The Moogle that flew towards the gallery was barely given any notice by the few people in the streets below. It was the second of January, 2031, and the night of the big New Year Derby, Lindblum Wanderers versus Regent's Park Rovers. This was ideal for the Moogle, for this meant this section of the city was nearly deserted. The pubs and bars, and the stadium itself, had drawn witnesses away.
It was far easier for her to fool a camera than it was to fool a person. People had this annoying habit of seeing what they wanted to see, and it just so happened a Moogle flying into a gallery closed for the night was one of those things people noticed. But Cameras were much easier to trick. They had no brains of their own... yet... and they were therefore easier to simply use a little bit of magic to overcome.
Of course, a would-be thief would not get very far. The exhibits had more trickery around them such as laser alarms, pressure plate sensors and the like, but theft was not on the mind of this Moogle. Madeen, or Mog as she had been known to the girl, was here for rescue.
As she fluttered into the room, the disguised Eidolon cursed her failure almost two and a half centuries before. She had failed then to keep the last two summoners protected from harm, and as a result the links her people had with Gaia became as frozen and unmoving as Eiko and Sarah, as the Eidolons knew Garnet.
But they had managed to make new links. New summoners, the distant offspring of exiles from Madain Sari from many centuries ago, those few that had enough strength to become summoners... but for only one or two Eidolons at most. Far from ideal, but far better than zero.
However, if she could rescue the last two of the true summoners of Madain Sari, then they could go on to have their own lives. They could have offspring, and with more and more people able to summon more and more Eidolons there could be more Eidolons.
The Eidolons did not need the mortals to summon them to continue to exist. But to have new Eidolons, and to leave their hidden realm, they needed new summoners. Even immortal beings could go stir crazy left in just the cramped pocket dimension of their Feymarch. More and more Eidolons had left for other worlds, making the dangerous trip to a parallel Feymarch to seek summoners there.
Madeen flew through the corridors, content that the cameras were not betraying her. A simple Vanish spell on herself worked until finally, she reached her destination. And there they were. Three statues, three works of art over two hundred and thirty years old. Three mortal beings trapped for all time as stone. Mounted together on the same semi-circular raised platform/pedestal a year ago, ten years after being brought back together after centuries apart. Never to be separated, the museum claimed. The Angel in the middle, the Wild Boy and Wild Girl at her sides facing each other.
Well, not if she had anything to say about it. Eiko and Sarah would be saved this night. And the Genome too, probably, whatever his name was. Dijan? Dizane? Zidone? She had brought three supersofts after all. She approached, awaiting the moment where the link between summon and summoner would allow her to communicate with Eiko. She hoped the girl was all right. She had no idea what happened to those petrified for so... long...
She heard three voices.
'...Strange we have a visitor this late, Angel. Are you sure?' Said a male voice. The Wild Boy? Zordon?
'Of course. It's a Moogle. You once had a young one fall asleep on your head!' Eiko... The Angel... replied.
'She must be just out of our vision. If only she could come closer. She feels familiar... Did she visit us today?' The Wild Girl... Sarah... said.
Madeen grew closer.
'I see her now. She must be a visitor. Only a visitor would come to inspect us so well!' The male said.
'I'm jealous, Angel. She seems interested in you. If only I were in the middle...' The Wild Girl said.
'But how would you stare at your Wild Boy then?'
Madeen flew there, listening to the conversation. It went on to speak of their memories, their lives... as statues. The brief time back together, the time they had spent as one statue... It made Madeen come to a realisation. They had changed. They had become one, and what they had become was content. They never used their old names. They never spoke of memories from before being statues. They referred to being sculpted.
It made her realise that Eiko and Sarah would not exist if she used the supersofts. Neither would the Genome male. She was not going to save anyone like this. Eiko, Sarah, and Whatsisface had become The Angel, The Wild Girl, and the Wild Boy a long time ago.
She would be destroying three statues. Damning their immortal forms, their content forms... to mortal lives, confused as living beings, wondering why they had been cursed into flesh and why they were no longer visited by masses. They now lived to be art. If they were not art any more, could they live?
She couldn't do it. Eiko and Sarah had become this, and though it saddened her to realise that the cheerful pair of humans she had briefly known were now maybe not even memories to the statues... She was going to destroy an immortal form that was happy for no real gain.
She had failed again before she'd even found them. Well, third time was the charm. If this was Eiko and Sarah now, the Angel, the Wild Girl, and their Wild Boy... She'd not fail to protect them this time.
The Assistant Manager looked at the prospective employee once more. Her CV checked out, both references were glowing, but somehow... Something seemed odd about the young woman. She seemed older beyond her years, like an ancient mind in youthful form. An odd feeling that she was ethereal... But not unsettling.
Perhaps it was the blue hair. It was such a rare hair colour in Lindblum. It was more common in Alexandria or the colonies for some reason. Yes, that must have been it.
"So, Miss Carol... May I call you Madeen? You seem to be well qualified for the role but I'd just like to hear it again... Why do you feel you could be a tour guide here?"
The blue-haired girl smiled in earnest.
"Well, Mister Fowler, I have always loved art. I have an appreciation for history, and for what it represents. I'd like nothing more than to share my love and appreciation for some of the classic works you have on display here."
Fowler nodded.
"I see. And you have a particular interest in the Persephone Trio..."
She nodded.
"Of course. Why, I'd venture a guess that the histories of the statues that I know... Well, the nearest thing that could explain it all from heart besides me would be the statues themselves."
"Quite. Though statues cannot talk..."
"And if they could there would be no vacancy here for someone to tell their stories, which I might be so bold as to say is fortunate for all five of us."
"Indeed... Er, all five?"
Madeen Carol smiled with her human form, and with her name in tribute to the girl that became the statue she now sought to watch over.
"Why, yourself, myself, and the Trio. Someone has to speak for them, after all... And fairly. I bet if they could speak all they'd do is bicker over who is the finer work of art..." She grinned.
It was a mark of an entertaining tour guide that they combined respect for the works with humour to keep the audience interested. And from that joke that combined both, Fowler's grin in return told her she had the job.