thefarshore | Video

Entry tags:

Video

From: Hecate
Date: Jan 23rd

-----

[The camera turns on to show what appears to be a rather large home (the upper half it) on top of a not at all matching yard. Hope's voice is heard from behind the camera.]

Is this normal for a temple? It's my yard from when I lived on Palumpolom, before Cocoon's fall. The house is not mine, but Lightning's. A friend of mine. However, even stranger still is this.

[He walks up the steps and opens the door, showing a matching hallway that leads into a kitchen and living space not at all the same architecture as what was on the outside. It was cleaner and more pristine than he remembered it.]

This is from Vanille and Fang's home, down in Gran Pulse. But back down the hallway behind me, is my room from my Palumpolom home once more. [He's back down the hallway to show the room that doesn't match the architecture on what was outside.]

I understand this place is to be my home as well as my temple. But for it to be some sort of mixture of my old home and my friends' home from the past... it doesn't sit well with me.

[It feels like trespassing. He almost wanted this to be some elaborate joke. But it clearly was not. He sighed heavily and turned the camera back around to show his conflicted face. He doesn't want to live there, he's not sure he can. It was a reminder of what he didn't have, of what was supposed to have happened when they reached the New World. He bites his lip and shuts off the camera.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As I understand it, our temples take cues from our minds. In my case, these are a place that feels homelike. It seems in yours, too, your mind has impressed on your temple that it should be your home.

Is there no joy in living in a place that reminds you of home and friends?

It's hard to move forward when I am constantly reminded of the past.

Shinki have no past, and would be envious of such a memory, I think.

But shinki or god, the past is the foundation on which we build the present to reach for the future. Your friends and family cared for you and wished for your happiness, did they not?

There's more to it than that. I'm not questioning whether they would be happy or not.

Merely if I'm trespassing on their, and my, memories of a time long ago. Cocoon fell a thousand years ago, Oerba, the place that Vanille and Fang lived, even longer. It's reminiscent of a time that I made new friends and family... but we were also at our most vulnerable. I would not be who I am today without that experience, yes, but it is a time I don't care to reminisce about either.

Our journey was supposed to have ended with the the new world, but I was sent here instead. Being reminded of what I am without is not easy nor so I find particular joy in it.

You are not without them. They may not be physically present, but they are here and with you in your heart. What you remember may be painful for you, but it is as I said -- it is the foundation of your present, painful or joyous.

I understand how you feel. I was apart from my sister for a very long time, and I was reminded of that every twilight and every dawn. But that also kept me moving forward, for the day that we would be reunited. I do not believe we are trapped here forever. I believe we will return where we came from, sooner or later. So for now, your journey continues, I'm afraid... but you are not without a reminder of those who care for you, and times far harder than this one that you overcame. You have the strength of heart and mind to continue on.

[He'd told himself he could do this when he spoke with Ren. But it was easy for him to fall into despair when reminded of the past in such a stark way. It was going to take more than words to help him continue on but.]

Thank you. I suppose I needed that reminder. Again.

What's your name? I'm Hope.

[She doesn't expect she can solve his problems with words alone, but she hopes that she can help.]

My name is Princess Celestia. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hope.

If it would help, you and your shinki are welcome to stay in my temple until you've had time to adjust. I know how chaotic and overwhelming the first days in the Far Shore can be.

[He appreciates nonetheless.]

Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude like that.

Quite to the contrary, my temple is large and empty as can be. Philomena and I just rattle around in here, so guests would be very welcome.

(Philomena is my pet phoenix.)

A pet phoenix? I would love to meet her. Where can I find your temple?

[Having learned how to use her phone reasonably well, Celestia sends him a map!]

[Following the map, Hope and his shinki, a bookish redhead named Genevieve, set off to Celestia's temple. Which turned out to be a pretty big castle.

No wonder it could feel lonely for someone like Celestia. They made their way to what looked like the doors and knocked.]

[It takes a moment for anyone to answer the door, and the one who does it is Inti herself, Princess Celestia, nudging it open with a golden glow to poke her head out.]

Oh! Hello, Hope! You got here more quickly than I had expected!

[He backs up because of the glow and, well, to say he wasn't a little starstruck but also a little dumbfounded at what stood before him would be an understatement.

Because of the Eidolon, Odin, Hope knew he was looking at a horse. But wow, she was a very pretty horse and wasn't one to think of animals like that. But he supposed Celestia was easily much more than that.]

U-Uh yes, well...

[Genevieve gave him a look, and she nudged him with her book.]

I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare.

That's quite all right. [Celestia favors him with a warm and understanding smile, stepping back so she can open the door further.] I was much the same when I first met humans. And I have yet to meet anypony who is quite prepared for an alicorn.

Please, come in. [Now that she's fully in view, the lingering remnants of her injuries from the volcano adventure a few days ago show up fairly clearly: fur on her sides and flank that is slowly regrowing, feathers on one wing that have yet to reach their full length again.]

[The terms "anypony" and "alicorn" do throw him off a bit, but he is quick to register them nonetheless. Alicorn must be what she was.

He and his shinki stepped inside, but as he takes in the vast castle, his gaze turns to her and he sees her injuries. He looks to her.]

Are you alright?

[He can't help but study them a bit. Burn injuries? They seemed to well on their way to healing, so he's not sure his magic could do much at this stage.]

I was burned recently, but I received some very good help. Now it's just a matter of healing. [She says this all so serenely and patiently, offering no clue to how frustrated and upset she is at herself and everything that had happened. She really should have done better, but that certainly isn't something she should push on anypony else.]

You missed quite a spectacle just before you got here. No doubt you saw some of the aftermath.

Uh, yes, I did. That the volcano had erupted sometime before my arrival.

[A harrowing experience, to be sure. Still, if she's okay now, then he won't press about healing. Instead, he looked around again and murmured.]

You lived here in your world? It's beautiful.

This isn't a perfect replication, but it's very closer. It's actually a little smaller than the true Canterlot palace... but still, quite large enough that I really expect to see guards and courtiers and staff and so forth all the time. I suppose I can understand how you feel, because there's always that quiet little element of 'wrongness' about it.

[But Celestia relays all this quite casually, pacing for the large staircase that leads up.]

[The casualness sort of gets to Hope, mainly because it was how he acted while in the Ark. It wasn't necessarily setting off red flags though, perhaps this was her way of dealing with the loneliness. She reminded him of Lightning.]

That's a fairly apt description. But about right when I was in that house, er, my temple, I guess.

[Celestia is just masterful at underplaying things. After all, she didn't invite Hope here to lay her worries upon him or use him to solve her problems; she is offering help.]

Well, I certainly have plenty of space. Would you mind a pair of suites? The only other people here are Philomena and Maris, and Maris is still recovering from her injuries, so she will not be in your way.

I. Er, sure. That should be fine.

[He looked to Genevieve who only nodded in response.]

Will she be okay?

She will. I am afraid I had to cut the blight from her, but she survived that process and the naming. [Celestia had... not enjoyed doing that, not in the slightest.]

[He wanted to ask more about that, but it was clear now was not the time. So, he moved on from the subject.]

I'm glad to hear it. Thank you, again.

That's quite all right. You're doing me a favor, honestly. Company is in short supply, so having a little of it for a short time is welcome indeed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Video

Text from Inti

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Action

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject