[245] Radiant Garden: Measurements

[minntaka.livejournal.com]

Challenge: [245] Radiant Garden
Title: Measurements
Word Count: 330
Rating: G
Character: Apprentices

Measurements

When did Radiant Garden fall?

When the first house went up in flames, Braig thinks. A house can burn down in fifteen minutes, and if water pipes burst to soak the wooden foundations, make it ten. There’s no way back once the fire starts to career, not crawl; it’s an irreversible process. You might as well sit back and enjoy the fireworks.

Dilan disagrees. It truly fell when the last brave man stood up to watch his dying home and came to the inevitable conclusion – their fate was sealed. That final wisp of courage and will to fight, dispersing into the ash filled air of resignation – that signified the end of the Kingdom.

Even now, Xehanort doesn’t think that it ever fell. People still talk of the once-prosperous Radiant Garden, and the five syllable whisper barely lingers before they respectfully sweep it under the folds of taboo, lest they summon the same fate.

Aeleus supposes that if he had to pinpoint an exact time, it would be at three minutes past midnight, when he finished his final round in the Castle. He came back to the five and agreed when it was suggested that they set their sights higher. Once ambition seizes hold of you, you wonder how you ever managed without it.

The simplest answer is when the jaws shut. Even admits that to most people, the world ends when someone dies, so Radiant Garden doesn’t have a set time of death unless you address this, creating a group statistic that encompasses them all. The end came when the two halves of darkness creeping up from the earth and inching across the sky, sealed themselves together like a fanged zipper, like the shadow of a giant’s death grip.

Ienzo just rolls his eyes at the question. The end came long before the flames, dying bravery, ambition and darkness. Radiant Garden’s fate was written a long time ago, born when an old and foolish man thought he could do right.

Comments

[synchroshatter.livejournal.com]

I really like how many different interpretations you've set out here and how well they contrast the characters with one another. I think Braig's and Even's fit especially well with their personas, though they're all pretty chilling.

[minntaka.livejournal.com]

Thank you ♥ I didn't really know where I was heading with this and kinda just blagged it XD Plus I've never attempted to write the apprentices - this is probably as far as I'll get! XD