Rikku of the Al Bhed (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_merriest) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2014-06-11 01:38 pm
the_merriest) wrote in fandomhigh2014-06-11 01:38 pm
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Reno's Class About The Day After Doomsday, Wednesday
Class today was meeting in the Danger Shop, and the set up was a little ... unusual.
Students would find themselves sitting on the hull of a gigantic airship, hovering a few thousand feet above the ground in the night sky. In the distance was the fin of what seemed to be a gigantic monster, slowly dissolving into nothingness. Myriad strange creatures floated by and disappeared.
Most intriguing, perhaps, was the brown-haired girl wearing a long kimono, standing at the front. She was dancing like a Shinto priestess, waving a staff in time to her movements. She didn't seem to see or hear you; she just kept dancing as though there was nothing else in the world.
In front of her was a brightly-dressed blonde girl, sitting to face all of you with a tiny red chicobo in her lap.
"Welcome to five minutes after the world didn't end," Rikku said. "You're on an airship. That creature out in the distance is a one-thousand-year-old monster that has been killing people for generations. People thought it couldn't die, couldn't ever be stopped. They were wrong. That's Yuna. She's the one who did all this. Other people came along on the journey, but they just helped."
Yuna continued to dance, oblivious to the conversation. She'd been programmed not to interact with students. Yuna had enough to deal with, really.
"Today, you're one of her Guardians," she explained. "You were on this airship with her. You got her here, to where the world didn't end, alive. It wasn't easy. There were six of you to start, and only four standing here now. That's one of the things they never tell you, about saving the world. You think if you pull it off, you're gonna throw a big party. But you won't feel like partying. You have too many dead to bury."
She cradled Reno closer, for moral support, and tried to get back on topic.
"There are going to be decisions to make, in the days to come," Rikku continued. "The world didn't end, so now you have to deal with the consequences. There's a lot that needs to be rebuilt. Where do you start? I'm not just talking about, like, smashed buildings, either. The end of the world makes people go crazy, and ... you're gonna have to deal with that."
Rikku sighed. "There was a man named Seymour Guado. He told all of his race, the Guado, that he knew how to stop this monster, but they had to follow him. So they did. Even when he told them to kill. The Guado burned down the Al Bhed home, and massacred most of the people inside. The Guado attacked the Ronso, and barely left any of them alive. In the days to come, the Guado are going to be so guilt-ridden that they wander out into the woods, hoping to die. Some of the Al Bhed and the Ronso want revenge. They call it justice. Are they right?"
She cleared her throat, irritated with how badly she was explaining herself. "This isn't just a theoretical question," she huffed. "One of you Guardians is a Ronso, and another is an Al Bhed. This is your family that died. This is your entire city, that was smashed to the ground."
It seemed overkill to mention walking through the wreckage, climbing over the bodies.
"There's a religion," she continued. "One as old as this monster itself. It said that if people gave up technology and lived according to certain rules, the monster would go away. It was all a bunch of lies, specifically created to keep the cycle going. It was used to foster hate, for centuries. But some good, decent people believed in the religion. I mean, Yuna herself was raised in that church. What happens to those temples now? Does the religion have to be dismantled, just because it started with a lie? What happens to the believers? What happens to the structure? Can something good grow, or is it rotten to the core and needs to be destroyed?"
"Yuna's a hero," she said. "Yuna could declare herself Queen Emperor for life and no one will question it. She doesn't want to. So you guys got lucky. She has unquestionable power right now, and the only people she can trust are you, her Guardians. After all, you almost died to protect her. So you need to help her, because she's going to be made into a leader whether she wants to be or not, and there are going to be weirdos and sycophants crowding around her. You need to protect her, and guide her, now more than ever."
She shrugged her shoulders. "That's it," she said. "That's class. Where do we start? How? What do you tell Yuna? Oh, right, I'm Rikku and I'm a friend of Reno's, 'cause he's indisposed again. Don't mind the cat or the ferret wandering around. They're mine. I just ... wanted them here, today."
Sometimes, you needed all the fuzzy critters on hand.
Students would find themselves sitting on the hull of a gigantic airship, hovering a few thousand feet above the ground in the night sky. In the distance was the fin of what seemed to be a gigantic monster, slowly dissolving into nothingness. Myriad strange creatures floated by and disappeared.
Most intriguing, perhaps, was the brown-haired girl wearing a long kimono, standing at the front. She was dancing like a Shinto priestess, waving a staff in time to her movements. She didn't seem to see or hear you; she just kept dancing as though there was nothing else in the world.
In front of her was a brightly-dressed blonde girl, sitting to face all of you with a tiny red chicobo in her lap.
"Welcome to five minutes after the world didn't end," Rikku said. "You're on an airship. That creature out in the distance is a one-thousand-year-old monster that has been killing people for generations. People thought it couldn't die, couldn't ever be stopped. They were wrong. That's Yuna. She's the one who did all this. Other people came along on the journey, but they just helped."
Yuna continued to dance, oblivious to the conversation. She'd been programmed not to interact with students. Yuna had enough to deal with, really.
"Today, you're one of her Guardians," she explained. "You were on this airship with her. You got her here, to where the world didn't end, alive. It wasn't easy. There were six of you to start, and only four standing here now. That's one of the things they never tell you, about saving the world. You think if you pull it off, you're gonna throw a big party. But you won't feel like partying. You have too many dead to bury."
She cradled Reno closer, for moral support, and tried to get back on topic.
"There are going to be decisions to make, in the days to come," Rikku continued. "The world didn't end, so now you have to deal with the consequences. There's a lot that needs to be rebuilt. Where do you start? I'm not just talking about, like, smashed buildings, either. The end of the world makes people go crazy, and ... you're gonna have to deal with that."
Rikku sighed. "There was a man named Seymour Guado. He told all of his race, the Guado, that he knew how to stop this monster, but they had to follow him. So they did. Even when he told them to kill. The Guado burned down the Al Bhed home, and massacred most of the people inside. The Guado attacked the Ronso, and barely left any of them alive. In the days to come, the Guado are going to be so guilt-ridden that they wander out into the woods, hoping to die. Some of the Al Bhed and the Ronso want revenge. They call it justice. Are they right?"
She cleared her throat, irritated with how badly she was explaining herself. "This isn't just a theoretical question," she huffed. "One of you Guardians is a Ronso, and another is an Al Bhed. This is your family that died. This is your entire city, that was smashed to the ground."
It seemed overkill to mention walking through the wreckage, climbing over the bodies.
"There's a religion," she continued. "One as old as this monster itself. It said that if people gave up technology and lived according to certain rules, the monster would go away. It was all a bunch of lies, specifically created to keep the cycle going. It was used to foster hate, for centuries. But some good, decent people believed in the religion. I mean, Yuna herself was raised in that church. What happens to those temples now? Does the religion have to be dismantled, just because it started with a lie? What happens to the believers? What happens to the structure? Can something good grow, or is it rotten to the core and needs to be destroyed?"
"Yuna's a hero," she said. "Yuna could declare herself Queen Emperor for life and no one will question it. She doesn't want to. So you guys got lucky. She has unquestionable power right now, and the only people she can trust are you, her Guardians. After all, you almost died to protect her. So you need to help her, because she's going to be made into a leader whether she wants to be or not, and there are going to be weirdos and sycophants crowding around her. You need to protect her, and guide her, now more than ever."
She shrugged her shoulders. "That's it," she said. "That's class. Where do we start? How? What do you tell Yuna? Oh, right, I'm Rikku and I'm a friend of Reno's, 'cause he's indisposed again. Don't mind the cat or the ferret wandering around. They're mine. I just ... wanted them here, today."
Sometimes, you needed all the fuzzy critters on hand.
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