Fanfiction: "Walk in Shadow" - Chapter 2
Mar. 3rd, 2020 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deemoyzaTitle: "Walk in Shadow - Chapter 2" (4,099 words) [AO3]
Chapters: 2/8
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Rating/Warnings: Teen / Major Character Death (Canonical); Eventual Bloody Violence
Characters: Lady Ginnem, Lulu, Original Character
Relationships: Lady Ginnem & Lulu
Summary: The story of an ill-fated pilgrimage, through the eyes of the summoner herself, and the young guardian whose life she changed forever. Pre-canon, multi-chapter.
Excerpt below the cut.
"It's an honor to meet you, my lady." Lulu shifted in her seat. "Why did you wish to see me?"
"I noticed you when I arrived at the temple, and I've heard some interesting information since, from the high priest and from some local children. I only thought it fair that I give you a chance to tell your own story."
Lulu's mouth went dry. So, she did know. What was she planning to do with that knowledge, with Lulu's admission? Send her from the temple? Where would she go, then? Who would take care of her? What might …
"Lulu." Lady Ginnem reached over and patted her hand, bringing Lulu back to the moment. "Relax. I am not seeking to indict you for who you are. I simply wish to hear your story, absent the speculations and elaborations of others."
"There … there isn't much to tell … my lady."
"Perhaps you feel that way because you have lived it. Tell me, Lulu, are you a black mage?"
Lulu looked at her feet. "Yes."
"Do you remember when you found out that you were?"
Lulu flicked her eyes up to Lady Ginnem, then back to the floor. Why did Lady Ginnem want to know something like that? Was she really only in search of the truth? "I think I was about four years old. My mother let me light the hearth … but I must have learned how to, before that."
"Hmm. So, you can control your magic?"
"I could. I haven't used it in so long, not since I moved into the temples …"
"And the temples. The high priest says you are an orphan. Is that correct?"
Orphan. The word struck Lulu squarely in the chest, knocking the breath from her as if it were a wayward blitzball from the children who played outside the temple. She'd heard it so often in the past six years, almost always laced with pity or contempt. She was not the only one, she knew – there were plenty of orphans in a world with Sin – but she felt that she was the only one who was truly a burden. An orphan who frightened other children, an orphan who frightened the temples themselves. An orphan without a future. A shadow.
Lulu swallowed hard and nodded. "My parents were killed in an attack by Sin. We were travelling … we'd just left a harbor near Macalania, when Sin attacked the ship. I think … my parents drowned. Someone saved me, pulled me from the water, and sent me back to Macalania. To the temple there."
"And how long were you there?"
"Not very long. There were so many orphans, so many wounded … too many for Macalania Temple to take care of. So, I was sent to Bevelle."
"I come from Bevelle." A gentle brightness infused Lady Ginnem's voice. "Perhaps I might have seen you there."
"Perhaps."
"But Bevelle is such a long way from Besaid. How did you end up here?"
Lulu flinched at the question, and balled her skirt in her hands until her knuckles were white. "I'm bad luck," she said, barely above a whisper.
Chapters: 2/8
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Rating/Warnings: Teen / Major Character Death (Canonical); Eventual Bloody Violence
Characters: Lady Ginnem, Lulu, Original Character
Relationships: Lady Ginnem & Lulu
Summary: The story of an ill-fated pilgrimage, through the eyes of the summoner herself, and the young guardian whose life she changed forever. Pre-canon, multi-chapter.
Excerpt below the cut.
"It's an honor to meet you, my lady." Lulu shifted in her seat. "Why did you wish to see me?"
"I noticed you when I arrived at the temple, and I've heard some interesting information since, from the high priest and from some local children. I only thought it fair that I give you a chance to tell your own story."
Lulu's mouth went dry. So, she did know. What was she planning to do with that knowledge, with Lulu's admission? Send her from the temple? Where would she go, then? Who would take care of her? What might …
"Lulu." Lady Ginnem reached over and patted her hand, bringing Lulu back to the moment. "Relax. I am not seeking to indict you for who you are. I simply wish to hear your story, absent the speculations and elaborations of others."
"There … there isn't much to tell … my lady."
"Perhaps you feel that way because you have lived it. Tell me, Lulu, are you a black mage?"
Lulu looked at her feet. "Yes."
"Do you remember when you found out that you were?"
Lulu flicked her eyes up to Lady Ginnem, then back to the floor. Why did Lady Ginnem want to know something like that? Was she really only in search of the truth? "I think I was about four years old. My mother let me light the hearth … but I must have learned how to, before that."
"Hmm. So, you can control your magic?"
"I could. I haven't used it in so long, not since I moved into the temples …"
"And the temples. The high priest says you are an orphan. Is that correct?"
Orphan. The word struck Lulu squarely in the chest, knocking the breath from her as if it were a wayward blitzball from the children who played outside the temple. She'd heard it so often in the past six years, almost always laced with pity or contempt. She was not the only one, she knew – there were plenty of orphans in a world with Sin – but she felt that she was the only one who was truly a burden. An orphan who frightened other children, an orphan who frightened the temples themselves. An orphan without a future. A shadow.
Lulu swallowed hard and nodded. "My parents were killed in an attack by Sin. We were travelling … we'd just left a harbor near Macalania, when Sin attacked the ship. I think … my parents drowned. Someone saved me, pulled me from the water, and sent me back to Macalania. To the temple there."
"And how long were you there?"
"Not very long. There were so many orphans, so many wounded … too many for Macalania Temple to take care of. So, I was sent to Bevelle."
"I come from Bevelle." A gentle brightness infused Lady Ginnem's voice. "Perhaps I might have seen you there."
"Perhaps."
"But Bevelle is such a long way from Besaid. How did you end up here?"
Lulu flinched at the question, and balled her skirt in her hands until her knuckles were white. "I'm bad luck," she said, barely above a whisper.
