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♥ Who: Gladio and OTA.
♥ Where: Everywhere.
♥ When: January 3rd.
♥ What: Gladio finding his feet and meeting the locals.
♥ Rating: PG-13

Another Strange Place:
[Gladio had been walking toward a small group of children, smiling as disarmingly as a man as large and seemingly intimidating as he could. The adults were nowhere to be seen, aside from some of the elderly. He'd hoped to gain some information. Anything, to help...

But between one step and the next... everything went dark. Not not a bad kind of dark. It felt... strange...

... When Gladio opened his eyes to see sky above him, white clouds, blue, clear sky... He turned his head slightly to see... nothing he expected. Instead of rustic houses, dirt paths, wooden fences and children at play, he saw white. White pillars and columns shaped like trees. Red and white ornaments. Strange looking birds. And he was laying down in the centre of it all.

He rose slowly, turned and dropped his legs over the edge of slab of carved stone he lay upon. When Gladio looked down he still wore the same clothes he'd been wearing (black leather pants, dark brown tunic, black cloak), so at least that hadn't changed. There was a sigh as he lifted a hand to scrub across his face.]

Damn train's done it again...

[Was this a side mission? Why had he been pulled away? And where was everyone else? When Gladio looked at his wrist he frowned, his SCA was gone. That didn't bode well. He was just contemplating calling out when a strange robot approached him... and that's where Gladio found out that he wasn't in Irivar anymore.

He was lead from the stone slab into another area to find more robots... he was handed a tablet, some local currency... and sent him on his way.

Gladio stepped out of the, what was it? He looked back and up. Temple... definitely a temple. He stepped out... and immediately sat himself down on the steps in the snow to try and work his head around what the hell he'd gotten himself into this time.]

A Teeny Tiny Fortune:
[Having noticed the strange booth, Gladio approached curiously. These robots were a strange thing, but so was the box that he was handed. He shook it as directed, a small, amused smile on his lips.

Then he was given a piece of paper.]

"The smallest things can bring the biggest rewards." Huh... good things in small packages, right? Thanks.

[Still looking very amused, Gladio shoved the paper in his pocket and turned to go.]

Stuck On You:
[Apparently he needed to look for a place to live. This was a big step up from a small room with a smaller bed shared between four people.

Gladio had taken his cloak off and had it wrapped over one hand. The laces of his leather tunic had been loosened and he was considering just taking that off as well, but figured near stripping in the middle of the street could be frowned upon.

He was so distracted by his surroundings that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Gladio bumped into someone. Automatically he reached out to stop whoever he ran into from hitting the ground... except that never happened. Wait, why couldn't he let go?]

Sorry! You okay?

Taking Stock:
[He'd found his way to the centre of the city it seemed. He'd found a fountain, an interesting structure that Gladio stood for a while, just looking at. He moved around it slowly, looking at all angles, before he sat himself down on the edge.

He stretched his legs out in front of himself and sighed.

So far this place didn't seem to have anything in common with where he had been before... He was starting to get a sinking feeling.

It was cold, there was snow everywhere, but nothing that was going to bother him so much that he was rushing to get indoors. He'd spent so much time inside over the last few months, even the snow was welcome.]

Home Away From Home:
[Houses... Small houses bunched together... And he was supposed to find one.]

Right... so how the hell does this work?

[Gladio walked up the street, then down it again, before he stopped in front of a house that appeared to be vacant. The tablet thing claimed it was unoccupied, so he walked on in.

After having a look around, he laughed to himself and did what was necessary to become the new owner... and then dropped himself down on sofa. Well and truly done.]

Wildcard:
[If you have another idea for a prompt, have at it, I'll run with anything. Though if you'd like to contact me I can be found on plurk and discord:

JustAnotherUsername | Theo#4816 - poke me as needed![

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She notes the hesitation, so offers a minor elaboration: ]

They're more molasses-y than ginger-y, if that changes your answer.

[Realising he'd been caught out, he gave an apologetic smile.]

Sorry. Some bad memories of ginger. But sure. Cookie sounds good.

[He took a sip of the chocolate. It was really damn good. Though he had to wipe a bit of whipped cream off of his nose after.]

You don't need to apologize.

[ For a split second she wonders how anyone could have bad memories of food, then recalls her first (and only) experience with avocado.

She puts down her hot chocolate and strides back into the kitchen, tail flicking back and forth behind her in a perky, focused manner. The cookies are in a bird-proof container well out of reach of the windows, and she pops open the lid, plates a few of the delightfully soft, chewy cookies, then promptly returns to the living room. ]

If you decided you don't like them you don't need to finish any.

[ She takes her drink and her share of the cookies with her as she takes a seat on the opposite end of the sofa. She keeps her back against the armrest and her feet tucked daintily under her.

She takes a long sip of her hot chocolate, whipped cream and powdered cocoa sticking to the intricate grooves found in the patch of scales on her nose. It will take more effort than she cares to exert to clean her scales out, so she just wipes her skin clean and takes another (smaller) sip. ]

You can ask questions. I may not have all the answers, but I can point you to others who might.

[He waited for her to return, thanked her for the cookie and then without hesitation he picked one up and bit into it. The heat of the ginger was still very much present, but it wasn't so bad that he felt like he needed to make an exit and spit it out. Aside from the ginger taste, the cookies were pretty damn good.

He washed the bite down with some of the hot chocolate, and shook his head at her question.]

Not sure I have any. What mores to know? I was dragged here against my will and I'm expected to hug my way to saving the world. Bout sum it up?

[ She keep an eye out for any sign of distaste as he tries the cookie and, upon seeing none, she finally allows herself to fully settle into the warmth of her sofa. ]

That's the general idea of it. We've been kidnapped for the purpose of empowering the so-called gods with our touch. We're paid for our 'services', as if that makes things any better.

We're trapped within the city, and attempts to investigate the barrier and beyond will lead you to a night in a jail cell. Strange things happen regularly, like being stuck to someone for a time, though often there are more powerfully disruptive events—being turned into children, sharing dreams or memories, and rain that causes rapid growth are a few examples. These begin mid-month and last to the end of each month, give or take a few days, and not every month has a severe event taking place.

There's more resources to keep oneself occupied than there used to be, but services for physical and mental health are still severely lacking. If you're used to frequent activity and combat you'll be lacking in it here.

The natives are largely overzealous, eager to please, often invasive, enjoy gossiping about our private lives, and are too naive to understand why that may be bothersome.

And the replicated food tastes awful.

[Gladio just stared quietly for a long few moments before he sighed. His mug was set down on his thigh as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

He was getting one of his headaches.]

And there it is. The catch.

So I need to be on the lookout for that, huh?

[At least it wasn't life or death. Random magic was almost a relief to the fear of getting people killed.]

'The catch'? [ She echoes, confused. ] The only redeeming quality of this place is that there is a chance to reunite with loved ones.

The place seemed too good to be true. There's always a catch.

The last place sent us on missions that risked our lives.

This place... magically messed with our lives.

It's the catch for being in a place like this.

[His eyes opened, head tilting forward to look at Era.]

The price for loved ones. Right?

'The last place'?

[ She holds his gaze for the briefest of moments before looking down at the ring on her finger. ]

...If given the choice, it isn't a price I would have paid.

I was somewhere else before here...

[Gladio looks somewhat surprised by that admission.]

So you'd prefer to be home than here?

Well, I should hope so. [ She jokes, though quickly sobers. ] ...I was as well. It was a nightmarish place filled with all manner of gore and cruelty and death.

[ She can't bring herself to look at her wedding ring now, after making such an admittance, though she knows Ardbert wouldn't begrudge her these feelings. ]

Yes. I love them and the family I've made, but I was not made for love and homemaking and idleness. I exist only to safeguard my worlds and the life upon them. That is my purpose.

This is simply... A dream I cannot keep forever.

[Gladio just looked damn sad. How often had he thought the same thing? He was living proof that they were all living on borrowed time. He'd left people he cared about, in love with... he'd had a ring as well, but had never gotten the chance to hand it over.

It was all snatched away in the blink of an eye.]

A dream, huh... Yeah. That about sums it up.

[He hesitated, lightly tapping his fingers upon his mug... before he ventured, tone low, deep. Imparting a thought he hadn't voiced to anyone on this world.]

Its because of that, I don't feel like me. I'm a Shield. It's who I am, a life I was born into, raised to be. Nocts Shield. But what good is a Shield in a world like this? This isn't Eos. Noct isn't a King with a Kingdom to rule.

Its uh... been tough... working out who I am, when I'm not a Shield. I was like you. Didn't think falling in love was for me. Making a home. Sitting around on my hands doing nothing.

But I learned to like the peace, Era. I learned being a friend was better than a Shield.

I'm screwed if I ever make it back to Eos.

My first memory was being told by Mother of my world that I had to save it from the Darkness. The Crystal Bearer, She called me...

[ She sips at her drink. ]

Adventurer. Hero. Warrior of Light. Warrior of Darkness. Azem, the Traveler. Shepherd to the stars lost in the dark.

I am all of these things. I will always be these things. I am a concept; a legend; an ideal. I have always been what I must be, and that has never been a person.

[ It's something she struggles with even now, after more than a year of effort. Something inside of her rebels at the thought of truly seeing herself as more than a weapon, because it's so much easier that way. Weapons cannot feel. Cannot hurt. Cannot falter.

People are so fragile, and she can't dare risk being truly broken. ]

Here though... I must be a friend, a sister, a daughter, a wife. I have to be a woman I've never really known, and still don't really know.

I don't know how to be a weapon and a person at the same time, but... The people I love are helping me, so it isn't as frightening as it could be.

[ She frowns down at her drink, brows creased in a way that shifts the patch of scales on her nose upward. ]

You are a Shield, Gladio. You'll always be a Shield, and that doesn't make you any less of a friend. It just means you are better equipped to keep your loved ones safe.

If you ever make it back to Eos, remember that peace. Fight for it. Bring it back to your world.

[He understood her. He did. While she clearly had a lot more weight placed on her shoulders than he could ever fathom, he understood the idea of being a something over being a person. He'd always seen himself as a Shield. Put duty first. How often had he pushed Noct because of that? How often had he denied himself the simple pleasures that normal people had, because he was the Shield. Because of his responsibility to the crown.

There had only been one true exception. One bright spot that had given him respite from duty. And that had been his sister. He'd been a brother, not a Shield. Had helped raise her and watched her grow. It made him feel like maybe he wasn't a total lost cause.

But while he knew this wasn't a competition, hearing Era speak, he felt so silly and small for his own worries. His own insecurities.

He hadn't been born a weapon. He'd been born a protector, a shield, all he'd needed to be was strong and to help Noct become strong too, so he could one day take up the mantel of King.

And yet...]

I'm glad you've people here helping you, Era.

But the people helping me... aren't here. Who I was learning to be, who I could've become, got left behind. I have to start all over again here. [He took a little sip of his cocoa, licked the cream from his lip, and laughed quietly.] Don't know if the others are ready for a Shield who... is tired of fighting.

[But if he ever went back to Eos? Yes. He could fight then. He could bring with him his desire for peace and do whatever he could to get that peace.

Except he knew the future of his world. And he didn't know how he could fight that.]

Anyway, maybe I won't ever get back. I'm still convinced I'm just a clone. A shadow of Gladiolus Amicitia, and the real one's back on Eos. Only way to explain copies of people, and timelines. Somewhere out there, I'm still on Eos. And you're still on Eorzea.

[ Era stares at him, eyes narrowed and looking wholly unimpressed. Her tail tap, tap, taps the cushion at a slow, judgmental pace by her ankle.

She waits in silence, as though daring him to continue. ]

[Gladio wasn't too sure which part was earning him the look, so took a wild stab in the dark.]

You're telling me you've never wondered?

Wondered what? How stupid what you just said was?

Era...

I've just come from a place with not one, but two Nocts. Prompto and Ignis where there too. Not the same ones here.

I've heard alternate realities, multi-verse stuff that went over my head.

But sometimes it's easier to think I'm a copy. Helps me sleep at night. Means I'm still there for my little sister, and she's not alone.

[So think he's being stupid all you want, he has his reasons for hoping he's a copy...]

What? No— Not that, the other thing. The not having people and having to start over thing. And you sounding as though being tired of fighting is some horrid thing you'll be rejected for feeling.

[ And, okay. Fine. She'll acknowledge what he's theorizing as well: ]

...And your clone theory has a gaping flaw in it. I can explain a more viable one to you, if you like.

Ah, that. [He shrugged a single shoulder and chuckled.] It's true. Partly.

The guys haven't been through the same things I did before, with those guys. A lot can change in four months... And longer for them.

The guys here just remember the asshole I was back home. I'm not the same person, Era. And now I've gotta work out who that is here as well. But I will. With time.

[A smile.]

I only make guesses, I've no idea. But shoot, tell me your idea.

Then tell them that, Gladiolus Amicitia.

There is nothing wrong with admitting you've changed. What would be wrong is closing yourself off from them without explanation, or giving them an opportunity to help.

You aren't the only one who has changed, you know.

[ She sighs and shifts a little where she sits as she tries to think of the best way to explain her current theory. ]

Think of every single moment in time as its own location. A person can be taken from any moment in time. Therefore, in theory, the same person could be taken from multiple 'locations' in time.

If time continues on in that person's absence it becomes a separate timeline, like a new branch on a tree.

The way things work here is that our souls are taken and brought here, while remaining tethered to our bodies at home. Time is 'paused' while we're here, resuming only when our own worlds tug our soul back.

Here, our bodies are definitely not clones. The resources for such a thing don't exist, and if they did the natives would have organic bodies to live in again if they chose to.

The biggest issue with your 'clones' theory is that souls cannot be cloned, nor are they something easily created.

Yeah, I know that.

[They all had too. He'd noticed it, of course he had. And he would explain himself, when he had the chance. Oddly it was easier to say all of this to a stranger than it was to those who should have been closer to him.

But in time he'd come clean.

If they hadn't already guessed.]

Multi-verse... A kid called Peter tried to explain that to me.

But clone, copy, shadow... just words to mean 'not the original'. But it's an interesting take on it. [He just wondered how that translated to someone who had been somewhere before. There'd been no mention of souls on the Trecker. Just a need for people with the skills the Trencker wanted to save alien worlds.

Could his body still be there, then? Frozen in that place, waiting for his soul to return and time to restart?]

If you apologize to Noct for being an asshole I'm sure he'd understand. He's good that way, you know—at understanding what isn't said, and knowing when to be patient rather than push for answers.

Having conversations through text helps, too. If you're talking through a screen it feels... safer, I suppose? Less judgmental. And you can take your time with phrasing and answering.

[ She shakes her head. ]

No. We're all original. Our souls are just being shuffled around. And if you've doubts about your soul we could always ask my... [ ...what was Hades to her now? ] ...ex-fiancé...?

[ She sounds very unsure of this title for him. ]

Um. He goes by Emet-Selch, and there is no other with keener soul sight than him.

[Apologise... maybe he should. Maybe she was right. It'd be worth giving them a chance to see past what he was before to who he was now. Gladio nodded. He'd do it, when the others weren't so... delicate. Nearly dying, sickness and stress, Gladio's issues could wait until all that was dealt with.

He took another sip of his hot chocolate, it was getting cooler now.]

Lets not, eh?

Just in case... Ignorance is bliss sometimes.

[A curious smile.]

Soul sight though?

Edited (accidentally pressed enter!) 2021-01-12 03:33 (UTC)

You'll run into him eventually, and if he makes no comment about it then your soul is unremarkable to him.

[ She takes an unnecessarily large gulp of her drink. ]

Every soul has its own unique shade of colour and intensity. There is no hiding your identity from his eyes.