Time and Tides Archives

It was like no place she'd ever seen before. Well, maybe a bit like Dollet, but not as nicely-kept, and nowhere near as high-tech as Esthar had proven to be. Everything here was gray and run-down, a sharp contrast to the bright pink of the sky that had threatened to blind her only moments before. Quistis dusted off either shoulder as she took a step back to appraise her surroundings, her eyes slowly adjusting.

There, in front of that building. Wasn't that the little girl who had gone missing? She'd only recently announced her return over the Mooglenet. What was her name? Marlene?

"Marlene!" Quistis waved, jogging towards where the girl stood.

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The Onion Knight dashed through the unfamiliar streets, sword drawn and ready to fight whatever had brought him here. When he saw Quistis and Marlene he dashed toward them, demanding answers from Quistis.

"What's going on? Where's Terra? Where- What is this place?"

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Quistis put both her hands up, alarmed by the barrage of questions from the unfamiliar boy. "I'm not sure what's going on, I just got here, too. I've never seen this place before in my life." She paused. She didn't know who Terra was, but...

"It looks like it's just the three of us for now. Maybe your friend will show up, too?"

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Marlene walked straight into her father's arms, hugging him tightly. Her expression changed from the happy look that she had had when she first saw Seventh Heaven, to that of a sad one. Barret had told her he was going away again. She had just got him back and he was going away again!

The world wasn't fair to her. Cloud and Tifa were still family, but this... this was her daddy. The big teddy bear that loved to hoist her up into the air and read her bedtime stories at night. He was her hero. He had taught her the meaning of family, about friends and staying true to yourself, even when faced with the hardships of the world.

"Do you have to go? You can stay here with us; Cloud and Tifa won't mind!"

Barret sighed gruffly. "You know I gotta, baby girl. Stuff still ain't right with the world, and I gotta make amends."

She pulled back, looking at him. "But... you guys fixed everything, didn't you? The bad guy's gone and the Planet's saved-"

Barret interrupted her. "Still lot of stuff wrong. I got things I gotta do, Marlene. I don't wanna go, but I've gotta."

Marlene sighed, reaching to give him another big hug. Deep down, she knew he was right... she just didn't want to believe it. She wanted the world to be perfect again. "Go be a hero, daddy. I'll be here when you get back, okay?"

Barret chuckled. "You take care of Cloud and Tifa. Don't let them get into any trouble, you hear? I'm countin' on ya."

Marlene nodded her head, bringing her fist up. "You can count on me!"

Barret stood, reaching down with his massive hand to rub her head. She new things would eventually be okay. Her daddy was on the job, and he never let her down, not once. She watched him give a hug to Tifa, parting kind words she didn't understand. A gruff slap to the back for Cloud, who muttered something.

Even as he walked out of Seventh Heaven's door, she didn't cry. Her bottom lip quivered, and she clenched her hands into tiny fists at her sides. Once the door was closed, she let the tears flow down her cheeks. She already missed him.

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The Onion Knight wasn't quite sure what was going on. He understood that something was happening but didn't know Marlene quite well enough to understand what. But the idea of talking to something that wasn't entirely there seemed almost- familiar. At least enough so that he didn't think to question it. At first, at least. The Onion Knight was very good at questioning things.

But he understood that she was crying. And he understood that maybe this was something he was supposed to do something about. Even if he wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.

"...are you okay?" He paused for a second, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do after showing concern. After a few seconds, and trying to remember whether he actually had a handkerchief (he didn't, of course) he held out the edge of his cloak. "Look, wipe your eyes. Just don't blow your nose on it or anything."

Edited Date: 2011-03-13 06:36 pm (UTC)

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Quistis looked bewildered as she witnessed Marlene talking to no one in particular -- as far as she could see, the three of them were the only ones present, though now and then she thought she could hear faint, distant snatches of unfamiliar voices. She shook her head. Must have been imagining things. There was nobody else there.

... oh. And now the girl was crying.

Hesitant, she reached out and carefully laid a hand on Marlene's shoulder. "I'm sure everything will be fine... we'll get back alright," she fretted, unsure of what the cause of Marlene's distress was. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked, echoing the boy beside her.

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It was only after the door closed and Marlene blinked her tears away that the memory began to fade, and she saw Onion Knight and Quistis. Confused? You bet.

"But I just saw..." Her daddy. He had been on Gaia for such a brief time that she was hardly able to see him. Without any words, Marlene reached out to take Onion Knight's cloak, wiping her tears away. Once she dropped it, she rubbed at her nose.

"I'm okay...but Onion Knight? Miss Quistis? What are you guys doing here?"

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"No idea. The sky flashed and then I was here. You don't know what's going on either?"

He looked around, trying to figure out what, exactly, the situation was. "This- this where you're from?"

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Quistis shook her head, a silent admission that she, too, had no idea as to how they'd been brought there. "It was the same for me. The sky grew suddenly bright, and before I could make any sense of it, I was here with you." She frowned, gently patting Marlene's head before drawing up to her full height to get a better look at their surroundings.

Which had changed drastically in the last few seconds, to her surprise. Instead of the dingy gray of a foreign city, she now saw the bright lights and familiar tile of Balamb Garden's central structure. Home? Really? Though she had regained some of her lost memories about Edea's house at the cape in Centra, Balamb Garden was the only real home she truly remembered.

"That's it for your directive. Get to Timber and bring him back," Quistis heard a familiar voice instruct her from behind. She turned to see Headmaster Cid standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, a stern expression on his face.

Oh. She'd come back to the day Seifer had broken out of solitary and taken off. ... that's right. He'd followed the group that had been deployed to Timber and raised a scene at the television station. She'd always felt his escape had been her fault. She had been charged with the matter of disciplining him after his behavior during the SeeD exam, and though she had not been directly involved with his escape, he was still her charge, and it was just so soon after having her license revoked.

This had been her chance to prove herself. She'd failed as an Instructor, but she refused to as a member of SeeD. By following Seifer to Timber, she could potentially stop him and keep any harm from coming to her home that might be caused by the backlash of his actions. It was a chance to prove her competence and show that she was just like any other SeeD, devoted to Garden and her duty to protect it and all those within.

"O-of course," she said finally, having been caught off-guard. "I won't let him besmirch the name of SeeD. You can count on me, Headmaster."

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No sooner than Marlene had calm down did the scenery change again... but it was somewhere she knew. She still didn't know Quistis as well as she should, so she didn't see what was going on.

Not wanting to get caught up in anything, she stayed close to Onion Knight. "Can you see what's going on?"

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He shook his head.

"...you think this is a trap? She's talking to someone who's not there. And so were you. ...maybe it's some kind of magic. Or a poison that's causing hallucinations. Or- no, if it was a poison we wouldn't be seeing the same places. Definitely magic."

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Quistis looked over her shoulder at her companions, their talk distracting her from saying anything further to Headmaster Cid -- where had he gone, anyway? He'd been there just a moment ago...

"There is someone there. Or there was. You can't see him?" It made sense, she supposed. They had been unable to see or hear the other side of the conversation Marlene had been having, as well. "... magic is certainly to blame. Whose, I wonder?"

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