[You're seated on the Cathedral's stage in a grand chair. Your Fon Master's staff is resting across your legs, and you hold a letter in your small hands. You read the words from the Emperor of Malkuth and you're struck by their sincerity. They're not those of a politician scrawling empty promises, but a simple man who wishes for peace. This is good. As you finish, you look with a smile at the man on his knees before you, awaiting your response.
Colonel Curtiss, I can tell that His Majesty wrote this from the bottom of his heart. I can see why his citizens love him so dearly...this is truly wonderful.
He looks at you, puzzled, and you wonder for a moment if you've said something wrong...but then he smiles, too, relieved. He tells you he is reassured by your words. You don't have time to bask in the feeling, because the man standing beside you interrupts, snapping at the Colonel to leave the letter. The Fon Master needs his rest, he says.
A piece of your heart shrivels as you remember your place, and you lapse into obedient silence as Colonel Curtiss takes his leave.
He lectures you about the importance of neutrality. You feel a spark of encouragement, and timidly try: Emperor Peony only wants peace between both Malkuth and Kimlasca. I...agree with him.
It wasn't the right thing to say. Grand Maestro Mohs turns to you, his eyes full of hatred. He isn't looking at his Fon Master. He isn't looking at a person at all. He's looking at an insect. A wretch. Something he wishes he could squash under his fist. It hurts to look at him as he tells you you are to take no action in this matter. Your purpose is to sign documents, and smile at the people...and take plenty of rests.
You know what he's telling you to do is go back to your room in the Cathedral's tower. It's an unspoken threat of what you may suffer if you dare to come out. So you go.
The next day, a pigtailed girl brings you a tray of food, here to visit you during your confinement. You know that by now, Colonel Curtiss has left, rejected despite your wishes. War will surely come. You hate this. Softly, you ask her:
Anise, am I making a mistake?
She jumps quickly to the defense of the Grand Maestro. Another piece of your heart withers as you turn away from her and stare out the window at the townspeople down below. They look like ants from up here. Suddenly, she speaks again. She tells you how scared the people are for war. She tells you it's stressful. She tells you that the only thing that keeps the people around here smiling is you, and your happy presence. Why?
It's because they have faith and respect in their Fon Master Ion.
You make a choice, right then. You know in your heart that you are not the one deserving of those feelings. You're a peon, a puppet, a figurehead of nothing.
But you love them. You love each and every one of them.
You want to pay them back for those feelings.
You run away.
It's a heart-pounding affair, running away. You've never rebelled, not once. You scale down the side of the building with Anise, and Colonel Curtiss spirits you away in a boat--you pass out when you have to use a powerful arte to escape pursuers.
But you come to and you're in a new bed, on a new vessel, and Colonel Curtiss, though he admonishes you for your recklessness and you can't help but apologize, asks you to trust him to protect you--he tells you that you're important, and not for the Score, or for being the Fon Master, but because your kind heart can save the people from a war.
Your heart is brimming. Before you know it, you're laughing. They don't understand why, and you can't tell them. You can't tell them who you really are, or why this means so much, how scared you've felt each moment that you've been on this world, so you tell them just one thing that only seems to confuse them further:
This is the most excited I've been in my whole life!
From this day forward, your actions are your own.]
TUESDAY
Colonel Curtiss, I can tell that His Majesty wrote this from the bottom of his heart. I can see why his citizens love him so dearly...this is truly wonderful.
He looks at you, puzzled, and you wonder for a moment if you've said something wrong...but then he smiles, too, relieved. He tells you he is reassured by your words. You don't have time to bask in the feeling, because the man standing beside you interrupts, snapping at the Colonel to leave the letter. The Fon Master needs his rest, he says.
A piece of your heart shrivels as you remember your place, and you lapse into obedient silence as Colonel Curtiss takes his leave.
He lectures you about the importance of neutrality. You feel a spark of encouragement, and timidly try: Emperor Peony only wants peace between both Malkuth and Kimlasca. I...agree with him.
It wasn't the right thing to say. Grand Maestro Mohs turns to you, his eyes full of hatred. He isn't looking at his Fon Master. He isn't looking at a person at all. He's looking at an insect. A wretch. Something he wishes he could squash under his fist. It hurts to look at him as he tells you you are to take no action in this matter. Your purpose is to sign documents, and smile at the people...and take plenty of rests.
You know what he's telling you to do is go back to your room in the Cathedral's tower. It's an unspoken threat of what you may suffer if you dare to come out. So you go.
The next day, a pigtailed girl brings you a tray of food, here to visit you during your confinement. You know that by now, Colonel Curtiss has left, rejected despite your wishes. War will surely come. You hate this. Softly, you ask her:
Anise, am I making a mistake?
She jumps quickly to the defense of the Grand Maestro. Another piece of your heart withers as you turn away from her and stare out the window at the townspeople down below. They look like ants from up here. Suddenly, she speaks again. She tells you how scared the people are for war. She tells you it's stressful. She tells you that the only thing that keeps the people around here smiling is you, and your happy presence. Why?
It's because they have faith and respect in their Fon Master Ion.
You make a choice, right then. You know in your heart that you are not the one deserving of those feelings. You're a peon, a puppet, a figurehead of nothing.
But you love them. You love each and every one of them.
You want to pay them back for those feelings.
You run away.
It's a heart-pounding affair, running away. You've never rebelled, not once. You scale down the side of the building with Anise, and Colonel Curtiss spirits you away in a boat--you pass out when you have to use a powerful arte to escape pursuers.
But you come to and you're in a new bed, on a new vessel, and Colonel Curtiss, though he admonishes you for your recklessness and you can't help but apologize, asks you to trust him to protect you--he tells you that you're important, and not for the Score, or for being the Fon Master, but because your kind heart can save the people from a war.
Your heart is brimming. Before you know it, you're laughing. They don't understand why, and you can't tell them. You can't tell them who you really are, or why this means so much, how scared you've felt each moment that you've been on this world, so you tell them just one thing that only seems to confuse them further:
This is the most excited I've been in my whole life!
From this day forward, your actions are your own.]