Final Fantasy [Begins]

[ChobiChibi]

Nova Myst

He was actually quite looking forward to going home. Alright, so it wasn’t ideal that everyone else was coming with them, but Eden was right. They needed to rest, and then figure out how to sort this mess out somewhere where their conversations couldn’t be overheard.

Nova tried to check his phone for the time, but his battery had died at some point along the line. It was clearly the early hours of the morning by the looks of things, and clearly not the same evening that they’d disappeared on. Most people from Alexandria visit Ramblum for the Parade of Lights, it would be unusual for there to be this many people out drunk in Alexandria for that festival.

It was then he realised he still had his sword in his hand, so he quickly folded it back down and sheathed it. No monsters to fight here.

As the siblings began to lead them to their home, Nova checked to make sure they were all following. Sure enough, Kite was being stubborn and refused to leave. “I gotta sort Kite out, I’ll catch up with you, Eden.”

She sighed, but nodded. She didn’t seem to want to argue, but to be honest, she looked exhausted. Maybe she trusted his intentions for once? Probably not, but where else other than home did he have to go at this time of night?

As Nova approached, Kite refused to look at him. “Look, I know you’re mad at me. But you’re in a foreign city with nowhere to go, so please just stay at my house tonight because there’s no transport back to Ramblum until the morning, and I can’t drive you.” His bike was still in Ramblum, and knowing his luck it had probably either been stolen or destroyed by the goblins. “Please?”

It took a few moments for Kite to respond, but at least it was positive. “Alright, but don’t talk to me. I don’t wanna hear any more of your bullshit.”

Fine... Okay, maybe now’s not the best time to explain everything. They hurried to catch up with everyone, and then walked together. “I am sorry, though, Kite...”

“I said don’t talk to me.”

The rest of their walk home wasn’t very eventful. Everyone was tired, so there wasn’t a lot of conversation between them. As they reached their house, Eden stopped at their front door, looking back at Nova expectantly. He swiped a card through a reader to turn the alarm off and unlocked the door, switching the lights on.

“Okay, guided tour is gonna be quick, cos I wanna crash, so essentials only. This is the lounge, where I will be sleeping on the couch again.” He pointed right. “That way is the kitchen, help yourselves to whatever you want.”

He couldn’t help but notice that they all seemed to be gawking as he took them upstairs. Had they really never been in a house like this before? Sometimes, he forgot how lucky he was with his upbringing...

There were many pictures on the wall. All of them fairly old, it wasn’t like Eden or Nova to display new ones. He wondered if any of them were paying attention to the fact there was another sister in most of them. They probably weren’t even looking, to be honest, they all seemed like they just wanted to sleep.

“Alex, you can have my room, I’ll find you a duvet since mine’s on the sofa.” He opened the first door on the left and turned on the light. Thankfully it was fairly tidy since he hadn’t been around to mess it up. “The next door down is a bathroom. Jin, you can take the one after that. Eden’s is opposite, so Markus and Kite, you can fight amongst yourselves for the other two rooms.”

As they moved to get themselves settled, Nova managed to get back downstairs and come back with a spare duvet before they’d sorted themselves out. Jin and Eden had obviously taken their rooms, Alex was waiting for his return, but Kite and Markus seemed to be taking their time with picking rooms.

“Here.” He followed Alex into his room, laying out the duvet for her. “Um, I just need to grab a few things.”

He rummaged through some drawers for some clean clothes and pyjamas, when Alex stood next to him and pointed at a photo in front of them. “Is she another sister?” She said quietly.

It was of himself and Kara on Ramblum beach earlier in the summer when he’d managed to convince her to join them on a little family outing. He was giving her a piggy-back with the intention of throwing her in the sea; Eden had somehow managed to capture the exact moment when she’d given up trying to steer him away and had thrown her arms in the air, ready to bring him down with her. “What makes you think that?”

“She looks too old to be Eden, but too young to be your mother...”

There was no fooling Alex. “Her name’s Kara, she doesn’t live here anymore, but you might get to meet her soon.” He finished what he was doing and headed out of the room. “Sweet dreams.”

“Nova, wait!”

He turned back to face her to be greeted by a hug, a gesture that he gladly returned. “I’ll still be here in the morning, y’know...”

They could hear Kite grumbling something before slamming whichever bedroom door that he’d just picked. Nova sighed as Alex let go. “Goodnight, Nova.”

He closed the door for her, only to find Markus still stood there. What was with him today? Normally they got on just fine... “Are you waiting for me to go so you can attempt to woo Eden?”

“No.”

“Whatever, Markus, just don’t go pestering her. She doesn’t need you right now.”

“I could say the same about you and Alex.”

There it was. For a brief moment that irritating smug look took over, before going back to the serious face. He wanted to make some kind of clever retort so badly, but they were interrupted.

“You, in that room. You, downstairs.” Eden commanded from the other end of the corridor. “If either of you protest, I will end you.”

Thankfully Nova knew when it wasn’t worth irritating Eden any further, so without so much as a glare, he made his way back to the sofa. Well, he would have if he hadn’t made a quick detour to charge his phone and then go through the wall-length glass doors out onto the balcony that overlooked most of Alexandria.

He sat cross-legged on the floor, just watching the world go by. He was alone for a while, until a steaming mug of hot chocolate with a couple of marshmallows floating around appeared in his line of vision. He looked up to see his sister sipping from a second mug, waiting.

“Thanks.” He smiled at her as he took it from her. She sat next to him and they sat together in silence, until Eden had finished her drink and decided to use Nova’s shoulder as a pillow. As much as he wanted to talk about the events of the day, he knew that she really didn’t. He put his arm around her and they sat for a little while longer before he spoke again. “Are we going to see Kara tomorrow?”

“Yeah... This isn’t something we should hide from her.”

“Good. I miss her.”

“It’s not really going to be a social visit, Nova.”

“No, maybe not.” He chuckled as Eden yawned. “Go to bed, we can worry about that in the morning.”

They went inside without another word. He waited for her to go upstairs before changing into his PJs, rescuing his little baby chocobo from his jacket pocket and cocooning himself in his duvet on the sofa.

---
So just FYI, Jin is staying in Kara's old bedroom, Markus has ended up in their parents' old bedroom, and Kite is in the guest room. Yes because they have a guest room XD Off the balcony, there is a flight of stairs that takes you to their garden. It's not very big. Opposite to the kitchen, there's a study with a piano in it. Most of the pictures I mentioned were of the kids when they were 17, 13 and 9 respectively, or younger (that's if Kara is indeed 27 now, I can't remember. Sie? XD) and some are of their parents (who are dead, if you didn't remember).

Other than that... Have fun exploring their house 8D I dare any of you to wake Nova up in the morning XD *scurries off to bed*

[Samchu]

Markus
~~~~~~

He sat down on the edge of the bed feeling irritated and stiff. It didn’t bother him that Eden had ordered him in here – he was used to her sending him away – but something else was getting to him; something that was causing him to clash with Nova. He’d never had any problems with the kid before but for some reason…

He shifted to make himself more comfortable and hissed as pain shot up his right side. Kite’s hammer, the one he’d first landed on during their arrival in the fal’cie’s lair, had done more damage to his body than the beating Eden’s friend-turned-monster had managed to enact. He pulled up his shirt and tentatively touched the swelling, flinching at the pain he was inflicting on himself. “That’s gonna sting for a while.” He glanced quickly about the room knowing that he wouldn’t find anything to ease his discomfort. That is the terrible thing about hope. Faint though it might be, it will always find a way to make you try.

There was nothing to be found at a glance and he didn’t dare go searching through the belongings of another person, especially not when he knew those belongings belonged to Eden’s parents, so he sat, alone in the dark, and mused over his situation. It was strange how quickly everything had changed. He’d gone to sleep excited for his trip and anxious about what he would he would say to Eden and now…now he was the doomed puppet of a fal’cie.

He removed his right arm guard and with his thumb, traced the brand on his forearm. It just sat there, a blaring symbol of the curse now set upon him. He was no expert on the subject of l’cie but he knew enough of them to understand the fate that awaited him. Fulfill the wishes of the fal’cie and be immortalised in crystal, or fight, and become a monster. Death lay at the end of each path. Not his, but the lives of countless innocents. And one way or another, he would be the cause of their end.

I won’t let it happen. I won’t be the cause of that much pain. I won’t let that fal’cie make a monster of me. He stared down at his brand, pouring his thoughts into it, hoping, in some small part, that his rebellion of will would reach the thing responsible for his damnation. I will fight you. With every day you have left me I will resist the death you wish me to bring. And when those days end, when the last of me is fading, then I will take a life. But that life will be mine, given willingly, so that you will not take even a sliver of satisfaction from my falling.

The door to the bedroom swung open and Markus looked up, surprised to find Eden standing there.

"We need to talk." She was more curt than usual. He wanted to write it off to fatigue but he had the sinking feeling that it was more than that. The stiffness of her shoulders as she closed the door and flicked on the lights that he had chosen to ignore warned him of a tension that he had not seen in her for some time.

"What do you want to talk about?" He slipped on his arm guard, covering the brand. He had no intention of hiding it from her - there was little point in that - but he could only concentrate on one of the two and right now Eden was the one demanding his attention.

"I want you to ease off on Nova."

He raised an eyebrow at her. It wasn't like her to be so vocal about Nova. Her need to protect him had been obvious since the attack and Markus had seen hints of it before then but to hear her say it out loud was surprising, if not strangely unsettling.

"I don't know what's going on with you and him but it has to stop. You realize that pitiful display back there was your doing."

"You're going to blame me for your brother's lying to his so-called friend?"

"I'm blaming you for causing their fight. It wasn't necessary."

"Nova needs to stop running away from his responsibilities. You know that as much as I do. He's always afraid to face the truth head-on. He'll do the same with his brand, find some way to sugar-coat it, to pretend that it isn't serious. He needs to grow up, Eden. Otherwise he's going to get himself killed."

"It isn't your concern. Nor your decision to make."

"You're right. Why should I concern myself with Nova? I should just leave it to you. I should just sit back and pretend I don't notice how much harder you push yourself when you worry about him, how much pressure you put yourself under trying to pretend that you aren't worried about his latest escapades. And I definitely shouldn't care how much danger you put yourself in as a result of that worry."

She sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm too tired for this, Markus."

"Then go to bed."

She looked at him as if trying to gauge his emotion then decided she was too tired for the effort and wished him a goodnight. He returned the gesture and looked away as she left him alone, closing the door behind her.

Wringing his hands, Markus sighed. "One day, one day that girl won't actually walk away from me." He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself but his near-fight with Eden had him too wound up. He patted his pocket to check the magi-leaf he'd purchased was still there, counted to one hundred to be sure the way out would be clear, and then slipped out into the garden.

He sought out a stone bench between two tall shrubs and, checking that he was indeed alone, pulled out one of the leaves and started chewing. The relief was almost instantaneous. Even the aching of his limbs began to ease. He leaned against once of the shrubs and smiled. "That feels better."

"What does?"

Markus jumped to his feet and spun round, finding Alex, innocent as ever, standing just a few feet away from him. And this is why you learned to never take the bag out of your pocket. He'd never been more thankful for that. "Alex, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep." She walked a little closer to him and admired the look of some of the flowers in faint light. "I overheard you fighting with Eden." She reached out and touched one of the petals, smiling as she did so. "Are you two okay?"

"Don't worry about me and Eden, we've fought worse than that before."

"I heard it can be healthy to fight with your lover."

Markus couldn't help it. He laughed.

"I don't understand...did I say something funny?"

"Eden and I aren't lovers."

The younger girl blushed. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean -"

"Don't beat yourself up about it." He walked up beside her. "So how come you couldn't sleep?"

"I just...it's all been a bit..."

"Much?"

She nodded.

"Yeah..."

They stood in silence for a few, long moments.

"How do you cope with it, Markus? How do you survive when everything is so much bigger than you are?"

He put an arm around her and felt her body tremble slightly. An image of Nova came to mind, warning him away from "his girl" but he pushed it aside. He didn't have that type of interest in Alex. She was a sweet girl, beautiful too, it was no wonder that Nova looked at her the way he did, but Markus' heart had been stolen by Eden a long time ago, and he would die before he ever got it back from her. "You just keep walking. It sounds hard and it is, I won't lie to you there, but you're not alone and it will get easier. You just have to be willing to put one foot in front of the other."

She let out a tiny laugh. "You're not how I imagined city men would be."

"Well I'm not actually from the city. I was born on a farm a long long way away from here."

Alex pulled away from him but only to provide the distance she needed to look at him properly. "You? Really?"

"You're that surprised? Everyone else picks up on it within a few minutes of meeting me. I don't have that 'refined air', as someone told me once."

She looked both confused by the oddness of his words and embarrassed at her inability to determine his lower class upbringing. Not knowing what else to do, Markus just smiled, put a hand on the girl's shoulder and asked, "Wanna go explore the gardens with me?"