Disclaimer: I do not own Dissidia:FF or any related aspects, which belong to their respective owners. No money made.
Summary: The Warrior of Light has seduced every person in this war. He just hasn't realized it yet.
Rating: T
Warnings: Mild sexual themes, yaoi, mild language
[Dissidia:FF] Zero-Sum Theory [Everyone/Warrior of Light]
1
It is important to know yourself, respect yourself, and love yourself.
The Warrior of Light knows this, and strives to do so. He believes that it makes him a better person. He believes that in doing so, he will understand himself. It will help him remember who he is. It will help him grow stronger and more confident.
He tries to love himself because as far as he can remember, he has no one else to love.
He'll make do with what he has.
-1
It's not so much love as it is lust. A perverse, dangerous sort of lust.
Garland has wanted the Warrior of Light ever since forever. He is content with his fate of eternal conflict simply because he can spend it rivaling the Warrior.
The Warrior, with his naïve determination and childish sense of good and evil and beautiful, lithe body that would look so good writhing in agony over Garland's lap…
Everything about the man just screams to be dominated. Garland feels it is his calling; no, his duty, to oblige. They are, after all, perpetual adversaries from the same universe.
In Garland's opinion, a little forced submission would do the Warrior good.
2
There is something about being complimented by the person you admire.
For Firion, it is a fleeting feeling that leaves his heart filled and joyous, but empty all too soon. It is the feeling he gets when the Warrior of Light turns to him and says, "You did well, Frioniel." The way that Light calls him by his full name, so softly and slowly and simply, is pure music.
But it's mostly the compliment.
The compliments are the reason why Firion's admiration of the Warrior of Light went from platonic to friendly to scandalous crush on another man; a very secret scandalous crush on a very attractive other man.
And every time he pretends to be asleep, facing discreetly in the direction of their fearless leader and masturbating languidly into one hand, Firion wonders if Cosmos knows.
-2
The having isn't quite as fun as the getting, which just doesn't satisfy the way wanting does.
Emperor Palamecia has the players in his game, he get more of them as the war drags on, and amidst it all there is something he wants, but never does get. That something -someone- is the Warrior of Light.
He wants the Warrior. Not just for his motives and plots and frivolous things but for himself. He wants the Warrior not for Chaos, not because he is the enemy but because wanting is such an unsatisfactory feeling and this unsatisfactory feeling must be satisfied.
It is this endless chase, this game of pursuit, which keeps the Emperor ever content with the conflict between the two sides of the war.
3
It's easy to be looked down upon when you are the youngest.
On top of this, the Onion Knight is also the shortest, smallest, least experienced in battle… he finds himself pointing out his own flaws constantly throughout his travels. Being alongside his teammates is difficult because he must look up whenever he speaks with them, all of them, because even Terra is taller than him and the others, young men, are taller still.
But the Warrior of Light, their leader, has never looked down on him.
In fact, when the Warrior speaks with him, it seems to the Onion Knight as though the older man stoops ever so slightly; nearly crouches and tries to make the act insignificant. He looks Onion Knight in the eyes and speaks to him as an equal: a fellow warrior fighting for the forces of Cosmos.
And Onion Knight appreciates this gesture, because it means so much more than the Warrior will ever know.
-3
All men are the same: when they are left to their own means, the world falls into an imbalance and must be cleansed.
In Cloud of Darkness's opinion, the world would be much more stable if no men existed at all.
But the Warrior of Light intrigues her because he seems to fall out of the normal definition of a man. He is foolish and childlike and oh-so-noble, but seems strangely empty beyond his heroic exterior. It fascinates her that a man who can stand so confidently for so much can be so boring.
He stands out because he does not stand out, Cloud of Darkness thinks, and leaves it at that.
4
Beauty is all a matter of preference and opinion.
Cecil's picture of "beauty" is vague and undeveloped. He does not think of it much during the war between Cosmos and Chaos because there is no time to think of it and nothing to consider beautiful.
But he finds himself quite thoroughly corrected when he sees the Warrior of Light standing tall and proud in front of them all, leading them to another day of battle. He watches the Warrior, all confidence and bravery and endless belief so different from Cecil's own insecurities and shortcomings.
This, Cecil realizes, is beauty, and the Warrior of Light has redefined it.
-4
It hurts to look sometimes.
Sometimes are the times when Golbez looks at the Warrior of Light and thinks of himself, of his position, of Light and Dark and such frivolous matters. In Golbez's eyes, the Warrior of Light shines. He shines brightly and radiantly and pure.
This is what he wants for himself. It hurts to look sometimes but Golbez longs for the Warrior and the Light both, because they represent what he forsook.
It hurts to look because the light is too strong for his eyes, but Golbez finds himself unable to stop looking.
5
You can't run from everything.
Bartz runs, and he is fully aware of this fact. He runs sometimes because he does not wish to enter conflict. He runs when he feels it is wiser to run. He runs because some battles are not for him to fight. But at the end of the day, he knows that he must stand his ground and confront his enemies. Sometimes, he must even stand his ground to confront his friends.
Amidst this tactical line of thought there is the Warrior of Light, who confuses Bartz greatly because he does not seem to understand the advantages of running. The other warriors of Cosmos seem to see that there is something to be had in retreating, whether for safety or otherwise.
But the Warrior of Light never runs. Bartz has asked him about this, and has found an altogether noble and courageous reason for the Warrior's mindset.
Bartz no longer refers to it as "running." It is now "advancing in the opposite direction."
-5
Everything will return to the Void someday.
Including, Exdeath knows, himself, his enemies, the so-called "gods" of the universe, and the entities of Darkness and Light. All will become part of the Void. The Void is, after all, just like a black hole. Not even light can escape.
Not even Light can escape, Exdeath thinks, and looks forward to the day that the Void will reign over all. Because among the light there is one- one individual, one warrior who he wants to see engulfed in nothingness. That one Warrior of Light who does, indeed, radiate from his soul outward.
But nothing can escape the Void, and Exdeath waits for the Warrior to be engulfed, to prove this fact.
6
A girl has her feelings, no matter the situation.
Tina is young, and pretty, and polite, and in the end very simple. She knows that she is far from normal, but simple and normal are two very different things. It is simplicity that induces a girl to be attracted to a boy. It is simplicity to look up to and depend heavily on the leader of a group. It is simplicity that combines these two facts to make one undeniable truth.
Yes, there is bloodshed and danger and war, and yes, Tina is surrounded by all of these handsome and cute and slightly older (-oh, my!) men, but among them, there is only one leader and he is not afraid of bloodshed or danger or war.
Tina sighs and ponders the crush she harbors on the Warrior of Light (-and, secretly, the crushes she also has on the other eight Cosmos warriors.)
-6
In a circus, one must have a main attraction, something to keep the audience's attention and hold it steady.
For Kefka Palazzo, the circus is the little bunch of Cosmos' followers and the main attraction- well, of course, it is the Warrior of Light! Like the show's most coveted animal, he struts around, showing off his strength and valor and noble…-ness.
And, like any good animal, the Warrior of Light follows each snap of Cosmos' fingers like the whip of a ringleader. Kefka finds this hilarious and also, deep within him, wants to see the Warrior obey him like that. The famous matter of, 'Jump!' followed by, 'How high?' Oh, yes, Kefka does want this.
Besides, muses Kefka, the man even has horns. He'd make a wonderful circus act, if a bit dull.
7
There are days when it's hard to keep one's head up.
Cloud is pretty sure he knows this better than anyone, because he has had more of these days than he could even begin to count. The days where tears are only a breath away, where the point of being alive eludes him. Yet he is supposed to be a fighter for the forces of light. For shame.
This is how Cloud thinks, on the days when the Warrior of Light is not present. When the man is within eye's reach, however, Cloud feels as though the light he emanates consumes all of the Cosmos warriors, fuels them with strength and belief and the possibility of a tomorrow.
There are days when it's hard to keep one's head up, but those days are often followed with ones where Cloud will look up in order to see Light.
-7
The taller they are, the harder they fall.
Sephiroth waits. He waits hungrily, tirelessly, for the Warrior of Light to fall. It's a perverse desire not only because he wishes for the man's ruin, but also because he wants to be there, to disgrace and dirty and break the pale body and the stoic face.
Yes, he wants more than anything to see those delicate features contort in agony and despair.
There's a sadist in everyone, Sephiroth knows, and his will only be satisfied when the Warrior of Light screams loud enough for every entity in this universe to hear. Preferably, it would be Sephiroth's name on his lips.
8
He's never really liked "special treatment."
Squall had been opposed to calling the Warrior of Light the "leader" of their group; he'd told himself, annoyed, that as they were all fighting for the same cause and with equal abilities and adversaries, there was no reason for one of them to be held in a higher position than the others. But, in his very characteristic way, he'd kept his mouth shut and headed off, a lone wolf.
And yet, thinking about it now, Squall is tolerant of "special treatment," for that is what the Warrior had shown him in the past.
Perhaps it was because the Warrior had seen himself in Squall. Perhaps, Squall thinks a little too hopefully, it was a sort of attraction. In any case, it was an unfamiliar, warm sort of feeling when the Warrior talked to him one-on-one, tried to convince him to work with others, no matter how hypocritical it was of him.
Squall has made the decision that, yes, he will, grudgingly, accept the Warrior as their leader, as long as he continues to receive… "special treatment."
-8
Time is of the greatest essence.
Being able to control time is useful, but only against certain enemies. Ultimecia can bend time to her every beck and call, but it is useless to believe this ability is foolproof.
Light, she ponders, moves faster than anything else in the world. Light does not waste time, nor is it constrained by it. Ultimecia blinks and as everything comes back into focus she knows that the Light reaches her eyes immediately and without hesitation.
This is how the Warrior of Light fights, immediately and without hesitation, and Ultimecia finds this both a challenge and a nuisance. A time-wasting nuisance.
However, she will not object to wasting a bit of time for a battle against this Warrior.
9
Recklessness is a trait every successful warrior should have.
Well, Zidane believes this, anyway. Because, if you think about it, it's impossible to win if you do the same thing every time you enter a battle. To keep your opponent on hit toes, you have to do something he doesn't expect, right? When Zidane presents this theory of his to the leader of the Cosmos warriors, the older man looks at his shield thoughtfully, polishing it and contemplating what Zidane said. And then all at once he flips the shield over and strikes.
The shield swerves to the side right before making contact with the genome, and before Zidane can yell a hasty, "What was that for?", the Warrior of Light is back to polishing the shield, saying softly,
"For every strategy you create, also create a countermeasure for that strategy when it is used against you."
Zidane realizes, at that moment, that this is why they have accepted the Warrior as their leader.
-9
It's absolutely unforgivable.
It's unforgivable that there is one single warrior in this Godforsaken place that could even dare to act so… ostentatious! Besides Kuja himself, that is. Kuja has to keep himself from biting his lip in frustration when he thinks of this- that would leave teeth marks in the tender, plump skin- it just so… infuriating!
Just who does that… that sparkly man think he is? Strutting around like he owns the place, using such an authoritative tone of voice to address his teammates. It's so uncultured.
And those horns. What is with those horns? They don't do anything for the Warrior of Light's complexion.
10
It isn't that he is in love. It is a crush, really.
It isn't even a crush, Tidus thinks. It's more like… I wish I could live like this.
Because the Warrior of Light has that straightforward life that, secretly, Tidus yearns for. The Warrior of Light lives for the fight, lives for the fight to end, lives for himself, basically, and that's what Tidus wishes for his own life, sometimes. Uncomplicated existence. Tidus wonders if he'll ever live to experience that.
But, recently, Tidus has found himself looking at the Warrior, looking, and thinking, Who does he have to love?
The answer is, well, no one. And Tidus sometimes wishes he could fill that role, because then he would maybe also lead such a simple life as the Warrior. With the Warrior.
-10
Someone was crazy enough to give weapons to a bunch of righteous brats.
Oh, yeah, that someone was the Goddess of Harmony, and those righteous brats are Cosmos warriors. Jecht sighs and wishes he had alcohol, or maybe a distraction. Not another battle. Battling isn't a distraction when the whole damn world is based on battling. And speaking of battling, Jecht has been recalling lately that one brat in that group of brats-
The Warrior of Light.
He's the one that Jecht finds the brat-iest of all, and damn if that's not a word, and that's because the Warrior of Light is just a kid, just another kid who needs a good hard kick to the ass and some sense punched into him. He's the most goddamn naïve brat Jecht has ever seen, and he's seen many, considering the participants in this endless war…
"The light is always with him," Jecht scoffs, and now he really wishes he had something to drink.
[A/N] The Zero-Sum Theory describes a situation in which a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participant(s). If the total gains of the participants are added up, and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero.
I told some people I was doing this, but I'm not sure if they believed me.
Yes. It's here. Everyone/Warrior of Light.
A few things: Yes, I didn't include Cosmos, Chaos, or the three spoiler characters. Why? Didn't wanna. Some of the characters I already wrote are in line for one-way tickets to OOC land, and I don't have the confidence to write the five characters I mentioned here. So bleh.
Also, thanks to wikipedia for the most succinct definition I've ever seen from them.
Thank you very much for reading.