So, perhaps she had to accept that she did not understand him. At least, not all of him.
She just wasn't sure that it mattered.
She did, however, flinch a little when he turned her own upbringing on her. When he spoke of the hardships of life on Terra, of fighting for survival, for acceptance, and compared it to her own luxury. Surprisingly, for all her time adventuring as royalty, very few had ever turned her own privilege on her, or had called out the life she usually led. Even when she had been awkward and confused because of her royal upbringing, Zidane and the others had been sympathetic and understanding. But this was the first time she could recall feeling quite so called out.
Yes, her life in Madain Sari had hardly been the same, but she could still barely recall it. The odd flash of images, the odd disconnected memory. But, truthfully, when she thought of herself, in her heart, she was still Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII. Princess. Not Queen. Not summoner. Not adventurer. That was who she had been raised as. The identity at the core of her heart.
For a moment, she stood frozen, awkward, and then her eyes fell to the book in Kuja's hand. And she could see how little he truly knew. "...Perhaps it is only right that you keep that book. You should read it more carefully. I do not think you have ever truly understood the text," she commented, nodding to the copy of I Want to be Your Canary. "Cornelia is a princess. By your metric, she was raised safe, and loved, just as I was. And yet, she is trapped in a cage. The entire story is about how deeply unhappy and how difficult her life is. And yet, just like myself, she was raised as a princess. Because, make no mistake, I grew up in a cage, just as you did. It was just of a different nature," she explained.
"Do you honestly believe that I was free to step out of line, without repercussions? That I could say or do as I chose? I was always told how to act, what to say, what to wear, where to be. I was, in many ways, a prisoner too. For so many years, I could not even tell what were my own thoughts, and what were those of the 'Princess'. Who was I? Was I even a person, or just a puppet being told what to do? I had no say in what I did. No say in who I was. I was the Princess of Alexandria. Not 'Garnet'. Not 'Sarah'. Not even 'Dagger'. Perhaps my life was not in constant danger as yours was, but I was still controlled, still imprisoned, still deprived of my free will. Rather more shocking when you realise that I was not even the real princess, but just a child they found who they mutilated to look like her," she pointed out, slightly alarmed by her own point. She had never thought of it that way before. She loved her mother and father, the queen and king, and blamed Kuja for Brahne's corruption. But, given what they did to her as a child, perhaps... Perhaps that darkness had always been there. Garnet had just refused to see it. "And then, ironically, it turned out that, just like you, I was being raised for the slaughter. Just as you were raised to be replaced by Zidane, I was raised until my Eidolons were ready to be torn from me, and to be cast aside, as useless waste. My life may have had a few more silk sheets and expensive gowns than yours, but... perhaps our upbringings were not as different as you suspect." That was a sobering thought.
"And as for the natural wonders you speak of, do you know what natural wonders I saw, in my youth?" she asked. "I could see the sea. I could see grasslands, shrouded in mist. I could see distant mountains. I never visited them. Ever. Until I fled the castle on my sixteenth birthday, I have never truly been outside of its walls, except on an airship to visit Lindblum. I grew up in a world of cold stone. I still remember being so naïve and unaware of the world at large, when Dr Tot showed me the globe, I thought he was saying that the castle was a ball. There is part of me that remains glad I was unconscious and drugged in the Evil Forest, because the truth is, when I awoke on the grass planes outside, I barely knew how to walk on uneven ground. The night that we camped, I got up in the middle of the night to practice walking on grass and slopes, because I had never done it before!" She wasn't entirely sure why she was telling Kuja all of that. She just wanted him to understand that his world had not been as indifferent as her own. "Visting Terra was strange. It was cold, and it was sterile. But if we are being honest, I felt more comfortable there than I did exploring the Qu's Marsh, or the forests we trekked through. At least there, the ground behaved," she said, although she wasn't sure that was QUITE true. Yes, Terra had a sort of, refreshing simplicity to its terrain that reminded her of growing up in the castle, but also it was a terrifying, nightmarish world. So cold and devoid of life. Devoid of love.
He went on. And then he spoke of Memoria. And again, he surprised her. By admitting his plan to wipe out all life had been a mistake. A confession she had not expected at all. So, he thought everything else was fine, but trying to destroy the crystal was his error? She was rendered temporarily speechless at that. Until he asked her if she could imagine how he felt. If she could imagine how it had been to nearly have his victory then have it torn away. And she turned away for a moment, and looked down sorrowfully for a moment.
"Yes. I can," she replied. She swallowed, and she waited a moment, to try and compose what she was going to say. "Alexandria. When Bahamut attacked. I had lost so much, but finally, I saw the answer. Everything felt like it was coming together. My journey to understand the Eidolons, gathering the jewels, finding Eiko, even my own upbringing in the castle... Realising that it was Alexander himself. That finally, I could save my people. That after all my mistakes and failures, finally, I could do the right thing. I felt that power. I saw Alexander appear, effortlessly defend the castle, dispose of Bahamut, and I felt that moment of victory. Of power. And then..." She trailed off.
Kuja knew what had happened next. "I did not handle it well. I retreated into myself. I felt pain that was indescribable. Rather literally, as a matter of fact. I could not describe it. I could speak. I could barely think. I did not feel anger. Or wrath. I did not wish to destroy. I did not wish to lash out. I was... broken. But, I know that pain. I know that feeling. I... understand the crushing despair it can bring," Garnet explained uneasily. "But understanding the destruction you tried to bring in Memoria does not excuse your other crimes. I understand that you felt trapped, that you felt you had to find a way out, but there were other ways. Lies and corruption and stealing power were not the right path. You could have spoken to Zidane, formed an alliance, even beseeched Alexandria for help as a citizen, instead of manipulating, stealing, making an army, and killing. As you said, it would have been in Gaia's best interest to stop Garland, so we would have assisted you. Instead, you lied, cheated and murdered your way to power. And... this is the result," she said, simply nodding at him.
Despite her anger, Garnet couldn't help but feel a mixture of pride and annoyance when he complimented her performance as Cornelia. "Adequate?" she repeated, rather questioningly. "I had to jump onto stage at a moment's notice in the middle of an escape attempt with no rehearsal time, blocking, costume, or preparation. If I did adequately in that situation, imagine what I could do in a dedicated performance?" she pointed out. WHY was she riling against THIS description of herself? Garnet wasn't sure. But much like Kuja, she took pride in her knowledge and love of the theatre. To the extent she had to nod back at the book. "I came here for the book to stage a performance, you know? I'm not a Queen here. So I thought I would try my hand at theatre, professionally." Not a lie. She of course didn't mention that the entire plan was a trap for Kuja. She wasn't even sure if she SHOULD try to trap him now. He still had to pay for his crimes on Gaia, of that, she had no doubt, but if she pursued it, was she not just seeking vengeance, just like Kuja had done so? "I always loved the theatre because it showed me the world beyond the castle walls. It gave me a glimpse at the life I could only dream of. So, I suppose it was rather ironic that I Want to be Your Canary became my favourite, the story of a sheltered princess living in her castle, but, when I first experienced it, I remember... that feeling of connection to Cornelia. It was the first time I felt I had seen myself represented on stage, so I fell in love with the tale. I am... surprised, that it is a favourite of yours, however. I imagined you would prefer the more violent plays..." she confessed, although if anybody asked she was unsure how she had ended up discussing theatre with the man who had destroyed so much of her life.
