paladinlost | 93rd moon [video]

[The view: the ceiling of the most enpensive restaurant in Celadon. The background noise: dozens of customers enjoying their meals, and Cecil tapping his fingers on a wooden table.]

When I first awoke in New Bark Town, four years ago, I was... unwell. This whole world's very existence confused me, and so did my presence in it. The relatively weak and harmless-looking monsters were also a shock. Had it not been for Rosie's sweetness, I surely would have attempted to fight her. You could say that day was very unpleasant, though still far from the worse I've had.

[The background noise: a liquid hitting glass. The view: a quick flash of a wine bottle in a corner.]

And yet... when I finally managed to use the Pokégear, I was contacted by friends I'd not seen in seventeen years. Friends I'd not remembered in seventeen years, and that I would not have expected to ever see again even if I'd kept those memories. I also met kind people, good people, who made my first few weeks here much easier than they would otherwise have been. All have been gone for years, now, but I still find myself thinking of them fondly. Therefore... you could say that day was a good day, too.

[The action, unseen and barely heard: Cecil making a silent toast to all those people, and downing that glass before setting it back on the table.]

...Well! Now that I've shared my first day experience, it's only fitting that you do the same. Surely you all have interesting stories to share.

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Eh...I'm not sure that kind of existence is all that desirable. It's a long and difficult story, so I'll spare the details for now. Point is, resurrection ain't an easy thing to get.

[He gave another shrug, strangely dismissive about the idea.].

...Hey, Cecil--got a question for you. You ever meet someone here you knew back home, but only really got a chance to know 'em while you were both here?

...I imagine not. I only know of one other world where such a feat was possible, and the price was... greater than some would be willing to pay.

[Amnesia layered over amnesia, until nothing remained of previous cycles.]

I cannot say I have, truly. I did finally have the chance to meet war comrades in relaxed, peaceful situations, and we remembered much more about our lives to share this time, but even before I would have said that I knew them well. Why do you ask?

Edited 2014-09-01 03:12 (UTC)

[Believe it or not, Lancer gets this. He gets it really well.]

Oh--no, it's just...I was thinking about somebody just then. Me and Saber, we actually tried to kill each other back home.

...I never would have guessed that from your usual interaction on the network, I must say.

[He might be ever so slightly understating his complete confusion.]

See, that's what I mean. We were on opposite sides of a war back home, but we didn't have anythin' to fight over here. So we just kinda...got along, I guess.

Thinkin' about it now, that seems pretty weird. I can still remember fighting her, too--and damn, was she ever tough.

...I suppose that could have described my relationship with Kuja, had we interacted much and had he remembered the war in the first place. But you've now left me curious: which of you won that particular fight?

It was kind of a draw; I got called back in the middle of it.

[Never mind that Saber shrugged off one of his best attacks. Clearly that was unimportant.]

She might not have looked like much, but Saber was pretty damn tough.

Now that's a shame, especially if you did not get the opportunity for a rematch. But delicate-looking women do tend to be surprisingly strong, though mostly in magical matters. It almost gives them an unfair advantage.