It was already evening when they returned to the camp. Ronnie and the others quickly started a fire, sat Snow down and treated his wounds.
When the sun set, insects began flying around the open fire. Monsters hated fire but insects were fond of the bright flames. Ronnie and company swatted at them with their hands, annoyed. It looked like they didn't know how to keep the insects away.
“Use this,”
He pulled out insect repelling grass from his pocket and threw it on the fire. They were all withered but those were the flowers that Vanille had liked to gather.
“If you do this, you can sleep all night without getting bitten by insects.”
Even if the flowers were withered, instead of throwing them away just like that, Vanille would carefully carry them in her leather pouch. It was so she could use them later as insect repellant or make turn them into salve.
“The useful grasses, they have these cute flowers that children would want to pick. So, you remember them right away.”
“Yellow flowers are for insect repellant, red ones are for getting rid of mold, blue ones are for treating injuries," explained Vanille as she skillfully weaved the flowers into a wreath. It was the Gran Pulsian children's job to bring the flowers home like that, she said.
“Vanille picked nothing but those flowers, though. It was like she wanted to eradicate all of the insects in Oerba.”
As Fang poked fun at her, Vanille gave a panicked “T-That's not true!”...
“I see. These are pretty useful.”
Ronnie placed the withered flowers on the palm of his hand, scrutinizing them in amazement.
“There are just so many bugs here that it's troubling.”
When they decided to move to the steppes, even if taking medical supplies came to mind, insect repellant probably didn't. Or possibly they had run out of it right away. When they didn't have enough of something, they couldn't just resupply at Cocoon like other settlers.
“Well, it's fine when the flowers are blooming, but what about in the winter?”
One person looking at the insect repelling weeds tilted his head in question. But, another answered dumbfoundedly.
“What're ya talkin' about. There aren't any insects in the winter.”
“Oh...”
The sight of them poking fun at each other and saying things like “Are you dumb?” made them seem like typical soldiers.
“I thought soldiers in PSICOM were more elite, or rather the type to speak politely all the time, ya know. But you guys are actually pretty normal.”
P120-121
“I don't know about the higher-ups but the guys down below are the same everywhere,”
Asking, he found out the former PSICOM soldiers left their families, moved to the frontier lands and were living in a small village. It seemed wives and children, were quite discriminated against simply because of the fact their husbands or fathers were a former members of PSICOM. “Perhaps because of that, the women and children left in the village treat outsiders rather coldly," they said smiling wryly.
“We would like to let you rest with an actual roof over your head instead of these flimsy tents. But they bristled like hedgehogs just hearing you were an outsider.”
“I guess they were treated that harshly, huh...”
“Well, you'd probably just be harassed a bit or get a few snide remarks, though. Even though they didn't do anything wrong, they were blamed just because for having PSICOM in the family. They probably felt it was worse than it really was and found it unbearable. So it came down to living on the frontier.
He had just thought it would be more difficult to procure food around here than in New Bodhum. But, exterminating monsters was probably harder. There were a lot of ferocious monsters in Archylte Steppes. Snow muttered, “it must be tough.”
“It's like you've got your back against danger in this place.”
But, against expectations, Ronnie said it with a bit of a smile.
“We're thankful for that danger.”
“Thankful?”
He thought he had misheard it for some other word. How could “danger” and “thankful” be related? But, Ronnie clearly shook his head.
“PSICOM is a gathering of a bunch of useless guys. We, the guys who called you an idiot earlier, are idiots too. Big idiots who couldn't think of anything other than fighting the menace of Pulse.”
The Sanctum's handpicked military unit, the elite, big bad PSICOM... such words went through his head. All of them were quite the contrary to “big idiots."
“What we protect is all of Cocoon's inhabitants, all of humankind, which means the world. When push comes to shove, even if it means dying on each other's swords, you defeat the enemy and give your life. Ever since we got in the unit, we trained believing that night and day, every day. It's to protect Cocoon, it's to protect Cocoon... that really was only [idiot] thing we knew.”
When he thought “so this is the reality behind PSICOM soldiers," he couldn't contain his surprise. He thought it was a gathering for cruel, ruthless people comparable to murdering machines. In reality, their pursuit was what was merciless.
“But, you know. You try being told suddenly one day that Pulse wasn't a hell, that there was no invasion or menace. What was that determination, those endless days of training for anyway? Was it all futile, all meaningless?”
What appeared to be a half laughing and half smiling expression appeared on Ronnie's face. They hadn't only been cased from paradise.
P122-123
They had lost their heart and soul, the very meaning of their existence.
“That's why we came to the frontier lands. It's swarming with dangerous monsters, there are poisonous insects and plants that will make you break out in rashes on touch and whatnot... The more danger we face here the more at peace we feel. We can say “ah, we weren't mistaken after all, Pulse really is hell.”
When they were under siege by PSICOM in Palumpolum, in the heat of the moment Snow yelled. “We all have the same desire to protect Cocoon,” that is. At the time, the soldiers were clearly flustered. He finally knew why that was. To them, the words “protecting Cocoon” was the meaning of their lives as soldiers. A Pulse l'Cie had said those words, of all things. There was no way they could stay calm.
“So that's how it was...”
“Misconceptions are scary things," thought Rygdea as well. They took up their guns based on one misconception, and the residents banished them based on another.
It is true that you need to give yourself optimistic “conceptions” in order to boost your morale at times. Such things can be your support you when it seems your spirit is breaking. But, you should probably consider that they can also become the chains that bind you.
“Although, it's not something the family puts up with.”
“You said it,” said someone. “I can't compete with the wife," said someone else, and then all at once a cheerful laughter rang out. Is it a saving grace for them to be able to laugh like that, or...
Then suddenly, the laughter stopped. When he asked what was wrong, he was sharply interrupted with a “shh." When he strained to hear like they had, there was certainly a low rumbling sound.
“It's a behemoth king! They're here again!”
Ronnie and the others all stood up at once. “The village is in that direction,” shouted someone. Snow had fought behemoth kings on several occasions. When it was running on all fours, it was fast for its size, when it stood up on its hind legs, its movements became slow, but it towered like a giant. On top of that, it was excessively burly and a sore loser. It was quite a tough monster to defeat even as a l'Cie. For normal humans, it was definitely too much to handle. Even if there were a fair number of remarkably skilled soldiers.
“You just rest!”
Ronnie, the who yelled, had already shouldered his gun. By the time Snow said “I'm going too,” there was nobody left in the camp. Just as you'd expect from PSICOM, what a speedy mobilization. Already, it was really something that their ears were good enough to discern footfalls from when it only just sounded like a rumbling noise. Those weren't the same behemoth king footsteps you'd hear up close.
“Let's go, too.”
He called to the cactuar and slowly tried to stand up. It still hurt but not so much he couldn't walk. He probably wouldn't be much in terms of fighting strength, but he could be a decoy. Pitting normal people against a beast like that, you could only rely on numbers.
He heard gunfire. They were probably trying to halt the behemoth king from advancing to the village.
P124-125
But the footsteps continued. You couldn't stop that beast's advance with just a little gunfire.
He ran with all his might, dragging his injured leg. As a l'Cie, this degree of an injury didn't even faze him. Things like injuries sustained in battle would heal themselves with a bit of rest after battle. Things were like that. He felt irritated with his now human self for the first time.
Suddenly, a monster's silhouette had appeared in the darkness. He hadn't been able to see until then because of a gradual incline of the slope.
The typically solitary behemoth king, was for once not alone. There were three large hill-like bodies. No, perhaps due to the commotion, another two had joined in. It was his first time seeing five behemoth kings at the same time.
Aside from Ronnie and the others, it looked like individuals who had been hunting nearby joined in as well. The number of people in on the assault had long since risen into the double digits. But, the beasts paid them no mind and continued to press onward to the village. Those were beasts that knew where the food was. That was probably why several behemoth kings showed up at the same time.
At long last, the behemoth kings had stopped sprinting. They stood upon their hind legs and roared in anger. Now their movements would be sluggish, but their attacks would be exponentially stronger. Now is when they would cause some real trouble. However, if they hadn't done that, the village would have been attacked.
“It's impossible. With these weapons, we just can't defeat them.”
If only he were as strong as when he was a l'Cie, or if only he could summon Shiva. If at least he could use magic stronger than he could now. Any of these things were too much for Snow to hope for right now. He wished there was something he could do...
“Oh, right! We have your needles!”
Even though he was small, he was still a cactuar. Those needles that could go right through tough leather could probably damage the behemoth kings as well. On top of that, standing behemoth kings moved slowly, which made them perfect targets.
“Hey cactuar, aim for their heads. You can do it, right?”
The cactuar looked up at Snow as if to say, “leave it to me.”
“Everyone, get down!”
He shouted as loud as he possibly could. It was Ronnie who immediately saw what Snow was planning. As Ronnie yelled “get down,” plastered themselves to the ground. The little cactuar inflated its body. In the next moment, along with a popping noise, several hundreds of needles rained down on the behemoth kings.
But, although damage had been done, none of it was fatal.
Seemingly unable to bear the pain of the needles, the behemoth kings struggled violently, causing the ground to shake. Ronnie and the others continued to fire their guns from where they were on the ground, but as expected, it didn't have much effect.
“Can you still keep going?”
It would be hard to defeat five of these beasts like this. It was when Snow thought, “we have to attack it some way while the cactuar was firing its needles.”
P126-127
The cactuar's body had inflated even more. Its little arms and legs grew much in length and its whole body was trembling. Before long, its body started to be engulfed by light. The light somehow seemed familiar. Snow asked it, “What are you doing?” and then proceeded to gasp. Now, a crest he knew he had seen before emerged out of the dark of the night. The first time he had seen it was inside the Vestige at Bodhum. It was evidence of the strength represented by that ominous light. It was the crest of Pulse.
“You, don't tell me you're...”
He couldn't finish his sentence. Along with the violent rumbling, fissures opened in the earth. He couldn't stay on his feet. He sat awkwardly on his rear, and stared dumbfoundedly at the spectacle.
They were rather unnaturally shaped fissures. No, they weren't fissures. The earth was being scraped away at into the shape of the crest itself.
One after another, the behemoth kings were being swallowed up into the earth. A cloud of dust rose. The rumbling still continued. The fissures grew wider, and the crest crumbled to dust like a piece of candy. Within the hanging cloud dust, glittering particles danced around. They were particles of crystal.
With the disappearance of the particles of light and the settling of the cloud of dust, there was at last tranquility. The steppes that had devoured the monsters had taken on a new landscape. Perhaps the ground had been weak in the first place, as one side had collapsed and caused a long terrace to be formed. Of course, the crest shape was no longer there. Maybe Ronnie and the others were on the other side of the terrace, for none of them could be seen.
Snow stood up and looked down at the cactuar. Its inflated body had returned to its normal size and looked like its normal cactuar self in every way.
“So you were... a fal'Cie?”
It was a cactuar that looked distinctly different from the others. Unfit for a monster was the decoration on its head. That shining red gem was the crystals that all fal'Cie carried inside their bodies.
If the cactuar was a Pulse fal'Cie then that would explain the great power that carved out the earth. Fang had said that many of the Pulse fal'Cie who were entrusted with “excavating the lands” had the power to shape landscapes...
He realized he had been unconsciously holding his arm. It was where his l'Cie brand was.
What am I thinking? Why am I concerned about this?
Particles of crystal danced in the air again. They were clearly directed at Snow. He had also seen this inside the Vestige at Bodhum. In deepest part of the Vestige, where fal'Cie Anima was. It was when he was pulled into an alternate dimension and branded as a l'Cie.
Along with the particles of light, the color faded around him. It was the same dimension as back then. After that, tendrils of light extended his way...
“Alright! Let's make up. Okay?
When Snow extended his hand, the cactuar reached out with its little one as well. It wasn't one of those tendrils.
“Did you wait for me?”
P128-129
When they were pursuing the herd of cactuars, he had always been running by Snow's side. Did that mean he picked a human over an some unfriendly monster?
The cactuar stared straight at Snow. Those eyes from when it sat down in front of Snow, and stared up at him as if beckoning his opinions. Those eyes from when it saw that amphisbaena over Snow's shoulder. He was staring with the same black eyes.
Maybe the cactuar used those eyes to observe Snow. Whilst travelling the steppes together and fighting the occasional monster, it was evaluating whether or not he would serve its purpose. Yes, there is but one purpose for a fal'Cie to approach a human.
“Don't tell me you planned on turning me into a l'Cie right from the start...”
His feet stepped backwards on their own. The crystal dust gave off an even stronger glow. He knew. If a person was caught in this colorless space, or entangled in those tendrils of congealed light, then there was no way for them to escape. When he had realized that it wasn't the colors that had changed, but that the brightness had been lost, the tendrils had lost their shape.
The colors around him came back. The alternate dimension that the fal'Cie created had all but disappeared.
“Why...?”
For some reason, the cactuar seemed despondent.
“Could it be that you've lost your strength?”
The cactuar stared at Snow without moving a muscle. He was probably right.
As if taking the hibernation of the Cocoon fal'Cie as a sign, the Pulse fal'cie too had stopped attacking humans. It was such a dramatic change that you would think what Fang said about them turning humans into l'Cie on sight and using them was a lie.
The Pulse fal'Cie probably sensed that the opposing force had been annihilated. If their enemy had disappeared then they would no longer need pawns to fight for them, so it is likely their interest in humans had faded. He didn't know anything along the lines of whether they had stopped laying their hands on humans of their own will, or whether something higher up had decided it would be so, but that's how he had interpreted things. No, that's how he had interpreted things. Until just then.
It was different now. Like how they stopped feeling strange about certain things, had the fal'Cie's too gotten their interest in humans erased? Had the cactuar lost its powers due to the effects of the “abnormality” they had been dragged into?
“Was it that you couldn't have turned me into a l'Cie even if you wanted to?”
As expected, the cactuar didn't move. But, he could see those former PSICOM soldiers in it. How those guys lost their reason for existing and came to wander the frontier, and how fal'Cie Cactuar gazed at the herd with lonely looking eyes. It wasn't because it wanted to be a part of the herd, but rather because it wanted to observe those who bore the same appearance to see if there were any clues as to how it could get its strength back.
PSICOM had surrounded the Estheim residence and pointed their guns at them. They had been enemies. But, what of their true nature? They were “humans too,” like he himself had happened to say.
P130-131
Then, what were fal'Cie? They who cursed people to be l'Cie were without a doubt, enemies. But, could he still say that now? Was fal'Cie Cactuar really an enemy to him?
It was just as his thoughts had arrived there. There was a voice shouting, “heeeey.” It was Ronnie and the others. They were safe.
“We're even for now. Right?”
After he said that to the cactuar, Snow headed toward Ronnie and company waved his arms.
No comments:
Post a Comment