Arcanist
It's always darkest before the dawn
That bombshell had to drop sooner or later. Sesario wasn’t sure why it had to be now, but the temporary peace felt like the only time he could do it, when they weren’t running, when he was trying to find out those exact things in dusty books hidden away in the forest. He expected the surprise of it, given some of the intense stares he received from Cleon and Reva, though he noted a worry in Hector that he learned to spot.
It was hard to know what it was about though.
Sesario sighed, “I didn’t do anything. At least, I don’t think I did. My grandfather died, the Empire was trying to pick up steam in conquering the continent again, and I just felt trapped. And then I woke up one day and it was just there, and it’s been there ever since I was fourteen.” Twenty-three years, as long as a marriage. Was divorce still an option? Did any of Bahamut’s past heroes feel the same, if they too were subjected to his vague messages?
“Maybe he thought it was urgent,” Kikiti suggested then, her finger pushing into a page on Phoenix before the interruption, “Bahamut is a bit of a rulebreaker. At least, all the stories I know depict him with values of freedom. Maybe what was happening at the time, how you felt, sparked something for him to find you.”
“Maybe I should ask him that,” Sesario chuckled, his tone obviously bitter, “and see if he answers me with something useful this time.”
Silence settled, and for much longer than Sesario would have liked. He remembered then, he never mentioned anything like that. He never even told Hector about that. Sesario could never risk him thinking he was travelling with a man who was insane enough to hear a voice in his head.
Cid leaned forward, more inquisitive but just as aghast as what the others around them looked. His tone was just incredulous enough, but more confused. “He speaks to you?”
It felt like the short conversation he had with his father, thinking that voice was grief. Any talk on risked seeming sane. “Yeah,” Sesario was forced to admit.
Cleon blinked, jaw hanging open as he shifted to the edge of his seat. He was much like Hector, more interested in the how. Sesario noted that hint of jealousy in his tone, and he almost laughed at how naïve he was, that they all were, to his situation. “How is that possible if you haven’t awoken him yet? Unless you have awoken him?
“I would have brought him out to solve a lot of our problems if I had,” Sesario pointed out, his frustration seeping through his words. He added, “It’s complicated. He speaks to me, and I hear him, but it’s infrequent. Sometimes it feels like he’s trying to get his words to me even when I can’t hear him. And then whatever words he does get through to me are vague or just…” Useless. Something that could have been helpful. He wondered if he listened hard enough to his words over the years, that he said something in a throwaway comment that might have been useful.
“So,” Cleon was dejected, mainly on Sesario’s part, but very much collectively for the rest of them, “he hasn’t told you anything that would help? There’s bound to have been something he could have said to you all this time.”
“Maybe, but more in a roundabout way,” Sesario leaned back. He didn’t want to dash that hope so soon, “he’s directed me to places before. He might have directed me to Hector without me realising, and Hector has a mark. Makes sense if we’re all being pulled together in strange ways.” It had to count for something surely. Meeting Hector was never just by chance, he believed that now.
“I’d believe it,” Kikiti affirmed with a small smile. She met the rest of them through strange circumstances. Hector less so, but she was no less thankful for it. Though, Kikiti would have to give that credit to Yarrow more than the Zodiac for that ‘chance’ meeting.
“We’ll keep looking. That’s all that's at least in our control right now,” Cleon said. There was bound to be something in these endless scrolls and books that they could pull out. The sooner, the better.
It was hard to know what it was about though.
Sesario sighed, “I didn’t do anything. At least, I don’t think I did. My grandfather died, the Empire was trying to pick up steam in conquering the continent again, and I just felt trapped. And then I woke up one day and it was just there, and it’s been there ever since I was fourteen.” Twenty-three years, as long as a marriage. Was divorce still an option? Did any of Bahamut’s past heroes feel the same, if they too were subjected to his vague messages?
“Maybe he thought it was urgent,” Kikiti suggested then, her finger pushing into a page on Phoenix before the interruption, “Bahamut is a bit of a rulebreaker. At least, all the stories I know depict him with values of freedom. Maybe what was happening at the time, how you felt, sparked something for him to find you.”
“Maybe I should ask him that,” Sesario chuckled, his tone obviously bitter, “and see if he answers me with something useful this time.”
Silence settled, and for much longer than Sesario would have liked. He remembered then, he never mentioned anything like that. He never even told Hector about that. Sesario could never risk him thinking he was travelling with a man who was insane enough to hear a voice in his head.
Cid leaned forward, more inquisitive but just as aghast as what the others around them looked. His tone was just incredulous enough, but more confused. “He speaks to you?”
It felt like the short conversation he had with his father, thinking that voice was grief. Any talk on risked seeming sane. “Yeah,” Sesario was forced to admit.
Cleon blinked, jaw hanging open as he shifted to the edge of his seat. He was much like Hector, more interested in the how. Sesario noted that hint of jealousy in his tone, and he almost laughed at how naïve he was, that they all were, to his situation. “How is that possible if you haven’t awoken him yet? Unless you have awoken him?
“I would have brought him out to solve a lot of our problems if I had,” Sesario pointed out, his frustration seeping through his words. He added, “It’s complicated. He speaks to me, and I hear him, but it’s infrequent. Sometimes it feels like he’s trying to get his words to me even when I can’t hear him. And then whatever words he does get through to me are vague or just…” Useless. Something that could have been helpful. He wondered if he listened hard enough to his words over the years, that he said something in a throwaway comment that might have been useful.
“So,” Cleon was dejected, mainly on Sesario’s part, but very much collectively for the rest of them, “he hasn’t told you anything that would help? There’s bound to have been something he could have said to you all this time.”
“Maybe, but more in a roundabout way,” Sesario leaned back. He didn’t want to dash that hope so soon, “he’s directed me to places before. He might have directed me to Hector without me realising, and Hector has a mark. Makes sense if we’re all being pulled together in strange ways.” It had to count for something surely. Meeting Hector was never just by chance, he believed that now.
“I’d believe it,” Kikiti affirmed with a small smile. She met the rest of them through strange circumstances. Hector less so, but she was no less thankful for it. Though, Kikiti would have to give that credit to Yarrow more than the Zodiac for that ‘chance’ meeting.
“We’ll keep looking. That’s all that's at least in our control right now,” Cleon said. There was bound to be something in these endless scrolls and books that they could pull out. The sooner, the better.
