AU Lucetific - Baronverse - 1/21
Mar. 31st, 2012 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seikilosTitle: 21 Could-Have-Been Years in the Life of Cecil Harvey
Fandoms:![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
luceti, Tales of Legendia, Final Fantasy IV
Genre: Gen
Rating: This part G; PG overall
Words: 744, ?? overall
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the above media.
Summary: One day, the King of Baron finds a newborn and a woman under a tree outside the city walls.
Author's Notes: The first in a series of twenty-one fics (damn you, Hecate!) covering the first twenty years of Cecil's life in an AU where Grune was found alongside him when he was rescued as a newborn by the King of Baron. She then became like a mother to him and spoiled him absolutely rotten.
I am kind of excessively fond of this AU, so expect lots of this in the next while. :|b
(0)
With a yawn and a stretch and a smile, a woman wakes up under a tree.
"That was a lovely nap," she says to herself. But what was it that woke her? She isn't quite sure—not until she registers the sound of a baby crying.
The woman turns her head and right there, right next to her, is the baby she's hearing. It's very tiny and wrapped up in a blanket, and its face is red and twisted with effort. She sits up and quite naturally gathers her baby into her arms. She doesn't ask herself how she knows the best way to hold an infant or when she became so practiced at it, because she quite simply doesn't think to.
"There, there," she murmurs to it, and it seems to stop crying out of sheer surprise. "It's much better to start the morning with a smile."
But surprise can only last so long, and soon the baby resumes its howling. The woman rocks it in her arms and shushes it, but the baby cries on.
She's so focused on making the poor baby feel better, she doesn't realize she has company until she hears someone say in alarm, "Miss, you should not be out here alone. It is dangerous."
She looks up and sees a man with purple hair and a mustache speaking to her. Behind him are several soldiers.
She frowns just a little and glances about before returning her gaze to the man. "Is it?" It looks so peaceful.
He seems surprised. "Of course. Monsters roam this area freely."
"Oh." She rocks her small new friend a little more as she absorbs this.
The man gives her a strange look. "Monsters or no, what possible reason could you have for bringing a child so young out here?"
"Oh, I didn't bring the baby," she explains.
The expression on the man's face shifts into deep confusion. "You did not?"
"Oh, no. I woke up and the baby was right there." She would point, but her arms are full.
The man glances behind him at the soldiers. "It is not yours?"
She thinks about that, her head tilted slightly. "I don't know. Do you think it is?"
He gives the others a longer look this time. "I am beginning to suspect not. . . . Might I see the child for a moment?"
"Yes, of course."
Without hesitation, she transfers the baby to his arms. The baby is no happier there and continues its squalling without pause. It is even less happy when the man pulls back the warm blanket covering it to check its sex.
"A boy." The man folds the blanket back—and then his breath catches and he pales. He looks down at the woman. ". . . Do you know this child's name?"
"Hmm. . . ." The woman thinks for a bit. "I wonder if I do."
"Then, unless we learn otherwise, let us call him Cecil."
The woman watches him as he stares down at the baby. She's content with this turn of events. "Cecil. . . . That's a nice name."
". . . Indeed it is." One last too-long look and the man turns to pass Cecil to the least uncomfortable-looking soldier behind him, then holds out a hand. The woman takes it and stands, but does not let go.
"What is your name?" he asks, then hesitates. "Do you know?"
"My name is Grune," the woman says. ". . . I think. Is that right?"
He gently, tactfully slips his hand from hers. "I believe so, yes. It suits you." He gives her a kind smile. "I am the King of Baron, Grune. Would you like to stay in my castle? At least until we can find your family."
Grune doesn't curtsy or express any form of surprise at the importance of the man in front of her. She only smiles. "Oh, yes, I'd like that very much. Thank you—that's very sweet of you."
One of the soldiers clears his throat, but the king shakes his head. He turns back to Grune. "In that case, I would be honoured if you would accompany me to Baron Castle."
Grune tries to take his arm, which nearly causes some problems until the soldier holding Cecil has the idea of passing the baby back to her. Then, king and guards and lost woman and child all return to where they will stay for a very long time.
Fandoms:
luceti, Tales of Legendia, Final Fantasy IVGenre: Gen
Rating: This part G; PG overall
Words: 744, ?? overall
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the above media.
Summary: One day, the King of Baron finds a newborn and a woman under a tree outside the city walls.
Author's Notes: The first in a series of twenty-one fics (damn you, Hecate!) covering the first twenty years of Cecil's life in an AU where Grune was found alongside him when he was rescued as a newborn by the King of Baron. She then became like a mother to him and spoiled him absolutely rotten.
I am kind of excessively fond of this AU, so expect lots of this in the next while. :|b
With a yawn and a stretch and a smile, a woman wakes up under a tree.
"That was a lovely nap," she says to herself. But what was it that woke her? She isn't quite sure—not until she registers the sound of a baby crying.
The woman turns her head and right there, right next to her, is the baby she's hearing. It's very tiny and wrapped up in a blanket, and its face is red and twisted with effort. She sits up and quite naturally gathers her baby into her arms. She doesn't ask herself how she knows the best way to hold an infant or when she became so practiced at it, because she quite simply doesn't think to.
"There, there," she murmurs to it, and it seems to stop crying out of sheer surprise. "It's much better to start the morning with a smile."
But surprise can only last so long, and soon the baby resumes its howling. The woman rocks it in her arms and shushes it, but the baby cries on.
She's so focused on making the poor baby feel better, she doesn't realize she has company until she hears someone say in alarm, "Miss, you should not be out here alone. It is dangerous."
She looks up and sees a man with purple hair and a mustache speaking to her. Behind him are several soldiers.
She frowns just a little and glances about before returning her gaze to the man. "Is it?" It looks so peaceful.
He seems surprised. "Of course. Monsters roam this area freely."
"Oh." She rocks her small new friend a little more as she absorbs this.
The man gives her a strange look. "Monsters or no, what possible reason could you have for bringing a child so young out here?"
"Oh, I didn't bring the baby," she explains.
The expression on the man's face shifts into deep confusion. "You did not?"
"Oh, no. I woke up and the baby was right there." She would point, but her arms are full.
The man glances behind him at the soldiers. "It is not yours?"
She thinks about that, her head tilted slightly. "I don't know. Do you think it is?"
He gives the others a longer look this time. "I am beginning to suspect not. . . . Might I see the child for a moment?"
"Yes, of course."
Without hesitation, she transfers the baby to his arms. The baby is no happier there and continues its squalling without pause. It is even less happy when the man pulls back the warm blanket covering it to check its sex.
"A boy." The man folds the blanket back—and then his breath catches and he pales. He looks down at the woman. ". . . Do you know this child's name?"
"Hmm. . . ." The woman thinks for a bit. "I wonder if I do."
"Then, unless we learn otherwise, let us call him Cecil."
The woman watches him as he stares down at the baby. She's content with this turn of events. "Cecil. . . . That's a nice name."
". . . Indeed it is." One last too-long look and the man turns to pass Cecil to the least uncomfortable-looking soldier behind him, then holds out a hand. The woman takes it and stands, but does not let go.
"What is your name?" he asks, then hesitates. "Do you know?"
"My name is Grune," the woman says. ". . . I think. Is that right?"
He gently, tactfully slips his hand from hers. "I believe so, yes. It suits you." He gives her a kind smile. "I am the King of Baron, Grune. Would you like to stay in my castle? At least until we can find your family."
Grune doesn't curtsy or express any form of surprise at the importance of the man in front of her. She only smiles. "Oh, yes, I'd like that very much. Thank you—that's very sweet of you."
One of the soldiers clears his throat, but the king shakes his head. He turns back to Grune. "In that case, I would be honoured if you would accompany me to Baron Castle."
Grune tries to take his arm, which nearly causes some problems until the soldier holding Cecil has the idea of passing the baby back to her. Then, king and guards and lost woman and child all return to where they will stay for a very long time.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-01 03:40 am (UTC)It'll be a bit before I post the next one due to backlog, but I can offer the comfort that I'll be writing the fifth one tomorrow? :D?
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Date: 2012-04-01 07:01 pm (UTC)Yay \o/ ! Hey, being on the fifth one when you have tendonitis and can't actually type anything is good timing, in my book. :) That is good comfort, indeed!
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Date: 2012-04-01 07:30 pm (UTC)Well, uh...fifth one written down in my notebook. Not dictated. :D;; Writing in my notebook is the easy part--it's the dictating that takes forever. (On a good day, I can dictate a MS Word page in fifteen minutes. ...Yup.)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-01 08:26 pm (UTC)So. The reason why Grune is on FFIV!Earth is it's a reward from a greater deity. They saw how tirelessly she worked for the sake of the people of the universe and so granted her the wish she would have never made out of selflessness: to be able to stay in one place with the friends she made for the duration of their life. So she wouldn't fret about her duty, she was left there as her amnesiac self. And, due to her nature, she was left in a situation where she would be needed to help.
(Schwartz was granted a wish as well: to become nothing in the void for a time. It actually is a reward for her.)
At the end of Cecil's life, she'll remember her purpose, Schwartz will be brought back into being, and everything will continue as it always has. She's going to be pissed as hell that it happened without her approval--but lots of gods have trouble with that permission thing. In the end, though, once she had time to come to terms with it, the experience would be something she would treasure for the rest of her life.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-01 09:43 pm (UTC)True!Grune has many of the same lessons to learn as her friends, it seems.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-02 05:59 pm (UTC)Well...the thing is, ordinarily if she takes time off, it's at the expense of all the people who did, do, and ever will live on an entire planet. So, well, yeah. :/
no subject
Date: 2012-04-02 06:29 pm (UTC)