; ѕ α ν ι σ υ я

「❣」A feeble frown conquered the female’s visage as she lowered her head, attempting to avoid direct eye-contact with him.      “I was just... I was just imagining how my life would have been if I wasn’t a Summoner. I know that it sounds stupid, but... If I was a different person, we could spend more time together! Away from fiends and battles.”

「❣」A rather fast shake of the Summoner’s head anticipated her words.      “I don’t think we have, but... It’s never too late! I’m Yuna, may I know your name?”

「❣」O p s . Someone just stumbled.      “I-I am! I wasn’t looking where I was going and I ended up tripping on my own feet... I’m sorry for making you worry!”

「❣」Rikku’s enthusiasm was quite contagious; as soon as she approached the Summoner, Yuna couldn’t really help but allow a joyful chuckle to escape from her roseate lips. Yet, the blonde’s idea sounded kind of fishy...      “Are you sure we can? Sir Auron and Lulu might get mad at us if we summon Ifrit without a proper reason.”

「❣」An overly concerned Summoner quicky waddled closer, frowning deeply.      “I think that you should try to sleep... I promise that I will take care of everything while you rest!”

“Yevon not only excommunicated us, but branded us traitors and threw us into the Via Purifico, the tunnels of which none are supposed to survive. Seymour died once again, yet still has not been Sent. Your guardians allied with the Al Bhed to arrange and enact an assault on Bevelle itself, which ended with you throwing yourself off the roof of the Temple Pinnacle.” A dark, unscarred eyebrow arched as he looked down at her over the rim of his lenses. “And you heard for yourself what the Maesters of the Church had to say at that farce of a ‘trial’. Tell me, Lady Yuna - would you say that ‘something is wrong’?”

The question was rhetorical, of course, and his tone gentle rather than chiding. Still, it betrayed his own tenseness over their current situation, and that was not acceptable. Guard your emotions, then guard your summoner. Auron sighed deeply. Pine. Cedar. Crystal. Calm.

“We are safe for the moment. I sent Tidus and Rikku on a search radius; neither of them encountered anything more than a few stray fiends. If the Church sent patrols to scour the area around Bevelle, they have not yet come this far into Macalania. They may believe we are keeping to the main roads for ease of travel, rather than the slower, harder to track way through the forest proper.” He clasped his hands loosely behind his back. “We are secure enough to stay here the night, if you so wish.”

Auron turned his gaze from her back towards the great trees that stretched out before them, leaves glittering and chiming in the pale light. “The others would not blame you if you decided to turn back and abandon your Pilgrimage. Indeed, your cousin and Tidus in particular would welcome the decision.” Reaching up, he removed his glasses, and glanced over to catch her gaze without that barrier between them.

「❣」A g o n y . His tone was gentle and calm, showing that he was not blaming her for any of the consequences caused by her behaviour, by her plan to secretly Send Seymour when he least expected it and by reacting negatively during the false, painful trial in front of Yevon’s Maesters... Yet, every single word that escaped from his rough lips provoked a tremendous, unimaginable and excruciating pain inside of her soul. Every utterance echoed inside of her mind again and again, reviving all the moments spent in Bevelle, putting a terribly painful emphasis on the worst minutes and seconds that led towards the final judgment: she was nothing more than a foolish, meaningless t r a i t o r.

Almost unconsciously, her hands gripped the snow white silk of her dress, holding onto it as she clenched her fists; there were so many emotions inside of her right now that she was not able to deal with them all at once. She was angry, sad and disappointed - She wanted to hate Yevon and the people who had betrayed her, she wanted to hate Seymour and Maester Mika who had built their reign over people’s pain and death... But she could not do it. Deep inside, she knew that allowing these negative emotions to take over her common sense wouldn’t have solved absolutely anything; because of this, she decided to momentarily focus on the second part of Auron’s speech. Lifting her delicate visage towards him, Yuna mercilessly forced her roseate lips to curl into melancholy smile. Could Auron see through this pathetic, feeble façade? Could he see and understand what she was experiencing? How broken and betrayed she was feeling?      “Sir Auron... Do you think I could live a normal life? A life far away from Yevon, far away from Sin and the death he brings... I’d really like to go back to Besaid with all of you. I could find a different place for me in this world... I really like to sing so perhaps I could become a singer? Music can bring happiness in people’s hearts too, can’t it? And we could travel and visit the world... And we could go to Luca and see the Besaid Aurochs play in the tournament... And... And...”

Every morpheme that managed to pass past her lips held a second meaning, a hidden connotation that could be easily perceived by Auron. But now, she felt completely voiceless and aphonic: no matter how hard she attempted to pronounce new words in order to keep on describing her ideal life, not a single sound echoed around them. Promptly, Yuna turned to the side, lowering her head in a futile and desperate attempt to conceal her visage; her eyelids were now shut tight and tiny, silvery rivulets of brilliant tears were running down her velvety cheeks. Suddenly, the agonizing turmoil of feelings inside of her managed to escape, reaching the outer world with the personification in the dozens of lachrymae that now adorned her face. Why was she crying? She had to be strong! She needed to be strong for her Guardians! All of them did so much for her... How could she repay them if she was too busy crying?  Her hands tightened their grip upon her garments even more; her whole, petite body could not stop trembling, conquered by the spasms of pain that came right from the deepest part of her soul. Yet, she spoke - She wanted him to know how she felt... She wanted him to know what her decision was.

     “I... I know that I’m now considered nothing more than a traitor, but I... I can’t stop this pilgrimage! I decided to become a Summoner because I wanted to save Spira and its inhabitants... Because I wanted to bring happiness and peace just like my father did before me... Because I didn’t want to see people crying over their beloved ones ever again...       Even if Yevon won’t stand by my side anymore, I will not stop! I will defeat Sin and I will bring the Calm upon this world! I’m not a Summoner because I want to serve Yevon... I am a Summoner because I want to serve the people of Spira... Because this is the least I can do! I... I could never give up on this path... I could never stop being a Summoner...”

Cold OR Hot

Envy OR Lust

Blunt OR Tactful

Dreamer OR Realist ( B o t h - It just depends on the moment );

Impulsive OR Planner

Stubborn OR Flexible

Sociable OR Isolated

Lazy OR Hard-working

Half empty OR Half full

High energy OR Low energy

Dependent OR Independent  ( B o t h );

Eloquent OR Rough around the edges 

Sees what they want OR Sees what is there

/̵͇̿̿/‘̿'̿ aetheriia | affectionate starters

                                           “ Really ? ! “

The guy’s more than excited - so excited, that he has to suppress his happiness to a bare minimum [ if it was complete 100% he’d be jumpin’ off walls because man that feelings great – maybe not bouncin’ off walls but he’d be so happy  ]. One of the best feelings in the world is havin’ someone get anything that reminded them of yourself - of course he’s elated! So he’ll smile and look at the item like it’d be his own child probably.

「❣」H a p p i n e s s . Mismatched, brilliant optics carefully observed and studied the excited and quite joyful behavior of the young man in front of her; in her whole life, she had never seen someone so energetic and vivacious as he was, which easily brought an entertained smile upon her roseate lips. Shyly, her hands were brought towards the male with elegant movements, offering him a crimson box wrapped in sparkling, golden ribbons; inside, a rather chubby and fluffy stuffed toy shaped like a Chocobo was waiting to greet its new owner.  Did he like Chocobos at least? She had absolutely no idea, nor did she ponder about this the moment she bought the tiny plush. Suddenly, a wave of doubts started twirling inside of her mind, causing a feeble sense of panic and anxiety to be born - No, everything was going to be alright. After all, who doesn’t like Chocobos?

     “I really hope that you like Chocobos! I mean... They are as vivacious and lively as you are, so I hope you’ll like it!”

Prompt

「❣」Strangely enough, considering that an unknown person had nonchalantly stolen something that belonged to her, Yuna was not mad or irritated in the slightest. Mismatched optics shyly observed the tall, young man in front of her as her roseate lips curled into a friendly, heart-warming smile; slender, delicate hands were held together as she brought them over her chest, now ready to speak in order to find out more about this bizarre and quite embarrassing situation.

     “If you needed a shirt, you could have asked me! Mine are too small for you, but I’m sure that we could have found one perfect for your size. It’s not too late… We can still get you something nice to wear, right?” The woman’s voice was delicate just like the gentle breeze of the sea upon one’s skin; she had no ill intentions, even though she had to admit that she wasn’t too fond of thieves.      “I’m Yuna! May I know your name?”

And he still didn’t know how she had fared after being separated from the group, captured by the Guado as she enacted her plan to get close enough to Seymour to Send him. Add to that the revelation of Yevon’s dark heart - so different from the bright face of comfort and hope that was all she ever knew - and then being branded a traitor and sentenced to death by the very Church upon which the Pilgrimage was grounded…

She has not given up the Pilgrimage. But with her foundation turned to rubble, how long will she be able to continue on? Pine needles and delicate crystal leaves crunched underfoot. He nodded to Kimahri, who, as always, was never far from Yuna’s side, and approached the summoner.

「❣」D i s q u i e t u d e . Since their escape from Bevelle, everything seemed to be so unreal... So erroneous... So untrue. More than once, Yuna had hoped that this was only a dream, only an agonizing nightmare that would have soon ended before allowing her to wake up once more - But it was not like that. All the past events had been so sudden and so unexpected that she truly did not have enough time to focus on them, until now; after reaching Macalania, the young Summoner had decided to spend some time by herself, alone, away from everyone.  She needed to think and ponder about what had happened... She needed to calm down in order to give her body a chance to finally relax... She needed to repress all the tears that had been forming inside of her eyes, clouding her vision as well as her thoughts... She needed to be reminded of the reason why she had decided to follow her father’s steps in the first place.

Mismatched, brilliant optics leisurely observed the magnificent, ethereal landscape around her, yet she wasn’t really looking at anything; mentally, she was living all the most significant moments of her past once more. The day her father started his pilgrimage. The day he finally defeated Sin and Bevelle was celebrating the beginning of the momentary Calm, as well as her first encounter with Kimahri. The day she was brought to Besaid and the day she met Lulu and Wakka. The day she started her apprenticeship as a Summoner. The day she summoned her first Aeon and the day she met Tidus. There were so many memories inside of her mind. So many joyful yet agonizing moments kept on dancing around her, causing a turmoil of discrepant feelings inside of her - A turmoil that could not be expressed through words. “... I know. I know what I want to do... I know that this is my destiny...”

As these words echoed inside of her mind, something else caught her attention. A familiar, rough yet sweet voice reached her, forcing her stream of thoughts to come to an end. She truly did no expect him to approach her, not yet, at least. Promptly, Yuna turned around, holding her hands together before bringing them upon her chest - A usual, almost unconscious action that never failed to make her feel safe. She did her best to hide what she was experiencing inside, yet it wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be.      “S-Sir Auron! Is something wrong...?”

aetheriia

Zack hadn’t gotten out as often as he would have liked anymore. Always having things pile up on him, paperwork for example. He decided it was high time to leave it as the pile sat and went to walk around. He went to a few places and bought a piece of fruit and the occasional vegetable to eat. He stopped as he looked at a church after walking a bit. ‘Hello familiar setting.’ He said to himself as he smiled.

「❣」The young Summoner had never been in this place before; she had spent her whole life in a little, almost forgotten village far from Midgar therefore every single detail about this new landscape was absolutely stunning and magnificent for her. Somehow, she ended up getting lost, leaving the main, colorful, crowded streets of the city behind only to be welcomed by the poor part of the huge metropolis: the Slums. Everything was so different here: the buildings were old and most of them were slowly decaying, saying farewell to the days where they were firm and solid, there were no flowers or plants around, just arid and dead soil that could not be cultivated ever again; yet, what attracted her attention the most was the fact that the wonderful, usually welcoming sky had bee concealed from the inhabitants’ eyes. “Why did they do that? Everyone should be given the possibility to look at the cerulean, no matter their social status or where they have decided to live...”

These words swirled inside of her mind as a rather puzzled, confused frown conquered the woman’s delicate visage. Oh, if only she could, she would have definitely changed this! Unfortunately, Yuna was too busy thinking of a way to bring a smile upon these people’s faces in order to realize that she was walking right towards a young man when... B u m p ! The sudden concussion sent the poor Summoner on the cold ground, forcing a soft “meep!” out of her roseate lips; how embarrassing. At least, the one who hit her was polite enough to help her get back up.

     “Ah don’t worry! I... I was lost in my thoughts and I forgot to look where I was going. I’m sorry! I hope I didn’t ruin your fruit...” A delicate hand seized his as Yuna finally stood up again, brushing the dirt off her clothes.      “This city truly is weird... But I’m glad I could meet someone as kind as yourself!”

If there’s discretion that you’ve not abandoned                                                                          now’s the time