Categories > Games > Final Fantasy X-2 > Phoenix Down
Let me tell you a little secret: the Farplanes are boring. Really boring, at least visually. As in flat-as-my-thirteen-year-old-self when it comes to landscapes, or at least, where Auron habitated. (I'm not sure "lives" is really the appropriate term to use, y'know?) Green grass fading into dusty dirt patches spread out before us once we were free of the little grove that surrounded his Death Shack, and as far as I could squint my eyes, there were no mountains. Auron had shrugged when I'd asked, and mumbled something about liking the /privacy/. Man, you're /dead/. It don't get much more private than that. Well, anyway, private or not, it was boring. We ambled out into the fields, not even a butterfly floating into our path, roasting on one side from the rising and setting suns, and chilling on the other from the moon that hung pregnant and dimpled in the sky. Sir Stoic was hauling his Masamune along, slung over his shoulder like I'd presumably been when I'd done the girly-thang and fainted, and he looked almost like himself, except... thinner, insubstantial. Like he was, /ha ha/, here's the punchline, a /ghost/. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all freakin' eternity.
"Is all of you here?" I asked him, the words popping out my mouth so suddenly I couldn't stop them, and I clapped my hands over my lips, shutting the machina off after it'd caught fire as my father would have said. He stopped and turned, sword glinting dully in the triple light from the two suns and the moon. He looked at me, especially frightening since he had both nefarious eyes with which to bore holes into my skull. And I thought it was bad when he was half-blind.
"Is all of me /what/?" he asked, eyebrow twitching. I winced internally and tried to Show No Fear like they teach you in Desert Survival, about facing off against your predator.
"Um, you just, you seem different, /that'sallohgoddon'tkillme/," I whimpered the last part and studied his scuffed boots. He made a sound that might have been called an undignified snort in a lesser man and continued walking. I hopped after him, rabbit to his hunter. Was that a mountain in the distance? He cleared his throat as I caught up to him, and his head titled just slightly, looking at me over that ridiculous collar of his. Did someone tell him it was fashionable or something at one point in his life? He looked like a criminal, a thief. And I should know, I am one. A really hot one. Ahem.
"I'm not all here," he said, "that's the price I paid for dying-"
"What?! Like you can, y'know, not die? It's not like you have much of a choice? That's not fair!" I dragged on his hand, pulling him to a stop, and he glared at me, suddenly irritated by this mayfly that was buzzing around his ear, except the mayfly was called Rikku and she was super attractive and they fell into a passionate embrace-/whoa, segueway/. Okay so maybe I still had a bit of a jonesin' for the old man, besides, aren't men like wine? Better when they've aged? Not that I drink wine, especially not cactus wine! I'm more of a Tequila girl. It's the baby Sandworm in the bottom, I swear. Totally makes that drink.
"Rikku-"
"No, tell me what's going on! What do you mean you aren't all-" A firm hand slapped over my mouth, transforming my torrent into melted words. I mmmph-ed and mmmhm-ed and MMMMFF!-ed against his fingers but he shook his head, his fingers not letting up. It's not like I could asphyxiate, I was already dead. Oh, the perks of the afterlife.
"Let me finish. I left others behind, and so I am not all here. Because they hold a piece of me inside themselves. When they join me here, I will be whole. That's the price you pay for loving and being loved." He let go of my face and I rubbed my cheeks to ease away whatever red marks he'd left on my skin.
"Mmmph," I said eloquently, regaining feeling in my jaw. "So, basically, if you stay a hermit and shun people your whole life, when you die you come here healthy, whole, happy, and with no... um, no..."
"Unfinished business, as it were," he said, and turned, walking steadily onwards to what I hoped was a mountain and not a speck of dust on my eyelashes. I followed him slowly, until he turned and frowned at me, that unasked question of /Why the hell are you holding me up, I need to get back to my books and my sake and my toast and my yummy bacon/. I totally added in that yummy bit, because seriously, Auron's about as unreadable as a Flan. You never know if he's happy or sad, or that weird look on his face is just, well, um, /his look/. He might think happy thoughts about yummy bacon. I wasn't the only one in the Spirans for Publically Funded Bacon Association.
"So, do I look shadowy and see-through?" I asked, peering at my hands, held up towards the sun, and seeing the light glow red through the slight webs between my fingers like it would any normal day on Bikanel.
"No," he said, and turned again, as if he had some sort of secret hope that I would just follow him like a lost puppy every time he turned away. I chased after him, bounding over clumps of grass.
"Are you saying that no one back in Spira loves me?" I frowned up at him and his mouth quirked up, but he remained silent. "Meanie," I grumbled and walked with him, matching him step for overly-large step. It was a mountain in the distance, I could see it now, purpling head thrusting up above the sea of grass as green as my eyes. I drank the sight of it in, letting it fill me, and /have we had enough of the weird naturalistic sexual metaphors yet? I thought so. I really need to get laid/.
"I'm not saying that either," he said, voice a burr in his chest as we walked, on /and on/, "what I'm saying is that I don't think you're dead." He looked over at me as he said the last few words and smirked slightly as he took in my jaw extending its merry way to the ground.
"Ah-huh?!" I exclaimed, one hand forcing my jaw back into its socket.
"You fell into the Farplanes, and died," he said, pointing out the obvious, "but you can't die in the Farplanes. So did you really die?" I stared blankly at him, feeling my brain melt a little at that last statement.
"This is like one of those one-hand-clapping-a-tree-in-the-forest questions," I said, wondering how it was I hadn't felt my grey matter drip out of my ear yet. He patted me on the back gently, oddly so, for such a strong man. I guess even Auron has a puppy-dog hidden inside his heart.
"I think it's that very question that's going to return you to Spira," he said, a genuine Auron-smile gracing his face, and he turned his head to the sun and took in a deep breath. It was quiet, like when the generator shuts off in the middle of the night, and you're huddled with your bestfriendforever under a blanket, flashlights flickering on the nubby weave of the fabric. I figured he was about to spout of something rather poetical, and since he had been a warrior-monk, I was a little afraid of what verses he might be cooking up, so I elbowed him hard in the ribs. A cough exploded from his mouth instead of a haiku and he glared at me, his bad eye shutting almost out of habit as he scowled. I grinned unrepentently and saluted him with one hand.
"Time's a wasting!" I chirped, and then moved my saluting fingers to shadow my eyes. "So, um, we head towards the mountain?" He sighed quietly as he continued walking towards it.
"We head towards the mountain." And so we continued walking, and I hummed under my breath, hopping every few steps along the way. Walk-two-three-/hop/-walk-two-three-/hop/. Questions were all itching inside my head, and they finally just sort of popped free, like pyreflies from his body when he'd finally upped-and-went.
"Why didn't you step away?" I was looking towards that mountain, the prize if you will, not because I didn't want to watch his reaction, but maybe because I was afraid. Not sure why, tho', it was just Auron, and what was he going to do anyway, if I asked too many prying questions?
"Hmph," responded the Eloquent One, and we continued on in silence for a few more paces.
"Hey-"
"If you're going to conduct an indepth analysis of my person and psychology, you may find your own way back to Spira, and no, I will not cook you any more bacon."
And that, as they say, /was that/. Well, for the time being, anyhow.
"Is all of you here?" I asked him, the words popping out my mouth so suddenly I couldn't stop them, and I clapped my hands over my lips, shutting the machina off after it'd caught fire as my father would have said. He stopped and turned, sword glinting dully in the triple light from the two suns and the moon. He looked at me, especially frightening since he had both nefarious eyes with which to bore holes into my skull. And I thought it was bad when he was half-blind.
"Is all of me /what/?" he asked, eyebrow twitching. I winced internally and tried to Show No Fear like they teach you in Desert Survival, about facing off against your predator.
"Um, you just, you seem different, /that'sallohgoddon'tkillme/," I whimpered the last part and studied his scuffed boots. He made a sound that might have been called an undignified snort in a lesser man and continued walking. I hopped after him, rabbit to his hunter. Was that a mountain in the distance? He cleared his throat as I caught up to him, and his head titled just slightly, looking at me over that ridiculous collar of his. Did someone tell him it was fashionable or something at one point in his life? He looked like a criminal, a thief. And I should know, I am one. A really hot one. Ahem.
"I'm not all here," he said, "that's the price I paid for dying-"
"What?! Like you can, y'know, not die? It's not like you have much of a choice? That's not fair!" I dragged on his hand, pulling him to a stop, and he glared at me, suddenly irritated by this mayfly that was buzzing around his ear, except the mayfly was called Rikku and she was super attractive and they fell into a passionate embrace-/whoa, segueway/. Okay so maybe I still had a bit of a jonesin' for the old man, besides, aren't men like wine? Better when they've aged? Not that I drink wine, especially not cactus wine! I'm more of a Tequila girl. It's the baby Sandworm in the bottom, I swear. Totally makes that drink.
"Rikku-"
"No, tell me what's going on! What do you mean you aren't all-" A firm hand slapped over my mouth, transforming my torrent into melted words. I mmmph-ed and mmmhm-ed and MMMMFF!-ed against his fingers but he shook his head, his fingers not letting up. It's not like I could asphyxiate, I was already dead. Oh, the perks of the afterlife.
"Let me finish. I left others behind, and so I am not all here. Because they hold a piece of me inside themselves. When they join me here, I will be whole. That's the price you pay for loving and being loved." He let go of my face and I rubbed my cheeks to ease away whatever red marks he'd left on my skin.
"Mmmph," I said eloquently, regaining feeling in my jaw. "So, basically, if you stay a hermit and shun people your whole life, when you die you come here healthy, whole, happy, and with no... um, no..."
"Unfinished business, as it were," he said, and turned, walking steadily onwards to what I hoped was a mountain and not a speck of dust on my eyelashes. I followed him slowly, until he turned and frowned at me, that unasked question of /Why the hell are you holding me up, I need to get back to my books and my sake and my toast and my yummy bacon/. I totally added in that yummy bit, because seriously, Auron's about as unreadable as a Flan. You never know if he's happy or sad, or that weird look on his face is just, well, um, /his look/. He might think happy thoughts about yummy bacon. I wasn't the only one in the Spirans for Publically Funded Bacon Association.
"So, do I look shadowy and see-through?" I asked, peering at my hands, held up towards the sun, and seeing the light glow red through the slight webs between my fingers like it would any normal day on Bikanel.
"No," he said, and turned again, as if he had some sort of secret hope that I would just follow him like a lost puppy every time he turned away. I chased after him, bounding over clumps of grass.
"Are you saying that no one back in Spira loves me?" I frowned up at him and his mouth quirked up, but he remained silent. "Meanie," I grumbled and walked with him, matching him step for overly-large step. It was a mountain in the distance, I could see it now, purpling head thrusting up above the sea of grass as green as my eyes. I drank the sight of it in, letting it fill me, and /have we had enough of the weird naturalistic sexual metaphors yet? I thought so. I really need to get laid/.
"I'm not saying that either," he said, voice a burr in his chest as we walked, on /and on/, "what I'm saying is that I don't think you're dead." He looked over at me as he said the last few words and smirked slightly as he took in my jaw extending its merry way to the ground.
"Ah-huh?!" I exclaimed, one hand forcing my jaw back into its socket.
"You fell into the Farplanes, and died," he said, pointing out the obvious, "but you can't die in the Farplanes. So did you really die?" I stared blankly at him, feeling my brain melt a little at that last statement.
"This is like one of those one-hand-clapping-a-tree-in-the-forest questions," I said, wondering how it was I hadn't felt my grey matter drip out of my ear yet. He patted me on the back gently, oddly so, for such a strong man. I guess even Auron has a puppy-dog hidden inside his heart.
"I think it's that very question that's going to return you to Spira," he said, a genuine Auron-smile gracing his face, and he turned his head to the sun and took in a deep breath. It was quiet, like when the generator shuts off in the middle of the night, and you're huddled with your bestfriendforever under a blanket, flashlights flickering on the nubby weave of the fabric. I figured he was about to spout of something rather poetical, and since he had been a warrior-monk, I was a little afraid of what verses he might be cooking up, so I elbowed him hard in the ribs. A cough exploded from his mouth instead of a haiku and he glared at me, his bad eye shutting almost out of habit as he scowled. I grinned unrepentently and saluted him with one hand.
"Time's a wasting!" I chirped, and then moved my saluting fingers to shadow my eyes. "So, um, we head towards the mountain?" He sighed quietly as he continued walking towards it.
"We head towards the mountain." And so we continued walking, and I hummed under my breath, hopping every few steps along the way. Walk-two-three-/hop/-walk-two-three-/hop/. Questions were all itching inside my head, and they finally just sort of popped free, like pyreflies from his body when he'd finally upped-and-went.
"Why didn't you step away?" I was looking towards that mountain, the prize if you will, not because I didn't want to watch his reaction, but maybe because I was afraid. Not sure why, tho', it was just Auron, and what was he going to do anyway, if I asked too many prying questions?
"Hmph," responded the Eloquent One, and we continued on in silence for a few more paces.
"Hey-"
"If you're going to conduct an indepth analysis of my person and psychology, you may find your own way back to Spira, and no, I will not cook you any more bacon."
And that, as they say, /was that/. Well, for the time being, anyhow.
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