Phone Calls

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[Ring ring, Aerith! Flower friend on the line!]

[You too, Rydia!]

[And you, Ellone. Mom knows you skipped town.]

Comments

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Hello! Is this a good time?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Of course it is! How are you doing lately?

[The sounds of footsteps as she heads away from the balcony; it's quieter inside.]

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I'm... [Think and don't lie, Raine. Last month was rough and she's still fuming. It's not good for her health either.]

I'm much better than I have been. What about you?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

It's been hectic, but in a happy way. Rosa's returned to Gaia...though older than I remember. I don't care as long as she's back, though.

[Pause.]

Raine...do you want to talk about what happened? I didn't want to pry right away, since you'd been through so much, but if it would help you, I'm willing to listen.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I don't know. They say that Rinoa was being controlled. But even so, she's still a sorceress, and they cannot be trusted.

I don't know which is worse, watching my family be hurt or the betrayal.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Why can't they be trusted? I don't quite understand that part. Ultimecia was pure evil, but...well, that's her.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

They're all evil. I know this place is strange and that magic is commonplace. But at home, it's just not. Only Sorceresses can use magic on their own, and they go mad with power. Or that's the speculation. I think they rather enjoy it.

[Rinoa certainly seemed to enjoy the torture she inflicted on Ellone.]

When Ellone was younger, the sorceress in Esthar ordered that our village be raided for a potential successor. When Elle's parents wouldn't relinquish her, they were murdered in their own home. Those soldiers came back and kidnapped her a few months later.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

[Shudder.]

That's so horrible. The poor girl.

...I wonder what makes Sorceresses different from other mages. Magic is commonplace in my world, but we haven't had anything like that happen.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I couldn't tell you. All I know is that all it takes is once Sorceress to destroy lives. One is one too many.

One tore my family apart and another almost killed them. I won't give her the chance to hurt us again.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

I can't blame you for wanting to protect your family. No one should have to go through that.

[Sigh.]

I don't really know what it's like to be taken over by someone, but if it's anything like what Kain went through, Rinoa will be living with that forever.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Who?

[Don't mind Raine's ignorance, Rydia. Her network time is strictly an occasional pastime, so she's not all too familiar with other Sky People.]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

He's a friend of mine. He was possessed by a powerful stone which was connected to a creature called a Lucavi. It made him attack...several people, during the Festival of the Hunt.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Hmm. This is all so very strange. Nothing like this happens at home, unless something like a sorceress is involved and that's almost unheard of. I just can't understand it.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

I don't, either, but I suppose I am derailing things. Kain and the Lucavi can wait. You need to talk about these Sorceresses, don't you? About Rinoa....

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Maybe. It's like the white elephant in the room around here. Nobody's talking about it.

[Sigh.]

I can't forgive her.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

...forgiveness is a really hard thing to do, sometimes. I know.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

Hmm?

[That sounds like life experience speaking.]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

...I never told you about Mist, did I?

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. Do you mean the fog outside?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

No, I mean my hometown. Mist was a place of summoners, people who bring forth Eidolons and learn magic as naturally as some people learn how to walk. We kept to ourselves...but that didn't save us from tragedy.

When I was seven years old, two men were sent from the neighboring kingdom of Baron on the orders of their king, who feared our power. They slew my mother's dragon...which killed her, as well. Furthermore, the 'gift' he sent with them was actually a Carnelian Signet. When opened, it released a horde of Bombs throughout the town. In a very short span of time, the entire town was in flames.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[The more Raine hears, the deeper her frown grows on her end of the phone.]

That's terrible! I'm so sorry.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

I summoned Titan, a being of Earth, to destroy them...and then I blacked out. When I awoke, one of those soldiers from Baron was still with me, at an inn. He tried to speak with me, but I remembered all too well what he had done. Even though he hadn't meant to do it, my entire life had been ripped away from me because of him. So, I said nothing.

...and then, Baronian soldiers stormed in, to finish what was started. They would have killed me, were it not for that one soldier. He...he fought his own men, turned his back on everything else, to save me.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

...

He did?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Yes. After that, he couldn't go back home even if he wanted to do so. Seeing that...I finally decided to trust him. If he could prevent such a tragedy from happening elsewhere, I wanted to be there to help him do it.

[waitedinwinhill.livejournal.com]

[There's a long silence on Raine's end while she thinks that over.]