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Chapter Text

Mysidia – the ancient land of mages who practice various disciplines: white, black, red, and perhaps some more less generalised fields of knowledge. It could also be recognised as the centre of education in this world, where archives of people from long ago can be accessed for current researchers to further advance their magical prowess.

Mysidia had become more advanced in this new world; while it sought to advance itself, it also sought to preserve its diverse roots from other dimensions. It is a beautiful, rustic city with a high population of at least 150,000 mages, seated in the middle of rainforests with lush wildlife and long mountain ranges.

By all accounts, Mysidia sounds like a perfect place to live in; however, it still prefers to be cut off from most of the world to protect itself. As the city grew, so did their need for protection. This is when they started to hire Mysidian guards; warriors from the past war who either wanted to retire or start over and live a new life.

A modest population of these Mysidian guards were from the Wild Rose Rebellion, and so there was some sense of familiarity with them. Some of them were formerly SOLDIER units who sought a more peaceful life, and some others may have been formerly knights and paladins from their home worlds. Still some of them shockingly, were from the Palamecian Empire. Some of them defected, and still some of them seemed to have a change of heart. As the former warriors of the Wild Rose Rebellion seemed to have a considerable population the Mysidian guards force, everything is kept under control. These warriors had to learn basic magic from all fields of magic of course, as they had to honour the rich tradition of Mysidia.

One such warrior had just gone over to Mysidia to see this thriving city for himself… as well as a personal pursuit. After enjoying a peaceful world where wild roses could bloom freely, he set foot in Mysidia with his chocobo that he had found in the forest. It seemed to have imprinted on him, and so he gave it a name – Cobalt.

Setting Cobalt in the Mysidian Chocobo Ranch, he got off, patted him, and bade him farewell. This warrior who had bade Cobalt farewell was none other than the young man who once spearheaded the rebel attack against the evil Emperor Mateus. Firion was his name.

Firion walked through the streets of Mysidia, seeing it for the first time. He was aware this wasn’t the same Mysidia he had visited during his travels; rather, this seemed to be the Mysidia from an alternate dimension, where different mages from different worlds have come together making progress happen. Unlike the Mysidia he was familiar with, this Mysidia had different shops. The old Mysidia only had one shop each for weapons, armours, items, and magic, even if the last was the biggest one. The new Mysidia had all sorts of shops that made it feel less like a peaceful little town, and more like a rustic city with its own thriving economy.

He took in a deep breath as he looked at how different this Mysidia was, and thought he wished he brought Maria and Guy with him… but he told himself that he couldn’t do that. He didn’t want to raise their hopes up, as he didn’t even know if what he came here for was even here. He sighed forlornly, hoping for the best, but pragmatically preparing himself for the worst.

He was walking through the streets when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He sharply turned around to see who it could have been.

“You seem lost. Didn’t you bring anyone else along?” said the person.

“…” Firion looked surprised as he recognised this person. “Cloud, what are you doing here?”

“We didn’t have this city back in my world, so we decided to check it out.”

“… ‘We’?”

That was when Firion felt a tackle behind him. Luckily, he was trained to always have sturdy stance even when in a relaxed state. He turned his head to see that it was Tidus who had tackled him and had given him a tight squeeze, before letting go. Cecil was walking towards them with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Hi, Firion.” Cecil greeted him. “Lovely day in Mysidia we’re having.”

“Cecil, Tidus!” Firion smiled at them, delighted to see his friends after expecting a trip alone in a technically unfamiliar land.

“Say, why didn’t you respond to us? We invited you to come here to Mysidia, but we never get any replies from you!”

“Uh, er… well…”

Cloud stepped in to mediate the two. “Cut him some slack, Tidus. It took you and Cecil a while to understand how cellphones worked too. Well… you learned it quickly enough, but Cecil…”

“It’s such a weird thing, too.” Cecil chuckled. “But I know it enough to be able to read and send messages now. It still surprises me more than any other magic I’ve encountered thus far, but I understand this works on both magic and technology?”

“Right.” Cloud nodded. “Anyway, he’s here… so what brings you here, Firion?”

“Uh, well I…” Firion looked down and twiddled with his thumbs a little and then looked up at them. “I’m uh… looking for someone. I’m not sure if he’s here, but I’m trying my luck anyway.”

“Do you have a place to stay in yet?” asked Cecil. “We have a place to stay in, and luckily, it’s situated just around the centre of this city. It has a good al fresco restaurant downstairs too! This Mysidia is far more advanced than what I’m used to, but I’m not complaining.”

“Oh! Well, I haven’t a place to stay in yet… I’d like to see where you’re staying.” Firion nodded, preparing himself for how much it would cost given its location.

They arrived in the inn that Cecil had redirected him to. Firion didn’t check in the inn yet, as he still wanted to make sure that what he was looking for was indeed there; however, he was open to the idea of checking in their room as well that required some further paperwork should it come to that. After that, they decided to eat together in the al fresco restaurant that Cecil had suggested earlier. Cloud ordered some steak, Tidus ordered some burger and fries, Cecil ordered some carbonara and salad, while Firion decided to settle on some spaghetti and pizza.

“So, tell us!” Tidus looked excited to be able to keep in touch again. “Who is this person you’re looking for? In Mysidia, specifically?”

“Ah, right! That… ummm…” Firion didn’t know where to start, as his eyes reflected some mixed emotions brewing beneath the surface.

Cloud was able to sense this. Despite the cold exterior he often projected, he was actually quite perceptive with emotions, especially recently where he had started to move forward more healthily with his life. With the confusions that often clouded his judgment before finally starting to disperse, he was able to feel and think more clearly.

“Let us know only if you’re comfortable and ready.” Cloud reassured him. He sliced a moderate amount of his steak and then put it on Firion’s plate. “Eat up. The journey must have been tough on you.”

Tidus gasped. “Right! You haven’t rested at all, have you?”

And not long after that, Tidus gave him some of his fries, and Cecil also gave him some salad. Firion was embarrassed by this, despite thinking that this was thoughtful of his friends.

“N-No, no! Thank you. Please stop.” Firion said with an embarrassed chuckle. “I’m good. I made sure to take some adequate stops along the way, and I wasn’t even in a rush to begin with.”

They laughed at this, and then started to settle down again, now that Firion felt more or less settled in the city as they ate.

“Okay… so as for who I was hoping to meet…” Firion finally opened up to them. His eyes looked like they longed for something that was… no longer there. A mix of hope amidst despair. “I’m not sure if you even know him.”

“Probably not.” Tidus shook his head. “But we’ll help you look for him, if you want!”

“It’s… it’s okay. I’m not even sure if he’s alive, or if what I read was a hoax.” Firion shook his head. “I can go look for him myself, I don’t want to trouble any of you.”

“That’s fair.” Cloud nodded at this. “If you need us, we’re here.”

“Remember you don’t have to carry this all on your own.” Cecil nodded. “… Though I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed seeing you wander the streets all alone! You looked like a lost child… except of course, you’re freakishly tall and mature.”

“You’re one to talk.” Firion chuckled, as Cecil was slightly taller than he was. “But yes, perhaps I can show you.”

He took out his phone and tried his hardest to understand it. He came across the article he was referring to by chance the other day, but he forgot how to access it again. With his friends’ help, he was able to access it again. It looked like a site for all sorts of mages, and it seemed to be based in Mysidia. While different mages from different parts of this world were able to access it, most of the mages posting there came from Mysidia.

They scrolled down to a particular part where there were some news articles published by various mages. Firion’s eyes sharpened as he pointed at it, to which the others looked surprised by. They looked more closely at it.

“That’s him. That’s the guy.”

The news article mentioned that various mages had worked towards different researches that could aid in the advancement of current magic. It didn’t look like names were listed, but there were pictures of different mages working together and doing researches as part of documentation. He pointed to a mage in particular, who seemed to be tending to different plants with other mages.

“I wanted to know if this news article was real and up to date.” Firion nodded, his voice low and barely above a whisper. “If it is, then… then…”

The others saw how much this meant to him. His eyes reflected such conviction and hope, and he was almost trembling with anticipation.

“What’s his name, if I may ask?” Cecil broke the silence, his voice gentle and concerned.

“… Minwu.” said Firion, his voice still low.

“… No way.” Cecil looked astonished. “I know someone named Minwu as well. I’ve already met him, but I don’t think I’ve seen your Minwu yet. He’s an elderly sage unlike this one you’ve showed us.”

“Did you hear anything about this Minwu?” Firion asked them after hearing this.

“Sadly, no. We’ll be on the lookout, though.” said Cecil reassuringly. “Maybe my Minwu knows something. I’ve visited him already, so we can go ask him for any leads… and we’ll leave you to meet him.”

They decided to catch up with each other for the remainder of their time in the restaurant, and then they decided to walk around Mysidia a bit more as a group. They made their way to the workplace of the Minwu that Cecil had mentioned was from his world, which was in the highest point of the city.

It appeared to be a grand office just above the city library, with books lining all of his walls, a huge window behind him that oversees the city, and various relics on display such as globes, magic weapons, and the like. It seemed that this Elder Minwu was in charge of the study archives of different mages of the past and has a prestigious standing even in this world, as one of its more prominent leaders. Elder Minwu stood up from his seat, went around his desk, and then approached the group to greet them.

“Ah, Cecil. I see you brought other friends along this time.” Elder Minwu greeted them as he made eye contact with the others.

They all politely greeted him with reverence, as he seemed to be the highest figure of authority even in the Mysidia of this world.

“Yes, my friend seems troubled you see… do you know anyone else by the name of Minwu?”

“… As a matter of fact, I do. Why do you ask?” Elder Minwu asked him as he furrowed his brows. “Did you have any manner of business with him?”

“Please! Please tell me… where is he?” Firion sounded almost desperate. “I need to see him, please…”

Elder Minwu looked surprised with Firion’s sudden outburst. It wasn’t rude nor loud, but it was rather sudden, as if Firion had been doing his best to stay composed but wasn’t able to control his emotions at the mention of the Minwu from his world being possibly alive.

“Right now, he’s at the cemetery.”

Firion looked distraught as he looked down at the ground. He balled up his fists as they slightly trembled… so he was too late, after all. Even in this world, he wouldn’t be able to meet him. The world where he met his siblings and Minwu alive again… why couldn’t he have stayed in that world instead?

His friends noticed this shift in his demeanour and looked concerned.

“Could you tell us where in the cemetery he could be?” Cecil decided to speak up, lest Firion ask it himself and not be able to contain his feelings the way he wanted to. “We would… like to pay him a visit.”

“He’s out to give respects to newly-deceased mages, and oversee that they have been well-taken care of in their respective mausoleums.” Elder Minwu said. “He should be done by now. Knowing him, he may be on his way to his home.”

As Elder Minwu worked on tracing directions for Minwu’s home in the map, the group exchanged confused looks. For a minute there, they thought…

Firion in particular didn’t seem to know what to feel about this. Elder Minwu didn’t seem to be aware that his choice of words came out so differently, and he came over to them and handed them the map.

“Just follow that map, and it should lead you to him.” the elder nodded at them. “Do you have any other business with me?”

“Ah.” Cecil seemed to break out of his prior confusion. “No, that will be all. Thank you, Minwu.”

The elder saw them off after their visit, and then they started to talk among themselves about this newfound lead that they had found. It was a lot easier than they thought; they weren’t too optimistic about finding this certain Minwu, but the elder even gave them specific directions to find him.

“Firion… are you sure you can do this alone?” Cecil seemed concerned for him.

“He can do this.” Cloud nodded at them. “He came here all the way on his own. I’m sure he can do this last step. He needs to.”

“Give us a call anytime, okay?” Tidus nodded. “We’re here for you.”

Firion looked around at his friends and nodded in thanks. “Thank you… all of you. This is my own journey and… and I have to face this on my own. I’ll update you as soon as I can.”

He took a deep breath, and then looked at the general direction of where the map dictated Minwu’s house was situated in. This was it… the moment of truth. Will he actually meet him again?

Chapter Text

Walking alone, Firion wandered through the streets of Mysidia to make his way to Minwu’s home. He didn’t know what to expect, he didn’t know what the home looked like, but it was what the Elder had made directions for in the map he was holding. The way to the white mage’s house was quite scenic; full of rustic houses and small businesses that sold herbs, other plants, clothing, and food. It looked like a small shopping district for nearby houses that scattered around the residential area.

As much as the way to Minwu’s home was a peaceful, scenic walk, his mind was in a blur. Normally, he would like to take it easy and look at different shops for things that he may find useful; it was something he wasn’t able to enjoy during the war, but at the moment, his mind was full of yearning for something he wasn’t 100% sure even truly was there.

“Hey…”

A voice called out to him; a lady’s voice, however it didn’t seem to register to him the first time.

“Ah!”

He finally snapped out of his own trance and came across a lady selling flowers by the small shopping district near the residential area. She looked concerned for him as she looked up at him, her beautiful green eyes staring into his fazed brown ones. She had fair skin, beautiful brown hair that curled to the tips, and she wore a pink dress. She had a flower basket dangling on her arm.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Ah… I’m fine. Thanks. Um… you look… familiar. Have we seen each other before?” Firion asked cautiously, not wanting to sound too forward or weird.

“No, but I get what you mean. You do look a bit familiar, too!” she nodded at him. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Firion shook his head. “No, I just came in here today. Um… I’m looking for someone. Do you know anyone by the name Minwu?”

“Minwu? You mean the Elder by the city library?” she asked him. “Who are you, anyway?”

“No, no… I heard there was another Minwu, and I was looking for him. He’s… an old friend of mine, you see.” Firion explained. “My name is Firion.”

“Aerith.” she held out her hand for a handshake, to which Firion shyly obliged. “Another Minwu, huh? I think I’ve heard of him a couple of times. I guess that’s why they decided to call him Elder, and the other simply by his name. I’ve never personally met him yet, though. I’m relatively new here.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Aerith.” Firion nodded at her. “I hope you settle in just fine, then. And I do hope we cross paths again. Are you also perhaps looking for someone in this new world? It looks like we have not been summoned and returned to our own worlds again… I’m beginning to wonder if this is how things are going to be from here on out.”

“It’s weird, yeah… but I think I’d be fine if I could settle in Mysidia permanently. It seems so peaceful here, and so safe, too. I could learn a thing or two about refined magic.” she agreed. “I feel like I’m missing something, though… and I just had a feeling I could meet them here. Only time will tell.”

Firion agreed with this, and then wished her best to have her full memory back. He seemed to have more memories of his own, but that was likely because this time around, he wasn’t torn apart from his adoptive siblings and they’ve learned to navigate this particular world together. That and the other highly participative Warriors of Light seemed to have more memories than other people who may have been dragged in this cycle.

For some strange reason, this cycle seemed permanent though, at least for the time being. It was strange that they were summoned not to fight for another war, but to uphold whatever peace had already been established. It was all so… new, for him. It was what he wanted, but it was different from having to feel so on edge from war fatalities all the time.

But that was exactly why he wanted to do this. Why he wanted to see him. He needed to see if he will be given another chance to be with him in this new world.

Without words, Aerith understood the urgency in Firion’s eyes. She smiled. From her basket, she took a flower – a small yellow lily – gently took his hand, and then put the flower on it. “You know… lovers used to give these when they were reunited.”

“…” Firion looked down at the flower, and then slowly met eyes with her.

“It’s on the house. Send my regards.” Aerith smiled at him and then walked off to sell more flowers to other people.

Firion mentally scolded himself for not being able to thank her properly, but he had to move forward. He tucked the flower behind his ear, and continued to make his way to Minwu’s house. According to the map, it sat atop a hill, and one of its landmarks should be a tree just a few ways away from the house.

He was getting close. He could feel it.

That and… finally he saw it. A house atop a hill made of stone with intricate designs, where a tree was perched just beside it. Walking closer, he saw that different types of plants were around the house; from flowers down to herbs. His heart was pounding faster and faster, as he took one step closer to the house. When he was finally standing in front of the door, he looked up, took a deep breath, loosened his cape a little, and mentally prepared himself for what was to happen.

Three knocks on the wooden door. He knocked firmly, yet hesitantly. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this, but he’s come all this way. For a while, he waited. Nothing. Nobody came to the door, and he could hear no movement inside. He had half-expected this, after all, as deep in his heart he knew that Minwu was no longer in the world of the living.

That Minwu was dead. He saw him die… even as the Elder said himself that Minwu was alive and well, and even lives in this very house that he’s now standing in front of… he wasn’t fully convinced that he would meet Minwu again.

After a while of no response, he looked around, just to make sure. He peered through the windows, looked around the front yard… but still he found nothing. Did he really just travel all this way to be met with an empty house?

He was so distracted by this fact, that he didn’t notice someone had just walked up behind him. Quietly. Cautiously.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

The voice… it sounded familiar.

He finally turned around as quickly as he could to the direction of the voice behind him. And when he did…

“… Y-You…”

He slowly stepped forward to the person, flabbergasted. This was what he came for, and yet part of him still couldn’t believe it.

“Hello, Firion.”

The person said, and though most of his face can’t be seen due to a white silk face mask, one could tell by his beautiful brown eyes that he was smiling. He was clad in an all-white outfit that showed his chosen profession: a white mage. It was the person that Firion had traveled all this way for.

It was Minwu.

Firion was at a loss for words. Normally, he knew what he needed to say, but at this moment, his calm, composed façade started to crumble to give way to his more vulnerable side. His eyes were in total disbelief as his lip quivered, trying to find something – anything – to say. Sensing this, Minwu decided to humour him a little.

“Please pardon me, for I am not the Princess.” Minwu shook his head. “… The password is Wild Rose. Use it well.”

“W-W… M-Mi… Min…” Firion stuttered, the white mage now in front of him. He hesitated for a bit, but he couldn’t help himself. He walked forward and then hugged him tightly, as if he was never going to let him go again, while he rested his face on the other man’s shoulder. He couldn’t even say his name; he just ended up sobbing quietly on his shoulder, as if all the emotions he had been keeping all these years came rushing out at that single moment.

“Shhh… there, there…” Minwu hugged him back, and gently caressed his head and his back to calm him down. He could feel the younger man’s raw emotions, and he seemed to know just how to handle it.

***

After a while, the two finally settled down and Minwu had already let him in his house. They settled in Minwu’s living room, his receiving area for guests. It was quaint, rustic even, as it had a sofa and an armchair that were made of wood. They had soft cushions covered by intricate patterns. In the middle of the receiving area was a centerpiece table, where he kept a golden incense burner to ease the mind.

It did come to Firion that he was never able to visit Minwu’s home during the war, and that this was the first time that they ever really came to talk to each other outside of their duties. He had calmed down since then, and he was drinking from a glass of water that Minwu had offered to him while he sat on the sofa.

“Feeling better?” Minwu asked him as he sat on the armchair right next to the sofa.

“Y-Yeah… thank you. I’m good. I’m sorry about that. I’m just… so happy to see you.” Firion responded, now back to his normal self and more composed than before.

Minwu chuckled at this. “I went out for a while to buy some herbs, and what do I see? A lost rose looking for his fellow rose in an unfamiliar world.”

“Sorry.” Firion sheepishly chuckled. “I just… I didn’t know if I’d actually see you again.”

Minwu nodded at this. “The last time we saw each other… was when I died, was it not? I think I vaguely remember another time we may have met but… I couldn’t quite remember the details clearly. Perhaps it was in another world before this one.”

Firion nodded quietly, and then just stared at his glass of water. “I vaguely remember what you’re talking about, but that was just it. They’re nothing but disconnected memories.”

“Yes, perhaps we can work through those memories together sometime, now that you’re here.”

They kept quiet for a while, allowing the soothing scent of the incense to fill their senses and calm them down. It smelled of roses.

“I came here to tell you something.” Firion said, as he sat a bit closer to the edge of the sofa, where Minwu’s armchair was just next to. He looked down at his lap, balled his hands into fists, and tried to compose himself once more as he grit his teeth.

Minwu raised a brow and waited for him to respond.

“… I tried so hard, but I could never do what you told us to. Despite it being your destiny, we all grieved for you as we went along. We weren’t even able to say goodbye, the war offered no time for us to grieve properly, and we weren’t able to fully accept your death.” Firion admitted, almost embarrassingly. “And now…”

“… I know.” Minwu said. “You have a pure heart, Firion. Thinking back, that was quite selfish of me to request from you and your siblings. After all, I did just die in front of you. However… please understand. My death should not have deterred you from your goal.”

“It didn’t! We did our best to avenge you and all our fallen comrades.”

“I know. We watched you.” Minwu smiled at him, his eyes growing tender. He was referring to the time where he and their other fallen comrades were in the afterlife, before they were summoned back for a second chance. “And I could not have been any prouder of you. You’ve grown up so much. My… I think you even grew taller!”

“Stop that, that’s embarrassing! You’re not that much older than me, you know. And when we met you, I was already a young adult!” Firion chuckled, trying to ride with the lighter vibes Minwu was trying to set.

Minwu chuckled along with him, gingerly putting his hand to his own mouth as he did so. He’s always been so strong and yet so elegant, just like Firion remembered him. It was so nice to see him laugh again… for him to smile once more, to talk, and perhaps even cry, or get angry again… it was just wonderful that he was here again.

He almost wished that they wouldn’t come back home, where Minwu was destined to stay dead. Or if this were a dream, he wished he’d never wake up again.

“Perhaps I’ll take this time to say thank you, then.” Minwu said. “Thank you for coming all this way… and for everything. We would not have achieved peace without you.”

“It was a combined effort. We would not have done it without you, either.” Firion was quick to respond, not wanting to take all the credit.

Minwu nodded in understanding. “Mmm… well now. Before anything else, do you have a place to stay in yet?”

“Ah… well…” Firion scratched the back of his head as he tried to remember. He’s only starting to make sense of all his actions now that he’s settled down, and he has just remembered he had not checked in any inn. Earlier during the day, he refused to check in the inn that Cecil stayed in with the others, mostly because he didn’t want to deal with additional paperwork before meeting his objective.

“Worry not. I have a guest room.” Minwu saw the look in his eyes, and then offered him to stay in his house. “You can stay in there for as long as you plan to stay here in Mysidia.”

“But-”

“I insist. Please take all your belongings.” Minwu smiled and then gave a small light-hearted laugh. “’Mi casa, es tu casa.’ Did I say that right?”

“…” Firion chuckled. He had a feeling that with this second chance, he’d learn more about this white mage than what he already knew him for… and he was thrilled by the idea of it. “I think so, I’m afraid I’m not too familiar with the saying, either.”

“In other words, make yourself at home. It’s the least I can do for the hero of Fynn.” Minwu smiled at him and then stood up.

“Please, just call me Firion.” Firion chuckled sheepishly yet again.

To this, the older man nodded and excused himself. He planned to prepare some dinner for them as the sun was beginning to set. The younger man was free to do as he pleased. He used that time to take his belongings from the Chocobo Ranch where he let his chocobo Cobalt rest, and then he started to settle down in the guest room of the house.

They finally settled down to have dinner together. Minwu’s dining room and kitchen was just next to the living room. It had a see-through wooden partition that was adorned with different relics and plants; and by its pathway, it had a stringed curtain of gem-like beads as decoration. The dining room itself had only a regular-sized round table fit for two to three persons to sit comfortably around, as he didn’t normally have guests staying over in his house and he lived alone. It was covered with white crocheted tablecloth with a flower vase in the middle of it.

Minwu set the table; with some rice and some buttered corn served in bowls, as well as some wheat bread and some fish fillet glazed in sauce. While he was still setting the table, Firion offered to help him so that they could start eating together sooner. Minwu appreciated the help, even if he initially didn’t want a guest to do anything for him.

Not long after, they finally settled together and then started to eat. For a while, the pair was silent. There was just so much they wanted to say to each other, that they didn’t know how to begin! Minwu decided to break the silence, as the host.

“So… Firion. How is life? Why are you traveling alone? Where are your siblings?” Minwu asked him.

Firion could not help but stare at him without his mask down. He was gorgeous. His warm beautiful brown eyes perfectly matched the rest of his delicate, yet chiseled, face… but then he just shook his head to break out of his trance. Minwu did just ask him a question, after all.

“Uh, right. Maria and Guy… they’re back at home. I didn’t take them with me because I didn’t want to raise their hopes up.” Firion shook his head. “I really didn’t know if you were indeed alive, and dragging them around with that uncertain hope just felt cruel. Guy isn’t that expressive but Maria… she was devastated when we finally had the time to grieve you.”

“I see… a shame I couldn’t see them, but I understand.” Minwu nodded in understanding. “Now that you have confirmed I’m alive, maybe you can bring them along someday.”

“Yes! Definitely.” the young man sounded excited. “I’ll bring them along and we can finally just get to know each other, without fear of the war.”

“I’m thrilled to meet them again.” the older man smiled. “Well then, do you have an itinerary for your visit to this city?”

“I’m afraid not. Truth be told, I just rushed here as soon as I saw the news.”

Firion showed Minwu the news article where he was featured along with other mages, tending to different plants. He knew his phone enough now to look for that specific news article saved in it, as well as to send and receive text messages as needed.

“And you rushed here after seeing this news article? All because you believed in a chance that it was legitimate?” Minwu glanced back at him.

“If there was a chance for me to see you again… even just a small chance, then I would.” Firion said, with surprising conviction. Minwu was used to him speaking this firmly only when speaking about his beliefs, but not towards him.

“I’m… I’m touched.” Minwu said, speechless about Firion’s demeanour.

For a while, they were quiet again… but this time, it was slightly awkward. It was Firion’s turn to break the silence.

“There’s something else I wanted to tell you, I’ve been thinking about it for a few years now.” he said, barely above a whisper, but Minwu heard it loud and clear due to his house being on the quiet side of the residential area.

“What is it?” Minwu asked calmly, but with anticipation.

“I-”

But that was when his phone rang, and Firion groaned in annoyance. But in a way, he was relieved. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready to tell that to Minwu… as it felt like he was rushing everything, so he was saved by the bell.

The person calling him was Tidus.

Good ol’ Tidus.

“How do I turn this thing on again…?” asked Firion as he inspected his phone.

To his surprise, Minwu got up, stepped closer to him, and then answered his phone for him. He then gave the phone back to him with a slight smirk, as their gazes met. Firion was flabbergasted, but he had no time to dwell on his emotions. Tidus’ voice ripped through the silence of Minwu’s house as they initiated a video call.

“FIRION!!! Where are you, dude? We haven’t heard from you since this afternoon! Have you found your guy yet? OH!!!! FANCY PLACE! Where are you? We’re gonna crash your inn!” Tidus asked excitedly, his tone raised in excitement. It seems like he dragged Cloud and Cecil to a party going on somewhere in the heart of Mysidia. Cloud seemed tired, and Cecil just seemed out of place, but he’s doing his best to enjoy.

“Tidus, are you… in a conga line?” Firion asked him with bemusement written all over his face.

“WAHOOOO!!! PARTYYY!!!” Tidus cheered as he showed the other two behind him in a conga line. They cheered as well and waved back at him. Even Cloud cheered. Tidus said, “You should join us, Firion! Where should we pick you up?”

“Well, you see… that is…” Firion didn’t know how to even begin, he was far too amused seeing his friends having so much fun. He didn’t even know that Mysidia held these kinds of events, but it was inevitable now that it’s grown into a city.

Minwu slid into view just behind Firion to look at what was going on in their video call.

“Firion, are these your friends?” he asked as he looked down at Firion, then squinted to see them.

“WHOOOAAAAAA- HOLY SH-!!!!!” Tidus couldn’t help but exclaim that they ended up breaking out of the conga line.

For a while, incoherent cheers could be heard from the other line, and the video from Tidus’ phone was quite chaotic. It was clear that his friends were overjoyed that he finally met Minwu. Firion expected just as much from Tidus, but he was surprised that even Cloud and Cecil joined in on the cheering. Tidus dominated the cheers though, as expected.

“DUDE!!!! DUDE!!! CAN WE COME OVER?? DUDE WHAT THE HECK, I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!” Tidus couldn’t help but cheer and wave his phone in the air wildly. The two on the other end of the line didn’t even know what they were looking at anymore.

“I’m… sorry.” Firion laughed at this display for a while, and Minwu could not help but watch him. He smiled, finally seeing a lighter side of Firion. They only knew each other’s strife from the war, but they didn’t see what each other was like when they’re no longer stressed out by the threats of the evil Emperor. And now, as shy and soft-spoken Firion was normally, he had managed to find friends to enjoy life with. It was a nice thing to witness.

“Don’t apologise.” Minwu chuckled. “Hello, I am Minwu. I’m Firion’s friend.”

“HI I’M TIDUS!!!” Tidus responded and then cheered again.

“Ah, young people.” Minwu said under his breath and shook his head.

“I’m Cloud.” Cloud introduced himself from the video call.

“I’m Cecil! It’s nice to meet you, Mister Minwu!” Cecil waved at him as well.

“Lovely. I am pleased to meet all of you.” Minwu chuckled at this, amused with their antics. He just shook his head. “I am afraid I could only accommodate one person tonight, however… if you’d like to visit us, or to meet up with us sometime, you can call Firion and we can arrange something.”

“It’s okay! We don’t want to interfere with you two. Please do have this time to yourselves. Firion, call us if you need anything okay?” Cecil said, delighted that his friend could finally now work on a closure between them.

“Cecil, guys… thank you so much. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” Firion smiled as he waved at them. He knew that without Cecil’s connection to the Elder, it could have taken him a lot longer to find Minwu in this city.

The video call soon ended and the two had the time to themselves again.

“So… what were you going to tell me before that convenient phone call?” Minwu asked. He hasn’t forgotten… much to Firion’s chagrin.

“What? I don’t remember anything.” Firion looked away awkwardly. “Mmm… nice food. This fish is good. Thank you for this.”

“…” Minwu just smirked at him, but decided to drop the matter… for now. “You’re welcome. Tomorrow, I can tour you around Mysidia. And Firion…”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t mean to nitpick, but what’s with the flower on your ear?”

“Oh!”

Firion remembered the yellow lily that Aerith had given him earlier. He took the flower tucked behind his ear, and then handed it over to Minwu. He blushed when their hands brushed against each other, but he did his best not to let it get to him.

“I uh… a flower girl gave it to me earlier. I figured I’d let you have it.” Firion said, his cheeks slightly flushed.

“That’s so thoughtful of you. Thank you.” Minwu seemed to cherish the flower in his hands, and then he put it next to the current flowers in his vase. “In the language of flowers, yellow lilies could mean joy, happiness, friendship… and even new beginnings.”

“The language of flowers, huh…”

Firion hadn’t forgotten.

He remembered what Aerith said the yellow lily stood for.

“You know… lovers used to give these when they were reunited.”

Chapter Text

The next day, Firion and Minwu decided to go to the nearby shopping district where the former met Aerith the day before. She wasn’t there yet, but Minwu wanted to show him around as he shopped frequently there. They went to the herb shop for his potions, as well as for anything that could help spice up his food.

“Ah, Minwu! Is he your friend?” asked the shopkeeper. It looked like Minwu was a regular here.

“Yes. Firion, say hi.” said the white mage, and then he properly acquainted them with each other. “I’ve been looking to buy a rosemary plant today.”

“Oh yes, go ahead and look!”

Both Firion and Minwu looked at the herbs lined up on the floor in rows. He picked up one of the rosemary plants and then the shopkeeper assisted him with getting it packed up. As the shopkeeper was preparing the plant, Minwu turned to Firion.

“Rosemary has various uses. Rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, it can be used in various forms of cuisine. Extract its oil and you can use it as aromatherapy… or even use it when your hairline is starting to thin out.”

Firion started to feel for his hair a little bit, even if he knew that he wasn’t facing such problems yet as a young adult.

“I don’t think I’ll need it yet. But I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Speak for yourself. It’s one of my hair secrets… when you’ve passed your late 20’s, you have to look out for your overall health. My hair, however, stays as luscious as it can… you just can’t see most of it at the moment.”

They chuckled together and looked around the plant shop some more as the shopkeeper took care of their purchase. It seemed that Minwu was well-versed in herbs and their usage; Firion was fairly knowledgeable in some of the herbs used in his potions, but none as informed as Minwu was.

“In the language of flowers, rosemary symbolises remembrance.” Minwu smiled at him, as his eyes met Firion’s. He took the rosemary plant from the shopkeeper, to which Firion volunteered to carry for him.

“I hope we don’t forget a thing, then.” Firion responded.

“Since when were you even smooth?” Minwu couldn’t help but tease.

They chuckled together as they walked out of the shop with the plant. They spent the rest of the day walking around the city. Minwu showed him the small shopping district near his house, where he often bought his basic necessities and his plants. Further closer to the heart of the city were bigger shops aimed more towards tourists and bigger crowds, rather than small residential areas. It was also where the Chocobo Ranch was located, where there were chocobo boarding services. It was where he decided to let Cobalt stay in during his stay. They had it on the last part of their itinerary, before they went home for the day.

Once again, Mysidia was a much bigger place than what they remembered. It was a small town with no more than a hundred people back in their homeworld, but in this summoned world, the mages were able to build a city of their own, its security further reinforced by Mysidian Guards.

Various shops were in the heart of the city, where they could buy a wide array of robes and weapons, more than what Firion was used to. It was honestly quite overwhelming to see, even as Firion was able to go to a lot of places in the past. After a while of going around the city together, they both heard something…

“…” Firion put a hand on this stomach. It had just growled, and he felt embarrassed that it had to happen in front of Minwu.

Minwu stared at this with slightly widened eyes, and then giggled. “Well then, let’s find something to eat.”

They decided to find a nearby café and sat by the window, where they could see a beautiful view of the city. They were able to order their food, and once again, they ate together and just caught up to life in general.

“My siblings don’t have these phones yet, so I guess I will need to reach them the old-fashioned way. Perhaps a letter? I hope they don’t get angry with me for leaving them behind.”

“What excuse did you tell them before setting off?” asked Minwu.

“I told them that I was off to see my friends in a different city… Alexandria, I think? I guess that’s half true now.” Firion looked like he was guilty for lying to them. He had always been quite the honest fellow, after all.

“I bet they will understand. I’m here for you, but you do need to face them for when that time comes.”

“Yeah…”

They continued to eat together. Firion couldn’t help but slip a few gazes at Minwu’s way as the other looked at his own phone fueled by magic. It was no wonder he knew how to answer his call… and it looked like Minwu has indeed grasped this new world better than he did. Firion was taking a sip from his fruit tea, when he happened to glance outside… and he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Outside were his friends just walking around from a fair distance, eyeing him and cheering him on. Tidus seemed to be the most outspoken of the three, going as far as to hold up a sign saying “CONGRATULATIONS ON THE DATE!!! ♡”

He then flipped the sign to reveal another message that simply read, in bolder, seemingly more insistent (demanding)-looking letters, “KISS!!! ♡”

He almost choked on his drink, but he kept it together. He cleared his throat, waved them off, and then continued to eat. Minwu pretended not to notice this, but he was secretly amused with how awkward Firion was acting around him. However perceptive he was of Firion, he didn’t seem to see Tidus hold up the sign. This was because Tidus hid the sign before Minwu could ever see it. He waved at them as well before they headed off.

“Your friends seem nice.” Minwu remarked with a smile. “Very supportive, yes?”

“V-Very supportive.” Firion sheepishly muttered. A flush across his cheeks started to form. “Minwu… I…”

“…?”

Minwu looked at him expectantly, as their eyes met. For a while, it was like that, until Firion decided to speak up again.

“I uh…” he seemed to hesitate again before speaking. He looked like he changed his mind about something. “I kinda need to write back home to Maria and Guy. Where could we do that?”

“Oh. We can stop by Mognet later then. That’s what we call the post office here. Usually, we have Moogles take care of them. They’re very good with their job.”

“Moogles, huh…”

Firion seemed a little unfamiliar with them, though the species name did ring a bell. He knew of beavers, but not moogles, and the former needed a translator for them to be able to get their message across.

Guy speak beaver.

That much, he remembered.

They decided that they would go to Mognet before going to the Chocobo Ranch, which was the last part of their day’s itinerary. After eating together, Minwu decided to show him some more sights in Mysidia, just to familiarise his guest with the city. They even went on a boat tour to see the sights at a more leisurely pace; it was a huge man-made body of water that surrounded the city, which in turn, connected to the lake outside of city bounds.

The route of the ride were as follows: the ride started from the highest point of the city as it went down; some sections of its walls were filled with water, perfect for boating, and it has a path following a slow descent until it reached the ground level of the city, where there was a port full of gift shops, ending the ride.

They managed to choose a seat close to the tour guide in front of the boat, and it seemed like the boat they managed to grab didn’t have any roof to it. The boat propelled forward thanks to magic and the water current at a leisurely pace, and that was when Minwu remembered something about this type of boat ride. He just chuckled to himself however and enjoyed the ride with Firion.

The tour guide began to deliver her lines. She was a young white mage lady, presumably in her early teens or even pre-teens; but the way she handled the boat ride was expertly done, much to the surprise of most new people on board (including Firion). She introduced herself as Shiroma. To her side was her most trusted Chocobo, whom she called “Poulet”.

“If you will look to your left, you have an aerial view of the heart of the city of Mysidia.” Shiroma gestured accordingly. “Mysidia started off as a town in various dimensions and timelines, but in this world, mages have come together to make this progressive city possible. This boat ride in itself is one of its fruits of labour, as it is our way to welcome new people into our city. Welcome to Mysidia!”

Just like the rest of the tourists, Firion greeted her back, and Minwu was delighted that he seemed to be taking this all in with much delight. After all, nothing of the sort was in their homeworld. The only boat ride he ever experienced was… a ship ride, and it wasn’t the best first experience either.

The tour went by normally, with Shiroma pointing at different notable infrastructures of the city; from the post office, down to the research facilities, the library, the office of the Elder, and other public places of note. She even pointed up to the sky gardens just a ways away from the main city, a floating island in the sky accessible via airship.

“Please look up there. Those are our Sky Gardens. Back in my world, that was where we conducted races! It’s amazing. Nowadays, we hold annual chocobo races. I heard that there was going to be one tomorrow! Please keep a look out for it.”

“You know… that tour guide is one of my pupils.” Minwu couldn’t help but feel proud and tell Firion in a whisper.

“What?? Wow.” Firion looked even more engaged in the tour now. “Wait… she’s the one in the news article with you and the plants, right?”

“A keen eye, I would not have expected less from the hero of Fynn.”

They chuckled together as they continued to enjoy the tour.

“From the heart, you can see various establishments! A little ways away there, if you will look at that building with a giant pompom…” she gestured once more. “That is the Mognet post office. If you lean more to traditional forms of communication, you can count on our most trusted moogles to deliver your messages and parcels! They have developed a sophisticated system, especially with many mages aiding them in their duties.”

Firion took a mental note of this… so this was what they needed to go to later on, just so he could send a letter to Maria and Guy.

She gestured to a blue giant floating crystal that floated high above the city. It seemed to be contained in magical force, and had an arched overpass that encompassed across the city. In the middle of the arched overpass was what seemed to be a pathway that resembled planetary rings; it seemed to be for the use of the mages so that they could maintain it and keep an eye on it.

"That's the Water Crystal of Mysidia." Shiroma informed the crowd. "In the past, in a different world, countless mages have died protecting it. Now that it has grown even stronger, and mages from different dimensions have come together seeking peace and protection, it now powers the entire city with its water and magic. Hence our boat ride right now! And many other things you can see that are both powered by water and magic in this city."

Firion saw the marvels of the crystal that helped the mages attain the peace they had longed for so long. He still wished that he had taken them along on this trip… they would have loved this ride to bits! Especially since…

“Please look at that open lake outside of the city walls.” Shiroma gestured, as they still had an aerial view from the walls. “From outside the city, we have a beaver sanctuary where they love to swim and play all day. They also seem to keep natural predators away, adding another layer of security besides our Mysidian Guards! Some of our guards who are hardened warriors in their respective worlds… they’re afraid of aggravating these beavers.”

Firion suddenly remembered Guy and really wished he had taken them along, but perhaps after sending them the letter, they will be able to enjoy this tour again together. He knew why he didn’t come to Mysidia with them, and he knew that was the best choice.

“I heard that your sibling spoke beaver, is that right?” asked Minwu, as he remembered hearing about it from his past life with Josef at one point.

“Uh… yeah.”

“Well then, perhaps someday he can demonstrate it to me.”

He looked very much interested in the fact that Guy had this special ability. Perhaps it was something he would like to learn for himself?

Shiroma looked excited as she turned to the guests once more. “As you may have remembered, this route will take us to a more… ‘active route’ towards the grand waterfall display, which is why we have not provided you with any raincoats. However! We have gift shops at the end of this ride, should you want to purchase any swimsuits.”

That was when Firion noticed that everyone on board seemed to be wearing swimming gear… even Shiroma and Poulet. He was the only one wearing his regular armoured clothes, as well as Minwu… it was no wonder people were staring at them. And it wasn’t because they thought they were a cute couple! This was what Minwu remembered at the beginning of the tour, but decided not to tell Firion. It's not like they were going to be able to do anything about it... but most of all, he just wanted to see his companion's reaction.

The white mage definitely had a small mischievous side to him that he was willing to indulge in once in a blue moon. Perhaps only to those he considered close, too.

The ride went down inside the wall, through its tunnel-like phase, and they felt the slow descent to the exit at the ground level of this ride... where the grand waterfall display was waiting for them. The exit was just next to the waterfall itself, where they will be passing close to it for some minutes to relish in its refreshing spray of water that felt like spring rain. It was said to lift the spirits, as it seemed to be empowered by the essence of white magic.

As the exit loomed in front of them, there was what looked like strong rain… but it was in fact, from the “more active route” of the grand waterfall they were to go through.

“Get ready!” Shiroma cheered as they got even more excited for this, that other guests started to stand up to witness this waterfall and get soaked in the process.

“Minwu!” Firion stood up and decided to play along. He grabbed his cape and started to shield Minwu with it… but the latter wouldn’t have it.

“No, I should take care of you!” Minwu chuckled as he stood up and spread his cape; as it did have more coverage.

The two of them battled playfully against each other as to who will (shoddily) protect whom from the “wrath” of the waterfall. They did this until the boat eventually passed under the “rainy” passage, to which everyone on the boat seemed to relish and cheer in. The two of them were absolutely soaked! After the boat progressed enough for the intensity to become a drizzle, they stared at each other. The proud warrior and the majestic mage now looked nothing more than wet chocobo chicks.

They could not help but share a bout of laughter together, never seeing this side of the other before. They did so until the ride finally ended, and they were able to alight the vehicle. Minwu greeted Shiroma for a while and told her that she did a great job as a tour guide, then he went off to take care of their rather soaked predicament.

There were indeed various gift shops that offered merchandise and swimsuits, but Minwu told him that those were tourist traps and were highly expensive. He gestured him to find some shops with him that offered more or less the same products for less.

“I… think I want to go home for now and wash up.” Firion chuckled. “Maybe we uh… we can take a swim together… sometime?”

“…” Minwu looked up at him. “That would be lovely. But I agree, let’s go home for now. I do want to set our rosemary plant aside first.”

And with that, they decided to come home and clean up from their adventure. The only bathroom in the house was a common one tucked away behind the living room. The walk going home did considerably dry them, and so it wasn’t much of a hassle going inside after getting soaked some time prior. Firion went up to his room, took some fresh new clothes, went back down again, and began to take a refreshing shower while Minwu waited for him in the backyard garden. Minwu decided it was best to repot his rosemary plant while waiting.

Minwu had a herb garden in his backyard where the plants received ample sunlight to grow. They were nestled together in this fenced-off backyard, just so nobody or no animal can go in and out as they pleased and harmed the plants. There were herbs and succulents lined up and neatly-organised in racks all around the grassy backyard, and tucked away in the corner was a small shed where he kept his garden tools.

It wasn’t long before Firion came outside fully clothed to meet Minwu in the backyard garden. Minwu was just done repotting his new rosemary plant and tucked it away in a vacant spot on one of the plant racks.

“Feeling refreshed?” Minwu asked him as he dusted off his hands from the soil and dirt he may have gotten from repotting.

“Yes.” Firion smiled at him. He unraveled his hair from his towel turban and started to pat dry it.

“For a moment there, we had similar head gear.” Minwu attempted to humour him as he walked past him. “I’ll see you in a moment. I won’t take too long. You can relax in the backyard or do whatever you like in the house… just don’t pry too much, okay?”

“I won’t.” Firion chuckled as he followed Minwu with a gaze as he went back inside to take care of his business.

Now that he was all alone again, Firion decided to acquaint himself more with the white mage’s life. What was he like outside of his duties? He decided observing his peaceful abode (without prying) was one way to learn more about him. He looked around and saw all the thriving plants around him, seemingly content with their lives in his care. Very befitting a white mage, he thought. He stayed there for a while to watch the plants and the fluffy white clouds that flew over the city, and then he came inside of the house again.

He figured that he would use this time to write a letter to Maria and Guy. He would detail his journey going there, how he found out about Minwu’s possible life in Mysidia in the first place, and what he had been up to since. He figured they’d love to hear about the various sights in Mysidia; it was unlike anything they’ve seen back in their home world. He was cautious with his choice of words though, as he understood they may be disappointed in him for not telling them of his true intentions to venture out alone prior.

He was done writing his letter when Minwu stepped out of the bathroom, fully clothed as well and feeling fresh. He felt his heart skip a beat when he realised thinking to himself, ‘Oh, he looks good even without makeup…’

“Oh?” Minwu looked at him but didn’t seem to notice that he was basically ogling at the white mage. That or Minwu chose not to take note of this. “Are you finished writing a letter to your siblings?”

“Y-Yes! We can go down to the Mognet post office whenever you’re ready.”

“Very well. Give me a few minutes to prepare.”

After some time, they were both ready to go out together and they made their way to the post office. They took in the sights where they chose to walk; it seems that Mysidia was scenic all around; there was never a dull place, at least in the more commercial areas, and it was particularly tourist-friendly. It was quite baffling, as Mysidia used to be this town tucked away from civilisation and was quite difficult to access… but now, they seem to be welcoming towards guests.

It seems that Firion had these thoughts to himself as they walked around. He couldn’t help but raise it to Minwu.

“Ah, that.” Minwu said as they took a stroll together. “It’s largely because we’re confident enough that nobody will pull anything and get away with it. With the Mysidian Guards and all the residents of this village empowered with magic, any perpetrators will be taken care of. That isn’t to say Mysidia has zero crime rate… it’s just relatively low.”

“Huh, I see. Interesting.” Firion said as he paid closer attention to his surroundings.

Not long after that, they finally reached the Mognet post office to send the letter to Maria and Guy. Minwu decided to take care of the process for now so that they didn’t have to go through much screening, as Firion was an outsider. Minwu explained that they will claim the letter together as the moogles had already taken records of him during their stay. And then they made their way to the Chocobo Ranch where they met with Cobalt.

Firion introduced Cobalt and Minwu to each other during their visit.

“I vaguely remember that back in our world, we had no chocobos of our own. We had to go to some forest beyond Kashuan Keep. Ironically, we couldn’t keep the chocobos we caught there.” Minwu couldn’t help but giggle at his own pun.

Firion couldn’t help but laugh at this as well. “I never knew you liked making puns like those.”

“Yes, well… now you know.”

They laughed to each other as they patted Cobalt.

“Oh! Firion, look.” Minwu pointed at the posters around the ranch.

The posters about the annual chocobo race that Shiroma had mentioned on their boat ride earlier in the day. It was an open race, meaning even guests could sign up for the race at the last minute. The race was taking place in the Mysidia Sky Garden, a floating island not too far from the city. It was often used for races, whether it was for chocobos or for other species as well.

“Do you want to enter Cobalt in this race?”

Firion hummed in thought for a while, and then caressed his chocobo’s beak. “What do you say, buddy? Do you want to join the race?”

Cobalt kweh’d in delight, as if responding to this with a loud, resounding “Yes!” in chocobo.

“I guess that takes care of that.” Firion looked like he was set on entering him. “Well then, let’s have a little walk, buddy! Minwu, did you want to try riding on him? He’s a nice chocobo, I promise.”

“I could tell. His human is nice too, after all.” Minwu smiled at him. “I wouldn’t mind riding on him. However…”

He gestured to his obvious problem of wearing a long floor skirt. Firion had an idea, but he also asked Minwu for his permission before doing anything.

“May I?” he asked cautiously, as he gestured that he would be holding him by the waist to help him ride on Cobalt.

“Yes.” Minwu responded.

And to that, Firion gently placed his hands on Minwu’s slender waist. He hoisted him up on Cobalt and made him mount the chocobo side-saddle style. When he was sure that Minwu was safe and secure atop their feathered friend, he gently tugged on Cobalt’s reins to start walking slowly. He led them around the paddock so that they could have some quality time together. Minwu definitely looked like he was enjoying himself.

While they were spending some time together, they heard a voice call out to them.

“Well, well, well! Look who we got here!”

It was a familiar voice, at least to Firion. Minwu hadn’t the slightest idea who it could have been. The voice came from someone who looked adventurous. He had short, spiky brown hair, and golden eyes. He came in front of them, perched on his own chocobo.

“What… Bartz?? You’re here too?” Firion exclaimed as he looked up at them. “And Boko, too!”

“That’s right!” Bartz put his hands to his waist as was mounted on top of Boko, confident in his sense of balance. “I heard that Mysidia was holding a chocobo race, so I couldn’t help myself! Who else to win that crown and take home the glory, right? We’re gonna win that race, Boko buddy! The crown for me, and the greens for you! Lots and lots of Gysahl greens…”

Boko and Cobalt seemed to react to Bartz saying “Gysahl greens”. They both wanted lots of it, that’s for sure.

“Good luck with that!” Firion nodded. “But I think I’ll enter Cobalt too. May the best chocobo win!”

“Hah! May the best chocobo win, indeed!” Bartz reached his hand out for a handshake. “Oh yeah! Who are you with? I don’t think I’ve seen him before… or maybe I have, but I really don’t remember…”

“Ah yes, my name is Minwu. I’m a resident of Mysidia, and I was just showing Firion around. This is our last stop for the day, and he decided to let me ride on his chocobo.” Minwu introduced himself. And your name is Mr. Bartz?”

“Please! Just call me Bartz.” Bartz scratched the back of his head, feeling a little awkward with such a formal title. He did appreciate it, but he wasn’t used to it at all. “Nice to meet you, Minwu! Bartz is the name. Mysidia was the next on my bucket list, so I decided to come here after hearing there was a chocobo race. Boko is my best friend. We’ve been together through thick and thin, and now? We’re gonna win! Hehe!”

Minwu admired the pure energy coming from this young man.

“Is that so? Then I wish you and your best friend the best.” he nodded at him.

The three decided to take turns around the chocobo ranch with their own respective chocobos, sometimes even practicing for the race. While Boko seemed to give it his all every now and then, Cobalt just didn’t seem to want to do it. He was speedy in his own right, but he didn’t seem to be much of a sprinter.

Perhaps it was because Minwu was riding on him, and not Firion, and he didn’t want to make any sudden movements lest something went awry?

Eventually, they all had to formally sign up their chocobos for the race, and then they said their farewells. The chocobos had to rest up in the ranch for their big race the next day. Initially, Firion didn’t seem to think much of it, but having Bartz in the competition amped his competitive spirit up a notch. Minwu clearly saw this flame in Firion’s eyes; the same flame of determination he had always seen whenever there was something at stake.

“Your friends are such colourful individuals.” Minwu chuckled as they both made their way home.

“Yeah. Before you were ever summoned in these cycles, they had always been there for me. They’re nice people, even if some of them could be boisterous at times.” Firion chuckled with a hint of embarrassment. “You can definitely rely on them when you need a hand.”

“I feel that. It’s nice that you’re able to go out there and make friends for yourself.” Minwu seemed delighted for him. “My, my… this has gotten me excited for the race as well. I’ll be cheering you two on from the sidelines tomorrow, then. Go get those Gysahl greens for your chocobo son.”

“You bet I will!” Firion seemed fired up. “I’m so excited too. I have never been in a race, but I’ve ridden him all the way here, so I have some idea how to manage him. I’m just not sure if he’s racing material… but there’s no turning back now.”

“Indeed.” Minwu agreed. “All that’s left now is to face the race tomorrow.”

And with that, the two eagerly anticipated the race for the next day. They spent the entire night together in Minwu's home, catching up with each other's lives, eating dinner together, and just generally resting up for the big day the next day. Firion could feel himself getting closer to Minwu… he felt warm around him. He simply loved being in his company.

Little did he know, Minwu seemed to feel the same way.

Chapter Text

“So… tell me a little bit about Cobalt.”

Firion and Minwu went out of their house and then walked out into the beautiful sunny day with scattered clouds across the blue skies. Together, they went through the small shopping district that was lively with people buying here and there. They seemed to get more comfortable being alone with each other by the day, and this was no exception.

“Well… I found Cobalt while I was out hunting.” Firion said, his voice tender and nostalgic about his chocobo. “I was just looking for a wild chocobo to ride home, but then when I got off my ride to let him go, he didn’t run away. He followed me all the way back to the house I shared with Maria and Guy!”

“My, my.” Minwu giggled at this as he gingerly put a hand on his silk cloth-covered mouth. “He had imprinted on you that quickly?”

“Apparently.”

They laughed to themselves as they made their way to the heart of the city once again. The evening prior, they went to the Chocobo Ranch to acquaint Minwu with Cobalt. Then they found out that there was a race, and which was why Bartz had traveled all the way to Mysidia to enter Boko into it. This was the big day.

“It’s strange how Cobalt seemed to warm up to me so quickly, really.”

“Where exactly did you find him in one of your hunting trips?”

“Hmm… just a little ways outside of Gatrea.”

“There’s a Gatrea in this world?”

They exchanged dialogues about Cobalt and their current world together. They enjoyed just being in each other’s company all throughout, figuring out stuff together, learning more about this new world that they had been summoned to…

It wasn’t long before they arrived in the Chocobo Ranch. They made it through the doors and looked around inside to find the festive crowd just celebrating for the upcoming race in just a few hours. Merchandise of chocobos were being sold; from figures, to plushies, to hats, even cups and standees. Before meeting with Cobalt in the paddock, they decided to look around a little bit.

Firion grabbed a fluffy chocobo plush and he hugged it tightly. He smiled down at it and then asked the vendor how much it was. When the vendor said the exact amount, he thought it was fair enough, even when there wasn’t any room to haggle the prices. He paid for it, held the chocobo plush in his hands for a while, and then handed it over to Minwu.

“What?” Minwu held the plush in his arms in surprise.

“Don’t tell me you think you’re too old for this.” Firion chuckled.

“No, of course not.” Minwu shook his head. “But why would you buy this for me out of the blue?”

Firion stared at him for a while, just admiring his form… this poised, elegant white mage is now holding one of the cutest chocobo plushies he had ever laid his eyes on. It just made Minwu look even cuter in his eyes. Firion said nothing and just gave him a chuckle for an answer as they walked through the crowd, with Minwu holding the plush in his arms. He could not help but slip a few glances at him as they made their way through the crowd to get to where the chocobos were held.

‘God, I wish that were me…’ Firion stared at the chocobo plush in Minwu’s arms. He tried to shake off these thoughts and feelings. If Minwu caught onto them… he wouldn’t know how to deal with that.

No. Keeping this to himself is the best option for now, he thought. They just met after so many years. To advance into this romantic interest he’s been keeping to himself for years would be just… weird. He didn’t want to scare Minwu. He already had thought of many worst-case scenarios… either Minwu would distance himself for him, or would laugh at him… maybe even kick him out of the house? Maybe all of the above!

He knew he was likely catastrophising. He was normally calm and was the voice of reason for his comrades (except during the times Maria would be a louder voice of reason), but… he was very inexperienced with handling these feelings. He may have had a few crushes in the past, but this was the first time he felt a love so… so real.

Lost in his own thoughts, that was when he realised that Minwu noticed him staring at him. They ended up awkwardly staring at each other for a while, before bursting out in laughter together. How many times have they shared this carefree laughter together in a short span of time? It felt as though they were so comfortable together…

Going back to their business, they walked through the gates of the paddock, so that they could fetch Cobalt and walk him through the ranch for a much-needed warmup. This time, Firion mounted Cobalt and Minwu watched over him… after all, they were going to the race together.

“Hey!”

The familiar voice called out to them again, but this time… he wasn’t alone with his chocobo. Bartz, mounted on Boko, brought someone along. That is, another jockey and his chocobo.

“May the best chocobo win.” said the other jockey. It was actually Cloud, mounted on top of his chocobo as well.

“Wha- Cloud?? You’re into this, too?” Firion looked surprised. He was racing against two friends?

He entered his chocobo on a whim… now he wasn’t so sure if it was a good idea. On one hand, Bartz’s relationship with Boko was impeccable. Boko is his best friend, whom he had been with through thick and thin. Meanwhile, Cloud had stories of being an experienced chocobo jockey with what days he remembered from his world in the Gold Saucer. They knew their chocobos well.

“Tidus and Cecil decided not to join. They said they wanted to just watch by the sidelines. Apparently, viewers will ride airships to watch the race unfold from above. As for us… the race will take place on the sky garden. I didn’t know Mysidia was so fancy.” Cloud explained.

“I hope you two are prepared to eat our dust!” Bartz did a friendly taunt, and then he waved to them as Boko walked away. “See you at the finish line!”

“Not if I can help it.” despite his usually soft voice, Cloud seemed fired up. “Good luck to all of us.”

“Yeah.” Firion nodded in thanks to wave them off. He then looked down at Minwu. “You should probably get going too, go find the airships so you can also watch over the race… quite literally.”

Minwu chuckled at this. “Alright. Good luck, okay?”

Minwu reached out and gently laid a hand on Firion’s, which was on Cobalt’s reins… and for a minute, they locked eyes with each other. His gesture was meant for encouragement but…

They didn’t know what was happening. It was as if time stopped for them at the moment, and they were the only people in the world. After a while, Minwu cleared his throat and broke the trance between them.

“A-Anyway… I’ll see you later.”

As Minwu walked away, Firion could not help but watch him until he was out of sight. His cheeks were flushed as he stared at him with a dumbfounded look on his face, but then he shook his head to regain his focus, and made Cobalt strut outside of the ranch to be transported to the Mysidia Sky Garden for the race.

***

Minwu finally made his way to one of the airships where guests would watch the whole race from above before it took off. He was able to find a good spot to watch from. While waiting for the race to start, he hugged the chocobo plush that Firion bought for him not too long ago and chuckled to himself. He found himself thinking about the time he laid his hand on Firion’s, too…

What was that strange feeling?

“I don’t know who to cheer for!!!”

A voice ripped through his thoughts. He turned to look at who it could have been. While the voice wasn’t familiar to him at all, the person it came from was all too familiar. The young man was making his way to his seat, along with his other friend. They took a seat not too far from him.

It was Tidus! The upbeat young man who was looking at him and Firion while they were out for lunch in a café. With him was Cecil, the other young man who was with him clad in an elegant white armour.

“Me neither, but maybe we can cheer for them both?”

They both had chocobo hats on, presumably bought from the booths below. They seemed excited for the race to unfold. He didn’t call their attention, but Cecil noticed Minwu sitting right next to them.

“Oh! You’re Firion’s friend, are you not?” Cecil called out. “I believe we haven’t properly introduced ourselves to you. Allow me to reintroduce ourselves. My name is Cecil, and this is Tidus.”

“Pleased to meet your acquaintance!” said Tidus with a smile. "Nice to meetcha again. You look even cooler in person!"

“Heh heh. Thanks. It’s nice to meet you again, Cecil, Tidus. I remember our video call from not too long ago, but allow me to properly introduce myself again in return. My name is Minwu.” Minwu nodded with a smile, finally meeting Firion’s other friends up close. His eyes drifted to the chocobo hats that the pair had.

“Ah… my idea.” Cecil sounded a little sheepish. “I believe we should take advantage of the moment and enjoy it to the fullest!”

“Neat plush you got there! I know we just met, but I didn’t really think you’d be the type to like plushies.” Tidus remarked. He scratched the back of his head as this may have come out as a tactless remark to someone he just met. “I mean, no offense, okay?”

“None taken.” Minwu chuckled as he shook his head slowly. “Actually, Firion bought this for me.”

“…”

Both Cecil and Tidus stayed quiet for a bit as they stared at him, then they looked at each other with a slight smirk, as if they knew what the other was thinking. They decided not to say anything about this.

“Oh yes, Firion is always quite the gentleman.” Cecil remarked. “I’m sure he’s doing his best to catch up with you for all the lost time.”

“Mmm.” Minwu nodded, but he wasn’t to be fooled. He knew the other two communicated without words. He could only take a guess as to what it was, but he decided to leave it be for now.

After all, the race was already starting in a few minutes.

Cecil gazed around, his placid eyes taking in the view; the airship, the mages all rejoicing in this very moment, the chocobos getting ready for their annual race… everything was perfect. He told himself that despite all the mountains of hurdles in life, he had truly come this far since then, and he has since learned to accept all parts of him. He surreptitiously gazed at Tidus, who was all hyped as he leaned against the windows of the airship. He had to restrain him from getting too excited; normally he was active, but not this active, especially with a new person around.

Perhaps Tidus has eaten far too much sugar before coming here. Anyone would get that sort of high with that amount of sugar in their system, after all. That, and this was his first time being in Mysidia. That being said… this was unlike the Mysidia he or Firion knew. All the mages knew that as well, since they built this new city to fortify themselves, having been subject to violent pasts in their own right from various dimensions.

He surreptitiously gazed at Minwu as well. Firion had told him some things about the white mage through some text messages, as they agreed to do it at least once a day to get more used to the technology. He was able to relay some details about how he and Minwu met in the past, and how this time around, he wanted to “make things right”.

He smiled at this. He had his reasons for coming over to Mysidia with his friends besides a field trip, after all. He had a couple of magical friends like the Elder Minwu, not to mention he had heard of Palom, Porom, and Rydia trying to start over as well. His fiancée, Rosa, was also highly interested in Mysidia as well when they heard it existed in this world. However, she was mostly staying with Rydia to catch up with her, and Cecil stayed with his friends to catch up with them as well. They would often meet for dinner dates to spend time together. As for the Mysidian Guards… well, Cecil and Firion agreed to pay it a visit one of these days.

Amidst these thoughts running across his mind, the chocobos started to have their parade on the field for their loving fans. It looked like Boko and Bartz was the crowd favourite, as Boko was even trained to do some quirky poses with his best friend! Sometimes, he doesn’t even feel like a chocobo, with the degree of bond he and Bartz share. Cloud and his chocobo strutted for the parade normally, as did Firion and Cobalt. This went on for a while, properly introducing the chocobos and their jockeys to the audience.

There were a lot more though, as this didn’t seem to be a single race. There were other races to be had all throughout the day, and not just for chocobos. There would be about three races for various chocobos, then the other races were for different people as well whether it was for track and field, or for their own racing vehicles.

Once the parades were all done, they heard the bugle call to signal all chocobos to come to their respective gates for the race. As they were aerial, there was a magic-powered drone to monitor the chocobos and their jockeys up close for the convenience of the audience. The videos flashed on the monitors all around the airship, just above the windows where they can watch the race from above.

They all saw Bartz, Cloud, and Firion with their own chocobos. Bartz looked excited, Cloud looked composed, and Firion… he looked equal parts excited and nervous. Nonetheless, all of them got ready.

“Perhaps we could cheer all of them on.” Cecil said. “Alternately.”

“Haha! Yeah, that’ll do. They’re all our friends, after all!” Tidus nodded and he braced himself.

Unbeknownst to them, Aerith was also somewhere in the airship. She looked up at the monitors. She recognised Firion right away and she smiled at this, happy that he seemed to be warming up to Mysidia quite quickly. But her eyes were drawn to another jockey…

For some reason, she felt drawn to him. His spiky blonde hair, his placid blue eyes, and even the way he mounted on his chocobo.

She had never seen him before, but she felt her blood rush in familiarity. She knew him. But for some odd reason, no name came to her… and perhaps this was her first step to recovering her own lost memories.

***

The race commentator began her duties with her partner as the chocobos and their jockeys went to their respective gates. The magic drones flew over closer to the racers to get a better view.

“It’s a clear sunny day in the Mysidia Gardens Racetrack and all our chocobos are lined up in their respective gates for the first race – the Classic Race. Number 7, Zax Fairweather, is our second favourite with his jockey, Cloud Strife. No. 5, Boko, is the crowd favourite with his jockey Bartz Klauser. No. 2, Cobalt Rose, is a newcomer with his jockey Firion who seems to have this race as his debut. All chocobos are set and ready.”

All of them waited eagerly for the gates to open. As soon as the gates swung open, everyone bolted out of them and they all had their winning strategies out in the open. It looked like Cloud liked picking up the pace, preserving his chocobo’s stamina regularly all throughout the race. Boko seemed to lead the pack and the crowd went wild!

“And the race has started! No. 5, Boko, is leading the pack right off the bat! Can he sustain this stamina until the end of the race?”

Cobalt didn’t seem to speed up and was lagging behind most of the chocobos, landing in 9^th/10^th place early in the race.

“No. 7, Zax Fairweather, is picking up the pace on second place! Will he take over the fan favourite, or will the fan favourite defend his honour?”

Firion started to feel a little nervous. He began to doubt if pushing Cobalt was the right thing to do, not because he cared about winning, but because he was afraid he pushed Cobalt into something that wasn’t meant for him. Nonetheless, he decided to believe in his chocobo.

All his opponents seemed to be actual race chocobos, and Cobalt was just a chocobo he had picked off from the wilds. After this, he was determined to give him all the treats he needed, as he deserved doing his best despite appearing severely outmatched.

“No. 1, Flower Garland is putting on the pressure! But No. 3, Crystalline Tower is matching her speed. In the fifth place, we have No. 4, Mooncrystal Rabbit.”

“Will the newcomer No. 2, Cobalt Rose, have a chance to make a good debut title??”

The crowd was going wild.

From the airship, Minwu looked quite concerned. Normally, he would be able to foresee into the future, but just this once, he decided not to rely on those powers. He wanted to see how the race will unfold… just for fun, for Firion.

Tidus was going wild, while Cecil also was quite excited in his own right. The audience’s energy was exhilarating! It definitely added to the pressure of the chocobo race going on below.

“No. 8, Lionheart Sorceress and No. 9, Moon Duet are fighting for third place! No. 6, Dancing Moogle is in fourth place. No. 10, Zanarkand Dreams is in fifth place. Meanwhile, No. 5, Boko, is still leading the pack with No. 7, Zax Fairweather coming in from the side! Who will win the annual Mysidian Classic Race?”

“WOOOOO!!!!! GO BARTZ, GO CLOUD!!! GO FIRION, YOU CAN DO IT!!!” Tidus cheered at the top of his lungs from his seat. Cecil made sure he didn’t get too excited to lean against the airship’s windows again, for his own safety.

It looked like the airship had megaphones around it so that the crowd’s cheers would still be heard by the racers. The pressure was on!

Firion eyed the course; it looked like they were already in the middle of the race. They were surrounded by different chocobos and so it was quite difficult to break out of the pack… he was nervous, seeing both Cloud and Bartz compete for first place.

Despite Cloud having the smarts in many types of chocobo races, Bartz’s bond with Boko was incomparable. It was a battle of wits and compatibility. Meanwhile, here Firion was… entering his new chocobo in this open race. He figured he just had to continue believing in his chocobo! Cobalt can definitely place well, or at least he was getting a lot of treats despite whatever placing he could gain.

Firion looked down at Cobalt for the first time, as he was often focused on the path ahead of them. This was the first time he ever looked at him… there was something… different, about his chocobo. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Before he knew it, the final stretch was upon them. They rounded by the last corner, and the heat was really getting to them. Some of the chocobos who were also among the last in the pack have started to move forward. He looked down at Cobalt and figured they had to speed up, but the chocobo didn’t seem to propel forward…

“It’s the final curve! No. 5, Boko, and No. 7, Zax Fairweather, are fighting for first place! The other chocobos are starting to catch up to the leaders. Who will emerge victorious in this race??”

“No. 5 Boko is ahead by one length! Will he grab the crown of the Mysidian Classic Race?”

“But wait, what’s this?”

That was when Firion almost felt like he was about to fall off from his chocobo, but he was surprisingly able to catch on. He crouched down low, close to Cobalt, as he decided to trust in him. He looked down and finally found out what was different…

It was the look in his eye. His poise. Cobalt looked like he knew what he was doing.

Cobalt bolted through and broke from the pack, as it looked like he reserved all his stamina for this final spurt in the race.

“WHOA!!! Did you see that, everyone?!”

The crowd went wild! Cobalt broke out of the pack of chocobos and was able to catch up in 4^th place in no time. It didn’t look like he was about to stop accelerating anytime soon, either!

From the audience, it looked like Tidus was losing it and Cecil was finally starting to get just as excited as Tidus was. Minwu could not stop staring. He normally wasn’t big into races like this, but seeing Firion and Cobalt dash through… something about it was just so exhilarating.

“FIRION! COBALT!” he stood up, much to the surprise of the two young men beside him. He raised his chocobo plush, as if it was a banner. “GO, FIRION!!! GO COBALT!!!”

The two young men were both astonished and delighted to see this, and not too long after, the three screamed in excitement together. From another part of the airship, Aerith herself was cheering on as well, excited to see such a fired up race!

“No. 5, Boko, is still the leader… but the newcomer, No. 2, Cobalt Rose, is coming up close! He’s putting on the pressure! Will the newcomer take the crown this year?”

“What kind of anime plot is this??”

“He’s shortening the gap!!”

“The owner of No. 2, Cobalt Rose, has stated that this was the chocobo’s first race. But is it really? I’ve seen a lot of chocobos in my life, and he looks like he’s used to the racetrack by now!”

“No. 7, Zax Fairweather, is not giving up second place so easily, either! It looks like the three chocobos are competing for first place! Will No. 2, Cobalt Rose, win by a nose? Who will win? WHO WILL WIN?!”

“COBALT ROSE IS COMING FROM THE SIDE! COBALT ROSE! BOKO IS STILL IN THE LEAD!!!”

The crowd’s eyes were glued; their undeniable energy palpable! Tidus, Cecil, and Minwu could not stop watching… as well as Aerith. They all held their breaths for the outcome. Many bets were placed on Boko and Bartz, as well as Zax and Cloud… but there was this newcomer. Were they going to lose their bets to this killer rose?

Bartz actually looked quite nervous with how sudden Cobalt had caught up to them. He was among the last placers until just a moment ago... what happened? As a racer himself, he had a feeling how it happened, and yet right at the moment, he can't seem to wrap his head around it at first. All he knew was that he and Boko have to give it all they've got, as one misstep will determine their win or failure. Cobalt and Firion were coming in close... way too close. However, there can only be one winner.

“AND THE WINNER IS…”

The chocobos then crossed the finish line, their speed reaching new heights. Three chocobos crossed the finish line almost all at the same time, while other chocobos followed not long after.

“NO. 5, BOKO, HAS WON THE RACE!!! HE HAS PROVED THAT HE IS THE RIGHTFUL WINNER OF THE MYSIDIAN CLASSIC RACE! That was an incredible show of power and spirit with his jockey, Bartz! They are the definition of friendship and perseverance! Up in 2^nd place is No. 2, Cobalt Rose! And in 3rd place is No. 7, Zax Fairweather!”

The crowd was ecstatic, seeing the favourite win! Boko and Bartz waved to the crowd as they still ran in the field with the other chocobos and their owners, further gathering cheers from the crowd. There were confetti all over, and Bartz was soon awarded his trophy full of greens for Boko.

There was a parade afterwards for the chocobos and their jockeys to garner cheers from their adoring fans. Boko and Bartz definitely attracted the crowd, as they showed off some poses they have learned together. They were truly best friends! Cloud waved to the crowd as well, as he patted his beloved chocobo for a job well done.

“You did good, buddy…” he whispered as he crouched down low for the chocobo to hear. “We’ll get it next time. Thank you.”

Cobalt seemed to strut and strike poses too, for the adoring fans to see. Firion didn’t look like he knew what he was doing and often shied away from too much adoring gazes from the airships that flew by a little closer.

After the three rounds of chocobo races, the audience was allowed to have a free day on the Mysidian Sky Gardens to take in the sights, and to see the chocobos up close as well. The other non-chocobo races can be viewed by the audience back into the airship if they were interested enough to have availed passes for it. Some opted to just buy passes just for the chocobo race, like Minwu, Cecil, and Tidus.

Bartz, Cloud, and Firion, along with their chocobos, started to talk to each other after the race. The other two had consolation prizes as well for placing, and they began to talk about their race.

“Dude, you gave me a run for my money! What the heck was that?!” Bartz couldn’t help but blurt out, especially directed at Firion and Cobalt.

“I don’t know! I honestly don’t know!” Firion stepped back, now embarrassed with everything. He honestly didn’t know what got over his chocobo.

“Are you sure this is his first race?” Cloud asked as he examined Cobalt. “Maybe it’s his first race with you, but… where did you really find him?”

“I…”

“Oh!!! That’s why he wasn’t able to sprint in the paddock yesterday. I see!” Bartz suddenly had a realisation. “I thought it was just him not knowing how to run fast, but… it looks like he’s more of a late surge runner than a front runner! Boko is always up at front.”

“Late surge runner… front runner… huh?” Firion looked like he was even more confused.

Cloud understood this all too well though, and seemed to agree with Bartz. “You said that your chocobo… Cobalt? Cobalt, was found while you were hunting, right? Do you think you were anywhere near a ranch?”

“Not that I know of… I found him a little ways out of Gatrea, but I’m not aware of any chocobo ranches nearby. All I know is that he looked famished and he followed me all the way home where my siblings and I nursed him back to health.”

“Interesting…” Cloud gave it some thought.

Now that the audience was finally roaming freely out from the airship and onto the sky gardens…

“DUDES!!! You did amazing!!!”

Tidus ran up to them and congratulated the three of them. Cecil followed suit, and so did Minwu. They all had a joyful chatter, catching up with each other after a while, and allowing the group to be more well-acquainted with Minwu. After a while though, they decided to take their own paths in the Sky Garden and enjoyed the different sights.

Firion and Minwu were left alone with Cobalt.

“That was incredible.” Minwu said with a slight blush, to which Firion also seemed to blush at. “The way you just bolted out from the pack on the final straight.”

Firion twiddled with his thumbs a little before looking back at him. “You think so? Thanks… I really didn’t know what was going on, but I think… I think I want to enter him for the next race. I may never know his origins but…”

He gently caressed Cobalt’s face down to his beak, to which the chocobo purred at.

“But I think he is a very special chocobo. He’s already part of our family. Maria and Guy would be so proud, I wish they were here!” he couldn’t help but exclaim.

“That’s right, you just wrote to them. I suppose we could fetch their response later. Mognet works surprisingly fast with their messages!” Minwu said.

“Yeah! But… maybe later. I want to take in all of this first. I’m not sure how they’ve reacted to learning you were still alive…and I want to make sure I can write a good story for home as another response.”

“Mmm. Well now.”

Their gazes met and they smiled warmly at each other, before they started to walk down the gardens together with Cobalt. They enjoyed the warm, breezy day together in the Sky Gardens, where they took in the sights of lovely clouds and trees, murmuring brooks that provide some of the water for the Mysidian City below, and lush green grass with wildflowers. They had a lovely time together as they blew dandelions together carried on by the breeze.

Chapter Text

“And then the crowd went wild! The adrenaline was pumping through our veins when Cobalt blasted through! Had we had better chemistry, I bet he would have taken first place!”

Firion recounted the race as he and Minwu started to walk to the Mognet post office. The sun was beginning to set once more, and they could see the moon a little more clearly in the sky painted with hues of gold, rust, and wine.

“I know. I was there to see the whole thing.” Minwu giggled. “You two did great. I’m glad Cobalt enjoyed the greens you gave him.”

“He’s always a hungry fellow, that one.”

They finally arrived at the Mognet post office. There, they saw a number of moogles of different shapes and sizes; some of them looked more like fluffy bats that preferred floating around, and yet some looked more like rabbits that preferred to walked on their hind legs. One feature that united them altogether was the fluffy pompom that would dangle from an antenna stemming from their forehead.

“Excuse me, kupo. What might your business be?”

They looked down to see a moogle with tan fur and golden hair slicked back, his long rabbit-like ears twitching as his golden pompom dangled from his antenna. He looked like he managed the place, and so he stopped the two from entering the post office when he saw that the two humans wandered around the place leisurely.

“Oh!” Firion was surprised. Now, when was the last time he was surprised to be stopped by a smaller person with golden hair and a tan complexion, who also possessed magical prowess… before he could speak, Minwu did it for him.

“We were just on our way to claim a letter. I believe that our recipients must have written back and that the letter may have freshly arrived this evening.” Minwu explained. “May we know where to claim letters?”

“Oh, let me show you the way, kupo!” said the moogle, now all ready to help them. “My name is Montblanc, by the way. I’m the manager around these parts, kupo.”

“Montblanc, nice to meet you. I’m Minwu, and this is Firion.” the mage introduced himself as he allowed them to be led.

They walked through the busy post office. All the moogles were flying; and while it may have looked chaotic at first glance, it was highly organised for optimal efficiency of letters going in and out. Firion watched in awe as he saw the organised work force of little furry creatures he was not quite familiar with before. All he had seen before were beavers… but not moogles. This was all very new to him.

In his gut feeling though, he may have seen them in one of the cycles in the past, but… at the moment, this all felt new to him. He decided not to dwell too much about it; he was more invested in their efficiency than anything.

To Minwu, this looked adorable. The way Firion’s normally steeled gaze gave way to childlike wonder, allowing himself to be vulnerable again in his company… he felt very honoured to be a source of comfort for him. He looked down at Firion’s hand and was tempted to hold it, as if to guide him, but he decided against it.

“Now, kupo! I see you are a white mage? That’s great! I’m a black mage, myself.” said Montblanc as he effectively toured them around the place before leading them to the counter where they could claim letters.

“Yes. I have been studying white magic for as long as I could remember, but I have only been a Mysidian resident for a couple of months.”

“Weird place, isn’t it? It feels like we were all transported here to recreate a new world. What was your world like, before this? Where did you originate, kupo?” Montblanc asked, to keep a friendly aura between them. “I’m from Ivalice, that much I could remember. I vaguely remember a blonde human with a long rat tail in a ponytail, much like your friend, kupo.”

“Interesting… Ivalice, huh? I may have read about that in the city library.” Minwu mused. He was thinking of more ideas to take Firion out to in the next couple of days.

“Yeah? I’ll have to check that out, kupo. I haven’t been to the library with so much to do! Kupopo!” Montblanc shook his head.

As Montblanc shook his head, his pompom bounced even more… and Firion could not help but stare at it for a while. He mentally scolded himself for not being able to keep himself from staring, and so he decided to open up a conversation as well to make up for it. Montblanc didn’t seem to notice him staring, anyway.

“Thank you for guiding us through this post office. I’m new to Mysidia and I must say that the Mognet post office definitely looks amazing…” Firion did not hold back with the compliments. “So, I see that this is where we claim letters?”

“You make me blush, kupo! You will fit in just fine.” Montblanc smiled as he started to communicate with the moogle behind the counter to accommodate with them. “You look strong. Have you ever thought of applying for the Mysidian Guard Force?”

“The Mysidian Guard Force?”

“Yep, kupo! With that armour and those muscles of yours, I bet you’d fit right in! Who knows? You may even see someone familiar there. It’s a common occurrence here, fancy that, kupo.”

Mysidia seemed to be a melting pot of different worlds. Perhaps it was their link with magic that made this connection between worlds stronger? Firion became curious of the Mysidian Guard Force, and he looked back at Minwu for a while with those longing eyes of his.

“… I have not met people I'm personally familiar with yet, but we could look at their headquarters soon, if you’d like.” Minwu knew what he was thinking of, without him saying anything. He looked at the moogles once more. “The letter should be addressed to Firion… to him. And the letter is from Maria and/or Guy from… uh, Firion. May I know where you and your siblings reside now?”

“Altair.” Firion nodded at this. “We would love to have settled in Fynn, but we haven’t found it in this world yet.”

“Maria… Guy… Altair… OH! Kupo, this one just arrived today, kupopo!” Montblanc said as he and the other moogle found just the letter they were looking for. “Here you go! Is there anything else we can help you with, kupo?”

“We’re good.” Firion nodded in gratitude as he accepted the letter. “Thank you very much.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Montblanc. We will be on our way.” Minwu waved him farewell as he and Firion walked out of the establishment.

Along the way, Firion opened the letter as the lampposts illuminated the streets enough for him to be able to read it. He was both nervous and excited as to what his siblings may have written him. He took the letter from the envelope, unfolded it, and read its contents. Minwu offered to hold the empty envelope.

“This is definitely Maria.” Firion chuckled nervously.

“May I read it too?” Minwu looked up at him with curiosity.

“Here.”

The letter read:

“Dear Firion,

 

You WHAT?! So that’s where you’ve been these past days, and you never even told us? We thought you went off to find Fynn, but no! How could you?! Minwu, if you’re reading this, this is normal between us siblings now. Please give him a small smack to the head and tell him that it was from me, not from you. We’re so glad to hear you’re alive in this world. We have so many things we want to talk to you about! We missed you so much.

 

Firion, are you joining a rebellion again in this world, too? Guy and I will be preparing to join you someday, we are just going to finish a training program that Josef started hosting in Salamand. It’s going to be a bit lengthy, but we love what we do, anyway. Guy and I were invited to lead it alongside him again! Isn’t that just cool?

 

Write back soon! Each day that you don’t write back to us will guarantee a smack on the head.

 

Yours sincerely,

Maria and Guy”

Minwu could not help but laugh at this letter. He was in the company of Maria as well when they all had a round trip from Altair to Salamand, and just like Firion, she was just as stout-hearted and sensitive. They were truly siblings, even though they’re not blood-related. He didn’t know this more explosive side of Maria, though… and it was amusing to see them finally let go now that more peaceful times have come.

“Firion… may I? I can’t deny her wishes.” Minwu chuckled as he raised a hand, to honour Maria’s request.

“G-Go ahead.” Firion lowered his head; his apprehension hardly concealed.

When Minwu’s palm made contact with the back of Firion’s head, the mage was surprised when it made a sound. Firion flinched in pain, and Minwu shied away from him a little bit at this.

“OW! That was way too hard a slap…” Firion rubbed the back of his head in an attempt to soothe it.

“…” Minwu covered his mask-covered mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter.

“I don’t suppose you’ve been harbouring a secret grudge against me all this time, for some reason?”

Minwu turned away as he started to laugh at this unwitting exchange between them. He could no longer control it, as he kept apologising all throughout his laughter. Firion felt embarrassed by this, but he could not even get angry with him. He had never heard him laugh like this before, and it was delightful to hear the mage laugh in such a carefree manner. He could only chuckle with him as well, even if it was at his expense in a sense.

They walked away into the moonlit night on the way to Minwu’s home.

***

“Here, let me see that. Was it really that painful?”

“Well… the sound did echo throughout the street, did it not? Some people even thought we were fighting.”

As they settled in his study, Minwu stood behind the sitting Firion. He gently unwrapped Firion’s bandanna and took a closer look at his head. As he examined it, there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries on it. And he knew this. He knew that Firion was just trying to find an excuse to get closer to him.

Firion took a minute to appreciate Minwu’s study: it had a den desk where he had an antique globe and his paperwork neatly organised. There was a potted cactus on his desk, such a cute little thing with a sleeping flower sprouted on one of its spines. He sat on the chair just across where Minwu would have sat when he was working on his papers; where Minwu would typically have his guests when they visited mostly for academic purposes. He had his eyes fixed on the little cactus with a small, closed flower bud.

“Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, also known as the moon cactus.” said Minwu as he saw Firion’s gaze fall upon it. “Over at that corner, we have a monstera, and in that other corner, is a potted garden rose. Multicoloured. Over there, we have gardenias… they are very fragrant when they bloom. And in that corner? Aloe vera. The miracle plant, capable of many dermatological and medical properties.”

“Wow… I didn’t know you knew so much about plants.” Firion said. “I just thought that was a cactus. And that’s a rose. And… a plant with ripped leaves.”

Minwu chuckled. “As a white mage, I have to work with many kinds of plants. You have seen that I have a succulent and herb garden in my backyard. I used to have one back in our home world too…”

He seemed to have remembered something as he looked at down Firion. He started to massage his scalp, his long, manicured fingernails starting to send a chill down Firion’s spine as the latter was quite ticklish. Firion let out a small yelp as he withdrew his head, to which Minwu just slowly reached out to and gently took a hold of again.

“What’s wrong? I thought you were in pain.”

“I… a little, yes.” Firion sheepishly said. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but your fingernails are tickling me…”

“Is that so?”

Minwu chuckled and was tempted to massage his head again, but he just laid his hands still, as if resting it on a magical orb. He looked down at him again. “What do you do for a living these days?”

“Oh? Well…” Firion thought about it for a bit. “I do hunt for a living. Maria and Guy do it with me sometimes too. Whenever they don’t go on hunts with me, sometimes we do some mentoring with Josef like what Maria mentioned in her letter. Maria would teach kids how to cook, Guy offered beaver language class… I would teach kids how to use weapons, while Josef showed how to fight with his bare fists! It’s amazing.”

“Now you’re looking after protégés as well? Haha. Back in the day, you all looked up to me.” Minwu reminisced, and then he looked down. “I suppose you do it now, too.”

“Haha! I guess you can say that.” Firion laughed as he caught onto the white mage’s joke. “You know… I never really thought that you were… I don’t know. Playful? Quite playful.”

“Do you think so? I suppose it’s because we were all desperate with the will to live, amidst those war-torn  times.” Minwu agreed. “I’m surprised with how playful you are, too. We traveled together, and you acted like a quiet, well-behaved, ideal model.”

“Ideal... model.”

They both shared a chuckle about this, just reminiscing about past times. It was nice that they were given a second chance like this, to be together again… now they can finally take it slow and get to know each other more. As to how this will end up? Only destiny can tell. Minwu can peer into the future, but he wasn’t saying anything. In fact, it is likely that he willingly chose not to peer into their own future about this particular thing so that they could pace through it like most people would do… that, and he wanted to try something new for once.

He likely foresaw that not using his powers particularly about where this second chance would lead to was for their best outcome, and so he decided to stick to it. He decided to save his gift of prophecy for other uses.

“Have you ever considered being a Mysidian Guard?” Minwu asked him, as he gently turned Firion’s head up to look at him.

“A Mysidian Guard? You mean… I’m going to live here?” Firion did not resist, he looked up at Minwu as the latter had wanted him to, his head almost leaning back to the mage’s chest.

“Mmm. I agree with Montblanc from earlier; I think you’d fit right in. I have only heard that a lot of the soldiers I’ve seen there are from the rebellion, however I have not met any of them personally. While not everyone would have known you were a hero in our world, I’m sure the guards would accept you with open arms.”

“Hmm… I’ll have to talk to Maria and Guy about this first. I’m interested, though.”

Minwu’s mouth could not be seen, but it was apparent through his warm brown eyes that he was delighted with this answer.

“Very well.”

He let go of Firion’s head, helped him wear his bandanna back on, and then he beckoned him to follow him outside of the study. Firion obliged, wondering what Minwu could possibly need help with. They both went to the mage’s bedroom, where Minwu proceeded to sit on the edge of his own bed. He then looked up at Firion, almost expectantly.

“…”

Firion could only avert his gaze as he rubbed his arm awkwardly. Suddenly, memories of the Lamia Queen came rushing back… oh, this was too embarrassing. Why now? Why this? What was going on? Was Minwu really... asking him to...? No, it was too early! Way too early! They had to take it slow. He wanted to take it slow, get to know each other even more; he didn't want to be a creep and scare Minwu. Besides, he wasn't comfortable with the idea of suddenly rushing into this, so there was that. They haven't even confessed yet, and he wasn't even sure if Minwu shared the same feelings, and... and...

With all these thoughts chaotically whirling in his mind, he told himself that he was overthinking things.

“You’re overthinking things.”

Even Minwu seemed to agree with his unspoken thoughts. He had an idea where Firion's mind ended up wandering to, and he simply chuckled. What a silly lad.

“… Relax, Firion, it’s just me. And I’m just taking a break. There’s nothing to be so on edge about.” he reassured as he looked around as well, until his eyes landed on the box just beside his bed. “This was what we came here for. I do hope you don’t mind… I figured this was the best time to do this.”

After Firion has regained his composure again, he looked up to see Minwu. He finally felt calm enough to grab the box, however it was quite heavy. Minwu could have carried it on his own, but Firion stepped forward and carried it for him. Perhaps carrying it on his own will clear his mind, he thought.

“A gentleman.” Minwu smiled up at him. “Thank you. Let’s move to the rooftop, that’s where it needs to be set up.”

He gestured for Firion to follow him, as he found the quickest way to his rooftop. There was a balcony by his study, and it was one of the easier ways to get to the rooftop without needing to access the ceiling door in the storage room just next to it. He helped Firion carry the box as they made their way through the staircase leading up to the roof, and there they gently laid the box together.

There was a small rooftop balcony on top of his house, and just like most of his house, it had various houseplants on it. It was empty for the most part, save for some chairs that he had stacked away on the corner. By the corners of the safety ledges were magic-powered lamps, and he turned them on for better illumination.

The stars shone brightly above them, as it was a clear night sky. The moon shone with all its might as well, as if it was watching over them, bearing witness to the two men becoming closer to each other. It was the perfect night to go stargazing… and that’s exactly why Minwu brought Firion up on this rooftop.

He opened the box and inside it were telescope parts, ready to be assembled. He hadn’t really assembled this telescope he had bought from a nearby antique store for he had no time to before, until he had forgotten about it. But now that Firion was here… he suddenly felt more encouraged to have this assembled with him, especially since he noticed how clear the skies were.

“Take care now, this part goes here… that goes there… oh! Careful.” Minwu instructed Firion as they worked on it together.

“Sorry! I think I got it now.”

But outside of their duties in during wartime, they were really just two big dorks. As soon as they thought they already had it down pat…

They stared at their creation, then at each other, and then they shared a laugh together. What kind of abominable telescope have they managed to build with the parts? They decided to do it again. It was more difficult to build things at nighttime than they thought, and Minwu thought that he should have known better. Him, of all people… the White Wizard of Fynn that many people looked up to!

As soon as they were done, the telescope finally looked like what it was meant to be. They took a step back, and then they smiled at each other. Minwu then proceeded to adjust the telescope. After he seemed to have it fixed on a certain star, he withdrew from peering through the telescope, and then beckoned Firion to come closer and look at it.

“Careful. Don’t move it now.”

Firion did as he was told, and he was able to peer through it to see a bright star. He looked like he was in awe, as he never peered through the telescope to look at anything else before. Due to the immense distance, the star still looked like a dot despite the magnification of the telescope.

“That is the star, Altair. As you may have guessed, it’s what the village Altair was named after.” Minwu explained as Firion still peered through the telescope. “It is the brightest star in all of the Aquila constellation, befitting how the town allowed us to shine brightly before we were able to take Fynn back.”

“Wow… I didn’t know that. I don’t know the lore of stars, I’m just aware of them as a guide when traveling. Such as the North Star that never changes its place in the heavens… or that during certain hours and seasons, certain constellations appear. I don’t really know much about the individual names of stars, nor their backstories.”

Firion was amazed with how much Minwu knew about stars… perhaps it was related to how he was able to foretell the future.

“Did you want to look at the moon in full detail?” Minwu asked, to which Firion didn’t seem to object to. He then adjusted the telescope so that they could look at the moon’s details. “Ah… there we… are? Huh. Interesting… I don’t believe I’ve seen this in our world.”

Firion peered into the telescope after Minwu gave way and understood what the latter meant. There were different tunnels that etched its surface, and there was what appeared to be a palace made out of crystals… for a while, it felt like they were watching someone else’s home, and so they decided not to peer any further for fear that they’d be found out, even if the moon was hundreds of thousands of kilometres away.

He did vaguely remember being on the moon’s surface before… one time, he vaguely remembers having to fight Tidus’ father on it. He and Cecil talked about the surface of the moon at one point too, and he thought this was what it was. Minwu however, was still clueless about this.

“Something tells me that you know something I do not.” Minwu’s gaze followed Firion as he withdrew himself from the telescope.

“Yes, it’s quite hard to explain as I’m not sure of it myself. But I think Cecil knows a greater deal about it than I do. If he’s alright with it, maybe we can ask him about it.”

“Mmm. Well then, as much as there are questions I would want to be answered… I’ll need to start resting up. Tomorrow, I have to attend to my pupils and we are to learn about some plants and white magic.” Minwu looked delighted talking about them. “There are only two of them. One of them is a white mage, and the other is a black mage. I do applaud the black mage for doing his best to understand white magic. He’s trying to learn the secret of Ultima, in particular.”

“Ultima…” Firion seemed to be in a daze when he mentioned it, flashbacks starting to flood in his mind. When he finally realised just what they were talking about, he shot up again. “ULTIMA?? The ultimate spell? The one that you…”

“Yes… that Ultima. He told me he wanted to learn it to use it for good. Apparently, back in his home world, someone used it to destroy everything in their path. He looked distraught recalling what memories he had left in him… it’s like his mind may not remember the details, but his body remembers the trauma.” Minwu nodded understandingly. “That goes for a lot of people in this world, it seems.”

“So… you’re willing to teach him Ultima for that reason. Do you think he’s ready for it? Do you think he’s capable? Do you think he’s… the right person?”

“He has a kind soul. I have no doubt that he will use Ultima for good, just as you have. He wants to be able to learn it so that we could protect this city together, should there be a need for it.”

Minwu looked around, and then found the wooden chairs he stashed by the corner, and then knocked on them three times. It appears he was quite superstitious in a sense.

“You can never be too careful.” he nodded as he looked back at Firion. “Now then… let’s go stargazing again tomorrow. I foresee another clear night… with a chance of meteor showers. Tomorrow, please attend my session with my students. I want them to meet you.”

“A-Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Minwu smiled at him. He cautiously put a hand on Firion’s shoulder, and the two meet gazes… it appeared as though they started to have a deeper understanding of each other for the past few days they’ve been alone together.

“R-Right. See you in the morning then, Minwu.”

“Goodnight, hero of Fynn.”

Minwu pressed Firion’s shoulder firmly for a little while, and then he started making his way down the stairs that led to his balcony study. Firion decided to stay up on the rooftop balcony for a little while longer to gather his thoughts. He looked down at his hands, and then slowly started to fantasize what could have been…

Firion slowly brought his own hands together and imagined that he was holding Minwu’s hand instead, and how nice that must have felt. He wondered how he would ever ask him to do that, though. With a hush tone, he decided to rehearse on his own as soon as he was sure Minwu was no longer within earshot.

“Minwu? Would you… like to hold hands?” he muttered to himself. “I-I mean, you don’t have do if you don’t want to. I-I figured your hands may be cold and… and… and…”

He sighed exasperatedly. ‘Was that really the best I could do??’, he thought to himself. As experienced as he was in the art of warfare, he wasn’t at all experienced with romance and everything that came along with it. He wondered if Minwu would laugh at him for attempting to make a move, or even for having feelings for him.

“Minwu, maybe we could…”

“Minwu, may I hold your hand…”

“Minwu, may I…”

“Minwu…”

All throughout the night, the twinkling stars watched over him, and he looked up back to them for guidance for his befuddled, infatuated heart.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“I can handle it! Lead the way, teacher.”

Minwu was left staring at Firion who volunteered to carry a huge backpack full of supplies, as if they were going on a trip. He also carried various teaching materials in different bags. It honestly looked like they were going on a hiking trip… which was partly true. They were planning to go on a field trip together with two of his students.

When they decided to go through the door, the backpack was so tall that it hit the highest part of the door and made Firion stumble. For a little while, he struggled to keep his balance… but he had felt so comfortable around Minwu that he started to let his guard down when he was with him.

… And so, he fell to the ground as he landed on the huge backpack behind him. He looked like a bug that just landed on its back side. Minwu took one good look at him and made up his mind right on the spot.

“… Absolutely not. We are going to call the chocobo services and get them to bring Cobalt here. He can carry those a lot better.” Minwu sighed, as he summoned his magic phone and started to call for chocobo services.

“Ehehehe…” Firion laid on his back with a sheepish look on his face as he looked up at Minwu.

After placing the call, he helped Firion sit upright. He thought it was adorable, the way he tried so hard to do everything for him ever since he came to the city. He helped take the backpack off him and he dusted him with his hands. He also gently combed through the hair that peeked out of his bandanna. Firion blushed at this with a smile; he felt embarrassed, but he wasn’t opposed to this idea.

Normally, they could just go down to the Ranch and get Cobalt for themselves… but they had already packed everything, and they didn’t have the luxury of time on their hands on this particular day. The chocobo services was going to charge them extra for having their chocobo brought to their house by an employee, but it was convenient. It wasn’t long before Cobalt was finally brought to their house, then Minwu made his payment, and the employee went on his way.

They then started to load the bags on Cobalt. Cobalt was sturdy and strong, despite being a chocobo in his adolescence. Which means that he had so much potential when he finally turned into a young adult with all his stats maximised. They decided that neither of them were going to ride him this time, so that Cobalt can preserve his energy but also they did want to share their morning walk together as they made their way to the city fountain, where they were to meet Minwu’s students.

They finally arrived by the Mysidian Fountain; it was so called as it was the biggest fountain in all of Mysidia. It was directly under the city crystal itself, and so it was empowered by its magic. It was a beautiful display that attracted many tourists. This early in the morning though, it hadn’t been flocked to by too many tourists… yet. And there they met his students. They looked like they were speaking to each other, and perhaps even making wishes by the fountain by flipping coins in it, but then as soon as Minwu arrived, they turned to him and greeted him happily.

“Master Minwu! Good morning!” they greeted in unison as they bowed at him.

Minwu nodded at this. “Good morning.”

One of them was the young white mage from their tour from the previous day; Firion was more familiar with her. She was now wearing her normal white mage garbs, just like what she had been wearing in the photo of the news article that led him to Minwu. The other was a black mage who seemed to be a little younger than she was. He wore an oversized hat that folded mid-point, and his attire looked adorably baggy. They both realised that their teacher wasn’t alone, and they looked at the slightly taller man that he was with.

“Oh! Master, isn’t that the man you were with yesterday?” Shiroma asked him. She immediately went over to him and bowed politely. “I believe we weren’t able to have a proper introduction yesterday. My name is Shiroma, and I am a white mage studying under Master Minwu. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“Oh! I’m Firion…” Firion was taken aback by how polite and well-spoken she was. He bowed back as well, albeit a little awkwardly. “Nice to meet you, Shiroma.”

Minwu chuckled at this and he allowed his other student, the black mage, to come forward and introduce himself as well. He seemed a little shy to walk forward, but he decided to do so. He looked up at Firion, as if trying to remember something… have they met each other somewhere before?

Regardless, what they had was the now – this world, this cycle. He decided not to think too hard about it and treat this as if it was their first official meeting.

“My name is Vivi… Vivi Ornitier.” Vivi bowed low. He wasn’t as elegant as the white mage, as he stumbled just as clumsily, if not more, than Firion who was taken aback earlier. “It’s nice to meet you! Mr… Firion, was it?”

“Yes.” Firion sensed the shyness of the black mage, and he decided to act more confident for his sake, now that he has recovered from his surprise. “It’s nice to meet you too, Vivi.”

“Firion, please help me organise the materials of today.” Minwu instructed him, firmly but gently.

It looked like he was finally getting into his role of being a mentor! It was… a familiar feeling to him, as back in their world, Minwu served as their guide, as someone to rely on, while they made that round trip from Altair to Salamand in search of Mythril. He smiled at this, now assisting this mentor to teach his two mage disciples.

While Minwu and Firion were busy making sure everything was ready, Vivi and Shiroma moved closer to the fountain and whispered to themselves.

“Shiroma, do you know that guy…?”

“I don’t know him personally, but I saw him and Master together yesterday when I was the boat tour guide. They seem pretty close!”

“Oh… oh!”

They looked back again to see that the two adults were still busy. Every now and then, the two adults would laugh to themselves as they fixed the learning materials such as the books. They would also take care of the food that they brought along with them; which was stored in the backpack that Firion landed on earlier. Minwu looked at him exasperatedly as he took out some flattened sandwiches from inside the backpack, but they laughed at this together.

“I’ve never seen Master laugh like that…” Vivi commented. “Shiroma! I bet you that he’s his boyfriend.”

Shiroma was surprised with this rather forward conclusion of Vivi, but she wasn’t going to deny it. Ever since the boat ride, she had already felt something about the two. They just seemed to get along so swimmingly; they flowed just about as smoothly and purely as the waters of Mysidia.

Shiroma decided to play along. “Wanna bet on it?”

“Huh?”

“I bet that as of now they’re only friends, but you stand by your theory of them already being together. Let’s find out the truth together before this day ends!”

“You’re on!”

They gave each other a high five. At this time, Minwu and Firion were already done taking care of things and they approached the two students. Minwu smirked at the two, having seen their high five at the last possible second.

“What were you two high-fiving about?” he asked them.

“N-Nothing! We were talking about… about… about how cool that chocobo is!” Vivi made a white lie, not wanting to reveal that he and Shiroma were talking about him and Firion.

“I am glad you think so! He almost won the race yesterday, you know. He came in second place.” Minwu smiled as he guided his students towards Cobalt.

Firion was feeding Cobalt some Gysahl greens and he patted the bird. The two seem to be having a bonding moment, making them closer than ever with each moment spent.

“Firion is his human.” Minwu nodded, and then he turned to the two. “Now then, would the two of you like to ride the chocobo together?”

Vivi could not hide his excitement. It had been a while since he rode on a chocobo! Shiroma as well. Minwu gently helped Shiroma mount Cobalt first, and then he gently scooped up Vivi in his arms and mounted him just in front of Shiroma. Firion patted Cobalt and reassured him that the people he was with were nice, even if Cobalt didn’t seem to have any negative response to them. Once the two men made sure that the two young mages were safe and secure on the chocobo, they were off!

They were to go to a spot just outside of the Mysidian Academy. They found a clearing where mages could stop by and practice their magic, or study for their lessons. There was a tree stump where Minwu could sit on, while his students sat on the soft, trimmed grass to listen to him.

Firion stood by Cobalt and found himself listening to Minwu again. He looked at Cobalt with a goofy smirk, as he felt some infatuated feelings towards the mage from within him stir once again.

“He’s… he’s so cool, isn’t he?” he whispered to the bird.

Cobalt didn’t seem to mind this. Actually, the bird looked like he had a deadpan look on his face, having to deal with his owner’s infatuation.

“I don’t know how to tell him yet… I don’t know if I ever will.”

The way Minwu spoke with such gentleness and passion towards their subject matter to his students made Firion’s heart flutter. But he’ll admit… he started to feel a little sleepy. He decided to wake himself up a bit by taking out one of the bottled potions from the backpack that Cobalt was carrying and drank it. He decided to take some greens out for the chocobo too, as they both listened to Minwu’s lecture.

“Now then…” Minwu said as he closed his book. “When casting Ultima, you need to have a degree of mastery over your spells. Is that not right, Firion?”

Firion suddenly felt called out as he almost choked on his drink. He tried to regain his composure.

“Y-Yes.” Firion said, as he quickly regained his poise and walked forward. “Actually… it was because of him that I learned Ultima.”

“Wow! Wait… but aren’t you old? You don’t look that much younger than Master…” Vivi didn’t realise that he may have come across as too forward; he just spoke what was on his mind at the moment because of how surprised he was.

“I’m not THAT old, and neither is he. Well. He's older.” Firion scratched the back of his head. “And I guess I wasn’t really a student.”

“I would say he was more of a friend who needed guidance.” Minwu chuckled at this. “Though he did look up to me. After all, we were both in the Wild Rose Rebellion before. He and his siblings were new, so the princess needed me to watch over them and guide them.”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Firion chuckled. “He’s not that much older than me, but he was far more experienced having been the princess’ advisor way before I joined the rebellion.”

“The rebellion?” Vivi looked confused. “Master, you were in a rebellion?”

“Mmm… but that is nothing but a memory now. We fought in a war-torn land until we achieved peace. Some of the people from the rebellion who were also transported to this world became Mysidian Guards.” Minwu nodded, and then his eyes flitted to Firion. “I think he is going to see it for himself.”

“Oh, I really thought that he was already part of the Mysidian Guards!” said Shiroma. “I figured that’s why he was still in his armour yesterday when we had that boat tour…”

“No, I just forgot that it was that kind of boat tour and I forgot to tell him about it.” Minwu admitted his mistake. “I am sorry about that, Firion. But yes… he wields the power of Ultima as well. Firion, kindly share with us how you were able to grasp the power of Ultima.”

Firion’s face stiffened for a little while, as he had flashbacks from their previous world. Vivid flashbacks. The power of Ultima… ultimately sacrificed Minwu himself. He remembered mourning him with his friends until his body started to dissipate in the light. He was no longer able to hold him, to see him smile again, to speak with him again…

Minwu noticed the pained, confused emotions etched across Firion’s face. He stood up and set his book aside, on top of the tree stump that he was sitting on. He instructed the two students to review their notes about magic spells for a while, and then he approached Firion. They walked a considerable distance from the two young mages and Minwu made sure his back was turned to the students so that they didn't see anything much.

He gently spoke barely above a whisper.

“Firion… are you alright?”

“You… You can’t just request me to think of Ultima so nonchalantly. Minwu…”

“…”

Minwu had been mistaken. He thought that Firion was doing alright with regards to this, as he had stayed so strong despite experiencing so many losses in his life. But now that Firion had time to catch up and actually wallow in the feelings he wasn’t allowed to have in his past…

He gently, but firmly, grasped Firion’s hands. He made sure that his back was turned to the two young mages so that they didn’t see what they were doing, nor could they make out what they were talking about.

“Firion, look at me.” Minwu said as he pressed his hands gently in his own. “I am standing before you once more. We are given another chance. Firion… I am real and alive.”

Firion gulped at this as he held his emotions back. He felt it was ridiculous to be getting a rush of emotions at this time, and in front of the younger mages too… he had to be strong. He had always been strong. Why now…? Why did he have to feel so vulnerable now? The mention of Ultima must have triggered it, as it was so painful to watch Minwu die and yet not be able to do anything about it.

“You do not have to bear this all alone, you know.” Minwu said. “Come now… let us live for them.”

The two young mages were talking to each other again as they waited for the two adults to end their conversation. They would sometimes look back at them and then keep talking. Perhaps they were talking about the bet, even if they weren’t able to see them holding hands.

“Minwu…”

Firion took a deep breath, and then he steeled his gaze. That was the Firion he knew. Emotionally-sensitive, gentle, and yet very strong with a heart of fire. Minwu smiled at this and slowly let go of his hands.

“I apologise for putting you on the spot like this… but they are looking up at us, now.” Minwu said, emphasising that he wasn't the only person his own students looked up to. “If we can help them learn without them having to go through what we did…”

“I understand.” Firion nodded. He wanted to hold Minwu’s hand again… but now was not the time.

He took deep breaths and gulped a few times, before he walked forward with Minwu to face the two young mages.

“Hey… your teacher was right. I did learn Ultima.” Firion started, but decided to conveniently leave out how exactly he and Minwu were able to attain the spell. He tried to lighten up. “It wasn’t easy! To bring out its full potential, I had to learn various spells and weaponry.”

Minwu nodded at this. “There are various forms of Ultima, but this is the form that Firion and I have come to be familiar with. I was bestowed with the Ultima that required my sole mastery of white magic that raised my spiritual prowess, and he was bestowed with the Ultima that required knowledge of weapons and various spells.”

“… Wait, what?” Firion could not help but be confused.

“However, the Ultima I have learned doesn’t seem easily accessible in this world… so…”

Minwu asked for Firion to take out something else from the backpack that Cobalt was carrying. He instructed Firion to take out a very familiar tome… the Ultima tome. It looked so similar to the tome that Firion and his family were bestowed with in their home world that for a while, he flinched just holding it. But he was able to regain his composure almost right away.

“You two may study some of the contents of this tome today. After which, we will have some magic exercises to further strengthen your magical prowess. We will end at lunch time.” Minwu nodded. “Firion and I have prepared sandwiches for all of us, so we can eat those… and then we will go to the gardens again this afternoon to learn more about plants.”

The two young mages nodded at this and then studied the tome together. They would sometimes have small conversations about how they understood the tome, and then reread it to have a double take at what had just been written. Sometimes, some of the words seemed a bit too heavy, that they sought the aid of their magic phones before approaching Minwu to refine their understanding.

For the most part, the two seemed to be studying well on their own, and the two adults were left resting for a while as they watched over the two young mages together.

“Are you okay? I am sorry for earlier.” Minwu apologised to him, now that they had some time for themselves.

“It’s okay…” Firion reassured him. “I just didn’t think you’d call me to talk about Ultima like that.”

“It was insensitive of me.” Minwu shook his head. “I did not think… I did not think I had left such an impact on you.”

“I watched you die, Minwu.” Firion couldn’t help but hiss. “Of course that would affect me…”

Minwu felt some shame creep up to this. Especially after he did tell them not to grieve his death, even if they truly wanted to, for the sake of the war.

“All those who live must someday die. It is our fate.”

Despite accepting his duties as a white mage to aid those in need, he firmly believed in that mellow fact of life. And yet, he hadn’t considered that his own death left such an impact on Firion and his friends…

He realised it was their destiny to move forward despite the losses, but… the human emotions could not be controlled. They can be contained, but only for so long. It was clear all the losses Firion and his family experienced still affected them greatly to this day.

“… We need to go to therapy together someday.” Minwu said softly, without sarcasm. “But only when you are ready.”

Firion nodded quietly at this. This time, he didn’t hesitate. He reached out for Minwu’s hand and held it tightly. As if he was afraid to lose him again…

Minwu squeezed his hand as well, as if to reassure him that he will not leave him again. Not anytime soon, anyway.

This was going to be tricky. Minwu had a highly accepting view of death, and was resolute to sacrifice himself again if it benefitted his cause… but Firion. Firion had experienced so many losses right in front of his eyes; some, or most, of them being to save him and his friends to go forward for everyone’s sakes. His hand was cold, trembling, and sweaty, as he held Minwu’s hand tightly and looked forward.

Minwu looked at his trembling hand, and saw how stiff Firion looked. That was when he realised he had been staying strong all these years without respite. Just… how many deaths has he seen in that short amount of time? As a white mage, he had to learn that belief so that he didn’t let his feelings in the way of his duties… but Firion. He was younger than he was and led the life of an average citizen… then was suddenly thrust head on in the frontlines of the war.

He squeezed his hand back reassuringly. He still kept his belief about death, but he was considering various perspectives as he also looked forward. Firion didn’t know his train of thought, but he looked at him for a while, his light brown eyes having seen so much pain in his life and yet still so tender…

Unbeknownst to them, they hadn’t exactly hidden themselves from the peering eyes of Shiroma and Vivi while they were studying.

“I told you that he was Master’s boyfriend!” Vivi whispered as they paused reading for a bit.

“Ah… you’re right. You could win this bet, but we’re not very sure of it yet! Sometimes, friends hold hands too! When was the last time you held hands with a friend?”

“Um…”

It was true; they did hold hands not too long ago as friends. They were starting to be more comfortable in each other’s company, after all. Vivi relented, Shiroma did have a point. They decided to continue studying; if their Master caught them speculating about his and Firion’s relationship, they would be done for!

It wasn’t long until Minwu called their attention after about an hour, and they started to have magic exercises together. Minwu led the magic exercises. Being a white mage himself, Shiroma was able to follow suit more easily; Vivi wasn’t, and most of the time, Minwu was only able to help him theoretically as well as with the manner of which can help him cast his spells more effectively.

Luckily, today they had a practitioner.

“Wow, your magic is impressive!” Firion remarked. “Far more impressive than mine. But I think you can make your magic more impressive if you…”

Firion instructed him some tips and tricks that helped him release his magic more efficiently. While Firion’s magic wasn’t nearly as strong as Vivi’s, who was a specialised black mage, Firion had the posture and the mindset. Minwu smiled at the two who were working together to cast better spells. His heart felt warm that he and Firion felt like they were helping two young rose buds grow; as they should, being the two older roses that the buds look up to.

With Firion’s instructions, he was able to release an even more powerful blast of Flare… perhaps too powerful. The blast of flare ended up creating some lasting embers on nearby trees, which caused both Vivi and Firion to start panicking.

“Oh no, oh no! The fire! It’s going to-” Vivi pulled down on his hat in panic.

“Stay calm… d-don’t panic! We mustn’t panic!” Firion tried to calm him down, even if he was internally panicking himself. He had blizzard spells, but he wasn’t sure how much he had to cast to extinguish the flames; it could affect the academy at this rate.

“Vivi!” Minwu called out to him. “Do not panic. You have a Water spell. Use it!”

Vivi recalled that he did indeed learn that spell, and so he was able to use it to extinguish the flames. Relieved, both he and Firion let out a sigh of huge relief that they weren’t going to be in trouble, after all. At least… not by the Academy. Both Minwu and Shiroma stepped up and looked like they were looming over their respective partners. They did scold them to be more careful with what they were doing, to which the other two hung their heads low in humility.

A little while later, it was time for lunch. They decided to find a good spot to eat; there were tables in the academy that were under roofs to protect them from the sun, but were out in open air so that they could enjoy the fresh air outside. Firion and Minwu took out the food and drinks from the backpack that Cobalt carried, and they started to prepare for everyone to eat.

“So, what was he like?” asked Shiroma when the two men were distracted.

“Shiroma… he’s perfect for Master, I can feel it! He may be a bit different, but his heart is so similar to my friend's, Zidane… he has a pure heart and he’s very nice.”

“Interesting…”

Unbeknownst to them, Minwu was watching them interact while he was preparing their food. While he wasn’t able to hear them speak, he smiled that the two were getting along so well under his care. He knew that none of them had particularly happy childhoods in their past worlds, but perhaps their destiny was to lead happier lives in this new world. The two young mages were finally given a chance to act their age without worrying so much about surviving… they were finally living. And he wanted to be a part of this new life, serving as a guide for these two young mages as they grow up.

 And now, with Firion by his side…

“…?” Firion could not help but notice that Minwu was staring at him while they were setting their table. Even if he could not see his mouth, he knew that the older man was smiling.

“Nothing, please… just finish up and let us eat together soon.”

Firion stared at him in disbelief, and then just shook his head with a smirk. He had no idea what the mage was up to, but… could it be? Could it be that he shared the same feelings? But he was so afraid to inquire about it…

They all sat together around the table and began to eat.

“Mr. Firion, where are you from?” Shiroma decided to start asking the questions.

“I’m from Altair. It’s a little far from Mysidia. I did travel three days by chocobo to get here.” he chuckled lightly. He pointed to Cobalt. “By that particular chocobo. His name is Cobalt! He’s always hungry, but I love him anyway.”

“Wow… Mr. Firion, have you ever heard of anyone named ‘Zidane’? You remind me so much of him… he even has a ponytail like you!” Vivi asked Firion as well, curious about this new person they’re with.

“Zidane? So you know him?” Firion looked surprised. “Huh… yes, he’s my friend. In the past cycles, we both fought for our own gods… the goddess of order, Cosmos… she summoned us as her warriors.”

“Whoa! Zidane told me that he was part of that war, too… so you were also in it?”

“You never told me about that.” Minwu looked quite surprised… and quite worried. So besides the war in their homeland, that vague reunion he was summoned to in a past cycle… Firion was also summoned to participate in yet another war that he wasn't a part of? Did he just forget this detail? His eyes grew concerned.

“Ah… hahaha… yeah.” Firion scratched the back of his head, and then took another bite out of his sandwich awkwardly. He decided to avoid Minwu’s gaze and instead focus on the two kids. “It wasn’t easy, but we triumphed! And we went back to our own worlds… for a while.”

“It really is weird…” Shiroma seemed to react. “Some of us seem to have been summoned to cycles more than others. Mr. Firion, are you alright?”

“N-Never better!” Firion felt a little sheepish with this sudden attention. All his companion mages were staring at him expectantly, each with their own emotions. He decided he didn't like this monopoly of attention and diverted the conversation to something… or someone else. “What about you two? How did you meet your Master Minwu?”

Just calling him “Master Minwu” made him feel quite tingly inside. A very funny feeling. It felt as if he wanted to tease Minwu with it when he's in a good mood for jokes.

“Actually, I woke up to this world not too long ago. I think it would be right after the time Master Minwu was summoned.” Shiroma shared her story. “When he saw that I was so lost and alone, he decided to take me to the Elder to decide under whose care I can be directed to. While Master is my master, I live in the academy's boarding house to be acquainted with other mages. Vivi lives in the boy's boarding house, and we happened to meet on the way home.”

“Yeah! I woke up just a bit earlier than she did.” Vivi chimed in. “I looked around for my friends, but they weren't here… when I found out about Mysidia, I was excited that maybe… maybe I could see my Grandpa again…”

Minwu and Shiroma shared empathic gazes as they looked at the young black mage. Having studied with him for some months now, they knew his story very well.

“But… I haven't seen him yet. I will not give up hope!” Vivi pumped his fists. “And now that you're here, Mr. Firion… I'm even more hopeful that at least I will see Zidane again!”

“Ah-” Firion was taken aback. This young mage… he may appear so sweet and docile, and perhaps a bit insecure, but beneath that exterior belied an unbelievably strong heart, a strong will to overcome everything that came his way. “Of course. And when that time comes, I will be here to see it.”

Vivi looked hopeful and then he kept eating his sandwich. Shiroma smiled, almost forlornly.

“You could say we were both orphaned. In my hazy memories, I couldn't remember my caretakers, but I was sure I didn't have a family. Vivi only had his adoptive grandpa growing up, but they haven't been reunited yet.”

“Orphans, huh…”

Firion looked like he empathised with the two greatly, having been through a similar pain. Orphaned at a young age, then adopted to a family, and then that adoptive family was wiped out by the Empire. All but his adoptive siblings, one of whom he had a complicated relationship with.

Minwu only observed this interaction between his friends and his pupils. He was aware of all their stories and their similarities; pure hearts whose stories may not have had happy beginnings, but they did not allow those to define who they were.

“Everyone,” Minwu called out to them. “In a few minutes, we will finish up eating and go to the gardens for our next session. Make sure you have all your belongings with you, okay?”

“Yes, Master!” the two young mages responded in unison and then focused on eating.

Minwu and Firion focused on eating as well, but the former decided to watch his companion surreptitiously. He was happy with how well he had been getting along with his students, and it was nice to have someone else take care of the kids alongside him. They finished up not long after, packed their things up, assisted the two young mages mount Cobalt once more, and they were off to the Mysidian Gardens.

They went through a scenic path where they would be able to see more sights of Mysidia. The two young mages initially wondered why they wouldn’t take their usual shortcut, but they understood that their Master was doing this for their new friend. Vivi couldn’t help himself, already taking a liking to the outsider.

“So, Mr. Firion! How long have you and Master known each other?”

“It’s hard to tell, really. Especially with how you lost track of time in a war, or when you get summoned to various worlds.” Firion answered with a voice more tender than usual. “I’d say it’s a long time by now, though. When your Master said we met in the rebellion, actually… he saved me and my siblings with the help of the Princess.”

It was hard to tell, but Vivi’s eyes seemed to sparkle hearing more about Minwu and Firion.

“We were on the brink of dying after the Emperor’s army attacked our village. They wanted no survivors of course, and they thought they had finished us off for real. But the Wild Rose Rebellion found us and…”

He stopped for a while, both out of nostalgia, but also out of thinking if this was okay to share with the two kids. He figured it may have been too heavy to pass onto them, and he looked at Minwu, as if to ask for permission. Minwu looked at the kids as well to assess the situation, but then he gave the permission for Firion to proceed. Firion nodded, and thought that he didn’t want to make it sound as heavy as it did.

“... your Master Minwu nursed us back to health. He was the advisor of the Princess, after all.” Firion continued, with much tenderness in his tone. “And after we proved ourselves to be able to fight, the Princess entrusted us with her advisor to fulfill more quests for the Rebellion.”

“Excuse me, the Princess entrusted you to me. ” Minwu chuckled at his choice of words. “You needed my canoe, and I needed to guide you out there.”

“Well… yes, there was that.” Firion chuckled at this.

Once again, they chuckled together as they led the chocobo of which the two were mounted on. Vivi couldn’t help but sigh dreamily at this, concluding that there must be something between them. With this chemistry? There has to be something. Shiroma wasn’t too concerned about losing their bet, more than anything she was concerned with her overwhelming curiosity about their relationship. They needed to find out the truth before this day ended.

They soon arrived at the Mysidian Gardens, where various plants grew. It was a beautiful park with a thriving ecosystem between plants and its pollinators. Beyond the brick pavement were rows upon rows of different flora; flowers and foliage alike. Trees and shrubs were abundant as well, from where birds and cicadas sang their own songs. All the plants had their labels, as this was an understandably educational place for both plant lovers and students taking up their studies from their masters.

Firion went over to one side of Cobalt, while Minwu went over to the other side. Firion gently scooped Vivi in his arms, while Minwu assisted Shiroma mount off the chocobo. Briefly, their eyes met and they smiled at each other. Vivi noticed this and smiled to himself, finding himself hugging Firion as he held him in his arms. Firion was surprised by this, but he didn’t protest. He was just far too surprised to let out a real reaction. Minwu smiled at this and then made sure Shiroma was able to alight safely.

They all walked through the gardens, as Minwu would sometimes ask the students to name the plants while Firion made sure he covered the names of the plants in advance. This day, they decided to focus more on the different types of flowers, as well as the anatomy of one. And so for this, they were able to look at different types of flowers, ranging from roses, to hibiscus, and even flowers that eventually became fruits such as dragon fruit blooms.

“Now there could be arguably different types of dragon fruits, but this seems to be the ones we typically consume in our beverages. Pay attention now. These bloom only a few times per year, and typically they don’t bloom very often then.” Minwu instructed as they were in front of a patch of land full of dragon fruit plants. “That one already has a bud that will open soon. Naturally they only open once per bloom, and they bloom only at night. The flowers let out a sweet floral scent. Sometimes, dragon fruits are self-pollinating, but sometimes you will need to pollinate them.”

Minwu stepped forward to the model of a dragon fruit flower right in front of the patch, and then he summoned a small paintbrush. He then demonstrated how dragonfruits will need to be pollinated should they not be the self-pollinating variant. The two young mages took notes, and even Firion looked interested in how Minwu was conducting this lesson.

“Dragon fruits are low in calories but are packed with essential vitamins and minerals. They are also packed with antioxidants; antioxidants are substances that protect our cells from the damage caused by free radicals.” Minwu nodded, as he conducted his lesson with his magic phone as his visual aid.

“Master, what are free radicals?” asked Shiroma.

“... Firion, do you know what free radicals are?” Minwu chuckled as he called him on the spot once more.

“Um… wouldn’t that be… us?” Firion stumbled with his words, not knowing what to answer. “We did fight against the Emperor and we’re free now…”

Minwu could not help but laugh at this, having expected this type of answer from him. “Thank you, Firion. Now… ‘free radicals’ are unstable molecules in our body made by the process of oxidation. Simply put, they could damage our body by damaging our cells, contributing to various illnesses. That is why we have antioxidants, to counter this oxidative stress; as well as adapting our magic to behave in similar ways.”

The students took notes and even Firion looked like he was mentally taking notes as he listened to Minwu. Minwu went on with his lecture as they went around the gardens once more for more of their lessons, before he decided to give them their assignment.

“Your assignment is to draw a flower; any flower, and be able to accurately label its parts.” Minwu nodded. “And with that, our class for the day is over. I’ll meet you two again next week, okay?”

“Thank you, Master Minwu!” they both bowed to him in gratitude. They also turned to Firion and did much of the same. “Thank you, Mr. Firion! It was nice to meet you!”

Firion blushed at this as they warmed up to him pretty quickly. The two adults helped them mount on Cobalt again as they decided to return them safely to their own current residences. Minwu led the way and made sure that they took a shorter route this time. While on the way…

“Mr. Firion… isn’t Master Minwu so pretty?” Vivi couldn’t help but ask him, really sensing the chemistry between the two.

“Um! W-Well… yes, he is.” Firion couldn’t help but awkwardly respond.

“Vivi! Please!” Shiroma reprimanded him, but not too harshly. Just enough to tell him not to be too forward. “We’re not sure if they’re just friends…”

“Shiroma and I made a bet earlier!” Vivi excitedly told him. “She said that you two were just friends, and I said that you were boyfriends!”

Shiroma would normally tell him off for being too excited, but he had a point, and she didn’t really have the heart to do so. He was such a kind lad, though sometimes he could get too excited now that he was no longer living in constant fear and anguish unlike in his home world.

“Mr. Firion, which of us is right?” Shiroma played along, also curious about his answer.

“W-What??” Firion was dumbfounded by this as he didn’t know how to begin. How does he even respond? He looked at Minwu who was walking ahead of them for quite some time now because he was leading their group, but… “Uh… d-don’t you think that’s a bit uh…”

“Please, Mr. Firion!” Vivi looked almost lovestruck. “A hero and his white mage… it just sounds so… so romantic!”

“Um…” he gulped as he tried to think of an answer, what with the two staring at him expectantly.

“Mr. Firion, I don’t really care if I lose this bet. I do want to find out the truth, though.” Shiroma added.

They suddenly stopped in front of the gates of the Mysidian Academy Boarding House. Minwu went ahead to talk to the guards that he was letting his two students home in their own respective boarding houses, then returned to have Firion help with the two alighting from Cobalt. Before they both went in the gates, they each said their goodbyes.

Shiroma bowed politely. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Firion! May we meet again. I hope you enjoy the rest of Mysidia! Thank you for today, Master Minwu!”

Vivi couldn’t help but run over to Firion and give him a tight hug, to which Firion was surprised with. The young mage warmed up to him really quickly, perhaps because of this association he had with Zidane, as well as trying to convince him to stay and be with Minwu. He hugged him back for a while, and then he waved them goodbye.

“Take care, Master Minwu! Mr. Firion!” Vivi waved at them. “Please let us know who won our bet next week!”

The two then went inside of the gates and made their way to their respective boarding houses, and the guards closed the gates for students’ safety. The guards were appointed by the Mysidian Guard Force, and this did remind Firion that he wanted to see the headquarters for himself the next day. Right now, he was all alone with Minwu and Cobalt again. He was distracted recounting the day’s events; being with Minwu’s students really did warm his heart.

“Your stories may not have had such a happy beginning, but that did not make you who you are. It was the rest of it — who you chose to be.” Minwu said with a tender voice as he walked alongside Firion. He looked up at him. “You share that similarity with my students. All of you have pure hearts tested by the trials and tragedies of life, and yet you never lost yourself in the darkness.”

“Ah.” Firion looked at him. “You think so? Thanks. I uh… I don't know what to say. That was beautiful… haha.”

“I am so proud of all of you.” Minwu nodded. “I’m sorry if that came out of the blue. I never got the chance to tell you that in our own world. Firion… I am so proud of you.”

“...” Firion felt his cheeks slowly heat up with a blush. “T-Thank you.”

They kept that comfortable silence with each other for a while, until Minwu opened another topic as they walked under the dusky sky. The sky at dusk was once again painted with familiar hues of gold and auburn, as the moon started to show herself in its backdrop more clearly again.

“What was this about a bet? You made a bet with my students?”

“Y-You got it all wrong! They made a bet with each other!”

“Hmm? And what was it all about?”

“I uh… um. Well! I… it’s… ah! AH!!! I’m hungry! I’m pretty hungry! Come now, Master Minwu , won’t you recommend a place to eat? I will pay for both of us.”

“Stop avoiding the question, Mr. Firion. ”

They once again shared their laughter as they made their way to the heart of Mysidia to share another meal together.

Chapter Text

Life grew peaceful for them for the next following weeks. It was as if Firion’s dreams came true – there was this world, this city, where wild roses can bloom freely.

Every morning, they would greet each other, and they would either meet by the dining area to eat breakfast together. They would take turns cooking for each other; especially if, for example, one of them was exhausted from the night before. Sometimes Firion would be so exhausted from hunting, or sometimes Minwu would be so exhausted from his duties as a white mage.

Their days would often be spent either doing their duties; Firion would go out to hunt to earn them additional cash, and he would sometimes send that money back home to Maria ang Guy, who were still dealing with workshops for the young people in Fynn. Minwu would often do his duties as a white mage, whether it was being a mentor, getting asked to do blessings, or contributing to the academy in various ways.

At the end of the day, most of the time, they would either spend all their time alone in their rooms, or spend time exclusively together. They would spend time each other normally by watching the stars, reading a good book, or even watching something on the magic television together.

The latter seemed to bring them a lot closer… but there is just one thing.

Not once have they admitted any of their feelings for each other.

***

“And how is the hero of Fynn today?”

Minwu greeted his friend who was just fiddling with his magic phone while sitting on the wooden sofa in the living room. The same sofa where he sat during their first night of their reunion, where he still couldn’t believe that Minwu was indeed alive and more than well in this city.

“Minwuuu… please…” Firion called out sheepishly, still not used to overflowing praises.

Minwu playfully nudged him as he sat right next to him.

“Hush. I have some announcement to make. But before that… have you made up your mind about the Mysidian Guard Force?”

“I…” Firion looked down at his phone. He was finally getting the hang of it, and he was able to access the website of the Mysidian Guards. No information about who the guards were, and most of the time, their faces were obscured by helmets or were shot at a distance where it was impossible to tell who was who.

Minwu peered over at his phone. “I suppose not. I will not force you to. Were you, perhaps, looking for someone?”

“… Yeah.” Firion said with a sigh. “I’m not sure if Leon is here. I know I told him I would always welcome him with open arms, but…”

Firion shifted and looked conflicted as he realised Minwu was listening to him intently.

“D-Don’t get me wrong! I’m not going back on my word. It’s just… I don’t know how he’d feel if he sees me again, you know?” Firion looked conflicted. “And I’m not sure how that would affect Maria and Guy when they finally have the time to come here. I know I promised him that he would be welcome if we see each other again but… I’m not sure if I’m ready to open that can of worms again.”

Minwu nodded in understanding, knowing the turmoil that must have been plaguing his mind. He tilted his head and put his hand on Firion’s shoulder. “Firion… you look so tired. Come. Do you want a hug?”

“W-Wha? Where did that come from?”

“Allow me to paraphrase: do you need a hug?”

“I-I do, but…” Firion sheepishly looked at him, then sighed. He relented. He really did want it, but despite already spending some weeks… months, with him, he was still very much the same guy as he was before. Still shy, still cautious, about his feelings for Minwu that only grew each day. Hesitantly out of this bashfulness, he leaned towards him and then embraced him.

Minwu hugged him tightly as well. He laid his hand at the back of Firion’s head and then ruffled his hair gently. For as much as Firion grew, this young man… his inner child had never been given the time to heal properly. And he was going to make sure he helped him live his life to the fullest this time, by his side.

“Feeling better?” Minwu asked, his voice tender.

“Y-Yes… yes. Thank you, Minwu. You always know what to do.”

They then parted and then looked into each other’s eyes. Light brown and warm brown staring into each other. Firion was the first to break eye contact, as he grew sheepish again with his emotions starting to bubble up to the surface.

“I’m sorry.” Firion chuckled sheepishly. “Before you had to comfort me again, you had something to tell me.”

“Now, I am not sure if I will tell you.” Minwu chuckled.

“N-No! No! I’ll listen, I promise! I’m sorry I-”

“No, that is not my concern. I know that you will listen. I am just… not sure if now is the time. Firion, is your heart ready?”

“What…?”

Firion’s heart thumped against his chest. What was he trying to say? What kind of a question was that? His mind began to swirl again with a flurry of thoughts as his emotions started to take over internally once more, despite his cool exterior. He tried to regulate his breathing, but he couldn’t. Why would he ready his heart… while they’re all alone in this very living room they first met in? He was overthinking things again but… he wanted to ready his heart. Perhaps it was time.

Perhaps this was when he finally confessed his feelings… and found out the truth.

“I have been meaning to tell you something for a long time now…” Minwu put his hands on his lap, one over the other. He looked at them for a while, and then he looked up to see Firion once more. “Something important… but I was not sure if we were both ready to face it.”

Firion gulped. “G-Go on.”

Minwu gently lifted one of his hands and laid it on top of Firion’s. It was soft and warm, just like how he remembered it whenever he would heal him from monster attacks… or this time, from his injuries from hunting.

“Firion…” Minwu said tenderly, as their eyes met. “There is someone else…”

Firion’s heart started to crash, like a wrecking ball to a condemned building. His eyes went blank, he wanted to cry, but… like a true rebel warrior, he kept those feelings under the surface as he tried not to give in to his emotions. He only kept quiet as he looked into Minwu’s beautiful warm brown eyes, as he kept listening despite the pain.

“… I want you to meet.” Minwu said as he finished his sentence.

“…” But Firion was far too gone by now, consumed by his swirling thoughts and emotions.

For a minute or so, they held that awkward silence as they just stared into each other’s eyes. Minwu noticed that Firion’s tears were starting to well up in his eyes, despite his blank stare, and this caused an alarm for him.

“F-Firion? Are you okay?” Minwu looked at him with concern.

“Y-Yeah, I… I… I just… I thought…”

Despite keeping a relatively blank expression, Firion started to let his tears roll down his cheeks, much to Minwu’s alarm. The other man could only wipe his tears with his own handkerchief as he did his best to calm him down. After an embarrassing show of misplaced emotions, the two finally communicated a bit better.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

“Your heart… despite it having been through so much, it is still tender. It is not an insult, I am just… surprised.”

They now looked embarrassed in each other’s company as they tried to make sense of what had just happened. Firion would never confess his feelings in that manner, so he tried a variety of excuses that would (hopefully) make sense.  Embarrassment aside, Minwu wanted to tell him something important… about the “someone else” that he “wanted (Firion) to meet”.

“I did not think he would be here but… I think it would just be better if I showed you. Only if you are okay now.” Minwu couldn’t help but tease him a little bit. “Are you really okay now? We do not need to force this if you do not want to.”

“No, no. I’m okay. I’m sorry, really, I am.” Firion chuckled sheepishly, as he wanted to just stop existing for a while for embarrassing himself like that in front of Minwu. In front of Minwu! There go his “pogi points”**.

**Author’s notes: (“pogi points” = Filipino, literally translates to “handsome points”, used in humourous, otherwise non-serious, situations. Think of it as brownie points or an imaginary score for acting and/or appearing conventionally attractive, especially when winning the favour of someone’s beloved and other related people to said beloved person.)

“There is no need for any apologies.” Minwu reassured him. “Now then. Please get ready. Let’s go to him together. I’m sure he will be thrilled to meet you again.”

Now, he was curious. Who exactly was this mystery man that Minwu wanted him to meet? One who was so important, that he had to prepare his heart? It couldn’t be Leon, right? No… Minwu saw how apprehensive he was earlier; it couldn’t be him… could it? As he prepared himself to go out, he couldn’t help but let those thoughts swirl in his head. Not long after, they made sure everything was ready, the house was secured, and they stepped out of the front door to make their way to the Elder’s office.

***

When they arrived in the Elder’s office, they were escorted to wait by the lounge. Firion was tempted to ask him again about who they were to meet, but he decided to stay quiet. When his mind was made up not to ask about it anymore, his mind ended up thinking about his feelings for the other man again. Great, he thought. There was no escape to this deluge of overthinking.

But now, it was Minwu’s turn to ask him something.

“So… feeling better now?” he looked at him once more. “Do you feel safe enough to tell me what that was about?”

“I-It’s uh… like I told you. I just remembered something.”

“Ah… we really need to go to therapy. It must be a severe form of PTSD bubbling on the surface… I cannot blame you, with what we went through, and what you had to go through after I…”

“Minwu.” Firion tried to be firm with his actions around him for once. “When I’m ready, I want you to meet someone too… okay?”

Minwu was surprised with the sudden change in his tone, but he smiled under his mask. He nodded at him. “I am looking forward to it.”

They were now allowed to go inside of the Elder’s office, as he was done with whatever his prior business was. The two went inside and greeted him politely as they were allowed to sit across the elder’s office den desk. It was similar to the one Minwu had in his study, but it was much grander and much larger, with more expensive-looking items fit for the person looking out for the big city’s well-being.

“Ah, Minwu.” said the Elder. “And what can I help you with?”

“Elder, I heard that you were responsible for bringing this young man to my residence.” Minwu nodded, calling him by his title as they had the same name. “Thank you for reuniting us. I have been thinking about how he had been from the moment I awoke into this world.”

“…” Firion could only look at him with a slight blush on his cheeks.

While Minwu didn’t see it, the Elder saw it clear as day and could understand what was going on here. He had seen this before, in all his years of living.

“My students love him as well.” Minwu chuckled at this as he narrated some things that they did together. “Truly, it was nice to have him again by my side. Thank you.”

“Of course. I knew that you meant a lot to him too, having journeyed far and wide just to see you in this city.” the Elder nodded.

“Elder, if we may ask, I do want him to meet someone.” Minwu nodded, his tone a bit more hush and serious. At this, the Elder seemed to know who he was talking about, and he shared the same serious expression.

“Are you sure? He seems a little… detached from the world.” said the Elder. “And he had just woken up fairly recently, which means he may still need some time to adjust. We don’t even know where he came from, or if he has any ties to anyone in this world…”

“… I have seen him before. And so has Firion. I feel he may learn to open up to us more easily.” said Minwu with a firm glance.

The Elder looked surprised. He hadn’t known this fact, as the white mage had never told him anything when they both saw him. Perhaps he stayed quiet so as not to create a ruckus, and he had been waiting for this moment to finally reveal it, now that they could actually take action. He nodded at the Minwu and stood from his desk.

“Very well. I trust that you and your friend will know what to do.” the Elder nodded, as he beckoned them to follow him, to which the other two obliged to. “But mind you, while he is not violent, we need to make sure that he doesn’t cause any harm. I feel a strong life force from him; and a very strong capacity for magic. One that I fear may even rival mine.”

“I understand.” Minwu said. He noticed that Firion had looked like he was starting to have an inkling as to who it could have been, and this made the rebel freeze in thought for a while, and so he reached out for his hand and tugged him along.

The Elder led Minwu and Firion to a secret pathway behind his bookshelf. There, they descended down some corridors through a dark spiral staircase, lit up by torches. It seemed to be a long way down, to the point that Minwu and Firion started to ask themselves if they’ve seen the same torch before, but the Elder reassured them that they had not.

Finally, they’ve arrived at the floor they were meant to be on. The long spiral staircase led them to a spacious room, almost like a temple. The room was wide, and it had stone flooring. It was surprisingly well-lit, perhaps thanks to magic. There were decorative pillars everywhere, especially since this was an olden structure located in what appears to be the Elder’s basement.

This temple in the basement had a summoning portal; it was where they were able to summon forth anyone who had been caught within the rifts of time and space. The people who tend to be caught in this tend to have magical abilities that summoned them to Mysidia. Should they want to integrate into society, they are allowed to; should they not want to, they often go back out of summoning and try to reunite with their home world.

However, this specific person that had been summoned seemed to be neither.

“You see, he has chosen to stay here. But when he woke up, he seemed to not want to come out of this basement… so I decided to give him a makeshift bedroom to stay in.” the Elder gestured to one of the doors by the right side of the temple. “I tried to get some information out of him, but he would not budge. I don’t even know his name, but… perhaps I’ll leave you two to it.”

“Yes, we will take care of it.” Minwu nodded at this, allowing the Elder to resume to his duties to the surface. “Thank you, Elder.”

“Before I go, there is something you need to know about this basement. Do you see those doors?”

The elder gestured to the grand double doors adorned with gold and various precious crystals that appeared to be sealed by powerful magic. It was with his power, as well as the power of other mages that helped keep the city peaceful, that had sealed it so that nobody can just barge through them… and it was designed that way for a very good reason.

“The doors behind that summoning portal is where we keep some of the most powerful spells known to man.” the Elder seemed dead serious. “I am sure you may be familiar with some of them. Behind those doors are great enhancers to different spells… and who knows what it will bring about to spells like Ultima. These enhancers are only to be used when Mysidia and the rest of the world are on the brink of dying.”

“… I understand.”

“And another particularly strong spell is in there, that I have told our new… friend.” the Elder said. “It seemed to have made him feel more at ease. He said that it was his sole purpose in life to guard it to his dying breath.”

“So… the Destruction Tome is here, after all.” Minwu’s eyes were glued to the sealed grand doors behind the summoning portal.

“I reassured him that it’s perfectly safe and he doesn’t need to stay down here to guard it, but… ah. I’ll leave you two to it, then.”

At this, the Elder nodded back, and he wished them luck to talk to this rather shut-in fellow. He made sure that they could hold on their own, gave them some last precautionary measures about the summoning portal, and then bade them farewell as he went up the long spiral staircase once more to resume his duties in the surface.

Not long after, they could hear some giggles from what sounded like a young man from the bedroom. Minwu nodded at Firion, and then the pair proceeded to the bedroom door. Before knocking on it, they listened to the young man giggling behind it.

“Hahaha! Phrekyos, stop… that tickles! Down, boy!” the voice seemed to say in a light-hearted tone. They could also hear what sounded like a rather gargantuan dog playfully tackling something to the ground.

“Wait…” Firion was suddenly struck by a memory, to which Minwu smiled up at. It looked like they were finally on the same page.

That was when the pair decided to knock on his door, to which the giggling and the activity abruptly stopped. It was awkwardly silent for a while, before the voice on the other side of the door called out.

“Who is it?”

“May we come in? We would just like to talk to you. I’m Minwu… although I am not sure if you remember me. However, I have brought someone whom you may remember.” Minwu called out, and then gestured Firion to come closer and speak as well. “Introduce yourself.”

“Hi uh… it’s me, Firion. Is it okay if we talk?”

At this, the person from behind the bedroom door seemed to have unbolted his door locks. It took him a while, but he was able to undo all of them. His door slowly creaked open and in front of them was a blonde young man with tan skin.

“Firion…?” he called out as he peeked through the door shyly. “Is… is that really you?”

“Hey, Deumion. It has been a long while, hasn’t it?” Firion smiled down at him warmly.

Deumion looked left and right, before he decided to open the door fully. Behind him was his bedroom, and he allowed them to enter, as long as they were careful. He was just as they remembered him; his hair was long, slightly spiky, and some locks were in braids. He wore a blue headband, an elaborate, layered white and blue cape, and a long, somewhat translucent skirt to match it. He seemed to wear elaborate blue thigh high sandals to complete his look.

And after all this time, he was still rather youthful having lived for centuries, if not millennia… all thanks to his destiny that he had pursued in their past world.

He warned them, since there seemed to be quite an amount of antiques that the Elder had stashed in this makeshift bedroom. It was a bit of a mess, but it was still spacious and comfortable. It did have a high ceiling like the temple itself, so it didn’t feel as cramped as it should have.

Another more important thing why he warned them was…

“WHOA!!!” Firion exclaimed as a massive creature seemed to pin him down to the ground. Minwu could only watch in shock as this gargantuan canine-like creature seemed to maul his friend down. He wasn’t too worried, since the creature didn’t seem to harm Firion as much as it just wanted to play rough with him.

“Down boy! Down! Sit! Phrekyos, sit!” Deumion ordered his creature to behave, to which the latter did… but not without giving Firion a huge lick on the face. “I’m sorry about that, I think he missed you too. Firion, I’m so glad to meet you again! I did not foresee that we would in another world. And yet… here we are.”

Firion propped himself up on his knees and laughed at this. He looked like a mess, and he knew it. Deumion handed him some wipes to clean himself up with, as he sat on the ground and looked up at the guardian and his best friend.

“Indeed, it’s been far too long. I didn’t know I would see you again.” Firion nodded at him.

Deumion gestured for Minwu to find a comfortable spot in his room. Phrekyos, his canine-like creature companion, crawled on top of his bed. He followed his companion and sat on the bed, with Phrekyos’ tail curled around him on his lap. Minwu sat on a chair not too far away from the bed, and Firion decided to stay sitting on the ground as he felt it comfortable enough.

They didn’t want to surprise him by telling him to go up to the surface and reintegrate in the Mysidian society; they wanted to catch up with him first, and probably ease that in later.

“So, when have you woken up?” asked Firion. “Truth be told, I only learned about you being here today. Minwu told me.”

“I woke up only a few days ago. When I woke up, I saw unfamiliar faces.” Deumion started recounting his story. “But I also awoke to see that Phrekyos was with me, so I wasn’t at all that worried.”

“I see…” Firion deduced that one of the unfamiliar faces must have been the Elder. “The Elder told us that you decided to stay down here?”

“Yes, I don’t know if I could face people.” Deumion sighed. “You’re an exception, of course. But when I saw the Elder and other people, I… I started to feel weird. As if I didn’t want to mingle with them, not because they were bad, but…”

“Social anxiety?” Minwu suggested.

“Oh, is that the word? I have not been aware of society for longer than I thought. Yes, I did feel anxious about the thought of having to socialise with people. Another thought is…” he leaned against the giant beast Phrekyos, who was curled up behind him. “Can they ever accept me or my best friend? I am afraid they would only see him as a menace to society… I cannot have that. Not to mention, people rarely saw me as a fellow person; I do recall that most of them only saw me for my powers.”

Firion and Minwu looked at each other; they did have a point. The two were thick as thieves, nigh inseparable, with an insane power level that even the Elder himself acknowledged and seemed to be quite wary of. He had a valid reason not to want to reintegrate into society, despite no longer needing to protect the Destruction Tome from malicious individuals.

“Mysidia is full of different people. Not just humans, mind you. There are moogles, chocobos, and some others I have personally seen for the first time. Vieras, tarutarus, nu mous…” Minwu started to paint a picture of the different kinds of people he had seen so far in the city. “Mark you, some of them I have seen for the first time in my life after having been summoned here. But they are nice people to mingle with. I think I have also seen some summoners like you, here and there.”

Deumion’s eyes seemed to sparkle with more interest. He seemed to be yearning for more stories, to which Firion obliged.

“You see, I arrived here a few weeks ago by chocobo. Maybe someday when you’re ready, I can let you ride one!” Firion wanted to keep it light, but wasn’t able to help himself. “Anyway, I arrived here because I didn’t know if… if Minwu was still alive. Long story short, he did die some time after we met each other… a lot of people did. The reason why I kept seeing you in the Arcane Labyrinth back then was because I needed your help. There was war everywhere in the world… and thanks to you, we were able to defeat the evil much easier!”

Minwu chuckled. “I am alive and well in this world. And I still do have that Staff of Light you bestowed upon me. Thank you, Deumion.”

“I still have Ragnarok! It helped me fight off anything that came my way on the journey here. Thanks.” Firion chimed in, hoping to help the guardian feel better.

“You two…” Deumion smiled at them warmly as he leaned against Phrekyos comfortably. “Thank you. But that still is not enough for me to want to get out there.”

His eyes lied. Hanging out with these two started igniting a faint desire for him to come to the surface and see what he had been missing, now that he was no longer required to become a guardian. Then again… all his life, all that he knew was to be a guardian sealed away with the most destructive spell known to man. How could he just make such a dramatic shift? He had just been transported away to a foreign dimension, and now he feels forced to change all that he lived for, altogether.

The only thing keeping him grounded right now was his beloved companion, Phrekyos, and these two men that had gone out of their way to visit him.

“Hmm…” Minwu had an idea, and then he summoned his magic phone. Firion wasn’t as experienced with it, but Mysidians had to learn this new technology and others in order to have gotten this advanced together. “Very well, let me show you some things without you having to leave this place.”

He approached Deumion and started to show him a few pictures he had taken from the surface; most of them from the time that Firion arrived. He didn’t seem to take that much photos of things, save for some photos of his plants, and perhaps some… animals? That he had never talked about with Firion before. The guardian looked like he was in awe. Before him, he could actually see something else, and not just rely on his own memories and stories.

Deumion scooted over to give Minwu some space to sit on his bed as well, and he cautiously reached out for Minwu’s magic phone, afraid of what it could do. He poked it and accidentally closed the photos.

“Oh! I am sorry.”

“No, no. That is okay. You know, perhaps we can get you one of these and teach you, that way we can communicate even when we are far away.”

“What…?”

Deumion looked like he was a young child, discovering something new. After all, just like some people in this city, he wasn’t exactly given the privilege to grow up with a normal childhood. Witnessing constant devastation from a young age, having been appointed the sacrificial task of being the guardian just because of his innate powers… the only time he had ever felt a semblance of being a human being was with his mother or the few friends he had gotten in his life.

That didn’t dampen his beautiful heart though; but it wasn’t given any chance to truly shine, save for when he did nothing but aid Firion and his friends by providing them weapons and trials to make them stronger for their own battles.

Right now, he felt like this was an opportunity to be able to befriend Firion and Minwu further than just their transactional needs with key terms and ultimate weapons.

“Let me show you.” Minwu said. He showed his messaging app, and then he showed how the letters and message box appeared. “Deumion, can you read this alphabet?”

“…” Deumion squinted for a while. “They look rather… different, from the alphabet I have been accustomed to.”

“Dang it.” Minwu couldn’t help but exclaim, but then he got an idea. There were accessibility options that they have worked in their technology, so they could probably help out with his case here. “I think we can work with this for now. Do you see this small icon? You can record your voice with it, and it will be sent instantly to just one person.”

Minwu fiddled with his magic phone and made it so that Deumion could rely on visual cues rather than text. They made an example out of Firion.

“Firion, please open your messaging app.” Minwu suggested, to which Firion obliged. He then started to record a voice clip to be sent to Firion’s account. “Firion, you are cute.”

He decided to be playful with his sample message, and then sent it over to Firion’s account, to which the latter blushed at. They demonstrated how instant the voice messages have sent from one device to another, which left Deumion in awe.

“Please! May I also send him a message like that?” Deumion looked excited.

“You can also send him a video. Which one will it be?” Minwu chuckled as he gave him his phone, and then he eyed Firion. The latter couldn’t see it, but he was smiling ear to ear under his mask.

“Video?”

“Oh!” Minwu explained the whole concept to him, to which the other seemed to understand. “It will be easier if I showed you.”

“Okay! Firion, could you… could you get out of my room, please?” Deumion requested him. “I want to make it special for you! My first video message to one of my coolest friends…”

“Sure thing.” Firion chuckled. He got up and walked towards the door. He looked back at them as he swung the door open, happy to see how much they were having fun together.

He let out a sigh of contentment and then walked out the door. He decided to observe the summoning temple while waiting for them to finish up their video message. Just outside of Deumion’s room was the elevated summoning portal, where he had been summoned, as well as other Mysidians who chose to stay and reintegrate in their society. It seemed to be shielded with a barrier for extra precautions.

Around it were two rows of magic glyphs; the first row is presumably for the summoning itself, while the second outer row is for the magic barrier that is now protecting it. He decided to be careful as he walked around it.

He observed that Deumion must have been playing around the basement with Phrekyos… it wasn’t hard to see. Clearly, they avoided the portal but they were able to play around the entire basement. There were gigantic scratch marks all over the floors. Perhaps they were playing tag or fetch. That was a nice thing to think about; in the Arcane Sanctuary where Deumion was effectively sealed, he didn’t even have that luxury. It was good that the Elder allowed him to have some fun.

Perseria, Deumion’s home town, had failed him… all because of desperation for peace that they deemed had required a sacrifice.

Deumion was that sacrifice.

Because of the Destruction magic having become a reality, the elders of Perseria, along with the King, have decided that they needed a guardian to seal it away. As powerful magic wasn’t enough at the time to seal the most powerful magic spell known to man, they needed someone equally powerful to seal it… despite him being a mere young lad at the time.

Deumion effectively lost his family and all that he held dear, except for Phrekyos, the only beast that had stuck with him through ages. Through these stretches of time, he had met only a few people who were brave enough to seek ultimate weapons for a price… but among those, only few were willing to befriend him despite the limited times they met each other. And those were Firion and his friends. They were the only ones in the modern times that were willing to learn about his past and even live through it. None had gotten that far.

Remembering all these, Firion let out a deep sigh. Everyone has had it rough, but he couldn’t even begin to imagine the loneliness Deumion had to go through, and the fact that the very balance of the world rested on his shoulders…

… What does that do to a person, psychologically? What would he have thought of with all those eons of loneliness and heavy responsibility?

That was when his magic phone rang. He looked at it and found that they were finally done recording their video message. He smiled and opened the message.

It showed both Minwu and Deumion just leaning against Phrekyos in the bedroom, just like how he had left them. The main focus of the video seemed to be Deumion, and he seemed to be smiling from ear to ear, something that Firion had never seen him do before in their world for he wasn’t given the privilege to do so. But now…

“Firion, can you see this? I do not know what to say, but…” Deumion chuckled as he clumsily held the phone and then tilted it to both Minwu and Phrekyos. “Look! I am sending you a message!”

How awkward. Firion couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at this as he watched the whole thing. It was just of Deumion goofing around, showing his room and clumsily zooming in and out of different random things. He was clearly having so much fun with this new “toy” that Minwu had lent him. From time to time, Minwu would assist him and explain things to him. It appeared that he understood, but would still slip up from time to time.

“AH! Phrekyos, down! Don’t!” Deumion called out frantically as the camera seemed to black out.

Minwu didn’t scream, but his footsteps could also be heard frantically running towards the camera. After a while, the camera seemed to be free again as it showed a panicked Deumion and Minwu.

“Sorry, Firion! Phrekyos took it in his mouth and started to play around with it like a chew toy… oh no… Minwu, will this thing be alright?”

“Not to worry, mine is heavy duty. Sometimes mine would fall from the second floor and still be alright. Magic keeps it safe.” Minwu reassured him. “Well then, Firion. Thank you for watching this video.”

“I will see you later, Firion! Even if I know you’re probably just out there in the basement.” Deumion waved at him, and then the video cut off.

Firion laughed at this and then he walked back over to Deumion’s bedroom to see how the pair is doing. Deumion was still preoccupied with learning the basic things on Minwu’s phone, while Minwu would keep an eye on him from time to time. He did have private things on that magic phone, and he didn’t want the young lad accidentally finding out about it.

“I received your message.” Firion raised his phone to show them.

“Already? Wow…” Deumion still couldn’t wrap his head around it. He could wrap his head around the existence of the Destruction spell, or being able to summon beasts from other dimensions, but… not with instant messaging and data sharing. It was all new to him.

“While you are still not ready to go back to the surface, you can do that. But… ah, this is a predicament.” Minwu paced around the room. “Firion, we will need to buy him a new magic phone. I know of a good, affordable brand for a beginner but… hmm.”

“I spent some of my savings coming here, perhaps we can pool some money together? Or I can hunt extra!” Firion nodded, as he was down to help Deumion buy his first magic phone.

“Yes, let us do that.”

While lost to most modern concepts, Deumion still knows a thing or two about economics. He seemed to feel a little bad that the two would work extra just for him, because he didn’t want to come out from the basement with Phrekyos; he was still afraid of what the surface held for him, and he may need some more time to get used to having people around him before plunging in a society full of different walks of life. Just the thought of it made him feel a little anxious, but also a little hopeful.

“You need not do that, really…” the guardian shook his head.

“You gave us our ultimate weapons without us needing to pay for it.” Firion made a counter point.

“Yes, but only after I sic’d Phrekyos at you!”

“… Right.” Firion thought about it, but then he shook his head. “Still, it’s not a big deal to us. Tell you what. If you really want to repay us someday, then maybe… if you feel comfortable enough, you can hang out with us.”

Deumion looked up at Firion from where he sat on the bed with his companion, Phrekyos. He seemed to have a certain sparkle to his eyes, although he was quite scared of the thought of going to the surface someday.

“It doesn’t have to be anything grand. If you want, you can just stay at home with us, and you can come back here anytime you’d like to.” Firion smiled at him as he put his hand on the guardian’s shoulder. “We’ll watch the stars together, eat some meals together… maybe just spend the day sleeping on our day off.”

Deumion looked at the two, surprised that they would go to lengths for his comfort. After all, he was used to being seen as a mere tool. Nobody truly saw him beyond his immense power and summoning skills save for his mother. His mother… that he hasn’t seen since he was taken away from her to become a guardian for all eternity. He does miss her dearly, and he wasn’t sure if he would be given a chance to see her in this new world.

But for now… these two. They were the closest he could have to that kind of love… that unconditional love that he hadn’t felt in centuries.

“Deumion, are you okay?” Minwu looked alarmed as he came over to him.

“Huh? Oh.” Deumion just realised that tears were starting to roll down his cheeks. He didn’t even notice it at first; perhaps it was the slew of overwhelming feelings. He didn’t know that the loneliness got so unbearable that people showing him any form of concern for his well-being had such an effect on him. “I am okay… I am okay. I only… I never thought you two would go this far for me.”

“Deumion…” Firion’s face softened at this, realising how he must have felt. He sighed and then he moved forward to embrace him, to which the other followed suit. “You’re our friend now, don’t you forget it. You don’t have to bear this alone.”

Minwu smiled at this. That was exactly what he told him before… that he didn’t have to bear the burdens alone, and that he would be there for him every step of the way. He was also happy to see that the two seem to be getting closer in this new world of theirs. As soon as the pair parted from each other, he chimed in.

“Firion, let’s tell the Elder about this. I have a feeling he would give us the allowance needed for Deumion to buy that phone.” Minwu nodded at him. “After all, we have already volunteered to help him warm up to the city someday.”

“Ah, great idea.” Firion nodded. “Let’s do just that. Deumion… we’ll leave you for now, okay? We’ll be back for you later with your new phone.”

The guardian nodded as he got up from his bed. He beckoned Phrekyos to come with him so that they could see the pair go off. They waved each other goodbye, as the pair went back up to the spiral staircase. As soon as they were off, he let out a sigh. He missed them already. It was similar to the feeling that he had everytime he saw them leave the Arcane Sanctuary. He always had to show them a stoic, formal front because he was the appointed Guardian, and hence duties always came first.

However, as soon as they left the Arcane Sanctuary, he always felt a sense of loneliness. He would summon Phrekyos right back to keep him company after he was sure the warriors were gone, and he would talk to him about the warriors and what he thought the world was like on the surface. Beneath his stoic Guardian front still belied the heart of a dreamer.

“Come on, Phrekyos…” he said as he hugged his beloved beast companion. He smiled into the embrace, now feeling warmer and less alone. “We’ve got so much to talk about.”