Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Lol. Well, I'll just say this: You don't know everything about Rogan yet. He's chock-full of secrets biggrin My brother always worries that he's too much cooler than Eddora, who is supposed to be my main character, but I say, who cares? The more cool characters, the merrier!

No problemo, but you do seem to be fond of knocking your characters out. Almost like Christopher Paolini >_>

My Ed post is rather short this time, since there's not much to respond to. *prepares self for a nice long post to read next time*))

Eddora was stalking forwards irritably when Jalisat abruptly collapsed in a stranger's arms. For a moment, she froze as her eyebrows shot up into her hair. Then she hurried forwards, dropping to one knee next to the boy while keeping a wary eye on the man. Had he done something to the kid? She couldn't be sure.

"What happened to him?" Then she called over her shoulder, "Venez, get over here!"

Venez had already pulled away from Aer's side and rushed forward to examine him.

~

Rogan looked away from Kenan with a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. He deliberated for a moment, debating with himself whether he should lie or tell the truth. Finally he decided on the truth - or at least some of it. "They call me Rogan now," he said grudgingly. "I'm not the only one who can make up names, you know."

"You're avoiding the question," Kenan growled. "Rogan."

Rogan turned his gaze back to Kenan's furious face. "Why do you think I'm on a pilgrimage? The same reason I joined you and Lord Kiro."

Kenan's fist clenched around his sake bottle so tightly Rogan was surprised it didn't shatter in his hand. "How...dare..." Kenan choked out, eyes burning with hate. "How dare you utter his name!"

Rogan felt an old, familiar sadness well up in him. Hadn't they been friends once? "I utter his name out of respect. He was a marvelous summoner, and a great man, even if I did make the wrong choice-"

"You made the wrong choice?!" Kenan growled, trembling with rage. "No. I made the wrong choice when I chose to trust you! You back-stabbing, fiend-hearted-"

"Now, let's not start calling each other names," Rogan broke in before Kenan's voice could grow any louder and draw unwanted attention. "Don't you remember what your summoner said? Let's talk out our differences like reasonable men - even if one of us isn't." He narrowed his eyes meaningfully at his companion and took another swig of his drink. Kenan grudgingly followed suit, and when he'd finished off his first cup, Rogan started up what he hoped was a more friendly topic. "So tell me about your summoner. What's he like? Don't worry," he hastily added when he saw the murderous look in Kenan's eyes, "I'll keep away from him."

The guardian hesitated a moment, then scowled and muttered, "His name's Yalan. He's my brother."

Rogan raised his eyebrows in surprise, picturing the young, fair-haired man. The two looked almost nothing alike.

"We're half-brothers, really," Kenan continued grudgingly, finishing off another cup. "Same father."

Old conversations came rushing back to Rogan's mind from the corner of his mind he never poked at anymore. "Ah. The same one you had to run away from to become a guardian? That's why you never told us your real name."

Kenan nodded shortly. "He's been dead awhile now. Don't think Yalan even realized he had a brother till I showed up. He has ability, and his heart's in the right place, I suppose...but he's too trusting." His gaze had wandered over to the door behind which Yalan was probably still sitting and waiting for them. Now his eyes returned to Rogan and smoldered darkly. "I knew if he was serious about going on pilgrimage, I'd have to come along and protect him - from you."

Rogan smiled sadly at his old friend, pity welling up inside him. "And you wanted to die."

((Um, it's Sirius Black, you know. Like the Dog Star? But anyway, I get what you mean. There's an infuriating trend in stories that my favorite character always ends up dead. Sirius was my favorite character in HP (once he showed up, anyway; other than that it's good ole Dumby for me :3). I didn't really have a favorite character in Monster (there were too many good ones!), but Grimmer was definitely up there. One of my favorite characters in FMA dies no matter which version of the story you're talking about. And then my favorite character dies in one of the animes you've got on your to-watch list (but of course I can't tell you which one twisted ).))

As soon as this Amalio fellow said the word 'parents', Eddora leapt to her feet and began spluttering in horror, "Wha- parents...me...him...."

Venez, whose ministrations seemed rather superfluous at the moment, straightened up, grumbling under her breath. "He meant no offense, I'm sure," she muttered irritably to her summoner.

Ed managed to restrain herself with difficulty, and spat out, "His name's Jalisat, and that stupid boy better not have tried any fishy magic or...." Her voice died away, and her eyes glanced unwillingly in the direction of the Farplane. There was a tense knot in her stomach that tightened whenever she thought about Calaman and wondered whether it would be worse to see him there or not. Looking back at Jalisat's prone form, she almost welcomed this diversion.

~

For a moment the two men only looked at one another, Rogan's eyes filled with sympathy and Kenan's filled with a loneliness so keen Rogan could almost feel it himself. Kenan finally broke their gaze and looked down at his hand on the table. "Yes," he said softly. "I want to die. I should have died years ago." His hand clenched into a fist. "If it hadn't been for you, Lord Kiro would have been High Summoner, not an unknown name lost to history."

Rogan sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Is it really my fault? Wouldn't he have made the same choice, regardless of whether I was there or not?"

"His choice is not the issue here!"

Rogan leaned onto the table again, frowning in confusion. "You mean you're not blaming me for his decision?"

"Of course not!" Kenan snapped. "Why would I blame you for that? You were against it the whole way!"

Rogan smiled wryly. "I'll admit your argument didn't make much sense."

Kenan's glare did not abate. "Don't give me that. I'm blaming you for what you did after you left us!"

Rogan's frown deepened. Now he was really confused. "What did I do? Last time I checked, I was just sailing around for as long as the Calm lasted."

"You sold us out, that's what you did," Kenan bit out through clenched teeth. "Don't tell me you've grown so old you don't even remember that."

Rogan continued to stare at him in confusion, but then it dawned on him and his expression cleared. "Oh," he said lamely. "That."

((BWARHARHAR. Now you get a taste of your own medicine, huh?))

Eddora wandered impatiently around the room while Amalio saw to the boy, unable to stand still and wait like Aer nor possessing enough know-how to mutter random white magic spells under her breath like Venez.

Then Aer announced, "He's awake," and Ed swooped upon the boy as well, gazing at him in confusion and frustration. She was sick and tired of inexplicable circumstances. There'd already been far too many of them on the pilgrimage thus far.

"Don't you have any idea what happened?" Ed asked Jalisat irritably. "People don't just flop over on the ground for no reason. Even if it's really strange, there's always an explanation!"

~

"My...My Lord?" Lanno asked tentatively.

"A moment," Kiro murmured, still staring at his feet. The summoner sat at the foot of the stairs, head in his hands and his elbows resting on his knees. He'd been sitting there for almost ten minutes straight, saying nothing, barely moving.

Morridan waited patiently, leaning against a broken pillar with his arms crossed. He knew the decision would come eventually, and until it did, he could wait. Over the long years, he'd learned the value of patience and deliberation. That was why he'd chosen Kiro in the first place, after all - Kiro was the kind of man who thought things through rather than rushing ahead impetuously. In that way, he and Lanno complemented each other perfectly. Lanno knew when things needed to be done quickly, while Kiro restrained Lanno when necessary. At times Morridan almost felt like a third wheel.

At long last, Kiro looked up. His face already looked several years older than it had when they'd set out from Besaid, worn from weeks of the harsh journey and the many stresses they'd gone through to reach this place. Kiro slowly got to his feet, weariness etched into every movement. He still hadn't quite recovered from their last desperate battle against that powerful fiend that had been gathering pyreflies for years. Morridan pushed off the pillar and came closer.

Kiro looked between his two guardians, resolve firming his expression. Morridan had seen that look many times before, and he prepared himself internally for the last, short leg of the journey. Kiro said, "Lanno...Morridan. I've decided." He drew a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. "I'm giving up the pilgrimage."

A shocked silence rang in their ears. Morridan didn't have to glance over at Lanno to see the emotions battling for dominance on his face as he tried to decide whether he was disappointed, angry, sad...or more relieved than words could say.

But Morridan knew what to say. "You're giving up?" he asked in a dangerously low voice, narrowing his eyes. "After you've gotten this far? After we've sacrificed so much to get you here? After all the people you've seen who are waiting for the Calm?"

"I know, Morridan," Kiro began, reaching out to put a placating hand on his guardian's shoulder. "But there are some things that are more important-"

Morridan jerked away, anger that he wasn't used to springing up within him like a coiled snake. "More important than hundreds of lives?" he demanded hotly. "Have you listened to nothing I've said? Have you completely forgotten everything I said when I joined you?"

"No," Kiro said quietly. "For the first time, I fully understand you. I can see now why you go from summoner to summoner, offering your services, helping as you can.... But it's not enough, Morridan. It will never be enough. You've lost something in those long years of hating Sin, my friend. You've forgotten that things need not stay the same forever. We can change this-"

Morridan cut him off. "You're the one who's forgetting, Kiro! I've explained to you, several times, why nothing is ever going to change! You just have to accept that and do what you can. But if you're going to abandon all of Spira now, then I'll find someone else. I'll tell them about the summoner who could have saved everyone...and chickened out at the last minute." With that, he whirled around and stomped off, leaving his summoner and fellow guardian in the ruins of an ancient city.

Rogan ran his hand over his face as memories from that day came rushing to the forefront of his mind. Well, at least it made sense now why Kenan was blaming him for everything. He sighed, then emptied his glass before he dared to meet Kenan's eyes again. "Lan...Kenan. I never told them about Lord Kiro."

"Liar," Kenan snarled at him.

Rogan sighed again. "Just think about it a moment. Why on earth would I want a perfectly good summoner dead?"

"Because he angered you. Because he wouldn't follow your plan."

"Vengeance?" Rogan asked scornfully, knowing it would rankle Kenan, who had come after him in vengeance not long ago. "You underestimate me. The only vengeance I care about is Sin's. My disappointment with Lord Kiro is nothing compared to the way I feel about Sin." Even just talking about it made Rogan's stomach clench with anger.

Kenan struggled with himself, then asked tightly, "If not you, then who? Who knew that-"

"Well, think about it," Rogan said impatiently. "Did you happen to let it slip to anyone what you were up to before you made it to Bevelle?"

"No...." Kenan frowned, then his eyes widened. Slowly his face hardened into hatred as black as when he'd attacked Rogan. "Him."

(( eek Killing someone off? Fine by me, just as long as it's nobody I like! mad p ))

Eddora spared a moment to glare evenly between Jalisat, Aer, and Amalio, till finally she shrugged and said, "Whatever. Long as it's something strong." Normally she would want something strong after they visited the Farplane, and she probably would need something no matter what they found up there, but it wouldn't hurt anything to have one ahead of time, right? She would just have to watch herself extra carefully to make sure she didn't get drunk again. At least they wouldn't be on the bobbing waves, but she wouldn't be much use on the road if she couldn't even walk straight. And she'd need all her wits about her when they made their trek through the Thunder Plains.

Ed naturally parked herself in the comfiest looking chair in the room, the one next to the window. She crossed her legs at the ankles and returned to glaring speculatively at Jalisat.

~

Rogan closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against his temples. "You mean to tell me that you just assumed it was me, and didn't bother to weigh any other options?"

Kenan's jaw clenched convulsively. "You were the first person who knew of it. You left in anger. You had every reason to go and do the most hurtful thing you could."

Rogan stared at the warrior in disbelief. "Truly, you underestimate me, old friend. But tell me: Who was this other person you told?"

Kenan's face darkened again as he thought of the man. "We met him in the Calm Lands, as we journeyed back from Mount Gagazet. He was a priest of some sort, seeking enlightenment or transcendence or some other such nonsense rather than doing something useful with his abilities. Since he was a priest, naturally Lord Kiro told him immediately what we had found. That black-tongued fiend told us he would go ahead of us and spread the word."

Rogan raised his eyebrows. "But obviously, he told the maesters instead? That seems fairly straightforward. But you were so keen to hate me that you never thought for a moment...."

Cursing under his breath, Kenan took a swig of his sake. "I tried to find you, you know. Tried for a whole Sin-blasted year to track you down and get some answers out of you. But then the Calm came and you were off sailing and sailing and sailing, and there was no pinning you down. And so I contented myself with hating your guts."

Rogan sighed. "Ah well. There's a price for trying to get some privacy, I suppose." He tucked his hands behind his head and looked sidelong at Kenan. The atmosphere between them was much more friendly than it had been yet; it seemed that now Kenan had finally learned the truth, he was willing to forget his anger. That was more than many men could say. He let the friendly atmosphere settle between them before he did what he knew he would have to eventually. Lowering his arms back to the table, he leaned forward a little and said somberly, "So...how exactly did it happen?"

((*doesn't understand where you're going with Cal, but that's fine*))

Eddora, completely oblivious to any of the exchange between Aer and Amalio, grabbed the bottle the latter had pointed out to her and tipped some of it into her mouth. She nodded with satisfaction and sat back down, jiggling her foot with almost as much impatience as Jalisat. She couldn't keep her thoughts away from that Farplane.

~

"In Macalania," Kenan said softly, running a finger over an age-old crack in the table. "At night, not too far from Bevelle. We were going as fast as we could, and we ran right into an ambush." He shook his head grimly. "We never had a chance. Lord Kiro got hit with a Silence almost immediately; he couldn't even summon. I fought them as hard as I could, but you know what the warrior priests are like. While one of them had me occupied, they killed Lord Kiro."

Kenan took a quick gulp of his drink to hide his emotion, but Rogan could see right through him. "How'd you escape, then?" he asked softly.

"They wounded me pretty good. Blood everywhere. I managed to escape through the trees, but I knew my blood was leaving a clear trail for them. So got to a river and let them see me fall into it and the current washed me away. They thought I'd drowned, since I couldn't swim much in that state, and they were almost right. But I washed ashore somewhere and an old fisherman nursed me back to health. I lay low for a while, then hung around Bevelle under my real name, since no one would recognize it there. I was waiting for a summoner with you tagging along."

Rogan chuckled humorlessly. "You defy death almost as well as I do. Maybe revenge really does lengthen your life. But you should know that I never pick a summoner right from Bevelle. I like them to show me what they can do first. In fact," he said with a lazy grin, leaning back in his chair, "the summoner I've picked this time hasn't even accepted me yet. I think it's a record."

Kenan rolled his eyes. "You enjoy being deliberately mysterious, don't you?"

Rogan's grin widened. "Of course. It gives me a more dashing demeanor."

Kenan nudged a leg of the precariously tipped chair, and Rogan had to clutch the table to keep from falling over backwards. "I find it hard to believe you're actually older than me," Kenan said, shaking his head. "You act precisely like a child."

Rogan shrugged. "Well, one has to keep up the appearance of youth if one doesn't want to be called grandpa all the time."

Suddenly Kenan was serious again. "You haven't told her yet, have you? Lady Eddora, I mean."

Rogan smiled slyly at his old companion. "All in good time, my friend. I can tell she's the one this time. She's got it in her. All I've got to do is manipulate her to the point where she can't refuse my offer."

Kenan couldn't keep back a snort of laughter. "You're a scoundrel, Rogan."

"Naturally."

((Sorry for the huge long delay sweatdrop Seems the aftermath of NaNo was almost more hectic than NaNo itself. We were celebrating Christmas way ahead of time because we won't see one branch of the family at the real date, so that ate up quite a bit of time. Then my brother has been writing college applications, which has meant he hogs the computer for inordinate amounts of time -_- Anyway, onward and upward!))

Eddora froze mid-swig, then lowered her drink of (apparently) hard liquor to stare at the others in the room better. Her eyes snapped from one to the other throughout this strange exchange. Ed had been under the impression that they'd met through a chance encounter, but now they were talking as though they'd known each other for years, and knew each other's secrets. But how could that be, when Amalio lived in Guadosalam and Jalisat seemed to have spent his whole life in Kilika? She kept silent at first, hoping to figure out how the heck they knew each other, but finally she couldn't take it any longer.

Setting down her drink, Ed stood up and propped her fists on her hips, glaring sternly between the two annoyingly mysterious people in the room. "Okay, hold it right there, guys. What in Yevon's name are you talking about?"

~

Rogan turned to look at the serving girl when he heard the crash, while Kenan's eyes quickly swept through the rest of the bar, in case someone was going to take advantage of the distraction. It was an old habit, picked up again after unearthing all these memories of their shared past - Rogan would always look towards the source of the disturbance, and Kenan would always look elsewhere. Such a tactic had saved Lord Kiro three stolen purses in Bevelle alone.

But neither of them saw anything out of the ordinary, so they turned back to each other to resume their conversation. "So," Kenan started. "Here we are, both halfway through another pilgrimage. Never thought I'd live to see the day."

Rogan chuckled. "Me neither. But...what are you going to do? When you reach Zanarkand, I mean." Kenan looked away, so Rogan pressed him. "You already know what your little brother will face. Are you sure you have the strength to see the knowledge and hurt in his eyes when he finds out what you - what every Yevonite - has been concealing?"

He half expected Kenan to lash out at him, to cry that of course he was strong enough...but Kenan just sighed and said, "I don't know." His face seemed to sag with weariness, and Rogan felt as though he could almost see his friend's skin wrinkling before his eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Yalan has such determination. I doubt I could stop him, even if I revealed the truth to him now. What's your advice?"

Rogan looked at him disbelievingly. "You're asking me for advice? The guy who made a solemn vow to kill Sin when I don't summon so much as a pyrefly anymore? You do realize...." Rogan bit his lip and his voice grew quiet. "I have full confidence that Lady Eddora will be the High Summoner...but if you and Yalan actually made it to Zanarkand ahead of us...I'd have to kill you one day."

((Are the girl's "they" my peeps or your peeps?))

At first Eddora was going to take offense at Amalio's laughter, but when she realized he was finally going to spill the beans, she contented herself with crossing her arms loosely and listening to what he had to say. As he spoke of not being able to heal this Kavindhra person, Ed found her gaze shifting to Venez, who'd been sitting forgotten in a corner as usual. Now, however, she was leaning forward with an earnest look on her face, her hands pressed against her heart and staring at Amalio with a look of utmost pity. Apparently, she could imagine how hard it would be for a white mage to be unable to heal someone.

"Well then," Ed said into the momentary silence. "We might as well go now, right? I wanna clear this whole thing up and get back to my pilgrimage. Let's go, Aer, Ca-" She stopped herself barely in time. "Venez." And she made for the door, trying to control the backflips her stomach was performing.

~

Kenan smiled sadly. "I always knew one of us would kill the other in the end. I don't relish the thought...but I'm not afraid."

Rogan looked at this proud man he called a friend. So many like him had passed this way, ready and willing to lay their lives down even though they knew the Calm wouldn't last and Sin would just come back again. Many reached Zanarkand and learned the truth, only to harden their resolve and continue. Rogan had to admire people like that, because he could never be that brave. "Then good luck," he finally murmured.

"And to you, old friend," Kenan said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Rogan smirked as they stood up. "Naturally, I intend to reach Zanarkand first. And I never choose wrong. Lord Kiro may have turned back at the last moment, but he did reach the finish line first."

"True."

The two men strode through the tavern and stepped through the door. Immediately, Yalan leapt to his feet. "Finally!" he burst out, scowling up at his brother. "You two really like to enjoy your drinks, don't you?"

"I'll see you later, I suppose?" Kenan said to Rogan, ignoring his little brother.

Rogan nodded. "Don't die prematurely, 'cause I'm not visiting you in the Farplane." Then he smirked and left them, hearing Yalan inquisitively interrogate Kenan about what had happened between them. He let out a deep sigh as he walked through the city. He was sorry to have to say goodbye to the man who had been a constant companion not too many years ago, but he knew this was necessary. He'd already made his choice.

Rogan settled himself down near the tunnel leading to the Thunder Plains to wait for the Lady Eddora. She would have to walk this way sometime, he knew. But until then, he would take a nice relaxing nap.

((@_@ Finally back! I must confess I'm now confused with each and every one of the things you have going on now...not that that's necessarily bad. Keeps me intrigued. So am I right in thinking that something's gone wrong with the Farplane too? (As if there's not enough wrong with Spira already, eh? razz )

In other news, I've finally got around to starting FFXII, three or four years after buying it. I'm definitely loving it, but I had to chuckle when I met "Amalia." Lolgasp! It's Amalio's long-lost twin sister, transported to Ivalice! D8 ))

Rogan opened an eye to watch the small disturbance, but when nothing much seemed to happen, he closed it again and settled back down. He began to breathe deeply and dream of the rolling waves.

~

"You said it, Aer!" Eddora agreed, crossing her arms again and looking between Jalisat, who seemed to have gone back to normal, and Amalio, who still had that sappy, wistful expression on his face. She was sick and tired of things happening that seemed to have little explanation, and she was sick and tired of not being able to do anything about them but feebly attempt to understand what was going on. "I fail to see how giving this Kavindhra person your soul would have helped anyway, but whatever. Now that we're here, I may as well get down to business."

She stepped towards the edge of the platform where visitors would look over the Farplane and see visions of their loved ones in the golden clouds that swarmed beneath them. Firmly holding the image of her smiling family in her mind, Ed waited for something to happen. Them to step out of the mist or something. When she'd passed this way before, they hadn't appeared, but that was because no one had Sent them yet. She'd taken care of that now.

((I feel as though I should wait for your reply before I say definitively whether she can see them or not.))