[Voice]

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

[Vague apology is going to be vague, but that's how Kain does these things. He'll leave it public partially as an act of penance, partially because he's still readjusting to these devices and their filters. He isn't even sure that all of these people are here- he's been gone from Gaia for only a couple weeks, but to him it feels much, much longer. Don't worry Zidane, when he realizes you're not here, he'll bother you when you arrive.]

Cecil. Squall. Onion Knight. Bartz. Firion. Zidane. I apologize to all of you, especially.

I should also extend that apology to the other warriors of Cosmos as well.

I'm... sorry.

[He's still recovering, but he can't finish this without offering:]

...and if anyone has need for another fighter, I can be there at once.

Comments

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

[Golbez... So even in the previous cycles, he was helping them, even if only to provide information. The warriors of Cosmos owe him much.]

Of what plan do you speak? Cosmos and the crystals, or... something else?

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

[He pauses a moment to gather his thoughts.]

A plan to ensure that enough of our warriors lasted to defeat those of Chaos. I'm sure you'd encountered some manikins?

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

Yes, I fought countless manikins throughout the conflict. What of them?

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Were you aware that defeat at their hands leads to a permanent death?

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

...No, I didn't know that.

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Unsurprising, that you wouldn't know. But that was their nature. If you fell in battle to a regular warrior, you would be revived to fight again in the next cycle. There was no revival after defeat by manikins.

...And in the cycle I speak of, there was an infinite army of them.

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

[Cecil's a lot more sharper than his younger self, so he has an idea of where this is going.]

And so you sought to stop them?

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

I sought... to ensure that warriors of Cosmos were saved for the next cycle.

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

In which you were successful. So... for what reason are you apologising?

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

For what I had to do.

To ensure that you and the others lived to see the next cycle, I... attacked all of you. I betrayed your trust in me, and knocked you out to take you out of the fighting.

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

You... knocked us out? I'm not sure I understand.

[It's something he'd never think to do himself, that's for certain, so as a plan it doesn't make much sense to him.]

You attacked us in order to protect us? Did that cycle really seem so hopeless to you?

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

The manikins were emerging, an endless army, from that rift... Had I not ensured you were all knocked out and safe... everyone would have gone to fight them and inevitably fallen.

It was a desperate situation and a risky plan to take. But the chance that all of Cosmos' warriors would be obliterated... was too great.

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

Kain... What happened to you after that? You set out to stop the manikins?

[He assumes so, because after Cosmos perished and they all travelled to defeat Chaos, the manikin numbers were all but dying out.]

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

...Does it matter so much, what became of me? But yes... we set out to face the horde of manikins and close the rift. Despite knowing the inevitable outcome. It had to be done.

[And Kain knows every one of the others would have done the same, had he not ensured they were kept safe for the next cycle.]

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

[Of course it matters what became of him. Rosa and Cecil had been so worried... have been worried for him much, much longer than just two weeks of absence. Not that Kain would realise it, being as young as he is.]

...Who else went with you to stop them, if not us?

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Lightning, Laguna, Tifa, Yuna, Vaan.

[And he's not heard a thing from any of them when he addressed the warriors of Cosmos in general, he only now realizes it's because none of them even remember.]

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

[There's only a couple of names he's really familiar with from Gaia. Yuna, who he knows through Tidus, and--]

Laguna? He aided us on the Lunatic Pandora, despite the dangers involved, and is fighting on the Mist Continent now. He's a courageous man; I'm not surprised he accompanied you.

[And yet, the idea that they fell at the hands of the manikins bothers Cecil greatly, far more than the idea of his best friend knocking him out for an entire cycle.]

...Why did you try to do so much on your own, Kain? I could have helped you. There might have been another way.

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

He is. They all are.

[Kain is glad to hear that about Laguna, he wouldn't expect anything different. He'll have to try and contact them all soon... now that he knows they don't yet remember...]

...There was no other way, Cecil. We needed to ensure that you and the others would make it through. If we hadn't, Cosmos wouldn't have had any warriors left.

I had intended for us all to join you, but... that rift had to be closed.

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

...

[Silence on Cecil's end as he considers that. So many people have risked or given their lives for him so that he could continue fighting, but it's still sinking in that Kain would do such a thing. They'd grown up together, they were best friends -- even when Kain vanished all those years ago, Cecil never imagined Kain could die. He's been a constant throughout his life, just like Rosa, or Cid.

Eventually he speaks, tone sombre.]

What you all did... was very noble.

[Even if Cecil doesn't necessarily agree with Kain's less-than-noble methods in getting the other Cosmos warriors out of harm's way, it was done with good intentions, and in the end it worked out for the best. The fact it was all such a long time ago to Cecil and he can't remember it makes it more easy to forgive, too.]

Rest easy knowing your fight was not in vain. We were victorious in the final conflict, and Chaos perished.

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

[The others with him were noble, Kain isn't so sure he deserves to be called that. But he won't argue.]

Thank you, Cecil.

[Kain knows that his methods were wrong, no matter his intentions. It had all weighed very heavily in his mind. Then there was the fact of that final battle... it's all really sinking in now that he's had time to think about it, after the shock of being here, alive again. He now lets out a long sigh of relief.]

...I'm glad... to have a chance to know that. I didn't think I ever would.

[...Or that he'd see any of them again, ever.]

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

It wasn't an easy fight. Each of the warriors of Cosmos obtained crystals, and with those, we were able to survive long enough to defeat Chaos and return home.

[If they'd failed... Well, needless to say, neither of them would be speaking like this right now.]

There was still a sacrifice in that war... We lost one of our number. But at least we were able to bring the cycles to an end.

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

[Kain hadn't thought it would be too easy... but at least they'd made it. He's glad his faith in them was not misplaced- he'd never thought it was. But then he gasps quietly at the last part. He'd hoped the sacrifices were over with his group.]

What...? Who?

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

Cosmos herself. The crystals we each earned were manifestations of her power, but in obtaining them, it cost her the last of her strength. Chaos destroyed her and the world was plunged into darkness.

We would have faded with her, were it not for the light of those crystals. They gave us each enough time to travel to the lands of Chaos and put a stop to him.

[He pauses, as a thought occurs to him.]

Perhaps... it was your selfless sacrifices that inspired her to do the same.

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[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

...Cosmos...

[Kain speaks her name quietly, with a great deal of respect to his tone. They'd... come very close to losing it all from the sound of things and yet... thanks to Cosmos herself and the crystals, they'd prevailed.]

Perhaps it was... [He's so not willing to accept the credit for that himself though, he thinks his comrades deserve more of it if anything.] ...Yet it was her own decision in the end, to give her life for the greater good.

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[trinitycrusades.livejournal.com]

[Kain's never an easy one to read, but the respect in his voice is clear. Cecil knows that respect isn't something easily given, reserved for only the likes of his father or the previous King of Baron.]

Those actions were hers alone, yes... but she placed her hopes in us, just as each of you did.

And Golbez... I wonder if he told you all that he did, because he felt the same way?