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Here she was inside of the ruins of Zanarkand once again. Heading back into the ruins she would make her way through the piles of rubble. This time however she would not be as stealthy as she had been in the past adventures into the ruins. As she knew if most anything came here way she could fight them on almost equal footing.
She had been left on the fringes of the ruins by Rena who she had spent the last few days with getting reacquainted. Having to leave her side made her a little sadder but it was for the best as she had to delve into the very depths of Zanarkand once again. Hopefully this time she wont fail on this quest as she did on the last one.
Stopping in the same area she had the last time she would wait for the sun to set. As the sun would set she would remember what brought her here the last time. The words of Solomon the now Avatar of Earth that told her about in order to find the Avatar.
She would of closed her eyes and reopened them and would await the falling of the stars.
When she opens her eyes she would see a fire burning strongly before her, there was warmth and light burning forth from it casting long shadows around her. Before she can think of anything more she would see the Avatar sat on the opposite side of the fire , sat on his knees strangely enough in what looked like an uncomfortable position with his hands resting on his knees while he stared at the burning fire.
"I did not expect you to come here so quickly, you've not grown much during your journey here."
He motions for her to sit down as he continues to talk, his eyes not leaving the fire as he talks, there was a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"You relaxed, unwound, had a little bit of slap and tickle before flying here and yet I do have to give you credit for not giving up against Shin even though it seemed hopeless so maybe my words did stick somewhat."
He sighs and then brings his eyes up to look at her, his red eyes seemed to shine violently before he blinks. His next words came out slowly and strangely, a question that seemed to hold some strange weight to them as he stares at her, his eyes burning into her soul, just like their eyes.
Opening her eyes to see the already built fire did not shock Celes. She was starting to get the hang of these random visits from the Avatars. With a smile though she would see the Avatar of Darkness on the opposite side of the fire. Slowly she would approach the fire and would listen to the Avatar speak about not expecting her so quickly. Celes would give the avatar a smile and would speak up.
"Well your rune is the only one that which I know the general location of. Plus you helped me realize to stop pitying myself and to stand accountable for my actions before I fought the Avatar of Ice."
As she finished speaking she would notice his motion for her to come over and sit down. Obliging the Avatar Celes would move around to the location that he had motioned for her to sit. Feeling the feeling of stone underneath her she would ignore it as she would listen to his explanation of to what she had done. A slight blush was on her face but she would not disregard what he said. IT was true that her and Renari where intimate but she would not tell a soul, not for a while at least.
After that she would remain quiet as the Avatar would look up at her and would speak a simple question, but to her would weigh down heavily. :: Darkness... The absence of Light is the way Cid would say... But I must say it out loud and i shall tell the Avatar what it is I believe Darkness is. ::
"Darkness is the opposite of Light. In every creature there is both the capability for great deeds of Light and great deeds of darkness. I myself have been touched by darkness for most of my life starting form when I did nothing to save Shin, my inability to disobey orders when they told me to torch that town, my own actions with that man and my consorting with the Covens leader Biana. To me all darkness is in its purest essence would be evil deeds and wicked acts."
The Avatar looks towards the fire and holds his hands out towards it, as if he was warming himself on the flames which begged the question did Avatars have the same sort of senses as mortal beings. He listens to Celes' words with a blank expression, but maybe she could be glad his eyes weren't staring into her eyes, having them look deep into your soul was not a pleasent thing even for the most righteous and pure man.
Minutes would pass after Celes had finished talking, finished answering before the Avatar lowered his hands, placing them onto his knees and taking a short breath he speaks, the tone was once again heavy, however this time she would actually feel the wieght of the tone upon her body, forcing her down onto one knee.
"So plain and simply, Light is everything good? So I am evil am I not then?"
He turns and looks back into her eyes, burning once more into her soul as he stands up, towering above her as she remained upon one knee. His red eyes seeming like a blazing fire to her and in one hand appeared, in a cloud of red mist, a long and simple looking curved blade.
She sat staring into the fire. Her mind was wandering and reflecting on her own answer and she had found it a little too black and white. Too us or them for her own tastes. That is when the Avatar would speak up toward her once again. This time however it was much more weighted and much more power in his words. She would shudder a tiny bit on the words and at the sight of the hand appearing from within the fire at her. Keeping her composure she would give a retort.
"I think I was a little too black or white with my statement Avatar. I should have added that despite some being bathed in the Light they can act with extreme cruelty. Also the reverse is possible as those bathed in the Shadow can also act with great piety and selflessness. So by this you are not inherrently evil. More that every man, woman, and child on this planet is capable of doing both great good and evil. While doing so they can cloak themselves in either the Light or Darkness."
As she would speak she would keep an eye on the hand with the blade in front of her. Her ever watchful eye would keep it and attempt to keep the Avatar in her sight at all times. Though with all her encounters with the Avatars have proven to her it is not to be believed and to keep an eye on anything was a half hazard attempt at best.
"There are many shades of grey that permeate the world that I had at the beginning of this quest not known about. I was quite the naive young woman and thought all of my actions where righteous and pure. When I know a lot of them where self reighteous but now I look back on them and realize they where self serving and not as black and white as my brain perceived them to be."
As the words 'I think' escaped her mouth the sword would be driven through her foot and deep into Zanarkand soil, her blood would quickly flow throm around the sharp edge of the blade. His eyes seemed to burn even brighter now and he spoke, his tone heavy still.
"I asked you what you beleived the darkness was, you answered with what you believed, If I wanted you to try and give me an answer I wanted I would of given you such an answer. The fact that you still only truely believe that the world is black and white speaks greatly about your naivity."
The next thing Celes would know was the blur of his foot connecting with her jaw, rattling her brain for a few moments while he sits back down.
"Both the light and the darkness are forces of nature, neither good nor evil they just are."
Pain shot through her leg as she felt a sword plunge through it. Outwardly grimacing she shook the pain from her thoughts as she would focus in on the words the avatar was speaking. Then came a quick and sudden kick to her jaw which would of sent her sprawling should she of not had her foot impaled upon the Zanarkand earth.
"Yes Avatar I am naive in my beliefs of this world... I have not traveled long enough or seen enough or fought for something with my heart and soul to make any judgements..."
Each time she tried to move her foot she would feel the pain shoot through it, but she would endure the pain as it was her penance. Her penance for being an ignorant ignorant child upon this world. Keeping her head lowered to the Avatar she heard him speak on how light and dark are like the wind, water, or flame. They are just simple forces of nature neither inherently good or evil. Giving a nod to the Avatar she sat up onto her elbows trying to get into a more comfortable position for her impaled foot.
"I understand... Or I think I do Avatar. You are saying the the powers of Light and of Dark are like the free blowing winds, the rolling rivers, and the raging fire. All are parts of Gaia's plan and each are as important as the next? And just as the wind may grow strong and blow over your home, the water ma rise and sweep it away, or how the raging fire could apare your house and harm your neighbors. You are saying the light is based on the weidler of the power more than based on its own inherent natures."
Her words cam out with a curious undertone to them as if she was interested in what he was saying.
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Last Edit: Jul 16, 2012 21:42:00 GMT by Celes Chere
The Avatar holds his palms out towards the fire as if he was warming them, while he looked over to her as Celes speaks and smiles faintly at her words before she falls silent. A moment passes and he rubs his palms together before looking up at the sky, his eyes seem to shine for a moment before he speaks up, this time his tone was soft and gentle.
"The light illuminates, it exposes, it reveals the hidden, its very nature is to dispel the darkness. Yet at the same time it creates places of darkness, it allows things to hide and feeds the darkness. And yes you are starting to get it, remember that good and evil just come down to perspective. Us Avatars may represent each element in some regard after all I myself hid and protect those that sought to hide from the world they were in, Dante however sought out those that hid and exposed them to what they were hiding from. Jacob was a stalwart and stubborn protector who stood his ground and nurtured a needing soul. Shin was a beautiful and fragile soul that shattered against the harshness of life. Each one of us has something that clicks to the element we represent, but can you guess at what the first avatars link to the fire was?"
Celes sat indian styled listening to the wisened words of the Avatar slowly sink their way into her mind. Clasping her hands together she hoped that these words would stay with her long after this encounter ended. Each of the Avatars where neither good nor evil, they where just there and the good or evil was all a matter of perspective. Bowing her head toward the Avatar she would listen to him rattle off each and every other Avatar she had encountered and what it is they do. First was Dante. To her mind he was evil personified. Then he spoke about himself. As Celes did not know the Avatar or have any other interactions with him other than these meetings she did not know what to make of him. Than he spoke of Jacob. The man who could be singularly responsible for putting Celes down this path. As the Avatar spoke of nurturing a soul she smiled and thought of the small Esper Aria that had been beside Jacob when she had met him the first time.
then the Avatar got to Shin the Avatar that died on that fateful day so many years earlier and who wound up distilled and placed within Celes. Placing her now clasped hands above her heart she felt the beating of her heart, and she felt out for the Avatar. As she knew now that she could of done more. Though at the time she had been a frightened child who had no idea what she could of done. Then he came to Beral and asked her a question about him.
"I believe that Beral has a burning passion for whatever it was he does. An unstable temperment to go along with that. Though to me neither of those are what defined him to me... From what I remember of that trial I remember how I felt and how he reacted when the dragon I had fought was defeated. He was searing with anger and pain which at the moment I did not understand."
Keeping her gaze away from the Avatar she recalled the scene from memory. Her collapsing onto her knees before the Avatar of Fire and explaining away what all had occurred to her up to that point. Then came the flash before her eyes of his future and what the Avatar had done to get where he was. Opening her mouth she spoke up again.
"Through all of it I felt an intense burning sensation within myself when I talked to him."
Keeping her head lowered to the Avatar she did not even chance speaking up anymore. Inwardly she was a little upset and apprehensive she says something to offend the Avatar. As she had felt how easily he would injure her if needed.
The avatars eyes dart towards Celes for a moment as a faint smile crosses his face, his red eyes seemingly shining brightly for a moment as Celes speaks with some certainty about the avatar of fire's relationship to fire.
"Not a bad answer runeseeker, not too bad at all, however did you consider that the thing that makes so close to the element of fire is that he burns all that get close to him due to his passion and intensity. After all, he loved the dragons of Gaia pretty much above all else and he as you saw he had to help destroy them."
He continues to smile as he lays back, resting now on the floor returning his gaze back to the starry sky while moving his arms behind his head, resting it on them.
"So consider runeseeker, that if you were to become an Avatar I know for a fact that you would not be the Avatar of Ice you would be the Avatar of Light."
Listening to the Avatar of Darkness speak up she attempted to make sense of what he said. It was true that she had seen the vision and it had been about what the Avatar spoke of. Shaking her head she smiled at him.
"You know it does make sense... Now the vision I obtained from the Rune of Fire makes sense to me. It showed me the nature of the man behind the Avatar did it not?"
Her words where a question but it would fall to the back her mind as she heard him speak on her becoming the Avatar of Light. It boggled her mind that she could become such a being but then something hit her. Back after she had obtained the Rune of Fire she remembered a cryptic message from Dante about killing her. It felt like a several ton weight had just been placed upon her head as she had finally figured out what the words meant.
"Avatar... After I obtained the Rune of Fire from Beral and on my mission down the moutain I was stopped dead in my tracks. Dante sent me a message about just at that moment killing me. Which knowing now what I know about the Runes... I think it was him sending me a message about the exact moment he either took the power of the Rune... By killing my future self..."
The reprocusions on if this was correct boggled Celes' mind. Her head hurt and she raised a hand up and rubbed her temple. After a moment or two the headache started to go away and she spoke back up.
"I thank you though Avatar for the compliment on becoming the Avatar of Light... Through it all I still do not know how it is that I would become the Avatar as such. I do not see myself as such..."
The avatar lets out a faint chuckle at Celes' words once more and he replies to her words with a humourous tone in his voice.
"All I said is that if you became an avatar your personality would be most in line with the element of light so do not assume he kills you to become the avatar, its not how it works. And I thought you might of figured that Dante likes to taunt and toy with his prey when he can, especially ones he knows that he can easily handle, so the fact that he told you he killed you doesn't surprise me its what he does."
He turns his head to the side, in order to look at Celes, his red eyes shining brightly before he speaks.
"Now the million munny question is why do you think he told you?"
She looked up at the Avatar as he spoke with the same tone as she had laid out to him. A smile was on her face as she enjoyed it when such beings of power showed that yes they in fact had been human at one time or another. Hearing his words on Dante made her focus inwardly and then came his question to her about why it is she thought he told her.
"Cause he is an egotistical madman with a penchant to taunt any he perceives as a threat or beneath him... He did that to taunt me and try to goad me into coming out in the open as at the time I was hiding from a rather enraged foe."
She remembered that day with a bit of trepidation. It told her that she was lucky to of survived as she had. Keeping her head looking at the Avatar she spoke again.
"Avatar, you speak on so much and yet... It seems that I am but an outsider to you and your others. Why is it that you Avatars would assist me? Assist those that search for the runes?"
Last Edit: Aug 31, 2012 14:34:48 GMT by Celes Chere
The Avatar chuckles once more as she gets the answer he was looking for her to spout out, however her next question kills the slightly cordial mood as he lets out an obviously mournful sigh before he starts to stand talking once more, his tone was rather cold now.
"Becuase frankly, aside from testing runeseekers we avatars are called to defend Gaia from what threatens to harm her."
He is stood up straight before turning to look up at the sky, seemingly thinking something over before he makes a choice and speaks up.
"And you, have come oh so close to being a major threat to Gaia and frankly several Avatars are avatars becuase they were caught up in the events surrounding you. You Celes Chere are even if you didn't plan it are a rock that ripples the tides of destiny, so some help to steer your fate from the disater it seems drawn to, others help you becuase they consider themselves your friend or ally."
He sighs and drops his arms down to his sides before two large key like weapons appear in his hands with a flash of black energy before he twists around and slashes down celes center with both blades, blood flies from her face as his red eyes glow and the Avatar seems to be a monsterous figure.
"As for me, I some times would rather kill you and put the upcoming events to rest before they happen, but..."
The final words are muttered so slightly that Celes could not quite make them out as the key like weapons vanish from his hands before he rises them up to her face before a healing light washes over her restoring her back to 100%.
As the sigh echoed out from the Avatar she felt a slight chill overwhelm her senses. It was as if she said something she should not of. Hearing speaking about defending Gaia and testing the runeseekers made her smile some. Such a task would be a welcome change to what it was Celes did on a daily basis, but her mind quickly went away from those thoughts as the Avatar spoke on how she was treading close to being a major threat to the planet.
Listening to him she slowly felt dread creep over her body and she watched the Avatar closely. The words about how she was a rock that caused ripples in the tides of destiny made her think. ::How is it I am anything other than just a little ripple... Surely that there are others much more important to the world... :: Quickly clearing her mind she would open her mouth to speak, but she stopped as she watched as he drew his large keyblades.
Celes was frozen in a combination of fright and of surprise when she felt the pain of his strike cascade over her body. No noise of pain escaped her lips though as she felt the pain hit every nerve inside her body. To her this was another test and she needed to prove to the Avatar she could take the pain that was to come. Hearing him speak again she allowed her eyes to drift over to him and she felt a healing wave patch up the cuts on her as fast they where caused.
"You would rather kill me to stop what is to come... Then my future is to be of importance Avatar... But... What is it you where to say to me? I could not hear you?"
She spoke with respect and an understanding that she was to do her best no matter the situation and would give the ultimate sacrifice if needed.
The avatar looks away from Celes, his form starting to fade now, his words barely audible once again as he continues to walk away from Celes.
"You couldn't hear them, becuase to know is to completely stop the event... and that is something that is not allowed of me."
With that said the Avatars form starts to fade away as if he was a shadow being erased by a bright light, his voice echoes around the ruins of Zanarkand.
"Now, I advise you move on to another Rune, becuase as I am right now the test would crush you completely, head to the realm of ruin and rain were the weather itself is tamed by the past. I'd recommend walking Runeseeker... otherwise you might miss something"
Celes slowly stood as she watched the keeper of the rune vanish into the darkness. Her mind was playing with where the next rune was and it hit her quickly. :: The realm of ruins and rain tamed by the past... The Plains of Thunder near Guadosalom...:: A smirk went onto her face as she figured out the riddle quicker than the last ones she had received. As she turned to say goodbye to the Runekeeper she heard him speak of wanting to walk otherwise she will miss something.
"Wait.. what would I miss?"
Her voice echoed around Zanarkand as she did not feel his presence around her any longer. Lowering her head she took in a deep breath as she readied herself for the trek ahead of her. She knew full well that walking from Zanarkand will take her over the mountain controlled by the Ronso and then across the Calm Lands toward Bevelle. Opening her eyes as she released the breath she spoke out assured in her own mind the Avatar would still hear her.
"Thank you Avatar... Next we see one another. I will be strong enough for your trial. And I will not disappoint anyones expectations any longer..."
Moving with a renewed purpose she dropped down from the small ledge and began to move toward the other side of the expansive city.
