In a cataclysm known as the Nightfall, the worlds were almost completely destroyed by a harrowing surge of darkness.
In the shadows of the ensuing chaos a new group has taken shape. Led by an Aegyl named Kalos, the 11th Hour touts an esoteric knowledge of how to combat the darkness and restore the worlds. They might be the worlds’ best chance at survival; but nobody really knows enough about them to confirm or deny their claims.
On the brink of collapse, the universe holds its breath in anticipation. Of restoration? Of destruction? It is up to individuals like yourself to decide.
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There aren't enough praises in the world I'd like to give to wonderful coders for the Proboards community. The following have contributed to World Destiny in some way: W3 Schools for countless how-tos and countless of other souls who have helped get WD up to where it is.
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Twilight Town. . . a town of night. . . the Castle. . . Yuna listened quietly, fascinated again. Why did everything he say seem so insightful? When he gets like this, he seems so mature - but he's so young. Only a few years younger than me, I'm guessing. Was I ever like that?
Every so often she had a question to ask Novi, but couldn't find a way to say it out loud. So she held her tongue, quite contentedly, until a question spun her way that utterly knocked her off guard.
"How about you? What's your home world like?"
Her reaction was subtle from the outside, but to Yuna it felt like a frost had suddenly caught her and held her fast, like being frozen in ice. Effectively muted, she trained her gaze at the sinking sun, trying to restore warmth and words. Her mind waged a brief war. It tried introducing logic - these emotions were, after all, quite unreasonable. She could tell him about Spira. She should be proud to tell him about the world itself, so long as she distanced herself. . . and her memories. . . and past and events and people. She could do this. Hopefully. If only her own history wasn't so inexplicably tied with her world's.
She took a deep breath, and began to talk her turn. "Spira is huge. I've never seen the whole of it, but I've seen much. I know there's many islands off the larger continent, with small, spiritual villages like the one I grew up in. The mainland has cities. They had temples, too, but also theaters, and Blitzball stadiums."
Her flow was broken, her words careful. She was concentrating so much on what to not say, it didn't even occur to her to explain what Blitzball was. "And it's beautiful. The flora is rich, and it never had these Heartless creatures. Our fauna is all variety of fiends. Goodness, we've got fiends that look like plants, fiends that look like snakes, dragoons, birds. I once found these beautiful flowers - moon lilies. They looked like stars had fallen from the sky and fell into the water. Everything is touched by forces unlike any I've seen here."
Yuna's hand subconsciously reached for the beads hanging from her right ear. "Here there's really only life. In Spira, there was both life and death. My world. . . almost revolves around people dying. It has things called pyreflies - our lifeforce, freed when we died, that must be ushered on to the Farplane. Oh, I can't explain them, really. They're energy balls - but life. Everything just seemed more complex in Spira," she sighed. "Our politics, our religions. Our culture has hope, too, though. We needed it."
She couldn't find the words to explain Sin, how those great cities she mentioned had been torn down again and again in order for them not to become too powerful. She couldn't speak of machina, or mention the deep and convoluted history and culture of her Spira, or the religion that failed its people. She couldn't even tell him what they had needed the hope for. She just couldn't. Though one day, perhaps she would be able to.
"I'm sorry, this all sounds so morbid for some reason. Spira was lovely, really." She smiled. "You should visit it some day."
Mar 25, 2012 10:55:06 GMT -4
Last Edit: Mar 25, 2012 10:56:00 GMT -4 by Zephiris
Novi's stare didn't waver from Yuna's face as he watched her meticulously as she told him about her home world. It was subtle, hidden extremely well, but Novi had spent his entire life studying people and such a sudden burst of emotion was not easy to mask. He was struck with the thought that Yuna was an exceedingly important individual, and that the reason for her being so secretive and reclusive was because of the heaviness of the burden which she bore on her back.
Out of her mouth came alien sounds and foreign words he couldn't quite decipher. There was a fleeting moment of recognition at the word 'Blitzball' - he remembered that when he'd been hanging out with Tidus all those years ago when he was working with him as the Chronicler partner to the Disney Knight, he'd mentioned it briefly.
'Woah, that's a lot of stuff right there,' he laughed, trying not to make it sound more forced than it was. 'No, it sounds great, honestly. Spira, huh... sounds like it could be totally amazing. From what I can figure, it might as well be a completely different dimension altogether.'
He gave a sigh and leant his elbows against the railings, looking out at the incandescent sun beaming down over the city below. 'No Heartless, huh... sounds nice.'
Although... the way you say Spira was lovely makes it sound like you're never going back. Is that true?
He tried to imagine the landscape in his head. The tribal kind of villages that could have created designs like the ones on Yuna's skirt and dresses, maybe thatched roof. Yuna had mentioned islands, so perhaps they were sea-based rather than land-based. If what he'd heard about Blitzball was true and it was an underwater full-contact game, then perhaps the assumption wouldn't be too bad a one to make. So floating villages. A collection of a islands surrounding a large mainland, with thatched-roof floating villages outlining the coast. What else had she mentioned. Oh, snakes and dragoons (whatever the heck they were) and pyreflies. He couldn't imagine them. Energy balls? In his mind's eye, he dotted about a few floating balls of orange-ish flame to flutter about aimlessly. The result was a beautiful, glittering cluster of islands, but no people. Amidst it all stood Yuna, and Novi couldn't help but feel the entire scene was desperately lonely.
Where is everyone else, Yuna?
'You're right, I would love to go there,' Novi said with a smile. 'But that's just me - what about you? Don't you ever want to go back?'
Yuna wished the conversation would just change. But if she tried, now that would be obvious. She could lie. Tell another half-truth. But did she really need to?
What was the truth, anyway?
She thought she missed Spira more than anything in the world. She already acknowledged it was her memories she was pining after - the people she had loved, the lives she had changed, the history she had written back in her homeworld. But every time she thought about Rikku finishing that device to get them home, her heart skipped a beat. It was crazy, but something in the back of her mind told her she didn't deserve to go back, that she had been kicked out of her beautiful world for a reason. It took thoughts of adventures in other worlds with her friends, and the new opportunities she now had outside of Spira, to bring peace to the war she had waged upon her heart and mind.
If a one-way path to Spira opened up for her that very minute, she would run the other way. A piece of her heart would stay behind. The strange emotions were too complex for her to fully articulate yet. . . but this thoughtful young man, she had to admit, was helping.
"No, Novi," she sighed. "I don't want to go back. I can't yet. I've got stuff to do here, you know?"
Yuna shifted her weight to her other leg, a bit at a loss as for how to explain that one off. But somehow or another the words came to her. "My friends and I were sphere hunters before coming here, actually. And strangely enough, we've found some of them here. You know these?" She briefly unclasped her bag to show him the assortment of colorful orbs. "Occasionally we get one that contains memories, or things like that, from Spira. I. . . like finding these rather more than the dresspheres. It's like finding little pieces of a great cultural puzzle."
She shrugged, and smiled. Again. "Sounds like something you would like. Seems we've both got things we like searching for!"
Novi stared at her for a moment, unable to quite piece together her argument in his head. From the way she described her world, the way her gaze disappeared into the distance as her eyes began to see images of her memories, it was clear that Yuna obviously missed Spira very much. It made him wistful for the strength of her emotions towards her home - something which he was slowly beginning to realise he didn't quite grasp as fully and as intently as Yuna did. Maybe it was an grown-up thing, maybe he needed a little more time before he felt it too. But having left Disney Castle to go on his journey, he couldn't see his feelings of homesickness being as strong as those of this mysterious young woman.
'I don't know, Yuna,' he said, leaning his cheek against the railing to look up at her. 'It sounds like you really miss it to me. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great that you love your home world so much, but... just cos you've got things to do here doesn't have to mean you've got to force yourself not to want the things you do, right?'
He scrunched up his nose and ruffled his hair awkwardly. 'I don't know. Maybe it really is a grown-up thing.'
But that sad smile you keep making really makes me feel like crying.
Maybe it was because she was a girl - he'd never understood them, to be fair, and they tended to giggle and gossip about unimportant things, but when they got to something really important, they either just clammed up and weirded themselves out all on their own, or pestered everybody with it to the point that nobody wanted to give a rat's tail about it anyway. But whether that be true or no, he felt that Yuna's level of introvert self-enclosure went far deeper than the schoolyard depressions of his peers at the Castle.
Is there even any point in me saying anything when I can't even understand?
'I mean, if I had somewhere like that, I would miss it every day,' he said, glancing back out at the horizon. 'But I guess I'm not really normal - I mean, I can't even remember where I really came from.'
Looking away from Yuna and barely focusing on the canyon beyond, he smiled quietly as he murmered, 'Going on a journey in search of memories stored in spheres... sounds real nice. Wish mine were that simple - I wouldn't even know where to begin.'
Novi turned back around to smile widely at Yuna. 'But hey, I guess it could be worse,' he said, laughing. 'I mean, it's fun, right? You know, travelling around with no clue then coming across something amazing - like this view - and then you're like... this makes it all worthwhile.'
He went back to happily observing the landscape of the world below. 'Someday, I'm gonna come across my own story - and when I find it, I'm gonna make sure it's as amazing as everything else I've seen... I'm gonna make it a story worth telling.'
Had she heard those words before? Slightly different wording, a slightly deeper voice?
Yuna shook her head. Really, this had to stop. If she kept drawing parallels, if Novi kept resurfacing things she had spent the last year trying to bury, she wasn't going to be able to hold her composure. Although. . . she had noticed herself becoming increasingly more relaxed the more she told him. He seemed to coax the words out of her, and relieved the tension with his awkward, forthright, earnest self.
At least, it seemed like she had avoided the need to speak more of Spira. His perception of her was spot-on, of course. It truly was impossible to hide anything from those young hazel eyes. And that smile was so bright! Yuna found it banishing the sadness in hers to the recesses of her heart.
She had shifted to follow his gaze back over the canyon, but after his words died out turned back to him, a fine eyebrow raised. "How did you get so wise, Novi?" she laughed, bemused. "But, you're right. This traveling would make a life story all the more rich. And it is fun."
Especially when you've got people with you, right? For some reason, they seemed to be avoiding that trend of conversation. It dawned on Yuna that Novi was, perhaps, doing so for her sake.
On an odd impulse, she found herself wanting to tell him more. She had realized he was young and thirsty for knowledge, and despite his politeness towards her his eagerness to know more was obvious. And he was an excellent listener, seeming both so interested in making his own story and hearing others. Yuna most certainly had some to tell - she had a rich history on her shoulders, thus colorful strings of information to sate him with, even if they would never be unraveled in their entirety.
And so the words strung along, lighter now, despite how their path wandered ever closer to home.
"You know, Novi," she began comfortably, speaking to the sun. "There was a tradition in my home world. A High Summoner would go on a pilgrimage for the people, accompanied by elite Guardians. They'd stop to pray at local temples along the way. It's like the beauty of the story itself, like you said. The journey was always such a beacon of hope for the people. Just the journey, really. And the stories that would spread because of it. . . nobody liked to think about the end. It was lovely, what those travelers gave us. Can you imagine the adventures they must have had?"
She laughed, then, so caught up in an outside portrayal of her life that a memory suddenly snagged her tongue. "Oh, like. . . Have you ever heard of a chocobo, Novi? They're big yellow birds, big enough to ride. I always loved stories of when the Guardians came to the racing grounds. Every so often you get a tale of one of those warriors wobbling around on overgrown birds. . ."
An image of a familiar figure aboard a notorious dodger chocobo painted the back of her mind. It was one of the few memories her brain had summoned that she'd allowed to linger while in public. This one she let stay; it was a happy image, for a pleasant moment.
Novi blinked, a little confused by the wording of her remark. 'Wise?' he said, scratching the side of his head. 'What's so wise about saying that fun things are fun?'
He then offered her his trademark grin, unable to stop himself from swelling a litte with pride. 'But... yeah, I guess I'm pretty smart,' he said, readjusting his beret. 'I don't often get things wrong. Ain't got all that brain for nothing.'
Smiling at what he took to be her compliment, he went back to looking out at the view beyond when Yuna began to speak. Her words brought to mind images of travellers to inhabit the landscape of the imaginary home world he had conjured up in his head. An involuntary smile appeared on his face as he thought of journeying through those incredible cities, sun-kissed islands and wide oceans with a group of friends.
Novi pondered about this 'High Summoner'. From the way she said it, it certainly sounded like something important. Whatever it really was in the world she'd come from, it appeared to him that it was some kind of highly-regarded figure. He wondered what it was that they summoned, and why'd they'd need to go around praying at temples when by name they already seemed pretty holy.
He tried to imagine Yuna as a 'High Summoner'. Since they were on a pilgrimage of some sort, it did have a religious ring of some sort. He hummed thoughtfully as he tried to superimpose a set of Disney Mage robes on an imaginary picture of Yuna, before giving a laugh at the result.
'Sorry, I'm just trying to think of you as this High Summoner person,' he said, chuckling. 'All I'm getting is a picture of you dressed like an old granny waving a staff.'
He put his hands behind his head. 'A pilgrimage, huh... still a bit weird in my head, but I can definitely see how it'd be fun, journeying all over like that.'
But what does a High Summoner summon exactly? And why'd nobody want to think about the end - especially when it's supposed to give hope to people?
Novi turned to look at her once more when she began talking about another thing from her home world, and he burst into laughter. 'What the - that sounds totally like you've got people riding about on massive chickens!'
Though, that said, that would still be pretty cool. If these warriors called 'Guardians' were riding them, then they'd have to be battle-worthy. I wonder if they're fast much?
'You sure are a mystery, Yuna,' he said, grinning at her. 'But that's cool. If it weren't for people like you, my job would be awfully boring.'
Travelling with Guardians, huh? he thought, tapping the side of his cheek with a forefinger. That sounds familiar...
He felt the subject he'd been almost unconsciously avoiding since they began their conversation atop the castle slowly creep up on them once more. Glancing sideways at Yuna as subtly as he could before returning his gaze to the view, he wondered if he was merely projecting his own selfish wishes onto her, if he was merely excusing himself with self-conceived, unfounded reasons. But still, he couldn't stop himself.
'So... what're you gonna do now?' he asked her. 'I mean, you still hunting for them spheres, but you sound like you've been around the Gardens for a while, considering you've had time to get all these materials... where's your next journey gonna be?'
Yuna's heart stuttered as it skipped a beat, and her jaw went slack in disbelief, though she managed to keep her composure enough to make the reaction seem in response to the second part of Novi's musings.
"All I'm getting is a picture of you dressed like an old granny waving a staff."
She giggled, a weak sound to her ears. Her mind reeled haplessly for a moment. Was she ever grateful he was looking out towards the horizon, no longer intent on her face. "Oh, yes. I can imagine they had quite the time."
She paused. Her head tilted quizzically. She didn't, in fact, know what a chicken was. Though the term rang familiar, and suddenly she remembered where she'd heard it before.
'You expect a phoenix, yet you offer chicken feed! No deal.'
How had the great Yojimbo known of it, if it was truly out of this world? Aeons really were mysterious beings. . .
A mystery? Her eyes flicked back in Novi's direction. The words had just come out of his mouth, too, while her thoughts had run astray. How was she a mystery? He practically seems to know what I'm thinking!
"Now? Hm," she replied, as after a peaceful moment another question escaped her companion. "Well, I suppose I need to find a way off the Gardens. I'm sure it isn't too difficult - some explorers crashed here a little while back - a whole crew of them! - and took a couple of residents with them when they'd gotten repairs. Looking for a lost world or something. I thought of going with them, but Rikku needed to stay to work on the ship. Oh," she glanced at him with a light-hearted grin. "Rikku's my friend. She's here too - she's who the parts were for.
"I don't really know where to start my search, now that I think about it. What about you, Novi? Where are you heading next?"
It was out before Novi could take it back. He could feel a stutter of embarrassment coming up as his cheeks began to feel the now familiar burn. But just as soon as it had risen, he made an effort to push it back down. Why should he be embarrassed? Apart from this Rikku friend (who was obviously too busy working on her ship anyway) Yuna was travelling alone. And from what she had said, and the impression he had got from her, it looked like she herself was searching for her own story amidst this self-imposed quest of looking for memories of her world. They were two birds of a feather. It didn't make much sense really when he thought about it, which is why he tried not to think about it.
'I - I mean, back home, we've got a kind of tradition too,' Novi continued valiantly. 'Whenever the Chroniclers go out on missions, they're accompanied by Knights of the Guard as escorts. They protect us from Heartless while we do our job. In a partnership like that, you have to trust each other with your lives.'
'You're looking for things that were lost, just like me,' he pushed on, ignoring the heat rising in his face. 'You're trying to recover the hidden pasts of a world, just like me. And... apart from Rikku -' Was it bad that after two brief thoughts he was already beginning to dislike this faceless girl? '- you're kicking it on your own. Just like me. You said you don't know where to go, right? I can take you everywhere and anywhere, and we can search for those spheres while we go. And on the way, we can find our own stories - with the two of us to write it out, it's bound to be a good one.'
And I want to find out more about Spira, about chocobos and Guardians. I want to know about you. We're both searching for something else in the truths we find. Why can't we do it together? Like those High Summoners and Guardians. Like the Knights and Chroniclers. Like partners, like friends.
In an effort not to show his embarrassment at what was tantamount to a proposal, he scrunched up his brow and said again, 'Come with me. We can go together.'
After the wide-eyed astonishment of his proposal, one Yuna had never seen approaching and thus was struck heavily off-guard, her eyes flicked away from Novi's face, and her expression became uncertain.
Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute, and unbeknownst to her followed a similar track to Novi's own. A partnership like the High Summoner and her elite escort. But, this young man - a guard? In the mental sense, perhaps; he was certainly careful about treading her mental boundaries with caution. But no. In this situation, her role would be reversed. She'd be the protector. The Chronicler's Knight, as Novi spoke of.
To be a Guardian. . .
Yuna shook loose the thought with a sigh. "But. . . Novi. I'm not here alone. Rikku and Paine came here with me, and have been there for me me for a while. We're kinda - the Gullwings. A team."
Sure, they're busy, and we haven't quite had a chance to go wing it in the worlds yet, but I can't just abandon them!
She wouldn't be, though, would she? A partnership with Novi didn't exclude her current friends. They could all come along on a venture to sphere hunt. And if they decided to stay in the Garden for a bit, she would always check in. She wouldn't allow them to drift apart like they did that one time. . . Oh, how could she even be considering this?
What if Maleficent came around again? Ansem couldn't harm the Garden ever again, as he was destroyed, but there must be something out there with just as much evil. Whispers in the town spoke of rising darkness in the worlds. This, of all times, was the worst to leave those she cared for.
You can't be there for everyone, Yuna, she reminded herself forcibly. You ought to know that by now.
Novi asked again, and she had to squeeze shut her eyes. His point was a powerful one. It was alluring, the concept, the freeing image of the two of them exploring and fighting in a new story.
"I don't know," she whispered.
Why do I get the feeling my life is many times more chaotic than a girl's should ever be? It seemed to her she had one of those fickle lives. The kind where, at the drop of a pen tip on a shopping list, it would charge off in a different direction or spiral into the unknown.
Apr 13, 2012 1:37:45 GMT -4
Last Edit: Apr 13, 2012 1:41:29 GMT -4 by Zephiris
The weight of the news that she already had her companions with her was too heavy for his face to stay held up and his expression drooped visibly. 'Sorry, I didn't intend... I mean, I wasn't trying to say you should dump your friends,' Novi said. 'I guess I -'
Blinking, his sharp hazel gaze caught sight of Yuna's expression, and he was suddenly very aware of the scenario he had just created. In his desire to travel in a team again, to try to unlock Yuna's sadness and ease her heart, to kick off on a new idea of an adventure, and - perhaps the one he longed for most - to be with a friend, he had not quite foreseen how much she wanted things, and wished for things that she was toiling not to want any more. He had expected her to smile her sad smile and gently decline his offer, or maybe in a miraculous turn of events to agree to go with a laugh. This almost tangibly brutal indecision that swept across Yuna's face in waves was something that even in his foresight he had not seen coming, and he hated himself for it.
I'm such an idiot... I got caught up in the moment, like always...
'Don't beat yourself over it,' he said with a grin. 'I get it - you need to stick with your teammates. After all, they're your friends. You depend on each other.'
He waggled a finger at her. 'But that means you've gotta stop being depended on all the time and get some depending done yourself,' he chided her jokingly. 'You're gonna tie yourself up in knots if you don't get a chance to unwind. As bad as it might sound, it's not always about "them", or "us". You've got to pick up on the times when it's about you, you know?'
Novi leant against the wall of the tower behind them as he glanced up at the clouds half-silhouetted against the sunlight. 'If your story's all about other people... well, it's hard to call it your story when the protagonist doesn't get a word in herself, right?'
Yuna's considered his words honestly, and reflected. With Rikku and Paine - with the Gullwings - she had learned to be good about seeing to herself. But lately, she supposed she had been reverting to that state before Sin fell, where she existed purely for the benefit of others. The fate of a world was a tough one to shake off, to be sure. But why should she feel the same way now? Who was actually depending on her? Rikku and Paine needed her as a friend, but not the way Spira had.
And really, not the way Novi would, should she decide to continue her story with him. He was right. She needed to unwind. She would always be a Gullwing, after all. When her adventures with Novi were finished, she'd return and carry on happily with her old friends, even making new ones along the way. Even before that! They could check in, and they'd certainly be meeting others during their travels. Who knows - they may even run into her or Novi's older relations, possibly team up with them for a time. The worlds were immense, but the chain of Hearts, in truth, was not.
'If your story's all about other people... well, it's hard to call it your story when the protagonist doesn't get a word in herself, right?'
Again! Oh man, this kid is smart. Well, so help me.
"Right," Yuna agreed aloud. Firmly this time. "You're right, of course. Okay, Novi, I'm coming!"
Yuna realized she was grinning, and already the excitement and anticipation of their ventures bubbled inside her, downgrading the slight nodes of guilt and foreboding that remained. The negative thoughts were not so much associated with fear for the future. Sure, she could see themselves getting into some tight spots, but she'd been there. Tension and hardships weren't new. It was just the slight loosening of ties with those that she loved that put her at unease, but it was like Novi said; she just couldn't live if she kept those too tight.
"But, um. . . ." The notion still tickled her mind, and she turned to him with a resolute set to her jaw. "I would still like to talk to Rikku first. And I think you should come with me."
May 28, 2012 21:17:28 GMT -4
Last Edit: May 28, 2012 21:18:16 GMT -4 by Zephiris
Novi couldn't stop the smile from taking over his face. 'Seriously? You mean it?' he exclaimed gleefully. 'Alright! This is gonna be so awesome!'
All the hopes he'd been holding back to stop himself from counting his chickens too early were now given free reign - already his mind was revisiting his previously planned routes throughout the universe, plotting journeys and envisaging new worlds and places that he could go to. Except this time, it wasn't on his own - he was going to be travelling with a friend, the way it was always supposed to be. All these things he would see, all the moments he would experience would be all the more precious because he would feel it all side by side with a companion, where all the greatest wonders the worlds had to offer would be shared twofold between them.
"But, um. . . ."
Novi's thoughts screeched to a halt and he turned back to her, his expression apprehensive. 'But...?'
"I would still like to talk to Rikku first. And I think you should come with me."
He grinned. 'No problem!' he said. 'I'm sure she'll understand, and in any case, I'd love to meet your friends.'
Though if she doesn't get it, then I'm gonna have some words to say.
He wondered what Rikku would be like. He felt a little guilty that he'd already created a bit of a bad impression of her in his head, and he knew that Yuna wouldn't feel too happy about him not getting along with her friend, so he decided to try his best to hold back any misgivings and be as friendly as possible. Though he had a feeling that if it came to Rikku holding Yuna back from going travelling with him, he'd have some trouble taking it lying down. She'd said yes, and for him, that meant from that moment they'd become partners on a journey - and whatever anyone else thought, to Novi, a Chronicler, this was a bond more important than any other.
'Hey, so this means that I'm like a High Summoner and you're my Guardian, right?' he said with a smile. 'Is there some kind of ritual to mark them as your Guardian that you do back on your home world, like a special handshake or a vow or pledge or something?'
Novi's grin, Yuna had been quick to learn, was hopelessly infectious. Her smile was broader than it had been in a while, and she felt it warming her cheeks. She found herself suddenly impatient for Novi to meet Rikku and Paine, if her moodier friend was around. Surely he could win them over. He had proved his intelligence plenty - it was very likely he had it in him to contest Rikku for wit. Just look at him - he's so excited. I'm so excited. If she tries to ruin this happiness we're feeling right now, I'm going to have to put my foot down. Wait, but that's unfair of me to say, she'll only be thinking of -
Oh my goodness, speaking of which, what am I going to wear? Where are we going first? Do I have need to bring something more formal . .?
"What - oh!" Yuna exclaimed, startled for some reason by the resurgence of the Guardian comparison. "Yes, I suppose we are. Or at least, we will be. You don't seem High Summoner material just yet, though."
She poked his forehead with a finger. Her teasing rolled off his shoulders like water. In truth, she didn't particularly like thinking of him as a Summoner, with responsibility weighing down his shoulders, or her as one of the old Guardians, her future that of sacrifice. Then lights sprang to his eyes and preceded the next question by seconds, so that she practically saw it coming.
"Hm," she thought for a heartbeat. "Well, it was more of the Summoner's ritual than the Guardian's, but we - they would pray in a Chamber of the Fayth. That would have been an adventure in itself, getting through some of Spira's temples to reach each one.
"Oh. But I have a better idea." Yuna winked and held out her forearm and fist. "We can make our own. Some of the sphere hunting teams had their own shake or cheer. For morale or momentum, you know? Hm. . ."
The sun watched as they pondered over movements and decided, and Yuna spoke her promise with a grin, filled with both excitement and trepidation for the future. It would be an interesting next stage of her life, she surmised. Assuming Rikku didn't chain her to her wrist in her indignation.
Blinking a little confusedly, Novi tried to imagine what a Chamber of the Fayth looked like. 'Well, I don't know about this whole praying stuff, but I can give it a shot,' he said. 'Do you kind of... hold your hands together like this or what?'
Putting his hands together, he closed his eyes and faced skyward in what he hoped was a generic prayer position. 'Umm... okay, I hope that our journey is loads of fun and is filled with amazing things to see and feel... and that we'll both be safe, and that we'll watch each other's backs no matter what comes our way.'
Clasping his hands tighter, he murmured, 'And I hope Yuna can find all the spheres from her home world, and that she'll be able to go back someday.'
And that maybe I could find out my home world as well - that I can find where I came from.
'And that the story we write together becomes the best story in history,' he finished brightly, opening his eyes. 'Hey, that wasn't so bad. I ought to try that more often. It's kind of relaxing, and it's good to give a voice to your wishes from time to time, right?'
He grinned up at Yuna. 'But I do like the idea of having a special cheer just for us,' he said. 'Let's see... what would be good...'
He thought about what would be something good that they could shout out loud. It couldn't be too long, otherwise it would be a little silly wasting time shouting at length. But it was difficult trying to get all the meaning and purpose he wanted to say in such few words. What could he say to express all their hopes and wishes and reasons for their journey ahead? What would they want to keep reminding themselves of in the midst of the many worlds they would visit?
Novi glanced up at the sky, where he could begin to catch sight of the early stars blinking from beyond. To think, each one of those shines for a world somewhere. There are so many, I wonder if it'd be possible to visit them all?
'Well, I'm no poet, so let's keep it simple,' Novi said eventually. 'After all, it's just for the two of us, isn't it? We just need to say what matters rather than trying to think of anything fancy. But anyway, we've got to see your friend, right? Let's shout it out for her to hear as we go!'
Novi leapt onto the railing, and stood up with his arms flung wide. 'We go together!' he shouted at the top of his voice. 'To the stars!'
He launched himself off the tower, his smile the widest yet as the wind shot past his cheeks as he descended. The journey began with this step. They were going to be partners, companions, friends on a journey that could be highly dangerous, and last a very long time - but it would definitely, for sure, be something that would change both their lives forever. And he couldn't wait.