A Thousand Shades Of Blue

Personally I think not writing the "bow chica wow wow" parts makes it more romantic and personal. It gives it a mystery and adds love to it because even in the writing it's something personal that they don't want to share with anyone even us the readers. Ah young love.

Actually, I just left it open for interpretation. For now.

Well done, my friend.

Just one word... wonderful!!

Day 78 - Part 5:

And that was all just yesterday still.

I’m currently sitting at the café, it’s around noon, and Cai has shown up with some Mulsum for Selim and I. He refuses to let Marz drink, for fear that she’ll go crazy and kill us all.

They keep tossing sideways glances at each other, and I find it hysterical to realize how much I was missing.

I feel good again, and that’s why Cai is finally buying me a drink. I’m laughing, I’m eating right, and I’m smiling. I like this, a lot.

In a few days we ship out back West, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve been away from my home for a while, it was crazy, and I am worried about the others.

Something tells me they’re okay though, and so I’m pretty alright with that. They know how to take care of themselves. They’re grownups.

People keep coming up to our little motley crew, smiling and thanking us for everything. It’s nice, in a way. It’s nicer that we don’t actually have to pay for anything. We’re allowed to sleep at the palace, eat wherever we want, and pretty much everyone is treating us like heroes.

Which, I suppose, hey; we are, aren’t we?

The bells haven’t rung in days now. There hasn’t been a single attack. The only Beast Men to even come have been a few troll ambassadors to parley.

They remind me of the Gigases. I hope the runt is okay.

But I digress. I’m developing a ferocious love for this eastern seafood. It’s spicy, it’s got some zing. I’m sure that I can get a few recipes. In fact, I’ll go ask the chef as soon as we’re done.

Mulsum is a bit too sweet for my tastes, and when I said that Marz giggled and pulled out a flask from somewhere in her ninja garbs.

Cai let out a mumble of defeat and looked like he was about to cry, all in good humor of course, as Marz took my Mulsum and downed it before refilling the drink with something that blew my mind away.

Apparently, that stuff is made out of rice. Cai, ever the mother of the group at the moment, insisted I drink some water and coffee, citing that he didn’t want to totally corrupt me in one day; besides, he said, mixing those two was a surefire way to get me to vomit, and I still hadn’t even tried a real San d’Orian drink.

A woman just came over with a child with a giant bowl of dried dates, insisting that she wished she could do more to thank us and that she hoped we liked it.

We thanked her profusely, insisted we didn’t need anything, and then dove into the bowl.

Life is good.

It’s really good, for a little while.

I figure that when we head back to the west we should dock near Windurst and make sure that the town is still secure, and begin our march once more. We’ll purge the lands as we go, of anything we may see.

We’ll secure the three towns and Jeuno again, and this time we’ll start the offensive. We’re ready. It’s time.

Speaking of being ready, Cai said that the Vizier told him that those weapons were mostly from the cache of the legendary hero, Balrahn. Fancy that, eh? I guess they go from one hero to the next.

I just hope I don’t get too comfortable with my new status.

On that note, I have verified that I have a bit more control over my transformations now. It doesn’t hurt as much. It gives me a wicked headache, but I seem to be just fine. For now. I haven’t tried “Going Flayer” fully, because that seems to require a considerable amount of healing time. It’s just not worth it.

It’s dark territory, that whole bit, but I’m sure that in time I’ll find something darker to do. If there’s a plague that turns people to mindless ghouls, there’s obviously a whole field of dark arts that I’d never even dream about.

I’m going to put my book down for a while and enjoy myself. I’m only writing out of habit now. I don’t feel like I need to do it; it was helping me escape what was going on by being able to rationalize it. Besides, I notice a certain puppetmaster watching me from the other side of the tea house. I can’t help but smile.

=D

I assume you're coming to a close on chapter 2? If so, very well done and very nice character development. I can't wait to see more of your work!

I always contemplated writing something like this outside of my novels, but I never did. Glad to know that it wasn't a bad idea and someone with a genuine talent for writing actually did. You serve as an inspiration for aspiring fantasy writers I think, Sectum, so keep up the good work.

Yeah, Chapter 2 is almost done. It's actually turning out to be the exact same length as Chapter 1. I'm glad this is an inspiration, and thanks for all the compliments :)

Also, I'm glad I found another novelist lol. Been working on mine since I was, well, an even... younger kid lol

Well keep it up. If I can get published, anyone can XD

You're published? OMG to the PMs this convo doth go!

*starts chewing on his elbo* more need more suffering from withdrawls /drool *resumes chewing on elbo*

Day 79:

This time I went to bed alone and when I woke up, Nashmeira was lying next to me, her arms wrapped around me, tugging me awake. I must be a sound sleeper now that I’m not running for my life.

She got out of bed and she slipped into her Puppetmaster’s outfit. The sun was just barely up and we went to go get some tea and watch the sun rise.

We keep touching each other; I’d reach for her hand, or she’d lean her head on my shoulder or maybe if we were sitting across from each other she’d press her legs against mine.

I was a chef once, as I’m sure anyone reading this knows by now, and part of running my own store was that I got to observe people. I got to see a ton of couples, but was never really involved with anyone. I understand the body language well enough.

She made me promise that I’d come back one day. Now, I intended on it, anyways.

We made a stop off at Kushdeel’s; he had an entire coffer of clothing for me. Nashmeira whispered in my ear that she read up on the West’s geography and had him build a few sets of clothes for any of its environments, and a few more dressy versions for fancy parties.

Fancy parties?

I thanked her profusely; it was nice to have someone who cared about you for the sake of caring. Not only that, but now I can go back to rotating my clothes. It makes sewing up rips and tears that much easier.

We carried the coffer back to my hotel room and we were thinking about what to do then, but we got a bit distracted after that.

A few hours later I met up with the others. They were discussing the weapon cache they raided in the palace and local rumors about the weapons.

“We’ll see soon enough how good they are,” I chimed in as I walked into the private room they were in at some restaurant or another.

“Morbid as that may be, pretty much,” Selim agreed.

He just kind of blended into the group. I’m assuming that while I was in those comas he bonded with the group. I owe him my life either way, and he’s a nice guy.

“So, where’ve you been so often?” Marz prodded.

I shrugged, but I could feel my cheeks tinting red.

She was going to prod further, but a waiter came.

Thank Altana for that. I like my friends, we’re going through hell together, but I don’t think I have it in me to talk about my missing hours.

Cai, however, had some semblance of a clue. He asked me who she was as I stood overlooking the ocean. He told me that he could see it in my face.

I told him that it was just a Puppetmaster I met, and he chuckled.

“To be young…” he said.

I had to agree.

“You’ve been a lot better lately,” he said.

I had to agree again. “I get by,” I said, “with a little help from my friends. Nightmares only last so long. The voices, they’re still there; but we’ve reached… an understanding.”

He placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re a good kid, Sect; I wish that it didn’t all happen to you.”

“I’m kind of glad it did,” I said. “I didn’t go totally crazy yet; I think any other sixteen year old would by now.”

He chuckled. “It’s good to have you back.”

“I’m sure that I’ll grow a bit darker again when we go home,” I said. He shrugged this time.

“I hope there’s still a home there.”

I said nothing, but silently I was hoping with every fiber of my existence that he was right.

Very nice mix of relaxation and foreshadowing for what's to come.

Day 80:
I was inside most of today with Cai. We were discussing different tactics and how to respond to different scenarios that we may be faced with in the west. Our biggest fear is that there’s nobody left, but that would pretty much be the simplest one to deal with; in that case, we simply slaughter everything on sight and sweep it out.

What we’re realistically expecting to see is that Windurst is slowly withering away to hunger and starvation and that Jeuno is still basically just barely functional, if not overridden by demons and Turned.

Our major plan is to simply sweep through the cities, gather survivors, and position them in Delkfutt’s Tower. We then intend on sweeping Northward to try and simply slaughter the demons.

We intend on using any and all means necessary to extract information on what the demons did to cause this, and what we have to do to stop this. If there’s a way to purify Turned without killing them, I’m all for it.

What’s a little more killing though?

What I’m curious to find out is this: if I kill a Turned, do I get something from who they used to be? If so, doesn’t that mean that they’re still themselves, and that we’ve been murdering people?

I’m not sure if I can live with that, but I’ve got to try.

I should be keeping a party alive atm but...this...I just can't stop reading...

Day 81:
I met her in the palace again. I’m pretty much allowed to come and go as I please.

Nashmeira absolutely assaulted me when we reached her room.
I’m leaving tomorrow morning, the Immortals are readied, and the Trolls have signed a truce with the Empress, formally now.

And all I can think about is how I have to leave her behind.

Am I leaving her behind, or am I just clearing the path in front of us?

I’m not sure. I feel like I’m being pulled back by destiny. It’s a giant whirlpool. It’s this mindless, shapeless, impossible to gauge force that I can’t fight.

She’s had rations, armor, and whatever else she can think of sequestered just for me. She says that she even has a special Chocobo that she helped raise set aside for me.

We’re getting Chocobos. That’s so cool.

She ordained me an ambassador of Aht Urghan. I’m allowed to make treaties. I’m allowed to voice what I think she’d say in formal meetings. I’m the Hero of Aht Urghan; I’m the Voice of the Empire.

All because she trusts me, and she needs me, and by Altana I need her.

I half wish that she could come with me, that we could continue what we’ve been doing. We’re young, we’re so easy to fall into this mess that we don’t even know what it is, and I know that I don’t care. It’s nice. It’s smooth. It’s amazing. It’s fresh. It’s everything that the Turned took away.

Is this love? I don’t know, I’m just a kid, and she’s just a kid. We’re just kids fooling around.

But no, in some way, we’re not just kids. We can’t be. We’ve done too much, we’ve seen too much. We shared that. We shared everything now. We just keep talking, when we’re not occupied doing other things.

She just returned with a tray of chocolate covered strawberries. I’m not going to lie; what she’s doing makes me reconsider love as a possibility very quickly. I sense a long night ahead.

Day 82:
In another few hours I depart. I’m looking out a palace window, writing by candle light. Nashmeira is looking at me from the bed, sometimes smiling and sometimes crying softly because our time is up. It was some five days of clear skies for the both of us in our lives.

It’s kind of bizarre, to be honest. She’s just a kid, I’m just a kid, and we’re scared shitless, and that’s what brought us together in an instant. We kept talking.
That’s what we’re based off of, I think. We kept talking. We kept talking about anything we could, because when we spoke we forgot about the stupid reality we live in. And you know what? It helped.

It helped having someone to talk to. It helped having someone to listen, and to listen to. It helped having someone to be with.

We cried a lot, too. We cried so much that I think we ran out of tears, and then I think that’s when it all got better for both of us, because we were never allowed to cry before that. It was all held back, ‘cause we had to be strong. Then we had each other to be strong for and to let be strong for the other.

I’m going to miss her, a lot, and I’m half tempted on not going back home. I’m never going to forget how close we became. We’ve barely spent time apart this week. I guess it just kind of goes with the expectations; she’s an empress, I’m a hero.

But I’m over most of my problems now, because everything is smooth now. She helped me smooth out my mind, my life, and whatever a soul may be. More than that, she made me remember why the fight was so hard before; I had nothing left to fight for. I was just fighting ‘cause it was all I had to do. Now I’ve got something worth fighting for; it will always be in the back of my mind that if I don’t stop the Plague in the West, that one day she too may be Turned. That thought alone makes me realize that I don’t want to give up.

Now I’ve got her, and you know what? She’s worth fighting for. I’ll come back one day, because she saved me just as much as I saved this whole Empire.

She’s beautiful, she really is. She’s looking up at me with her eyes half opened, trying to stay awake and see me off, knowing that the second she falls asleep that I’m going to close this diary and go on my way.

She’s almost looks like an adult with her hair down and with the sheets covering half her body, as she watches me, her eyes fighting sleep. She’s so scared to never see me again, she told me herself. I’m scared of coming back and she’s not here. I’m scared that Zabi will fall to a group of Turned or something.

But it’s not the sort of scared that cripples me. It’s the sort of scared that helps me keep going, this time. I’m more smooth than scared. My mind is clear, smooth, and at peace for now.

I’m pausing, waiting for her to fall asleep, because I know how hard it is to have to say goodbye to someone, and I’d rather that pain be shelved on me instead.

i. love. this. story. xD weeeeeeeeeee!

The final entry has been recovered through piecing together various copies that have been made, each being identified as one year apart each. The original, and many of the copies, are too smudged from what is assumed to be tears to be fully read.

~~~

Nashmeira, I know that sooner or later you’re going to read this, and I just want to thank you for what you’ve done for me. I hope you can forgive me for stealing one last kiss as you slept.

Everything is smooth now. As I look from the window and back at you sleeping, I realize that my soul’s become as smooth as a thousand shades of blue in the ocean as the sun just barely comes up, and I want you to know that that beauty will always be bound to you and what we’ve shared in my heart, forever.

I’ll come back, some day.

I promise.

And I hope you guys have enjoyed Chapter 2 of the work I'm still trying to title! Tune in later for the start of Chapter 3, On A Pale Chocobo.

Also note, that that title is not a literary reference; it's for the song from the first Halo's soundtrack. Track 19, On A Pale Horse.

Oh, also, pdf and .docx versions later. Leave me feedback and positive or negative criticism, constructive or otherwise, in your attempts to sway me to keep writing. Also, if you want to be tossed in, send me a message and I'll see what I can do. Factor in, I'm going back to reuniting a ton of characters, and I am unsure if I am talented enough to fit a ton of people in all together; especially, all things considered, as this is a first person narrative as someone would see their world, using diaries for their own therapy.

Just wait 'till you see what I have planned for Altepa. JUST YOU WAIT! :DDDD

That was fantastic! I felt a tear even. I Can't wait for the next chapter. You are a fantastic story teller.

i've got gooseybumplies. Very nice Sect, I love it! <.< got any room for a lil Taru black mage ;P

LOVE IT! Can't wait for the next part :D. And I'd love to be added in but I'm sure it would ruin the story lol.

Keep it up my good man

ALTEPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Eagerly awaiting chapter 3

What's a good file sharing site so I don't have to go through hoops when my server resets itself? Anyone know?

What kind of file sharing?

Just want to host a pdf version of this. Contemplating just tossing it on my grandfather's website, now that I remember it.

Well FilePlanet is what I used when I made .dats for ffxidats.com, I think, and they're all still saved there.

google docs?