Time and Tides Archives

Terra arrived a few moments after Rydia had spoken to the guard, rubbing her arms with her hands to kill the last of the chill as she paused, spotting the other green haired woman nearby.

"Rydia," she said with a smile as she approached, coming to a stop a few feet away and tucking her arms behind her back. She noticed the absence of the guard for a moment. "Are we allowed to go in, or are we waiting?"

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After a short wait, a number of moogles entered the room, more or less announcing Eiko's arrival. It seemed the little girl couldn't go anywhere without a good dozen of them around her, but honestly, she liked it that way. It reminded her of the good parts of Madain Sari, and for the most part, she considered the moogles part of her family. Because, well, they were!

She bounced into the room in high spirits, just ahead of her guardian whom she was growing to really like, even if he was gruff and quiet. She'd finally quit giving the man trouble once she got back to Lindblum, because being away from home was a scary experience, and he'd been worried about her.

"Hi!" she called out, waving at the other summoners, before looking over her shoulder for Auron.

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Eiko didn't have to look far. He was there, right behind her and determined to keep the child in his sights. He wasn't fond of the idea of losing her again. Even though she had been quite the handful originally, he found he had grown fond of her. She had a certain charm and it reminded him in some ways of Jecht.

And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Not all the time, at least.

He entered the room after Eiko, silent and lingering by the door. He wasn't there to meddle. Just to keep an eye on his charge.

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Rydia turned and smiled warmly, glad that Terra arrived and she had more to do now than stare at the walls. "We're waiting. The guard's going to retrieve Eiko. And yes, I did ask the Regent first." She grinned at that. "He's fine with it, but I understand she'll have a guard with her."

The words were barely out of her mouth when she heard Eiko's voice...and all the 'kupo's. Turning towards her, she grinned. "Hello, Eiko! Ready to go? Hello, sir." She nodded at Eiko's guardian. There wasn't likely to be any danger where they were going, but it wouldn't hurt to have him along, just in case.

Edited Date: 2009-11-23 04:52 am (UTC)

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"Well, she is nearly a princess," Terra nodded at the fact that Eiko would have a guard along...although part of her was a bit miffed that the Regent did not think she or Rydia were protection enough. Terra was one of the most powerful warriors her planet had ever seen! Harumph.

None of this was showing on her face when Eiko and her swarm of moogles and Auron arrived, of course. Instead she just smiled brightly at Eiko as Rydia asked her if she were ready to go, and turned her attention to Auron. "Hello, I'm Terra and this is Rydia. It's nice to meet you."

She would've said hi to the moogles too but she could never tell them apart.

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"I'm ready!" Eiko announced with a nod. There was a chorus of inquisitive 'kupos' from the moogles. "I'm going to see an eidolon. I can play later, okay?" Because being as summmoner was serious business. Almost as serious as getting out of that geography report.

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He nodded toward Terra when she told him their names. It wasn't the Regent's idea for him to come along. Auron simply didn't know Rydia or Terra well enough to let Eiko traipse around town with them without him. He was her guardian after all and what kind would he be if he let her go?

He straightened, from where he was leaning against the wall and waited for them to go ahead of him.

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"Good! Let's get started, then." Rydia smiled at the moogle and turned to head out, seeing no reason to delay when everyone was gathered and ready. She knew Lindblum well enough by now to navigate around it and at least get them going the right direction. Terra and Eiko could take it from there, since they had actually seen the place they were headed.

Speaking of which.... "The Pinnacle Rocks...what is that area like? Why was Ramuh drawn there? Or was that always his home?"

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Terra seemed a bit thrown by the fact that Auron didn't offer his name, but she let it pass for now. Instead she just nodded when Rydia suggested they leave and started off with her, her eyes considering Eiko and her guardian as they went. Eiko was easy to like, but then, she was a friendly nine year old, so that wasn't a surprise. Auron was just...quiet. Hmm.

"When I was there, there were a number of levels, and a little stream, and a cave I didn't go into..." She offered at Rydia's question. "I don't know why Ramuh likes it there, though."

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Eiko was more than content to tag along, talking summons the whole way. "I'm not sure, since he's really more of Dagger's eidolon, but the legend places him there." And that of course necessitated a rather factual explanation of how eidolons were born from legend and that legends were born from eidolons. It was doubtless a complicated and confusing cycle, but it all made sense to her.

After a thoughtful pause, she glanced at Auron and commented, "But Yuna's summons are different. So are yours, Rydia. What about you Terra?"

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He caught Eiko's glance and turned his head in another direction. He wasn't going to explain Yuna's summons. She didn't even have them anymore. Besides, he didn't have much to say about them. Those summons, they had been lies. Lies he didn't really care to repeat.

Edited Date: 2009-11-26 07:29 am (UTC)

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Rydia nodded at Terra's description and paused to hear Eiko's lesson about her Eidolons. She quickly tuned out their surroundings, only vaguely paying attention as they headed down the street that would take them to the appropriate exit.

She turns her attention back to Terra as Eiko asks her question, already knowing bits from Locke. He had surprisingly offered such information, back when she was fretting about the fate of her Eidolons. However, Terra's bound to have more to say on the subject.

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Terra didn't answer for a few moments after Eiko asked, her eyes distant. "Eidolons...espers on my world. They were another race, a magical race. They lived in their own little world, cut off from the human one. But they weren't immortal, they weren't gods or spirits or anything like that. When they die they turn into magicite and can be summoned when someone uses the stone. They shared names of some of the legends here, Odin and Ramuh and Ifrit and Shiva."

She slid her hand into her collar and tugged out the magicite pendant that hung there. "This was one. It...he was my father." A little smile, almost nervous. "But I don't know if I can still summon him here. I haven't tried."

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The little summoner listened to Terra's explanation, surprisingly quiet and somber given her lively personality. The shared names didn't surprise her too much as she'd had time to talk summons with other summoners like Rydia and Seymour. Still, her little eyes fixed on the pendant when it was brought forth.

Stepping closer, she got up on her tiptoes and asked quite politely, "Can I talk to him, please?" Oh wait, was I supposed to say 'May I?" As much as she was itching to get closer to the stone, if it held Terra's father, it was rude to just walk up and start talking.

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Auron lingered behind the women and child. He wanted to be inconspicuous. And he didn't have much of an opinion to offer on the subject of summons. So he stayed behind and hoped that the old adage 'out of sight, out of mind' would prove true. But he was careful to keep Eiko in his sights, no matter how far behind them he fell.

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"Maybe we should do that outside the city. We're almost out." Rydia shared Eiko's curiosity, but that kind of conversation was probably best away from the crowds. They were almost there, though.

Upon exiting the city, she nodded to Eiko and glanced to Terra. It was really up to the latter if she wanted this to happen. She remembered Terra's earlier hesitation well enough, and there was a sympathetic look at that, certainly not pushing for it if the idea made her uncomfortable.

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Terra didn't quite seem to know what to say to Eiko's request, she just held the gem in her hand as they moved out of the city, and once they were clear she paused, studying the tiny summoner.

From what she understood, summoners on this world were a race, and Eiko was the last of them. So...it made sense, in a way, to let her look at the gem. "I haven't tried to summon him. I...don't even know if it will let me, here..." She said softly. She'd tried to speak to him a handful of times but even back home his answers had never been guaranteed.

"You have to be very careful with him, please." She said softly, but she gave a little smile as she undid the necklace from around her neck and held it out to Eiko.

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Eiko took the pendant in her hand with as much reverence as she exhibited around any other eidolons. For one so young, her devotion could be seen as something of a surprise.

Cradling the stone in her hands, she looked at the stone, head turning back and forth as she listened, a little nod from time to time. The benefit of having her horn allowed her to talk to eidolons on a level that it appeared no one else could manage. Their conversation involved Terra and her mother, and then the state of Gaia, the other eidolons Eiko knew, the name similarity to Eiko's Madeen, the fate of the summoner's village and the homework the child was shirking.

In fact, she was so engrossed to talking to the eidolon in the stone, she nearly forgot everyone else was there. Finally she looked up and smiled at Terra, holding out the necklace. "He's still there. He'd like to visit sometime."

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Auron's pace had quickened somewhat and he managed to catch them when he caught sight of Eiko conversing with the stone. He idly wondered if talking with summons on Gaia was anything like speaking to the fayth back home. Braska never did talk in length about what went on in the chamber and there he was, wondering if it were anything like this.

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Once Eiko took hold of the pendant, Rydia's eyes did not leave the young girl. She paused, watching her intently. Patience wasn't normally a strong virtue of hers, but anything regarding Eidolons was bound to keep her attention, and she had no desire to interrupt Eiko's conversation with Terra's father.

When it ended, she darted a glance at Terra and smiled. "I'm glad you were able to reach him, Eiko." She didn't ask to see the Eidolon -Esper- though--likely Terra would want his reemergence to be a private one, and they were gathered to see Ramuh, anyway.

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Terra was completely silent as she watched Eiko seemingly talking to her father through the magicite shard. She wasn't even breathing at all, just...watching, waiting for what she assumed would be some horrible disappointment.

When Eiko offered the gem back, Terra reached out to take it without saying anything, just looking at it in her hand for what felt like a long time. "Okay." She finally said, turning to smile at Eiko. It was a small smile, but her eyes were bright, almost thrilled really. She probably would've said thank you if not for how distracted she was.

She turned away then, carefully reattaching the chain around her neck and slipping the gem back under her shirt.

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Terra studied the stone for such a long time, for a moment Eiko thought she was talking to Maduin herself, only the little summoner couldn't hear any conversation at all. She glanced to both Rydia and Auron, checking to see if she'd done something wrong. Adults were fussy about things she didn't understand sometimes. But when Terra finally smiled, the young summoner nodded once, causing her blue hair to swish into her face.

"I want to paint him on the Eidolon Wall, okay?" That'd mean needing to see him summoned, which was something Terra appeared to be hesitant about. The little girl really didn't understand why though. She was still fascinated by the idea of having an eidolon for a parent.

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Rydia's expression wasn't disapproving, though she darted a quick glance to Eiko at mention of the Eidolon Wall. She didn't want the half-esper woman to feel pressured, even though Eiko obviously meant well. "Well, that's up to Terra. Shall we continue?"

Her mind turned to Ramuh once more. Little could deter her from focusing on him now, and if they followed the pathway, they ought to reach him soon. The summoner tried to restrain her giddiness, but it wasn't easy.

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Terra did seem rather uncertain at Eiko's request, but she didn't refuse. "I'll think about it," was the best she could offer. Part of her wanted to run away and summon her father immediately, somewhere quiet and alone, but they were out here to do something, so she just filed it away for later. She could break away from them on the way back.

"I saw Ramuh about a hundred meters from here," she said, pointing up into the paths of Pinnacle Rock. "Just around the bend there."

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Ramuh. Certainly not an aeon he had ever heard of. But then again, this world was full of strange things he had never heard of. So he wasn't going to say anything. He would just wait and see what was going to happen. But he couldn't help but wonder how safe this place was. Was it a really a place for a child?

Even if Eiko had the talent back in Spira, she would never be allowed to undertake a pilgrimage. She was far too young and had a full life to live. Not that those in Spira had much of a life to begin with. But still.

Be looked past where Terra had pointed and nodded, before speaking for the first time since this trip began. "I can wait here, if you'd rather go up alone."

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Under normal circumstances, Eiko wouldn't have been out of Madain Sari yet. The tribe had rules that summoners could not leave until they were sixteen years of age. Long enough for them to grow some maturity and have a sufficient bond with the eidolons to ensure their safety. All that had changed when an eye in the sky had demolished the village, wiping out the population.

In the back of her mind, Eiko knew that just being out and about was a big enough deal. Yet the temptation to race ahead of the other summoners, and Auron, was too great to resist. "I'll go look. You come too, Auron!"

There were some gaping holes in Eiko's understanding of Spira's summoners, the result of adults not sharing whole stories of how the process worked. But it served to puzzle the child why her guardian was hesitant to join in.

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