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deemoyzaTitle: "Where I Belong" (4,051 words) [AO3]
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Rating/Warnings: General Audiences / No warnings apply
Character(s): Selphie Tilmitt
Series: Part 3 of the Esthar Chronicles
Summary: While studying the history and manufacture of Estharian aircraft, Selphie comes across her own name in an article about a deadly revolt in a mining town, not long after the overthrow of Adel. Shocked, she travels to the town, hoping to piece together clues about her past, and to dig up just one memory of the people she loved so long ago. (Post-game, multi-chapter.)
Excerpt below cut.
Though she was glad to keep Irvine company at O. Labs, and she was more than happy to fly him back to Deling City – and finally lecture him along the way – Selphie was relieved to return to Balamb Garden. Resuming her routine meant resuming her usual schedule, which allowed her to set aside decent chunks of time to start on her borrowed books and articles.
She sat cross-legged on her bed one evening, a pen and notepad at her side, ready to scribble down the tiniest bit of new information she found, and turned her attention to the folder of articles. They were all from local Estharian news sources, but not, Selphie was surprised to discover, all from Esthar City. In fact, many of them showed photographs of buildings with snow-covered roofs, nestled in mountains that looked very similar to those of Trabia. Mining towns, she gathered from the articles, where ores for airship materials were sourced. Their economies completely dependent on airship production, they were hit particularly hard by the fallout from the worldwide signal interference caused by the launch of Adel’s tomb.
This became brutally evident when Selphie reached the articles dated to the time of Adel’s overthrow. Work shortages, food shortages, economic depression. Tensions between neighbors, between regions, between civilians and Esthar soldiers, even local ones. Over and over, she encountered stories about riots, about rations, about resentment. Selphie’s chest tightened as she read through them, the fear and anger of the situations within still palpable over twenty years later.
She was about to set aside the articles to clear her mind, when an oddly positive headline caught her eye. Miracle Child Survives Riot, Destruction of Home. Well, that was a silver lining. She pulled out the article and started to read.
She’d only gotten several lines in when her eyes widened, and her heartbeat quickened.
The tragedy of Wednesday’s riot cost far too many lives, including those of Capt. Alden Tilmitt and his family.
Tilmitt. Selphie swallowed hard and took a deep breath. It was a coincidence. It had to be. She couldn’t be the only Tilmitt in the world. In fact, she wasn’t even sure Tilmitt was her original last name.
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Rating/Warnings: General Audiences / No warnings apply
Character(s): Selphie Tilmitt
Series: Part 3 of the Esthar Chronicles
Summary: While studying the history and manufacture of Estharian aircraft, Selphie comes across her own name in an article about a deadly revolt in a mining town, not long after the overthrow of Adel. Shocked, she travels to the town, hoping to piece together clues about her past, and to dig up just one memory of the people she loved so long ago. (Post-game, multi-chapter.)
Excerpt below cut.
Though she was glad to keep Irvine company at O. Labs, and she was more than happy to fly him back to Deling City – and finally lecture him along the way – Selphie was relieved to return to Balamb Garden. Resuming her routine meant resuming her usual schedule, which allowed her to set aside decent chunks of time to start on her borrowed books and articles.
She sat cross-legged on her bed one evening, a pen and notepad at her side, ready to scribble down the tiniest bit of new information she found, and turned her attention to the folder of articles. They were all from local Estharian news sources, but not, Selphie was surprised to discover, all from Esthar City. In fact, many of them showed photographs of buildings with snow-covered roofs, nestled in mountains that looked very similar to those of Trabia. Mining towns, she gathered from the articles, where ores for airship materials were sourced. Their economies completely dependent on airship production, they were hit particularly hard by the fallout from the worldwide signal interference caused by the launch of Adel’s tomb.
This became brutally evident when Selphie reached the articles dated to the time of Adel’s overthrow. Work shortages, food shortages, economic depression. Tensions between neighbors, between regions, between civilians and Esthar soldiers, even local ones. Over and over, she encountered stories about riots, about rations, about resentment. Selphie’s chest tightened as she read through them, the fear and anger of the situations within still palpable over twenty years later.
She was about to set aside the articles to clear her mind, when an oddly positive headline caught her eye. Miracle Child Survives Riot, Destruction of Home. Well, that was a silver lining. She pulled out the article and started to read.
She’d only gotten several lines in when her eyes widened, and her heartbeat quickened.
The tragedy of Wednesday’s riot cost far too many lives, including those of Capt. Alden Tilmitt and his family.
Tilmitt. Selphie swallowed hard and took a deep breath. It was a coincidence. It had to be. She couldn’t be the only Tilmitt in the world. In fact, she wasn’t even sure Tilmitt was her original last name.
