Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on May 21, 2012 8:33:42 GMT -5
Despite the fact that Cosmos was a goddess, she really didn’t know everything there was to know. Like every other human being, she, too, occasionally just felt lost, not knowing what to do or how to handle a situation. That wasn’t a bad thing though, she’d always assured herself, because it meant that a part of her really was human, and she had always seen that as an advantage she had over Chaos, who didn’t seem to experience those same feelings. Today, however, Cosmos did not see her humanity as an advantage. After getting separated from Warrior, she’d really just been wandering around in search of him, but instead of finding him, she’d found a whole other world. She’d passed through some sort of portal and now she was… well… Cosmos really couldn’t determine where she had ended up this time. Never before had she seen this world through the eyes of her warriors, there was no sense of familiarity to comfort herself with this time around. Since leaving the Sanctuary, she’d become a little more accustomed to dealing with people who weren’t her chosen fighters, but large crowds still made her feel uneasy. And this place was like one big, never-ending crowd, everywhere around her were people walking around, talking… some were even shouting. Cosmos wandered through the crowd trying to look as normal as she could, but anyone could tell she was suppressing a serious fight or flight response at the moment. She needed to get out of here… she needed to find a quiet place to think. Yes, think. She needed to just sit down and think about the situation, and then hopefully come up with a way to either send her back to Warrior’s side, or back to the Sanctuary. From there, she would be fine. She would be able to find him again and teleport him to her.
…she just hoped the manikins wouldn’t be there as the welcoming committee.
Though in reality it had only been around thirty minutes since she’d ended up here, to Cosmos, it felt like she’d been here for years, just trying to find gaps in the crowd that she could use to escape through. From every direction, voices were coming her way and Cosmos seriously considered just flying out of here. It would be much easier and faster than what she was doing now, but surely that would draw unwanted attention to herself. She was already sticking out like a sore thumb, no need to make things worse by using powers that apparently, nobody else here possessed. After another twenty or so minutes (it wasn’t like she had a watch to keep track of time), she had finally made it to a relatively quiet spot way into the heart of the city. One would expect this location to be the busiest of all, but apparently people were more interested in shopping than doing… whatever it was people could do at this building. With her arms wrapped tightly around herself in some effort to calm her nerves, she shuffled inside and looked around for anyone who might appear helpful. Even if they couldn’t tell her how to get back home, at the very least they would be able to tell her where she was.
There were a few people inside, but most of them were occupied with their work. A front desk worker greeted her with a smile, which made the goddess of Harmony feel a little better about this entire situation. …a little. Taking a deep breath, she finally let some of her worries fall from her shoulders. She was out of the people mass, and that in itself was a tiny blessing. It was quite nice inside this building, it was a lot cooler in here than it was out in the sun, the décor had a calming influence on her, and the people didn’t seem too bad. After she’d collected her sense of calm once again, she finally approached the friendly looking receptionist with a somewhat forced smile of her own. It wasn’t that she was trying to be rude or anything, but a lot had happened to her lately. She’d gone from being basically a hermit whose only contact with people was the contact she had with her warriors to being in a city bustling with life. She might get used to it eventually, but right now, it was just too soon for all of that.
“Good afternoon miss, how may I help you today?” the receptionist asked with a trained smile. Cosmos looked around once more before finally looking back at the woman behind the desk, “Surely this sounds strange but… could you tell me where I am, exactly?” “Oh, certainly. You are at the research facility of Academia, miss.” “…Academia? Is that… the name of this world?” she asked carefully, not quite sure why the woman suddenly started giggling a little. Cosmos guessed it really was a strange question to ask. Surely people didn’t just randomly get transported to this world every day. “No, no. You are on Pulse right now. I don’t know anything about a ‘Spira’.” she clarified. Cosmos could only stare as she tried to remember where she’d heard that name before. One of her warriors had mentioned Pulse before… but who was it again? Not Squall, not Zidane… wait! Lightning! Lightning lived here now, didn’t she? What a relief! If she could just find the pinkette, then everything would be fine. Perhaps fine was blowing it out of proportion, but at least it would be better than wandering around by herself. “You wouldn’t happen to know a woman who goes by the name of Lightning, would you?” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 947 Tagged: Hope! Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: My thread names are always so fabulous, aren't they?
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 21, 2012 17:42:15 GMT -5
Back to the daily grind, so it seemed. Hope Estheim almost welcomed the glare of a computer screen, the sound of someone dropping files onto his desk, and the monotony of relative normalcy after...recent events. He didn't regret becoming involved in the chaos surrounding Oriens, and certainly didn't regret knowing that the majority of Class Zero had been saved when they had surely come close to being wiped out altogether. Altogether, though, their time in Oriens hadn't been easy, least of all for Lightning. It was even worse to know that she was now back in Valhalla having to fight after what she'd been through during her brief respite from the timeless shores. But they all had duties they still needed to perform to prepare themselves for the battle with Caius. And so Hope had returned to Academia, going right back to his work, which now consisted primarily of creating a means for time-travel on a more base scale - in other words, he wanted time travel without the necessity of a predetermined time gate, in theory. It would not be an easy task...but no task Hope ever took up was an easy one, was it? Yet they all brought him just another step closer to giving his friends what they needed to end this disaster in the timelines once and for all.
Hope hovered over another researcher's shoulder near the front of the Academy at the moment, though, dealing with an entirely different question that needed answering - why was there a strange magical anomaly appearing within the city itself, and almost within the Academy itself? Hope had chalked it up to a glitch at first, but the issue persisted even as he and the other man made adjustments to the equipment. It wasn't a particularly volatile form of magic or anything of the sort, but it certainly seemed powerful. But the magic didn't actually match...anything else they had ever encountered on the scanners before. Typically, Hope could assume these readings came from time gates or something else innocent, but this one seemed...different, somehow, yet still strangely familiar. He was thrumming his fingers as he waited for someone else to finally emerge from deeper in the building and provide a third opinion, when he heard a conversation at a nearby reception desk, where one of the receptionists stood across from a...somewhat overdressed woman. Hope didn't mean to eavesdrop whatsoever, but the woman's attire caught his eye so much that he found himself listening into the words exchanged. "...know...woman..........of Lightning...." Hope had to do a double-take at the woman as he heard Lightning's name mentioned. Who...was she, and how did she know Lightning? An older friend of hers, or something? If Lightning hadn't been in Valhalla, she would have been...thirty or thirty-one by now. The woman at the desk didn't look particularly aged. Of course, he could have merely misunderstood the conversation and the woman could have been talking about someone else or the actual natural phenomenon of lightning itself, or...
...Who was he kidding? How many people in the world went by Lightning? Hope patted the man he was working with on the arm and excused himself, stepping over towards the reception desk. Hope didn't feel like he was interfering, since the receptionist seemed to be turning around looking for his help anyway, and Hope gave her a quick nod to report that he'd take over. "Lightning Farron is a close friend of mine," Hope said to the lost-seeming woman as he switched places with the receptionist, who went back to her computer. "Unfortunately she's...unavailable right now." Being back in Valhalla was a little more than unavailable, but if he was to mention that tidbit of information, the explanation would be...well, difficult to say the least. Instead, he let the point slide for now and extended a hand to the woman in friendly greeting. "I'm Hope Estheim, with the Academy research division. Is there anything at all I can do to help you?"
Words - 729 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Yes, that's Cosmos showing up on the computer. XD I figure she still has self-contained magic...right? [/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on May 22, 2012 9:18:32 GMT -5
The woman before her seemed to be rather lost on how to answer Cosmos’s question. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to ask for Lightning after all. Even if she was an important person to Cosmos, and even if she had done amazing things for her world, that still didn’t mean that every single person in the world knew her. Not personally anyway. The goddess had just been so eager to find her that the words had escaped her mouth before she’d properly thought it through, and now there was really no way out of this. Changing the subject wouldn’t work, because finding Lightning had really been the sole reason she’d approached this woman in the first place. That, and to find out where she was, but that question had already been answered. The blonde lowered her head a little and took a step back, ready to apologize for the inconvenience and leave again. Perhaps she could find someone else to help her, and if not, she needed to be alone to think on how to proceed from there. If no one could help her, she’d have to help herself somehow. Maybe she could create a portal that lead to Order’s Sanctuary from here… if she could just reach her Sanctuary, then she would know how to proceed from there.
“Thank you, I-“ she quieted down when she noticed a man step up behind the woman and take her place. Was this her boss? He seemed young, but there was something about him that made her feel like he could indeed be in charge of this building. Age didn’t really mean anything anyway. Many of Cosmos’s warriors were young, and even though they sometimes struggled with their feelings, they were still very mature and capable. If they weren’t, she wouldn’t have called upon them to help fight the forces of Chaos. She called to her only those that were truly ready. Fortunately, Cosmos didn’t have to keep guessing long, as he introduced himself pretty much the second he sat down in front of her. Hope, his name was Hope. Cosmos couldn’t help but smile when she heard that name. Whoever had given it to him must’ve truly loved him, and believed he would grow up to be a great person. And… he knew Lightning personally! Things were finally starting to look up, or so she’d thought… in the same breath, he announced that Lightning was currently unavailable. Well, in plain terms, that freaking sucked! “I see…” Cosmos replied sadly. Lightning must’ve been off facing her own demons at that moment, and though the pinkette certainly had the strength and willpower to defeat them, Cosmos still found herself worrying about her safety. Old habits die hard. “I pray that she is well.” She spoke as she glanced down at Hope’s extended hand, and slowly moved her own forward, grasping it uncertainly. Was this what she was supposed to do? Was this a proper greeting?
“My name is Cosmos,” she bowed her head respectfully before the young man, “And… I am uncertain how you could assist me, sir.” she confessed sadly, but she decided to tell him of her troubles anyway. He seemed like a kind man. A good man. Even if he couldn’t help her, Cosmos felt that at the very least, he would try, and that was enough for now. Recalling the conversation with the receptionist, she felt more confident mentioning being from another world, since it didn’t seem to be a strange thing around here. Otherwise, the woman would’ve given her an odd look, right? “I am not from this world, and I know not how to return to mine,” she looked up at him with concerned eyes, “I have also been separated from a close friend, and I don’t know where he ended up either. I’m just… I’m lost, and I don’t know where to go from here.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 651 Tagged: Hope! Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: Dem awkward handshakes! Also, yes, she still has awesome goddess powers!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 22, 2012 12:27:34 GMT -5
The saddened tone in the woman's voice was easy to hear once Hope informed her that Lightning was away. He further wondered how this woman was linked to Light and why...she hadn't shown up here before with questions about her, if she was so concerned over the current warrior of the goddess. Still, it was nice to have someone before him who obviously cared for Lightning, too, and wished safety upon her. Hope's voice lowered as he looked down at his hands and responded. "So do I." Though Hope could easily keep up with the goings-on in Valhalla now, Lightning was still in constant danger there. If she ever was in trouble, Hope didn't know quite what could be done to assist her just yet, not directly. He felt a pang of urgency nagging at him, but ultimately managed to sideline it. Working would give him plenty of time to think on his worries.
The woman seemed uncertain about the handshake, but ultimately took Hope's hand in a graceful clasp. Hope smiled at her. The name...Cosmos? A strange one, he'd say, but he supposed Hope was an...idealistic name, as well. She certainly had all manner of courtesy about her aside from the hesitation on the handshake, but admittedly, some people didn't go around shaking hands with everyone they met, either. He could merely look at her expectantly, as she was apparently about to express her problem to him. His eyes glanced to her attire again. Was she from some sort of a religious order or something similar? Hope really had no clue whatsoever, and decided to wait for her explanation to figure it all out. A researcher had to have all of his information before reaching a conclusion, after all. The same governing rule applied in everyday life.
Ah, from another world. So that explained her uneasiness and her rather elegant attire. What it did not explain was how a person from another world knew Lightning. Light had been in Valhalla ever since the original appearances of the portals, had she not? So how did this woman...know Lightning. Hope supposed Light might have neglected to mention a visit to another world that interrupted her time in Valhalla. Or...this woman could be from Oriens and encountered Lightning at some point, since she somewhat reminded Hope of Rubrum's summoner. All theories, but nothing Hope could say was concrete until he actually asked. First, though, he could put this woman's mind at ease about her plight. He provided another smile as he replied. "Then we can help you," he announced, proudly. "Both with finding your friend and with returning you to your home. One...moment..." Reaching across the receptionist, Hope grabbed a datapad and pulled it towards him, bringing it in front of his eyes and logging himself in to the Academy database with a few flicks of his fingers across the screen. Once he had reached the page he needed, a process that took all of eight or nine seconds, he looked back up into Cosmos' face, presenting a question. "So we'll know where to start...what was your world of origin, Cosmos?" As he asked, he motioned over towards a set of seats placed off to the side of the room for visitors, so they could both take a seat.
Words - 602 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Not a thing. [/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on May 23, 2012 10:31:03 GMT -5
Though her current situation hardly called for smiles and laughs, Cosmos couldn’t stop herself from smiling a little anyway when she heard the young man express his own concerns for Lightning’s safety. It was good to see that she had people around that truly cared for her, even if they couldn’t fight by her side at the moment. It was the thought that counted, wasn’t it? “Have no fear, your friend is one of the strongest warriors I know. If anyone can face her current struggles, she can.” She assured him with a light smile that faded again soon after as they moved onto the subject of Cosmos herself. Everything lately had just been happening so fast, one moment she’d been peacefully sitting on her throne as always, awaiting the next cycle, the next she was with Warrior in a seaside village called “Kilika” in the world of Spira. And now, she was apparently on Pulse, in a city called Academia? Never before had she heard of this place, but at least she hadn’t ended up in some cold, empty wasteland without any people around to tell her what the heck was going on.
After she’d first arrived, the goddess of harmony had seriously considered trying to teleport herself back to Order’s Sanctuary. She was the only one who truly knew its location and how to get there, after all. Or at least, that’s how it had always been. Apparently there was something going on around all the worlds with these strange portals popping out of the ground and leading people to different lands. Maybe a portal had appeared leading to her Sanctuary as well, while she was away from there. Cosmos prayed not though. If the manikins were still there, then whoever was transported there would be in serious trouble. And what if the manikins entered the portals and teleported to different worlds where they would cause trouble? She really didn’t want to think about it, but she kind of had to. If the manikins had teleported elsewhere, she’d have to stop them. They were her problem, her responsibility, and she would own up to that responsibility if need be. The manikins were also part of the reason she hadn’t actually tried to send herself back home. If she went back, and they were still there… then what could she do? Cosmos was strong, but she had been weakened during the last cycles. Without at least one of her warriors there to fight by her side, there was no way she could win against the enormous hoard that had appeared there earlier.
With a slightly concerned voice, she relayed her problems to Hope. She didn’t know if he could help her, but figured there was no harm in trying. Cosmos could sense a light shining inside the young man, which put her mind further at ease. Her current company was at least on the same side as she was, which was always a relief. Her expression changed some when Hope claimed proudly that he could help her, not just with finding Order’s Sanctuary again, but also with finding Warrior. Her confused expression changed to hopeful as she leaned in closer when he turned away to grab something, “You… you really think so?” Finally things were starting to look up! As beautiful and peaceful as Spira, or more specifically, Kilika, had been, the technology they had there was insufficient when it came to the complex task of teleportation, but it seemed humanity on this world had progressed far enough to develop the necessary means to get her back home. Cosmos sighed and looked physically relieved, at least a little. There was no telling if it would work, but there was a chance that it would. Following Hope to the set of seats, she lowered herself into one, sitting with a great and elegant posture and her hands neatly folded in her lap as she answered his question, “My realm is called Order’s Sanctuary,” she told him calmly. She could’ve said ‘world’, but then, her sanctuary wasn’t really a world at all, was it? It was more like a different plane of existence that could be reached through specific gateways the goddess had created as a means for her warriors to reach her in times of trouble. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 716 Tagged: Hope Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: Leaving it entirely up to you whether Hope can find the place or be all "wtf, it doesn't even exist, lol!" =D
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 26, 2012 6:44:22 GMT -5
No doubt the woman before Hope knew Lightning well. He had no way of genuinely knowing...but he knew people did not express such concern or admiration for the pinkette lightly. And she was right...if ever there was someone Hope didn't need to worry about falling to the vicious cycle, it was Lightning. That was a hard fact to remember when close to another person, but rationality reminded Hope it was the truth. To have a complete stranger remind him of that was...strange, but there was something about this woman before him that made Hope believe what she was saying without a single doubt plaguing his mind. "I know," Hope replied, with a smile in return. Yes, Lightning would be okay...one day, they all would. If Hope couldn't look forward to that day, then what was it he was toiling to accomplish in the first place?
Hope still found himself wondering endlessly about Cosmos' relationship to Lightning. She obviously knew the pinkette well, but the story wasn't adding up at all. Hope was not paranoid and never had been, but...what if this woman had something to do with...Etro? She certainly seemed graceful and celestial, in a way. As if she...was someone of importance to...ah, he had no way of guessing these things right now. But he didn't want to be rude and jump in with questions about Cosmos and Lightning while Cosmos was so concerned with finding her friend and her way home. Little did Hope know that at least a few of the answers he was seeking were present on the computer screen he'd been staring at with his coworker a few minutes before, now all but forgotten with Cosmos standing here before him.
They arrived at the seats Hope had directed them to, with Hope taking up a seat directly beside Cosmos so they could have some privacy without having to talk across any sort of distance. He continued to hold the datapad up at his face, only glancing up at Cosmos when she finally relayed the name of her home. "Realm?", Hope questioned, with some confusion. He'd never heard anyone call their homeworld a "realm" before, and being a close listener he picked up on it. Order's Sanctuary...that was a strange name, as well. Hope's mind went to analyzing again as he searched through databases for any sort of record of "Order's Sanctuary," but he didn't believe he'd find any such thing. Why? Well, because "realm" and "Order's Sanctuary" indicated to him a place like...well, like Valhalla. Or that blank area in the timeline Hope had failed to get a lock on with the Oracle Drive, apparently called "the Void Beyond" if he knew his Gran Pulse studies correctly. So...was this Cosmos from a place like that? It wasn't unreasonable to think of. Portals could easily appear in those places, as well, since Etro's hand had surely touched them at some point, allowing them fal'Cie magic.
So now, Hope had to have his answers. He turned to Cosmos, placing the datapad on the table beside him. "I'm almost certain we don't have any records of an Order's Sanctuary...but don't let that discourage you. With a little information, we shouldn't have any problems sorting this out at all," Hope reassured her, with a warm smile. "I...have to ask you, though. How do you know Lightning? If I know the timeline of events since...well, since the crystal pillar formed - the one you may have seen on the horizon - Lightning hasn't had a chance to be taken to any world aside from Oriens." He clasped his hands over his chest, clearly in thought. "Do you come from a world between worlds? Lightning...has been in a place known as Valhalla for years, ever since the portal phenomena began." With expectant eyes, he gazed on the strange woman beside him, hoping he'd hear some new, good news about Lightning that the pinkette had never chosen to tell him about.
Words - 731 Muse - Excellent! Notes - He's gonna be disappointed, isn't he? XD[/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on May 26, 2012 9:55:30 GMT -5
Hope seemed confused when she mentioned her home, and honestly, she could hardly blame the boy for his confusion. It wasn’t every day that people spoke of their home world in such an odd fashion, but Cosmos had felt it necessary to be honest about exactly where she was from, so Hope could really help her to the best of his ability. Cosmos smiled apologetically as he repeated her words, “It is difficult to explain,” she told him simply, and then remained silent again until he asked her more questions. Perhaps there wouldn’t be any harm in explaining who and what she was, but for now, she’d rather avoid revealing all that information – it wasn’t the sort of thing that everyone could know. The more people that knew of the troubles brewing between the forces of discord and harmony – Chaos and Cosmos respectfully – the more complicated the situation would become. Some might try to get involved in the struggle on either side, others might become overly fearful, worrying that the fight would carry on into their own lives and put them in danger. Hope for his part seemed like a curious and intelligent young man, and Cosmos worried a little what the youth might do if he found out exactly what was at play here. He was obviously worried about Lightning, and might get it into his head that Dissidia and Order’s Sanctuary, perhaps even Chaos’s domain, would give him some answers as to her whereabouts. Cosmos couldn’t risk that, so she remained as silent as possible on the matter.
But her earlier assessment had been the right one; Hope was curious, and when he put down his datapad, Cosmos already sensed she wouldn’t like where this conversation would be heading. And yes, it went exactly where she’d feared it would go. Her eyes saddened some when he asked her his question. It was perfectly clear that Hope cared a great deal about Lightning, and though it was nice to see such feelings at play, it also provided the Goddess of Harmony quite the dilemma. She wanted to help him, she really did. It seemed like even the slightest bit of information would set his mind at peace, and the only one who could give him that information right now was Cosmos herself. Once again, she struggled between her own, divine being, and her very human feelings of compassion. “I fear I cannot say, as it is not my place to speak of such things,” she started regretfully, gazing down at her hands rather than at the blonde man before her, “If Lightning has opted for silence on the matter, I cannot do anything but accept and respect her wishes,” likewise, if Lightning had chosen to explain everything to her loved ones, Cosmos would have been in no position to stop her. After everything the ex-soldier had done for her, it was well within her rights to tell whoever she wanted to tell about what she had done and what she had been through. But Lightning must’ve seen that speaking of it would only complicate everything, hence her silence, or so Cosmos imagined anyway.
“Forgive me,” She spoke softly, and bowed her head respectfully before rising to her feet, “I fear I already might have said too much… I thank you for trying to help, but it would be best if I continued my search alone, I think.” with that said, she finally turned and started to walk away. What had she even been thinking, going up to random people and talking about things they didn't need to know? And talking to a friend of Lightning's, one who would obviously be curious to hear a few things on how she and his friend had met... that one had been a serious mistake. At least she hadn't revealed too much yet. There was still time to back off and retreat from this situation, which was exactly what she did. Somehow, she would find her own way back to where she was supposed to be. If she could just find Warrior, then she was sure everything was going to be fine. He had more experience dealing with these portals than she did, together, they'd find a way to fix all of this. As she walked though, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Hope. She wished there was something she could've done to help him, but this time, her rational side had won against her emotional side. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 747 Tagged: Hope Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: <.>
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on Jun 1, 2012 13:20:28 GMT -5
This kept getting weirder and weirder.
The more questions Hope presented, the fewer answers he started receiving. It was curious enough that Cosmos hadn't chosen to humor him with any sort of explanation on her "realm" of origin, but Hope could understand. He imagined he wouldn't be able to comprehend many of the locations waiting on the other side of the portals, such as that...strange place with the linked gates that had led Hope and Vanille back to Orphan's Cradle, where those...duplicates had attacked them. That had happened a year and a half earlier and Hope still didn't have any sort of an explanation for it. Thus, if Cosmos could only mention she was from a strange place, then he need not question it, only assist her in returning.
The conversation involving Lightning, though, was much more suspicious. Hope picked up on the expression change once he mentioned his friend's name, but assumed Cosmos looked so saddened because she missed Lightning or some other innocent reason. But...Hope found himself completely confused when she acted...embarrassed? No, not quite embarrassed. Though for some reason, Cosmos acted as if she couldn't speak of how she knew Lightning. Hope had to go back through the facts again in his mind. This woman was from another world. She knew Lightning. Lightning had never mentioned being to another world, nor had she really had the time by any stretch of Hope's imagination as she'd served as Etro's guardian. None of the pieces fit together...and here was Cosmos telling him she couldn't tell him anything about the situation without...Lightning's permission, maybe? Hope blinked a few times in clear confusion, wishing he had a way he could contact Lightning quickly. He had ways to establish portals with Valhalla now, but he couldn't speak freely with Lightning. A great shame, since he clearly needed her to clarify...well, everything right now. Hope couldn't remember being so confused in a long time.
Hope would have spoken again to try and...figure this out, but Cosmos had risen to her feet before he could really manage to say anything, acting as if...agh, he didn't even know anymore. With his mind muddled, Hope merely sat and watched her walking away to continue her searching on her own. Looking distraught, Hope turned himself back around in the seat and slumped, a hand moving to rub at his chin. All of a sudden, he hadn't the slightest idea what to do next. Should he let her go? Clearly she didn't trust him with...something. Whatever way she and Lightning had known each other...the circumstances must have been...bad? Maybe? Hope felt such a strong curiosity about the whole situation that he was tempted to stand up, head to the nearest means to create a portal, and step into Valhalla, hoping he didn't interrupt Lightning in the middle of an attack in order to ask her about Cosmos. He realized that was a completely irrational thing to do. He and Lightning could talk this over at a time that actually made some sense. So...what did that leave Hope to do?
He peered over his shoulder at the woman again, now quite a good distance away. Only debating with himself a moment, Hope picked the datapad back up and pushed himself up out of his seat briskly, heading off in pursuit of Cosmos in hopes that she wouldn't brush him off if he offered to help without questioning. The idea of toiling in the dark made him feel rather used, in a way, but he could ignore it. After all, what if this woman ran into a creature as she searched for her friend? Or fell into another portal? Helping her was the only decent thing to do, even if he'd be blind the whole way. After a few seconds of skirting through the crowd as quickly as possible, Hope managed to step beside the door just before she reached it. "I'm sorry if my questions were too personal," he told her, an apology in his voice. "Please allow me to help you if I can without having to put you under any further pressure. At the very least, I can help you find your friend without having to pry."
Words - 762 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Nada. [/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on Jun 19, 2012 7:23:56 GMT -5
Cosmos didn’t like running away from problems, and she seldom did so. It was better to deal with things as they came, so that they wouldn’t come back to haunt you later. But in this scenario, walking away seemed like the best option. There were already too many people involved in the struggle against Chaos, and it was necessary for those people to be involved, but that didn’t mean Cosmos wanted to drag more people into the mess. Least of all the friends of her own warriors. They’d already sacrificed enough, fighting for her as much as they had, it would be a huge slap in the face to go dragging their friends and family into it as well. And so, without looking back, Cosmos walked away again. Heading straight for the exit and trying to think of a way to get herself home instead. Perhaps not home, because there was a good chance that the manikins still lingered in Order’s Sanctuary, but maybe she could find a way to get back to that little village she and Warrior had ended up on after escaping the Sanctuary. Kilika, was it? The goddess of harmony supposed it didn’t really matter where she ended up, what was really important was that she found one or more of her warriors. They had more experience with world-hopping than she did, so they should be able to help her without having to ask any questions that she couldn’t answer. Most of all though, she really just wanted to find Warrior. She had to know that he was alright. That was her top priority at this time.
Cosmos hadn’t noticed anything changing until the young man from before appeared right next to the door she was about to leave through, and he was… apologizing? Cosmos really couldn’t fault him for his curiosity, but she couldn’t answer those questions yet either, which was why she had left. She hadn’t really felt offended or anything though… why would she? His questions made perfect sense, considering everything he did know about her, which wasn’t a lot, she had to admit. “No no, it is… quite alright,” she started, waving a hand for emphasis, “It is not you who should apologize, it is me. I wish I could answer your questions, but for now… I just can’t. I am sorry,” she told him genuinely, smiling lightly at his offer to help her find Warrior for her without asking any more questions. That was really kind, considering she hadn’t really been much help to him at all. Her earlier feelings had been right then, the light really did shine brightly inside this young man. “I would greatly appreciate that…” she started carefully, “Perhaps… I could try and answer a few of your questions. I might not be able to tell you everything, but some things I might be able to clear up for you.” That was the proper thing to do, right? He was doing her a favor, so she should at least try and return that favor to him. He said he would help without asking anything, but Cosmos would’ve just felt bad letting him do all that work for her and then walking away, leaving him empty handed. A favor for a favor seemed more fair to her. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 651 Tagged: Hope! Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: Cosmos: So good at trolling, she can make her victims apologize for getting mystery trololol'd.
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on Jul 4, 2012 6:41:05 GMT -5
Though he didn't feel the woman had any need to apologize, he simply accepted it with a nod and decided they could move on, both having filled the air with enough sorrys for one day. Enough misunderstandings had already taken place that drawing out the acceptance of those misunderstandings would just be ludicrous. If she wasn't upset about his questions beyond her inability to answer them, Hope could feel better about the circumstances. This had actually happened more than once - this instance of people who could not or would not go into extreme details about certain things from their own worlds - but never had those people been quite so polite or well-seeming as Cosmos. He would still endlessly wonder about how she knew Lightning, at least until he found a new opportunity to ask Lightning about it. Hopefully that day would come soon, when Caius was gone and the timeline was restored. Today, Hope could only focus on what sat before him, ready to be fixed or set in motion.
"Okay," Hope responded, with a smile, glad he'd managed to convince her to stay a little longer. He wasn't quite sure how well he could help her while having to dance around questions a bit, but it would make him feel better just trying to do something to give this woman a few clues as to her friends' recovery and as to her return to her home through a portal. "We can go back to the seats," he needlessly informed with a motion of his head, but as they started walking back, his eyes were set firmly on the datapad that sat on the table. He picked it up before taking his seat, his eyes glued to the screen as he pulled up a fresh set of information. His searching for Order's Sanctuary could come after he'd learned a little more about this friend of hers...hopefully, she would have no problem telling him a wee bit about him, especially only the aesthetics. "The friend that you've been separated from...would he stand out in this world for any particular reason? Perhaps he has unique clothing or some sort of impressive stature, or perhaps he isn't fully human?", Hope asked of her, poking at a few buttons on his screen before he sat down and looked at her. "I ask because we have researchers report the presence of anyone who they know to be from a different world, if only so we can help them or in the case of a highly dangerous individual, ensure civilians aren't put at risk. We've had...quite a range of people come to us looking for help back to their worlds, to be honest. A few of them were tall, tanned women with bunny ears...hence the question about your friend's humanity," Hope added, with a slight smile on his face. He still needed to make that trip to see the Viera's woodlands for himself sometime...but that would be a task for a much different day.
Words - 554 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Forgive me for shortness. ><[/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on Jul 18, 2012 16:02:50 GMT -5
Hope’s polite and friendly demeanor definitely made Cosmos feel bad about not being able to answer all his questions for him, but he actually seemed alright with it. He probably wasn’t happy about not getting any answers, but at least he accepted it, which was more than you could say for most people. The goddess had meant what she said though, about at least attempting to clear some of his confusion up. That was the least she could do for the man who went out of his way to help her with her problems, wasn’t it? With a smile and a nod, she followed Hope back towards the seats they had previously occupied, and with the same grace and elegance, she sat back down again in her old seat. “Oh yes, most certainly,” she replied with a smirk. Warrior would most definitely stand out here, just like she no doubt stood out like a sore thumb around all these strangely dressed people. “He wears full armor… it’s blue with some gold linings. He has long silver hair and blue eyes and…” Cosmos stood up from her chair and moved her hands up to where the top of his head would be, “He’s around this tall…” what else could she say that might help? She could say he was handsome and gentlemanly, but somehow, she didn’t think Hope would be able to use something like that in his search, so she instead looked down at him with a questioning look, “Is… that enough information?” she asked softly, before finally getting to the part about whether he was a human or not. Her head tilted to the side a little when Hope mentioned tall, tanned women with bunny ears. …really? That sounded fascinating! The goddess of harmony knew there were other races and species out there, but she’d never seen what Hope described to her before. Maybe one day, she’d get to see one. She’d like that. But first things first; she needed to find Warrior. Nothing else really mattered besides that.
“Yes, he …” she trailed off a little when she thought about whether he was really human or not. Appearances didn’t mean much, after all, Cosmos herself wasn’t human either. And when she’d met Warrior, truth be told, he’d been more like a docile manikin than a human being. Would he be looking at appearance, or somehow scan for DNA? “He is human,” she finally decided with a nod before sitting down again and looking down at her hands. Was he human? Cid had never answered that question to her when she’d asked him about it, and she wasn’t sure what to make of his silence. He had no memories, no way of telling who he really was. Cosmos sighed and looked off to the side. It didn’t matter what he originally was anyway, what mattered was who he was today, and in her eyes, he was nothing short of a regular human being. “So there are many people like myself then, people who are torn away from their homes…” she frowned and placed a hand over her heart, it was always awful to hear about people’s misfortunes, and now that she herself was lost, Cosmos could truly imagine how they felt, because she felt the same way. If a goddess was frightened of the unknown, then she could only imagine how regular people must feel. “Is there no way to seal these portals?” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 574 Tagged: Hope! Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: Dat lack of muse!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on Jul 28, 2012 7:51:24 GMT -5
Immediately as Cosmos began describing the friend she was looking for, Hope pulled up a new missing person's file and started filling in the holes with the details she provided. He selected the option for male, before starting on facets of his description. He started with the silver hair - if it was long, that would help to pick him out - and blue eyes, before adding in the armor, which would also be really helpful in finding him. Very few people went parading around in full armor on Gran Pulse unless they were a shock trooper, and their armor was silver, not blue. For a moment, he looked at Cosmos confusedly when she stood up, but once she stretched her arm up he figured it out. His height...by her description, Hope would have believed him to be a fair bit over six feet tall. He estimated and put a number in the file, nodding all the while he did.
That seemed to be mostly what she had for him in terms of description, but it would likely be enough. "The hair and armor alone should be enough for us to tag him. Silver hair isn't common for Cocoon citizens," he said, pointing out his own all the while. "I'm a rarity. No other member of my family has silver hair. And none of the select few individuals with silver hair would also be wearing blue armor." He peered down at his file, only having one spot unfilled. For a moment, he had to debate if asking for a name was the right course of action, but it would certainly help to avoid spooking the man if any Academy personnel did come across him. If he was in full armor, he likely wasn't one to take life lightly. "Could I ask for his name?", Hope finally looked to Cosmos and asked, as much for the Academy's safety as the friend's.
Based on the description, Hope immediately assumed his question about Cosmos' friend's humanity had been answered, but when she went to confirm it, she seemed...oddly hesitant. Perhaps he was a l'Cie? Or a humanoid creature? Ah, well, as long as he looked like a human that was all that mattered anyway, so Hope wouldn't pry on the subject. He started wrapping up his report so he could submit it and make it priority. Once he moved it into the database, he brought his eyes up to look at Cosmos as she made her comment about others facing the same problems she was facing here. "We usually have nearly fifty people per day that come to one of our bases needing supplies, protection or help with finding friends or family members." It was a shame, really, though they did have a good system for helping those people now. It still shouldn't have been happening, though. Fal'Cie and their portals...
"We can seal portals, but we can't stop them from appearing. They're far too random and the magic is too powerful for us to get a read on their pattern of appearances," Hope explained, tenting his fingers as he did so. "The portals will likely be a problem until we make a technological advancement that can match fal'Cie magic. For now, we're stuck having to contain portals as best we can."
Words - 605 Muse - Excellent! Notes - We can probably wrap this up soon? :0 Couple more posts?[/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on Jul 30, 2012 9:22:40 GMT -5
Cosmos couldn’t but feel a bit silly as she described the Warrior of Light to Hope. He cast a rather confused look her way when she tried to give him an idea of how tall he was, and she quickly found herself looking away from his face in embarrassment, but thankfully his confusion faded when she informed him that she was talking about the Warriors height. She figured most people would’ve just told him the specific measurements, but Cosmos had no idea what those were. It wasn’t like she often found herself in situations where she had to describe people, after all. Cosmos was relieved to hear that her descriptions were satisfactory and sighed softly upon hearing Hope tell her such. “I see… thank you very much,” she just couldn’t thank this young man enough. Here he was, trying to help her get home when she couldn’t give him anything in return. Only a truly good person would be willing to do that, and Cosmos, despite not really knowing him personally, she still felt herself growing to like the man anyway. He was exactly the reason she continued her endless struggle against Chaos. People like this deserved a peaceful life in a harmonious world.
Hope’s question about the Warriors name had Cosmos looking down at him with a blank stare. He was definitely going to think she was pulling some elaborate prank on him when she revealed that she had no idea what her close friend’s name was. It wasn’t her fault though, because not even Warrior knew his true name, and instead just went by his title. Cosmos had always been understanding and accepting of that, but right now, she wished she’d forced him into taking on a temporary name anyway, just so situations like these could be avoided. When she did meet up with him again, she’d have to insist that they go and search for his lost memories as soon as possible, so that they could both finally learn the man’s true name. “I…” she scratched the back of her neck a little. How could she word this so that he’d still take her seriously? Was there even a way to say ‘I don’t know my friend’s name!’ without having the other person think you were some sort of fool? Probably not. “I’m afraid I… don’t know his name,” she finally just told him bluntly as she lowered herself back down into her seat. “He lost his memories, and doesn’t recall who he was before we met. He goes by his title instead, and is known to people as the Warrior of Light.” Good grief, this sounded awful even to the goddesses own ears. But she’d given her honest explanation, and now the ball was back in Hope’s court. Hopefully he believed her, but she couldn’t blame him if he didn’t. All of this combined with the fact that she couldn’t tell him more about her connection to Lightning must sound incredibly strange and far-fetched.
“I see…” she sighed sadly after hearing Hope’s take on the portals. They couldn’t be sealed right now, which meant many more people would be ripped away from their homes and families and tossed into a world completely foreign to them. It was really tragic, but at least there were people like Hope who tried to help the victims find their way home again. But what about those people who ended up on worlds besides this one? A world without Hope? How could they possibly make it back? “Could you not find this ‘fal’cie’ and ask them to put things right?” that seemed like the logical thing to do. They apparently had the power to seal the portals, so why not give it a try? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 623 Tagged: Hope Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: I agree!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on Aug 12, 2012 7:03:51 GMT -5
"It's no problem at all. I essentially do this for a living," Hope assured Cosmos when she thanked him. This was what the Academy was about, anyway. Though research and science were a large part of their existence as a government entity, both parts were performed with the bettering of people in mind. It was just as important to help a woman like Cosmos find her friend, which Hope knew to be a simple task lest he was stuck off in some rare, uninhabited part of Pulse, as it was to build a machine like the Oracle Drive or his portal manipulators. After all, finding a friend would be helping this woman's future, would it not? There may have been people at the Academy too "proud and educated" to be doing any sort of simple work such as this that a receptionist would be more suited for, but those were the people Hope tried to stay far away from and assign the most monotonous tasks to. Hope felt genuinely great that he'd managed to get Cosmos back and find out a little information from her now that could allow him to assist her, but he did need one more piece of information to seal the deal.
The pause when he asked Cosmos for her friend's name surprised him a little, but when he recalled she'd paused a bit at mentioning he was human, it wasn't all that hard to believe she might have some confusion as to his name. But, if she didn't know these things, was he really that close of a friend? Hope had to wonder but not ask - it wasn't his place to judge on that kind of subject, and he knew there would probably be a perfectly good explanation as to why she didn't know, which she hesitantly started to explain to him. Ah, so it was memory loss, then. Hope knew plenty about that from experience with Fang's loss of memories from the time she'd decided she'd become Ragnarok over five hundred years ago. The Warrior of Light, the title she explained that her friend went by, was very...unique. At least he sounded like a heroic individual. Why would anyone be called a warrior of light if they weren't a genuinely good person? Hope nodded slowly as he put the name into the database, denoting it as a moniker or nickname. "Okay, that should be all we need. Assuming he finds himself somewhere close to society, we should have him found for you within the week."
With the file submitted and someone likely receiving it and getting started on the search for this Warrior of Light, Hope pulled up another program quickly, sending a message to the receptionist that informed her she should reserve a room in the refugee shelter for Cosmos and have the keycard for it ready. He started shutting off the pad afterwards, his eyes turning back towards his guest as she mentioned asking the fal'Cie to set things right. He smiled a little at the thought... He wished fal'Cie would listen to reason. "The fal'Cie tend to completely ignore human wishes. They're, ah, god-like creatures who maintain the planet's integrity, though their infrastructure is starting to break down as humans take more control of their own destinies, thanks to the Academy's work." Hope tented his fingers as he prepared to continue. "Some are more corrupt than others, but in general, they don't particularly care for humans. They'll keep making the portals as long as it suits their need to travel or to upset the lives of people. Hopefully, you never find any of them living in your world."
Words - 667 Muse - Excellent! Notes - I think one from you and one from me can do it![/size]
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Cosmos
Final Fantasy Dissidia
Goddess of Harmony
Posts: 50
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Post by Cosmos on Aug 15, 2012 16:45:29 GMT -5
Cosmos nodded with a grateful smile gracing her features when Hope again confirmed it was no trouble for him at all to help her out with this. Even though it might not have seemed that way to him because he apparently helped people out all the time, to Cosmos, this really meant a lot. Maybe it was because he was so respectful of her privacy, or maybe it was because he was the first human being she’d ever interacted with besides her own warriors. Truth be told, she hadn’t expected anyone to just come up to her and help her with her problems while asking nothing in return, she wasn’t sure why either… the goddess had a poor view of what regular people were like. Throughout her existence, she’d only ever seen the absolute best and the absolute worst humanity had to offer in her own warriors and the warriors of Chaos respectively. She’d never been sure what regular people were like… were they kind and good-natured like her warriors, or cold and calculating like Chaos’s warriors? Perhaps a mixture of the two? Though just talking to one man wouldn’t give her an accurate view of all of humanity, it was good to know that there were at least people out here just as well-meaning and dedicated to the light as her warriors.
“You mean… society on this world, or on other worlds as well?” she asked curiously. Either way it was great, but it would be a real downer if the Warrior of Light had ended up on another world and Hope’s strange scanner device couldn’t find anyone who wasn’t on this particular world. “Tha-“ she cut herself short with a smile. She really was saying that word too much, wasn’t she? Her smile soon faltered when Hope replied to her question about the fal’cie. Godlike creatures who didn’t care much for humanity at all… that sounded just awful. If they didn’t care about them, then having such incredible powers was a dangerous thing. “That is awful, I am so sorry you have to live under their reign…” she told him with a saddened expression. Cosmos wished there was something she could do to help them with this problem, but how could she? If they were gods themselves, then they were pretty much equals in terms of power, and Cosmos was already in a weakened state so… there really wasn’t anything she could do. Nor should she, really. Humanity had to decide its own fate, all she could do was try and keep a balance between discord and harmony so that they could live in a balanced world, a world where they could strive to accomplish their own goals. As for the fal’cie coming to Order’s Sanctuary, she really didn’t see that happening. They didn’t have enough power to control another goddess, and there weren’t exactly other people there besides her warriors. And if they were smart, they wouldn’t try to harm her warriors in any way while she was around. “Thank you… I pray you will be able to break free of their control and live your lives the way you want as well. Never give up hope that it will happen someday. Without hope, nothing will ever change for the better.”
Her eyes glanced away from Hope’s face and towards the woman’s face who had just approached them, she offered Cosmos a quick smile before turning to face Hope. “Director, here’s the key you requested,” She turned back towards Cosmos and handed her the key, “Your room is available whenever you want to make use of it madam, shall I show you where it is now?” Cosmos merely gave Hope a somewhat confused look before looking down at the card in her hand. He’d requested it…? When? Had he just stopped by this woman’s station real quick when he was chasing after her to try and get her to sit down again? “Um… was there… something else you needed me for?” she asked him quietly, not wanting to leave until he told her it was alright to do so. Maybe he still needed information about Warrior, or maybe he still had questions or something? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Words: 697 Tagged: Hope Location: Academia Outfit: Regular Notes: I figured I’d toss an NPC in so you can end the thread nice and smoothly. :3
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