summonerd: (pic#12972422)
Sheena Fujibayashi ([personal profile] summonerd) wrote2019-09-29 01:34 am

do you want to die together

Sheena hadn't really expected this whole summoner thing to work.

The temple at Luca is a temple in little more than name only, small and humble in a way that she remembers Kilika Temple wasn't, without even statues of the high summoners. The little statue that houses its fayth is well-tended, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in a building that might have been a little-used warehouse a few years ago. Even the cloister of trials doesn't feel complete, easy enough even for Sheena to figure out on her own, but none of that really matters, in the end - what's important is the fayth itself, and her ability to pray to it to its satisfaction.

She hadn't been able to shake the feeling that it wouldn't work - that no fayth would ever accept an Al Bhed summoner despite her upbringing, that she'd pray for days with no response - but in the end, it hadn't taken more than a few hours before she'd been answered. Let me come with, her new aeon - Corrine - had requested, and Sheena had been so grateful to them for her success that she'd agreed.

Really, the looks on the temple guardians' faces when she'd walked out with an aeon almost as tall as she was at her side had been more than worth it.

It's sunset when she untangles herself from the small crowd that had gathered to see Spira's youngest aeon, and she can see the sun flashing brightly through the gaps between buildings as she makes her way outside. She rests her hand on Corrine's shoulder lightly for a second without thinking, then realizes her mistake and jolts, pulling it away - but they just laugh silently in her head, nudging at her hand playfully.

There's a second building just adjacent to the temple, a more traditional Martelite affair that existed long before the fayth's temple did, and as Sheena gets closer to it she can hear a commotion of some kind, a woman's voice raised in annoyance and a lower voice answering her. She considers just leaving, the tension of her trial starting to evaporate in a way that makes her long for her room at the inn, but there's no way back to her lodgings without passing by, anyway. Might as well see what's happening. So she puts her hand back where it was, asks Corrine softly not to wander too far as they head towards the source of the noise.
ilivedbitches: (momther)

i've been eating them--

[personal profile] ilivedbitches 2019-11-22 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Look, Anna's always been bad at the trial puzzles, alright? Kratos was the one with a brain who actually was good at working puzzles out, and Yuan enjoyed puzzles as much as he complained about them (which was a lot), so the first time through, Anna mostly just stood back and let her boys work. She does the same now, without any guilt. After all, the trials are for the Summoner, anyway, so why should Anna help?

Anna also knows that depending on how things go, the actual bit where the Summoner prays to the fayth could take hours, so now there's nothing to do but sit around and wait. This was always Anna's least favorite part of the process. (She and Kratos always managed to find one way or another to kill time, but she tries not to think about that, tries not to think about Kratos, not now, not while her head is still pounding with how drunk she got earlier, not while her mind is already spinning with the familiarity of being here and how deeply it makes her miss those she has lost, but now isn't the time, isn't the time, isn't the--)

Zelos is glued to the temple's deeper entrance with his worry, and doesn't look like he's intending to move from his spot, not until Sheena returns. So, what Anna does instead of wallowing in her grief, is pull Lloyd aside. They haven't really gotten a moment to talk alone until now, and there's a few things she should tell him, and she feels sorry for... a lot of things. Everything. But that's nothing she can unpack here. Still, she should talk to her son.

"Sorry for getting you involved in all this, Lloyd," Anna opens with, the guilt in her throat unable to do anything but escape. "I'm glad you're here, though." And it has been nice, making this journey with her son, Lloyd's reaction to the cloister's dumb puzzles a welcome distraction from her memories of Yuan and Kratos. "I really, really am."

Also: "And, uh, just before I forget, and probably because he's bound to show up again," Anna says, somewhat hushed, though she's pulled Lloyd far away enough from Zelos that unless Zelos is really trying to eavesdrop they should be fine. "That boy you saw earlier? The one no one else could? His name is Mithos. He's a fayth, like Sheena's praying with now," Anna nods in Sheena's direction. (She doesn't mind the fayth so much. They're good people, and the only part of this stupid religion that doesn't make her want to gouge her eyes out). "I, uh. Mithos is a friend of mine. We've known each other a while, now. But until Sheena meets him in person, you and me are probably gonna be the only two who can see him, which is... obnoxious."

Honestly, Anna hadn't even thought of the complications regarding Mithos constantly following her up until just about now. She just hopes Mithos will be more careful in the future, and knows he probably won't be, because he straight up doesn't care.

(Well, Anna's past the point of caring, too, so she can't really blame him.)

"Anyway, thought I'd warn you," Anna finishes, laughing nervous with the realization this was a weird and kind of lame explanation. She reaches out and claps Lloyd on the shoulder. "And let you know you're not going crazy, because you're not."
risingfalcon: (sad serious)

SHAMELESS

[personal profile] risingfalcon 2019-11-27 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
So, Lloyd's always known he's been on the dimmer side of the lightbulb spectrum, but nothing makes it more obvious than the stupid trial puzzle Sheena, Zelos, and him work through. Anna is upfront about how she has no idea how they work, so she's out of the picture, and Lloyd just straight up doesn't get it either, but he forces himself to be useful somehow, even if it's just providing moral support and holding shit so Sheena doesn't have to.

By the time they make it through, Lloyd's bored as fuck and antsy about the fact that he hasn't yet talked to Anna, so he's grateful when she pulls him aside, Zelos keeping watch as they talk quietly. The truth is, guilt has slowly been trickling down Lloyd's throat with the passing tick-tocking of a clock, the knowledge that his mother had been telling the truth for the past eight years and he had been denying it an iron-clasped bear trap on his conscious. Lloyd wants to apologize to her, first and foremost, and finally actually listen to her and what it is she's experienced. It's the very least he can do for her.

So maybe that's why he frowns when Anna apologizes first, brows furrowing with his confusion. Why is she apologizing? It's not like she's done anything, really, and the idea that he would have preferred to stay behind is laughable. Call him a mama's boy, but he's had to deal with being left behind once, and he wasn't going to have that happen again if he could stop it. "I'm glad to be here too, mom," he says, shaking his head slightly at her apology. "I want to be here, so don't be sorry."

It's nice to know, also, that he wasn't actually going crazy back in the infirmary, even though it feels too little too late. Lloyd wishes, in a rather deadpan inner voice, that he could have known that Mithos was a ghost, for all intents and purposes, and that somehow, in between being swallowed by Sin and sent flying face-first into the ocean surrounding Besaid, he had become a medium. He wants to ask more questions, too, like what a Fayth does, why they both can see them but Sheena can't, but he holds his tongue, instead waiting for her to finish.

The hand Anna puts on his shoulder feels a little insulting, honestly. Lloyd knows she doesn't mean anything by it, but he thought she was fucking dead, he kinda wants more than a shoulder touch from his mother. So instead he pulls her into a hug, closing his eyes for a brief few seconds before finally apologizing for himself. "Thank you. And... I'm sorry, mom. For not believing you about Spira and everything. You were telling the truth this whole time and I wasn't giving you the support you needed. I believe you now. I'm so sorry I didn't before."
Edited 2019-11-27 06:28 (UTC)
ilivedbitches: (that's fucked up)

OH, ALWAYS >;3c

[personal profile] ilivedbitches 2019-11-27 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh.

Oh.

Anna squeezes Lloyd back as with all her strength, holding tight. She spends about two seconds trying not to start crying before she gives up, hoping Lloyd doesn't mind too much about her getting snot on his shoulder when she tucks her face against it. She laughs and sobs in the same breath, her relief so overwhelming she can't do anything else with it, especially as words fail her for a moment or two.

"It's okay, it's okay," she says, even though the past eight years have been the worst eight years of her life, because Kratos is suffering and Yuan is dead and Spira hates her when it chooses to believe she's more than insane, and Lloyd-- He'd been so angry, when she returned home without Kratos, he'd been so angry and hurt and it wasn't like it was her fault but she bore the consequences anyway. It took them years to fix it, fix things between them, and even still up to this point he hadn't believed her, and.

She didn't realize how deep that wound ran until Lloyd's words touched it, like antiseptic on a bleeding cut, sharp and painful and better all at once. Anna laughs and clings to her son, feeling more settled in her skin than she's felt since.

Well. Before.

"I mean, why would you believe me, huh?" Anna jokes. "Of course it all sounded like nonsense! Imagine trying to explain Sin to someone who's never seen him, huh!" She laughs again, sharp. "It would sound like complete bullshit, and so would--"

She cuts off. That's. That's not a conversation she can have now, not here, not in a temple, not when Zelos is in the same room. But... tonight. She'll have to tell Lloyd about Kratos tonight.

"Nothing, nothing," she covers up, as she's done probably a million times before now. "The point is I understand why you didn't believe me, so I'm not mad, but... Thank you. Thank you."
Edited 2019-11-27 21:10 (UTC)
risingfalcon: (concern)

shows up six days later with sinbucks hewwo

[personal profile] risingfalcon 2019-12-04 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
Rubbing at her back as Anna cries into his shoulder, Lloyd has to stop himself from tearing up due to some fucked up mixture of guilt and relief. The tension that's lingered in the air between them for the better part of a decade has finally been cleared, and Lloyd's so grateful. But then comes the knowledge that it would have been cleared earlier had Lloyd just believed his mother, and regardless of what Anna says to excuse it, he can't quite forgive himself for being so awful to her when she's clearly been suffering.

There are still some unanswered questions, though. Where's Kratos, for one. Though Lloyd knows better than to get his hopes up on his father being miraculously alive and well somewhere in Spira - (he knows, had that been the case, that Anna would have searched for him immediately) - there's a part of him that clamors for proper knowledge on just what happened to him, the father he never got to say goodbye to. And Lloyd wants to ask, opens his mouth to do just that, but pays attention to how Anna clings to him and sobs, to how Zelos stands only feet away, and closes his mouth again, instead pressing a kiss to Anna's hair. He can ask later.

Lloyd gets the feeling it won't be a great story to tell.

There are other things he wants to ask, too. What Fayth are, why he can see them but Sheena and Zelos and Colette couldn't, who Yuan was, what happened during Anna's time in Spira. They all linger heavily in his mind, curious despite himself and the knowledge that whatever his mother had gone through must have ended in tragedy. But for now, he stands, hugging her close, and takes in the comfort that even though he's lost his home and everyone else he's known, Anna remains.

"Thank you for being patient with me," Lloyd mumbles, closing his eyes. "I promise I won't be an asshole like that again. And... I'm glad you're alive, mom. I was -" he takes a deep breath, letting it go with a sigh. "I was afraid you weren't after what happened in Zanarkand."
Edited 2019-12-04 02:15 (UTC)
ilivedbitches: (ugh. DAD)

did you remember to use the family discount

[personal profile] ilivedbitches 2019-12-08 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Anna just holds Lloyd for a moment, clinging to him as tight as she can, reaching up to run idle fingers through the hair at the base of his neck, an automatic kind of distraction. I'm glad you're alive, he says and she wants to stop everything and laugh, manic and horrible, because technically, technically she's not. She is a spectre clinging to a life she refused to let go of because she'd be damned if the ruder half of a snotty little boy did her in after he'd taken both her husband and her boyfriend from her, and how dare he try and take her life, too.

So she's here, a loophole in Spira's system of death, clinging to life for now as tightly as she clings to her son, knowing she cannot let go until she has finished that which she refused to let a stupid thing like dying prevent her from achieving.

But that's... not something she can tell Lloyd, now. That's not something she's sure she can tell him ever. Maybe once all this is over? But that's such a long way off...

She clings to him tighter. "No, I'm alright," she tells him, gentle. She doesn't feel the same ache in her chest for Zanarkand as Lloyd clearly does, but she hasn't seen Zanarkand the same ever since Mithos told her the truth about what it was. "I'm here, I'm here," Anna says again, filling the silence that's too loud with her thoughts and all the things she cannot say here, not on Martel's holy ground.

Eyes closed, chin resting on Lloyd's shoulder, she sighs long and deep. "There's... some things I'll have to tell you, still. Not here. Not now." She exhales, pulls away from Lloyd, though she lets her hands trail down his arms, gripping them tight and refusing to let go as she meets his eyes. "Later, alright?
presidentheartbeat: (Oh my fucking god Becky shut the fuck up)

I hate you all. What the fuck is a family? Bitch I'm gonna kill you

[personal profile] presidentheartbeat 2019-12-13 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
Family matters are always such a hassle, is what Zelos thinks the moment Anna and Lloyd fuck off to the side and away from him. They obviously desire privacy, so Zelos stays put next to the Fayth chamber, sighs, crosses his arms, and shuts his eyes gently. Fine, fine. They can have their chat, and he'll make do by bringing his thoughts elsewhere to avoid accidentally listening in to the two's conversation.

Naturally, his thoughts wander to Sheena, his summoner.

He taps his fingers against his forearm and hums, brows furrowing. It's... been quite a while since she went into the chamber, actually. Besaid's Aeon is-- that'd be Undine, right? Hm. Well, Undine isn't supposed to be one of the more difficult ones to convince--in fact, according to most summoners Zelos has met, she seems pretty agreeable--so a regular summoner wouldn't have taken longer than a few minutes in there pleading their cause before walking out with their new Aeon on tow. That's part of why it's pretty standard for most young summoners to start their pilgrimage in Besaid, then leaving the more rowdy Aeons, like Bahamut, for last.

But, Zelos thinks, opening his eyes to stare at the marble floors, Sheena is... she's not any regular summoner, firstly. And that's a problem. Because Corrine or not, she's still an Al Bhed, an outlier to the tradition. It makes no sense, but-- maybe the Aeons will be putting her through harsher, more thorough trials just because of that, or something. Like her wishes and will are worthless, or like she needs to fill some stupid special quota to seem worthy just because she's different.

Honestly, Martelism is all just a bunch of fucking sh--

A loud noise and sudden movement snap Zelos to alertness. Violet eyes shoot open just as the door to the Fayth chamber opens, and Zelos wastes no time in pushing himself away from the wall and turning on his heel to face the chamber, ready for the exact moment when Sheena's whole weight collapses against him as she exits the chamber. Holy Martel, she feels exhausted. "Oop, hold on," he groans, adjusting the summoner in his arms before lowering her to the staircase to help her sit on the steps.

"There we go, hun. Catch your breath," he adds. After a few seconds Zelos offers her a little grin, then a pat on her shoulder. "You good?"
presidentheartbeat: (I fucked your son shitlips)

REBEL AGAINST THE LIARS

[personal profile] presidentheartbeat 2019-12-14 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, summoner's fatigue is totally settling in, Zelos thinks as he gets comfortable next to Sheena to properly support her weight, rubbing her arm comfortingly. Which is--funny, in a way, because Zelos is more used to seeing that in younger, novice level summoners, or idiots who cockily think they can increase their odds by starting off their pilgrimage in Bevelle of all places. Still, though. Summoner's fatigue aside, for a novice and an Al Bhed, Sheena having two Aeons already to her name is really, really good news.

Somewhere, at the back of his mind, Zelos feels a pang of something prideful for Sheena's progress, and he pats her twice on the arm again, laughing. "You did it!" he cheers, voice low and mostly private between them both. "Two down, at least four more to go. Unless you wanna detour from the standard path and get a few strays, but," he laughs again, "that's your choice."
Edited 2019-12-14 03:45 (UTC)
ilivedbitches: (are you fucking stupid)

DID I HEAR REBELLION?

[personal profile] ilivedbitches 2019-12-14 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Picking up strays would just be a waste of time," Anna chimes in, not exactly unkind but still a little sharp. Her knuckles are white in the grip she has on her belt, the only anchor she has right now. "I mean, I guess we aren't exactly on a timer, but the longer we take the longer--" The longer Kratos suffers, but she can't exactly just say that. She grips her belt even tighter, muscles straining with the effort. "Well, the longer Sin is around to torment Spira."

A few extra--days? weeks? She knows it's not that much time, realistically. But whenever she thinks of Sin, thinks of Kratos, sweating blood and crying as he breaks under the weight of all his grief, it's hard not to feel like she hasn't already wasted too much.
ilivedbitches: (lemme 'splain)

OH..................................................

[personal profile] ilivedbitches 2019-12-18 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
Anna wants to say it doesn't matter. They aren't going to help that much. But she thinks if Mithos were here he'd argue otherwise - all the fayth want to see this end, after all - and. She knows that all she's really asking is for Sheena to walk quicker towards her death, even if hopefully it won't end that way. (But she has no way of knowing, not yet, not for certain, and better not to get anyone's hopes up.)

Lloyd squeezes her shoulder briefly, a warning not to be too much of an ass (even though he doesn't know, doesn't know, but that's fine) so she sucks in her breath and holds it for a moment, tries not to think of Kratos, tries not to think about how often he'd fondly remind her to hold her tongue and think things through for just a second more before she ran her mouth-- Whatever, whatever, it's fine.

She doesn't look at Sheena. She doesn't apologize. She just.

"It's your journey, I guess. So. It's ultimately up to you. We just really, really shouldn't delay."
presidentheartbeat: (Bitch?)

UNIONIZE THE KIDS!!!!!!!!

[personal profile] presidentheartbeat 2019-12-18 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
Fucking wow.

Okay, Anna, what the fuck. There's a brief flash of anger in Zelos' gut and eyes when Anna so eagerly insists on Sheena continuing her pilgrimage as quickly as possible, no delays, sharply reflecting Zelos' nonchalant attitude from merely a few days ago. It brings back bad memories of Luca's temple and its people, of the priests, of his mother--because it sure is so fucking easy to tie the noose when it's not laying upon your shoulders, isn't it?

And here he'd thought Anna would be different.

Man, fuck this. Zelos huffs, then tries to smooth over his features, leaves his jaw set tight before he barks out anything he'll regret, way too used to stuffing his thoughts away before they can even come out. Disappointment weighs heavy at the pit of his stomach, trying to pull down the corners of his fake, placating smile. He knows his displeasure is still visible, but--whatever. Who the fuck cares? No one's ever cared.

No one in this world could ever care.

"Well, unfortunately, we're still gonna have to delay until tomorrow morning," Zelos says, voice light and high while helping Sheena stand, smiling, smiling, laughing. "Sundown's coming, and I hardly doubt anyone will want to be out at sea during the night after what happened in Kilika, sooo..." He shrugs. "We're shit out of luck right now. Might as well go check out our lodgings with Colette instead."
Edited 2019-12-18 05:36 (UTC)
risingfalcon: (profile smile)

WAIT I'M CONFUSED AM I BEING REBELLED AGAINST TOO OR AM I PART OF THE KIDDIE TABLE

[personal profile] risingfalcon 2019-12-21 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
A hand on Anna's shoulder, all Lloyd can think is well, this is tense as the other members of this ragtag group converse amongst each other. Lloyd can't really place what Anna's problem is - why she's so insistent on Sheena rushing through this journey, aside from general concern of prolonged damage. And on the flip side, he can't understand the displeasure that's kinda plain on Zelos' face, the way he scowls like someone who smelled something foul.

The silence lingers a little more after Zelos' declaration of their next move, so Lloyd breaks it, feeling out of place and like he's missing something vitally important. Clapping his hands together, grinning wide, he agrees with a "sounds good! Let's get going!" and starts walking forward, towards the main square of the town and the house he knows Colette lives in. He hopes that at some point things will even out and be smooth sailing again.

Please, can things even out?

-


Colette manages to pull enough strings to get them two rooms in the inn, and it's easy for them to split up from there - Lloyd and Anna get one room, Sheena and Zelos get the other. Lloyd can't help the relief that escapes as a tiny smile when the rooms are designated, if only because he didn't exactly want to separate from Anna just yet, not after just finding her again. Still, though, there's a curiosity that comes with thinking about his new travel partners, both the summoner and her prissy, redheaded guardian, and he finds himself walking towards Sheena and Zelos' room with the intention of better introducing himself.

Lloyd's surprised to find it open a crack, not enough to properly see through, but definitely open. With a small rap on it, he opens it a little wider. "You guys in here?"
risingfalcons: (fuck you for being cute)

THANK U I WON'T LET U DOWN

[personal profile] risingfalcons 2019-12-24 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Opening the door and walking in at Sheena's wave, he closes it behind him and leans against it, crossing his arms and sending her a friendly smile. "Ah, nah, I don't need anything. Just wanted to better introduce myself, I guess?" He shrugs, chuckling a little, as he better explains: "I know I did earlier, but, well, my mom getting drunk and having us all meet each other in the infirmary is far from a good first impression."

And then he pauses, noticing the fatigue that's a little obvious on Sheena's face, in the way she leans against the wall. "Are you feeling alright? I don't exactly know what it is summoners do, but it sounds tiring. I can leave you alone if you'd rather sleep."
risingfalcon: (Default)

I WON'T I SWEAR

[personal profile] risingfalcon 2019-12-30 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Nodding along with Sheena's explanation, Lloyd pushes away the slight concern that had popped up with her obvious fatigue. So this is normal, then? Summoning sounds hard as hell, but as long as she's not hurting herself, he supposes there's not much to be done.

"Ah, don't worry," Lloyd laughs a little as she scrambles to okay their first meeting. "You can say my mom's a bit of a dumbass, it's fine." It's not like he's not also a dumbass, but Lloyd's somehow always had better timing on when to be a total moron, so. She'll figure that out eventually. Still, for all of Anna's reckless drinking, Lloyd thinks back to the things she had told him about her time in Spira over the past eight years, the crippling loneliness she must have felt, and finds the need to explain. "She means well, she's just... Been through some shit. But she seems to like you guys quite a bit."

At least, she likes Sheena and Zelos more than it seems like she liked the rest of Lloyd's blitzball team back on Zanarkand. For whatever reason, she had always been a little closed off with them, with the friends Lloyd brought home, acting like they weren't gonna stick around -

Lloyd cuts off that thought firmly before he thinks about Zanarkand more than he has to. Instead, he plops himself down on the edge of the bed across from Sheena and grins. "Looks like we're gonna be together for a while, so why not get to know each other? Liiiiiike..." Lloyd puts a finger to his chin, thinks for a little bit, and then looks back at Sheena. "What's your favorite hobby?"
risingfalcon: (cocky)

YOU'RE OK DON'T WORRY WE'RE NOT DISAPPOINTED

[personal profile] risingfalcon 2020-01-24 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
Lloyd leans forward to see the charm she's made, squinting his eyes a little as he takes in the details. It's really cute, and Lloyd's always been a sucker for handmade knick-knacks and accessories, noticing the love and care that goes into them. "It's so nice," he compliments, sitting back up after enough observation. "I love the colors. And, hey, sometimes things you make don't need to serve a real purpose! Just having the thing is enough to bring you joy, and that's reason enough to keep making them."

He shrugs a little, grinning still,"I wood carve when I'm not playing Blitzball, so I know all about keeping a bunch of things that serve no real purpose around. Buuuuuuut," he says, putting a hand up in the air, "we're gonna find you a new hobby. Summoning is cool and all, but you should have interests outside of it! It's not like it's the only thing you can do with your life."

Putting his hand back down onto the mattress and leaning back, supporting himself with his arms, he looks at Sheena. "You already make charms, have you ever thought about learning how to make woven bracelets and stuff? You should give it a shot!"

And then Lloyd finally properly answers her question. "Blitzball is what I spend most of my time dealing with. I'm a pretty kickass captain, if I say so myself." He laughs, "nah, I'm kidding. But I really do love it, and I'm determined to be a better player than even my mom was. Looks like its gonna be on the back-burner for a bit, though."

He kicks his legs a little, careful not to kick Sheena by accident. "Got any questions for me? Like, real questions, not just returned questions."