melodiesofkupo | trace of nostalgia [video]

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trace of nostalgia [video]

[Tidus is out by the water on the Curti Center island, as he usually is. There's a sunglasses-wearing moogle, Zunne, sunning on the beach behind him. But for anyone who knows Tidus, it might seem more odd that his eyes, usually bright blue, are now red.]

Hey guys, me again. I hope everybody's doing okay after that trip---and if you've run into any chocobo eaters, rest up. They're really tough!

Anyway, I've just been thinking. Does something about this place seem off to anyone else? I don't really know how to explain it, I know it sounds crazy, but I can't help but wonder why we're really here. It's just...I see these little things everywhere that are familiar, but they aren't? And I have to wonder if something big's lurking out there that we should know about?

Maybe I'm just homesick. Or hungry, that could be it.

[Distantly, from the Moogle's direction: 'How astute.' Tidus mumbles and ducks his head.]

All right, he's right. That's enough. If anybody's still up for blitz practice, I'll see you tomorrow!

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Yeah! We swim around a giant sphere pool and throw a ball around, but it's more than that. There's a lot of different offense and defense plays, and I've been working on some new moves.

[He looks a little sheepish.]

My old man was the greatest player in history, or so he says. He wanted me to 'not embarrass the family name', so...I guess that's what I've been doing. Nobody knows him here, so the pressure's finally off. But it's all on me now.

[He rolls his shoulder back.]

But we've got bigger things to worry about, right?

Edited 2018-05-31 22:01 (UTC)

[She was smiling at his enthusiasm until the daddy issues came up and that, well, that hits a little close to home.]

What?! That's way too much pressure to put on your son! You should have told him to-

[Showing some of the greatest restraint in her life, she stops herself from finishing her sentence, instead taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.]

Sorry. It's not my place to tell you how to live your life. I just know that the General tried something similar with me and it just pushed me away. Then again, he was a jerk to begin with so...

[Well. This got awkward fast. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, not knowing what to do now.]

So. You, uh, said there were bigger things to worry about?

[That's good, Rinoa. Switch from one stressful topic to another.]

Oh yeah, that was...I mean, I did tell him eventually?

[When he'd become a giant evil space whale through no fault of his own and Tidus had seen enough to forgive him, so the hate wasn't even sincere anymore, but...that was a long story. Even the rest of the journey leading up to that had taken him 3 hours to tell.]

I just mean...this is our life now. Do you ever just get creepy vibes? Like the one moogle who was preaching about the apocalypse a few weeks ago, or some of the weird stuff on the slates, like...did you notice most people have glowing red eyes today? But only on the screen, I mean...it looks normal in real life. I think.

[He scoots over to the water and checks his reflection again just to be sure.]

[She's afraid that if she speaks on the whole dad issue again she might not be able to restrain herself again, so she just nods at his reply on the matter. It's the second part that she responds to.]

Yeah, I remember that moogle. [Her voice is quiet and she tightens her hold on her arms, nails digging into them a little. She's already terrified of becoming an evil sorceress like her predecessors, so that was a prophecy that was going to haunt her to the end of her days.] I'm not sure he's as crazy as everyone seems to think he is. I thought the whole red eye thing was just a glitch or something, though.

[He notices the change in her posture---oh, that reminds him of someone. He sighs.]

Yeah, maybe, but...I dunno, you're used to guys like him?

Guys like the moogle? No, I've never met anyone like that before.

[And she's okay never meeting anyone like that again.]

Just the end of the world thing. [And it being her fault.]

[He smiles again, but it's sad.]

Hey, that sounds like it's pretty common around here. Like we're so good at saving the world they brought us here to do it again, or something like that.

[She lets out a sad chuckle.]

Yeah, because that's an experience I want to relive.

[Wait a minute.

She looks at him suddenly.]

Did everyone that was brought here help save their world? Selphie and I did, and it sounds like you did, too.

[Is that what links them all together? She's not sure what they can learn from that, but it's something, right?]

I don't think it's everybody, but I hear it a lot. Yeah, me and Rikku did it---and I think Rikku did it again after I left, actually.

[He's so proud of her. Really.]

It's almost like it knows.

She did it twice? [She doesn't envy her. Or their world and it's apparent death wish.] Wow, that's pretty incredible.

[She pauses. It might not be her place to ask, but damn if she's not curious.]

You left your world? Where'd you go, space?

I didn't exactly want to.

[It's a tough subject, but he's facing it with a smile. Best to keep coming to grips with it, after all.]

It's kind of complicated, but I...died, I guess? You could say I wasn't alive in the first place, but it sure felt that way. But I'm still here, so I'm just trying to make the best of it and help people, y'know?

[Wait. What.]

But you're. You're here. How could you have died? I don't...

[She could be wrong, but she's pretty sure sorceresses can't even raise someone from the great beyond.]

I'm sorry; this is probably a rough subject for you. You don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to. We can change the topic.

No, it's okay. I'll try to explain. But it's all pretty weird, so it might not make much sense...and I think what's going on might have something to do with it all, so.

Long story, as short as I can make it...

[He shrugs. Hoo boy.]

Where I come from, summoners are pretty powerful. It's why the summoner guild kinda creeped me out a little when we went. A thousand years ago, there was a big, bright city called Zanarkand full of summoners. There was a war with another city, Bevelle, and Bevelle won.

The leader of the summoners, Yu Yevon, hated Bevelle for what they'd done---so he gathered all the surviving summoners and put them to sleep to summon a dream version of Zanarkand that would be preserved forever, and he summoned himself a horrible monster called Sin that would fly around killing people if it meant keeping that dream city safe.

Yu Yevon had his daughter start a fraud religion that had people sacrificing themselves for the greater good, always hoping things would change. They never did, because everything they'd been taught about guilt and sacrifice and all that stuff? Was a lie.

[That is definitely not acid in his tone, oh no.]

Flash forward a thousand years. That dream city still exists. People live and die in it, and I'm born there...except I have no idea about all that, I think I'm real because it's all I've ever known. Then I get pulled into the real world, fall in love with a summoner planning to sacrifice herself, and we blow it all to smithereens. Sin won't hurt them anymore.

Except I still had to sacrifice myself, because ending the summoning meant I wouldn't exist anymore either. I don't know how, but...I think I can exist here because all of us were pulled from dreams. Or something like that.

[Suddenly, he looks up and realizes he'd lost track of time.]

...whoops, I guess it's pretty hard to make that shorter. Sorry.

[Well, that sure was a lot to take in. Her heart really feels for him on the lost love thing. At least she still has a chance to reunite with Squall. Tidus sounds like he's SOL.]

I'm not sure I understand. You seem pretty real to me. And why would that Yu person want to create a dream Zanarland or whatever in the first place if none of it was real? That doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

[She bites her lip, thinking back to the start when he thought his situation and the world at large here might be connected.]

Are you saying that you think that the Dream Width is made up of fake worlds? Then... wouldn't we all be fake? Or that this one is fake?

[This is all just a bit too much for her to comprehend. Maybe she should rewind back to the whole him sacrificing himself thing for now.]

Did you know?

Because...dreams are almost as good as reality. When everything sucks, sometimes you just want to make it hurt less. I can understand that...but after so many years he lost his mind.

[He shakes his head.]

No, I don't think you're dreams! I think...this world might be like a dream, with the way it has weird little parts of different worlds. Maybe. There's a lot we don't know yet.

[But. But then they're back to Yuna, and it's hard to keep the sadness from his eyes.]

Yeah, I knew what I was doing. I used to think sacrifice was ridiculous, and I still think it is if there's no point to it....but this time we knew the truth. And I knew it was the only way we had to save the world from that nightmare. So I don't regret it---now they all have a chance to sleep in their beds without worrying Sin's gonna kill them overnight.

[Oh, so it was the crazy talking. That she was more familiar with, having dealt with some crazy sorceresses of her own. She nods at his thoughts on the place though; it makes sense, in a way.]

When Selphie and I came here we were running through time compression trying to get back to where we were before so it kind of makes sense that it's a little weird here. [She pauses, thinking for a moment.] At least, I think Selphie was. I haven't asked her but it makes sense.

[She feels bad as he keeps speaking, having clearly made him dredge up memories that clearly aren't happy ones. Her gaze drifts on the waves for a moment before she speaks.]

You're a lot stronger than I am, then. When I thought I was going to have to sacrifice myself, I went along with it but as soon as Squall showed up I jumped at the opportunity to get out of there. I was really scared. I don't know how you did it.

[He just smiles gently.]

I'm glad you two made it. You're both great friends.

And...hm. If there was a way I could have stayed with her and saved everyone, I know I would've. I'm not that brave. But she's the one who taught me that saving other's smiles was worth everything. I just couldn't save hers...

I just hope she gets better. And, maybe if I'm really lucky, I'll find her again someday.

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trace of nostalgia [video]

sorry I'm done I swear

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oh that hurts

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