RPG Cutscene
So, too much Terminator + Final Fantasy = Not very creative idea for an RPG. This is basically a cut scene from early on in the imaginary game. Probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense without the plotting bit of it...
You know that when I hate you, it is because I love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul. - Julie de Lespinasse
“You know, you’d be a lot more useful if you’d just let us read the ending,” he scowled at the book, glaring hard at the blank pages spread before him.
“You shouldn’t hate the book for not sharing its secrets. It’s just trying to protect the time-space continuum,” said an oddly accented voice, and Avi looked up sheepishly at their visitor from the future. The person who had saved him and everyone he knew. It was still odd to hear him speak, to watch the way he moved and know that this person had come from the same place he did-just a few centuries removed.
“The time-space continuum?” he asked, looking at the pages with a skeptical look.
“Spoilers ruin everything,” the other man joked, though his smile stayed small and bittersweet, not reaching his eyes.
“I don’t see why we can’t cheat some more,” Avi shot back, “I mean. They sent you from the future. How is that not a hugely unfair advantage?” he joked, chuckling a bit before he realized Zel wasn’t laughing with him.
“… Cheating means making something easier. There was nothing easy about me coming back to this time period. Many people died for it, and even more people suffered,” Zel whispered, eyes cast down at the ground far beneath their cliff. At the moment, Avi was wishing desperately that he could just throw himself down there. He had known that, of course, but he had still-
“I’m sorry!” he babbled. “I didn’t mean to make light of what was obviously a huge sacri-“
“Don’t,” Zel interrupted, not sounding the least bit unkind. “There’s no point in holding a grudge against accidental words. You’re not from my time, and their sacrifices haven’t happened yet. I’m here to render them unnecessary, after all.”
“Yeah, but…” he started, but fell silent when he realized there were no words of comfort that could make up for everything Zel had been through. Maybe in the future, Avi thought, they had come up with new words, new ways to grieve. The idea that they would have had to made Avi feel as if there was something stuck in his throat, and so he couldn’t speak even if he had the words.
“Can you just tell me,” he started again, “w-why did you come here?”
Zel cocked his head to the side in confusion. “You mean, besides the trying to avert centuries of death bit?”
“W-Well, obviously that,” Avi replied, trying to sound very matter-of-fact through his blush. “But I mean-did you have anyone in the future? Family or friends or… I don’t know. Someone you loved?”
Zel smiled the same sad smile he always gave them no matter the joke or the question. “I understand. You see a man who has come from the future with a mission to erase everyone he knew-his own existence off of the plane of time-and you must think that he either loved someone so much to want to spare them that pain or… that he was just the one person that the others wouldn’t miss.”
Avi nodded, back to feeling dismal about his question. He never seemed to be able to say the right thing around Zel, his tongue tying itself into knots to avoid talking to the other man, but Zel never said anything about it. Never had a derisive word for Avi’s inability to connect with him. Yet, maybe this had been the last straw, because Zel simply nodded forcefully and turned to climb back down to the camp.
“W-Wait!” Avi called him back. “I mean. It’s fine if you don’t want to answer. I guess I just… want to know that you won’t be answering,” he finished, feeling even more inane.
But again, Zel didn’t tease him or insult him. Just smiled and said, “The answer, Avi, is that those two things are not mutually exclusive.”
You know that when I hate you, it is because I love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul. - Julie de Lespinasse
“You know, you’d be a lot more useful if you’d just let us read the ending,” he scowled at the book, glaring hard at the blank pages spread before him.
“You shouldn’t hate the book for not sharing its secrets. It’s just trying to protect the time-space continuum,” said an oddly accented voice, and Avi looked up sheepishly at their visitor from the future. The person who had saved him and everyone he knew. It was still odd to hear him speak, to watch the way he moved and know that this person had come from the same place he did-just a few centuries removed.
“The time-space continuum?” he asked, looking at the pages with a skeptical look.
“Spoilers ruin everything,” the other man joked, though his smile stayed small and bittersweet, not reaching his eyes.
“I don’t see why we can’t cheat some more,” Avi shot back, “I mean. They sent you from the future. How is that not a hugely unfair advantage?” he joked, chuckling a bit before he realized Zel wasn’t laughing with him.
“… Cheating means making something easier. There was nothing easy about me coming back to this time period. Many people died for it, and even more people suffered,” Zel whispered, eyes cast down at the ground far beneath their cliff. At the moment, Avi was wishing desperately that he could just throw himself down there. He had known that, of course, but he had still-
“I’m sorry!” he babbled. “I didn’t mean to make light of what was obviously a huge sacri-“
“Don’t,” Zel interrupted, not sounding the least bit unkind. “There’s no point in holding a grudge against accidental words. You’re not from my time, and their sacrifices haven’t happened yet. I’m here to render them unnecessary, after all.”
“Yeah, but…” he started, but fell silent when he realized there were no words of comfort that could make up for everything Zel had been through. Maybe in the future, Avi thought, they had come up with new words, new ways to grieve. The idea that they would have had to made Avi feel as if there was something stuck in his throat, and so he couldn’t speak even if he had the words.
“Can you just tell me,” he started again, “w-why did you come here?”
Zel cocked his head to the side in confusion. “You mean, besides the trying to avert centuries of death bit?”
“W-Well, obviously that,” Avi replied, trying to sound very matter-of-fact through his blush. “But I mean-did you have anyone in the future? Family or friends or… I don’t know. Someone you loved?”
Zel smiled the same sad smile he always gave them no matter the joke or the question. “I understand. You see a man who has come from the future with a mission to erase everyone he knew-his own existence off of the plane of time-and you must think that he either loved someone so much to want to spare them that pain or… that he was just the one person that the others wouldn’t miss.”
Avi nodded, back to feeling dismal about his question. He never seemed to be able to say the right thing around Zel, his tongue tying itself into knots to avoid talking to the other man, but Zel never said anything about it. Never had a derisive word for Avi’s inability to connect with him. Yet, maybe this had been the last straw, because Zel simply nodded forcefully and turned to climb back down to the camp.
“W-Wait!” Avi called him back. “I mean. It’s fine if you don’t want to answer. I guess I just… want to know that you won’t be answering,” he finished, feeling even more inane.
But again, Zel didn’t tease him or insult him. Just smiled and said, “The answer, Avi, is that those two things are not mutually exclusive.”