paladinlost | 7th moon [video/action]

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7th moon [video/action]

[The feed shows a potion being put on a Pokémart shelf. And another. And one more. And then no more.]

Lunch break. Finally.

[The camera turns toward Cecil, who seems in a cheerful mood.]

Have all the new arrivals reached Cherrygrove safely? Do not forget to buy supplies before you leave for Violet.

[But his promising career in advertising does not last long.]

Light, Firion, Squall, Tidus, Bartz, Zidane, Aerith, would you like me to get you anything? I can bring it to you after my shift, or whenever you arrive. If anyone else needs anything... [He looks to the side.] Oh, is that the new pokéball shipment? Don't worry, I can take care of it.

[The feed ends.]

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At least it was short. We had a Chocobo feather craze that lasted six whole months.

[Nope, not kind at all.]

There are many types of 'unforgettable' people, and a few of those would be better off forgotten.

[Straight, married, and faithful. Sorry. But he has many single handsome friends around town?]

Your absence could cause a war? In that case, this world shouldn't have forced you from your home. If it makes your people worry that much...

...This might seem a strange question, but what is a Republic? I am not familiar with the term.

They aren't really my people; it's more like I'm theirs. If they one day decided they didn't want me anymore...

You... fight for a king or a ruler of sorts, don't you? And there are nobles who are sworn to your ruler, correct?

Is that not how every ruler should be? Kings, elders, epopts, all are nothing without their people.

[His idealistic side is showing again. He doesn't care.]

I fight for the sake of the whole world. [The last (fake) king who sent him on a pillaging mission received a few thunderbolts and a sword to the face.] But yes, the nobles are indeed sworn to the crown.

No, no, I'm not a ruler of any sort. I am... a manifestation of sorts of what the citizen of France consider French. Thus, I am France.

A republic is rather the opposite of having a king or a ruler that the people and nobles swear themselves to and who controls the land completely. In a republic, the citizens of a nation elect their heads of state and also others to represent them in government. In its perfect form, the republic should serve the people and be controlled by the people for their benefit.

Of course, it doesn't completely work out that way. Just because I've escaped the trappings of court life doesn't mean I've escaped bureaucracy.

So you're... the spirit of the country itself? Were you born like that, or did you become it?

The people choose their ruler? None of my world's countries work like that. Can they choose anyone they want? Well, I suppose they probably cannot vote for a child or a dead person, but other than that?

Bureaucracy is inescapable, unless you live somewhere very deep within a forest.

I don't know. I don't remember.

Technically, citizens should be able to vote for whoever they want. The salons I mentioned earlier eventually became political parties, which organize who will run for government positions. It is a bit like a number of lords vying for the same position by trying to be the most popular.

Oh, even the forest would have paperwork, I'm sure. The birds have to pay taxes to the trees, and the foxes have to get land ordinances to build their holes.

[Well, that's not reassuring.]

How long has it been?

Except your citizens don't have to choose between the same few families every time. Some new blood at court could do much good.

The imps would probably ask for a protection fee from travellers, if they thought they could get away with it.

I have been France ever since I can remember. Since Gaul, maybe before, maybe a little after. A thousand or so years ago.

The people who end up in charge are only so different as their outside ideology. In the end, state-making and maintaining remains the same. Humans are predictable in the end.

A thousand years? No wonder you cannot remember.

[He snorts.] That is not unique to humans. Dwarves, Eidolons, Lunarians; their societies work very much the same way. Perhaps the Hummingways also, but I cannot understand their language enough to observe their politics.

My memory is usually very good, but, well, everyone has certain deficiencies after a time.

I think it is most fascinating to be able to gaze into the similarities and the differences between peoples. We can learn so much from each other! Why, the Chinese certainly have the most beautiful silks; they have been around so much longer than I, and I have to give them credit for their art--it is beautiful, although so different from my own.

You're right. Why, ever since our peoples made contact, Baron's engineers and the dwarves have greatly progressed. By comparing their techniques and sharing their discoveries, they have created automatons they could never have imagined before. I'm certain you and China have learned much from each other as well.

You must have been able to see the differences in a single culture over time, along with the others. How lucky! To be able to watch history unfold...

A lot of time has passed between China and I as well as between myself and other nations. Some of it good, some of it bad, and some I can't really say I could categorize as either. I've always thought that it was something of the magic of our existence, that we can be defined in so many ways by those that we meet and surround us, whether we like them or not.

History is a funny thing that way. Very much based on people and easily the stuff of legends, yet, somehow, it maintains the ties that bind us.

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7th moon [video/action]

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