Hope Estheim

[Hope Estheim]

Days had passed since their travels through one of those fal'Cie-manipulated portals, yet Hope and Serah still found themselves in the world known as Oriens, along with Noel, who had been the reason for their coming here in the first place. They had their answers as to the origin of the portals and they had recovered Noel...after an interesting situation involving a misunderstanding due to a strange magical phenomenon that Hope had oh-so-scientifically dubbed a "bodyswap." Why was it that they had not left yet, then? Nevermind that Hope could not figure a way to directly manipulate a portal from here without help from someone back home in Academia - they simply did not have the resources nor the technology here for Hope to capably bend fal'Cie magic and create another artificial portal of his own - and even if he did, he would have no idea whether or not the portal he created would send them back to their own world. But...that was all a lot of technicality no one wanted to hear, anyway.

The primary reason for the three of them remaining in Oriens - and specifically, at the magic academy of Rubrum, where Noel had first fallen through his own portal - was that they had finally, after years of searching, found Lightning here, alive and well, having also fallen through a portal out of Valhalla. Needless to say, the reunion had been such a grand one that the party hadn't felt like they could simply jump into a portal (disregarding the previous issues mentioned) and move on. Hope had spent ten years searching for Light, even for Serah...he didn't want to take finding the both of them so lightly.

The hospitality they had all found here at the academy - from students and staff alike - had factored into their decision to stay for a time, as well. In fact, all of them had been invited (and perhaps, in Lightning's case, coerced) into attending a schoolwide dance planned by one member of the "elite" group here known as Class Zero. All of them had eventually accepted, even though Hope had no idea what he would do with himself at a school dance. He'd never attended his own prom at his school. In fact, he'd already graduated from high school before he attended it. He supposed this was as good of a time as any to make up for missing out on this important part of teenaged life, even though he was twenty-four now...and even if he would be wishing Vanille were here in Oriens, as well. At the very least, he knew her to at least be reasonably safe at home (as safe as Vanille could be, anyway).

And so, having bought a suit to wear for the occasion (he was amazed that this world also used gil as currency...strange similarities, admittedly), Hope found himself absently standing against the wall as the dance tore on around him, entertained by the joy in the room despite his apparent boredom. Hope didn't feel quite comfortable going around asking people to dance, after all, even if it looked like a good time. Mostly, he'd partaken in his food, mingled with Serah and Noel, and then ended up here, trying to make himself partially useful by handing the disk jockey the stack of music he was standing by. Hope had only planned to ask two people to dance for the night - Serah and Lightning. He'd lost track of the smaller Farron for the time being. Lightning, however, he'd had no trouble spotting the entire night - she looked completely and totally...well, stunning in a dress, even if he really didn't want to think so. He thought he was mature enough to think of her more as a good friend than a mother figure now, especially after all that they'd both been through since being separated. Regardless, blue....was really, really her color.

He'd noticed her mingling with one of the instructors at the school - Kurasame, Hope believed his name to be. Admittedly, the researcher didn't know too terribly much about the masked man aside from just the basic facts he'd picked up in passing. He did know that the students respected and probably even loved him, however, even if they seemed to fear him in some small way. If Hope had any idea how to read people, he believed Kurasame to be something of a no-nonsense, hard-working individual. Hope didn't have enough personal interaction with him to make a worthy judgement of character...but from what he could see from where he was standing, Light was enjoying his company. She deserved to enjoy someone's company after all this time...

It was as Hope thought over these things that the real meat of the occasion - the actual "dancing the night away" - began. Casting his eyes around the room as the individuals so naturally paired up with one another and started scooting around the floor, Hope was unsurprised to see Light and Kurasame take up the first dance...though it was almost strange to see Light dancing. Again Hope felt slightly saddened by Vanille's absence...he was sure she would have enjoyed this whole evening.

Wishing away the night would do no good, Hope reminded himself. He needed to loosen up a bit, everyone had been telling him...enjoy himself more. So as the first dance started winding down, Hope took a sip of his drink for confidence's sake, handed the disk jockey another song, and made his way over to the edge of the dance floor. He didn't want to interrupt Light and her companion until he was sure they were done with the number, so he remained there a little awkwardly for a few seconds before approaching the two of them. After ten years of waiting, his nerves could stay behind. "Would you mind my taking Light for one dance? I promise I'll return her," he asked the instructor, before turning his gaze to Lightning to make sure she was okay with it, as well. Boy, did he hope so.

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[Hope Estheim]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; height: 380px; background-image:URL(http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy284/brooklynlolli/x0r3w0.png); border-left: 10px solid #1e1e1e; border-right: 10px solid #1e1e1e;] HOPE ESTHEIM HEY THERE, THEY CALL ME HOPE AND I'M CURRENTLY 27 YEARS OLD. I'M FROM THE WORLD OF COCOON WHERE I AM THE DIRECTOR OF THE ACADEMY. I GO FOR GIRLS AND I WILL THROW MY WEIGHT BEHIND THE ACADEMY. ------------------------------------------------- Weapon: Boomerang: Even after all these years, this dork still uses a boomerang as his primary weapon. Of course, it's been updated considerably over time and is now a mean machine of doom, but it's still a dang boomerang, Hope. Come on. Abilities: Inventions: Hope, having grown up from the derpy kid he was as a l'Cie, has been trained by the Academy and shown an immense aptitude for the creation of new technology. With a knack for understanding the certainties of nearly every advancement on Gran Pulse, even those made after he time traveled from 13 AF from 400 AF (using a machine he created, no less). This is simply a smart dude. Leadership: Hope has grown into his role as the director of Academy research (and as an extension, basically the director of the entire organization). Though once hesitant to step up and lead much of anything, being somewhat allergic to responsibility as a teenager, his experiences and influences like Lightning and his father have molded him into a very good and well-respected leader. Magic: Due to the constant presence of crystal dust from Cocoon on Gran Pulse, Hope and several other have retained their ability to use magic without having to be branded as a l'Cie. He's not nearly as powerful as he was when he faced Orphan, but he's still skilled. Personality: Once a fourteen-year-old kid unable to do anything really useful, Hope Estheim has carved himself, through hard work and dedication to a cause, into quite capable fellow, to say the least. He's always prepared for the next challenge and doesn't shy from it in the slightest. Hope may overthink things at times, but never enough so that he misses his opportunity. Hope almost works himself too much, thinking he owes it to people such as Lightning, Fang, and Vanille to get the most he can out of life. People tell him to take breaks, but he rarely listens, and keeps going like the Energizer bunny. Still, Hope hasn't completely changed altogether. He's still got some of his old sheepishness and hesitation in personal relationships, though it seems he does this primarily with people he actually cares about rather than with strangers. He shows his care for them through the examples in the paragraph above, by working himself to a nearly-ridiculous point in order to finally find some peace for all of them. History: On the way into the Hanging Edge, the Purge train is derailed by the escape of Lightning and her ally of convenience, Sazh Katzroy. Hope, Nora, and the rest of the Purgees, are rescued by the resistance group NORA and their leader, Snow Villiers. Being chased by Sanctum troops, some Purgees choose to fight alongside NORA and despite Hope's silent protest, Nora is one of the last to join Snow's cause. As she and the other armed Purgees follow Snow and Gadot down the skyrail, Lebreau and the other NORA members lead Hope's group away. Vanille and Hope watch the subsequent battle that results in the bridge with the other Purgees collapsing, causing Hope's mother to fall to her death after saving Snow's life. Vanille tries to comfort Hope on his loss and he decides to stick by her during the rest of the escape. When Snow and Gadot return and reconvene with the other Purgee group, Vanille encourages Hope to confront Snow about Nora's death, but he hesitates long enough for Snow to leave. Vanille shoves him onto Gadot's abandoned aerobike and they follow Snow into the Pulse Vestige. After they crashland inside the Vestige, Hope regrets following Snow out of fear of becoming a l'Cie and being Purged to Pulse. They hear Snow's voice and realize he is heading their way. They are ambushed by a group of Cie'th, but Snow saves them and tells them about Serah. Hope yells at him for wanting to save a Pulse l'Cie since they are the enemy, but Snow leaves to save her anyway, but returns and takes Hope and Vanille with him. Hope witnesses Serah's crystallization outside Anima's Throne and the army begins to destroy the Vestige. After Lightning, Sazh and Snow aggravate the sleeping fal'Cie, it awakens and brands them all l'Cie - including Hope, despite his attempt to escape. In the crystallized Lake Bresha, Hope is the first to point out everyone in the group is now l'Cie. Distraught about being caught up in what he believes to be other people's problems, Hope lashes out at the others for attacking Anima and blames Snow and Serah for dragging him into the mess. Despite their differences everyone decides to work together to solve their Focus. Though they identify the legendary beast Ragnarok in a shared dream vision, they cannot work out what they have been tasked to do. Snow finds the crystallized Serah stuck in the crystallized lake and the others choose to leave him behind. Hope tries to tell Snow about Nora, but Snow tells him to hurry or he will be left behind. In the abandoned ruins at the edge of the lake, the party finds an old airship. Sazh attempts to pilot it, but it sustains damage from a PSICOM pursuit and crashes in the Vile Peaks. Hope tells Sazh and Vanille how he and his mother got involved. Lightning leaves the group to outrun PSICOM and Hope follows her. After learning how Lightning joined the Purge to save Serah, Hope tells her it is easy for her to charge into danger without a second thought since she's strong. Lightning abandons Hope, and Sazh and Vanille find him, and Hope travels with them until Lightning rejoins the group and reveals her plan to go to Eden. Seeing it as the chance to grow stronger and confront Snow, Hope decides to follow Lightning despite her reluctance to continue "babysitting" him. The two are separated from Vanille and Sazh and decide to go through the Gapra Whitewood and Hope's hometown, Palumpolum, to catch a train to Eden. At one point, Hope takes control of a Pulsian Dreadnought and clears a path for them. Lightning's patience with Hope runs thin as he fails to keep up with her. She threatens to leave him behind again and inadvertently summons her Eidolon, Odin, who attacks Hope. Lightning saves him and his aid in defeating the Eidolon persuades her to have faith in the boy and help him 'toughen up.' Later, Lightning watches over Hope as he sleeps and hears him ask for his mother. In the Gapra Whitewood, Hope asks to take the lead, and Lightning gives Hope the survival knife Serah gave her for her birthday. After Lightning reveals what NORA stands for, Hope's grudge against Snow grows. He reveals his hatred for Snow to Lightning and after Lightning tells Hope to form a strategy to help him focus and survive, he conceives 'Operation Nora', his plan for revenge against Snow and Sanctum. After defeating an Aster Protoflorian and exiting the Gapra Whitewood, they see Palumpolum on the coast in the distance. Lightning suggests they stop by his house, but Hope objects since he doesn't want to see his father. She tells Hope he needs to let his father know what happened to Nora. To avoid the PSICOM troops stationed throughout the city, Hope leads Lightning underground into the Nutriculture Complex, where they see the fal'Cie Carbuncle, which provides Cocoon with its food. Upon hearing Hope talk about how the fal'Cie treat humans like their pets, Lightning realizes fighting blindly to make up for doubt and confusion is not the answer and tells Hope, "Operation Nora is over". After Hope accuses Lightning of abandoning him, she reassures him that she will not. Lightning tells him to talk to his father in order to find the hope that he needs to continue fighting. Returning to the surface, Lightning and Hope are ambushed by Yaag Rosch and his troops. Lightning tells Hope to save himself while she distracts them, but he refuses to leave her. An explosion goes off with Snow and Oerba Yun Fang arriving on the scene. Lightning forces Hope to run away with Snow and the two manage to escape. While hiding in a tunnel, Snow unknowingly insults Hope's mother and the events surrounding her death. During a wireless conversation with Lightning, Hope tells her he is going through with Operation Nora. Hope and Snow enter a crowd of people that PSICOM is preparing to Purge, and Snow fires a gun into the air causing everyone to scatter. Hope comes across a frightened young girl and tries to help her but she throws her Carbuncle doll at him. The crowd of people returns as an angry mob. After the girl pushes Hope to the ground, Snow uses his l'Cie power to shoot down an archway to block the approaching mob and Hope places the girl's doll on the fallen archway. Then Snow hijacks a Sanctum air mech and carries Hope to the Rivera Towers. Hope continues asking Snow a series of personal questions to justify his belief for revenge. An Ushumgal Subjugator ambushes them and Snow tries to stand between Hope and the machine, but Hope pushes him out of the way and charges it for battle. Afterward, Snow and Hope have a chance to catch their breath by the edge of a building. Hope questions Snow about his past actions and accuses him of running away before using his l'Cie power to blast Snow off the ledge. Standing over Snow with Lightning's knife in hand, Hope reveals to Snow that his mother died on his account. As Hope prepares to kill Snow, a Sanctum airship fires shots behind Hope, sending him over the ledge. Snow catches him in midair and shields him from the fall with his body. Hope awakens on the streets below to find that Snow had saved him. Snow apologizes for his part in Nora's death and returns Lightning's knife to Hope. Hope hesitates to take his revenge upon the weakened Snow, realizing he pursued revenge for the wrong reasons. After settling their differences, they are attacked by the Ushumgal Subjugator from before. It knocks Snow unconscious, prompting Hope to fight it alone until Lightning and Fang arrive to help. Hope returns Lightning's knife, thus ending Operation Nora. The reunited party travels the rest of the way to the Estheim Residence and meet Hope's father. Hope tells his father what happened to Nora and the two repair their relationship. When PSICOM attacks the house, Lightning, Hope, and Fang fend them off. Snow confronts Yaag Rosch about his actions and chaos breaks out. Under Lightning's orders, Hope makes his father look like an unwilling accomplice by tying him up. Rygdea and more of the Cavalry soldiers arrive, and Hope and the rest of the party leave with them, boarding the Lindblum. They head to the Palamecia upon learning Sazh and Vanille are being held captive onboard. They reunite with the prisoners, and are forced to face Galenth Dysley in his true form, the fal'Cie Barthandelus, who claims their Focus is to become Ragnarok and kill the fal'Cie Orphan, the source of all of Cocoon's power. Sazh attempts to pilot an airship to freedom, but it is under Dysley's control. They fly into Eden and land in the Fifth Ark, where the party's l'Cie powers are fully awoken. After Fang tames her Eidolon, Bahamut, Hope resolves to make his own decisions from now on, without influence from the Sanctum or the fal'Cie, and see what Gran Pulse is like for himself. Using an old Pulsian airship, they exit the Ark out into Gran Pulse and create a base camp in the Vallis Media. Hope gathers food and supplies with Sazh's Chocobo Chick until his brand advances and he falls unconscious and is found by the rest of the party. Coming to, Hope talks about Fang and Vanille's hometown of Oerba, and how it might have the answers they are looking for. He tells the others to go on without him and inadvertently summons his Eidolon, Alexander. Lightning tells Hope that Alexander represents his inner strength, and has appeared because he can continue fighting. After taming the Eidolon with Lightning and Fang's help, Hope begins to believe Eidolons come to give l'Cie hope, not to end their journey through death. He says he will ask for help earlier next time and decides to continue on his journey with the others. As they travel through Pulse, Hope has a talk with Vanille in Yaschas Massif. He tells her that if he and his mother had not been at the fireworks in Bodhum and gotten forced onto the Purge train, he wouldn't have learned a world like Gran Pulse even existed. Vanille mentions a promise they made to see Pulse together, but Hope does not remember making such a promise. Hope tells her people sometimes lie to keep themselves going when they are afraid and protect others from harm, but it is what they do after the lie that matters; and that if one works hard enough, they can make it come true. The party crosses the Archylte Steppe to the Mah'habara Subterra. In the tunnels, Hope tampers with another Dreadnought and falls into the path of the incoming fal'Cie Atomos. A group of Dreadnoughts saves him from getting crushed, and enables the party to travel to the Sulyya Springs. Reaching the top level of Taejin's Tower, Fang and Vanille see their home village void of life and color, but Hope comforts Vanille by holding her hand and tells her to keep having faith. They arrive in the dilapidated village where the party is confronted by Barthandelus, who reveals his plan of having tricked the Cavalry into destroying Orphan. The party wonder whether they can return to Cocoon to help if it means playing into Barthandelus's hands, but Hope reminds Lightning that she once told him it is not a question of can or can't, they just have to go and do it. The party returns to Cocoon, interrupting a race on the circuit in Eden with their Eidolons. They fight their way through the city and make their way to Orphan's Cradle. Hope tells the party that Barthandelus is turning innocent people into Cie'th in order to make them feel guilty, lose faith, and become Ragnarok. Reaching the Nascent Throne, the party fights Barthandelus again. Briefly upon Barthandelus's defeat, Orphan is awakened and transforms everyone except Vanille and Fang into Cie'th. Remembering everything they went through, the group reverts back to normal. They save Fang from her cycle of torture at Orphan's hands and say that they now have a new Focus. Hope concludes that if they have the power to destroy Cocoon, they also have the power to save it, after which everyone's brands turn white. After Orphan's defeat, Cocoon loses power and falls from the sky. Hope grabs Sazh's and Lightning's hands as Orphan's Cradle vanishes and they are left hovering midair over Eden. They witness Fang and Vanille sacrifice themselves to become Ragnarok and save Cocoon. Hope is crystallized alongside the rest of the party at the base of the crystallized Cocoon. Soon after they awaken from the crystal stasis, with their brands wiped clean. Though Serah and Dajh Katzroy also awake from crystal stasis, Hope is upset to find that Vanille and Fang have not awoken, but remains positive, remarking they have defied their fate before. Hope sees a group of soldiers from the Cavalry, and runs off towards them with the others in tow. He asks one of the soldiers about his father, and learns he is still alive, much to his relief. Upon learning about Bodhum sustaining heavy damage and the irony of its population being 'saved' by the Purge, Hope wonders how Lightning and Snow are handling the news since Bodhum was their hometown. After Sazh leaves with Dajh, Hope remains with Snow and Serah. Another soldier comes and tells Hope that his father is arriving on the next cargo transport, and Hope leaves with the soldier to reunite with him. After history has been altered causing Lightning's disappearance, Hope finds her survival knife near the base of Cocoon's crystal pillar and gives it to Serah. When Serah and Noel arrive in the Paddra Ruins of Yaschas Massif 10 AF, Hope comes to their aid by finishing off the giant Aloeidai with his boomerang to negate the spacetime vortex it generated upon defeat. Hope is glad that Serah remembers him and introduces himself to Noel as the leader of the Academy, revealing that Noel and Serah's appearance in the Bresha Ruins five years ago enabled the Academy to analyze the Time Gates and predict their arrival to the ruins. He says that within the last ten years, Serah was not the only one who disappeared but Snow, Sazh, and Dajh as well. Hope says that the paradoxes started happening a few years ago and believes if he can solve their cause he could see everyone again. They meet his assistant, Alyssa Zaidelle, who was involved with them in the events at Bresha. Hope tells Noel and Serah that he has something to show them and Alyssa playfully grabs his arm but he softly pushes her off and leads the way. Hope tells them how he joined the Academy as a way to atone for what happened to Lightning, Fang and Vanille, and to build a society using man-made power. He tells the legend of the Farseers and the seeress Yeul who foretold Paddra's destruction and how it came true when its people brought their nation to ruin in a civil war. Hope shows Serah and Noel the Oracle Drive, an ancient device that shows images of events that should be considered impossible. Noel activates it to show images of the Day of Ragnarok. Hope believes that a seeress left behind records of the future and uses the Oracle Drive to project blurry images of Lightning's fight with Caius Ballad in Valhalla. Hope theorizes that the current paradox affecting the area might be affecting the Oracle Drive and gives an artefact to Noel and Serah so they can find the cause of the paradox. After the paradox is resolved negating their initial meeting, Noel and Serah are forced to repeat the process of being welcomed by Hope in 1X AF, before he again uses the Oracle Drive to show them the now clear images of Lightning in Valhalla. Hope confesses that he too wanted to change history to bring back Lightning, Vanille, Fang, and his mother. When the Oracle Drive shows images of Cocoon falling at Caius's hands, Hope resolves to do what he can at his end to prepare for the crisis while Serah and Noel continue to fix the timeline. Three years later, while overseeing the construction of Augusta Tower, Hope and Alyssa devised the Proto fal'Cie Project as a means to re-levitate Cocoon. Acting on its own whim from the future, the Proto fal'Cie Adam arrives to that moment in time to reprogram the tower's AI and slaughter Hope, Alyssa, and all the Academy members to maintain the time and order it is thriving in. Luckily, in 1X AF, Hope caught a glimpse of Serah and Noel's fight with Adam at 200 AF, with Serah yelling at him for building the fal'Cie through the Oracle Drive and abandoned the project, negating his and Alyssa's future deaths. Hope begins the New Cocoon Project to build a new man-made Cocoon. In 13 AF, Hope learned about the Thirteenth Ark through the Oracle Drive, and invented a time capsule for him and Alyssa to enter suspended animation and reawaken 387 years later, in Academia 4XX AF, where the Ark was supposed to appear. Welcoming Serah and Noel to "the future they saved", Hope invites them to Academy headquarters where he tells how he was forced to abandon the Proto fal'Cie Project and begin the New Cocoon Project. After investigating the Thirteenth Ark, the Academy discovered it floats through the use of a Graviton Core. Hope concludes that the new Cocoon would need five of them. After Noel, Serah and Mog bring him the Graviton Cores, Alyssa gives them an artefact to open a new gate in the city. Hope and Alyssa go to see them off and Hope speaks of the time where, if not for his friends, he would have let himself be consumed by hate. He tells Serah of how her wish to save Cocoon motivated him and the others to work together, how Fang and Vanille continue to fulfill that wish, and that he will be using the time capsule to go a hundred years into the future to oversee the final step in his New Cocoon Project. In Academia 500 AF, Hope and a squadron of soldiers appear to provide Noel and Serah backup as they are attacked by Chaos Bahamut and a summoned swarm of monsters. He joins Noel and Serah in pursuit of Chaos Bahamut, but Serah tells Hope not to follow and make sure that Fang and Vanille are safe, which he does. After Caius is defeated by Noel and Serah in Valhalla, Hope learns from Sazh that Vanille and Fang have been safely removed from the crystal pillar. Cocoon falls to the ground and the new Cocoon rises, which Hope christens "Bhunivelze". Hope, Noel, and Mog brace themselves as chaos infects the world. Learning that Noel, Mog and Serah have returned from Valhalla, Hope takes an airship to greet them only to find Serah has died. As they mourn over her, Noel reveals that Serah was a seeress and was killed by her visions of the future. The world begins to go dark and Hope catches a weakening Mog in his arms. Mog tells them that the goddess Etro is gone. A seal appears in the sky and Bhunivelze and everything on Gran Pulse is consumed by chaos before the world turns into Valhalla. [Courtesy of Final Fantasy Wiki.]

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THE PERSON BEHIND THIS WONDERFUL CHARACTER IS GENERALLY CALLED KENT AND SITS AT 21. HE LIVES IN THE EASTERN TIMEZONE AND FOUND THE SITE THROUGH PISTACHIOS. THE CUSTOM TITLE FOR THIS CHARACTER SHOULD BE...

PLEASE PUT A CUSTOM CHARACTER TITLE HERE WRAPPED IN [*code][/*code] TAGS.

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made by brooklyn at caution[/center]