Mother » Listen, and Remember
Title Listen, and Remember
Theme March 22: lips that would kiss form prayers to broken stone @ 31_days
Character/Pairing Ninten, Ana, Lloyd
Rating PG or K (10+)
Warning Spoilers for end of Mother.
Wordcount 490
Note For clarity's sake, there is included the unofficial, but professionally translated English passage from this moment in the game. It isn't really intended to be a part of the writing, as it isn't my work, but it gives some context to whoever might read this.
Ninten, welcome...
I always believed that you would find your way here.
Your great-grandmother Maria's love was scattered, scattered in the form of melodies.
I have a melody for you. Listen and remember...
There had been nothing yet - possessed dolls, talking monkeys, experiencing more life-or-death situations than James Bond - that hadn't been completely overwhelming to him, but there had always been some way for him to push the fear and confusion away, to focus on the task at hand. There were his sisters and his mother; there was Lloyd; there was Ana. But this... this was so close to the edge of Too Much that he was no longer so sure he could finish his task.
"Ninten," Ana murmured and he realized she had knelt down beside him amidst the crumbled remains of his great-grandfather's tombstone. "We have to press on, just a bit more. Then we can come back."
"This is all his fault," Ninten said, somber but so very noticeably afraid. He picked up one of the larger pieces of the shattered rock, weighing it in his palm as if he planned to smash the only bit of his ancestor that remained into complete dust. "None of this would have happened if-"
"You can't blame him," Ana whispered, laying her hand over the rock he held. "He never meant to cause any harm, but at least he is still helping to fix things, even years and years later." She turned to look at the fragmented tombstone and Ninten's gaze followed hers. The crystal - the one that had emerged from the stone and relayed words that were meant to comfort him - slowly disappeared, leaving only the hollow remains of the marker behind.
"He believed in you, Ninten. He said so himself." Ninten turned to look up at Lloyd, watching him and half-waiting for him to say more, to give him something else to hold onto that wouldn't hurt quite as badly as this. But all Lloyd had to add was, "We should probably get back to Magicant and Queen Mary, now that we've found the last melody."
Slowly, Ninten nodded and stood, offering Ana a hand before dropping the rock back into the rest of the rubble and brushing a bit of it from his knees. Lloyd observed him for a moment before looking to Ana, briefly, and beginning to head away from the tombstone. Ana hesitated before following, standing with Lloyd just a few feet away. Just enough to give Ninten a bit of privacy before they left.
"I'm coming right back after this is done," Ninten almost whispered, glowering at the broken headstone, though he spoke with no true malice. "You still owe all of us - the whole world - an apology, and you still owe me a lot of answers. ...And I owe you a lot of thanks, too."
Ninten let his hand glide over the cool stone as he walked past it, to join his friends, a new, firmer sort of resolve than any he'd yet felt in his heart. He would finish what his ancestors had started, but, for now, to Magicant...
Theme March 22: lips that would kiss form prayers to broken stone @ 31_days
Character/Pairing Ninten, Ana, Lloyd
Rating PG or K (10+)
Warning Spoilers for end of Mother.
Wordcount 490
Note For clarity's sake, there is included the unofficial, but professionally translated English passage from this moment in the game. It isn't really intended to be a part of the writing, as it isn't my work, but it gives some context to whoever might read this.
Ninten, welcome...
I always believed that you would find your way here.
Your great-grandmother Maria's love was scattered, scattered in the form of melodies.
I have a melody for you. Listen and remember...
There had been nothing yet - possessed dolls, talking monkeys, experiencing more life-or-death situations than James Bond - that hadn't been completely overwhelming to him, but there had always been some way for him to push the fear and confusion away, to focus on the task at hand. There were his sisters and his mother; there was Lloyd; there was Ana. But this... this was so close to the edge of Too Much that he was no longer so sure he could finish his task.
"Ninten," Ana murmured and he realized she had knelt down beside him amidst the crumbled remains of his great-grandfather's tombstone. "We have to press on, just a bit more. Then we can come back."
"This is all his fault," Ninten said, somber but so very noticeably afraid. He picked up one of the larger pieces of the shattered rock, weighing it in his palm as if he planned to smash the only bit of his ancestor that remained into complete dust. "None of this would have happened if-"
"You can't blame him," Ana whispered, laying her hand over the rock he held. "He never meant to cause any harm, but at least he is still helping to fix things, even years and years later." She turned to look at the fragmented tombstone and Ninten's gaze followed hers. The crystal - the one that had emerged from the stone and relayed words that were meant to comfort him - slowly disappeared, leaving only the hollow remains of the marker behind.
"He believed in you, Ninten. He said so himself." Ninten turned to look up at Lloyd, watching him and half-waiting for him to say more, to give him something else to hold onto that wouldn't hurt quite as badly as this. But all Lloyd had to add was, "We should probably get back to Magicant and Queen Mary, now that we've found the last melody."
Slowly, Ninten nodded and stood, offering Ana a hand before dropping the rock back into the rest of the rubble and brushing a bit of it from his knees. Lloyd observed him for a moment before looking to Ana, briefly, and beginning to head away from the tombstone. Ana hesitated before following, standing with Lloyd just a few feet away. Just enough to give Ninten a bit of privacy before they left.
"I'm coming right back after this is done," Ninten almost whispered, glowering at the broken headstone, though he spoke with no true malice. "You still owe all of us - the whole world - an apology, and you still owe me a lot of answers. ...And I owe you a lot of thanks, too."
Ninten let his hand glide over the cool stone as he walked past it, to join his friends, a new, firmer sort of resolve than any he'd yet felt in his heart. He would finish what his ancestors had started, but, for now, to Magicant...