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timeandtides_backupCharacters: Garnet and Anima's Fayth (sort of)
Progress: Complete
Summary: Uneasy after her revival at Iifa, Garnet goes to Madain Sari, to seek peace of mind at the Eidolon Wall, and ask Anima for guidance. She gets neither.
Location: Madain Sari, the Eidolon Wall
Date: September 10th, 1804
Warnings: None.
Madain Sari was unlike she remembered it. Dagger had heard about the Lunatic Pandora, had seen video of the massive thing looming over the old Summoner's Village, but it was completely different to see in person. The rubble that had once been an accepted part of the old, broken roads and paths had been cleared out. The ruins, once sad but somehow comforting, were being stripped down to their essence and built up again. There were moogles everywhere though that wasn't so different from before and a handful of construction workers who were being commissioned by the Regent in the rebuilding effort. It was slow going, and Dagger had heard rumors that some had been scared off by the Lunatic Pandora. Not that she blamed them... The once bright hot and desert-like feel of the village was now nearly snuffed in the monstrous shadow the foreign vessel cast. Dust coated her boots as she made her way through the village, tuning out the sounds of hammers and shovels, focusing her ears on the distant, haunting melody of Anima's Song. The Hymn of the Fayth, she'd heard it called, though the details of Spira's Summoners and Eidolons still eluded her.
As she walked the streets, winding her way past half-walls of fresh-laid bricks and mounds of cleared rocks, she tried to ignore the shame that settled over her, like a thick, smothering blanket. It had been months since she'd visited the Eidolon wall -- long before the reconstruction efforts had even begun. She silently thanked the neglected Eidolons that the builders around her did not recognize her face. She'd neglected her heritage for the sake of Alexandria, a sacrifice she would make over and over again, because it was her duty, because as Queen of Alexandria, she cared for those people and their well being more than her own.
Except for those times, of course, where she wished she didn't. Where she wished for selfish things, and then she felt the stabs of guilt all over again -- for failing her country, for letting them all down. For risking herself when maybe she shouldn't have, but knowing that had she not tried, she'd only have been ashamed of her cowardice. What good was her heritage -- her summoning magic -- if she could not even use it to protect the people and things that she loved? But even in doing so, she'd caused them all more pain. The grief she'd inflicted on her people, on her friends, on Zidane.
It was these thoughts, dark and troubled as they were, that accompanied her and drove her to Madain Sari in the first place. She had been in the presence of Anima's Fayth before, had listened to her words even though she had never been granted the power of her Aeon, as Yuna and Rydia had. The words inscribed upon the walla itself would never change, and that could bring her peace, but it would not help her to move forward. She was torn, between Queen and Summoner, and now that she and Eiko were not the lone survivors of their kind, the importance of the Summoner's life and the Eidolons seemed even more important to her. She hoped, perhaps foolishly, that Anima might be able to guide her with some unknown wisdom.
As she passed through the stone arch entrance into the Eidolon wall, her eyes settled on the statue in the middle. Here, the song was strongest, echoing within the walls as an opera sung within an amphitheater might. In the reconstruction, this place alone remained untouched, for it's sanctity and importance to the tribe's history. For a moment, Dagger merely stood inside the wall, eyes closed, breathing in the dust. The words seemed not to want to form, and Anima sang on, as always, constantly. Haunting, comforting, unsettling, soothing.
"Anima," she ventured finally, taking a step closer. "I was wondering, if I might have a word with you."
The songs final notes wafted through the air. A moment of silence, and Dagger waited in anticipation, licking her dry lips.
And then the song began again. Dagger paused. Had she not been heard?
"Anima...?" she asked again, but the statue made no stir. No ghostly visage of a woman appeared, nor did the song cease. Dagger swallowed, her chest clenching uncomfortably.
It was too quiet. Had been too quiet since she'd woken up. What was missing?
"Please... I only want a moment," she tried again, clasping her hands in front of her chest, as if to pray, or beg or perhaps both. Still, no reply. Her heart sank, like a stone uncomfortably settling in the pit of her stomach. She recognized this feeling now. It was the same as back then...
Silence, and emptiness.
"...You can't hear me anymore, can you."
Progress: Complete
Summary: Uneasy after her revival at Iifa, Garnet goes to Madain Sari, to seek peace of mind at the Eidolon Wall, and ask Anima for guidance. She gets neither.
Location: Madain Sari, the Eidolon Wall
Date: September 10th, 1804
Warnings: None.
Madain Sari was unlike she remembered it. Dagger had heard about the Lunatic Pandora, had seen video of the massive thing looming over the old Summoner's Village, but it was completely different to see in person. The rubble that had once been an accepted part of the old, broken roads and paths had been cleared out. The ruins, once sad but somehow comforting, were being stripped down to their essence and built up again. There were moogles everywhere though that wasn't so different from before and a handful of construction workers who were being commissioned by the Regent in the rebuilding effort. It was slow going, and Dagger had heard rumors that some had been scared off by the Lunatic Pandora. Not that she blamed them... The once bright hot and desert-like feel of the village was now nearly snuffed in the monstrous shadow the foreign vessel cast. Dust coated her boots as she made her way through the village, tuning out the sounds of hammers and shovels, focusing her ears on the distant, haunting melody of Anima's Song. The Hymn of the Fayth, she'd heard it called, though the details of Spira's Summoners and Eidolons still eluded her.
As she walked the streets, winding her way past half-walls of fresh-laid bricks and mounds of cleared rocks, she tried to ignore the shame that settled over her, like a thick, smothering blanket. It had been months since she'd visited the Eidolon wall -- long before the reconstruction efforts had even begun. She silently thanked the neglected Eidolons that the builders around her did not recognize her face. She'd neglected her heritage for the sake of Alexandria, a sacrifice she would make over and over again, because it was her duty, because as Queen of Alexandria, she cared for those people and their well being more than her own.
Except for those times, of course, where she wished she didn't. Where she wished for selfish things, and then she felt the stabs of guilt all over again -- for failing her country, for letting them all down. For risking herself when maybe she shouldn't have, but knowing that had she not tried, she'd only have been ashamed of her cowardice. What good was her heritage -- her summoning magic -- if she could not even use it to protect the people and things that she loved? But even in doing so, she'd caused them all more pain. The grief she'd inflicted on her people, on her friends, on Zidane.
It was these thoughts, dark and troubled as they were, that accompanied her and drove her to Madain Sari in the first place. She had been in the presence of Anima's Fayth before, had listened to her words even though she had never been granted the power of her Aeon, as Yuna and Rydia had. The words inscribed upon the walla itself would never change, and that could bring her peace, but it would not help her to move forward. She was torn, between Queen and Summoner, and now that she and Eiko were not the lone survivors of their kind, the importance of the Summoner's life and the Eidolons seemed even more important to her. She hoped, perhaps foolishly, that Anima might be able to guide her with some unknown wisdom.
As she passed through the stone arch entrance into the Eidolon wall, her eyes settled on the statue in the middle. Here, the song was strongest, echoing within the walls as an opera sung within an amphitheater might. In the reconstruction, this place alone remained untouched, for it's sanctity and importance to the tribe's history. For a moment, Dagger merely stood inside the wall, eyes closed, breathing in the dust. The words seemed not to want to form, and Anima sang on, as always, constantly. Haunting, comforting, unsettling, soothing.
"Anima," she ventured finally, taking a step closer. "I was wondering, if I might have a word with you."
The songs final notes wafted through the air. A moment of silence, and Dagger waited in anticipation, licking her dry lips.
And then the song began again. Dagger paused. Had she not been heard?
"Anima...?" she asked again, but the statue made no stir. No ghostly visage of a woman appeared, nor did the song cease. Dagger swallowed, her chest clenching uncomfortably.
It was too quiet. Had been too quiet since she'd woken up. What was missing?
"Please... I only want a moment," she tried again, clasping her hands in front of her chest, as if to pray, or beg or perhaps both. Still, no reply. Her heart sank, like a stone uncomfortably settling in the pit of her stomach. She recognized this feeling now. It was the same as back then...
Silence, and emptiness.
"...You can't hear me anymore, can you."
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