melodiesoflife | Afternoon Tea

It wasn't such a surprise that Zelda was so busy, considering the state of the city, and the feeling that they should do something about it- and try to keep everyone together, as much as was possible. The situation gave K'pandolu a better appreciation of Minfilia's position, in fact- the Antecedent might not in charge of a city, but overseeing the Scions was no small task, either, and keeping them running- and running well had surely been rough on her at times. Nor was that the only detail about Zelda that reminded K'pandolu of Minfilia- but that was not the reason she wished to speak with the other; rather a reason K'pandolu wanted to keep an eye on her, and a reason she was glad of the opporunity for tea.

"Zelda?" she called, pausing at the door.

“Come in!”

Her voice rang through the house with a happy warm note. She was in the kitchen, the tea had just finished and she was walking out towards the main room. The front door spilled into the room where K'pandolu would see a couch and a coffee table filled with treats.

The tray that Zelda carried held a basket of warm baked sweet breads as well as a steaming pot of tea. “I’m glad you could make it. Please have a seat.”

K'pandolu stepped inside, closing the door behind her, and moved to take a seat, sniffing appreciatively. "Thank you for preparing all this," she said, curling her tail around herself, hands in her laps for the moment. She hadn't expected all this- but that seemed like Zelda, didn't it? Generous to a fault. "It smells excellent. Did you prepare it all yourself?"

"Yes."

Zelda smiled, taking a seat close to her guest. "It wasn't so hard and I thought we might be talking for awhile." Which made her think that snacks and tea was in order. Though Zelda was the sort of person who always liked to make tea of some kind. It was mostly herbal teas she found in the market.

"You are welcome to anything."

Put that way, it made sense. K'pandolu nodded, and reached for one of the sweet breads. "That's very kind of you," she said, and took a bite, swallowing before speaking again. "I wondered if we might, perhaps, speak of some of the memories of the past," she said, hands if her lap, eyes scanning Zelda's face.

Zelda didn't flinch or shy away. She just smiled a little wistfully and gave her friend a quick nod.

"Sure. Was there something you wanted to know?"

She hadn't dreamed but she knew that Link had and the pair had been on center stage for that dream. It was just before she arrived in Crystallis and while it was over a year ago the feelings felt fresh.

She noted that, ears twitching for a moment.

It had been cemented by that memory, but K'pandolu had wondered, after waking from the dream of the past cycle- after her more immediate reactions had been dealt with.

"I would wish to know something of your world, and your gods, to begin with," she said, holding out one hand.

Zelda looked at her hand curiously before looking back at K'pandolu's features. She was a little surprised by the question but she didn't seem anything wrong with that. Zelda loved the legends of Hylia growing up and knew them all.

"Of course. We have legends about how the planet was created and then about the war between darkness and light." It wasn't like good and evil, it was pure darkness and the heavily light that created it.

"What would you like to know?"

…there's really nothing special about it, it's simply a gesture, a request or delivery of information.

"Darkness and light…" She remembered. Light, overtaken by darkness… The Mothercrystal, glowing bright blue, and a vision of a similar crystal, but dark purple. "Tell me about that, please."

Zelda nodded her head, her gaze looking up at the water color that she had painted when she first arrived. It's of skyloft nestled perfectly among the sky.

"It's said that darkness took over the land. Those who lived on the worlds surface were constantly fighting horrible creatures sent by demise. The goddess Hylia found a hero who at the time was just a normal man. She gave him a sword that would slice through the darkness, a sword of light. He fought and died fighting the minions of evil. Hylia watched this fight and created Skyloft, lifting her people to the sky so they would be safe. A spell held us there and that's where we lived."

She took a deep breath and then continued.

'She then sealed the darkness but she knew it would be released once more. As long as there is darkness there is light. She gave up her immortal life and made both her soul and the heroes able to be reborn."

She followed Zelda's gaze for a moment, listening to Zelda's words as she contemplated the painting. A floating landscape… It seemed incredible that such a land could exist. And yet- she could see no reason why it shouldn't be so, somewhere among the stars.

"It's incredible to think about that. A spell like that… It endures, even now?" And then there was the thought of a blade of light… Perhaps it was simply coincidence, but she was growing distrustful of that.

"…Is that right?" She flicked her ears back, disconcerted. Light and dark…

But that was less important than the final piece of information, and she leaned forward, eyes intent. "Hylia, and her champion… And now, you? What does it mean, to be reborn?"

Zelda smiled and nodded when she asked about Skyloft. The spell that holds it up was still in place though Zelda hoped that they might free the land and be able to move back below before it might shatter. There was nothing saying it would ever shatter but she'd rather be safe now that entrances to the world below had been opening up around Skyloft.

Zelda has to think about K'pandolu's next question.

"It means that the souls are the same and memories just need to be remembered. It also means that skills and abilities of the goddess are asleep in those who are born with her soul." Zelda assumed that she wasn't first to be reborn with Hyila's memories but she's had to unlock them as well as the goddesses powers.

"The powers of the goddess…" K'pandolu frowned. "And that- is your situation, is that right?" An educated guess, based on what she'd seen in the memories. But it still sat ill at ease with her… to think that it was possible. Was there ever any possibility of being anything else?

Zelda's smiled didn't waver but her eyes looked wistfully towards the water color painting of Skyloft.

"That's right. I'm the goddess Hylia and like her I have something I must do. Though the powers I once had at home are no longer with me."

It felt as if a part of her had been lost, she still had Hylia's memories but she was useless.

"And what of Zelda?" K'pandolu asked, trying to keep belligerence out of her voice- but not entirely. She curled her fingers in her lap, tail twitching, trying to keep control. That wasn't- what she'd come here for. But now that she'd heard it- what did Zelda think?

Zelda went to speak but found her voice lost for a moment. Her lips parted and surprised protest softly escaped her lips. She sat in silence for a moment remembering the day that she had first regain the goddesses memories. She hadn't wanted to accept her fate, she hadn't wanted to use Link for that but she couldn't leave her world and those she cared about in danger.

Since coming here she's felt more like herself, the powers of the goddess locked away leaving only the memories in their wake but it was something that she often worried about. What part of her was Zelda and which part was the goddess or were they merely one in the same. She remembered when Link learned of her linage and for so long he only saw her as the goddess, even now she fears that to be true.

"I don't know." Her voice was soft, revealing a secret that not many are privy too. "At first... I didn't want to, I thought to fight it but... I can't leave my home unprotected." Even if that meant sacrificing herself to save it.

K'pandolu broke eye contact for a moment, gaze dropping. "No, I suppose not," she said, more softly. The Scions, her family… If they were in trouble, wouldn't she throw herself in to fight for them? Hadn't she already?

She glanced back at Zelda, shoulders slumped. "My apologies. I did not mean to imply you were unjustified. Simply… the concept is unknown to me." Urianger- or perhaps Y'shtola- might have knowledge of such matters, inasmuch as they existed in Eorzea. K'pandolu, however, had only briefly touched the surface- the parts she had needed to know about a primal's relations with its worshippers. Those tempered had no choice but to worship; this, at first, had sounded similar…

But if Zelda desired her own path- then it was enough unlike tempering that K'pandolu could allow the tension in her body to relax. "Those who have protected Eorzea have, by and large, chosen to do so." Y'shtola, Thancred, Yda, Papalymo, Urianger… Louisoix… Archons, one and all, who had stayed when Sharlayan had left the mainland. And K'pandolu herself… She had been given a gift, certainly. Had it then been set that she must use it? She felt that it had not- it had been her own decision to set out for the Waking Sands, and know. "And… it has ever been from encroaching darkness." She paused, tail twitching. "…I have wondered if there has not, perhaps, been some similarities between our worlds that has sufficed to draw us here."

With K'pandolu's last comment Zelda felt herself relax. She knew at least one similarity between all worlds.

"With light, there is always a shadow that forms behind it. Your world, like mine, might be one with an incredible light which is what makes the darkness so strong. I know that might not make much sense but that it how things are. You can't have one without the other or you'll lose all meaning."

Zelda reached forward and poured herself another cup of tea. The steam licked from the surface of the tea cup as the young goddess took it between her fingers.

It did nothing for K'pandolu at all, the miqo'te sifting uneasily in her seat. She finished off the sweet bread, and reaches to pour a cup for herself, taking it in her hands as she listened, ears drooping.

"You say we would lose meaning… Why? How?" Hydaelyn had indicated that there had once been light throughout the realm, and darkness had risen up as it faltered… Was that the truth of it? What of that second, darker crystal she'd seen in her vision in Mor Dhona? (Where had that vision come from?)

"If you knew happiness all the time would you be able to recognize it?" She spoke softly, almost regretfully. "We know sadness so we know happiness. It's something to compare to. Just as light creates shadows. We only know what a shadow is, in comparison to light. Without both it just is."

Zelda hoped that made sense. It was complicated but she understood, on a level that most wouldn't be able to. It was something that was granted to her by Hylia, a memory of knowledge of laws of the war.

K'pandolu's ears flicked back, and she bowed her head, hands tightening on the cup. From Umbral to Astral, to Umbral again… They'd thought the Sixth Astral Era would last forever, until the White Raven had called Dalamud down upon Eorzea. And the primal that had cried out, but a short time after the Grand Company leaders had declared the Seventh Astral Era…

Was that the way of it? Would the world always turn from one extreme to the next?

"The growing imbalance afflicting the planet must be redressed. If it is permitted to worsen, the very laws of existence- both aetheric and physical- will be warped beyond all recognition." -But Lahabrea had been speaking of Hydaelyn.

Hydaelyn…

She breathed out, and looked up. She'd let herself get distracted- though perhaps it was worthwhile. She'd wanted to know more, in the end. "Was that… something else you learned from Hylia?"

Zelda nodded. "I gained a lot when I received Hylia's memories. One of which was an understanding of light and dark in my world."

The young goddess knew very little of K'pandolu's world. She didn't know if it was the same there, she wanted to assume that the balance would be similar in all worlds but that was an assumption that she wasn't comfortable with making. There had been a lot of differences that she's found between worlds and while there are plenty of similarities though differences make her doubt.

"Why do you ask?"

Edited 2015-10-14 03:43 (UTC)

"Why?" K'pandolu tilted her head to the side for a moment, eyebrows rising. "Because I wished to know more of the matter; why else? And…" She hesitated, tail flicking. "I wondered, if it was more than simple coincidence… that the Mothercrystal and your goddess hold such similar-sounding names."

Zelda blinked looking at her companion curiously. "Mothercrystal?" She hadn't heard the term yet nor did she really understand the context. There were many similar things between worlds, even similar people. It wasn't to outlandish for them to be connected but she didn't know for sure and the prospect only made her more curious.

"Would you tell me about her?"

K'pandolu shook her head, ears flicking back, drawing her hands back a little. "I fear there is only a little to tell," she said quietly. "She is… not well known, even to those she has touched. But she is the world- or the world's light- 'all made one'."

"All made one?" Zelda repeated, her tone more than a little confused.

"I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with the phrase. Something like a goddess? Are there no legends about her?"

Most of what Zelda had known before her memories awoke were legends of the goddess and her powers. Now she had more than that but she wasn't completely unknown to them.

"Ah, that is…" K'pandolu flicked her ears back, a short huff escaping her throat as she tried to put it into worlds. "I would think it means she… contains the aether of us all, in a way…" Obviously they stood on Eorzea's shores, and lived out their lives… but that was the best understanding she had of it. "I fear I have been a poor scholar of these matters."

She shook her head, one ears twitching back. What the deities of the people in Eorzea might be… She didn't care to speak of that. "Something akin to them," she agreed, all the same. "But no- there are no legends of Hydaelyn that I know of. Even Minfilia assumed it must have been one of the Twelve waking people…" And Minfilia had been one of the others to hear Hydaelyn's voice.

“I see.”

That made a strange about of sense to the young goddess.

“But you know that she’s there.”

Zelda smiled softly; when it came to matters like this they were often confusing or convoluted. It was just a belief. There were some on Skyloft who thought honoring the goddess tedious but they did so, every year at the goddess ceremony. It had been her favorite time of year considering she got to participate in it the last few times.

Here, the goddess wasn’t a figure to be revered. She was just another legend, like the heroes of light.

K'pandolu took a sip of the tea to calm herself, ears twitching back slightly. "She spoke to me." Had shown herself, in visions- to K'pandolu's mind, there was no doubt that Hydaelyn existed, as much as her family honoured the Warden.

Zelda watched her guest curiously. Before it sounded as if her deity didn’t exist but that clearly wasn’t the case at all. She nodded her head slightly hoping encourage K’pandolu to continue.

“What did she say?”

Sometimes it was only a feeling, sometimes it was words. In Zelda’s case she had been shown. Given the memories of the goddess and were told that they were her own. It’s been complicated since then. She didn’t know if it was herself or the goddess that was in control. It’s only since coming to Crystallis that she’s realized it’s both. She was the goddess and it was easier not to think of Hylia as someone else; merely a past self.

In truth- the deities of Eorzea existed. The manner of their existence, however, was such that when those beings were summoned from the aether to the land, they cost the land dearly. Hydaelyn, though… As best she could tell, Hydaelyn simply existed.

The words came easily to K'pandolu's mind. "Hear. Feel. Think." She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the starshower she'd seen after those words. "Then… she spoke of the crystals of light, and the light within me."

Zelda smiled, her gaze and lips softening.

"That sounds wonderful."

She knew something of light and she knew that each hero of light had a light inside of them. They were all different, all unique but all special in their own way. It's what made every hero summoned special and worth protecting.

It was why Zelda tried so hard.

K'pandolu nodded, lifting her gaze. "'From sparkling mote shall it grow to glorious sun'," she murmured, remembering the warmth and light she'd felt in that moment after banishing Lahabrea. "It is… a charge in a way, I suppose. But no more than doing what I believe to be right to begin with."

Zelda’s own destiny wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to be freed of the strings of fate but she didn’t want to leave Skyloft or the world below in a state to be attacked and taken over by the darkness. It was difficult but she did as she was told, even when it hurt.

“It’s good, that the path set for you is one you would have chosen.”

Perhaps in time that would change. For now…

K'pandolu nodded. "I wish it could be so for all of us," she said softly, meaning Zelda most of all in this moment. She took a deep breath, straightening, her tail flicking lightly. "In a way… I suppose this world offers its own opportunities." More, perhaps, if it were not threatened by disaster.

Zelda nodded in response, her expression warm and kind. "Yes. This world is it's own blessing and curse." Her smile faltered slightly.

"But we still need to find a way home."

She took her tea in hand and even though it was sitting it was still nice and warm. She took a sip and then smiled as the heat moved through her.

K'pandolu nodded, putting her own cup down to refill it. "I agree," she said, taking a biscuit as well. "There are still things I wish to do." As much as she'd grown somewhat fond of the people here, she missed Eorzea more than she wanted to say. "Have you any thoughts on how we might do that?"

Zelda shook her head. “No, not yet. I’m looking into it but there is always so much to do here.” She sighed softly before her lips curled up into a smile.

“I can’t say much more yet but when I know I’d be happy to share with you.” K'pandolu was a good friend and Zelda knew that she could trust her.

K'pandolu glanced down at her hands, ears turned down. "There is," she agreed. "I wonder… if there isn't something we can do to alleviate that. Some way to spread our forces more efficiently…"

She nodded, meeting Zelda's look with a grateful expression. "Thank you, Zelda. I'd be glad to help in any way I can, of course. With this… or anything else as best I am able."

Zelda smiled, the expression showing more warmth then before. She’s happy they were able to talk and she feels as if she knows K'pandolu a little more. She took another sip of tea before responding.

“I will make sure to call on you. Any help is appreciated.” More so if it organizes the heroes, “I don’t want to force the heroes or anyone to do anything they don’t want to do but if you can think of a way that others can help let me know. I have a few people who’ve offered but most of the work I have is paper work or cleaning up the old observatory.”

K'pandolu nodded, grimacing a little at the types of work Zelda mentioned- but she'd offered, and she could do them, after all. Alphinaud would probably have something to say about the importance of keeping everything documented, if he were in Crystallis. "Of course. I'll come by and see what I can do." She sipped her tea, and bowed her head. "And- thank you for all this."

Afternoon Tea

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Wrap up soon?

yeah, I think we're good