Twenty-Seventh Shooting Star - voice;

[risingwinds]

[It's been about four months now since he had his talk with Lea. Most of that time he's spent trying to keep his spirits high. Socializing with friends, going on with his day-to-day routines.

But a recent talk with Masaomi and the whole lantern ceremony a few weeks back smacked him in the face and brought those words back into the forefront of his mind. The fact is, his future's far from pleasant. All signs point to one massive failure for him and his friends.

So here he is, journal in his lap. Maybe it's time to finally air those thoughts.]

So, um... I know at least a couple of you guys have bumped into people from the past or the future, but have you ever been hit with some really bad news? Like, say you had this goal to save a friend. Keep 'em from losing themselves, but it turns out you failed. That friend doesn't just lose themselves: they become somebody else's vessel.

If something like that did happen, what'd you do? 'Cause for me, knowing really hasn't helped. I'm stuck with the fact that I couldn't save my two best friends, and when I get back, I'll probably forget that I ever found out.

I just hate feeling so helpless.

[There, he got that off his chest. That's the first step.]

But it got me thinking about something else, too. Say we find a way to get back home without forgetting everything. Do you think it'd be wrong to try and change that future? Because I feel like I should so that my friends don't end up suffering, but doing something like that means changing the futures for everyone else, doesn't it? And I dunno if that's really fair.

[Sigh. What a mess.]

I dunno. It's all way too complicated. Makes me wish they were here now so I could ask them about it.

Comments

voice

[foundafamily]

[Yikes. Firo really doesn't envy this kid.]

If you don't have any other obligations besides your friends, isn't your duty to try and save 'em?

voice

[risingwinds]

'Course it is! And believe me, if I had the choice, I'd head back there right now and fix everything.

[But that's obviously not gonna happen. Worse, he doesn't even know how it'd impact Sora and the others.]

I guess I just feel kinda guilty, too. Changing the future could cause problems for other people, too. It's one of those things that's sorta up in the air, and there's no way to tell whether it'd end up better or worse.

voice

[foundafamily]

Are the other people more important than your friends?

[What even is basic decency.]

voice;

[elevatoravatar]

"Back home, there was a man who taught me to be more than a simple attendant. He gave up his soul to become the barrier that sealed death from despair. I do not know if this is what you mean, but where I come from fate and one's soul are very closely tied together."

There is a very long pause, "That and sometimes even trying to go back and change things, even reset the universe just so you can make things right, does not work out how you expect it. Things may be the same, may be different, or may be worse. Not that trying to change the future is bad, but the past can be dangerous."

voice;

[risingwinds]

Well, see, the thing is, none of that's in the past for me. A lot of the really bad stuff I heard about hasn't even happened yet.

[And at that, he sighs.]

I dunno. I feel like I should at least try and set things right, but unless we find a way to keep our memories together, that's probably not gonna happen. We'll all be stuck back where we started unless something changes.

voice;

[elevatoravatar]

She sounds a bit confused, "But if you are returned to the beginning then you can make the changes needed, can you not?"

[dangerouswind]

I'm pretty sure there's more than just a handful of people with the same problem floating around here. I don't think the future's written yet. There's no excuse for doing nothing when you have a chance to change something for the better.

[risingwinds]

Maybe it's not written yet, but I'm still kinda worried about how it'd affect the people from that future. I'd hate to erase 'em from existence. That's just way too cruel...

[Sure, Lea would probably still exist, but what about Roxas? Xion? Some of his friends came from that future, and something tells him that changing his friends' fate might carry some heavy repercussions.]

[dangerouswind]

Who says you are?

[quantumtangled]

[He eats, sleeps, and breathes time travel, metaphorically, so this is common sense to him. Of course, it's also the kinds of questions he's been asked before...]

No, it would not be wrong. I have seen others with similar goals.

[risingwinds]

Did they manage to achieve those goals? I'm sure it's one of those things lots of people think about, but it can't be easy to accomplish.

[Maybe because he's never heard of successful time travel. Or, well, not outside of books, anyway. Ven's been in Luceti long enough to pick up a couple sci-fi stories, but their accuracy's kinda debatable.]

[quantumtangled]

Yes, they were successful on more than one occasion. You are right that it is difficult, but it was worthwhile.

filtered; voice

[redshifted]

[ Lea winces when he sees this message.

True, he'd meant well. But the fact was, he kind of dumped a lot of information on Ven, a lot of information that was pretty rough to have to handle. Part of him still hopes that finding Ventus is the answer to the riddle that is this war, but it seems more like he's only one piece of the puzzle. And if it so happens that this Luceti world is just a bubble in spacetime, a hiccup of the universe, and nothing Lea has learned or imparted during his time here will remain in his or anyone else's memory upon their return... then he upset Ven for nothing. Which seems kind of sad and awful.

Things have been pretty awkward since that conversation. So awkward that they haven't spoken much in a few months. Lea keeps worrying he'll open his big mouth and make things worse. But... ]

Hey.

Uh...

I'm sorry. That I dumped all that on you. I didn't really think it through, you know, at the time.

[ Lea rubs at the bridge of his nose. ]

You know, if I were in your shoes, and someone told me when I was your age all the stuff that would happen to me and my friends over the next ten years? I'd... probably feel the same way you do. And I guess I didn't think about that. So... sorry.

filtered; voice

[risingwinds]

[It's not that Ven wanted to avoid Lea. He's not the type to hold a grudge, and he's sure that Lea meant well. Trouble was, Lea's words hovered over his shoulders for months. Try as he might to block them out of his head, they kept crawling back. Whispering reminders in his ears.

For someone as big-hearted and optimistic as Ven, the news came as a burden, not a blessing. He's managed to keep up a positive front, but by now, it's just hard to push it aside. And now that Lea's here, those words are back at full blast, blowing into his ears.

But it's not Lea's fault, and avoiding him's not gonna accomplish anything.]

It's okay. Like you said, you didn't know. I think it's just one of those things you can't know until it's staring you in the face.

[He breathes a soft sigh.]

It just sucks knowing the future and being unable to do anything about it.

[Voice]

[accepted]

No way, it wouldn't be wrong! If I found out something I could do to change things back home and I kept my memories then I'd do it. Even if you do end up changing the futures for other people, if you're doing it for a good reason then you can only change them for the better.

[Or so he thinks anyway. If you change things for the best for you and your friends, then surely the same must apply to everyone else in your world.]

[Voice]

[risingwinds]

Believe me, that's what I'm hoping for. I do wanna make the future better, and I'd like to think it's still possible. We just gotta find a way. Maybe there's some kinda Shifting technology that'll help us out.

[It's really hard to say. Ven just can't accept defeat. And wasn't there that shift that sent people to other worlds once?]

[Voice]

[accepted]

Of course there's gonna be something. I don't get how it all works, but there was that experiment a long time back that sent people home and to other places. That ended up causing lots of errors in people though or something.

[But surely the technology they used to pull off that experiment in the first place must have been improved on since then. It's been ages.]

[voice]

[fellpool]

Being in Luceti is like a long, long practice in figuring out how to get over a feeling of walking in place.

[Even if his voice is wry, Leon is quick to sigh and continue talking.]

Even with the bad news and knowing how this place is, it's good that you're still thinking of "what ifs," Ven. Just because it's complicated doesn't mean you should shrug it off, right?

[voice]

[risingwinds]

Exactly. I don't wanna lose hope. Maybe this is too sentimental, but I'd like to think there's a way to make things better for everyone. I just don't know where I'd start.

[It's a tough call. The future's one of those things that's just penciled in in theory. Ven knows the outcome, but if he could just get to Terra again. Warn him. Wouldn't that make things better?]

It'd help if we knew what made people forget. That could make a huge difference.

voice;

[universal_charm]

As someone who has been the product of such a decision... I can't tell you. I'm happy with my life. It's had its challenges, and is clearly way different from the other me in the other time-line, but I don't hate the way things turned out for me either.

Maybe everyone's future turns out okay, maybe it goes wrong, and maybe you can't change it all. Time's a wonky bastard like that.

voice;

[risingwinds]

Wait, timeline?

[There's something Ven hadn't considered. Alternate timelines? Would changing his future simply split things off rather than erasing the future Lea experienced?]

I guess you're right. It's one of those things I'd never know until it happened, and there's still no telling if I'll even remember if I go.

[voice]

[personafalsify]

Kind of makes you wonder... which would be worse. Completely forgetting it would happen at all, or knowing it would and being unable to stop it.

[ Sigh, no, he meant to try to cheer up Ven, here. Okay, let's try this again. ]

But if you could change the future, things would probably get better. Even if it made things different... you're helping someone. That's worth something, right?

[voice]

[risingwinds]

I dunno. Forgetting means we don't know what's coming, but it also means that when things do go south, we can't even prepare. It'd just hit us like a blast to the face.

[But that's just such a negative outlook, something Ven wishes he could shake. It's just not like him, after all.]

And sure, I'd like to think that way! I just wish I knew for sure. I mean, I'd hate for anything to happen to you, Roxas, Sora... You guys deserve to stick around just as much as Terra and Aqua.

[Voice]

[knightofratatosk]

I don't know if it's bad or not, but the people who came from the future in my world wouldn't tell me what happens to me in the end. They said I shouldn't know something like that before it actually takes place because it might change things somehow.

[Voice]

[risingwinds]

And it's tough to say if it will or won't. I guess in a way, not knowing's kinda nice because you don't have to worry about what's ahead. But at the same time, if people tried hiding it from me, I don't know how I'd feel.