[action - locked to everyone in Cloud's travelling party to see Matoya]

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

[Cloud leads the way inside. He doesn't know what to expect from Matoya, only that she's supposedly very difficult and he is probably going to get irritated with her or at least with the situation.

Leading the group, thankfully able to stash Fenrir safely outside the cave, Cloud is cautious but determined.]

Are you Matoya? [He has a heck of a lot of questions.]

Comments

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

[Oh great, the girls leave it all to the man. Well, women need a hero! And this hero hesitates for a moment before looking at Matoya again.]

Um... Warrior of Light came here recently... he asked if there was a way to end the Cycle of Chaos. He said your answer was 'only through hardship and sorrow'.

What hardships will we face? Another battle between Cosmos and Chaos?

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

You are not ready to hear such answers. Do you truly wish to know what the future holds?

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

If it means I'll be prepared, then I do want to know...

[But he has a feeling she won't tell him that. He sighs lightly. Maybe a new question might help?]

Why has Garland brought us all together? How has he even managed it?

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

You presume incorrectly. Garland did not bring you here.

[She sighed and waved a hand in irritation.]

I'm getting too old for this. Sit down.

[One snap of her fingers and three more chairs appeared at Matoya's table.]

Ask your friend what I told him of Garland's failure. I don't care to repeat myself.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[Aerith took the chair furthest to the right, only slightly surprised to see the woman was capable of bring solid objects out of thin air. She placed her princess guard on the floor beside her, hands lifting in her lap.]

If it wasn't Garland, does it have something to do with the disruption of life flow on Gaia? I've been looking into that... this planet doesn't seem so different from my own.

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

It has everything to do with it. What has the world told you, child?

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[That does surprise her, and it's evident on her face-- did Matoya know she could speak with the Planet? It wasn't something Aerith publicized.]

That it doesn't trust us, and it won't until someone can prove to it that they are here to help instead of hurt it more. Gaia is angry and in pain, and so are the souls of those who have died but can't become one with it again.

It wouldn't tell me what we would need to do to prove that we want to help. Maybe if I had spent more time or gone deeper into the Lifestream...

[Or if she had, or could use, her Holy materia or the Holy spell. Maybe something like that- she wasn't sure of the furthest extent of her ability as a Cetra to help Gaia, but she knew she was the only one who could communicate with the planet. What other way was there to get closer, to gain Gaia's trust?]

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

Because you already hold those answers within yourself.

[lilyoftheslums.livejournal.com]

[She leaned back in the seat, letting her hand draw toward her chin again as she thought. She held the answers withing herself...

Aerith glanced toward Cloud and Terra, eyes saying she had no idea yet what that meant, but the distinct feeling of herself being intrinsically involved in this was more apparent than ever. She nodded, hoping they would know she wanted them to ask their questions.

There was a lot of thinking she needed to do before she asked anything else.]

[heavenslament.livejournal.com]

...she does?

[Terra glances back to Aerith, equally curious but uncertain of what that means. She wants to ask more about what Aerith has sensed, but it's not for her to do so. Besides, she has her own questions, but waits to see if Cloud has more before that happens.]