It was strange seeing it happen from the other side.
It has happened to me more times than I’d like to remember. At first, there is a sense of vague dizziness, quickly followed by a spiking headache. After that, the feeling leaves the realm of easily described sensation. There is a sense of the self falling inward, deeper into one’s own soul, and yet at the same time there is a stretching sensation. It is as though one feels as if they are falling backwards, yet stretching their arm out across impossible distances.
I saw those same sensations beginning to play over the face of the girl before me.
The vision of the Echo was a man clad in golden armor. Gaius van Baelsar. He stood, proud and prepared for battle. He had been a vicious opponent, preferring overwhelming might over diplomacy.
Gaius vanished, and there was an image of my greatest betrayal. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night. Such a cavalcade of horrendous memories. Nanamo choking on poisoned wine, her eyes bulging as she struggled for breath all while I sat there, helpless to save her. Ilberd, a man I thought was my friend, laughing over me as he and his comrades prepared to slaughter my friends. I’ll never forget any of it.
I saw myself, kneeling in a place I found all too familiar. It was a humble gravestone with a shield propped up against it. It was where someone very dear to me now rests. I visit there quite often, talking to a friend long gone, telling him about a life that he isn’t here to see anymore.
I pull at an impossible weight. My friend who has been overwhelmed by dark forces kneels as Alphinaud and I try to free him. We pull with all our might, but the eyes that have bonded to his armor and deeper into his very flesh do not shift. It is only when I feel the hands of two friends long gone that a flash of strength comes to us both and we pull the eyes free.
A crowd kneels before a noble man. A ruler long thought lost has returned, chasing away those who seek to oppress. It is a pivotal moment for the world, the first gust in a storm of blood.
It’s him. My Friend. The one who was able to see through this facade and glimpse into the turmoil that seeths beneath me. He smiles. The expression looks alien on his face, like it’s the first time he’s made it. I stand before him, quietly acknowledging him. I kill him after this moment. At least, I hope he’s dead. I can’t imagine what might happen if he lives.
The images cease. The girl stumbles back, the intensity of the vision too much to bear for a moment. She gazes at me with bleary eyes, trying to make sense of what she has seen.
“You… y-you… All that power… all that pain… It’s too much… Too much for anyone!” Fordola said.
“The things they’ve done to you. The lies, the betrayal, the endless fighting… yet here you stand, unbroken. How…? Why…?”
I smile a wan smile, because it better suits a hero, and answer.
“For those I have lost. For those I can yet save.”
I’d like the Noble Barding for my Chocobo