The Future In Your Eyes

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Feast your eyes on this most fabulous of feats!

...FLYYYYYY!

SHE MADE IT!!! Everyone please give our fantastic feline friend a big round of applause! Now come closer, don't be shy! You won't believe what we have in store for you next!

Get ready for a world first, as our four furry friends all attempt the jump at the same time!

The stunt of the century begins in three, two...

Ah-GYAHHHHH?! MY EYEEEEEES!!!

Good work out there today! I'd say you've all earned a little fish.

...Phew. If I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was, to find more cats is my real test, to train them my cause!

Wait for me professor! I will travel across the land, searching far and wide! I'll train more cats to understand the power that's insiiiiiide!!! KITTYMO...

..., n?

Why hello there, Aldotti. You have the look of a cat who's just found himself thrown across time and space.

I'm just having a little trouble following what's going on here. I'm impressed by your showmanship and all, but could you explain why you've set up some sort of weird cat circus in the middle of town?

It's about legacy! Look around you! Look at all that the humans have achieved!

If I want to be remembered, I need to leave my claw mark on history, too! And what better way to do that then to spread traditional arts and theatre across the world?

Weren't you supposed to be fighting against something a little more important than that?

Huh? What's that kid up to?

I saw him in the audience earlier. Why hasn't he gone home yet?

Hey, kid. Something wrong?

Huh? Uh, um...

I...I was just trying to figure out how to get to the airport from here.

The airport? Well if the leave the city via Theta District you'll find a cargo terminal that can get you there, but...

Theta District, got it. Thanks, mister!

...Is he really gonna be alright on his own?

I wonder... He didn't look very sure of himself.

Yeah, I guess we should follow him just in case. He's headed towards Theta District.

Hey again. You got a second?

Eep! They found me!

H-Hey! Wait up! Why is he running?! We were just talking to him! Did he already forget about us? And what did he mean by "They found me"?!

Command, do you copy? ML-P2 has eyes on the target. Now moving to intercept, over.

Listen up, soldier! He might look like a kid, but he ain't like nothin' you've ever faced before. You'll need wits, courage, and lightning-fast reflexes if you ever hope to catch him!

Ehh, I'm sure he'll be fine on his own then.

You're just gonna give up?! Are you chicken?! That's it isn't it? Nothin' but a little chicken!

(NOBODY calls me... Wait.)

Never mind. She's always like this.

BAWK-BAWK-BAKAAAAAAWWW!!!

FINE! I'M COMING, OKAY! GIVE IT A REST!!!

HAH! You've got nowhere left to run now you little...

...H-Hwawa?!

S-Sorry! I thought for sure you'd stop!

Wait a second, that voice... Are you that girl who was making a scene in town earlier?

Never heard of her.

Yes, you have.

Thank goodness... I thought you were here to drag me back to the hospital.

Why would someone be trying to take you to the hospital? Did you run away?

Yeah... I've got really bad eyesight, and I was receiving treatment for it in a hospital in IDA City.

Huh? You can't see?

Then isn't it dangerous for you to be walking around the city alone?

I don't have a choice. I need to get to the airport as soon as possible. Pretty soon I'm going to lose my vision completely, and before that happens, there's something I have to see.

...Completely?

There you are, Terrius!

Were you trying to go to the airport AGAIN? What's going to happen if you trip and hurt yourself, huh?

...I'll be fine. My vision's blurry, yeah, but I can still make out the ground.

It is NOT "fine". You're going straight back to the hospital, young man!

That kid... Is he really going to lose his eyesight?

Actually I caught a glimpse of his future earlier...

Really? What did you see?

...Nothing. Just darkness. A pitch-black void without even a single sliver of light.

A vision of...nothing? So it's true...

There was one thing that bothered me about it, though. My visions come in a lot of different forms, but this is the first time I've ever seen the future from another person's perspective.

Huh? But based on what you saw, it must be from his perspective, right?

I would think so, yeah. But since it's never happened before, I can't really say for sure.

In any case, while it pains me to admit it, there's nothing I can do to help him. Even if I know what his future holds, I can't cure blindness.

......

Listen, Melpiphia. How about we go and visit the hospital?

Huh? Why? It's not like there's anything we can do...

That's not true. Maybe we can't change the outcome, but there still might be something we can do to support him.

...I guess you're right. Now's not the time to be moping around! Onwards to the hospital, Aldente!

Hey, kid.

Huh? That voice... You're the guy who helped me earlier.

Yeah, we came to check in on you.

...Check in on some random kid? How dumb do you think I am? You two are definitely up to something. I mean, look that her. She's a total weirdo.

HEY! No I'm...not!

How...rude!

What's...

...Weird...about, !?

...Where did you go just now?

I had to blow my nose.

Did you have to sneeze or something?

...Alright. Sorry for coming without asking first. We just wanted to chat, but if we're bothering you, we'll go.

......

And who might you be?

Visitors. We came to see Terrius. Are you his doctor?

Yes, that's correct.

...Would you mind if I spoke to you somewhere private?

I see... So you just met by chance out in the city. You didn't actually know him before that.

Can I ask you something, doctor? Is it really impossible to fix his eyesight?

I don't know. To be completely honest with you, we haven't even decided on a treatment plan yet. No matter how many tests we run, we can't find anything wrong with him. We've hypothesized everything from an undiscovered disease to something psychological, but we really just don't know. And without knowing the cause, we can't treat it.

That's terrible... If that's true then Terrius will...

...What about his family?

Ah, yes. About that...

We recently took him into our custody after he was found alone in an abandoned factory. He told us he was from the slums and that he has no relatives, but he refused to tell us any more than that. We're at a complete loss.

...Poor kid.

I have a favor to ask of you. Would you two be willing to bring him outside?

I thought he was forbidden from leaving the hospital.

That's only because he keeps sneaking out alone. To the contrary, I'd much rather he spend some time outside so long as he has a chaperone. Because of his eyes he's been confined to his room without any visitors. It can't be good for him.

Alright, I understand the situation. I'd be happy to help.

Me, too. Even if we can only help him relax a little, I want to try.

We greatly appreciate it. I'll fill out the required forms myself. I only ask that you do not leave the confines of IDA City.

It must be a pretty bad illness if they can't even detect it.

It's frustrating... I can see the future, and yet I can't do a thing about it. I'm totally powerless.

I wouldn't say that. If anyone can make that kid smile, it's you Melpiphia.

Y-You think so?

Leave the hospital? With you?

Yeah. We thought it might at least cheer you up a bit.

...Why do you even care? You don't even know me, and it's not like I can pay you back.

We do too know you! We crashed face-first into each other for Pete's sake! People don't get more close than that!

......

Fine. It's not like I have anything better to do.

Excellent! Welcome aboard, Terrerrius!

At least get my name right...

Haha! Come on, kid. Let's go check out the city.

This is perfect weather for a word game!

I don't know what the weather has to do with word games, but it might be fun. What do you think, Terrius?

Sure, whatever you want.

Wunderbar! All ya gotta do is say a word that starts with the last two letters of the previous word. You start it, Allie!

Hrmmm... It's a word game, so let's start with "Scribe".

"Belligerent Blabbermouth!" You're up Terri!

"Threats".

"Ts", huh? "Tsunami"?

"Miniature Millionaire!"

"Regrets".

"Ts" Again?!

Uh, umm... "Tsk"?

Ooh! Ooh! SKATEBOARDING CENTIPEDE!!!

"Defeats".

Seriously?! Forget that it's always "ts", Why are your choices so negative?! AND WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING MORE THAN ONE WORLD, MELPIPHIA!?

Chill out, bro. It's just a game.

Yeah "bro", what's your problem?

How am I the problem here?!

A long time ago in a village far, far away, !

And now for something completely different...

Fairy tales? I'm not a toddler, you know.

Quiet you! This is a serious work of literature!

It's DEFINITELY not...

In the village there lived a little elf girl. It was a human village, but she had nowhere else to go because she was an orphan.

"Hey pointy-ears! I heard if you cut those things down to size you might become a real human. Wanna borrow my dagger?"

...Every day the village children teased her, and every day she cried herself to sleep.

Dang, this is heavier than I expected...

Hurt by how the other children treated her, the girl decided to leave the village and hide away deep in the forest. Decades passed, until the day came that the elf chanced upon an injured man in the forest.

After she tended to his wounds, the man asked what he could do to thank her. To this the elf replied, "Please become my friend, and stay by my side forever."

The man was troubled. "Forever? But elves live so much longer than humans like me..."

"Don't worry," she said warmly. But behind her bright expression burned a dark and terrible flame...

...Wait, what?

"You just need to become an elf, too. Then we can be together forever..."

After tying to man up to make sure he wouldn't run away, the elf took out a big pot and a pair of red-hot iron tongs.

"I heard if you pull your ears out to a point, you can become a real elf. Funny, it sounds a lot like something YOU told me long ago..."

This isn't a fairy tale! It's a horror story!

Who ever said fairy tales are all sunshine and rainbows? Sometimes you can find some pretty dark stuff at the intersection of morality and satire.

That's not the point... Didn't we come out to have fun today? You should tell something with a happy ending.

...It's fine. I don't like happy endings anyhow.

And now for some impressions!

This is giving me a headache...

Ain't nobody better at voices than little old me! Ya'll got any requests? Lay 'em on me!

Hmmm, actually your raptor impression was pretty good that one time...

Raptor impression?!

Oh? You like Raptors, do you?

Y-Yeah... Not just raptors, any kind of dinosaur. They're really cool... Sometimes I read about them in this book I picked up, and I've even memorized lots of their names.

Haha, yeah I know what you mean. Nothin' manlier than a rampaging dinosaur, right?

Hmm, I dunno about the manly part, but your wish is my command!

...Rgrrr...

GRAAAAAAWRRR!!!

Whoa! It sounds really vicious! Is that really what raptors sound like?

GRAW! GRAAAW! Grawrri... Grawrris... Grawrrius! GRAWRRIUS!

I-Is that supposed to be my name?!

U-Uh... Sure...

RGRRR... GRAWRRIUS... ALWAYS EAT YOURRR VEGETABLES...

Raptors can speak our language?!

Of course noooooot! Pshaw! Dinosaurs don't even eat vegetables! Don't you know anythiiiiiing?!

...Thought I'd throw in a little Aldosaurus impression at the end there.

Hey! I don't talk like that!

Well, Terrius seemed to enjoy it.

N-No I didn't...

Right-o! Where to next?

Actually... Can I ask you a favor?

What is it?

If it's a trip to the airport you're after, you're out of luck! No way, no how! ......

Melpiphia?

...Aaactually, what the heck. Let's do it. Airport, here we come!

What?! You literally JUST said we couldn't!

What's in the past, is in the past. It'll be fine with us there.

Maybe, but still...

Come on, my Aldorable little Aldy! Pretty pwease? Pretty-pretty pwease?

......

Fine. As long as Terrius wants to.

Y-Yeah, that's just what I was hoping for.

Alright, then first we need to head over to the Cargo Station.

We should be getting pretty close to the airport.

Y-Yeah...

Somethin' wrong, Terrius? Got some ants in your pants?

O-Of course not! I'm fine!

We never did ask you why you wanted to go to the airport so badly.

Well, you see...

I'm guessing the doctor told you I'm from the slums, right?

Yeah, we heard.

Well, back then I barely even had enough food to eat. Day after day, hunger was about all I could think about. That is until the people from the institution came for me.

The institution?

Weren't you scared? They were strangers, right?

Yeah, a little. But honestly, anything was better than starving to death in the slums.

That trip to the institution was the first time I ever saw the view from the airport... I'll never forget it. It seemed like the whole world was spread out before me. It was beautiful.

So you want to see it again?

I figured if that was the last thing I saw before losing my eyesight at least I wouldn't have any regrets.

Terrius...

......

Come on! I can't wait any longer!

H-Hey! Don't just run ahead!

Don't worry, I've been here before!

He's like a totally different person from the quiet kid we saw in the hospital.

But I get where he's coming from...

It seems like his vision loss really is psychological...

Yeah. I have a feeling he's seen some pretty scary stuff.

Maybe, but that also means that we might be able to do something about it if we can erase that fear. I'm sure it won't be easy, but him opening up to us was a good first step.

It's all thanks to you, Melpiphia.

Huh?

You were only saying all that weird stuff to cheer Terrius up, right? I knew because usually you make a lot of exaggerated gestures, but today you were only joking around with wordplay and impressions.

...It'd be nice if you didn't always see right through me.

Anyhow, let's catch up to him before he gets lost.

That's weird... I don't see him anywhere.

Huh? What's all the hubbub about?

Did something happen?

Yeah, some suspicious looking guys were dragging a kid off somewhere.

I wonder if it was a kidnapping? We'd better hurry up and notify the EGPD...

A kidnapping?! We gotta do something!

It had to have been Terrius! Where did they go?!

I don't know. All I saw was them headed into the city.

This is bad... Let's hurry!

Wait! There something I want to try first.

There you are...

You found him?!

Yeah. It's not long from now. He's being led along some old road by his kidnappers. Everything is broken down and falling apart. I think the area's been abandoned...

That's gotta be Route 99! Let's go!

Huh? Wait a second... How did you see his future if he's not here?

I guess we can worry about that later.

Heheh... What a catch. This is one of them institution brats, isn't he?

Yeah. The institution doesn't seem interested in 'em anymore, but there are plenty of other people lookin' to buy. We're gonna eat good tonight.

...You're wasting your time.

You got somethin' to say, brat?

I can't use my powers anymore. I can't even see.

So just...just leave me alone! Tell whoever sent you that I'm no use to them anymore!

You lost your powers? What a load of bull. You expect me to believe that?

Maybe we need to remind you who's in charge around here, 'eh?

W-Wait! It's true! I really can't do it!

P-Please stop... It wasn't supposed to... I'm tired of being scared... Won't somebody...save me...

Nana-nana-nana-nana! Nana-nana-nana-nana!

, MELPIIIIII, !!!

Are you alright, Terrius?!

H-Huh?! How did you find me?!

Through your eyes.

...What?

Who the heck are you supposed to be?! If you're stupid enough to get in my way...

Then I'm gonna break your face!

Sigh... That's JUST the kinda one-liner a bad guy would shout before getting taken out in one shot.

Lemme show you how it's done. Ahem! "I am justice. I am the light. I AM..."

, We're a little pressed for time here, Melpiphia!

Gotta say, I never expected you to be able to see the future, Terrius.

I knew something was wrong when you started to look so nervous as we got closer to the airport. I mean, you were the one that wanted to go there in the first place.

But then the moment we got there you ran ahead of us, only to be kidnapped moments later. You must have known what was coming.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lie to you. It's just that this power isn't something I want people to know about.

But if you knew people were after you then why run away from us?

Because I WANTED them to kidnap me. If I didn't do something then my future was never going to change. I wanted them to know that I was no use to them anymore.

No use to them? What do you mean?

The institution I was in was home to children with a whole host of powers. They were researching us, and trying to make us stronger. But the more I used my powers, the worse my vision became, until I couldn't read the future anymore.

Wait, you're telling me you lost your eyesight because you were forced to overuse your powers?

......

Yeah, and once I wasn't useful to them anymore, they just threw me out. But even so, I still get bad people like those guys just now coming after me all the time. I figured if getting kidnapped was inevitable, then I might as well use the opportunity to show them how pointless it was.

That doesn't make it any less dangerous!

I guess so... But I don't really care. It's not like anything good ever happened to me in my life. It's not like any of this even matters...

It does too matter!!!

What? You wanna lecture me? What do you know?

Plenty. I...I'm the same as you. I can see the future, too.

Yeah, right.

She's telling the truth. The only reason we even knew you were here was because of her power.

I was able to read your future even though I couldn't see you, and I saw it through your own eyes. It was probably caused by us sharing the same power.

No way... You're really the same as me?

Let's get back to the airport. There's something I want to show you.

I...can't really make anything out. I guess my vision was already too far gone. I'm sorry I wasted your time.

Terrius... Did you really want to see this again?

Huh?

I mean, back then when you first saw it, you were being taken to the institution, right? I find it hard to believe you had the time to relax and take in the sights back then.

...Well, it's true that I felt something inside when I saw it...but it wasn't joy. I felt frustrated and angry. I didn't understand how the world could be so big and so beautiful and still have no place for me.

That's the real reason I wanted to see it again. I wanted to remember that feeling. I figured if that was the last thing I ever saw, I could at least rest easy knowing the world wasn't worth seeing in the first place.

...You're lying to yourself. If you really wanted to see it, if you really wished hard enough for it–you could.

Because there's nothing actually wrong with your eyesight...right?

B-But...

I saw the world through your eyes, and I saw it clearly. I may not be a doctor...but I think that's more than enough proof.

......

It's fear that clouds your eyes. You're afraid that if you see that vista again maybe you really will let go of everything and lose your light for good. Ironically, that fear has also made you afraid of seeing. It's trapped you in a world of darkness.

What is it that scares you so much about seeing the future, Terrius?

...I wasn't always scared. At first, I was happy. Those powers got me special treatment, and at least at the institution I always had a hot meal waiting for me.

But as I saw the future of more and more of the kids around me, I started to get scared. There were kids who would never escape, kids who were forced to do horrible things with their powers, kids who were pushed to the brink...

...There was nothing but sorrow in the futures I saw around me.

So I just prayed. I prayed to not see it anymore. None of it.

...That prayer took everything from you.

But she's right... I'm scared to lose my vision, too.

I'm just lost...

I understand, Terrius. Seeing the future is a really scary thing. Sometimes I felt like it was enough to break my heart. But that's exactly why I can't bear hearing you say something like "I don't want to see anymore."

......

If you want me to, I'll fix your eyesight. I swear it.

Can you really do something like that, Melpiphia?

Of course. The word "can't" doesn't exist in my dictionary.

B-But... Even if you fix my eyesight, there's nothing I want to see.

Heheh... REEEAAALLY? 'Cause I saw your future, and it's true that it was totally dark...

...Except for one bright moment of clarity.

You saw his future more than once? When?

Wait! You mean when we were strolling around town?!

Yeah. Seems like it wasn't all for nothing after all.

Isn't that right, my dinosaur loving Terrinosaurus?

T-Terrinosaurus?!

SIIIIIIGH... If only I had known you could see, I could've shown you all my best dino dance moves.

H-Huh?! You know how to move like a dinosaur?!

I didn't mention this before, but I'm actually better at imitating movements than I am at imitating voices.

I could've given you a show so exciting you'd have thought I'd pulled you all the way back to antiquity! And I still can, if you're up for it!

But... I can only watch it once.

Wrong! I'll perform for you any time you want!

In fact, maybe you could even join my practice sessions and give me some pointers! You know lots about dinosaurs, right?

Really?!

I... I...

I hope this really works...

Oh, it will. He already saw it once before.

Saw what exactly? Which part was it that he remembered so clearly?

Hehehe... That's for me and him to know.

Hey, no fair! Why am I the only one who doesn't get to know?!

Well, I can at least say this much, It looks like my impersonation was right on the money.

Huh? What's that supposed to mean...