Let the Memory Live Again

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Characters: Vayne, Rinoa, Zidane
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Trapped in Memoria are three potential enemies.
Location: Memoria
Date: February 1st, 1804
Warnings: Vayne? Memories of violence?

How peculiar. For a moment, Vayne could have sworn everything around him had turned bright and a shade of pink. Yet such made no sense whatsoever. Still, he could brook no complaints, as he immediately recognized where he stood. This was the Imperial Gardens in the Solidor estate, in the heart of Archades. Only for a brief moment was he struck with confusion as to how such could be, before an immense sense of satisfaction sunk in. He had been returned. Perhaps not to his Sky Fortress, but then, it seemed unfitting to begrudge a return to where he belonged. With any luck, that wretched Ondore and that shrewish princess were left behind in Gaia.

Gaia. He would not miss it. Except perhaps Garnet, but even she mattered little now that he was returned to Ivalice. There were more pressing matters at hand. Obliterating that insurgence over Rabanastre to begin with.

He strode across the Gardens with purpose, with a vague sense that something felt off. No servants or judges lingering nearby that he could see. The plants appeared different as well, but in a pleasant way. The trees stood in full greenery and the flowerbeds perfectly tidy, with nary a weed in evidence. Galbana lilies at the far end of the gardens graced the burbling fountain. Everything was indeed in order.

Or not. For there stood the Lady Rinoa and some short... person with whom Vayne was not familiar. A blond with a furred tail? How unusual. Still, they were in his home, and it would be impolite not to greet them. He would attempt to ascertain why they were present and then depart to handle business. Placing a hand on his chest, he dipped his head politely. "Lady Rinoa, it is a pleasure and an honor to welcome you to my home. You as well, sir."

Comments

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

No, no, no. Rinoa was not happy. First there had been that weird light, then she suddenly found herself in a strange garden (Time Compression, she thought, with a jolt of fear - was Ultimecia back?), then she realised that there was some weird-looking short guy with a monkey tail there too, and just as she was about to give the monkey guy a piece of her mind, just look who had to turn up.

She shrank back instinctively when he appeared. "Vayne! What have you - this is your home? You've kidnapped us!?"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Speaking of the monkey boy, Zidane had perched himself on the edge of one of the garden areas a few moments after he had appeared here, intent on getting the lay of the land, as it were. One second he'd been in Lindblum, and the next...here. With a strange girl, albeit a pretty one. If not for the fact that she looked like she was about to bite his head off, he probably would've tried to flirt with her.

Still, they were both saved by the arrival of another man, a tall, handsome man with lots of hair. Vayne. He'd seen a picture on the sky-phones, though he'd never actually met the man. Huh. He was taller than Zidane had expected.

"Yeah, what's going on? How'd you get us here?" He didn't introduce himself, not yet.

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

To the accusation of kidnapping, Vayne simple arched an eyebrow. He held up a hand to stay their words, choosing to remain calm rather than point out how utterly preposterous such an idea was. "I assure you, I am just as perplexed at your presence as I am my own-"

The words died on his lips as he heard a sound many years removed from him, and turned to find it.

Ah! There he was, the little scamp, running as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him away from his scolding nurse. Vayne chuckled under his breath at Larsa's antics. Only two and already a lively boy with a personality all his own. He made his excuses to the senator who had been trying to persuade him to pressure his father into action, grateful for the distraction from his introduction into politics.

He bent to scoop up the escapee Larsa and lifted the boy over his head, spinning him around twice, which drew elated laughter from the toddler. Lowering the boy into his arms, he held up a finger, to mock scold the youngest Solidor son. "Now Larsa, if you keep running from your nurse, Father's going to be cross." Still, he quite enjoyed the sheer adoration lavished on him by his little brother. Such a joy to be appreciated for more than a sharp mind for military maneuvers. Here was the one person in all of Ivalice who he shared mutual affection for, and for no reason other than just being brothers. Certainly he cared for his parents and elder brothers, but this late arrival to the family was his favorite.

The maid came huffing and panting behind Larsa, looking put out that Vayne was rewarding Larsa's antics with cuddling. "My Lord, he's overdue for a nap."

"I see. I'll take him then." That started Larsa squirming, trying to escape the impending nap and protesting very loudly that he wasn't tired. "Larsa, that's enough. Everyone needs their rest. Even you." He shifted the boy to sit on his shoulders, walking towards the Garden's arched exit. "But first, a ride through the house, hmm?"

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa stared blankly as Vayne began acting out a pantomime apparently to thin air.

"Vayne? Vayne, what are you doing!? Larsa isn't here, Vayne. Vayne! Hey!"

She chased after him as he began walking off, grabbing at his shoulder to no effect. Bewildered, Rinoa glanced back at the monkey boy.

"What's going on?"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane was about to say something in respond to Vayne when the man turned away and spoke to...nothing. He was silent, not moving from his perch until the other had turned away, not saying the same things Rinoa did, his mind racing. Larsa, Zidane didn't know him but obviously it was someone related to Vayne, a brother perhaps, a young one...

Whom neither he nor Rinoa could see. Well...crap.

"Memoria," he said softly, dropping down off the edge to walk towards Rinoa. "He's seeing something we can't, something that happened before." It was the only thing that made sense...and in a way, Zidane was almost grateful that it did. So much of what was going on was inexplicable, but this...he could deal with this.

"It's a castle, sort of. You see things from your past, just as you remember them. It's hard to tell they're not real, impossible sometimes. I don't know how we got here, but that must be it." He frowned faintly. "It's not dangerous, though there were monsters here. And the place didn't...change so much before." He waved a hand to indicate the location. "I don't know. He said you're Rinoa, right? I'm Zidane."

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Just as suddenly as the memory had sprung to life, it died away. Vayne paused mid-step, awash in confusion. He could have sworn for a moment that he'd been playing with Larsa in the Gardens. It had... felt so very real. Was he simply dreaming?

Zidane's voice broke him out of his thoughts. They were still here and he had clearly been off in a world all of his own. How odd. He and Larsa both were years removed from that time, a happier time. Before politics had turned their family into rivals under the same roof.

Turning to his guests, he dipped his head again, "I must apologize. I am not certain what just happened, but I would be remiss if I did not offer both accommodations and refreshment."

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa frowned at Zidane. "How do you know all this stuff?"

She was distracted by Vayne snapping out of it and becoming his usual courteous self again. "I don't want refreshment," she said. "I wanna go back!"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

"I was here before, a couple years ago. We were trying to stop Kuja," Zidane wasn't really sure he trusted what was going on...if only because Memoria had been so very good at playing tricks on everyone.

When Vayne seemed to tug himself out of his memory, Zidane shook his head at the taller man. "None of this is real, we're in your memory." Although this was a lot more...stable...than the visions had been, really. That was probably something to worry about. "It's very hard to tell the difference between memories and reality, so...you may want to brace yourselves."

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Vayne took a long moment to consider what this monkey-person was saying. He was disturbed, and quite put out, by the information, yet he remained stoic, not betraying his thoughts by his expression. He wasn't entirely sure he believed the stranger either, although he could not deny his experience was strange enough. And were it true, that this was simply a memory, he quite wanted out of it. There were ample memories he would just as soon leave in the past where they belonged.

"Since you seem to be informed as to our whereabouts, perhaps you could direct us to the exit then. I would know how this has come to be, if you know, as well."

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Zidane's explanation made a strange kind of sense, but Rinoa was still confused. "If this is Vayne's memory, then why are we here?"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

"South," he shrugged. "or down. When we were here before we had to move up to get where we wanted to go, so down should get us to the exit. Although it could have changed, I don't...really know why we would even be here." He shook his head, frowning.

"Oh, we can see where they are. Kinda." Zidane shrugged. "When I was here before, the memories, the locations showed up for everyone. But the details, the people and words and stuff, only the person who had seen it before could see it."

He remembered how confused poor Quina had been when all that happened. "If we move around, we'll probably run into my memories, and yours too." He waved a hand towards Rinoa.

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

How unpleasant. He had no difficulty in walking through the memories of others, if he must, but no true desire to relive his own. Well enough that they could not see them at least. Vayne knew it would be best to exit, quickly, before more trickery began.

"This way," he told them, motioning towards a doorway at the far end of the gardens. And without another word, took to walking there.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa chased after him, more because she couldn't see any other way to go than because she really wanted to do what he said.

"So... What we just saw... That was you playing with Larsa when he was little, right? You must have really cared about him."

She caught up, ducking through the doorway ahead of Vayne, and then forgot what she had just said. Zidane had told them to expect to run into their own memories. Hearing that wasn't quite the same as actually seeing it.

From the open air of the gardens, Rinoa suddenly found herself in a dark and scarily familiar room. Inside the Sorceress Memorial. The machine that had trapped her, contained the sorceress-

She was inside that machine again, suspended at the centre of a metal arch. Trapped of her own free will. Then, a disturbance. The flash of a sword, threads snapping, falling, falling...

And Squall caught her. Her knight had come to save her. Rinoa hugged him tight, tears of joy squeezing from her eyes. She had never felt so happy-

She snapped out of the memory, blinking. "Oh... That was strange."

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane followed after them both, at first trying to make a point of remembering where they went but what was the point? It wasn't as though Memoria wouldn't change it on them if it wanted to. Man he hated this place.

"I think we should..." he cut off as the next room was very obviously different from the last, watching as the young woman hugged someone who very much wasn't there, his eyes slightly narrowed. He didn't say anything, he wasn't going to pry on memories that weren't his.

When she came out of it, he offered her a bit of a grin. "You kinda...get used to it. Which is pretty weird." He shrugged at the both of them.

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Vayne was on the verge of replying to Rinoa that it had indeed been Larsa and that he still cared a great deal for his brother, both then and now. Yet it seemed entirely a moot point when from all appearances, she seemed to have taken leave of her senses. Realizing he must have looked just as foolish, he turned his back, giving her privacy to experience her past without an audience.

Once she spoke to them again, only then did he turn to face her, and speak to the other member of their traveling party present. "I will take you at your word." Vayne didn't much care for getting used to it, but accepted that adjustment would come from exposure to the unusual.

Resuming the previous conversation could wait until he was certain that she would be aware enough of her surroundings to hear the answer to her query.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Oh, God," said Rinoa. "Oh, God. That must have looked so weird to you guys. I don't know how I feel about you seeing that... Well, at least it was a good memory. Like yours, huh?"

She looked at Vayne, wondering how much he would be willing to tell her. His memory had seemed harmless though. If Zidane or Vayne figured out just why Squall had rescued her from this room... Rinoa shuddered. She really didn't want them to find that out.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane gave Rinoa a moment or two to adjust from her memory before he turned to start moving in the direction he was pretty sure they needed to go. "Sometimes they're good memories, sometimes they're not. It...I guess it's pretty random? Last time one was from my childhood and another was from when bahamut attacked Alex-"

As he spoke, Zidane pushed the door at the far end of the 'room' open...and stepped out onto a large wooden stage, falling silent as he did so. The stage was set on the rear of a massive airship, and the backdrop was that of a slowly rising dawn with two moons hanging in the distance, though it was obviously day everywhere beyond the stage. Beyond the stage were rows and rows of stone and wooden seats, and past them the front of Alexandria castle, and the viewing area for the Queen and her guards.

Zidane's whole demeanor changed as he stood there, from one of relaxation to concern as he moved across the stage slowly, pausing to stare up at the distant false sky.

"The time of our departure is long past...Where is Cornelia?" He spoke in the fake-whispers that were used so often in plays to convey inner dialogue, his body turned away from the front of the stage without actually looking away from it.

He did not turn as Cinna moved up behind him, "Marcus, the ship soon embarks! Board ye this boat alone, and peace could come to both kingdoms, as Blank so said. Speak, Marcus!"

"She told me that she could not live without me..."

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

"I assure you, Lady Rinoa, that I saw nothing that you would not wish to be seen." That much was entirely true, as he had turned away as quickly as possible. However, to dispel her discomfort and as a distraction from their change in location to Alexandria, he issued a brief nod. "Mine was indeed a most pleasant memory. Larsa when he was two. He was something of an escape artist then as well. He gave some number of his nurses quite the fright with his disappearing acts."

A rare smile flitted on his lips at the memory. He was not about to reveal the bittersweet timing of it. That it was mere weeks before he would find himself tasked with being his elder brothers' executioner. Those were the happy days when their family was whole and not a political arena of its own.

Meanwhile, Zidane appeared quite engrossed in what he was experiencing and yet again, he wondered had he looked so foolish?

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

How would you know? Rinoa thought mulishly. But she couldn't help smiling back when Vayne described Larsa's antics as a toddler.

"He sounds adorable. No different, then."

She tilted her head to watch Zidane, amused by his odd manner of speech. "He's starting to sound like you, Vayne."

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

As Zidane stands there, the stage got a bit brighter, and a number of birds appeared on the false evening sky, as if the dawn had come.

"So the sun is our enemy too. The eastern sky grows bright..." He took a few steps towards the false horizon. "Will we not spread our wings as yonder birds in joyous flight?"

"Hark, Marcus! They cannot wait any longer!" Cinna turned and walked of the stage. "The ship departs!"

Zidane stood silent for several moments, "Could she have betrayed me?" A pause before he turned and walked to the center of the stage. "Nay. Ne'er would my love speak false. I must have faith! She shall appear if I only believe...as the sun lends me no ear, I pray instead to the twin moons."

His voice got louder as he spoke, turning to face the false moons in the backdrop. "I beseech thee, wonderous moonlight! Grant me my only wish!" He turned then to face the front of the castle and the royal balcony, a flourished move, arms yanked out as though tugging something heavy off his shoulders.

"Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"

He was still grinning a moment later as the vision passed, though it faded into a puzzled sort of smile after a moment. "Okay...that was weird..."

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Vayne's attention was drawn to Zidane acting out his memory. As he listened, the words became familiar to him. He had seen this play during Garnet's birthday celebrations. Rinoa was correct, the language was very similar indeed to what he was accustomed to in Ivalice. "Had he but the accent, I might well believe him to be Archadian," he replied to Rinoa, somehow amused by her observation.

However, he was fairly certain the female lead's name was not Dagger. How unusual. One of his eyebrows quirked upward in question, making him look very much similar to his brother when he responded with like behavior.

"An excellent performance, if I may say. I had not realized you were a mummer."

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"That was really good acting," Rinoa agreed, applauding him. "Especially with nobody there. So we definitely can't see each other's memories... That makes sense."

It was also a relief. Rinoa would rather look weird talking to herself than have her most cherished memories on show for all to see.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane twisted back around to face them, smiling sheepishly and reaching up to scratch at the back of his head. "Thanks. I'm kind of...a little bit of everything, I guess. Whatever the situation calls for." He shrugged, letting his arm drop back down to his side.

"This is different from last time, though. I don't remember it being so...intense. I could see everything, the crowd and my bros and Dagger and Rusty..."

Only heard by Zidane

[cycleofchaos.livejournal.com]

You still understand nothing.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane froze up at that voice for a long few seconds before he twisted around. What the...That can't be right...

Well. Dagger had said she thought he was still alive.

"Hey! Is that you Old Man?"

Yes, Zidane is currently speaking to the ceiling.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa stared at him. Zidane was apparently talking to thin air again despite having just snapped out of it. "What? Is he seeing another memory again?"

Heard Only by Zidane / Done For Now

[cycleofchaos.livejournal.com]

Why do you continue to defy your fate?

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Vayne took a step closer to Rinoa. There was something off about his response and he would protect the young woman, should the other have delved into madness. "Perhaps so. Shall we wait for him?"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

"I don't have a fate!" He shouted, sounding rather annoyed, and then he shook his head, not bothering to wait around for the voice to speak again.

"We should keep trying to find a way out of here." He muttered, turning to look at them. "There are some people I need to talk to."

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Was that another memory, Zidane?" Rinoa asked. She was curious about why he seemed to have experienced two in a row when she and Vayne hadn't.

My Dearest Wish

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

The next 'room' they stepped into was one familiar to Rinoa. They were in the quad of Balamb Garden, near the stage where Selphie and her friends loved to perform.

Rinoa was surrounded by her friends' beaming faces, hugging her each in turn.

"I know!" she said ecstatically. "It worked! I'm no longer a sorceress!"

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Vayne found this new location intriguing. He had never stepped inside the SeeD Garden in the whole time they had been in his employ, so had no way to place it in anyway, aside from being somewhere familiar to Rinoa.

He began to be wearied by the nonsense of things happening not seen by the eye. Still, her words puzzled him. 'No longer a sorceress'? He had seen her display of magical abilities at the ball, and could not fathom why she sounded so elated to be rid of a practical skill.

Yet he betrayed nothing of his thoughts in either word or expression.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

"No, it wasn't a memory. Garland was being cree..." Zidane trailed off as Rinoa got that 'not here anymore' look on her face as a memory kicked in. "This is getting annoying." He decided with a sigh.

He glanced over at Vayne, then settled his gaze back on Rinoa, watching her...being rather thrilled? Well. That wasn't so bad, at least. Good memories were better than bad, right? Hopefully this would keep up.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

The 'memory' faded and Rinoa stared at the two men as realisation kicked in. It hit her all at once, like a punch to the stomach: first, it hadn't been real. She was still a sorceress. Second, Zidane and Vayne had just witnessed her admitting that she was a sorceress. And third... No, no need for a third. The first two were bad enough.

Overwhelmed, Rinoa sank to her knees, tears flooding her eyes. "It's not... That wasn't a memory! Why... Why did I have to see that?"

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Vayne knelt beside Rinoa, pulling a handkerchief from a pocket and offering it to her. Her distress puzzled him greatly, much as her earlier joy did. He glanced to Zidane for an explanation at her claim that it wasn't a memory at all, then returned his attentions to her.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane frowned as the girl came out of it, his eyes slightly narrowed. Ignoring the fact that he didn't know what a sorceress was, the fact that it wasn't a memory was...confusing.

He probably would've been more focused on it if the whole world didn't suddenly shift and swirl around them. What had been a stage before was now the deck of an airship, high in the sky. It resembled the theater ship in many ways, except it seemed somehow more...houseish. There were things scattered around the deck, toys and books and balls, some clothing hung on a wire that stretched out from two poles on the deck.

Zidane immediately began moving towards the front of the ship, and his confused face now had a big grin on it. "Hey, Dagger! We're coming up on Iifa again if you wanna see it." Indeed, in the distance the massive tree plotted out the sky...though it looked dead again, as it had three years ago. And all the mist seemed to be gone as well...

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa took the handkerchief and blew her nose noisily, looking up at Vayne with somewhat confused gratitude. "Thank you... Oh, I made it all snotty." She hiccuped. "I don't know why I'm so emotional. That was just... It felt so real."

She jumped as the scenery shifted again, then stayed frozen, watching with wide eyes as Zidane went through whatever he was going through... He sounded happy, at least.

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

Again with the 'Dagger.' Vayne wasn't stupid and realized Zidane was referencing Garnet. Clearly their relationship was close, and not in a way that the emperor found pleasing at all. He'd have to be eliminated. He wasn't precisely keen on having the surroundings change so frequently on him either. At least this one appeared provencial enough that he was confident that it was not a lifestyle that Garnet would ever embrace.

Yet Vayne looked to Rinoa, with a slight shake of his head. "It is no difficulty. Please, keep it, you have more need of it than I. Are you alright, Lady Rinoa?"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Garnet came out from inside the house-ship, dressed as always in her orange tights and shirt. A boy of about five follows after her, with black hair...and a tail. He doesn't seem very interested in what's going on though, bounding away behind the building.

"See? There's Iifa. I called Rusty this morning and told him we were probably gonna stop here and see the Guado before we headed back, I know you said somethin' about wanting to talk to them about trade stuff. Figure we can hang around till tomorrow, the kids will wanna see the lifestream anyway..."

He was at the prowl of the ship, chattering away in fact, for a good minute or two, and the topics flop from rather mundane things like kids and plays to all sorts of things about power. Just because Zidane doesn't want to be in charge didn't mean he couldn't handle it, after all.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Rinoa sniffed, scrunching the handkerchief up and tucking it away. "It's cruel, this."

She could have gone on, but she didn't want to confide in Vayne, as kind as he was being right now. Instead, she distracted herself by listening to Zidane.

"He's talkative, isn't he?" Rinoa said, managing a smile. "He keeps mentioning Dagger... Is that his girlfriend?"

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I believe so," Vayne answered in an even, nonplussed tone. "I would say he's quite fond of her. A sentiment I must confess to understand all too well myself." He extended a hand to Rinoa to assist her to her feet, sparing a glance to Zidane from time to time.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

When Zidane finally came out of the odd memory, he seemed completely puzzled, frowning at the ship where Dagger had been standing moments before. "That...wasn't a memory." He said, voice slightly distant as he turned back to the others.

"This place is acting strange."

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa took Vayne's hand to help her stand up, though she shivered at his touch. "What do you mean, understand all too well yourself?" she asked, stepping away from him and folding her arms.

Zidane's words only got a shrug from Rinoa. This whole place was strange.

[dynast-king.livejournal.com]

"Nothing too complex. There is a woman of whom I have grown quite fond. I have hopes to make her my wife." On the outside, it was little more than a simple response to Rinoa's question. Internally, he was subtly trying to needle the monkey-man. A touch without stepping out of line and drawing Garnet's ire.

"Shall we move on?" he asked of them both, making a motion in what appeared to be the direction they had been headed previously.