The Empty Promenade The Empty Promenade sits at the heart of Eden City’s old transit district — not so much a location as a wound. It marked the point of first impact during the Fall, and whatever descended on the city did not scar the pavement. It scarred time.
Civilians caught in the initial evacuation remain trapped inside its bounds, endlessly replaying the final ten minutes of their lives. From the outside, the Promenade presents as a silent tableau — coffee frozen mid-spill, pedestrians mid-stride, emotion locked inside unchanging seconds beneath a sky that never progresses.
Crossing the threshold isn’t like stepping into another zone. It feels like stepping directly into your own memories. Time, sound, even sensory input begin to desynchronize. Past and present intermingle. Those with strong memories experience the pull first; the more powerful report it as a direct, almost predatory recognition. Some SeeDs speak of reflections that act on their own, or familiar voices issuing from strangers’ mouths. Others refuse to speak of what they witnessed.
No official cartography exists — the district’s borders expand and retract unpredictably, folding in entire alleyways or erasing streets without warning.
The UNITA Safety Perimeter The rest of Eden continues to function — rebuilding slowly, cautiously, and very much aware that the Promenade remains at its center like an open vein. To prevent further damage, UNITA established a sealed containment perimeter two city blocks out from the current Echo boundary. Segmented barricades topped with anti-magic filaments dampen the Promenade’s outward drift. Patrol towers monitor the loop’s movements 24/7 and sound immediate alarms if a shift is detected.
Entrance is only granted through a junction node — a field scanner that records each operative’s neural imprint and magic alignment. When (or if) they return, their pattern is compared to the stored template and, if possible, realigned. It doesn’t restore everything, but it helps limit the memory erosion most Echo-returnees suffer.
Due to multiple disappearances — some with no physical trace, others leaving only distorted comms signals still echoing from within the loop — UNITA has drastically reduced the use of traditional SeeD entry teams. Instead, new reconnaissance devices are being developed under the oversight of Dr. Odine’s Echo Research Bureau, intended to let investigators enter and withdraw without full psychic exposure.
In the meantime, expedition duration is kept to minutes, not hours — and even then, operatives often return shaken, speaking of things that weren’t in the loop the last time they went in.
Beyond the barricades, Eden carries on. Streets are busy, reconstruction scaffolds rise over cracked facades, and children return to schools. But everyone knows the Promenade is still there — immaculate, unmoving, and quietly remembering.
Ejection Event The most recent disturbance within the Empty Promenade. Witnesses reported a sudden, localized fluctuation in the Echo field — described as a “pulse” accompanied by overlapping voices and repeating impact sounds, as if an entire battle were being pushed outward all at once. Three bodies were expelled from the southern edge of the loop. They did not arrive gently. Kalen Vicaria, Varitas Durentis, and Makoto Ishikawa regained consciousness within seconds of impact, but not in sequence. Makoto stirred first, Kalen shortly after — and lastly Varitas, disoriented by what felt like a sudden gale pressing against his chest.
The air was sharp with smoke — menthol, unmistakable and uncomfortably familiar. The soundscape fractured: sirens in the distance, construction machinery humming somewhere nearby, and… laughter. All from different times, layered on top of one another like a broken record trying to play three tracks at once.
Then the shouting started.
A UNITA perimeter squad had already surrounded the drop point. Weapons were leveled. The operatives were yelling orders, trying to get the trio to stand down, surrender their weapons. For a moment, none of them moved — there was too much to process. The Promenade behind them still flickered, half-visible like light behind thick glass.
Varitas’s eyes focused last — not on the barricade, not on the SeeDs, but on a lone figure standing just behind the front line. A man in a weathered Balamb field coat. Green hair, going grey at the temples. A bo staff held loosely in one hand.
Kalay Laytos.
It had been years since they’d properly spoken. Decades, really — not since the Edea operation, years before the second war ended. And yet there he was, stepping forward through the shockwave haze without alarm or surprise. The Peregrine Instructor drawn back to the heart of Eden, just in time to see old ghosts thrown out of an old wound. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t reach for a weapon. He simply exhaled — smoke curling up from his cigarette — and spoke dryly:
Status: Lost. Location: ???? Company: Varitas, Makoto Thoughts: No Place Like Home Weapons: Hrunting ll Thunder Rose Magic: Scan (1) Crystal Stock: Earth (x10)
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Kiss me good-bye, love's memory Follow your heart and find your destiny Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality For you put the dream in my reality
A deep intake of air, eyes bursting open, and a manic look in his eyes overtaken with the memories of what he had just been through were the first three instances that came from the young blonde upon waking. There was no register of his whereabouts, only a seemingly delayed reaction to something that those onlooking would think was a traumatic, or rather startling experience, to which they would be more than correct. The Echo he had come through was all that he could run over in his brain in the moment, the words of the Elder and the lasting implication of what was to come hanging on his conscience like an anchor to a boat at sea. The only thing he could do was slow his breathing, closing his eyes for a moment to slow his heartbeat.
There was no simple moving past what he had experienced. It was more akin to a look into the future than anything, and it was too real to be just a fake experience made at the behest of the Sorceress that had attacked the trio of samurai guys. Kalen knew that the Elder was himself, and the weight of what was shown was more than enough to make him be at red alert. Adel... The name was foreign, yet known, the image of the Sorceress grasping himself and Makoto...Makoto.
Snapping back to reality, the Vicaria youth assessed the scenario and environment that he had found himself in, relieved to see that Makoto was already stirred and their teacher following their stead despite the yelling of soldiers that came around them. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, eh? The Unita soldiers and SeeDs pointing their guns at the three of them was truly off putting, especially since he was essentially the crown prince of the country in question. Not that there was any arguing to be had at the moment, Kalen forcing himself to a stand, raising one arm in half surrender/illustration of peace whilst taking in their surroundings. Unita soldiers and Seed...how...
How in the hell did they travel so far from Trabia to be back here in Unita? The area, the Promenade in question, was recognizable to Kalen to a point, but the obvious changes and reality bending perimeter that pulsated and flowed behind them all was definitely a new addition to the world. What on earth had he missed? The Elder scenario and this had to be related, Kalen pursing his lips in introspection before looking towards the man that stepped towards them past the ring of soldiers. One that was more than recognizable.
"Kalay...?" His best friends father, someone who should bring a sigh of relief to Kalen but right now, it left him more than apprehensive, "Er...what the hell is going on?" A simple and pointed question, because Kalen was more than out of the loop of the scenario. "We were in Trabia...before we were..." Attacked by an ogre of a Sorceress. Imagining her face made his own face curdle in distaste.
Guardian Force: G...Gilgamesh? Status: O'HO, I HAVE SOMETHING Spells 0
As he found himself hurled through a gate that felt like an intense pressure against his chest, he grunted upon his landing, dazed for a moment before realizing that Kalen and Makoto were with him, and that they were being surrounded by soldiers. Almost instintively as he rose to his feet, he walked up in front, standing in front of the boys as their current supervisor, and teacher. He did not make a move to draw his blade, but Kalen knew that Varitas did not need his hand on his blade to draw it in an instant if he needed to. There was no intimidation to be made upon him, and any orders to drop his weapon were met with a stare that could only be described as "try and take it from me" Regardless, the tensions slightly eased up when Kalay presented himself amongst the crowd of soldiers and lights. Varitas remained poised in front of the two, still on-guard despite the familiar face.
"And you know how to greet an old war buddy" He stated with some amusement as he rested his hand on the butt-end of his blade handle, looking relaxed as one could be in such a situation. He had no idea what happened to cause him to get here. Where he was last..., well, being so far away from Trabia was not something he had anticipated, let alone seeing Kalay in this facility. "Can we have a better place to chat than with guns drawn upon us?"
""
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2025 2:07 am
Makoto Akihiro Ishikawa
Status: Whirlwind of Confusion. Location: The Lost Promenade Spells:
Water (x3), Blizzard (x3), Blind (x3), Cure (x3), Esuna (x1)
____________________________________________________ The rattle of noise was almost too familiar from whatever trial he had just gone through. Normally he would have been on edge, but whatever he had just endured had beaten in a lesson that fighting was not always the best option. As his sapphire gaze found clarity, the rest of his senses began to follow. It was a long dull moment that he realized he was being yelled at with orders, and Makoto raised both of his hands out of cooperative instinct with what he assumed were authorities.
SeeD uniforms, Unita iconography. That wasn't right. That would mean he was damn near on the other side of the world, however after what he had just gone through and the fact there was a woman who stood over two stories high... The Samurai was a little more willing to believe in strange events instead of breaking things down logically. Now whether this was another test, or reality was a new question.
His gaze flickered to his allies as he heard them speak. It seemed he had at least been reunited with Varitas and Kalen, and Kalen seemed to be as confused as Makoto had been. This was before Varitas' shadow enveloped him as the older man took a protective and pseudo-peaceful stance. Even the young Ishikawa could see the tense posture that told him Durentis was ready to explode into action.
"Strange things happen. World end to end we travel. Should cooperate." ____________________________________________________
Kalay Laytos
Status: Deadbeat. Location: The Aegis between Civil and Severe. ____________________________________________________ "Don't make this a drag, Durentis." A circle of smoke escaped the mouth of the man, briefly spinning in the wind before disapparating as the wind began to pick up further. The Sorcerer really didn't want to put actual effort into any day of patrolling he had on the exterior of one of these echoes. Indeed, for a moment he glanced past the trio at the Echo, the ominous Empty Promenade.
"After what Koyuki pulled, don't make things difficult. Drop the weapons, 'buddy', and we can confirm you're... you." Mr. Laytos remained pretty lax in his poise, but Varitas had known that the man had spent a entire lifetime mastering the lazy man routine. "Then we can chat in a better place. Or we can let the brass make the call." Kalay’s tone didn’t sharpen, but the smoke that drifted from his lips curled like punctuation. He trusted that the other adult in this scenario didn't want to rely on military intelligence. The Promenade behind the three pulsed faintly, its impossible geometry folding in on itself, and even Kalay stopped pretending he wasn’t aware of it.
"So, humor me. Hands where my SeeD can see ‘em. Don’t need a another stain on Trabia's rep. I'm sure you guys saw some strange things in there, I'm sure you get that sometimes weird things come out." Kalay smiled at them, but the grin didn’t reach his eyes. He exhaled again, long and deliberate, and shifted his weight against the wind. "If it is you, Durentis, then the last thing I want is to explain to Selphie why we shot a war buddy over a bad mood." He wouldn't elaborate on if they weren't the real thing. Kalay dropped his voice so only the front rank caught it. "Don’t make me work for it."
Status: Lost. Location: ???? Company: Varitas, Makoto Thoughts: No Place Like Home Weapons: Hrunting ll Thunder Rose Magic: Scan (1) Crystal Stock: Earth (x10)
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Kiss me good-bye, love's memory Follow your heart and find your destiny Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality For you put the dream in my reality
"OHOHOHOHOH, the plot THICKENS!" Gilgamesh's voice crept slowly then accelerated LOUDLY into the back of Kalen's mind, the only telltale sign being a single cold steel blue eye, twinging in irritation at the loud intrusion. The old weapon master samurai had gone quiet as Kalen had dived into training, offering words of wisdom or banter towards him or his training partner in question. Now they were here, and it seemed fitting the old man would come to raise his presence once more.
"We travel through the rifts, and they think we are imposters! Oh the humanity...or whatever kind of manity I bring to the table!"
"Oh for God's sakes, shutup...now's not the time." Kalen stressed, the middle of his brow furrowing, "Besides, it would be your Guardian Forcemanity or...wait... Shaking his head at the Guardian Force's seemingly idiotic and distracting drivel, he looked towards Varitas and Makoto, gauging the situation. Gilgamesh's cackling in his head notwithstanding, it definitely was accurately described, if not annoyingly, by the Guardian Force in question. Honestly, Kalen felt more at ease seeing his teacher's hand rest on the pommel of his blade. If there was one thing understood by the student, his teacher was a walking weapon and was prepared for things to turn worse if need be, and could strike faster than most others could comprehend.
Not that Kalen wanted this, of course. These were his people, his family's people, and his best friend's father. Disregarding the fact that they were violently transported halfway across the world, Makoto's haiku accurately describing more or less what Kalen felt. Over the course of the month, Makoto's point about speaking less had slowly grabbed a hold of Kalen's person, and he dwelled in thought and analysis as he listened to Kalay. The comment about Koyuki made his stomach turn a little, not exactly a jab towards him but due to relation, it felt something similar all the same. It was his birth mother after all.
There was no reaching for his weapons, or any sudden violent movement, not that Kalen was privy to such random acts of idiocy. If anything, his idiocy was specialized, if not weaponized at his own discretion, but his hands slowly came up to show he meant no harm. "sometimes...weird things come out..." Come out..get out... The words slowly led him back to what he had just experienced and the words of the Elder in the Echo. "Adel wakes beneath the skin of satellites." Nothing was more foreboding than the quiet reminder of what his tone had been, quietly stating such a fact in his ear. A warning from beyond this realm of what was coming, and what they had been overwhelmed by in the cold trenches of Trabia.
"Kalay..." His voice rang out, stressed, his eyes looking towards the Sorcerer before him, his hands still raised in a show of peace, "We were in Trabia...we were attacked and thrown into...whatever this thing behind us was." His thumb motioned towards the Promenade. "I don't know what this stuff is, and yeah...I saw...things...but I was told something in there." He moved his hands down and slowly undid his revolver and blade and placing them in the ground to show he held no desire for a fight.
"Adel wakes beneath the skin of satellites." The Elder's words feeling grotesque, but familiar coming from his lips. "Something is coming."
Guardian Force: G...Gilgamesh? Status: O'HO, I HAVE SOMETHING Spells 0
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2025 1:13 pm
Varitas Durentis Status: Annoyed
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"You know better than I that what Koyuki did was entirely her own choice. What she did not only shocked all of Trabia, but it was a betrayal that none of us could have forseen coming." He retorted, speaking rather plainly on the matter in response to Kalay, not even budging to that threat regardless of them being drawn upon. He remained steadfast in front of the boys, protecting Kalen and Makoto as their shield. "I wonder how Nona will feel about that as well, with you operating on her ground slaughtering war buddies around her son. I doubt she'll take kindly to that." He also added in pointing out that, if they were indeed in Eden City, this would call for ground of Nona.
"Tell you what, since you're so on edge. Here." He reached for the strap around his waist, removing the belt and tossing it to the ground. "Shall I put up more of a scene as you call it, or you going to waste more of our time since you seem so intent on getting this done with Kalay?" It was clear, though he was being cooperative, he was not appreciative of Kalay's treatment of them.
Status: Troubled Uncle. Location: The Promenade ____________________________________________________ The ember flared, cutting his features in a fleeting orange, before the smoke veiled him again. Kalay drew in once, slow, then lifted his hand to cover most of his face. A mask. Not for himself, but for the boy. He couldn’t let Kalen see the scowl gnawing its way up from his chest. The kid was already knotted with stress, and what he’d just said… gods, it was worse than the boy could possibly know. Kalay needed to stay stone—needed verification before he let the truth bleed out.
His narrowed eyes slid to the source of that supposed revelation. Maybe Echo-born. Maybe some trick. He couldn’t trust it. But at least it let him look away from Kalen.
Durentis.
Not a bad man, but never a friend either. They had fought on the same fronts, marched through the same mud, yet they’d never shared more than curt nods and iron-bound professionalism. That was its own small relief. No family webs. No Everett entanglements. No Lisanna. Just clean, professional ground. Kalay could breathe easier with that kind of distance. Maybe that’s why he’d chosen Balamb as home—it gave him space from the complicated ones.
Once the three men had laid down their weapons, Kalay made a slow flourish with his staff. The wind gathered sharp as a blade, lifting their arms and carrying them neatly into a SeeD soldier’s basket. The sorcerer stepped aside, free hand gesturing toward the parted line of SeeD waiting to escort them. “C’mon. This way.” His voice was even, patient, though it carried the weight of order. They might hate the testing, the holding, but it was necessary. Even Durentis would understand that—whether or not he liked it.
Yet as the swordsman passed, Kalay’s hand found his shoulder, a firm and steady press. He leaned in, drawing a current of wind to howl around Kalen’s and Makoto’s ears, masking whatever words followed. “These are Nona’s orders. You’ve been missing a month, pal. And it’s not the first time a Kalen has stepped out.” His eyes cut toward the boys. “Kids are easier to falsify. Make sure those two are the real deal. If the real ones are still out there, we’ll need to send in a res—”
A soldier broke his words, stepping forward, stone in hand. “Sir, a Galbadian GF has—”
It arrived before he could finish.
The beast leapt past the guard and into Kalen’s arms, its tongue dragging a sloppy kiss across the boy’s cheek before bounding forward again. Enkidu. Mai’s guardian, now here of all places. Gilgamesh's pet. The dog spun before him, and then—absurdly—began to mime. A sweep of hair. A pistol gesture. A mocking kiss-face.
Kalay blinked once, then again, before his lips pressed thin into something almost like a smile. He had always had a gift for this, for understanding guardians. Maybe it was his lifelong bond with Carbuncle. Maybe it was his sorcery’s affinity. Either way, the message clicked into place. Something was wrong.
“What’s that, boy? Someone’s in trouble?”
His gaze darkened. “Raeka.”
The name settled bitter on his tongue. Lisanna’s entanglement. His nephew-in-law. Complicated didn’t even begin to cover it. But it explained Zeigmus’ absence, her… desperation.
Kalay exhaled, cigarette dimming. “Guess today won’t be light work…”
He turned back to Durentis and the others, forcing his voice steady again. “Nona will see you after the scans. Be good samurai.” He didn’t warn them that more of his family stalked these streets. Durentis knew the Everett tangle well enough to imagine it.
Then the sorcerer gathered the wind, cloak snapping in the sudden rush, Enkidu at his side. The gale wrapped around them, carrying them toward his nephew-in-law at speed. Duty—and family—waited there, tangled together as they always did.
Status: Lost. Location: ???? Company: Varitas, Makoto Thoughts: No Place Like Home Weapons: Hrunting ll Thunder Rose Magic: Scan (1) Crystal Stock: Earth (x10)
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Kiss me good-bye, love's memory Follow your heart and find your destiny Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality For you put the dream in my reality
Kalen did not like it at all. It reminded him of his mother hiding things from Rem and he when they would ask, hiding behind the factoid that they were too young. Not that it wasn't correct, but the howl of wind in his ears caused Kalen to bite his tongue in annoyance, looking towards Kalay and Varitas as they all dropped their weapons. Kalen had not felt so isolated from the rest of UNITA before, how everything changed in a months time. A stranger in a strange land, that was where he had grown up. The Echo pulsing behind him changing the entire atmosphere and mood of the normally bustling and beautiful city that was the capital of UNITA. It was there he wished that he had the phone Remington had provided him, to text his mother as his father Lloyd was...well, still AFK. All it would take was a text to solve this issue but...damn...it was still in the cabin in Trabia.
This time its not my fault, Rem. he thought bitterly as they were brisked off via the power of Kalay's wind. Kalay had been something like an uncle to himself, much of Kalen's laxidasical attitude even coming from imitating the man in his youth, spending weeks at a time with his godmother Lisanna and Nyale.
Nyale...Rem... The blonde sighed, looking about as they had begun the scanning. It certainly made him wish he could see them. His best friend and sister, it led to him wondering if Yukiko was okay too. It had been a month and they were all led all across the world, and there was no knowledge of when or if they would see eachother again. One month had given birth to this anomaly behind them.
Of course, things changed when Enkidu jumped into his arms, a slobbery kiss and a loud, booming voice screaming from the depths of his head.
"MY SON!"
And as quick as Enkidu had come, comically mimicking his own play of charades, Kalay was off with him into the distance.
"...what the hell.." the entire situation had Kalen up in arms, but now he felt..restrained. Like a dog being held on a leash. "Hurry the hell up, we need to talk to my mom." The word of Raeka lingered...Raeka was here? So Mai too...
Guardian Force: G...Gilgamesh? Status: O'HO, I HAVE SOMETHING Spells 0
Status: Uneasy Location: Eden City — Checkpoint Detainment Spells:
Water (x3), Blizzard (x3), Blind (x3), Cure (x3), Esuna (x1)
____________________________________________________ Makoto lingered on the edges of the conversation between his master and the green-haired stranger, but before he could parse more, a SeeD’s gauntleted hand shoved him forward.
“Keep moving.”
He staggered, biting back the retort, his narrow eyes slashing briefly toward Kalen. The blonde carried himself as though familiar with this sort of treatment; Makoto was not. He bristled. Then—sharp as a blade—the snap of something across his mind. A ripple of silence, like the deadened thrum after a spell fails. His step faltered. “Calm down, kid,” one of the escorts barked. “It’s just a junction node.”
Makoto glared at him sidelong, lips pressed into a thin line. Just a node? He felt it scour him, like invisible fingers threading through his nerves. He was pushed along into the next chamber, its design jarring: angled panes, humming conduits, sterile geometries that betrayed Estharian craft.
He tried to keep his face still, but the unease gnawed deeper as another scanner rose before him. At first glance it looked mundane—something for contraband. But as he stepped through, the world dimmed. The sensation was unmistakable: a field, not unlike a Silence spell stretched thin across steel. Anti-magic, woven into the very gates. The thought chilled him. Why would they build such a thing here? He drew himself up, words sharp, measured, and laced with the rhythm he clung to:
“I would like my sword. I too am a SeeD, you see. I am not a threat.”
His captors didn’t answer. Needles bit his arm, a blood sample taken without explanation. A strip of card pressed to his palm, pulled away. More records logged. By the time the rituals ended, the Trabian’s pulse was tight in his throat. The final door sealed him into a waiting cell—bare walls, humming wards, the quiet itch of containment magic prickling at his skin. He sat, folded his hands in his lap, and exhaled slowly. Not fear. Not yet. But something else. Suspicion.
And the feeling that whatever this place was testing for, it had already found too much. ____________________________________________________
Status: Lost. Location: ???? Company: Varitas, Makoto Thoughts: No Place Like Home Weapons: Hrunting ll Thunder Rose Magic: Scan (1) Crystal Stock: Earth (x10)
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Kiss me good-bye, love's memory Follow your heart and find your destiny Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality For you put the dream in my reality
"I hate the doctor on a regular day, ya know?" His old verbal tick came out as he stood there, watching Makoto with sympathetic eyes, flicking downward to send the message of Just Relax. There was no use putting up a fight here at the moment, they were outmanned, outgunned, and it would be a political nightmare if they were to put up a fuss. It really made Kalen feel vulnerable though, here he was the crown prince being tested like he was some sort of fake. "We can confirm that you're...you." The lackadaisical man's comment really set the blonde's thoughts through a myriad of instances, thinking about the implications of what that truly meant. Even as Kalen was put into Makoto's place, the testing beginning on him, it began to hit him like a bag of bricks over the head, or a Robin punch to be more apt.
There were imposters coming from the thing...the Echo.
It sent him to thinking about the Elder, someone who had come from his own alternate timeline, world, or universe, whatever was befitting. The Elder had seen and known about him, had similar instances, and likely had seen many others fail and fall, dietry. Other Varitases, other Makotos...other Kalens had exited the Echo and probably had been eliminated. Who knew if they were good or bad? This thing that they had come from was the tantamount wildcard of science fiction, vomiting different things whenever it felt like.
No wonder Kalay was seemingly more uptight than normal, especially if a fake of Kalen or Varitas were to emerge from the depths of the anomaly. He tensed momentarily then, as the invisible fingers and tugging that Makoto felt, struck him too, the junction node comment allowing Kalen to give a name to the mental intruder. Even Gilgamesh shifted uncomfortably in the recesses of his mindscape, the junction node struck deep to analyze...something. The sensations did not stop as he walked through the scanner to the next chamber after Makoto, being treated more like a prisoner of war than the prince of the country in question. The shiver of the field was disconcerting here, something deep in Kalen's chest roaring falling silent to its ability.
Antimagic... Kalen offered no words for the moment as Makoto spoke, following in line as needles too bit into his arm, a wince appearing on Kalen's face at the suddenness of the jab. "Really hate this..." He murmured, eyes tight as he closed them, allowing more rituals to be completed to analyze him before being pushed into his own kennel, bare walls, no weapons, and alone. Like a dog sent to the pound. It was enough to make Kalen clench his fist, leaning up against the door that closed behind him.
"Where is the President?" his voice rang out, the first question in a minute he had proffered to his captors, "Where is my mother? Whatever you think we are, we aren't. I'm Kalen Nipal Vicaria, left after the fall to go and train in Trabia with Varitas Durentis and my fellow student Makoto Ishikawa. We were assaulted by a giant woman and thrown into...some light. I think it was...." He had no real name to attach to their assailant in question, out of nowhere in the depths of Trabia. Such a gigantic woman should have killed them...who...why? "Adel wakes beneath the skin of satellites..."
He stepped back, knowing that he probably wasn't going to get a response, btu answering his own question regardless, a murmur that could be picked up but was addressing noone but himself.
"Adel..."
The beast of a Sorceress had thrown them into the echo for some reason, when she could have killed them.
Why?
Guardian Force: G...Gilgamesh? Status: O'HO, I HAVE SOMETHING Spells 0
Status: (Not) Head of Security Location: By the Cells ⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱ The SeeD guards gave nothing away, faces blank as stone. The air shifted when heavy boots echoed down the hall, and from the inner corridor came another green-haired figure, this one younger, tablet balanced in his hand. His eyes, bright and restless, went straight to Kalen.
"You know, you talk about Adel a lot for someone who’s supposed to be Kalen." Layel’s tone wasn’t harsh, but edged with a dry skepticism. "So tell me straight: are you here on reconnaissance for the First Sorceress War’s comeback tour, or am I supposed to believe you just like name-dropping my least favorite witch?"
He flicked his fingers across the tablet, half-distracted, half-watching. His gaze darted to Makoto for a beat, then back to Kalen. "Thing is, your scans don’t add up. Too heavy a junction load for one guy. Unless you picked up three extra GFs on the way here, you’re reading more like a stuffed archive than a living human. So how’d you pull it off? Mimicry? Echo spillover? Or…"
Layel’s voice sped up, words tumbling out faster and faster, a telltale tic when his brain outran his tongue: "—or maybe you’re not here at all, maybe you’re just a shard, a leftover impression of Kalen before Adel iced him in the Echo, and you don’t even know you’re dead. Which would make you both my buddy and not my buddy at the same time. Which is… well, rude, honestly."
He exhaled, gave a lopsided smile. "So. Which is it? Because if I’m supposed to play chess against a memory, I’d at least like to know." ⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱
Status: Lost. Location: ???? Company: Varitas, Makoto Thoughts: No Place Like Home Weapons: Hrunting ll Thunder Rose Magic: Scan (1) Crystal Stock: Earth (x10)
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Kiss me good-bye, love's memory Follow your heart and find your destiny Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality For you put the dream in my reality
The SeeD guards would give nothing, no emotion, no crack in the facade that they carried to cover their internal diatribe. Annoyed, he slowly came to a seated position on the one bench that was in the holding cell, pinching his brow as he thought of what he was supposed to do next. They were scanning to see if they were legitimate, scanning to see if they were copies that had emerged from the anomaly known as the Echo, this was a regular occurrence apparently, after he and his sister had parted their separate ways to go into training in their respected forms. There was no use in letting his frustration boil over, the bile and annoyance, the anger at the situation slowly being swallowed down into the depths of his core. Perhaps that was partially what fueled the beast within him, such vitriolic and wild emotion that he had to maintain control of in his position. It wouldn't help here, and losing control would only make him look more crazy and probably disconcert his companion if he was located near the location Kalen had found himself in.
Breathe....breathe...
Kalen slowly inhaled and exhaled, finding his rhythm and bringing his nervous demeanor, his angry subconscious, to some form of control. Right now, he would have to play the game of the people that held him, despite his unreasonable holding in nature, and try to discern what was happening and play into the truth of the matter. Gilgamesh, I need you to shut up right now, okay?
Said guardian force did not respond, which was a mental relief to the blonde, his blue eyes glancing upward at the sound of bootsteps approaching the cage. The boots gave way to a smaller and younger figure, one he knew well from their youths. Nyale's younger brother and technical wizard afficianado, Layel. HIs green hair was unmistakable, and the tablet in his hand was borderline a character trait for as long as Kalen had known him, especially since the young man had shipped off to Esthar to become one of their SeeD in quesiton. Despite that history, despite their friendship that came through his Godmother and Layel's sister, the tone that Layel brought into their meeting was less than welcoming, rather testing and skeptical. Like Kalen was something not to be believed, a fake....An Echo...
The blonde said no words as Layel addressed him, crossing his arms and glaring with the cold blue hues that Layel had known since his youth, but did not trust. Part of Kalen understood where the young man was coming from, but it didn't stop him from being more irritated at the situation that he was thrown into, quite literally, and the nature in which he was being addressed. The past month or so had forced Kalen to become more observant, and the echo he had been thrown into gave him more reason to be guarded; the words of the Elder still current in the depths of his psyche. Even then, Layel's description of his scans didn't make sense to him, junction load? Three extra guardian forces...
"Layel, you know when you get into your scientific jargon, it pisses me off." His voice came out flatly, not remotely amused at the situation, pinching his brow as if in a headache, "If you want me to recant what happened, I will again. We were in Trabia when Adel grabbed us and...threw us. The next thing I know, I'm looking into the face of an older version of myself, books flying everywhere and seeing visions of different...timelines, or worlds...I don't know. The Elder me told me Adel was awake...alive...and was free from Esthar."
He came to a stand, not hostile but holding the annoyance at bay in his voice, looking the green haired young man up and down. "I saw things...images of Nyale...of Raeka...of Rem..." His voice went quiet, not alluding to the wolf and the things that the Elder had presented to him, his own failings in other times. "I remember everything, I'm no memory. I don't know what your scans are showing, if anything its news to me. Quite frankly, even the allusion you're making that I might be some dead facsimile is more annoying than anything else. What would you have me say? I was thrown from Trabia to here, your old man confronting us and Enkidu coming out of nowhere and slobbering all over me. Gilgamesh was basically begging to pet his dog in my head." His hands clenched, reaching out to the bars and gripping them while looking at Layel in the eyes.
"I'm not a damn memory...nor am I some replicant from another life. Now slow down and stop getting excited, I hate when you do that. What scans are you even talking about?" His eyes glanced at the tablet, curious at what on earth they were examining, hell, how they could not discern that he was himself. "How the hell would I have three guardian forces, I just got Gilgamesh after the Fall?"
Guardian Force: G...Gilgamesh? Status: O'HO, I HAVE SOMETHING Spells 0
Status: Annoyed (best?) Friend Location: At the Cells ⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱ Layel hovered at the cell bars with the practiced impatience of someone whose fingers ache when they’re not touching a tablet. The device lit under his thumbs and spat out lines of data that made his jaw tighten; the numbers didn’t line up with any comfortable story. Esthar had taught him how to read ghosts in a machine, and right now the ghosts were shouting.
“Adel snagged you in Trabia?” he asked, tapping a new annotation into the recording. His tone was flat but not unkind — the way he spoke to Kalen when he wanted the truth and knew theatrics would only get in the way. “You get thrown through whatever that was, wake up with an older you handing out prophecies and flying books…or did you concuss yourself on a shelf of metaphysics?”
Layel’s screen scrolled; the graphs pulsed. “Your Gilgamesh matches, which is a first — that makes me curious in a good way. The rest of your junction load, though…that’s not ‘quirky remnant,’ that’s red-flag territory. Either you’re carrying extra Guardian Forces nobody told me about, or somebody stitched together a pretty convincing puppet and forgot to finish the wiring.” He gave Kalen a look that was half grin, half scold. “Don’t make me pull you apart to find out which.”
He stepped closer, voice lowering. “I’m recording this because whatever you are, you’re not supposed to be loose in the field. If this is a remnant, the anti-magic kit usually fries the soft edges—so why did you come out intact? Why is Raeka in the readings? Who green-lit this transfer? Answer cleanly and I’ll try to stop shouting and start saving you. Answer with lies and I’ll make sure Salem gets to be concerned instead of vaguely annoyed.” A beat, then softer: “Look, Kalen—if you’re real you’ll understand why I’m being blunt. If you’re not…well. Then I’ll sleep worse, but I’ll know why.”
Layel tapped his tablet once more, thumb hovering as if he could smooth the impossible into sense. “So. Start talking. And keep it simple — I do dramatic jargon for a living, not melodrama.” ⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱
Water (x3), Blizzard (x3), Blind (x3), Cure (x3), Esuna (x1)
____________________________________________________ Makoto sat like a stone in the small iron cell, eyes half-closed, breathing slow and measured. The SeeD guards had been brief and blunt; the scanners brusquely efficient. Anger and confusion were loud things — better to keep them muted. Meditation kept his hands steady and his head clear. A coiled serpent, not yet striking.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor and the cage door sighed as someone new came into view. Makoto opened both eyes, blue and cool, to take the newcomer in: green hair, a heavy blade, a tablet glowing with runes and data—Esthar by the way the kid moved. Layel. He’d seen the type before: clever, talkative, more comfortable with instruments than with people.
Kalen’s voice filled the cell in anxious, defensive bursts. Makoto let the other boy talk. The more voices explained the stranger one way or another, the more Makoto’s mind probed the thin places: memories that slipped, images that fuzzed the further they reached into the past. That wasn’t right. Junction overloads ate at cognition; Guardian Forces that didn’t fit left ghosts at the edges of thought.
A low frown tugged at his mouth. He tested a memory—childhood light, the feel of a fishing pole, the smell of sea-spray—and it trembled like a reflection in moving water. He felt the sensation like a pressure behind the eyes: too many threads tugging on a single spool.
Makoto drew breath, calm as a held lake. When he spoke, his voice was quiet but sharp, words clipped by practice and a language softened by a life of restraint.
“Mad words cloud the air. Tongues should wait for sharpened thought. Breathe, and find your truth.”
The admonition landed like a stone in the room—more a warning than a rebuke. He folded his hands, settled back into silence, and watched the two argue over what they’d become. If something in the Echo had remade them, Makoto would be the last to panic. He’d been taught to breathe through the breaks, to ride the currents rather than be dragged by them. For now, he would watch. For now, he would wait. ____________________________________________________
Status: Lost. Location: ???? Company: Varitas, Makoto Thoughts: No Place Like Home Weapons: Hrunting ll Thunder Rose Magic: Scan (1) Crystal Stock: Earth (x10)
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Kiss me good-bye, love's memory Follow your heart and find your destiny Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality For you put the dream in my reality
Kalen bit his tongue at Layel's words, fists curling tightly as he closed his eyes and tried to calm his nerves, the frustration at the situation they were in building in the confines of his chest. The words Layel spoke were stacked with the sharp and wise words of his training partner, the more emotive blonde curling his nose in a response that the Samurai in the near cell could not see but imagine was his natural response. Both were right in their own ways, Layel had all the reason to be cautious considering his position and predicament, their friendship being less than a priority than the safety of anyone and everyone. This probably wasn't the first time Layel had even seen a Kalen, if Kalen deduced properly, the Echo forcing different versions of him out into the world that they had to eradicate.
Not to mention, his story did sound insane. The entire concept of the Elder sounding more like a fable, a myth that a distant village would conjure. It was real...Kalen knew in his gut that the confrontation was an out of world experience that was no mere hallucination, but one grounded in the reality of the universe that they lived in and perhaps also out of as well. Choose your words carefully. Gilgamesh nodded in agreement; the cold blue eyes leaving Layel's form to take a loop around the cage, obviously thinking of how to word his next explanation towards the green haired young man he'd known all his life. God, he wished Rem was here...hell, he'd take Robin, Mai, Raeka...or...
He froze, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. The thoughts branched out like trees, the memories of the names that he listed coming as if it were yesterday. Moments of his youth with Rem, saving her from the Malboro hatchling, pranks with Raeka and even Layel, Robin training him in durability by launching him into the ocean when she would visit...all those things came through. Yet the wave stopped, the memories became cloudy. Summers with Layel and another...the silver hair, a pretty face...but the name...
His stomach lurched. Who was it? It was like an itch that he couldn't reach, the name slipping his tongue, the face there but fuzzy, like a mosaic that seemed more decipherable than an uncollected puzzle. His form turned suddenly, looking Layel up and down as if analyzing him, trying to draw a conclusion about something that noone but he could comprehend. Who....Ny.... It was there but it wasn't.
Whoever that was...it was like deja vu, and he had no way of confirming who it was. Telling Layel would give more reason to even assume that Kalen was real. The echo had stolen something from. The echo...or Adel.
They had to get out of here.
Stepping forward to the edge of the holding cell, Kalen looked directly at Layel's eyes, forcing the disconcerting feelings he was experiencing to the side. The memories, even the ones the Elder showed, had some of that same fuzz when it came to her...that person. It was someone important too... FOCUS He commanded mentally, just as Gilgamesh did. That would have to be solved later.
"I know the position you're in is not one you're too happy about, Layel." His voice came out calm, tempered, more diplomatic. It was more resembling his mother when she was bartering with neighboring governors and presidents than he'd ever shown his entire life. "It sounds...ludacris, and that I understand. I looked into the face of me, and it was foreign, alien....a large wolf beast behind him, but I saw it. I can't force you to believe me there, so I won't." Another deep breath, his fists unclenching whilst fighting to keep that modicum of composure that he held within, the emotion boiling and roaring inside him...he had to control it. "I don't know about the junction load, or the science of the matter and you know I won't be able to explain that. I'm a writer and biologist, not a scientist, and I won't pretend to be. I know for a fact though, that Raeka is around here." His arms crossed, eyes narrowing at the recollection, "Enkidu came to where we were, licking me only due to Gilgamesh, that he recognized, but most importantly he grabbed your dad's attention..."
His hands unfolded and gripped the cage again, not aggressively but more support than anything. "Your dad muttered Raeka's name before sprinting off in a whirlwind with Enkidu. I can only assume Raeka and Mai are here, if that could play into the situation at all."
He stepped back and took a seat, folding his legs together neatly and taking on the composure of the Prince of UNITA. Brushing his hair to the side, he glanced over to where he heard Makoto's voice before shifting back towards the green haired science guy that stood before him. "Your anti-magic didn't fry me. Something is happening with Raeka. I was attacked with my fellow student and Varitas. These are the truths, this is what I know, and all I can say to explain it to you. I imagine you've seen many of me, if this treatment is indicative of anything, and you've probably killed, eliminated, or erased them, whatever euphemism you use to make it feel better. I just know I am me, and these are the facts that I know. If you don't believe me, you don't. Bring in Uncle Salem, I don't care. My life is in your hands and whoever elses."
He crossed his legs on the bench and placed his hands in his lap, taking a meditative stance.
There was his answer.
Guardian Force: G...Gilgamesh? Status: O'HO, I HAVE SOMETHING Spells 0
Status: What the hell am I looking at? Location: Holding Cells ⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱ Layel’s fingers danced over the tablet as Kalen spoke, half-listening, half-running diagnostics. The readouts on junction capacity were still spiking off the chart, but that wasn’t new — anomalies never behaved the way they were supposed to. He muttered to himself, frustrated. “Too much load, not enough bleed, how the hell are you even holding this together…”
Then the screen flickered. Once. Twice. His brow furrowed. It wasn’t supposed to do that. Anti-magic stabilizers didn’t just… blink.
“...Okay, no, that’s not right.” He smacked the side of the casing, thinking it a loose contact. The flicker became static, a crawl of green-black text across the junction feed.
>> I A M A L I V E H E R E
Layel froze. The words weren’t error code. They were… words.
“…What?” He tapped again, pulling up a second subroutine. The text only grew bolder, spilling across both windows like ink through paper.
>> I W I L L N E V E R L E T Y O U F O R G E T A B O U T M E
His pulse spiked. “No, no, no, no—this isn’t—” He yanked the cord that linked the tablet to the junction node, but the message didn’t vanish. It burned itself in, line by line, until the entire screen was saturated with letters.
Layel’s breath hitched. This wasn’t interference. This wasn’t noise. Someone—something—was talking through the scan. Through his tech.
He tried to steady his voice, though it shook with the effort. “Okay. Okay. Whoever you are—this isn’t a broadcast. You’re overriding junction diagnostics, through anti-magic dampeners. That’s… not possible. Not supposed to be possible.”
The tablet vibrated faintly in his hands, as though it belonged less to him and more to the will speaking through it. His knuckles whitened on the frame.
Layel swallowed hard, eyes darting from Makoto’s calm posture to Kalen’s glare. “I don’t know who this is yet. But it’s not Makoto. It’s not you. And it’s not random. It feels—” His voice cracked, low and almost reluctant. “It feels like it’s aimed right at me. At us. Like it knows.”
For once, the normally unflappable mechanic looked genuinely shaken. The tablet slipped a centimeter in his grip before he caught it again, holding it like it might bite.
"...I don’t know what the hell we’re dealing with anymore. It's like your junction load is moving, defragging itself and removing itself. Data doesn't do that, but if this keeps up..." His eyes scanned the information, it was all he could do as his device had become entirely unresponsive. His face went pale when he did the math, and looked up at Kalen. His eyes told it all. He knew it was the real Kalen, but something had rode him out of the Echo. ⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱⋰ ⋱
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