vatheon | (no subject)

He wasn't that difficult to find, but then again, Fina always was an airhead. Ramirez would be found on a bench inside the vacant building, near an old supervisor's office. The building appeared to be an old factory of some kind, or maybe a mill. The machinery inside was rather old-looking, especially for Vatheon. Ramirez's wound on his hand was already healing closed, albeit somewhat slowly; his skin was glowing faintly, pulsing silver every few seconds. He had activated his Lunar Blessing ability, a move he shares with Fina.

"Why did you come, Fina?" he asked, his voice still harsh, but not outright hostile like before.

Fina took her time looking, she did not want to find a path and become entirely lost within the building. When she heard his voice as she passed the vacant supervisor office, she walked very slowly towards him. She was very unsure if Ramirez was still as lost as he was when she last met him, her eyes focused on him primarily and she stood at a distance.

The last time the two met? He did not care if she died or if he did? It was unknown.

"....I was very worried for you. I wanted to come see if I could help you." Fina spoke softly, she was well aware that he did not need her help now. She took a deep breath in a released it through her nose.

Ramirez doesn't answer her at first. The bleeding had long since stopped, and while his hand was still tender, the wound was closing fairly well, scar tissue and all. He never did understand why she was so sickeningly kind to him, while at the same time taking sides against him. By all rights, she chose her allegiance. And yet she still clung to their past, as if cognitive dissonance refused to set in.

"I'm fine. I don't need help." Still refusing to make eye contact.

There was a long, daunting silence when he said rather bluntly that her help was not needed....or wanted most likely. A part of her felt as if he wasn't exactly who she thought he was or perhaps came from a different time line or something..

He wasn't as he was when she last saw him, she could not help but fear the possibility of what he could have done to her. Slowly, she took several steps forward and paused right in front of him but not within arms length. "..May I ask you an honest question? I expect a truthful answer." Fina's green eyes stared right at Ramirez, her face softened just a little in hopes that he was not going to lie.

Nothing, really. It was mostly Vyse and Aika he harmed, though she certainly took her share of blows from him as well. Though he intentionally avoided the vitals on all three of them, as well as Gilder; he needed them alive. Galcian's orders.

At her question, Ramirez's eyes narrowed, though they finally made contact with hers. He stared at her for a solid few seconds, unsure if he should even humor her. Finally, he spoke, his voice low, and dull. "Speak, then." Fina was a very sore subject for him, after all. Mostly because of this terrible sense of betrayal he feels from her.

Fina awaited his answer, it was clear that she was not entirely sure if he would even humor her, let alone be honest in his answer. When he finally answered her, she let a small sigh escape her lips and she pressed a hand against her chest. "If I come closer to you, you will not harm me, correct?" Fina was one who would run to him at any second if one would allow her, but not after what she knew of him.

A part of her still wished he would have listened to her long ago, but he couldn't and wouldn't, he was too wounded.

The blonde stared down at him, it was clear she wanted to trust him and it was likely strange that she did not approach him as she wanted to the last time they met.

"What are you playing at, Fina?" Ramirez asks, his eyes narrowing just a bit more, examining her seemingly demure appearance. "Do not give me a reason to."

He wanted to talk to her that night, in the Grand Fortress, where she was kept prisoner. Only in the loosest sense; she was made relatively comfortable, and was confined in the Admirals' meeting room, guarded by the Imperial Guard themselves. They usually only protected the royal family.

Slowly, she approached Ramirez by the side and lowered herself to sit directly beside him. She turned her head and rested her hands on top of her lap,"...The last time I saw you...you were not as you are now." The blonde easily moved her hands and softly took his, she turned his hand over and she looked at his wound. A small sigh passed through her lips and she offered the smallest hint of a smile.

"What happened?" She raised her eyes in his direction.

"What nonsense are you talking about now?" Ramirez demanded, his fist clenching. "Nasr was in flames, the husk of Valua's last vanishing in less than one day. And that foolish Pirate honestly believed he could defeat me. It was only by Lord Galcian's grace that I was willing to spare him."

He turned away from her again. "You are asking the obvious. Your breath is wasted."

She was plenty nervous when she heard the sound of his confusion, he didn't know what he'd done or what happened with Galcian. She turned her head in his direction, thinking of lying to him to some extent. "I come from a time after that, much after, Rami-Ramirez. I am quite happy to have a moment of your time, even if it is here." It appeared that she would only get a chance to interact with him if she was hear, if not? She would go back to a time where he stopped existing and his crystal was in the deep sky, stuck in the muddy ground somewhere.

It was a good way to send away part of Ramirez, he lived in the skies and he should be resting within the skies. Her hand looked over his own, she moved her fingers to rub the inner part of his palm. "Now that we are able to interact on our own, what would you have said to me when we were in Valua?" Fina's green eyes stared at Ramirez, waiting for his eyes to meet hers.

Listening patiently, Ramirez can scarcely believe what he's hearing. From a separate time? And why was she so cavalier about it? He wanted to accuse her of lying, and was about to when she asked her question. He barely noticed her fingers over his palm, his eyes glancing at their hands for only a moment.

Her question... right. He wanted to explain himself that evening, to make her understand why he was doing what he was doing. "It is simple," he began. "I forsake the Elders. I forsake their mission, and my heritage as a Silvite. I refuse to serve their purposes, and choose to serve a man who would see the world saved, rather than destroyed."

Fina did not want to admit that she wanted more than this, more than what he told her and she believed he wanted to approach her for other reasons. While he spoke, she found herself unable to look directly in his direction, concentrating on massaging his hand in a way in hopes of relaxing his tension. When he finished, she turned to look at him with a face full of worry and she shook her head a little.

"There was nothing else? Nothing at all?" Fina, who never was able to get this answer from Ramirez from her own time felt disappointed. Ramirez hadn't seen or or even been with her in so long that she expected a part of that smiling young man still lingered within him.

"Ramirez, I have waited a very long time to know what you were going to say that night...was there truly nothing else? I already knew this." She figured it out when he openly betrayed them.

Of course there was more to it. Much more. He glares at her, his white lips twisting into a vicious sneer... but he relaxes just a little bit at the continued contact to his hand. "There is nothing to discuss. You took sides against me."

He finally breaks the eye contact, looking away from the blonde Silvite. "I was going to ask you to stay in Valua. I received my answer the moment I found out that you escaped with the pirates."

Whenever she saw the growing vicious sneer, she cowered to some extent by refusing to look directly at him until his seer disappeared. While she waited for Ramirez to say something, her thumbs gently went over his palm, she was doing what she could to keep him from snapping at her. When he tuned away, she moved slightly closer by scooting so she was basically beside him.

Fina lifted her head when he finally admitted what he was going to say, she could only offer a slight smile. Each moment that passed made her feel guilty, she needed to say how she felt too.

"Ramirez? I was afraid of what they would do to me if I refused. When I saw you, I was afraid...you were..different."

"I am different," Ramirez shot back. "I hate the Elders. I hate what the Silver Civilization has become. I hate Valua, and I hate Arcadia." And for the longest time, he convinced himself he hated her, as well.

"But I see that there is only one chance for the world to change. For the vile decadence to be reversed, and to create a society in which the strong are no longer held back by the weak." He shakes a bit as he says that, his teeth gritting for a moment as he remembers Mendoza. "If Galcian asks me to kill a thousand, I'll kill ten thousand. If he asks me to kill Teodora, I'll kill Enrique as well. What I didn't want was for him to ask me to kill you, and so I had hoped to have you join us."

He then turns back to face her. "Because if he did, I would not hesitate."

It was very difficult for her to hear the ways things were from his own mouth, she could only remember him crying and angrily shouting. Ramirez was someone who had been incredibly hurt instead of nurtured properly as she had been so lucky to have. Fina stopped massaging his wounded palm for a minute, just looking at it and there was the most minimal amount of happiness to know he was at least still alive. She could never explain how hurt she'd been when she knew he would never have that genuine smile dazzle his face. Even now, his face was made ugly with a sneer.

Fina made sure to listen to him, she did not say that she was feeling a bit depressed hearing this. Fina had knew it all along, she knew it when she could no longer reach Ramirez after Galcian passed away. Ramirez had such an ugly, black heart now and it bothered her.

"I...." Fina felt tears well up in her eyes but she refused to cry, that would be saved for much later. She kept her eyes staring at his injured palm, her thumb pressed against his to open his hand a little more.

It was the truth. The man Fina knew was dead. Gone. And he wasn't coming back. He was just too traumatized, and Galcian knew exactly when to swoop in and brainwash him beyond redemption. And Fina siding with the pirates was the last straw for him.

Well... not the last straw. That was Galcian dying. But thankfully... he doesn't know about that.

"You chose your side. And it was not at mine."

It seemed to two were so similar and so different. Fina had an iron-will, she never gave up even when everything felt like it was fruitless. The blonde-haired girl took a long minute and felt the need to bring up a very important point to Ramirez. While she was an asset to Valua, she knew it was only a matter of time before her usefulness had ran dry with them and all they would need was Ramirez.

"If I had chosen to be at your side, how long would it have been until you murdered me, Ramirez? If you were so set on listening to him, no amount of asking would have changed his mind. I always want to be with you, always. I must mean very little to you and while I was on my mission...I believed you were dead all that time. I was not as certain as I am now that you meant more to me than I to you." Fina said with a heavy heart, she spent her whole life knowing that Ramirez was her everything. When she realized that he was 'dead', she had become reclusive as she was the only Silvite left truly living.

"Things just happened. I never wanted to fight with you."

"Galcian could have seen the use of having the last Silvites left alive. And he was fully aware of the Elders possessing Silver Crystal shards, as well. He did not need ours."

Maybe he's in denial. Maybe he's clinging to idea that she was wrong, not him. No, not maybe... definitely. Definitely in denial. "I wanted to see you join us. The last two Silvites, ruling over the world at Galcian's side, as it should be." His eyes closed. "But you chose pirates over me."

Fina listened to him speak, but she knew differently already. She knew he did not know that he'd been ordered to kill her, she remembered the pain, the firm betrayal and how little she meant to him. At this point? She was not exactly sure what his feelings were but he was still angry with her for going with Vyse.

"The time frame I am from...you..." She had difficulty actually saying it aloud. "He ordered you to take my crystal from me, yours was too precious. You nearly succeeded." Fina stared at Ramirez, the look of hurt was on her face and it was the identical face she made when he'd left her for his mission seven years ago.

"You did not care then."

Edited 2012-07-27 03:38 (UTC)

Ramirez is silent for a few seconds, following this revelation. He attempted to look away from her, but he couldn't. And when he saw that all-too-haunting expression, he felt something tug at his heartstrings. Something he hadn't felt since Mendoza caused him to have a psychotic break, resulting in the Aquila Massacre.

"That would not have happened if you hadn't stayed with the pirates." He's trying to deflect his own guilt. The only thing he can think of was believing that Fina truly did betray him at that point, and whatever feelings he might have still had now were totally gone then. "Although, the Elders deserve to die more than you. For now."

If there ever came a time where she wanted to slap him into reality for a moment, it was now. She would never raise a hand to Ramirez, not ever but she wanted him to see that he was definitely wrong. It didn't matter what side she was on, what mattered was that she was the second person on the planet who had a Silver Crystal in her body.

"You were never illogical, Ramirez. Galcian needed a Silver Crystal and I was the only one, besides you to have one. It was only a matter of time. It hurts me that you could even consider that I deserved to die at all...is that how much you've come to despise me?" Fina had waited so long for a such a moment and he had become illogical, spiteful even.

"What if I came to Arcadia to bring you home with me? You wouldn't have come with me." Fina wanted to believe that the smallest hint of him still left within his heart.

"You say I betrayed you but you forgot I existed, R-Rami. I waited for you."

Fina turned her face away from him now, she couldn't bare to look at him. A part of her heart always held a special place for Ramirez, she cried when he departed from the world often without others seeing. Fina tried to mask some of her turmoil by using her hand to wipe away any access tears.

Edited 2012-07-28 01:41 (UTC)

Ramirez didn't answer her at first. He did. He hated her, and at the same time... he still couldn't forget everything they had been through together on the Great Silver Shrine. It hurt him that she chose pirates over him. It hurt him that she would rather run from him and take sides against him than attempt to salvage what love they had for one another. To him, it was the ultimate betrayal; moreso than Mendoza.

"I hate that you took sides against me. I hate that you chose pirate scum over me. That is what I despise," he answered, refusing to answer her point about needing a Silver Crystal. He then, however, shook his head at her next question. "I despise the Elders. I would never return to them, with or without you."

Her next point made him visibly flinch. He finally turns to face her, and glare, as if he were almost about to accuse her of lying. "I have at last found a true purpose in life. If you do not wish to be a part of it, then that is your choice. Not mine."

It did not take long for Ramirez to shut her out as he had been doing since he knew she was in Arcadia. Every part of her wanted him to embrace her, to apologize for how he'd left her and then forgotten about her. Fina's tears were real, she was lucky to have been avoiding his gaze, she could not have taken another ugly sneer or glare coming from his face.

"I did not like that you left me, I did not like that you forgot and I did not like that you never came back. You could have taken me with you. We could have gone together somewhere else, Rami. When I was in Valua, I was not ignorant enough to believe they would allow me to live and you could not believe the same. That purpose is gone now, Rami." Fina was not willing to simply bend because Ramirez refused to see his own errors.

"I left with Vyse because I was afraid. No amount of begging would have stopped my death if Galcian thought it was necessary and he believed it was. We betrayed each other to an extent I am sorry, but I do not feel to need to be so cruel as to say you never mattered to me. You always mattered." Fina said in a rather firm, yet soft tone that only she could carry. She was not as weak-willed or weak-minded as the Elders claimed her to be.

He was silent while she spoke. And for the longest time, he refused to believe what she was saying. Take her with him? Absurd. But... Mendoza might have allowed him to keep her. They would have been a packaged deal. And then maybe Galcian...

No. No, Ramirez was not going to allow himself to have any regrets. Fina was not going to get to him. No, she--...

Ramirez finally turned to face her when she said he always mattered to her. Of course he knew that. He knew it every single time she tried to convince him to turn away from Galcian, but that just was not possible. Galcian was the last, best chance to change the world for the better. To remove people like Mendoza.

"You never gave me a chance to talk to Galcian." There. One last ditch attempt to deflect any guilt away from himself.

Fina refused to give up, refused let him go without taking blame for what he'd done to do. He never apologized for leaving, for forgetting, for never returning and certainly not for harming her. Fina was not like Ramirez, she was given the courage to act on her own and as much as she dearly loved Ramirez, he wouldn't be allowed off so easily.

Raising her right hand, she wiped away her tears from her face and placed her palm against his heart. "No, Ramirez. It would not have mattered, he is not a kind-hearted man and only saw what could be useful to him. He wanted to call down the Rains, you wished to help him and needed a Silver Moon Crystal. You told me this and repeated to me that the man I knew was dead. I understand you did this for Galcian but you still attempted to murder me."

Fina felt she needed to add more,"Even now, with no Galcian, you still....I was so pleased to see you again, I just wanted..." Fina couldn't finish her sentence, she couldn't say aloud that he was dead from her time. She couldn't repeat anything but she could help him.

"I'm not Mendoza, I'm not the Elders or Valuans or a horrible pirate. I am Fina, have I ever been anything else? I know you are incredibly hurt, I know, Rami." Fina felt she needed to make a point, so she moved so she was in front of him and set down on her knees. The blonde haired girl set there and stared up at Ramirez.

"We both made mistakes to the other, I was scared and you were angry. Do we still need to be enemies? I don't want to fight you, I've never wanted to. You were always the one wanting to fight." Fina sighed, she was hoping to save him from committing suicide or something like that again.

Ramirez closed his eyes. Every piece of him wanted to grab his sword and silence her, right now. He couldn't bare to hear her words. It was painful, mostly because he knew she was right. And he hated that.

"I will never be the same Ramirez again, Fina. He died when Mendoza betrayed him." She needed to understand that, and he knew she never would. "I have seen the world for what it really is. But even still, I would rather see it changed than destroyed. And Galcian is the only man who can accomplish this."

The silver-haired Silvite watched her get down on her knees. "I no longer knew what to call you when you betrayed me, Fina." He turned away from her when she asked her question. His eyes clamped closed, and his breath caught in his throat. "Even if we leave this world, what then? Nothing will have changed. You will not join me in Valua."

Whether Vyse and everyone did the right thing or not, she still lost a very special someone. She didn't know which thing was worse, she half wondered if she should be settled with knowing he lives here where they can never be together or close again. Moving up, she crossed her arms and placed them against the top of lap, her head placed on top of her arms.

"The world I am in now is a world where you are unreachable. I do not know what is worse, being able to be around you and being hated or you being completely unreachable." Fina hid her face in the hole on her arms. "This is cruel."

"Nothing I can do will ever be as cruel as you choosing pirates over me," Ramirez shot back, still keeping his eyes closed. He can't bare to look at her, right now.

Deep down, he wants to say yes. To be with her. To see this world as a blessing, where the two of them can pick up where they left off at the Great Silver Shrine. But truthfully, he's afraid. He can't lose her for a third time. He just can't. That will be seen as the ultimate betrayal.

"If I agree to this... will I be able to trust you not to betray me again?"

She went completely silent when he mentioned that she'd been just as cruel but she could not see it that way. While her head was resting on his lap, she tried to hide that her eyes were well with tears that she was trying to stop. Her small hands clutched the fabric on his legs as if to suggest that she would never release him, even if he asked.

She moved so she was sitting down with her upper body still on his lap, there was a dead silence until he spoke. Her entire body stopped moving for this and she raised her eyes a little, shifting so she could hold eye contact.

"Yes, Ramirez."

Ramirez's eyes close again as she says this. The feeling of her head on his lap is one he has missed for quite some time. He could clearly remember the last night they spent with one another; how he could barely remember more than five minutes they had spent not cuddling one another. He was almost sure he would marry Fina, but... things changed so much over the next 24 hours.

And they had done so even more today. "Then... I will trust you." He says, reluctantly. But if Galcian were to arrive here... "... but know that I can't forgive you a second time."