2019-06-13: Destination vs. Destiny
- Log: 2019-06-13: Destination vs. Destiny
- Cast: Gon Guado, Lunata Croze, Shalune Amira
- Where: Guadosalam
- Date: June 13, 2019
- Summary: Lunata, by grace of Maester Seymour, continues to experiment on ways in which to finally pass on to her eternal rest, accompanied by her childhood friend Shalune. Accompanied by Gon of the Guado people to the Farplane, will the afterlife of Spira accept her as her place of eternal residency as she steps through the gate?
====================================================<* Guadosalam *>==================================================== Guadosalam is an underground that sits on the path from the north bank of the Moonflow and the southern trail of the Thunder Plains. The city is found inside an underground cavern, where the walls and walkways are composed of the twisted roots of the trees of the Moonflow's north bank, giving the entire area the faint resemblance of an underground swamp. Guadosalam is the ancient home of the Guado, a race of Beastman-appearing humans who, until recently, lived outside the grace of Yevon. This changed with the coming of Lord Jyscal Guado, who brought his people into Bevelle's fold; following Jyscal's death, his son Seymour - also a Maester of Yevon - now rules the Guado people both temporally and spiritually. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmcCd1eCJq4
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Elsehwere about Spira, chaos and unease have disrupted the equilibrium of death and endurance that characterizes the land. Chaos, from the large influx of people who come from beyond - the Otherworlders - who have imposed themselves all over the place. The extra pairs of hands for hunting and dealing with Fiends, or adding manpower to vital trades like carpentry and masonry have been accepted, if not always welcome.
The imposition of other faiths and the recent aggressive actions over in Kilika by Althena's Guard... less so.
The widespread amount of death and the embracing of heresy against Yevon's teachings in a folly-filled bid to try and defeat Sin, the event preceding that... well. Some good has come of that, from certain perspectives.
In this time of upheaval, Guadosalam has seen many from all walks come to come visit visions of the departed to the Farplane. Economically speaking, this is good. Socially speaking, it helps renew and strengthen the people's faith in the way things are, that at least some element of all this is stable in these times.
Personally speaking, for one Gon Guado, this has been a constant source of cause for vigil because of the reality that Otherworlders sympathetic to those Althena charlatans might be scouting the cavernous jungle-like city. There's been a few very strange visitors lately, even. No incidents, other than just their presence. (There was a weird one who kept staring at the vertical gardens up the roots, which is not typically something people come by to take a look at recreationally... but that is someone else's problem.)
Dreadful.
Nonetheless, Gon Guado - an aging member of his people characterized by dark teal hair whose saturation is fading with his growing age along with the usual expected physical characteristics of his kind (tall, lanky, veiny face, huge clawed hands) is just finishing the current round of being a glorified tour guide as he sees the latest set of human visitors off from the Farplane.
His facial expression is stoic, seeing them carry onward back into the journey from whence they came. Inwardly, he is exhausted and - in some way - still lingering in fury over the way he was back talked to by Jay and Ashton.
The flow of pyreflies coming through towards the Farplane are a little thicker than usual, but not alarmingly so, casting even more of their ghostly colorful ambience about the land.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata has been... pretty busy, all told.
Finding herself in a deputy-like position within the retinue of Maester Seymour means a lot of the influx of tasks that have arisen out of Operation Mi'ihen, Maester Mika's declaration, and the Guard's subsequent response have meant a lot of things have needed doing in a short amount of time.
A break, then, is pretty much needed, and after spending time fetching members of the Yevon clergy and associated family from Kilika and depositing them at temporary homes... she's back at Guadosalam.
She needed to see the Farplane for herself.
"... I can't really say my body feels tired, but my brain feels tired," Lunata admits to Shalune as they go down. "What do you think we'll feel down there, when we get to the entrance...?"
She doesn't seem to have spotted Gon yet, a bit distracted in her thoughts.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune isn't strictly 'with' the Order so much as she and Lunata showed up at the same time and she's just kind of hung around since then, grateful for Maester Seymour's hospitality. She's obviously not a religious or particularly ascetic person - and worse than that she's very clearly a mechanic, naturally prone to speaking her mind or reminiscing on her time in Filgaia or just looking around for things to fix. (There is a persistent rumour that she took Seymour on a machina ride, but Luca was exploding at the time so there were Circumstances.)
Still, she is trying to fit in, especially as of late. Her otherworld clothes have been tucked away, and now she tends to wear a long robe in an array of vivid warm colours that manages to bridge the gap between swordswoman and summoner. (She has yet to pick the sleeves away from the main body of the robe, but it might just be a matter of time.) When she first arrived there'd evidently been some deep worry on her mind, leaving her withdrawn and stepping on eggshells - but now she's a lot more upbeat and outgoing, doggedly hunting for more practical ways in which she can help.
By the time she left, a lot of the temporary homes were in better repair than when she got there. Even if a saw is still apparently a machina. Humpf.
If she has one tic here in Guadosalam it's the way she seems incredibly curious about the Farplane and yet deeply uncertain of it at the same time. She's already biting at her lip nervously - but she breaks into a grin when Lunata complains, letting out an 'aww' as she abruptly flops both arms around Lunata's waist.
"It's okay, I've got you," she half-teases, but her expression grows more serious as they follow the path. "If your brain's tired, are you sure this is a good idea? It might be... kind of rough for you--" she cuts herself off as a number of tourists pass them, then sneaks a look back at them, her brow furrowed.
"... I still can't get used to this being a place you just kind of visit. Oh, er-- hello, sir," she adds trying a well-meant but pretty rough bow.
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Gon finds himself in a more calming rhythm even after that indignity. There will be another influx of visitors, their behavior well under control by their desires to visit the departed. Predictable, simple, controllable. No surprises other than whatever reports or whispers come up among the local militia about the... less local visitors--
--and then there's two who just happen to show up, a sensation of being startled piercing through the veneer of spiritual grace within a fraction of a second. Just as he'd let his guard down and assume--
"...Ah. If it isn't the esteemed guest of Maester Seymour," the older Guado addresses the both of them. He is dressed in the robes of the local Guado Guardians, with minor differences in coloration that presumably denote status. Most of his kind do favor longer-sleeved, heavier layers of clothing compared to most. (It might be circulation-related where they need the extra warmth.)
He goes through the usual niceties expected, with one social snafu already present - the use of a singular. Guest.
"...Forgive my surprise. I was not expecting your arrival." He was not expecting to ever see anything like Lunata. A walking corpse... dead. But no whiff of the Farplane. It's like bearing witness to a walking, talking, non-living rock. One that he still nonetheless goes through the usual greeting gestures with. Appearances, and all.
Even before the obvious verbal signs of another Otherworlder, whose presence he recognizes a touch less. The one that's vaguely familiar as having been hovering around Lunata and the Maester.
...Of course, the Maester's word and wishes are to be respected on the matter. They are his guest.
Guests. The guest has another with her. He wonders inwardly if this is going to end up having the other one drag others along by proxy.
"You stand before the Farplane, from whence the departed shall find their eternal rest," he says, in place of a 'hello, nice to meet you' to Shalune. He asides to another Guado who is making various hand motions along the lines of 'I have another crowd about to come in, is it--'
A raised hand from his end is the equivalent of 'they can wait.' Gon's their senior. They'll adhere.
"Indeed, this is a place the living may visit." Lunata's already got the 401 about this place being a mere tourist thing and can pretty much cut this man's spiel off at any time she might please. "If you wish to visit among those who passed in recent times," a diplomatic way of saying 'Operation Mi'ihen, "they will appear before you within... though they will not have much to say."
He might have missed the finer nuances of what Shalune has been worrying about.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata pauses with a slight yelp as Shalune piles onto her and wraps her arms around her, letting out a slightly tired-sounding huff. "It'll be fine. And... it'll be nice to have something else to think about other than the job--"
But then Shalune's speaking up to greet someone, and there's a blink as she slips away gently.
Unlike Shalune, Lunata hasn't really gone half-hearted on her garb: she dresses like a Yevonite swordswoman, with a yukata that's tempered with fairly tight combat pants and boots and she'd look the part... if she wasn't also wearing the Yggdrasil Alliance jacket ontop, a navy-blue tactical jacket with a black ruffed collar that kinda looks out of place.
When Gon speaks up, she bows -- and much unlike Shalune, someone's studied the proper Yevonite bow. She doesn't take her religious studies half-hearted. Never has, never will stray.
"Sir."
She looks towards the distance where the Farplane awaits them in the distance, nodding as Gon explains the Farplane. She looks to the other Guado, but...
"... I had wished ... to see if the Farplane would have an effect upon me," Lunata admits, cutting somewhat to the chase. "We'd be honoured if you would guide us there?"
She's speaking a lot more formal all of a sudden, but Shalune's familiar with this -- she did spend a lot of time as a waitress, after all. Lunata's not high-educated, but she knows which words to employ where.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
The pink-haired girl's first impulse at Gon's greeting is to grin faintly to herself, and scratch at her cheek. She's just as aware as anyone else of the gap between her and the rest of the Yevonites, and she's sensible enough to realize that's one of those things that isn't mended overnight. It's a matter of adjustment, especially given that the vast majority of people on Spira haven't gotten any experience with otherworlders whatsoever yet.
So rather than harp on the use of the singular or the plural, she instead nods, listening patiently along to the explanation. She was there when Seymour explained the Farplane, but something gives her the impression she shouldn't butt in; there's a kind of ceremony to the Guado's explanation that even she can pick out. Lunata might slip away from her for a few moments, but when her bow ends, Shalune is there to nudge her hand against the other girl's.
"That's, um. I appreciate the offer, sir, but that's not why I'm here," she amends for the sake of politeness, bowing her head a little. "I saw my parents off a long while ago, and seeing them again... I've made my peace with that. Besides, I don't even know if they'd be waiting for me here on Spira, after all," she adds with a quiet smile.
Shalune's robe might be half-hearted from a Yevon viewpoint, but it is absolutely as Shalune as it could possibly be without being a pair of oily overalls; there's a cloud of little wooden charms and toys dangling from her belt, and she fidgets with them as they clack lightly together.
"I suppose it's just difficult for me to even imagine a place like that - or think of disturbing it. It's not something I'm used to," she says, deliberately choosing her words to avoid calling anything 'wrong'. "But... I'd like to accompany Lunata, if that's alright," she adds, suddenly solemn as she fixes Gon with a look of conviction. "... in case it will mean seeing her off."
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
'Sir.' The word carries a stronger inflection to the one whose years doubtlessly exceed the both of the Filgaians combined, the tiniest quirk of his head as Lunata speaks her wishes. To see if the Farplane would have an effect upon her - that she would be honored.
Then comes the less sure, the less formal, the less invited but not any more disliked. That Shalune brings up her uncertainty about it all, about whether her parents would be here. An inability to even imagine a Farplane.
It invites curiously morbid but unwelcome thoughts, as Shalune endears to him that she accompany her friend - that walking, talking corpse - and then there's that look in her eyes.
He hasn't seen eyes that determined in some time. The eyes of the people of Spira are oft those of quiet melancholy, as though ready to be wet with tears at any time.
"...Of course, I shall guide you there," he says after a pause, as if waiting to make sure he's not about to be spoken over again. Ashton's sass still lingers like a tick of Poison that has yet to clear. Maester Seymour sure appeared infatuated with this young woman. If taking them to the Farplane would invite a final end... well, he has received no word nor direction contrary to Lunata's wishes, now has he.
"You may accompany her." The words are less that of a kind, gentle, patient man who has seen and endured much tragedy, and more of a distant, stand-offish clerk who sees fit to keep the line moving. "You need not worry yourself about disturbing it. The Farplane is where all shall go in due time. That the living set foot to give company to the departed is no defilement."
He has fewer of the nervous tics and cues the two young women - well, young woman and deceased woman - both express in their lively anticipation and concerns for what could come next, as Gon starts heading down the path towards the place of interest. The place where Lunata seeks to find her rest.
He supposes that would be a best case scenario for all involved.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata quietly bows again, looking towards Shalune. She's quietly proud of the resolve her friend has discovered... but quietly wonders about her own. Was it resolve that led her down this path to at the very least break the status quo that had instilled upon her such agony? Was it resignation? She isn't sure...
But that she can't let go of the jacket quite yet is maybe telling. Even if she'd like to not think about it.
"Thank you," she speaks, when Gon says that Shalune may accompany her. 'If it'll send her off...'
The Sending, the primary vehicle in which people are sent, failed. She isn't sure what power the actual entrance of the Farplane has... but as they come a little closer--
There is a moment in which she stands there in awe, because if nothing else... the Farplane itself is a structure to be awed, no less impressive no matter whether it has become a tourist destination or not.
"I feel a... a draw," Lunata admits. "I felt it the moment I stepped in Guadosalam the first time, in all honesty... but..."
She looks to herself, for a moment longer. She hesitates, but then squeezes Shalune's hand.
"May we approach closer?" Up the steps... and through the entrance? She's not certain how far visitors are allowed, so she looks to the expert here.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune's determination is far from total; in the silence after she makes her request, she still has to swallow a lump in her throat, and her fingers shift against Lunata's in a telltale fashion. It's more for Lunata's sake that she keeps her gaze set forwards, now understanding a little more of what the other girls going through, and the determination isn't so much to see an end for her companions as to just stay by her side for as absolutely long as she can.
She lapses into quiet thought as they approach, her hand in Lunata's - but she breaks out of it for a moment to glance across at their guide. "I'll do my best to bear that in mind, sir. I think it's just instinct from how I was raised. Um, and an educated guess as to how I'd react if I did see them," she adds with a rare and rueful smile. It isn't always that she looks or acts her age, but her recent experiences and thoughts definitely feel like they've made her grow up a little.
She doesn't need mystical senses to feel the weight of the place; she falls silent again as they step closer, awed in much the same way as Lunata is. "I don't think you'd find a place this quiet anywhere on Filgaia," she murmurs, whispering without realizing it as she answers Lunata's gesture by stepping forward a pace.
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Dutifully, Gon helps draw them closer. Up those steps, that lead towards that vortex full of color, sound... it's truly an unthinkable thing for anyone from Filgaia, or even from anywhere else in Lunar, that some kind of nexus like this exists out in the open. Out in the open, as a means to come visit.
(Even if the truth delivered by Seymour takes a fine scalpel to the mysticism and splendor behind what is a glorified tourist destination.)
The Guado could never come to appreciate the sheer novelty this must be to some who have never known of this. This place has always been a facet of their life, living and standing guard about it.
He looks back as he senses Lunata stopping, to take it in. Is she hesitating, he wonders. Pyreflies flit by him, wailing out their little wispy passengers as he stares down to the two of them as Shalune reverently discusses the sense of calm this place imparts. Quieter than anywhere on this 'Filgaia.'
What a miserable place this Filgaia must be, he does not voice. If he were of the mind, Lunata's already asking him--
"You are to proceed." Not 'you may,' but 'you are.' "Beyond here lies the Farplane." He gestures broadly with a large, clawed hand, as if inviting them to take the lead to climb up the final ascent that comes after another short horizontal stretch, towards the vortex ahead.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Here it is. The Farplane. The vortex upon which the afterlife of Spira awaits.
There's a quiet swallow, head tightening as she feels that grip upon Shalune's fingers tighten to an almost pale-like colour. "A quietness... but..." she finds herself murmuring, though when Gon requests that they step through, she nods in turn as she steps to pass through.
Pass through. But not pass on.
There is indeed a... quietude.
The quiet sensation that had been tugging at her in Guadosalam has intensified. It is as if a great, enormous void was trying to swallow what it anticipates to be within her...
And yet...
It finds nothing.
Gon had the right of it. It was as if she were a hunk of rock. Spira considers her probably no more than a hunk of rock.
"... ... ..."
Lunata steps forward, viewing the great expanse of the beauteous hued... forest? And its enormous waterfalls, a sight unbeholden by any physical location she's been to before. Even if it didn't claim her...
"So this is... the Farplane..."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune's palm is a little sweaty against Lunata's; she swallows softly as they pass through the threshold, expecting--
--expecting what? She's not really sure. Is Lunata going to burst into pyreflies like the other Sent at Mi'ihen? Maybe she'll just fall limp as part of her is spirited back to Filgaia? Is there going to be a vacuum noise and she spirals off into the distance?
She can realize her thoughts getting rather addled, and sucks in a sigh as she walks that particular idea back. More likely: is the barrier between their world and the Farplane going to obligingly give way for her, simply letting her walk serenely off into the distance?
Still torn between letting the other girl go and clinging onto her as tightly as she can, she closes her eyes and holds her breath for a long moment, the vista unnoticed as she waits to see what happens to Lunata. When she speaks, relief washes over the pink-haired girl - instantly followed by a momentary pang of conflicted feelings. For all the conviction she's gained, she can't help her feelings.
Her worries dissolve away when she opens her eyes, though, drawing in an awed gasp of air at the scenery that surrounds them. Her fingers suddenly itch; she can feel the weight of the small sketchpad that's tucked away in one of her pockets, and the first immediate impulse is to commit the sight to paper, even as her brain tells her that's probably a gigantic no-no.
Her second impulse isn't any more helpful. They'd probably be super pissed if she brought a tent.
So she settles on a quiet and subuded but deeply genuine "Woah..." escaping her agape mouth.
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
From the one circular rocky platform that seems suspended within this place, one might think they've stepped into a whole new world that seems far too vast to contain to the physical plane. Though the hues of the sky seem to speak of an eternal sunset, dead ahead a great ocean with swirling columns of water stretching as high as the eye can see. Surrounding them, roaring waterfalls deposit vast quantities of water. Wailing ball of light - pyreflies - fly about freely in verdant gardens. The water seems to carry through into a basin beneath that appears as though filled with molten lava... but it further faces out to the greenery below.
In the sky, surrounded by black smoke but not at all obscured for it, is a single blue orb of light from far away - like it were looking at the moon (...or the Gaia) from afar.
The two of them have roughly a minute to take in their feelings about the environs, and Lunata's continued existence, until light footfalls rhythmically come to a stop not far behind them. The looming Gon Guado, who looks upon the intact Lunata and the fidgeting, fiddly Shalune who's doing something in those tiny hands of hers.
"You are within the Farplane." He reaffirms with clinical tones.
He sees it is indeed, just the two of them (not including himself). That Shalune hasn't even had the iota of thought of trying to recall a memory of anyone who might have died here. A cruel thought enters his mind - did she have none she cared for among the fallen of Operation Mi'ihen?
...Or is Lunata, her childhood friend (unbeknownst to him) so powerful in her heart's presence that she couldn't subconsciously will another while she's around?
Nonetheless, the walking corpse does not dissolve into pyreflies. She does not lie over motionless. It is not claiming her. This Filgaia has no 'Farplane' of its own, according to the one with a pulse.
The implications are not reassuring.
"...What is that in your hand?" He asks of Shalune.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
There's a very soft breath as Lunata remains quiet for a good few long moments... ...
...
And it isn't until Gon pipes up to ask Shalune what she's got in her hand that she immediately whips around and QUIETLY hopes that it isn't the tablet, please don't take pictures of the Farplane Shalune--
--and a quiet puft of breath escapes her (despite her having no breath) when she sees it's a notepad instead.
"... she's an artist," Lunata points out apologetically. "She... enjoys sketching the sights of our travels, that we may remember them."
There is a quiet pause as she wraps her arms togehter for a moment. She hesitates as she looks back to Shalune, though, as the rush of feelings escapes and she's just left with cold realisation.
The Farplane is not going to take her.
"Thank you... for showing us," Lunata speaks somewhat tiredly to Gon. Like the Sending, it didn't take her but... there definitely was a sensation that left her somewhat exhausted. "And-- sorry... I forgot to introduce myself earlier, sir."
She's somewhat certain Gon at least partially knows of her since, in hindsight, he didn't seem as alarmed about her state as a non-Unsent, but just in case...
"Lunata Croze. An Otherworlder... but I'm studying Yevon's teachings, under Maester Seymour's retinue."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Not(e)ably, the notepad is not open in Shalune's hands. She barely even seems to realize she's drawn it out, in fact, jumping a little in surprise as the Guado's voice cuts through her quiet thoughts and nearly sends her bolting up out of her skin.
"O-oh-- oh! Um, I'm sorry, sir," she blurts, her eyes wide as she rams the paper back into her sleeve, a new trick she's picked up from Spiran clothing. "I just-- I mean, I really wouldn't call myself an artist or anything, but sceneries and landscapes are what I like sketching best. It's-- beautiful," she adds as she looks back to the view across the hills and plains, and chews at her lips slowly.
... and a little hard to believe, too, she adds to herself privately. Maybe the reason that she didn't summon anyone is because there's a bit of a mental block there. It's difficult to think of the scene before her as an afterlife, so real and obviously there to some degree. Or, perhaps it's just down to the very down-to-earth way she thinks of her parents, and the reluctance she feels about interrupting their rest.
Her attention turns back to Lunata, catching the fatigue in her voice; carefully she holds onto one of Lunata's hands, and offers her shoulder as support. "Ah, my name's Shalune Amira. I'm-- just kind of helping out wherever I can," she adds with a rather lame grin. "That kinda sounds like I should pay the Maester rent, or something... ah, but I'm grateful for the hospitality, for sure!"
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
"An artist," Gon echoes as he looks down to the more nervous, emotional one of the duo. The pause that follows as Shalune stuffs that paper back up her sleeve and apologizes, praising the sights that she sees. That Gon hardly moves at all could well be indicative of some level of disapproval. The man does not smile.
Have they ever seen a Guado - outside of Seymour - truly smile? They always seem so uptight, so distant, as if seeming detached from much else than their lot on Spira.
He doesn't follow up that inquiry with any words until the both of them start to give their thanks and introduce themselves.
"Lunata Croze... yes, I have heard and seen you prior. You have shown great respect of our ways," outside of the very basic nature of her existence as a foundation that is an affront to anything and everything they know, but that is a detail that Maester Seymour has not found to be problematic.
"Shalune Amira..." He regards Shalune's name, but doesn't quite turn to face her as directly as he does with Lunata as she presents herself as a helping hand and an admirer of the landscape. "...Your admiration and intent is laudable." Those are nice-sounding words, but...
He closes his eyes and takes in a breath. Is he admiring the sight for himself, for having maintained such a straight face through what is a routine, everyday sighting for his kind?
"I am Gon, of the Guado people." He introduces himself properly after this moment passes, the proper bow, and everything. "I have served both as Guardian to this land, and to those Summoners who would seek to bring forth the Calm."
"Nonetheless... if you are ready, I shall safely see you both back to Guadosalam." Not that it's hard, or even dangerous, to simply walk back the way they came. It's a gentle urging, for he knows there are others waiting. Others waiting, and that all that really needs to be seen has.
This one fallen soul is not for here.