[Hymn #47] [Movement] ~One Who Would Seize Glory~

[nightcrossed]

[For all technical purposes, Tear has made herself scarce. She is taking the rest of the week off from work and has informed no one about it save the manager. That doesn't mean she's impossible to find, however. Rather predictably she is sitting near her flower garden at the Hakurei Shrine, rolling an apple between her palms that she snagged from breakfast this morning and hasn't taken the first bite of. There's a lot for her to mull over, and she can't do that unless she has some time to herself. Auldrant has never seemed so far away, but she has no idea where to go from here, and she still has so very many unanswered questions.]

Van...

[OOC: Cherry's mean, but I need to get some of this heavy crap out of the way at some point. 1% on Absorption Gate, mainly concerned with dialogue; the battle itself; and Van, like all good Disney villains, falling to his "demise". AND THAT VAN SRSLY PLAYS HIS OWN BGM ON THE ORGAN. We'll worry about the other cast members and all the technical Sephiroth (not that Sephiroth) stuff at another time, so assume she doesn't know anything about lowering the land or where the heck all this drama is taking place. That makes 12% with 2% left. She'll go back to work next Monday.]

Comments

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

[She was hoping he wouldn't ask that, but she had been expecting it to come to this. Either way, she hadn't had time to form a response, so she stuck with the bare minimum of the truth.]

I remembered something else last night. It's... something that requires lots of thinking.

[Attempts one more time to dodge the topic.] You didn't skip lunch, did you?

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

*gives up on pressing the issue, at least for now*

No, I ate. What about you?

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

[Tear glanced down at the apple in her palm, then looked back up at Luke.]

Not yet. I wasn't hungry this morning, so I haven't eaten anything.

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

Geez, try practicing what you preach. Go eat something.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

Right...
You're right. Perhaps I should do that.

[Tear didn't make it clear as to which point she was agreeing with. In either case, she didn't budge.]

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

...

If you want to get food, you're going to have to move.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

What's with you? It's not like I'll waste away if I don't eat anything for a few hours.

[Yeah, those curves aren't going anywhere. No worries. And she still has the apple.]

...

[But she'll humor him by at least standing up. It's progress. Tear takes a moment to brush off her skirts, looking like she wants to say something but never actually opening her mouth to speak.]

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

You've got a full mind and an empty stomach. If you ask me, that's begging for trouble.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

Well for someone like you it would certainly be trouble...

[Tear took a few steps down the trail. The real problem was knowing whether she should tell Luke anything, and if so, how much. She was aware that this could easily turn out badly. Judging from earlier conversations, she wasn't sure how much the redhead was capable of handling or how much he actually trusted her. Well, she was a little fuzzy on the area of trust herself, but he hadn't really done anything suspicious, and her past self - however long ago that had been - seemed to have faith in him. But if some memory about cheagles and ligers seemed crazy, something of this magnitude that Luke hadn't even remembered himself...]

... [Tear glanced over her shoulder at him.]

Say... how strong do you think a swordsman would have to be in order to defeat Van?

[Tear turned away as soon as the words were out of her mouth and took a bite out of her apple so she wouldn't have to immediately explain.]

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

[[OoC: For the record, I'd prefer that Luke not learn that he's a replica until he remembers as much on his own. Just thought I'd let you know and hopefully nip any chance of that in the bud.]]

...Huh? That's... That's a good question. I've never seen him go all out before, so I dunno.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

[[OOC: Yeah, no worries there, I wasn't going to. ^^; ICly, even Tear's not mean enough to do something like that - she tried to stop Asch from telling him, too.]]

[That in itself was a good point. Had Van even been going all out? Tear couldn't remember ever seeing him fight seriously before either. She didn't exactly have anything to compare it to.]

It's all right. I was just wondering what your opinion would be.
Well... if you keep training, perhaps one day you'll be even stronger than he is.

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

What? No way. That'll never happen! I've gotten better, but there's no way I'd ever measure up to Master Van!

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

Why not? Everyone has to start somewhere. You're a lot stronger now than you were back in...

[She paused for a second. Hadn't she called it "Tataroo Valley"? There was no reason why she shouldn't take her own word for it, but even so, just assuming the things she had said in her memories seemed somewhat careless. She didn't have any proof. Nevertheless, she settled on repeating herself, but decided to leave trust out of it.]

...Tataroo Valley. I couldn't count on you then. But now, if there was ever trouble, I don't think you'd be a burden on anyone.

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

D-did she just compliment me?!

Well, uh...I, uh, think you're giving me too much credit there, but if you say so, who am I to argue? Eheheh...

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

[Well, it hadn't been a compliment per se... Tear wasn't sure if she should let him believe it was one or snuff out the very idea right now. Either way, it left her flustered.]

...Don't get overconfident, Luke. Even if you have become stronger than you were back then, there is always room for improvement and fine-tuning. Never forget that.

People can change, but they don't become kings and heroes overnight.

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. There's a reason why I train every day.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

Then, why do you train every day?

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

...I want to be stronger. I need to be stronger.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

[Well that was an obvious enough reason, but it didn't explain why Luke felt he needed to become stronger. Tear suspected that the answer to that was probably equally obvious, but...

She pondered a moment.]

I suppose I can understand that. I also feel that becoming stronger is a necessity.

Originally, I wanted to become strong so that I'd be useful to Van... When I was small, things weren't always so easy for him. After I discovered that, like Van, I could use the Seventh Fonon, I decided that I'd help my brother by joining the Oracle Knights.

That was my reason back then, but not anymore...

This world... no, this universe, is so very fragile. There are countless people who are oppressed or misunderstood and they can do nothing to defend themselves. Even if they're people whom I've never met, or could never hope to meet, it doesn't seem right to stand idly by when there's something I can do to help them.

I think that there are times when one must become strong in order to protect himself, and times when one must become strong in order to protect other people. Perhaps I'm pursuing both of these ends.

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

*looking at Tear with a hint of surprise*

...Gee, I never realized you were thinking about it that much.

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

...You idiot.

At least I'm actually thinking.

[apurposetolive.livejournal.com]

Are you saying I'm not?

[a-severed-fate.livejournal.com]

Yes.

Luke, from my understanding, you wanted freedom. You may have that now, but you're evaluating things as if you're still trapped inside a manor.

You should consider expanding your field of view before you get permanently stuck with tunnel vision.