#temperedinbattle

Yesterday evening, the emperor had paid her a brief call. As usual, Terra had expected a present (though they had become scarcer as the years went by and she reached her teens), but Gestahl had only stayed long enough to praise her improvement and give a quick stroke to her curls, a habit of which Terra wasn’t particularly fond. As the old man turned to leave, she glanced up at him through long, doll-like eyelashes, a hand fluffing the back of her moogle pet, the other flicking away sparks of fire from her fingertips.

“Come morning, you will be escorted to the Magitek training yards,” he said, as the door guard reached for the handle. “A special surprise will be awaiting you.”

“Would that be a new sword?” Terra ventured. She didn’t want a new sword, she liked hers, but if the emperor gave her a new one, she’d have to favour its use just to please him.

For all answer, Gestahl’s lips curled up under his bushy white beard. Once alone, Terra sighed and held her moogle closer. “I bet it is a new sword.”

Morning had come, and with it the usual five-men escort that followed Terra around like a walking prison. The guards were not the usual, though, but they never were. Back when she was a child, she’d reached the seemingly obvious conclusion that her escorts left because they hated her. Why not? The techs and scientists at the labs didn’t quite love her. Later on, she’d speculated that it was all part of the emperor’s evil scheme to prevent her from making friends. Now she knew it was simple fear. No, not simple fear: she terrified them. As she walked in between, a tiny flame flickered atop her palm, lazily rolling from one finger to the other. It was an unconscious gesture, as other people scratched their noses or rubbed their chins when they were lost in thought. It had taken her most of her childhood years and a harsh wake-up call to realise that her natural powers were a scary thing to behold.

The captain, though, had remained the same throughout time. He was the only one who had greeted her good morning. Terra didn’t know if it was because he was the only one allowed, or the only one who dared. With the captain leading the way and his four men shadowing her steps, Terra marched dutifully towards the Magitek training yards.

The skies were heavily overcast, and the air reeked of upcoming rain. It was cold, according to the captain, but she wasn’t bothered by the cold. They crossed all sorts of people on their way. The soldiers saluted, the servants bowed, but the courtiers just stared and whispered. Terra pretended like she couldn’t hear them as clear as the Imperial Anthem that boomed across the Palace walls.They fear me too. They all do.

The Magitek training yards were reserved to the Emperor’s brand-new elite Magitek corps, which so far came down to one member: the first Mage, General Kefka Palazzo (though Terra had heard that new candidates were being selected for infusions). As a consequence, they were seldom occupied, which made the presence of a lone girl standing in the middle all the more conspicuous. Terra regarded her briefly, and then her eyes were trained to the sword she was carrying.

I knew it was going to be a sword, she told herself. “And it’s not even a new one…”

“I beg your pardon, Miss Terra?” Her captain leaned down to pick up her murmurs.

“I'll have to take her sword and be thankful,” she said, scarcely louder.

“Oh.” The captain smiled as he straightened, his gaze joining Terra’s toward the girl. In all truth, he was only so confident around her because he had orders to jab her at the first wrong move. “Miss Celes Chere will be needing her sword, I'm afraid.”

“She’s the surprise, then?” Miss Celes was tall and fit, likely older than her, though her nurses had often said that Terra was rather small for her years.

“Miss Celes Chere is of an age with you,” the captain told her, as if in answer to her inner question. “She’s recently been blessed with the gift of Magitek. His Majesty saw fit for you to practise together. Isn’t that what you always wished for, Miss Terra? A little friend your age to play with?”

Terra looked at him numbly. “I don’t know. Is it?” She was old enough to understand that it had little to do with what she wanted, as much as what she was supposed to. The emperor had never asked what she thought about his presents. She did like her moogle, though.

The Fireworks Show!

Held in a large city, crowded by many, a festival takes place! Beautiful colors light up the dark sky, and gifts are given to those who participate in the festival! It is a joyous occasion filled with cheer, and happiness. A real break from the worries any may harbor.

temperedinbattle

fatemarked

imnotatoymoogle

shinrashuriken

seekerofthephoenix

freed-from-fate

devilmay-c-a-r-e

//Were did you all come from?!

The young Queen glances down the stairwell to her new guests. She made her way down each step and smiled,