Fate Has Plans

''She stared at him, resolve shining in the oceans that were her eyes as she stated firmly, "Fate has a plan for talented people like you, don't forget that." Mari promptly stood, walking out of Cecil's room, letting the door swing close behind her.'' That was the last time he saw her alive before an overdose took younger sister away from him. ••• It was late August, muggy heat already hanging in the early morning air. Cecil Shimizu stood in front of the mirror in his bland hotel, carefully tying a Windsor knot and pulling his tie snug. He was dressed formally, it was an interview after all. The Oxford he wore was navy, his tie white, pants black with matching Penny's. Cecil made sure his hair was secure in its ponytail, his bangs falling across the right plane of his face. He let out a calm breath. It was just an interview. He looked at his hand, bringing it to his face before pressing his lips against the tattoo along the base of his thumb, before leaving the dull room behind.

Cecil walked along the empty streets of Peace Village, towards Galdrabók. He checked his watch, 10:48 — ''Good. I'll arrive on time.'' He thought, continuing his trip. As he approached the large guild within a tree, Cecil admired the architecture of it, entering through the broad wooden doors. He spoke briefly to one of the members, a man with dark hair and a book in hand, who directed him to towards the staircase, muttering the words, "Fifth floor," before returning to his reading. Cecil walked up the staircase, beginning to feel fatigued when he finally reached the fifth floor. He knocked on the only door he saw, straightening his tie one last time before he heard a reply.

Cecil sat down in the chair opposing Alice Vroman, looking at her, eyes unwavering. After a brief introduction, the interview was underway, beginning with her first question. Alice spoke calmly, beginning the process that would bring Cecil to his future. "Firstly, I believe it best that you tell me a bit about yourself. Anything you think I should know about you?" It was a fairly generic question, Cecil could reply with practiced ease. "My name, as you already know is Cecil Shimizu. I am from Festival. My parents are fairly wealthy, father too busy with work to pay attention to me, while my mother is too ditzy to care about much more than house parties. I had a sister too, and when I was 16 and she was 14 we were sent to Crocus Imperial High in the capital." Cecil said, taking a sip of the glass of water in front of him. "I graduated from Crocus Imp with straight A's and while there I learned more about my magic and found interest in researching aura and it's capabilities."

After deeming his reply at satisfactory, Alice drilled him with another question. "Of all the guilds in Ishgar, why join Galdrabók?" Cecil knew the answer to this question too, he had researched the guilds of Fiore obsessively until he had found Galdrabók to be the right fit. "I wanted to study under you and the guild of scholars you have collected. Not only are you a Wizard Saint, but you are a talent wizard and scientist. I would be honored to learn more from you and the other mages here." He knew it was a little cliche, as well as blatant flattery though it was true.

"Tell me about a time in which you failed. How did you grow from that failure?" Cecil stiffened, knowing that he had to answer the difficult question honestly. "My greatest failure was not protecting my sister. I could have prevented what happened to her, but I didn't. I have grown from her... death by doing what she always thought I could do, I will be the man she wanted me to be."

"What is if you are hoping to achieve here at Galdrabók?" He paused for a moment, feeling nostalgia fill his brain. Her words were bittersweet to him, reminding him of distant memories. "I want to be someone's hero." He answered promptly. "Surely there are more reliable jobs than that of a mage, why is it that you choose to be a guild wizard at all?" Her next question drove further into him. Memories that held a bitter taste like coffee, filled his mind before he was distracted by the scent of the sea. ••• ''"Cecil! Cecil!" Mari called, running out of the water towards him. "Cecil! Come do the trick!" The young man looked up from his book to see his younger sister, age eight in front of him, beaming so wide he swore she was blinding him. Cecil slid his bookmark into his book, closing it and smiling softly. He waded into the water as Mari swum in circles around him. "Mermaid! Mermaid! Mermaid!" She chanted until he sighed, "Fine, Take Over: Fish!" A bright flash of light surrounded him as his legs fused together into a long, azure tail, shimmering as the light reflected off it. "Mari, please put on an air bubble," Cecil asked politely as she climbed onto his back. Mari nodded, already forming a sphere of water around her head to seal oxygen within. "Let's go!" Cecil ducked beneath the surface, exploring the reefs of coastal Fiore with his sibling with him. He couldn't help but smile, he loved delighting his sister with his magic, it was the only reason he fought to get better at it — to continue to dazzle his sister and be the hero she wanted him to be.'' •••

"The same answer as before. She wanted me to join a guild. To help people, to be some sort of hero. That's why I'm here, I will make her proud." Cecil said, his eyes turning darker as he clenched his jaw. It was painful to talk about her. Mari's death was still recent in memory. Subconsciously he rubbed his opposite thumb over his tattoo, the last shred of her. Alice moved on to the next question quickly, seeing as it was a touchy subject. "What qualities do you believe are important for all legal mages to share? Are those qualities important to you?"

"Faith," Cecil replied. "Faith is the driving force of this world. You need to believe in yourself, your abilities and your ideals, holding onto them until the last minute. Until your breath fades." He tightened his grip on his own hands, noticing that they were shaking. She was dominating his thoughts and he couldn't break down now. Cecil knew that her words would haunt him from the grave, but he didn't know the effect that it would have.

"What would you consider your biggest weakness? What about your greatest strength?" The question interrupted Cecil's runaway train of thought and he returned to focus, gritting his teeth before coming to an answer. "My greatest flaw is my disinterest." He swallowed, continuing to speak before his jaw clamped and his brain prevented him from talking. "I have a habit of only doing the things that I care about, which for the most part in school was my studies. I didn't do much in the way of social interaction, I preferred to work on my studies and skills in magic. As for my greatest strength, I believe that would be the intellect I cultivated in the subjects that I was interested in. Over the course of High School, I was able to significantly increase my talent in my aura, magic and even learn the hand-to-hand combat skills I deem necessary for my chosen occupation as a wizard."

"What does magic mean to you?" Cecil thought about the question, remembering the readings he often did for Aura Studies. "Magic is a part of a mage. It runs through our very veins. It is the essence of my life, thus I should use it for what I believe in. I believe in happiness, I believe in joy, in freedom and safety. I shall use this gift to uphold my values, and I will not waste what was given to me." The questions were beginning to get to his head. He felt bitter loneliness fill him. That was one of the reasons he wanted to join a guild.

"Your magic specifically, why did you choose to study it?" He wasn't particularly surprised by this question, it had been asked by teachers and other potential employers in the past, thus, the cerulean man kept to his usual script. "I am self-taught in a variant of Take Over known as Sea Soul, I discovered it when I came across a river spirit, forming a bond with it and taking a piece of its aura to trigger my transformations. My family uses Telepathy and like my sister, I was taught from childhood by a private tutor the finer arts of telepathy. None of these were particularly my choice, however, I am pleased with the magic I have learned."

"Guild life is not easy, when times are hard what will it be that motivates you to keep going?" Cecil smiled slightly, "I will keep her in my heart, through times tough and times easy. She will forever be my reason to keep going, to keep moving forward until my last breath." He exhaled, smiling at her. When she said nothing in return, he presumed the interview was over. "Thank you for your time, I hope you consider my application." He shook her hand before exiting Galdrabok.

Once again, he returned to the bland hotel room, loosened his tie, undressed and entered a scalding shower. As the water poured down his back, driving lines through his skin he sighed, thinking about Mari's words. "Fate has a plan for talented people like you, don't forget that." Cecil spoke softly, hoping that somehow, somewhere, she could hear him. "Fate has a plan for me Mari, it's your plan. Please watch me."

And from miles away, a young woman turned her head at the sound of her brother's words. Mari Shimizu smiled and whispered, "I'm watching brother." Another woman shouted her name and Mari whirled again, jogging to meet the rest of her friends on the horizon.


 * Special thanks to Tojima.